Help Me Decide on What Tablet/Laptop with a Stylus Support I Should Get

iridiumstem on 30/08/2015 - 06:03
Last edited 10/09/2015 - 05:45

As the subject suggests, I am in the market for a new tablet/laptop that supports a stylus input. It's not that urgent though.

I am thinking of grabbing one for basic usage (i.e. word processing (less than 20 pages likely), annotating on PDF (1MB~2MB) using a metro app etc etc). I'd prefer the budget to stay under $1,000 AUD, but I think I can stretch if I must.

I am using a Surface Pro 1. While SP1 does its job rather well, I am thinking of upgrading to something lighter and more portable, possibly with more battery life (I am thinking along the lines of Atom or Core M). I suppose I could try to import a power cover, which I think is hard. I've thought about it, but I think I'd rather grab something lighter.

In short, I am looking for something that's more tablet-y than laptop-y.

I've thought up of a list of tablet/laptop that support stylus.

  • Cube i7 Stylus (Wacom, Core M, approx $600 AUD)
  • ThinkPad 10 (Wacom, Atom Baytrail, $1500 AUD)
  • Galaxy Note Tablet (wait til IFA and see whether they release a new one this time, since 2014 edition is fairly old)
  • Surface 3 (n-trig, Atom Cherry Trail, approx $900 AUD)
  • Asus VivoTab Note 8 (Wacom, Atom Baytrail, approx $250 AUD)
  • Surface Pro 3 (n-trig, i5, approx $1200 AUD)

I guess I could wait for IFA and see announcements from ASUS and Samsung (I have no clue on ASUS products, simply because they were under my radar).

The problem is, I am fairly indecisive and I know for a fact that I've missed fair bit of Lenovo products. I've seen Yoga or Flex line that supports Wacom stylus. Also, I'd like to know any first hand experience on these or something that I've missed (Well, Asus VivoTab Note 8 is something I had my hands on at one point, but other than that, everything else does rely on speculations for me).

tl;dr I am thinking of getting a tablet/laptop with a stylus input under $1,000, please help me decide.

EDIT: I've sat through the Samsung Gear S2 unveil thingy, the new tablet they've mentioned didn't look like it's going to have a stylus support.
EDIT 2: I've sat through the keynote, iPad Pro is not on the list for a good reason.

Computing

Comments

  • frondono on 30/08/2015 - 07:26

    there's a 2 in 1 for sale at the dell outlet. 13 inch inspiron 7000 256gb ssd $999

    http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/product…

    • iridiumstem on 30/08/2015 - 17:23

      I am looking for a one that supports stylus. Thanks for the recommendation though.

  • Diji1 on 30/08/2015 - 12:45

    something that I've missed

    You could consider the Nvidia Shield Tablet although I wouldn't buy it unless you want the gaming capabilities.

    It's screen image quality and pretend active better than passive (but nowhere near active in the sense that most people mean) stylus are not in the same league as Samsung Note series which may make it unsuitable for your consideration. However it is cheap and extremely powerful.

    There's some discussion including my own of how to buy this here: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/155509

    • iridiumstem on 30/08/2015 - 16:31

      I remember that post, I've commented on it before. I've tried the older gen one, they still felt pretty much similar to passive ones, except it sorta does the palm rejection. I don't think it'd be good for my purpose. Thanks for recommendations though :)

  • scrimshaw on 30/08/2015 - 14:20

    I'm actually in the same situation as you OP — ex Surface Pro 1 owner looking for a sleeker device. However I'm holding out to see if there are any cherry trail powered tablets in the budget range (under $500 AUD) that is usable with an active stylus.

    The addition of the stylus means that the tablet is usually marketed as a premium product. I can't seem to find any 'cheap' low end devices that have active stylus input.

    • iridiumstem on 30/08/2015 - 16:28

      For me, Cube i7 Stylus is the one that ticks most of the boxes. Wacom, SSD (that's actually replacable as well), under $1000, etc etc. Since Cherry Trail still doesn't support SSD, I've moved my attention to Core M. I am thinking of something that's reasonably specced at under $1000, even that is hard to find because of the stylus.

      The thing that makes me slightly hesistent is how I fix it when it breaks down and some of the design flaws I've heard about (i.e. Overheating (which can be fixed with some software tweaking), magnetic interference from the microphone which makes top left corner wacom detection slightly off etc).

      I've been also thinking some of the lenovo line, but I have no clue on how good they are (and I've heard bad things about their service, so I want to hear someone who owns a lenovo one with stylus).

  • toristo on 30/08/2015 - 20:19

    I have a Surface Pro 2 and love the stylus on it. Good solid little unit, tad on the heavy side, but positives certainly outweigh the negatives. Beautiful with Windows 10 now.

    • iridiumstem on 30/08/2015 - 21:12

      I am going for something lighter (as I've said, I am moving from Surface Pro 1 for something lighter and with more battery). Thanks for the suggestion though.

  • iridiumstem on 09/09/2015 - 05:19

    Hmmm, I have seen the new rumoured Galaxy View from IFA, but I don't think it'd be the one that I want to get.

  • SummerZero on 08/10/2015 - 14:54

    How did you go with your search? What did you end up going for? I'm looking for the same thing.

    • iridiumstem on 11/10/2015 - 23:38

      :P I've decided to hold on until the next gen devices come out.
      Surface Pro 4 I think would be what I'd go for if it weren't so pricy, that said, Lenovo Miix 700 looked promising as well.
      New XPS series were promising too, along with few other devices from here and there.
      So I am planning on waiting them and see how they come out in Australia.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join