{"id":1525,"date":"2012-11-13T18:07:58","date_gmt":"2012-11-13T18:07:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.oneminutetodolist.com\/blog\/?p=1525"},"modified":"2013-09-13T10:42:41","modified_gmt":"2013-09-13T17:42:41","slug":"still-a-two-pc-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.michaellinenberger.com\/blog\/still-a-two-pc-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Still a Two-PC World"},"content":{"rendered":"

November 11, 2012<\/strong><\/p>\n

One thing is becoming clear to me as I use the Windows 8 tablet part of the day: I am going to be living in a two device world for a while\u2014I\u2019ll be using both a \u201cfull sized\u201d Windows machine, and a small Windows 8 tablet. No matter what tablet brand or model I buy, I think that using two devices is inevitable for some time to come.<\/p>\n

Hybrids Are Too Heavy<\/strong><\/p>\n

I know a lot of us hoped that with Windows 8 we\u2019d merge a tablet and PC into one hybrid device. And while that is happening to some extent, for me it is clear I\u2019ll still need two machines. Why?<\/p>\n

Well, I feel a tablet should be something you can easily hold in one hand, read a book on it, scan the web while holding it standing up, etc. The iPad sizing set the standards for that, many Android tablets followed sized the same, and the new Surface RT meets that size need as well.<\/p>\n

But a PC that allows me to do all<\/em> my real work in all<\/em> my applications needs more. It needs to have a screen 12 inches minimum (hopefully larger), and at least 256 gig of storage space. The trouble is, today, even the best laptops or hybrid tablets that meet those specs (e.g. those based on the Win 7 or 8 Ultrabook specs, with ample solid state storage), are going to weigh at or over 3 pounds\u2014they are just too heavy for one-handed tablet use.<\/p>\n

10-inch Tablets\u2014Not For All Work<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now, I may be a bit unusual in that I consistently use heavy-duty Adobe software like Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and even InDesign\u2014so I need size. Some of you may be fine full time on a 10 inch screen. But not me, and I think a lot of you are in the same boat.<\/p>\n

One solution might be to just plug a large external monitor into a 10 inch tablet when you need to do my real work. Maybe, but are we all going to pack a monitor when we travel ? Many of us do real work on the road too. Well if that\u2019s the solution, then you might as well bring a laptop instead. And no iPad-sized tablets yet have over 128 gig of disk space.<\/p>\n

No, I need a full-sized laptop and<\/em> a separate small tablet\u2014and no machine is going to meet both sets of needs fully, even though some new devices claim to, as we’ll see next.<\/p>\n

New Devices Don\u2019t Do Both<\/strong><\/p>\n

For example, take the Lenovo Yoga just released. It is being praised as a device having uncompromised laptop power, with the ability to take a Widows 8 tablet format. But read the reviews and it sounds like it actually meets neither. Here\u2019s what you hear: while light for a laptop (3.4 pounds), it\u2019s still way too heavy to hold in one hand while reading. As to power, the processor and screen is good, but the 128 gig of solid state hard drive space (max available) is reportedly sucked up almost entirely by the needs of Windows and Office and other installed apps, leaving only about 50 gigs for everything else you want to add. It\u2019s not a true tablet and not a workhorse laptop. Sure, we could wait for a similar machine with more storage, but it still won’t be a tablet.<\/p>\n

Surface Pro Not Beefy Enough<\/strong><\/p>\n

What about Microsoft\u2019s Surface Pro (due out Q1 2013) or Lenovo\u2019s Thinkpad 2 (due out Nov 16). Those are very light weight, (about 1.5 pounds to 2 pounds) and since they are Windows Pro machines they\u2019ll potentially run everything, so is this the solution?<\/p>\n

Well, I think these are getting closer; I suspect their weight will support the tablet feel, and for some people, the other specs may be all they need. But you\u2019ll still have a very small screen and storage will max out at 128 gig (64 gig for the Thinkpad 2). So they won\u2019t be the holy grail of a combined power laptop and tablet. I’ll still need to keep my beefy laptop.<\/p>\n

I Still Want a Windows 8 Pro Tablet<\/strong><\/p>\n

But an iPad-sized Windows 8 Pro tablet will still be hugely important to me and others\u2014I am definitely going to get one. Why? Because they\u2019ll extend the time I do not need to switch off the tablet and move back to my full-power laptop. Two main reasons for that: Desktop Outlook will run on them, and IE will accept plugins on them (most IE plugins are not allowed in the Surface RT, and many of us need plugins for our work).<\/p>\n

So the solution? I think most of us still need two machines. A three to four pound 13 inch Ultrabook (Windows 8, or Windows 7 with ample RAM and storage), and then a very lightweight 10-inch Windows 8 tablet like the Surface RT by Microsoft. (Yes, an iPad could be an option here, but I like the Surface RT better<\/a>). [Sept 2013 update: I now think a Bay Trail Atom-based Windows Pro tablet<\/a> would be a better choice than the Surface RT]<\/p>\n

These two devices\u2014an Ultrabook and an iPad sized tablet\u2014will both easily fit in your briefcase with a total weight and thickness less than last year\u2019s single laptop.<\/p>\n

Having two such devices really is the way to get the best of both worlds\u2014please don\u2019t try to do it all with one hybrid device.<\/p>\n

Michael<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

November 11, 2012 One thing is becoming clear to me as I use the Windows 8 tablet part of the day: I am going to be living in a two device world for a while\u2014I\u2019ll be using both a \u201cfull … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michaellinenberger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michaellinenberger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michaellinenberger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaellinenberger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaellinenberger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1525"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaellinenberger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1531,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaellinenberger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1525\/revisions\/1531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michaellinenberger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaellinenberger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaellinenberger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}