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Resolved Question

Windows tablet hybrid decision

Jul 18, 2013 10:56PM PDT

Hi

This decision is painfully difficult for me right now. I can't decide between tablet hybrids. I know the specs and everything, but the design type is eluding me.

I need to use a tablet mostly as an e-reader and math writer (stylus) for my books and math class, but I need it to function well with a keyboard for typing essays and reports for english, science, ss, theology.

The ultimate goal is to have a mid-cheap atom based tablet plus keyboard, preferred to have trackpad. Most have 2GB lpddr2 and 1.5(1.CoolGhz clover trail. I'd like to keep it in the atom tablet range to keep it cheap.

I'm mostly stuck between tablets like the asus vivotab TF810C, and the dell latitude 10 business model plus bluetooth keyboard case and larger battery. Other than that, HP envy x2 is nice, but no digitizer.


Any help with this or added tablet options would be great. With the asus vivotab, I'm reaching $870 with msd card and keyboard dock. This is getting into ultrabook range, but the lenovo yoga doesn't support active digitizers, and I don't know any other convertibles in this range that reach 8+hr for a full day's use at school.

Discussion is locked

lxgoldsmith1 has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer

Best Answer

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To get that 8 hours, you need 16 hour battery times.
Jul 19, 2013 2:45AM PDT

Why this is, is well discussed. But here we go again.

Since the battery is just a 300 cycle rated part and the warranty only calls the battery bad when it drops to 50% capacity you see that to get 8 hours a day for 2 years you need a battery that when new hits 16 hours and then in 2 years you are still getting your 8 hours.

What's odd about such a requirement is it's rarity. You might find new students that want this or think it's a requirement but if it was then wouldn't there be plenty of choices?

OK, battery's done.

On to the digitizer. What do you use now? Why I ask is that I find many ask for this then in a year they are back to mouse or pad.
Bob

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long school day; saving ink and paper
Jul 19, 2013 4:42AM PDT

I'm in high school right now, and my classes are still crammed together, making a 7 hour school day. There's my 8 hour requirement. After school, I'm free to move about and find a power outlet. Next year, I'll be in college and have charge time between classes. I might start saving now and sell this tablet hybrid after a year to move up to a core i hybrid with less battery and more performance.

I've done my research on digitizer pens and palm rejection and how it works. Last year, I was all pen and paper. I'm very interested in writing out my math in onenote and highlighting paragraphs in my textbooks with a stylus. I'll be adjusting to the glassy surface and need the touchscreen to have the necessary support for active digitizers for good palm rejection to work and for enough accuracy for handwriting.

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So you are not doing this now?
Jul 19, 2013 4:53AM PDT

Then you are going to re-discover the truth about this one. Hopefully you don't get too upset later.

It's odd to see you write about handwriting recognition. That is, since when was it a digitizer issue? Or palm rejection? You seem to write as if you are new to all this. I fear you would buy such a thing and then write blogs or facebook how bad it is.

Avoid all this and get out there and use these things. Then you will find out exactly why I have written the above.
Bob

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I don't care about that.
Jul 19, 2013 5:57AM PDT

I don't want it to try to recognize my handwriting and convert it to text. I want it to keep it the way it is, but I need it to follow the pen more closely than a passive stylus would. I expect it to be difficult to adjust to and have imperfect accuracy, but I also expect it to be usable for a first timer like myself.

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What I have at the office.
Jul 19, 2013 4:59AM PDT

The usual Google Nexus 7, Transformer tf300t with dock, other pads. And the office plunked down an Asus x202e but not one would be my idea of what would be needed to meet your requirement. None have the 16 hour battery time we need to begin and not one has progressed to the point I would call handwriting to text conversion worthy of use.

Notetaking? Sure. But unless you are doing this, you may be seeing the promises and not the reality.
Bob

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what?
Jul 19, 2013 6:02AM PDT

I don't see where you're going with this. I have a budget of $900 for the hybrid plus accessories, which is why I'm looking at the atom based ones. I don't need 16 hours, but if I did, I'd stick to the asus vivotab TF810C plus keyboard dock or the latitude 10 plus 4 cell battery. I didn't mention text conversion at all.

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forgot to mention
Jul 19, 2013 6:07AM PDT

Atom based windows hybrid, not android

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Yes you did.
Jul 19, 2013 6:16AM PDT

My reply was to share what we have at the office on hand beyond the others that have come and gone.

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At least we tried.
Jul 19, 2013 6:12AM PDT

It appears you are going to learn this the hard way. Good hunting and come back in a few months with your experiences.

1. 16 hours. I thought I covered why you need that. In just a year with these 300 cycle batteries, you will have to replace the battery to keep that 8 hour usage per charge. I had hoped this simple explanation would suffice.

2. "text conversion" is what you noted about. Here's what you wrote -> "writing out my math in onenote and highlighting paragraphs in my textbooks with a stylus."

How else would one highlight a paragraph unless the app converted your writing into text?

--> I have these things and have encountered too many students that thought all this was good to go.
Well, the good to go part must be vendors and industry willing to take your money.
Bob

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different actions
Jul 19, 2013 6:31AM PDT

I meant writing out my math as one thing and highlighting in digital textbooks as another.

Writing out my math requires my authentic handwriting to prove it's my work. I don't think it could recognize my poor handwriting anyways Happy.

I only need to have 7 hours for one school year. Afterwards, I won't need that much. If it halves in 2 years, then it quarters in a year. one school year is about 2/3 of a year, and 2/3 of 1/4 is 1/6. 5/6 of 9 hours is 7.5 hours On a full charge, the samsung ativ 500t would reach 6.7% of it's usable capacity at the end of the last day of high school.

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Getting closer. Checking that model. Sad finding.
Jul 19, 2013 6:42AM PDT
http://www.amazon.com/computers-accessories/dp/B0098O9TB0

I don't see any user access to the battery so my bet is that it's a return to factory as you wear out the battery.

-> About digitizer accuracy. I find in all the models with the usual touch sensor (AKA capacitive) that a stylus works best and we have to write larger and shrink it later.

Again, I am doing this but it appears you have yet to use these products. So here is how I would write on almost any of the usual tablets.

1. Grab the stylus.
2. Start the app (natch.)
3. Get to where I need to write.
4. Write at about 2 times the size I want and then use the note taking app's feature to shrink it to the good looking normal size.

Only those that have not used these devices would think they could write as if they were on college ruled paper.
Bob
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Not only capacitive
Jul 19, 2013 7:03AM PDT

Being able to use an active digitizer requires more than the regular capacitive touchscreen. It also needs to have inductive input. That's the deal with the different kinds of digitizer pens. For example, the dell xps 12 can use a digitizer but not an active digitizer because it only has capacitive input.

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Now we're moving.
Jul 19, 2013 7:13AM PDT

But you've lost me here. Keep in mind I've been around since the GE 210 and was part of a company that made a few light pens decades ago.

To me, any device that translates position into some x, y and possibly z coordinates is in fact a digitizer. Now with that out of the way I think you are asking what resolution these digitizers have.

My answer is they are poor for drawing and do slightly better with a stylus. The Samsung S Note uses the active pen as well as the Activ PC.

You want to use a stylus so be sure to go for models that have such.

This doesn't cure the other issues that will come back to haunt you.
Bob

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In other words, best choice looks to be the Activ PC.
Jul 19, 2013 7:29AM PDT

I'd budget a new battery in a few years but with the S pen, it probably will do what you want.

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thanks for your input
Jul 19, 2013 7:34AM PDT

You've helped a lot with your information. I've decided that I still need the trackpad, so I'm crossing the latitude 10 off the list.

Now, all I have left to decide on is whether to get the samsung ativ 500t, 9hr, for $680 total or the asus vivotab TF810C, 12hr, for $900 total. If I calculate purely based on battery life, they have almost the same value/price.

I'm also about to order in some parts for a diy lithium ion battery pack @ 14.8V, 9.6Ah going through a car DC port and adapter for any device I choose.

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Answer
Any Good Software Out There?
Jul 19, 2013 6:43AM PDT

The software available today is still not good enough to handle perfect conversion of written text or speech into a word document. I have always tried to find a good program out there and have yet to stumble across one.

I recently purchased Mac Speech Scribe and paid $150 for the latest version and it is still no good. It skips words and just cant grab ahold of what I am saying, even when I do annunciate.

Does anyone have any suggestions of software they know works well and doesn't run into the same problems everyone has? I feel like I would have known by now if there was, but if anyone has suggestions, please share.


Note: This post was edited by a forum moderator to remove signature link which are prohibited in the forums on 07/19/2013 at 1:58 PM PT

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no conversion
Jul 19, 2013 6:57AM PDT

As I previously stated in reply to R. Proffitt, I don't need or want to convert anything to digital text.