Ask AnandTech: Ideal Tablet Specs & Form Factor for Work?
by Anand Lal Shimpi on June 26, 2013 1:32 PM EST
We've done a couple of posts now on using tablets in business/enterprise settings. In our final post in this series we're soliciting ultimate feedback. There's an interesting trend going on in the consumer tablet space now, with attention shifting away from 10-inch form factors down to 7 or 8-inch models. I suspect things will be different in business/enterprise markets though. For those of you who see a use for tablets in the workplace, what is the ideal form factor? I'd love to hear your responses in the comments. Go as far as you want on the spec list too - down to silicon, storage options, dimensions, etc... Upcoming tablets are obviously set in stone, but your input could definitely help shape future designs.
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Sushisamurai - Wednesday, June 26, 2013 - link
For the physicians running around,7-8" factor is fine, anything larger and it becomes more of a hassle than not. I honestly prefer the mini in my lab coat. No need for x86 support, as you have remote options and VPN access, and cellular for house calls. It has fast, responsive UI, doesn't hang, it's vertical integration with my personal computer and for BYOD hospitals. Long battery life, and it's light weight.
For the administration side... I personally would need 128 GB usable space, after OS install (surface kinda screwed that one up)
As for security concerns... In my area, the only problems we have are the non-health workers, like the secretaries etc. but they're not privy to a tablet in the work place, the nurses we have and physicians are generally pretty good about that kinda stuff (crosses fingers)
Drazick - Wednesday, June 26, 2013 - link
For me the perfect would be a 10" with resolution of 3840 x 2160 (16:9 ratio).I'd like it to have the fastest ARM based CPU around + Fastest GPU.
I want it to run Windows RT and have a touch pen.
That would be the perfect Tablet for me.
chaos215bar2 - Wednesday, June 26, 2013 - link
Would you like a pony with that?Drazick - Wednesday, June 26, 2013 - link
Nope...It doesn't have the touch...
Gadgety - Wednesday, June 26, 2013 - link
There isn't ONE ideal form factor because it depends on the context. Main thing for me, there's a balance between portability and utility. For portability, ideally it should go into my suit jacket inner pocket, in 65% of the cases. I could use a foldable keyboard to bring with me. For collective work, or presentations I need it to hook up to a projector. For 35% of the work I need a slightly larger screen than what a pocketable device brings. Oh, and I need Word, Powerpoint and Excel. Haswell is bringing a lot of potential as it will provide sufficient power with frugality.locowolf - Wednesday, June 26, 2013 - link
I use a tablet in neuroscience research to take notes and read and annotate academic journal articles. I've made due with a Galaxy Note 10.1, but the journal article pdf's are a tad small, in my opinion. I would love a tablet that had the same dimensions of a standard 8.5 x 11 inch piece of paper for which the tablet is an effective replacement. Most tablets that use the 16:9 aspect ratio are too long and narrow in portrait mode. I think this is something that tablets featuring styluses should keep in mind.DrCheap - Wednesday, June 26, 2013 - link
Completely agree! A 13" in 4:3 ratio would be much better suited for these purposes and something I have been waiting and hoping to see come out in a nice device.Kill16by9TN - Thursday, June 27, 2013 - link
First, whoever brought the 16:9 digital TV form factor madness into the world of computing, should be hanged, quartered , put on a stake, burnt and drowned, in no particular order. The same goes for those, still trying to peddle lousy (S)TN LCD displays these days.The 4:3 (=1.33) screen ratio already perfectly covers the predominant A4/A5 paper sizes used outside of North America (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_size) with its sqrt(2):1 aspect. Given that printed paper almost always has a decent white margin left around, 16:10 (=1.6) also still works sufficiently well, but certainly not that dimwit 16:9 (=1.78) TV screen format.
On a notebook I don't want to have to reach across the keyboard and smear around the screen with my fingers, but instead very much prefer a sound touchpad like the Synaptics Clickpad 2.0, possible supplemented by a TrackPoint.
As for tablets, as a mobile companion it has to still fit in coat or jacket pockets with a screen luminance high enough for outdoor use on a sunny day. It also should have a digitizer and a port to park the pen to allow being used like a regular paper notepad.
For more stationary, in- or around-house/building use, I prefer something bigger in the 9.6...11" range.
For all cases the screen should have a sensible anti-glare coating, since I loathe those mirror screen displays and high gloss bezel and body surfaces. I do have a bathroom mirror, if I want to look at my face.
The current Ultrabook craziness: thin, thinner, useless also fails to excite me. Thin is good, but only as long as there are no shortcomings in terms of connectivity and thermal management resulting of it and we seem to already have passed a critical threshold in this area.
Btw. why does no one come up with a convertible, where you can relase the display, turn it by 180° around its vertical axis and plug it back in? This way, there is a regular notebook when needed and a tablet when wanted, without exposing the keyboard or needing weird hinge constructions or touchpads sitting behind the keyboard and such.
In terms of docking station/connectivity I'd like to see AMD’s 'Dock Port', formerly known as 'Lightning Bolt' to take root, instead of Intel's limited and overpriced proprietary Thunderbolt (2).
Kill16by9TN - Thursday, June 27, 2013 - link
Forget something very important:instead of annoying touch screens, I want built-in "Leap Motion" instead, solving the greasy paw smudge problem once and for all.
zendragon6 - Saturday, June 29, 2013 - link
They do, it's called the Thinkpad Helix.