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Shiny New Things: 9 Windows Tablets

John Obeto

Actually soon to be 10 tablets!

We are currently in possession of 9 – yes, NINE! – Windows Tablets here at AbsolutelyWindows and Logikworx.

As part of our testing to determine which tablet would work for us, and by proxy, our clients, I authorized my staff to acquire a selection of Windows Tablets for testing internally.

Resultantly, the following devices were procured:

    • Acer Iconia Tab
    • Asus ME400c
    • Dell XPS-10
    • HP ElitePad 900
    • Lenovo IdeaPad
    • Lenovo ThinkPad
    • Microsoft Surface RT
    • Microsoft Surface Pro
    • Samsung ATIV

All these devices are in our possession.

Just this morning, I ordered the 8” Acer Iconia W3 Windows 8 tablet to add to the mix.

For baselines, we also have the Amazon Kindle Fire HD, and the iPad Mini.

Why so many tablets?
Apart for planning for the advent of BYOD, and making sure we are ready for it, I believe Windows 8 tablets are products we can easily slipstream into our clients’ current infrastructures with nary a support, security or management hiccup.

Coupled with the fact the Windows tablets would allow companies to really segment knowledge workers according to their work functions, and you see why they’d be desirable in SMBs.

At this point in time, short of a total and quite unforeseen meltdown, I believe Microsoft Surface Pro will be the high end product we recommend, and support, especially having purchases about two dozen Surface Pro units so far.

At Logikworx we will be purchasing a minimum of 400 total units over the next year to seed to clients and prime prospects. it would really suck if we recommended a product that turned out to be unworthy, and/or worse, a support nightmare.

Why not HP & Microsoft Surface Pro?
In a nutshell, HP’s fence-straddling with Windows Tablets.

Meanwhile, HP’s seemingly (obviously?) boneheaded flirtations with Android tablets the lack of a truly whiz-bang device in this space. At first blush, while capable, the ElitePad 900 seems ho-hum, basically a middle-of-the-road device. Hopefully, the tests will prove me wrong.

Testing will take place with 5 members of my staff in Los Angeles, and my CompSci undergraduate nephew here in Colorado. The devices will be rotated between all users, and once a winner or winners are selected, I will post a blog on the selection here.

As devices are added, I will update this post with a pointer to the updated material.

© 2002 – 2013, John Obeto for Blackground Media Unlimited

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