Tablet vs. Chromebook vs. ???

[smoke665]

I bought a small Chromebook for DW a few years ago, she hated it, because everything was backwards from what she knew based on her use of a PC. Sold it a week later and bought her a 13" Dell, which she used up until recently when she decided to upgrade to another Dell with a SSD. She now has a 2 in 1 Dell 13" and loves it, offers the best of both worlds for her use. It's very compact, light, fast, and Windows, so everything is familiar for her.

Anything PC needs the SSD, or you'll pull your hair out waiting on it to boot. 13" sounds big but it's not really. Myself personally, use a much bigger laptop and a Samsung tablet (android) . For me it's a nice step between cellphone and computer.

I see Samsung has a S5e Tab 6 Tab 7 and Tab 7 Plus. Other than size, am I really getting anything better for the more expensive and larger sizes?

I have the Samsung Tab A with 8" screen, it does all I ask and will work with LR mobile though I don't like the mobile version, so I don't use it. For email, surfing web, and a few apps it works well. I don't have one, but you can get a blue tooth keyboard that will work with just about any tablet. Amazon.com : Tablet Keyboards As you can see they aren't that expensive. You can get the Tab A in a WIFI version only or in a version that works with a subscription plan to any of the major wireless carriers. I only use the WIFI version, because having a cell phone with hot spot capability made it redundant.

 

[AlanKlein]

Thanks foir the info everyone. I just found out that the Samsung S7 Tablet doesn't have a GPS, only the S5e does. I'd like to use a tablet in the car to see where I'.m at and where I'm going. It works in coordination with TPE The Photographer Ephemeris. So I need a GPS too built in. I could also then use it to navigate using my cellphone as a hot spot. How would I find out that I can load LR 6 purchased on it and have the extra second right to do that?

 

[AlanKlein]

Go with a brand x tablet. Chromebook is just a tablet, (or laptop), with Google's version of an operating system on it. It's the only difference. Will it work, sure, will it come with all the bloatware, adware and spyware that Google infects everything with, you betcha.

Asus makes a nice 10 inch tablet that has a detachable keyboard and runs Windows 10 home. I use one for travel and other than it's tiny size it's a duplicate of everything I have on my work PC. All my Office apps, One Drive shares, etc. And since you have a LR license you can install it since it's a windows OS. I forget how many installs you get, but I have it on 2 devices now.

For a tablet with a pen/stylus Samsung Galaxy Note is a good choice. The stylus has a button on it that works like a mouse click. But as an Android OS, not sure about LR on it.

But honestly, after typing the 10th long email on that touch screen you'll be wishing you had a keyboard.

Almost all tablets will connect with WiFi, Bluetooth and 4G/5G as an option.

Get one with all the ram you can, and add a micro SD card as well no matter what brand/model you get. You can never have enough memory.

Will the ASUS with Window 10 or Microsoft Surface with Windows handle regular apps from the Google store like The Photographer Ephemeris, navigations, etc? Do they even have GPS's?

 

[smoke665]

How would I find out that I can load LR 6 purchased on it and have the extra second right to do that?

I have no idea on LR6 I tend to keep in memory things I need and discard the old. Just so you know the LR mobile app is free for Android or Apple Download Lightroom for mobile | Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for mobile

 

[Rickbb]

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Will the ASUS with Window 10 or Microsoft Surface with Windows handle regular apps from the Google store like The Photographer Ephemeris, navigations, etc? Do they even have GPS's?

I doubt an android app will run on Windows without some serious tweaking, installing an simulation OS app, etc. More trouble than its worth.

You can get a USB GPS for Windows, they work well, used one for years until phones maps grew up and became reliable.

 

[smoke665]

like The Photographer Ephemeris, navigations, etc?

I doubt you'd have much success with running an android app on a windows machine, however I have The Photographer Ephemeris on my laptop, it's a free web access Photo Ephemeris which wouldn't be a problem if you have a cell phone that you can hot spot. As to location, you can either enter the location manually or click on the tab to use your current location.

 

[AlanKlein]

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Will the ASUS with Window 10 or Microsoft Surface with Windows handle regular apps from the Google store like The Photographer Ephemeris, navigations, etc? Do they even have GPS's?

I doubt an android app will run on Windows without some serious tweaking, installing an simulation OS app, etc. More trouble than its worth.

You can get a USB GPS for Windows, they work well, used one for years until phones maps grew up and became reliable.

Do you know if Google maps and navigation will "see" the plugin GPS on a Windows 10 operating computer? How about a Tablet like Microsoft Surface Pro 7 or Samsung 7 tablet? The Samsung S5e has a GPS but it's not a very powerful tablet.

 

[AlanKlein]

So I'm back to Samsung to match my cellphone but with the Tablet S5e with it's built in GPS. I guess what I'm looking for in the end is a large screen in place of my tiny cellphone screen and a keyboard to use at home while I'm sitting on the couch. Or I can use it on the road when I'm driving, hiking, or shooting landscapes to select locations. store them, find them, and use TPE and other apps on my phone currently. Phone apps with a big screen.

 

[AlanKlein]

Fancy apps like LR I can do I my desktop.

 

[smoke665]

@AlanKlein LR mobile is a scaled down version of LR I only used it for the minor stuff. The reason I don't use it now is that its a PITA on always trying to synchronize with the full version, which in turn brings LR to a crawl. /crawl.

As to keyboard as I said earlier there's any number of options available, including compact foldup/rollup. I just never found it that big a deal to type what I needed on my tablet.......but then again, it's a matter of using the right tool for the job.

On GPS my Samsung came preloaded with a compass app that automatically shows the coordinates and elevation of my current location. I think most cells have a similar function app. Any device hotspotted to that cell should use those coordinates, but bear in mind that the coordinates are based off cell phone towers and may be inaccurate. I also have a Garmin handheld for tracking that actually uses satellites to triangulate a position. Most of the GPS mapping for vehicles (including in car) also utilize satellites, and will display your current location coordinates. Not quite sure what your needs are for GPS but I would suspect you're already covered.

 

[AlanKlein]

@AlanKlein LR mobile is a scaled down version of LR I only used it for the minor stuff. The reason I don't use it now is that its a PITA on always trying to synchronize with the full version, which in turn brings LR to a crawl. /crawl.

As to keyboard as I said earlier there's any number of options available, including compact foldup/rollup. I just never found it that big a deal to type what I needed on my tablet.......but then again, it's a matter of using the right tool for the job.

On GPS my Samsung came preloaded with a compass app that automatically shows the coordinates and elevation of my current location. I think most cells have a similar function app. Any device hotspotted to that cell should use those coordinates, but bear in mind that the coordinates are based off cell phone towers and may be inaccurate. I also have a Garmin handheld for tracking that actually uses satellites to triangulate a position. Most of the GPS mapping for vehicles (including in car) also utilize satellites, and will display your current location coordinates. Not quite sure what your needs are for GPS but I would suspect you're already covered.

Regarding keyboards, I'm assuming all tablets have a big keyboard on the display for typing if you want it. True?

Regarding GPS, assuming you have cell towers connected, will google navigation and current location on maps work without an actual hardware GPS? Could you do this using your regular cellphone as a hotspot?

 

[smoke665]

Regarding keyboards, I'm assuming all tablets have a big keyboard on the display for typing if you want it. True?

On my Samsung it takes up roughly a third of the display area. I have large fingers and it mostly works as long as I pay attention.

Regarding GPS, assuming you have cell towers connected, will google navigation and current location on maps work without an actual hardware GPS? Could you do this using your regular cellphone as a hotspot?

Google maps will show your current location as the current location as your IP address for the device connected to the internet, so if you're connect your tablet to a hotspot phone then it would be the phone location, if you move the phone the location changes. No "internal" GPS hardware is required in your table to do that. I just connected tablet to hotspot, to verify it will navigate from either the web version of maps or the apps.

 

[BrentC]

Too me it looks like you want something that is close to your cell phone. That means an Android tablet. It also looks like you want to be able to use this on the go and that requires a tablet with a SIM slot. There are Samsung and others that have tablets with LTE. But you will pay monthly for data. And it will be data only that you need. You can then use it for navigation and online maps as well as any other internet needs when not on wifi.
The other way is use your phone as a hotspot when needed and connect your tablet to your phone through wifi. You can use online maps and surfing, etc
The last way is that before you leave to go somewhere you downloads the maps from Google Maps. It will download what is necessary to get to your destination and navigation will work without being connected to internet.
Most tablets, if not all, have GPS

 

[Rickbb]

..."Do you know if Google maps and navigation will "see" the plugin GPS on a Windows 10 operating computer? How about a Tablet like Microsoft Surface Pro 7 or Samsung 7 tablet? The Samsung S5e has a GPS but it's not a very powerful tablet."...

Yes, google maps will use the USB GPS adaptor on windows, that's what I used and other mapping programs before phone maps became mature on a small laptop. I put 20,000 miles on a minivan in the UK over about 5 months back in 06-07 time frame. Worked real well. When the downloaded Google map ran out I used an offline topo map program as a backup. Had to install retail store point of sale computers and train the staff. Did 125 stores from Dundee to Torquay. First couple of weeks it was fun, last couple, not so much.

 

[Rickbb]

I use some mapping software that can run in "offline" mode. If you don't have a cell signal the GPS still works on phones, tablets, etc. But you may not get a map to display with a low or no cell signal.

In those cases you will need something that you can download the map to the device. Google maps will let you download a section temporally, but of course that means you need to know where you will be before hand to download the map section you want.

Or just find and install a true offline mapping software package. If you think you will be "off the grid" so to speak.