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kylera

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Dec 5, 2010
1,195
27
Seoul
Or is the iPad Pro the only such device at its price range?

I know there is the Surface lineup, but the battery life is a bit questionable on that.

EDIT: size is 10" or under.
 
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tbayrgs

macrumors 604
Jul 5, 2009
7,345
4,869
First, what size iPP? 9.7" or 12.9"?

I have the first gen Samsung TabPro S. It's form factor is slightly smaller than the 12.9" iPP, includes a keyboard cover with trackpad, and has pen support (though it's a bluetooth pen on this model). It a full Windows 10 tablet and for productivity, offers you everything Windows is capable off. It has a beautiful, high-res OLED display and pretty good battery life.

That tablet's sequel(s) are set to be released sometime over the next few months I believe--the Galaxy Book models (10" and 12").

I'd also consider the new Samsung Chromebooks (Plus and Pro). They aren't traditional tablets per se, but hybrids with a tablet style format and an onboard stylus. Chrome OS with Android apps, if it they work well (jury still out on this) it a pretty compelling setup, IMO.
 

kylera

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Dec 5, 2010
1,195
27
Seoul
First, what size iPP? 9.7" or 12.9"?

I have the first gen Samsung TabPro S. It's form factor is slightly smaller than the 12.9" iPP, includes a keyboard cover with trackpad, and has pen support (though it's a bluetooth pen on this model). It a full Windows 10 tablet and for productivity, offers you everything Windows is capable off. It has a beautiful, high-res OLED display and pretty good battery life.

That tablet's sequel(s) are set to be released sometime over the next few months I believe--the Galaxy Book models (10" and 12").

I'd also consider the new Samsung Chromebooks (Plus and Pro). They aren't traditional tablets per se, but hybrids with a tablet style format and an onboard stylus. Chrome OS with Android apps, if it they work well (jury still out on this) it a pretty compelling setup, IMO.

I'm thinking 10 inches or under. Should've mentioned that in the first post.

How good would you say is "pretty good" in terms of battery?
 

spinedoc77

macrumors G4
Jun 11, 2009
11,398
5,257
Or is the iPad Pro the only such device at its price range?

I know there is the Surface lineup, but the battery life is a bit questionable on that.

EDIT: size is 10" or under.

If battery life is your concern then the IPP is probably your best bet. I have a surface pro 4 which is infinitely better at what I need, but the battery life is pretty crappy so it's a definite trade off. You may have better luck with a S model Samsung android tablet. Or just wait a bit and see what Apple reveals with the new ipads.
 
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tbayrgs

macrumors 604
Jul 5, 2009
7,345
4,869
And to be clear, I'm not wholly advocating the Samsung tablets I mentioned in lieu of the iPP. I own both a 9.7" and 12.9" version and do just about everything I need to do on a daily basis on them. My TabPro S barely gets a glance. My recommendations were solely from the point of view of getting something besides the iPP. I still recommend either of them as the best tablet experience available at the moment and yes, they can be used for serious work (depending on what you need them to do, of course).
 

Lloydbm41

Suspended
Oct 17, 2013
4,019
1,456
Central California
Or is the iPad Pro the only such device at its price range?

I know there is the Surface lineup, but the battery life is a bit questionable on that.

EDIT: size is 10" or under.
If you are talking tablets and constricting yourself to a mobile OS, then Samsung is the only real competition. If you widen the window to include hybrids and full OS's, then Chromebooks and Surface hybrids are much more compelling, as they provide a real desktop environment that iOS simply can't do... Yet.
 

Shanghaichica

macrumors G5
Apr 8, 2013
14,642
13,143
UK
And to be clear, I'm not wholly advocating the Samsung tablets I mentioned in lieu of the iPP. I own both a 9.7" and 12.9" version and do just about everything I need to do on a daily basis on them. My TabPro S barely gets a glance. My recommendations were solely from the point of view of getting something besides the iPP. I still recommend either of them as the best tablet experience available at the moment and yes, they can be used for serious work (depending on what you need them to do, of course).
I think if you have a mac then yes the use of the iCloud desktop feature would be good. I'm a consumption user and don't do any serious work on my tablets but if I did the lack of a file system would drive me nuts if I didn't have a mac. I think iCloud Drive somewhat negates the need for a file system but only really works if you have multiple Apple devices and a mac.
 

Badrottie

Suspended
May 8, 2011
4,317
336
Los Angeles
My LG G Pad F 8.0 tablet does have a S Pen BUT it lacks android customization (sp?) like Samsung and it is cheap. I must warn you it is underpowered tablet not just Samsung Galaxy Tab S3

IMG_0316.JPG
 

macjunk(ie)

macrumors 6502a
Aug 12, 2009
939
563
None. Samsung plays the same game with tablets as well. In a few months after the release, they forget they ever released one :) Exaggerating. Same problem as with mobiles: slow updates.

The fact (keep reading about this everywhere) that there are not too many tablet optimised apps in Android should also play a role.

During a sale, iPads are surprisingly good value
 

mi7chy

macrumors G4
Oct 24, 2014
10,495
11,155
With the trend with phones getting 6"+ screens and features like DeX, tablets in 2017 will be deader than dead especially running iOS with training wheels.
 

I7guy

macrumors Nehalem
Nov 30, 2013
34,303
24,034
Gotta be in it to win it
With the trend with phones getting 6"+ screens and features like DeX, tablets in 2017 will be deader than dead especially running iOS with training wheels.
Dex is already dead, but what has that got to do with the thread topic and that iPad Pro has the best hands down stylus integration?
 

SigEp265

macrumors 6502a
Dec 15, 2011
953
881
Southern California
I have a galaxy note 10.1 and a galaxy note pro 12.2. They both have an S Pen. While I really enjoy android tablets I fear that the app support for iPad Pro Pencil would be better (better quality apps). However this is just my assumption as I use both Android and iOS on a daily basis. I do not own an iPad Pro however.
 

ozaz

macrumors 68000
Feb 27, 2011
1,589
541
OP - Yes, but it depends on what you value in a tablet.

First you should decide whether or not you value the ability to run desktop class apps. If the answer is no, there is no need to consider Surface or other Windows tablets. You'd probably be best off sticking to iPad Pro unless you have a particular desire to try Android.
 
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mi7chy

macrumors G4
Oct 24, 2014
10,495
11,155
10" is too small for productivity/creativity and too big for one handed use. Also, it lacks professional applications like Photoshop, Illustrator, etc. And, with the Surface Pro 4 Core M3/4GB/128GB frequently on sale for $550 the blown up iPods like the $899 12.9" 4GB/128GB are a tough sell while the 9.7" with only 2GB won't be sufficient for anything complex or large.
 
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nviz22

Cancelled
Jun 24, 2013
5,277
3,071
Tbh, I would go with the Surface if I am even considering the iPad Pro. Battery life isn't everything. x86 programming is much better than iOS battery life to me. If I had waited till now to get a tablet, I would've gone Surface 3 with possibly 8gb RAM if I could've gotten a refurb around $300-$350.

I went with the iPad Mini because of the ecosystem, better battery life for media consumption, and to have something more of a 4:3 aspect when I read case studies and books for class.
 
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