Which tablet do i got with?

Which tablet would you keep/

  • VivoTab Smart: Win8, 64gb, have to buy MSoffice

    Votes: 1 100.0%
  • VivoTab RT: WinRT, Office, Keyboard, 32gb

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    1
  • Poll closed .

xSamhainx

Paws of Doom
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Which tablet do i go with?

I bought a tablet today. Well, actually i bought a couple, and therein lies my dilemma.

I got the first one home, charged it up, and upon a "liveupdate" feature I (like an idiot) updated the bios. In my opinion, you do not mess w/ the bios unless you have to. It's not something you just go ahead and update, like a brower or something. It's something you do as a last effort on a problematic computer where youve tried a lot of other things that didnt work. Why I did it, with all my bad pc experiences, i still dont understand. Sometimes people do stupid things.

To make a long story short, I updated the bios and the thing went from functional tablet to paperweight. I am not starting a new computer experience on that note, period. So i took it back and got another one, and they also gave me a keyboard too. The keyboard turned out being for a different model (which pissed me off immensely i might add), so I took that back. They didnt have a keyboard for mine, but they had another, different tablet w/ keyboard bundled. In messing w/ the first one w/ no keyboard, it was easy enough w/ the on-screen keyboard, but once things started going south i really missed the alt key. Windows key, to bring up the "run" box, things like that. So it made me think that while I dont need a keyboard, it would be good to have.

SO, i ended up getting that one bundled w/ the keyboard, with the plan of taking the one I had at home back evetually. Unfortunately, I noticed later that the one w/ keyboard doesnt have Windows 8, which I want (the cover had what looked like win8). But it has MS Office pre-loaded, which I'll have to buy to add on to the other one because I need that for work (this is being bought on the pretense that I'll use it for work).

Now I have two models, and am having a hard time deciding between the two, so I'm taking it to the street here.

In this corner we have the Asus VivoTab Smart ($500.oo):
Has 64 GB hard drive
Windows 8
*w/ this one, I'll be buying MS Office @ $130.oo

In this corner we have Asus VivoTab RT ($600.oo):
Has 32 GB hard drive
Windows RT (a feature of RT is basic office)
Keyboard/docking station came bundled


It may seem like a no-brainer here. The VivoTab RT has both office and a keyboard bundled, right? The bad part is first and foremost the OS, it's Windows RT, not Win8. Besides the geek factor of wanting 8 on a new system, and messing with it a little and liking what I see (for a tablet especially), it really is not functionally what I'm looking for. Windows RT is a lesser version OS made specifically for tablets, and you can only install "apps" from the Windows store. So it's like a big phone, in that you cannot simply throw CCleaner, or FireFox, or Baldurs Gate, or anything that I just normally put on a new computer by default. So I'm not liking the idea of being limited in that regard.

Secondly, it has a small HD, it says 15 GB usable. Now that's pretty damn small in this day and age. I can pretty much fill that by just farting near the thing. And it has a micro USB, so simply jacking into a flash drive for added memory.. i guess i can get an adapter or something, but still - it's not a strong point of this device.

The keyboard, well - im buying a tablet to have a tablet, not a laptop. I have literally 5 different-sized laptops, I'm getting this to use as a tablet. I'm a fire inspector by trade, so I'm walking around all day doing inspections, and I need something that I can be checking things off a list etc as i go along. That said, there's things sorely missing on the on-screen keyboard such as alt, the windows key, etc. It may be nice to plug in the keyboard and bang out a report in my truck.

So I'm conflicted, I'm taking one back and keeping one and not sure so I'll see what the Watch has to say. I've checked out the Surface and other tablets, and it either gets too damn expensive too quick or I'm simply not impressed for the price what I'm getting.

edit - sorry for the typo title, it's late ='.'=
 
Last edited:
Joined
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If it were me I'd stick with the VivoTab Smart - no question about it. The flexibility of having full-on Windows 8 wins the day. Then I'd buy the keyboard for it later on if the need arises. Overall it costs more I guess, but I'd find the software limitations of RT very frustrating.
 
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I took them both back and bought a Surface. Why mess around?

Expensive as hell, but so far I'm liking it w/ the exception of the could-be-better battery duratiion and the thing gets hot.
 
Joined
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Messages
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I think functionality of both devices is good, but in order to choose only one of them, I vote for the VivoTab Smart.
 
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