Ask AnandTech: Ideal Tablet Specs & Form Factor for Work?

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• Ytterbium - Saturday, June 29, 2013 - link

  I use a Fujitsu Stylistic ST 5112 at work today, since my company hasn't moved from XP yet it's still going strong, I upgraded it to 2GB and put X-25V SSD in it. The things that bug me are the weight and the battery life, I generally leave it plug in all the time as it just doesn't last more than 3hrs.
  
  It's a 12.1" with 1024x768, I couldn't live with less than 768 as the app I use the most use that width easily and I could do with a bit more width, height wise I'm good.
  
  It's got a Core Duo U2500 which is enough CPU power, the disk at 40GB is fine, everything I have is on the corporate network.

• Black March - Saturday, June 29, 2013 - link

  Honestly I think the new Ativ Tablet is by a far the most optimal form factor I've seen this far. It manages to be a true tablet, while at the same time beeing a highly functional laptop. Quite amazing IMO

• zendragon6 - Saturday, June 29, 2013 - link

  A 4:3 or 16:10 Surface Pro with that brilliant type cover, Matte Screen, 600 nits, user replaceable battery, storage dock for the pen instead of magnet clipped to the side, throwing Haswell in for some better battery life and graphics performance.
  
  If it's 16:9, there's no way I'm buying it, no matter how good everything else looks.

• loki1725 - Sunday, June 30, 2013 - link

  For me, a tablet would be a replacement for my notebook. As an engineer I do a lot note taking, brainstorming, math and sketching. I was using convertible notebooks and OneNote for this but my new company doesn't offer this. I'm back to engineering notepads and pens. A tablet would a replacement for this notepad, and maybe be useful for a second screen when looking at documents and such. Primarily though, I would want something that I could take to meetings or brainstorming sessions and replace paper with.
  
  For me, a 15" screen size in 4:3 is minimum. The bigger the better as I want to be able to write and draw with the least amount of restrictions. I would love a 17" in tablet! This would need to be coupled with a digitizer with good palm rejections and very low lag. A passive pen is also ideal, and the pen needs to store inside the tablet (looking at you SurfacePro).
  
  For software, my number one need would be full blown OneNote, or a note taking program as powerful. This would mean the ability to do audio recording while note taking and having them sync. I used this constantly as it was a great way to keep diagrams in sync with conversations while we're spit balling concepts.
  
  For the rest of the hardware, really good WiFi, fully encryptable hard drives, and a decent battery. Getting 5+ hours of life is probably fine for my usage. And weight doesn't really matter. My bag weighs nearly 6 pounds empty, so the difference between a 4lb and 6lb tablet wouldn't change things enough to notice.
  
  Oh, and I don't want a camera on it. Anywhere. For security reasons I can't take cameras into a majority of the facility I work at. This means my cell phone is left at the door. If my tablet had a camera, I wouldn't be able to use it. (For those curious, the webcam on my laptop had its lens drilled out and filled with epoxy. My webcam won't turn on anymore but some of my friends can get theirs on, and it's solid black.)
  
  I know this is probably an outlier use case, but it's what I would buy.

• finbarqs - Monday, July 1, 2013 - link

  20" windows 8.1 that sports a wacom digitizer with tilt and rotation abilities. I'll settle for a 1920x1080 resolution

• TheBlueberry - Thursday, July 4, 2013 - link

  The HP Envy X2 tablet was darn close to perfect but to small and underpowered. The Surface Pro is not lap friendly and the flimsy keyboard and small screen still turn me off. Although I know plenty of IT pros who are beginning to push them. Biggest business gripe is 10" just isn't going to do it for a laptop and computer replacement. Lets face it, executives love their hair. At one point it was who had the tiniest cell phone. Now its going to be, my tablet is bigger than yours.
  
  My perfect tablet would have the same detachable keyboard and tablet integration of the HP envy x2 only in a 15 inch form. I would like a backlit keyboard. I like the rubbery feel of the Lenovo P500 incorporated into the design so to allow for a surer grip of the tablet. Windows 8 pro. I would also like to see an core i5 or better. 8 GB memory. Intel 5000 graphics or better. 256 GB SSD. Must have a fantastic screen brightness and clarity. Resolution is not that big a point, lets face it I would need a magnifying glass for 1080p on a small screen anyway. 720p would be ok, especially since my finger will do most of the work and they are quite big. HDMI, all the other bells for being able to connect to anything and adapt and expand. Front and rear cameras, lets face it Skype and Lync are awesome. Add the cell phone in to and wa'la'. and must have a 8 hour battery life so we can make it through a flight, do our presentation, make it to the hotel to plug it up. All this with a $500.00 price tag. LOL
  
  I think whatever the manufactures decide to throw at us, we will still be making sacrifices in choices as they continue to make an appliance for everything and every category. Until they are realistic about price points and licensing fees from Microsoft, the market will still be overpriced and Android and Apple will continue to make end roads over the Microsoft world most of us live in.

• 2disbetter - Thursday, July 11, 2013 - link

  HP already had a good thing going with their Slate tablet (8" incher atom based win 7 device). 11-10" seems to be the sweet spot for most people. However, a smaller 9-7" tablet would work as well and would be preferred by many, myself included. Haswell would be ideal, and anywhere from 4-8gb of ram would be appreciated. Solid state drives are a given. Battery life should be at least 6 hours, but the more the merrier in this regard. For me work requires data entry and as such a good keyboard is essential. I have found that the sliders are the ideal solution to this. They don't require extra items be carried, and are always available. They also allow standard laptop use (unlike the Surface pro in a lap). Screen quality needs to be good. IPS is a minimum. And while the screen is smaller, it is better to have higher resolutions with good DPI scaling. People don't want to squint on the norm, but sometimes work requires access larger files, and the ability to view them makes up for the inconvenience of having to squint. Pen input (wacom) is also very useful, mainly as a consequence of the smaller screen and to help with working with some smaller UI elements. The screen itself should also be capacitive and allow for at least 5 finger touch. User removable battery would be ideal as well. Size is one issue that is not so essential. Folks looking for tablets for work will deal with a thicker device if it includes all of the things they require. User removeable batteries, RAM accessible, and even hdd being accessible all warrant thickness. Build qaulity is essential as well. Even though metal and aluminum might drive up weight it is needed. And finally do not back your design into a corner because you're trying to reach a certain price point to stay appealing to a market. Work devices are for work and should demand a premium if they offer more.

• mk1212 - Saturday, July 13, 2013 - link

  for work it is necessary that you can look at it from arm's length and beyond
  also it should not be too big... so a4 paper size should be ideal...font size and distance should correspond to sufficient real estate for data and texts while not constraining eyes.
  at arm's length ipad texts become too tiny to discern without zooming. i think we should minimize the zooming action.
  processor: there cant be upper limit but current generation processors are sufficient for available apps/soft.
  no bezel beyond 1 cm
  4:3 aspect ratio preferably
  carbon fiber to reduce weight. 200 to 400 grams overall weight
  processor should be cool running.
  hot swapping of battery
  500 gb ssd
  rugged enough to withstand few bumps
  max available screen resolution
  pen/stylus support

• Thornik - Monday, July 15, 2013 - link

  Everything depends from "mobility" of the job. For doctors, stock managers, etc better to carry small tablet. But if you use tablet for longer than 10 min and sitting on ass, it's better to have even 15".
  In any case, tablets are most used for ENTERTAINMENT, not the job! So tendency is simple: bigger is better. But manufacturers wanna sell their sh*ty small panels, keeping almost the same price. Let's see when this hype collapse and tablet will cost reasonable $100.