Pondering Replacing laptop and reader with Tablet???

[TFeldt]

I've entirely stopped using laptops since I got my Asus Transformer (with dock, obviously). Are there compromises to be made during such a switch? Yes. Do they affect me negatively? No. But could I ever use the transformer as my main computer for work and other areas? No.

If there's specific software you need (and I don't mean Word, Excel, etc since all of the common formats has equivalent processors on android) such as a particular CAD-program or (in my case) certain programming IDEs, then be careful, you won't be able to use them on the road. Then again, I'd rather eat nails than try to emulate my full 3 screen work setup while on the road anyway.

But if you're planning to use your tablet as a stop-gap when you're between computers and/or as a recreational device (reading, gaming, browsing, emailing, etc) then you'll probably only notice benefits to the switch.

Obvious benefits;
*Massively improved battery life over most laptops, especially if using the dock with built-in battery. With a sane brightness setting (etc) I can easily top 24 hours of consecutive work on the transformer and still have battery to spare.

*Touch interface is a lot more ergonomic in many positions than trying to squeeze in a laptop + pen + paper while on a cramped flight. Obviously not a problem if you're a first class jet setter. This is the -primary- reason why I switched to a tablet after using it for a while, the difference is tangible.

*Almost zero maintenance, especially important while on the road.

*Will do all the basic chores of a computer, and usually better than a computer will.

*Can double as a GPS, which is important if you're afraid of your phone's battery running out.

*Printing is as easy as using "Share to -> Printer extension", only thing you need to do is install an app on your computer and -all- android apps are print enabled.

There's more but those are the most important reasons for -me-. Please don't take this as a rant or some such, just trying to underline why -I- switched in the hopes that it will help you.

Now then, here's the controversial part of the post. Let me preface this with the following; I have two iMacs, one of them is my primary workstation. I also have 2 older macbooks and 3 mini macs. I love my Macs. But I don't like iOS for work. Sure, I've got an ipod touch + ipad, there's fantastic software available for them as well, but let me (quickly) list the top three reasons why I'll never use an ipad for work.

1. Sandboxed environment. This is -fantastic- to prevent the spread of malicious software. It's also fantastic at suffocating any kind of established work pipeline. In android I can create a document with one app, save the file, open it in another application, modify it and save it out again. Maybe I'll do some post-processing in a third app.

The only way to do something like that on an ipad is if all the apps are aware of each other (almost never happens) or if you get creative and kind of mail the file to yourself each time you want to open it in another app, which doesn't always work.

2. iPad + stand + bluetooth keyboard is even less space efficient than a laptop, as noted by another poster in this thread. There's third party solutions but I had such little luck with them that I jumped at the transformer when it was released, and I'm happy I did.

3. No third party extensions. Do you dislike flash? I sure do. But the internet has a lot of flash dependent sites and they don't care what I like or don't like.

4. (Alright, maybe I lied, there's four main reasons) Do you need more than whatever the built in storage is? I do. Thus it's fantastic to be able to simply plug in any usb thumb drive, regular usb hard drive or even a memory card convertor (got one of those infernal 22 in 1 things) and it'll simply pop up as a drive on the transformer. This will naturally also work if you, for whatever reason, want to hook up an external mouse or other peripheral devices.

I know this post must seem like a massive wall of text, apologies in advance about that. It's just that I've been in this exact situation. Hopefully some of my rambling will turn out to be useful.

[VydorScope]

Well said!

BTW which printing app do you use?