Laptop or tablet thingy... Guidance would be appreciated!!!

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perplexed

Guru
Location
Sheffield
Morning all...

I'm not a complete technical moron, but I would really appreciate some guidance from the more tech-savvy CCers...

We have a laptop which is pretty good, but we need another one. Question is, another laptop or a tablet thingy? Any new one must do the following three things. 'Owt else is a bonus:
1) Word process with word/office (so therefore easy to type on/reasonably sized screen)
2) Fairly obviously, internet
3) Be Spotify compatible

Cost really ain't too much of an issue, providing it's not bonkers...

Much appreciated! ^_^
 
Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro convertible Ultrabook? Or maybe Surface Pro 3 with a keyboard etc. I saw one getting bashed around at the weekend and it seemed ok...like a large clipboard in the person's hands. Direct handwriting to typed writing facility with a stylus too...a neat alternative idea!
 
1) Word process with word/office (so therefore easy to type on/reasonably sized screen)
This requirement alone says laptop to me. Swipeing on a tablet keyboard requires lots of corrections to words constantly and tapping individual letters to make words is time consuming.

I've just done that sentence on a tablet and has to correct 6 misdetected words as it was.
 

the_mikey

Legendary Member
Word/office requirement suggests small laptop or a surface pro 3, or some other windows 8.1 abomination, given the choice I'd go with a small laptop.

Also be wary of small devices running Windows 8 / 8.1 some mobile device versions are not win32 compatible and will only run a limited selection of windows metro apps.
 

Shut Up Legs

Down Under Member
Get a laptop with approx. 15" screen, anything smaller will make typing a hassle. You may be able to find some with Windows 7, which is infinitely preferable to Windows 8. I bought a desktop PC mid last year with Windows 7 on it, so it may still be sold here and there.
 

sidevalve

Über Member
Laptop and don't mess around with windows get Linux. It's easy it's free and the programs you need are included.
 

Simontm

Veteran
I use both for work. Laptop for heavy duty but if I'm travelling and want to go light I take the iPad.

Writing-wise, I have a logitech Zagg keyboard case that was on sale for £20 which is great to use and I use the Clean Writer app although there's MS Word-type apps like Documents U out there.
 

raleighnut

Legendary Member
I'd go for the laptop with 7 option but Windows 10 is about to be launched, will this be the XP successor (cos 8 isn't) :cursing:
 
Get a laptop with approx. 15" screen, anything smaller will make typing a hassle. You may be able to find some with Windows 7, which is infinitely preferable to Windows 8. I bought a desktop PC mid last year with Windows 7 on it, so it may still be sold here and there.
I've not had any problems with Win 8, either technical faults or using it. Turn it on and it'll work, maybe not how you're used to or how you want it to, but it'll work. All depends on how much you want to tweak it.
And the tile stuff works fine with a touchscreen.
It's a lot less of a change from win 7->8+ Office (OP requirement) than Windows -> Linux +OpenOffice (or whatever)
 

LCpl Boiled Egg

Three word soundbite
Asus Transformer Book T100? About £300, with Windows 8.1 and Office, it's a 10" tablet with an add-on keyboard. The only downside may be the size of the screen/keyboard but it's an option that's cheaper than the Surface Pro 3. You can also get an Android version of it (for less notes), but it doesn't have an HDMI output if that's important to you.
 
You can get a mirco usb keyboard which would plug into a tablet. We've done this with the kids hudl and it works fine. Plug the hdmi into the tv for a large screen. If you're going to be using it a fair bit, a laptop is probably best, but the micro usb keyboard solution is cheap and cheerful.
 

andyfraser

Über Member
Location
Bristol
If Word is a requirement then just get a conventional laptop running Windows and Office and save yourself some hassle. I love Google Docs and LibreOffice but full compatibility with Word still isn't quite there yet. I found that out when Office on my work PC went wrong and I used LibreOffice temporarily.

I despise MS Office so I use LibreOffice on Linux but all my documents are in Google Drive now (I don't need Office in my personal life) which works in any browser and on any Android and iOS tablet. That's no use if you must have Word though.

Spotify has a browser player at https://play.spotify.com/ which is ok. The Windows desktop client is still better though. I wish they'd do something about how the queue works. I hate it.

Screen sizes are a very personal thing. I have no problems with any laptop from 11.6" and up. I can see the screen ok and the use the keyboards well. I have a 11.6" and 14" Chromebook, both with chicklet keyboards, and a 15.6" old school laptop with old school laptop keyboard. In order of ease of seeing the screen and typing it's the 14" then the 11.6" then the 15.6". Have a look at a few in PC World to get some idea.
 
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