Switching to a 2 in 1 instead of a laptop

[copiertec]

I will be upgrading my laptop and am looking at 2 in 1 laptops to replace it with, but am a little overwhelmed by my choices at the moment. I need good battery life and have found many to lack in that category. I would like to stay with a Pentium processor, I feel AMD, etc tend to lack in speed and really drag when multitasking. Most 2 in 1 lack an Ethernet port, however, that can be resolved with a USB to Ethernet adapter. Are you using a 2 in 1? What are your complaints and or recommendations? I would like to stay below the $750 range.

[blackcat4866]

Personally I prefer the laptop, for several reasons:

1) the Ethernet connection is built in on many (but not all)
2) I hate touchpads, and the wireless mouse requires a spare USB port.
3) I run many kinds of software: NetScan, Powerlog Classic, the usual Microsoft Office applications, Adobe, RIBON, Textpad, 7-Zip.

The company provides us with iPads. They have proved frustrating and mostly useless.
Yes you can view small PDF's. Are any of your manuals small PDF's? Typically, no. 1200 to 2500 pages is typical.
If you're an inhabitant of Excel Hell, well just forget that.
Can you download firmware? Sure, very slowly.
Can you store firmware? Sure, but not very many of these large files.

I really can't speak to these 2 in 1 devices. Tell me about them.
=^..^=

[copiertec]

Personally I prefer the laptop, for several reasons:

1) the Ethernet connection is built in on many (but not all)
2) I hate touchpads, and the wireless mouse requires a spare USB port.
3) I run many kinds of software: NetScan, Powerlog Classic, the usual Microsoft Office applications, Adobe, RIBON, Textpad, 7-Zip.

The company provides us with iPads. They have proved frustrating and mostly useless.
Yes you can view small PDF's. Are any of your manuals small PDF's? Typically, no. 1200 to 2500 pages is typical.
If you're an inhabitant of Excel Hell, well just forget that.
Can you download firmware? Sure, very slowly.
Can you store firmware? Sure, but not very many of these large files.

I really can't speak to these 2 in 1 devices. Tell me about them.
=^..^=

I too worked with a company that provided iPads and found them to be a waste as well, and basically just used them to store manuals and log into remote tech. I don't mind touch screens and sometimes find the lap top bulky when I just need to pull up a service manual or search for a part... however, if I need a laptop to diagnose a network or driver issue, I can use the complete device.
The problem with the laptops I have used in the past is the hinges eventually break and I have to replace them.

[Iowatech]

You broke the hinges on a laptop? I guess that makes you a better person than me. Back in the day when I was probably in the Army Reserves, I needed to carry the stinking heavy M2 machine gun and tow bars from the M816 five ton wrecker, so I was kind of strong. And I never broke the hinges on a laptop.
You might look into getting a laptop and a port replicator. That way you can attach a keyboard and a display (and other things) to the replicator when you need to use the laptop as a base computer, and you can simply eject the laptop if you need to take it on the road. I did that for years with an old Dell Inspiron 8200 laptop that runs XP and it still works (I just fired it up to make sure). The one battery that still works was pretty flat though.

[KenB]

Unfortunately, this business still dictates that field techs carry a fully functional notebook around with them.

In order to be able to troubleshoot to any degree, you still need a "normal" Windows PC, equipped with Microsoft Office if you ever expect to test printing effectively.

Our management tried taking Office off the service PCs some years ago, and giving the techs Open Office, which is free. It was an unmittigated flop.

While I am actualy quite the fan of Open Office, it's not worth a hoot for printer testing.

There are tons of utilities that are vendor specific, and all the ones I've ever seen require Windows.

Ricoh machines, for instance, require the use of a Windows PC and an SD card reader to perform firmware updates and a few other functions, such as installing some software. The remote versions of said updates aren't always a viable choice.

The newer notebooks are missing CD/DVD drives. Fortunately, you can get an external one for $30 or less. You may or may not get the boss to pay for it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of mobile devices (I do 99+% of my personal stuff on my iPad), but the copier service industry all but mandates the use of a more traditional computing device, at least for the next few years.