Amiga.org
The "Not Quite Amiga but still computer related category" => Alternative Operating Systems => Topic started by: XDelusion on December 30, 2014, 10:57:59 PM
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Hello, I made a post forever ago that I can't find. What I was asking about at the time was one of those Windows 8.1 based Tablet/Laptop devices that ran on a 64-bit processor, thus giving it compatibility with my Windows 7 and XP software (in theory).
Well I am back, I forget what model of Laptop/Tablet was suggested, but I recall a few people swearing by one in particular that worked very very well, but at the time the price tag was very high.
The price range I am looking for is around $600 or less. I do not want anything HP, and I want to make sure it's not something that is going to die shortly after the warranty has expired.
Any help is always appreciated!
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What screen size, and does the keyboard have to be part of the computer or a separate bluetooth one?
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What screen size, and does the keyboard have to be part of the computer or a separate bluetooth one?
10" or better, and the keyboard does not have to be physically attached per say, though it does need to have USB ports and everything like a real laptop. In other words, the ability to use it just like a laptop should they want to. Mice are nice! :)
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The ASUS Vivotab Smart ME400C-C2-BK 10.1-Inch 64GB Tablet goes for $329 on Amazon with:
- Windows 8, 10.1" with Multi-Touch Screen WXGA (1366x768) ScreenIPS Panel
- Intel® Atom Z2760 Dual-Core @ 1.8GHz, 2 GB DDR3, 64 GB Storage
- WLAN 802.11 b/g/n @ 2.4GHz, Bluetooth V4.0, 2 MP Front Camera, 8 MP Rear Camera
- Stereo Speakers, 1 x 2-in-1 Audio Jack (Headphone / Mic-in), 1 x micro HDMI, 1 x Micro USB, 1 x Micro SD Card Reader(SDHC), G-Sensor, Light Sensor, Gyroscope, E-compass, Hall sensor, NFC
The MicroUSB port comes with a OTG to regular USB cable I believe. The Atom CPU isn't all that snappy, but trades cost for performance. Boots quickly and with added Bluetooth keyboard and mouse works ok.
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Oops, I just googled the CPU specs and it is a 32-bit running 32-bit Win 8.1
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Oops, I just googled the CPU specs and it is a 32-bit running 32-bit Win 8.1
That one is too close to a tablet anyhow to be quite honest. Good price though.
The other thing is that I'm looking for something people here have had some experience with, or know for sure is considered to be reliable amongst circles within the tech world.
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You may want to look to China rather than Taiwan to keep an i3 or better less than $600
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Only 8.1 tablet I find worthwhile using is the Surface 3, tbh. However, it's by no means a budget device, and quite frankly by the time you get it spec'ed out in mid to high end level, the cost exceeds what a fairly high end laptop costs.
There's some budget ones with Atom CPU's in them, but I find the Atom powered ones so woefully weak that I wouldn't recommend them in the least.
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These don't appear to be terrible
http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/flex-series/
Although the form factor might not be quite what you were thinking as it doesn't fold flat.
The Yoga 2 13 is a little more expensive (the other Yoga models are a lot more expensive) and might be what you're looking for.
http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/yoga-laptop-series/
I think you'll struggle to find anything branded for $600 and that makes it unlikely it will last longer than the warranty.
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@danbeaver
how do you want to reach compatibility to win7 application base on 32bit arm device?
obviously the device in question is surface pro, whatever version. it is a touch device with a reasonably large high resolution screen and pressure sensitive stylus, an i5 processor, good expandability through wlan, bluetooth, usb3 and few other options and win8. the drawback is low capacity internal ssd. but all in all very dependable device with good backward compatibility. im writing this from surface pro 1 i own since more than a year and am using underway for all my computer tasks like digital imaging or compiling amiga stuff under vmware debian.
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These don't appear to be terrible
http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/flex-series/
Although the form factor might not be quite what you were thinking as it doesn't fold flat.
The Yoga 2 13 is a little more expensive (the other Yoga models are a lot more expensive) and might be what you're looking for.
http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/yoga-laptop-series/
I think you'll struggle to find anything branded for $600 and that makes it unlikely it will last longer than the warranty.
Thanks, I am not familiar with Lenovo or their products, but I'll read up on these puppies!
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Thanks, I am not familiar with Lenovo or their products, but I'll read up on these puppies!
i owned lenovo notebooks, in fact i still have one, but top models are too expensive in comparison to features and they use to break down when used extensively just as cheaper devices. i woulnt invest much money there anymore. surface i bought was exactly within 600 price range, i doubt that will be the case with a corresponding model of lenovo.
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@danbeaver
how do you want to reach compatibility to win7 application base on 32bit arm device?
The one he listed was a 32bit atom, which is x86.
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@danbeaver
how do you want to reach compatibility to win7 application base on 32bit arm device?
The one he listed was a 32bit atom (Z2760) which runs x86.
But for $600 or less you're looking at arm, unless you find something second hand/on clearance/ebay which is irrelevant to the question.
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Thank you Psxphill,
Wawrzon, I don't believe Intel believes in the ARM architecture having invested money on there own design, although Microsoft has Windows 8.1 RT, which is not really useful except for Cerfing the web and light tasks.
There are Intel based tablet/laptops below $600 and plenty of laptops in that range, but you will be looking at non-familiar names on AliExpress or similar. A good tablet paired with a typable keyboard in a fitting cover is the cheapest option, but finding a powerful enough CPU for quick response on a bloated OS is the true problem. C'est la vie!
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Toshiba portege M930
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There are Intel based tablet/laptops below $600 and plenty of laptops in that range, but you will be looking at non-familiar names on AliExpress or similar. A good tablet paired with a typable keyboard in a fitting cover is the cheapest option, but finding a powerful enough CPU for quick response on a bloated OS is the true problem. C'est la vie!
Ok, you can get an unbranded i3 or Celeron with 2gb of ram for less than $600. I'm not sure I'd want to run 64 bit windows 8.1 on that.
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They are very popular at the moment. I doubt you will get a discount. If you don't run anything graphics intensive the atom was adequate. The lower price and 11 hour battery might make up for the lack of cpu power.
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If you don't run anything graphics intensive the atom was adequate
The cheap atom tablets seem to be 32 bit only and he wanted 64 bit (yes intel do seem to be making 32 bit only cpu's still).
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The Atom comes it 64-bit flavors too
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There are 64 bit Atom CPU's now, but they are every bit as miserably slow as their 32 bit counterparts, imo. I wouldn't touch one with a ten foot pole, anyways - Atom CPU's have always been woefully underpowered, even compared to the lowest of low end Celeron chips.
Intel are now boasting that the latest Atom chips run circles around the Apple A7 chips, which I always found was akin to comparing apples and oranges, pardon the pun.
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ok, i actually had not thought about $ but €. and it was a bit of discount when i bought my surface pro, becase surface pro 2 was about to be released, but so far i remember it was somewhere around 650 for ssd 64gb version, i may have paid extra for the 128gb one. still i dont know what surface pro 3 is going for. im fully satisfied customer so far, not going to upgrade any soon ;)
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still i dont know what surface pro 3 is going for.
It depends on the configuration, they go from 64GB+i3, 128GB+i5, 256GB+i5, 256GB+i7 to 512GB+i7. In the UK
http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/ipad-tablets-and-ereaders/tablets/microsoft-surface-pro-3-12-tablet-64-gb-10026041-pdt.html?#cat-0
MICROSOFT Surface Pro 3 12" Tablet - 64 GB Intel® Core™ i3 Processor £639.00
or
http://www.johnlewis.com/microsoft-surface-pro-3-intel-core-i7-8gb-ram-windows-8-1-pro-12-512gb-wi-fi-silver/p1655521?sku=233928794&kpid=233928794&s_kenid=256b678c-87dc-7949-d359-00006ed722d5&s_kwcid=402x33637&tmad=c&tmcampid=73&kpid=233928794
Microsoft Surface Pro 3, Intel Core i7, 8GB RAM, Windows 8.1 Pro, 12", 512GB, Wi-Fi, Silver for £1,649.00
If you're a student then Microsoft will sell you one cheaper (£575.10 for the smallest i3). But that is 895 dollars (although Microsoft pricing in dollars is likely to be completely different). It's hard to get Microsoft or google to give you a dollar price outside of the us (or I can't figure out how to....) but amazon have the cheap i3 on sale for $778.78. So it still is way over the budget that he set and it's nearly $200 to go for the i5 (which is the only way to get more than 64gb of storage).
http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Surface-Pro-Intel-Core/dp/B00KHQWPZA
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How about the ASUS Flip 15.6-Inch 2-in-1 Convertible Touchscreen Laptop (Core i3)?
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How about the ASUS Flip 15.6-Inch 2-in-1 Convertible Touchscreen Laptop (Core i3)?
It seems really slow and low quality. You should be able to find something better for the money.
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Well, I'm not going to measure your "pole," but as I said earlier the Atom just runs Win 8 "OK." It exist to run crappy OS's on weak hardware for a long time with poor graphics, but in my case I needed a cheap win tablet to get thru a poorly designed VPN using IE to access labs while I was making rounds.
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High end Asus stuff is great, but I wouldn't touch the low end stuff.
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Is that with your 10 foot pole?
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Could be, buddy, could be. It's a ten foot pole, after all, lots of wiggle room.
I haven't had any luck with low end Asus gear, it's always ill mannered, plasticky crap that's poorly designed. And I use Asus stuff exclusively on the desktop (gfx cards, mobos).
The Asus C7 laptop on the other hand is damned near perfect.