At last, a windows tablet

BobB · June 30, 2012, 05:53:09 PM

Up until recently, the only tablets available down here were either apple or android. Apples have a program (sorry, application) that seems to be completely compatible with M/S Word but do not support a directory (folder) structure similar to that found on IBM type PC's; whereas android tablets (in my case a Galaxy Tab 10.1) support the directory structure but do not have a completely compatible wordprocessor. There were other windows tablets but they had low power chips which really did not work with microsoft's bloatware.

What this means in real terms is that going completely paperless for my company (AfriCert - we do ISO 9001 certification) was a sham. To work practically when we are with clients, we had to print out reports that had to be reviewed prior to the audit.

Anyway, now we have the Samsung slate 7 (or some such similar name). It runs windows 7 (only the home - now upgraded to Professional) and at last we have the prospect of really being a paperless operation. The only downside is the amount of memory. When you are used to specifications of hard disc capacities in the several hundreds of Gb (or now even one or two terrabytes) then 64Gb for the SSD hard disc is miserly but expansion using a micro SSD (as found in telephones) is possible. (down here we had to really search to get 32 Gb but internationally 64 Gb is available.

Anyway, the point of all of this is the doubts expressed by several of you about the security of SSD's. We are very particular about short term and long term back-ups (always in at least three locations after generation) and so far we have never lost data, in fact the only failure we have had was with a normal 2.5 in hard disc drive.

So, are the feelings and experience exaggerated or is there really a problem ? We have heard rumours about some 16 Gb flash drives but we tend to stick to 8 Gb so have had no problems,

I'm in a quandary now. I can use the cloud (but don't really trust "them" to keep it confidential) or carry on using SSD's backing up onto HDD's. What do you guys think ?

red_death · June 30, 2012, 06:15:28 PM

W7 on a tablet - what a horrible thought! Though to be honest without a keyboard I am not a fan of typing on tablets (and if you have a keyboard then a laptop offers more flexibility).

ThinkFree Office will edit Word files on Android. Or Documents to Go. Or IIRC the latest version of Google Docs.

I would back up whatever disk solution I was using whether SSD or HDD to cover hardware failure, file corruption, or user error.

Cheers, Mike

edwin_m · June 30, 2012, 06:42:35 PM

Is a Windows tablet what you take to reduce your blood pressure after the system hangs up for the ninth time?

BobB · June 30, 2012, 07:10:05 PM

The new computer came with a blue tooth keyboard but this did not have a right click facility - that was provided by the also included stylus (which was of a low grade - now replaced by a blue tooth mouse that incorporates a numeric key pad as well - more dosh !)

Actually, it hasn't hung yet at all (touching wood) - I have found W7 quite stable if a little eccentric until everything was converted to classic windows appearance and functionality.

It actually works when set up with the (included) docking station just like a net-book but with the ability to accept touch screen input the same as either the iPad or Galaxy tab. I can "write" with either finger or the stylus. I need to sharpen the finger though !

In theory I do not need to take pencil and paper with me when I'm with an auditee - of course time will tell !

What about the SSD data security ? come on guys, help me out here.

EtchedPixels · June 30, 2012, 07:16:05 PM

They've been around for decades. They tried calling it pen computing, slates, tablets but they never sold to anything but specialist applications. For real work people keep wanting keyboards hence Ultrabook rather than Ultra-tablet (although some of them can be used tablet style too). They are at least *fast*.

Don't mix up the disk style SSDs and the cheap flash drives. The former are designed to keep working, wear gradually and degrade nicely. The latter are designed for much lighter use and copying files to/from things not for continually being hammered as part of a live system.

I don't trust my cloud provider not to mine my data either, nor as they are US based to not just donate it all to the US government without warrants to use as the see fit (as the Patriot Act in the USA permits). I encrypt anything important first

then back it up over the net

The low power windows tablets are a different problem - long battery life means lower performance. I'm the maintainer at Intel of some of the Linux graphics drivers that cover some of the very low power tablet devices. I can imagine they wouldn't be much fun with windows except for specialist applications

There are some decent openoffice viewers for Android btw.

Now what does this have to do with trains

Alan

BobB · June 30, 2012, 07:23:09 PM

Hi Red Death

Tried to send you a message but didn't succeed !

We tried both those applications as a word substitute but neither could cope with the complicated forms that are needed to satisfy the accreditation rules and regulations. We considered changing the forms but some were expanded from one page to three pages. We thought life was to short for ourselves and our clients - especially those that printed everything out ! The main problem seems to be tables with merged cells and text in the vertical orientation.

Never thought I would have to admit that Word was quite clever but there it is !

This slate thingy seems to work quite well so far.

Hi Etched Pixles

We did try the "Atom" powered windows tablets but they were just plain awful - slow and unresponsive. One thing though - the file sizes for word documents was small compared to when on Windows on either 32 bit or 64 bit but this may be because of the NTFS format - don't know, don't care - all I want is a working solution to save a few trees and increase productivity.

Which open office applications have you tried successfully ?

Bob

Pengi · June 30, 2012, 07:59:26 PM

Quote from: EtchedPixels on June 30, 2012, 07:16:05 PM

Now what does this have to do with trains

Alan

Because if you get your choice of computer/tablet/etc right then you will have more time to spend playing trains instead of spending hours trying to work out why the computer isn't dong what you want it to.

MikeDunn · June 30, 2012, 08:01:05 PM

From my reading, SSDs have a lower failure rate than HDDs ... After saying that, use SSDs for static data, not volatile data !

Mike

red_death · June 30, 2012, 09:42:18 PM

Hi Bob

I am sure you are right that when it comes to complicated forms that a full word processor is necessary rather than a cut down app.

I don't understand why you would have data security concerns about SSDs compared to HDDs. I can't see any material difference.

On cloud security - the USA Govt is welcome to read whatever I put in the cloud if they are at all interested in small trains, exhibition plans, prototype research etc! Hardly confidential stuff.

Cheers, Mike