Do you ever see Tablets taking over laptops?

Whenever im out I see a lot more people with tablets (ipad mostly, some HPs, Asus, and im sure ill see some of the new upcoming Blackberry Playbook), and less notebooks. Aside from portability why is that? Do you see the tablet becoming the top dog when it comes to what people want to lug with them on thier daily commute? Cause the fact is, you would be surprised how many people buy laptops to only move it around the house but never out.

Many years ago everyone was rocking 15", 17" 8lb laptop beasts haha, now I barely see anyone with 17" laptops and if I do, they look hideous cause theyre so huge and heavy! 5 years ago, I used to own a 17" 11LB Asus gaming laptop, so im speaking from experience when i say i would never ever consider going back to 17" laptop.

I see a lot of netbooks, a lot of laptops my size (13"). Even the 15.4" is kinda dying down here. And I see a ton of tablets! I even know a few people who have laptops but bought a tablet after because thats what they prefer to take with them to meetings or business conferences, etc and they primarily keep their laptops at home.

 

If I were to get the X220 from Lenovo, I'd get the tablet version. But I typically prefer 14-15" laptops. Until they get tablet versions, I'll stick with a notebook. Personally, I refer to the "tablets" you listed as slates, as they have no physical keyboards.

 

I don't see it happening. They don't even target the same people.

 

I dont see it because u need a computer to buy,store and backup on with those items. Also laptops are becoming more and more desktop replacements

 

I think the 'tablets' you are mostly referring to are just the cheap entertainment tablets out there (iPad, Android, webOS, ect...), and yes they will take over even more of the market than they have... but only because those people are idiots to buy into the fad of owning one of those devices; and don't actually do anything besides media consumption... so don't worry, laptops and dsktops won't be going away anytime soon (I would bet that we will see Laptops and Desktops still as common place 70 years from now, as much as they are today; but then again in 70 years we will have moved onto using holographic displays -that's where I will be putting my money)

All fields of technology are constantly moving forward at blazing speeds, and these fads that pop up will all die out in time -leaving only the tried and true products. Things also move forward faster than we can imagine; case in point, I watched Total Recall recently and it was funny to see CRT monitors in every device in the 'future' (granted there were a handful of LCD like displays, but not much). It will be the same in several years once everyone is using their holographic devices, and they go to see one of the movies out today depicting the future full of LCD's); so who knows what the future will be.


However a Tablet PC (such as the aforementioned X220T) my previous Tm2, my current 2730p, and many many others will always have a place in my tech collection, they are just amazing devices that have Wacom Pen enabled screens (basically a portable Wacom Cintiq) and could never be replaced by a cheap entertainment tablet (no digitizer pen = useless); oh, and a Tablet PC is fully capable of using a DIY ViDock so it is basically the most versatile device out anywhere

 

What a lot of people fail to realize is that the touch interface is infinitely more intuitive than the typical keyboard and mouse interface.

So I think for mainstream devices, the touch interface will definitely become the standard for a while, at least until we get devices that can read our minds telepathically and act upon that. It may not necessarily be in the "tablet" form, but I think that the slate and tablet market is growing at an exponential rate, and it's hard to stop it's success.

Your average John Consumer is always going to go for what is the most intuitive, and easy to use. For now, it happens to be tablets.

 

Tablet baloon is being pumped up by the manufacturers to shell out money from ***. It is being claimed that it will be the new trend and will wipe-out everything else in the future. Oh, yeah...

As a computer engineer I will never, ever purchase a tablet for myself. I may get an iPad for my pre-kindergarten kid as a toy. That's it.


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Tablets? Never!! They are just toys for people without any idea or with enough money to spend on useless toys.

 

I don't have a tablet, but as far as I can tell from reviews and from how my roommate uses his iPad, it is a good device for consumption, but a bad one for production. Touch is nice, but to do any serious work (or even just send some emails) you need to be able to type stuff and you can't beat a keyboard for that. Thus, tablets are used in addition to laptops rather than in place of them. AnandTech has a short article about it.

 

As they are now, the tablets are way too weak to really replace notebooks.

If they made them in a capacity that rivaled laptops, then there's a reasonable possibility they might... but in their current state, not so much.

Do I see notebooks replacing desktops?
Possibly.
But again, only if they make them equally powerful (if not more-so) and more affordable at the same time.
Right now, desktops are still ahead of laptops in terms of raw power/afford-ability.

Never-mind the premise that we can create laptops as powerful as desktops right now with much more effective cooling methods.
But, stagnation is an integral part of this process, so the manufacturers can still much off loads of cash from consumers in the desktop market.

As I said... I'd consider a tablet, only if it was on an equal footing as notebooks in terms of computational/graphics power.
And the manufacturers did not make them as such.

Expanding the business in different branches and keeping all of them as good cash-cows is what this economy is based on.

Only those whose needs are minimalist or aren't doing anything remotely powerful at the moment on their computers will likely get a lower-powered tablet for example.
Why?
Because they don't need more than that.
But to be honest, tablets aren't being pushed to their actual potential as it is.

Besides, why bother with tablets if your smartphone can do what it can just as well and they use the same low grade hardware to do it?

 

Here are my reasons:

1. Why watch a movie on a tablet when I can watch it on my laptop without needing to hold it under the right angle?
2. Why write anything (emails/documents) on a touchscreen when I can do it much faster and conveniently on a normal keyboard?
3. Why browse the internet with one hand while holding the device with the other instead of using a laptop?
4. Why carry a tablet with me at all when I have my laptop? What can I do better on a tablet - the answer - nothing!


But everyone has his own reasons nothing bad about it!

To me a tablet is just like buying a Nintendo - it is nice and everything, I would certainly play with one for a while or every now and then, but it is just a TOY and not to be compared with a laptop!! If you have the money for that toy and have no other ideas how to spend them - buy one I just usually have plenty of other ideas how to spend >300 Euros more reasonably and even if it is going to be a toy - it ain't gonna be this one

 

A netbook isn't much bigger than an Ipad. A netbook is a complete computer that can run several different OS's, just pick which one you like best, heck even multi-boot if need be. Try doing that with an Ipad. You can get an almost infinite number of applications running on whatever OS you are using, many for free. With an Ipad, you are tethered to Jobs' whims, with a netbook, #@%$ Apple.
A netbook will last virtually forever, an Ipad until the next update (slight exaggeration, but not far from the truth).
The point is, an Ipad, or whatever slate thing, will always be "handicapped" compared to a real computer.
As far as using a smart phone, I can see using it for texting and email, but try spending a couple hours looking at that friggin small screen. My head aches thinking about the bloody eye-strain.
No, just playing with my wife's Itouch for a few minutes, and I get very bored.

 

Couldn't agree more!! :yes:

 

Sure they will take over because people dont purchase stuff they can make money on..... just youtube,facebook,tweeter,myspace blah blah blah

Thats whats wrong with this economy now ...everyone turned in there very productive laptop to a brain mush touch screen ipad and they cant do anything useful on it!! morons

 

I see them taking over the large population because most people aren't creators. If Facebook has over 200 million MOBILE users per month using those tiny little screens to do all they need then you can imagine tablets/slates can be just as handy too excepting they are even better when it comes to cuddling up with a large screen in bed to watch a movie. In those times you don't need keyboards, powerful CPUs or anything else. The most important thing is to watch the video being displayed and the screen is the most important then.

I'll probably always have a Thinkpad but there are plenty of times i wished i could just rip off the screen and take it with me in bed or to wherever. Most of my browsing on this forum even doesn't even have me logged in, i just logged in now to post this. Typing out this much on a virtual keyboard would be a pain but that's where the "base" comes back in where i can just plug in back the tablet to the laptop (or even bluetooth keyboard i guess) and be ready to go.

 

i don't get your point.

smartphones HAVE NOT replaced computers. they've SUPPLEMENTED traditional computers and only when you're on the go.

 

I really don't see them taking over laptops at all, Maybe for some people they will.

But I have the Samsung galaxy tab 7in and for awhile it did replace my laptops for on the go because of couple things the battery lasted 9hours too 10hours and mostly what i did is watch videos browse the net check the email and play some games and the tab did all that fine.

But than i got my m11x and now i take that with me but i do still take my galaxy tab with me for backup or when i want too watch a movie if i don't feel like taking out the m11x just for that.

If it was a ipad than i could see the problem its almost as big as the m11x lol So i would just bring out the m11x instead.

Nothing is bad about tablets because they can do alot of stuff like the galaxy tab the games it plays pretty much beats psp graphics and it plays smooth too, And now that i have it overclocked and a custom firmware it does it really well, And browsing the net on it isn't bad at all, Anything under 7in screen is a problem tho.

7in is perfect for a tablet for me and anything smaller or bigger for me is just too big and too small lol

But ya i also wouldn't call a tablet a toy sense they can do alot of things, Cant say much about the ipad sense i don't own one ony own a ipod touch which sits now, But i know the galaxy tab isn't a toy

But if it wasn't for the m11x than the galaxy tab would've been my main machine too take on the go with me because i cant stand big laptops anymore too me they useless for me because i have a desktop at home but if i didn't have desktop and ony had a laptop than i probably would get a big laptop and use it both ways.

 

If you need a new laptop and wish to have a tablet, why not kill 2 birds with 1 stone? I am considering buying an x220t.

 

I do not think tablets can replace laptops, not enough power or function.

I do see them possibly cutting into the netbook market though since those are low powered devices and the emphasis is on portable and long battery life, both of witch tablets do quite well.

Really its not much more than a netbook with a touch screen instead of a keyboard.

 

the touch screen(or lack of keyboard) make it a totally different device from even netbook. a tablet is a very passive device(point and click), netbook on the other hand can do most thing a laptop can(with a reduced screen size, cramped keyboard and slower). I carry a 10 years old JVC sub-note with me when I I am on short trips(when I don't want the weight and size of laptop). I can still use it for light work such as excel etc. a tablet like iPad cannot.

 

As I stated before and as mentioned by others, I think people are getting mixed up with slates (such as the iPad) and tablet PCs (such as the X220t).

 

until a tablet can run crysis maxed i don't see that hapening

whe i bought my m17 i was looking for a laptop with a touch or pen screen and a decent GPU and found nothing

 

A tablet PC like the X220t can run anything that it's notebook form can run...

 

For the people on these boards? No, tablets will never replace notebooks because of all the fun things we evitably do as power users to get the most out of our notebooks.

Tablets are however a strong alternative to a netbook. It can do almost anything a netbook can do (face it, you can't run crysis on your netbook anyways) and in some cases more.

I carry around my GX640 a fair bit and sometimes choose to bring only my ipad and access any docs I need with dropbox on the days when I'll be doing fairly light computing. I find that tablets also encourage laziness as you start to get used to watching videos and surfing the web while lying in bed/on the couch.

 

If an iPad/Galaxy Tab-esque computer could instantly hook up to a wireless keyboard (say by hitting a simple sync button) and I could have a handful of those keyboards scattered around the house and office so I never had to take it with me, I could see myself using that nearly exclusively to accomplish video streaming, word processing, email, browsing, and getting my daily news dose. This presumes I can get MSWord, Netflix, Hulu, and VLC all working and at the same time (multi-tasked) on a non-Windows non-mobile OS (all you "iOS is productivity oriented" people can go bite yourselves). I can't see myself inputting info onto a touchscreen accurately and at a reasonable pace. A more dedicated and powerful machine would only really be necessary for gaming/av work.

 

the new tablets that are coming out of samsung soon sound pretty much liek exactly what you just mentioned. That and a bunch of bluetooth keyboards and you're done.

 

I don't think they will ever take over notebooks or smartphones, but they did take (and will continue taking) over a nice segment of those two markets...

 

That's pretty much what the Asus Transformer is. As an iPad and gaming laptop owner, I don't really see tablet in their current form take over laptops for the same reason laptop have not completely taken over desktops. There are overlaps in the usage situations but each type has places you wouldn't be able to use something else. For example, I can read while lying on my side in my bed with a regular laptop or even a netbook, but a slate doesn't have those problems. I can't edit a 500 pages pdf on the go with a slate but a laptop won't have a problem, and I won't be running weather simulations on either of those but a dedicated workstation will chew through that heavy workload with relative ease. I don't understand why people are bashing tablets, they have their uses.

 

I'll answer the question as simply as I can: No.

Mr. Mysterious

 

But it also depends on whether the manufacturers will make the notebook and tablet hardware to be on par as desktops for example.

We have the technology to do many things, including this, but it's never in their interest due to profits.
By outputting a hardware in tablet form that could rival a state of the art desktop at a competitive price would effectively kill that manufacturers share in other markets for example (if they have any) because they'd be closing themselves off for good, plus most of the companies that make only tablets or only smartphones probably don't have access to such advanced tech in the first place, and since money governs just about everything in this world, in order to have a profitable gain and low investment ratio, they have to use what is presently available to the consumer, refine it and sell it as something 'new'.

There's a good possibility that the majority of people would in fact get those kinds of powerhouse tablets if they were available and use them for everything (I know I would, because it simplifies things enormously and it's even easier to carry a tablet along with you than a laptop).

As for reading a book while lying on the side, etc... lol, you get used to it (I agree it can encourage laziness, but that's predominantly up to the user and how willful they really are in the sense to get out, get some exercise, or do non-computer related aspects).
Just as people will get used to using touch-screens so they can type fast and do their workload at same if not faster speeds than what they are doing now.
People had to learn these things when first keyboards/computers came out.

The only problem we are facing as a society is that the tech we use is hardly innovative.
It's a mere refinement of what was developed some time ago, and of course, in the case of smartphones/tablets, they are selling people low-grade hardware which can barely compare to computers from 5 years ago in terms of raw power, and of course they charge loads of cash for it.

Profits, profits, profits.

 

Stay classy Gracy. Stay classy.

 

I didn't realize what a tablet was until I bought one.

The most convincing way to explain the need for iPads and tablets is to analogize to console and PC gaming. Consoles allow for uniformity in a platform that allows people to build specifically for it. The apps in a tablet all work perfectly for that tablet (minus bugs, of course).

The tablet, while theoretically could take the place of a laptop or other, isn't really suited to do so. It's a consumption device rather than a production device. And for me, my tablet sits on my nightstand. It's the perfect companion for bed. Movies, books, magazines, etc. Stuff you'd usually do in bed at night. It barely gets any use during the day. We have computers for that.

 

out of curiosity...why are people bringing up convertible PCs into this discussion? they're just regular notebooks with swiveling screens.

 

They are hybrids so they still are part of the discussion. For example, HP could put out a convertible that uses Windows in laptop mode but when you transform it into a tablet it would switch to WebOS. That would be pretty nifty.

 

Tablets (slates?) are just smartphones but with bigger screens.
The only thing for what they are useful is browsing internet.

They suck in:

• office stuff - yeah, typing on non-physical keyboard is HELL
• coding - yeah, no compilers for mobile os, even if, here comes arm architecture HELL
• photo editing - real EDITING not drawing
• video editing - no enought processing power
• audio editing - seriously?
• movies and games - yeah 7~10' screens are sooo perfect for multimedia

Just my 0.02 ...

 

I see it as keyboard(and precised pointing device) vs 'non precised point and click'(sophisticated coke vending machine). Completely different metaphor for completely different tasks. Our fingers are that thick, that is mother nature.

 

Yes, I do.

For most people computers are something they 'have to put up with' - a tablet with a super 'dumbed' down experience can give them all the 'tech' they can handle.

These are the true 'consumers'. And tablets are a perfect match for them. Even in a 'work' type setting, a tablet is useful when simply a list of pre-defined tasks/steps require a short Y/N or an numerical entry as the 'input' side of the interaction.

For the producers - tablets may enhance their main systems (notebooks/desktops), but there will never be any reason for manufacturers to make them powerful enough to get 'pro's' to use them to **produce the actual content on them.

So, sure Tablets will take over laptops - simply because most people don't create - they simply consume, digital content.



**And I would hate to see any 'content' that was created on a tablet right now too - except possibly for written works (it's not my fingers going numb tapping a glass surface).

 

Good point though for most people it would be 80/20 for a consumer/producer role. So instead of take over, they would be used side by side except for the small percentage who is 100% passive.

 

I'm sure you meant to say '... except for the high percentage who is 100% passive'.

 

well I do see that trend and is a bit sad.

 

I'm sorry but you are misguided.
Coding: I can get icedtea, gcc and many more compilers on my n900, it's not because no one bothered porting them that it's not possible.
Photo editing: YouTube - "Real" Photoshop for iPad - Complete with Layers. That is all. It's possible. No one bothered making a full suite for the devices.
Video editing: iMovie called. It's not final cut level but it's enough for the average person.
Audio editing: Really? Sunvox, Garageband, all the Korg stuff, if you want something better code it.
Movies and games: It's not because you don't like it that other don't. It's like people who cannot see the difference between 720p and 1080p. Or the people you cannot stand 120hz tv. YOU are not the target for that type of thing.

And yes I know this is patronizing but your initial post sounds pretty haughty.

 

ThinkLover is correct.

Ayle is Simply wrong.



Just because you 'can' do stuff doesn't mean it doesn't 'suck' to (like using a feather as a hammer, huh?).

 

Many people buy laptops simply for surfing, email, music, photos and videos. For them a tablet can easily substitute for a laptop. That's why we constantly hear tablets eating into PC market shares. And that's only going to get more profound with time as tablets become more powerful and capable.

I don't see tablets replacing laptops in the foreseeable future but 15-20 years down the line who knows, anything is possible.

 

While slates right now aren't that powerful and are mostly smaller sized, I think that more (larger) notebooks should be converted to tablets. We're seeing more larger notebooks with touchscreens (such as the business notebooks from Dell and Lenovo) and I hope this trend continues to include a swivel hinge. This way you have the option of the keyboard and use it like a notebook or work in slate mode (or for the slate alone, you can just have a stand for the slate and plug in/bluetooth to a keyboard). Tablet PCs that use a stylus are good for note taking (for students) and especially when portability is important such as when I'm walking around the hospital and need to take notes and look up information, so it depends on what type of "office work" you do.

 

okay...now see. THAT is something worth discussing. current convertibles aren't used like tablets at all(you're tethered to a wall for one). they work identical to normal notebooks except for one or two use-cases where you only need a screen but not a keyboard.

 

Have you ever used a convertible tablet? They can be used exactly like a slate and they aren't tethered to the wall. They're a bit heavier than a slate but they're bigger and more functional. The stylus is nice if you're taking notes or if you do any writing or drawing.

 

No. For the simple fact of user input. Keyboard is a fast and efficient way to input data. I couldn't really even post on this forum with a slate/ipad/tablet or whatever you want to call it, it would take me at least twice as long.

At my last job I couldn't even get simple apps developed and deployed simply because of time and budget. There were lots of aspects of my job where a simple app to input user data that would greatly minimize user workload couldn't get implemented. While I can see theoretically it would be good, in reality you'd need an app for that. Despite what Apple says there's not always "an app for that".

I think for reading and consuming multimedia, a tablet or slate is nice, but not everyone is a multimedia goon. The beauty of a computer is the interaction between user and PC. Using a slate just forces you to use the operating system how they intended without any thought by the end user. No creativity. No personal style. I mean if you looked at everyone's Windows desktop you'd probably find everyone's customized differently. With an iPad it's all the same.

 

So if you had a slate/tablet that had an i-5 with 4gb ram, Wacom digitizer, ran win7, could run PS and the whole Adobe Suite, BT keyboard as well as OSK, run full MS office suite, had an ssd, would it interest you? It obviously wouldn't be my gaming machine, but if it could do all the above mentioned, and go from cold start to full function in under 20 seconds, would that be considered a real computer??? And be able to give you handwriting to text (convert to word). With a 12' screen. Touch, penabled. I have that one. With 80gb Intel SSD. It is fast. Portable. Great for graphics, drawing, photo editing (I do that a lot on this), use excel all day long. It is not an ipad, android or app top. It is one buttkicking lappy to me. It is an Asus ep121. I urge anyone to check it out. Plenty of reviews, vids, etc. I gave up hope of ever finding something like this a long time ago. It isn't an app machine. It runs any version of windows needed. Runs full programs. And I believe that there are more machines like this on the horizon. No one can seem to keep this in stock. Now anyone that wants to hit on individual specs will find faults. Battery is not anywhere as good as a netbook, but netbooks are severely limited. It has a great screen (like ipad) but won't give you 3d. It has a great processor, but not an i-7. It has many really good functions, but won't kick any top of the line lappy in any area. But it gives an incredible performance in a small, fast, cool, quiet package that I have not seen anyone else come close to. It has replaced my Asus g73 in day to day use, because it is portable. I don't see it taking over the laptop market, but it will take a large share out of it in the coming years. Especially as it progresses. And there are going to be others coming out. Amazon, Newegg, Frys, Best buy... no one can keep it in stock right now, and it has been that way for a couple of months... Deny it, but there is a demand for something like this... a slate/tablet that is a real computer.

 

And the above was posted on a slate using the BT keyboard that came with it.