Laptop / Tablet Hybrid - Searching for Goldilocks Device

northtexas55693

Estimable
Feb 11, 2014
1
0
4,510
I got a new job as a commercial construction manager several months ago.

I am currently using a B&N Nook HD+ tablet that was given to me for free from a relative when I got my new job.
Wow, what a crappy tablet you say? You would be correct. I'm in suck city right now.

So I've been searching in vain for something that will work for me; hence why I am here now.

Needs (in order of importance):
1) USB port to allow thumb drive use
2) Physical keyboard (either native or add on, prefer non BT keyboards)
3) Snappy performance (quick loads, no bogging down when switching apps/uses)
4) Ability to communicate with and xfer files between my phones - Note 4 and GS5
5) Ability to draw on pictures (MSPaint style) and send out to engineers/clients
6) Ability to view PDF's, Excel, and Word. Ability to edit Excel and Word
7) Ability to charge in the field (I have a 300W power inverter so a standard plug would be OK)

I don't want to buy another data plan for this device as I have a good amount of data already for my phones so I can phone hotspot or xfer from device to phone and send out.

My price point is somewhere in the $200 - $500 range.

No apple products at all
Prefer to stay away from windows OS as I would have to buy another Office license (or at least I think I would have to)
Android OS preferred
Less well known brands don't scare me. I just want performance and function.

Used devices doesn't scare me either.
If a high dollar/high performance device was made a year or two ago and it now can be picked up used in my price range that would work.

Durability of device isn't too much of a factor. It will mostly be used in my truck (out of elements and little drop risk)

Thanks for any help/guidance you may provide.









 
Solution
OpenOffice is a free Windiows office suite alternative to MS Office. It can open simple MS Office files as long as they do not contain any macros or VBA code.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/openofficeorg.mirror/


Perhaps a Dell Venue 11 Pro will do for you. You can buy a refurbished one for $380 (256GB SSD & 1 year warranty), or $290 (128GB SSD & 90 day warranty) from ebay. It is more powerful than Asus Transformer because it uses a Core i5 Y series CPU which is more powerful than the Bay Trail generation Atom CPU the Asus uses. It also has more higher storage capacity and is SSD instead of the slower eMMC solid state storage technology which is basically a bit faster than a 5400RPM hard drive. It also has an active digitizer (for...
OpenOffice is a free Windiows office suite alternative to MS Office. It can open simple MS Office files as long as they do not contain any macros or VBA code.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/openofficeorg.mirror/


Perhaps a Dell Venue 11 Pro will do for you. You can buy a refurbished one for $380 (256GB SSD & 1 year warranty), or $290 (128GB SSD & 90 day warranty) from ebay. It is more powerful than Asus Transformer because it uses a Core i5 Y series CPU which is more powerful than the Bay Trail generation Atom CPU the Asus uses. It also has more higher storage capacity and is SSD instead of the slower eMMC solid state storage technology which is basically a bit faster than a 5400RPM hard drive. It also has an active digitizer (for digital pen) which may or may not be useful.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Venue-11-Pro-4th-Gen-i5-4300Y-8GB-DDR3-256GB-10-8-Win-8-1-Pro-Wi-Fi-Tablet-/271937288867?hash=item3f50b9baa3:g:YMYAAOSwF1dUNboD
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Venue-11-Pro-4th-Gen-i5-4300Y-1-6GHz-128GB-10-8-Win-8-1-Pro-Wi-Fi-Tablet-/271937259522?hash=item3f50b94802:g:z6MAAOSwLVZVr8dj

You can buy the keyboard for it from Amazon for $116 as well as the active digitizer pen for $32. The pen is not necessary, but if you want to write / draw then it comes in handy. I think it uses Intrigue not Wacom tech.

http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Tablet-Keyboard-Mobile-Venue/dp/B00GEC7QPA
http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Active-Stylus-Tablets-750-AAGN/dp/B00Q9CQ7OQ/ref=pd_sim_147_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=0139EY0CME2Q1YK2WD2Y&dpID=31aZZ6bH8WL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_


Review:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTqb_tfdqo0
 
Solution