Forum Discussion
Tom_M wrote:
Last winter I purchased a 10.1 inch 2-in-1 tablet from Walmart for $99.99 plus tax. It has Win 10 and a detachable keyboard.
Here's an RCA for $108:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/RCA-Cambio-10.1-2-in-1-Tablet-32GB-Intel-Atom-Z3735F-Quad-Core-Processor-Windows-10/45804385
I have this one since the Spring, got it for $78.00 +Tax. Like the portability of it!- The video card in my desktop computer gave up the ghost so, in the meantime, I'm surfing the web using a $35 Raspberry Pi.
Not the fastest computer I've ever used but it is getting the job done. E-mail, document editing, spreadsheets, surfing the web, video/photo viewing, etc... are all well within it's capabilities. As long as you keep away from compute/graphic intensive apps, it's a decent tiny PC.
However, it doesn't run Windows, it uses a scaled down version of Linux called Raspbian which was specifically tuned for the tiny Pi.
Just like the tiny PC from the initial post in this thread, it needs to have keyboard/mouse and a screen hooked up for it to be used. Also need a 5Vdc power supply (cell phone charger). It also requires at least a 4GB microSD card. - While not inexpensive, I love the performance of my Microsoft Surface Pro 4. Mine has an I7 processor, 16 gb RAM and 500 gig storage and is lightning fast. I've thrown some pretty large audio processing projects at it and it handled them faster than my I7-based laptop. And it's small enough to slip conveniently into a backpack.
- I'm surprised no one has mentioned the thin client as a tiny PC... They've been around for years and they can be bought cheap.....
- For many people, that would be all the computer they would ever need. A modern smartphone is more powerful than the first half dozen or so desktops I've owned over the years.
- I use my smartphone with the RV's TV ( HDMI out ) and a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse..
- Those inexpensive tablets are pretty cool but with only 32GB of internal storage, it fills up pretty quickly. Some of them only have 6-7 GB of free space on the internal drive as they come from the factory. I've seen lots of posts from people on various forums wanting to know what to do about it. Yes, they have a micro USB card slot but that isn't the perfect solution. I always recommend that people go for a 64GB model at minimum.
- Last winter I purchased a 10.1 inch 2-in-1 tablet from Walmart for $99.99 plus tax. It has Win 10 and a detachable keyboard.
Here's an RCA for $108:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/RCA-Cambio-10.1-2-in-1-Tablet-32GB-Intel-Atom-Z3735F-Quad-Core-Processor-Windows-10/45804385 - The point is...
It's a full blown PC running Win 10 and it fits in your shirt pocket.
It sells for $189.
Next year at this time it will most likely be half that price or twice as powerful.
90% of users only surf and email so it's all they need.
Get a folding or rollup keyboard for $20. Keep all your filled on a USB key fob then hook up to any TV you can find. Use it as a portable picture/video player when you visit grandma.
At that price it's almost disposable, leave it in your suitcase, glovebox or purse. Get two. - I disagree that a laptop is useless at a desk. I worked for quite a few years with a laptop as my main work computer. The key is to have a dock, complete with external keyboard, mouse, screen and speakers. I had a dock in my work office and another at home. Whether at the office or at home, I'd plug the laptop into the dock and, for all intents and purposes, I was working at a desktop. The laptop had an i5 processor, 750GB hdd and 8GB of RAM, much more power than these tiny PCs. The advantage to a laptop over a regular desktop or tiny PC is that it could go mobile. It was still a fully functioning computer that I could take to meetings or use on a plane or in the hotel when traveling.
As an additional benefit, I often used the laptop's screen as a second monitor so I could edit source code & compile on one screen, run the program on the 2nd screen to view the results. Very handy.
