i was looking but all the cheaper laptops are smaller resolutions.

one of the reasons we went for the acer iconia was due to it being 1080p which i will use for remote play on PS4 when i get one. most laptops are much lower resolution

Re: Iconia

IMO the new case and keyboard is better than the dock too. oddly the case and dock are almost as heavy as the tablet though

http://techcrash.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/13635_111.jpg

me and the mrs certainly love ours.

Re: Not sure what these are pitched at.

i was going to get a nexus 10 but after 3 weeks waiting for the larger HDD one i starting looking elsewhere.

my issues with android is that its a clat to use NAS in the way i like. i also tried a samsung android tablet and it couldnt even handle my HD video without stuttering.

of course any windows AD etc will work as long as you get windows Pro. i use NAS all the time at home and i just find it much nicer to use than ios or android. plus i much prefer to drag and drop music from NAS and IMO this is far superior to android or ios in this respect.

in fairness each touch enabled OS has its annoyances and kwerks. its just picking the one that will allow you to work how you want.

remember, a windows 8 (not RT) tablet isnt just a method to consume. you can have any normal windows software on it. i can even run mine as a webserver if i like. the mrs uses ours for her coursework too.

for my parents i would say android or ios as its more basic and user friendly. for anyone wanting the most from a tablet i would say go win8. i find ios annoyingly locked down and i hate itunes with a passion. its just garbage. i know there are alternatives but i shouldnt have to fudge around to do the basics.

Re: 12 months ago

i dont agree. 12 months ago little or no tablets were available that compared to an ipad. these days there are loads that pee all over ipads from a great height.

my tablet maybe cost £150 more than a cheap laptop and its much more flexible. i can game on it. mrs does her H&S assignments on it. i can use photoshop, steam, office etc.

the thing is, does business really need touch? i know all the execs want ipads but how many actually use them for anything other than email and web? they are also a pain to admin at times too.

Re: The way I see it

do you mean surface pro as my tablet is home premium and its fine for what i need. the only thing pro has that i would like is ability to backup to NAS. not sure why that is a PRO feature annoyingly.

i do agree that RT seems a total waste of space.

i guess RT devices will be more stable as less likelihood of 3rd parts apps buggering up your system as RT is a walled garden isnt it? (correct me if im wrong).

agreed. for general stuff touch is adequate and brilliant at certain things (there is a good cheap/free game called Armed! that is quite fun if a little basic compared to C&C AOE etc)

i have tried to use a stylus but its not that great on my tablet. no digitiser? but i have a wacom tablet that i never use anyway :)

the keyboard is useful but annoyingly with it being BT you cannot use it until windows boots meaning no safe mode or bios stuff. you need a USB/wireless keyboard for that.

Re: Surely a more appropriate name would be

i can have as many windows open as i like. in desktop mode.

Re: 8.1?

i guess. oddly i can plug in the keyboard to the tablet's USB port to charge but it doesnt make it a USB keyboard. crazy eh?

Re: Will "Windows"™ brand OS offers Windows again

i have a touch screen tablet (not RT) and its pretty decent for that.

there are some really poor decisions though and i have had to wipe it and restore after only 3 weeks. i think that might have been all the hacking just to change the bloody window titles to white as i prefer a dark menu bar.

i would also like them to fix the issue when you display all desktop items at 150% etc. a few apps totally screw up with this setting on but using 1080p on an 11.6" screen is a bit small for touch.

you do have to wonder why they made some of the decisions that they did. some are good and some are just plain mental.

Re: Education - Closed Source Priorietary systems ARE evil

how useful is that in the real world though?

as much as i admire your train of thought teaching kids stuff they will not use outside of school seems to be counter intuitive.

when they leave school they will work in offices using windows and office or mac and photoshop etc. unless they are server admins they will never see linux again, most probably.

of course i guess we could change this but then you have millions of linux distros so if they learn on one its not like the next linux machine they will use will be intuitive.

linux also needs to get rid of the stupid names half of its programs are called, as does android. im trying to teach my dad who has onset dementia and parkinsons how to use his tablet and when he asks how to use the web its bloody stupid i cannot rename chrome to 'internet'. little things like this really dont help.

at least on my win8 hp tablet (acer iconia tab w700) i can rename all the tiles and have metro for touch and full blown windows for the backend stuff. not that win8 is perfect, i have had loads of issues but not sure if its the OS or the hardware at the moment.

Re: erm laptops?

you can get an i3 laptop for around £300. so im guessing with mass rates that would be the same as ipads for all.

Re: Bar Steward

what would these wankers know about that? their parents couldnt wait to ship them off to a posh boarding school, all paid for by inherited wealth.

i wonder how many of them have ever done a hard day's work in their lives

Re: helping those who want to work hard

and why they are in government.

especially when locally 2 paedophiles were spared jail. both were for distributing pornographic images of kids.

in the same paper a man got 5 years for having some weed plants in his house.

our laws need a massive rethink. suddenly weed is more harmful than child porn??

Re: Plenty of hardware available.

im not sure motion gaming is the way forward myself either. i am more interested with the other stuff like facial recognition and speech recognition in gaming.

i play a fair bit of fifa offline yet with mates in the house it is always more interesting, why? because with 2 people v the cpu you can actually form an attack. so, why not have things like shouting 'left wing' or 'far post' etc will make players listen to your commands.

even stuff like changing ammo types in guns - like judge dredd - would be cool.

i say all this as someone who owns PS Move and rarely used it, apart from killzone3 which was kinda fun with the rifle attachment.

Re: no acer iconia w700?

haha. yeah, possibly fanboys.

i have played with ipads. too limited and locked down for me (i have an iphone though). i was going to buy a nexus10 but after 2 weeks no 32gb was still available so i started looking elsewhere and found these for a bit more. i was also unable to find out if i could do a few specific things on android that i knew i could do in windows. plus i can install photoshop on it :)

IIRC you can use a basic stylus on ipads, or any capacitive touch screens. i got my dad one for his galaxy tab 2 and its ok for basic stuff. sure, it cant compete with a wacom digitizer tablet but then again, its much cheaper!

Re: no acer iconia w700?

i guess price? the acer is a fair bit cheaper than the asus ones with a digitiser.

i have tried mine with a cheapo stylus and it worked ok but obviously not as precise as my old wacom drawing tablet thingy.

i have ordered one of the weird styluses with a clear rubber tip but its not here yet so i cant give you a review.

http://www.dagi-stylus.com/us/index.php?page=shop.product_details&category_id=1&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=59&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=208&vmcchk=1&Itemid=208

im sure this will be good enough for what i need to do. just messing around sketching really.

Re: £399 for full Win8

depends on how you look at it.

my mrs uses our win8hp tablet all the time and never sees the desktop. yet i can use 'metro' for some apps and go into desktop for any power user stuff i want to do.

win8 with touch does need some tweaking though and there are some glaringly obvious things that needed to be included.

i can do far more on my win8 tablet than is possible on android or ios so im happy.

Re: no acer iconia w700?

why the thumbs down?

apple are ok (my iphone is decent) but i wanted something a fair bit more usable than an ipad. and i hate itunes its such a ball ache to use.

Re: @I ain't Spartacus

cheers again. from what i have read surface RT still lets you access windows desktop too. am i wrong here?

ive tried win8 pro on a laptop (non touchscreen) and it wasnt to my liking but im thinking for basic web, music, office, email etc it will be fine for him.

cheers for your help mate! merry christmas!

Re: @I ain't Spartacus

cheers again I ain't Spartacus

talked to dad last night and he wants office on the tablet. after looking it seems surface RT comes with basic office, which will do him.

also talked stylus as his right side is knackered now i think a stylus isnt going to be of any use.

also said a physical keyboard might be better for him. plus at least he knows how to use windows so looking like surface RT with the better keyboard might be the best option.

thanks for your help guys!

Re: @I ain't Spartacus

I ain't Spartacus - cheers bud.

yeah, i need to look into surface. is it just the metro or is the desktop available? i was thinking about that earlier.

stylus might or might not be good. i just dont know. he used to be a draughtsman and decent artist until this bloody terrible disease.

does anyone know of any shops that have all these tablets to look at? is surface RT available to buy offline (i.e. shops?)

Re: @I ain't Spartacus

cheers Jason Hall

i think sound quality is the least of his worries!

Re: any recommendations for a 70 year old with parkinsons?

good call Michael Sauerbrey

might let him try my iphone, see how he does with a touch screen.

he has asymmetrical parkinson's so his left side isnt as badly affected as the right. pity for him he was right handed!

quite a few people on AVF are looking into them and most of those guys have a decent 5.1-7.1 setup.

you would be surprised how many people have HC these days. dont forget that for the time being the Wii-u is the most powerful console so a few people are getting one. i must admit after buying a wii a few years ago i wont be making that mistake again.

Re: i wonder if sony will allow people to use a vita in the same way?

move is pretty decent for FPS and stuff like that. not as good as mouse but way better than console pad. pity not many devs make use of it.

Re: The Bridge on the River Kwai

got very bad reviews from many. some says its ok. ive not heard anyone say its better than the PV version.

Re: The Other Guys and esolving limits

depends on your eyes. i can clearly see the difference between 720p and 1080p at around 6-7ft. and thats without my glasses! with my specs on (rarely use them) its crystal clear.

but then again i could never watch 60hz CRT monitors, when most people i worked with couldnt see the flicker. i guess some people just have a more anal eye

i really want a 4k glasses free 3d TV. might be a while though!

Re: The Bridge on the River Kwai

they can scan in analogue film to any resolution. IIRC they are doing some at 8k now already!

most big blockbusters are now filmed on 4k cameras too.

Re: But but but....

BF had vehicles first. although IIRC bungie, before they were bought by MS or MS bought Halo, was the first to talk about putting it in a game. i remember being stoked for halo then a year before release MS got the exclusivity.

then you want RPG not FPS... they are different animals. i like both as they offer different things. FPS these days are often mainly online with a tacked on single player (such as Battlefield before it sold out)

try deus ex, mass effect, skyrim, fallout etc.

a fallout online game would be amazing

i must admit i do prefer the more intelligent games where my actions decide my fate further on.

i dont buy a football game and complain its not got enough shooting ;)

Re: As 'deep' as Star Wars?

getting off with your sister deep maybe?

Re: Out of the two.

cheers chris.

farcry3 does look good.

Re: A mix

kz3 and the move and sharpshooter rifle was a blast. best FPS fun on a console :)

pity the servers went for couple of months not too long after the game was released. never picked it back up after that. still need to finish the single player too!

Re: Out of the two.

but do i need to play 1&2 to understand 3?