Tablet selection

I'm looking to purchase something

lighter than a laptop to travel with.

I use a windows desktop and an android

cellphone Samsung galaxy S4. My wife

uses an iPhone, will be getting an

6+. I use Lightroom, Elements and

Premiere (video) on my desktop.

 

I see there are iPad, android and

windows tablets. What would you

recommend and why?

 

Thanks.

<p>I picked used 10" Netbooks limping Win7 Starter or running Linux Mint for myself. They are at least dirtcheap and make writing an option the same as data dumping and cumbersome image editing in a worst case.<br>

What is your traveling device supposed to do? <br>

The Toughpad FZ-G1 has some appeal to me and seems capable of basic mobile bragging with shots you took, but you might like to have an external disk to store your RAWs on. and the beast seems heavier than you might like.<br>

I'd look for something with 2 USB ports and a full size SD card reader. </p>

<p>I'd avoid iPads due to the lack of reasonable ways to just read a card from a camera. A good android (or Windows) tablet can use USB On The Go to connect to a camera by PTP or a memory card and reader by USB Mass Storage. It's also reasonably easy to use a Micro SD card in an adapter in the camera if you don't need absurd bandwidth for something like raw video. That way you can just insert the memory card directly into the tablet. These things are even easier on the Windows side, but essentially non options on iOS.</p>

<p>OK, so iPad is out. For on-line use on the go (I use Verizon) for email and internet, which to go with of these two-Windows or Android? (I have an Android 5.0 Samsung Galaxy S4 for my phone if that matters).</p>

<p>There are two sizes of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S <strong>AMOLED</strong> Android tablet (same screen technology as the S4). If you can, compare its screen to competitors. I have the 8.4 version and it has a crazy high resolution of 2560 x 1600 for an 8.4" device (same res on the 10.5").<br>

If you like the way your photos look on that phone, nothing else will do :)</p>

<p>The Tab S comes in two versions. Wi-Fi and carrier specific. Which one and why?</p>

<p>Do you need data away from a WiFi source? If yes then you want 4g/3g from a carrier. Which carrier depends on a lot of things.</p>

Can i use my cellphone to communicate to the carrier

and connect the tablet to the phone? That way i can

keep my options open if i change my carrier?

<p>That depends on your plan and 'wifi hotspot' capabilities - the phone company is the best to ask about this.</p>

<p>What is it exactly you are looking to do with your tablet? Do you want to perform photo related functions on it, or are you looking at it as a general use device (email, internet, apps, etc.)? Is this something you want to use to copy daily photo shoots to so you can see your work on a larger screen and maybe temporary storage? </p>

<p>I want to travel with it and use it in a car. I want to transfer photos from my camera but it's not mandatory that I be able to use Lightroom or Elements. It would be nice if I could use a simple image processing program like Irfanview. I want to be able to connect to my cell phone (Samsung Galaxy S4 using Android 5.0 or my wife's future iPhone 6+) so I can connect to my phone service or WI-fi for data communications, email, internet, Google maps, etc. We are currently using Verizon but may switch to ATT so I can't commit the tablet to one service or another, hence hotspot using our cellphones.</p>

<p>I want to add some APPS as well like The Photographers Ephemeris TPE.</p>

Surface Pro 3 or Lenova Yoga are full Windows os with a

decent cpu and ram. They're the only tab/convertible I'd

consider running adobe software on. The Surface Pro

has a gorgeous monitor and comes with a stylus.

<p>You might consider a Microsoft Surface 3. That would have just enough oomph to run Lightroom. I'm not sure whether the RT operating system in a refurbed or old stock NIB Microsoft Surface 2 would run Lightroom. It would be familiar and you wouldn't need to learn new tricks to accomplish the same tasks.</p>

<p>I was initially skeptical of the Surface, but after trying a couple in a local store I changed my mind. The Windows 8 interface was easy to adapt to, after the clerk showed me a few starter tricks. It seemed very responsive, more so than my low end 2012 model Lenovo laptop with AMD dual core APU, on which I occasionally edit raw files, and TIFFs from scans, in Lightroom.</p>

<p>And the size and weight of the Surface seem travel friendly. Combined with a small external USB-powered drive like a WD Passport Ultra, the smallish capacity of the Surface SSD wouldn't be a problem.</p>

<p>There are other similar micro-PC/tablets, but I haven't tried 'em personally.</p>

<p>In tablets, I like the value of the current lineup of Amazon Kindle Fire HD and HDX with quad core processors. But there's no built in SD card slot - you'd need an external drive and adapter. Amazon packs a lot of value into the hardware in that price class, because they're hoping to lure people into the Amazon shopping universe and become Prime subscribers.</p>

<p>Also, Prime subscribers now get unlimited free cloud storage, which I find much faster than Microsoft's One Drive. In a pinch, it eliminates the need for an external USB drive, as long as you have wifi (including your own portable 4G wifi hotspot).</p>

<p>Even if you just want the tablet and not the Amazon stuff, you can jailbreak them, or just side load non-Amazon approved apps without jailbreaking the Kindle Fires now (not sure whether it voids the warranty but I'm not worried). But I still haven't found an Android app I like for raw processing, though.</p>

<p>So, again, I'd probably prefer a Surface because I could use the same copy of Lightroom I already have (although I'd need to uninstall it from my Lenovo laptop, since I think Adobe permits only two devices at a time on a single LR license).</p>

 

<p>The tablet I recommended would only really serve as a way to view and share photos. Transferring and editing on an Android tablet may be possible in limited ways, and is no match for what you can do with a Windows tablet like the Surface - there are other Windows tablets too, but none that I know of with an AMOLED screen.</p>

<p>Has anyone actually run LR on the Surface Pro 3? How do the colors, contrast etc compare to a desktop monitor that's been calibrated? </p>

My pal Mike bought a SP3 last fall and did a great review.

 

http://photokaz.com/2014/10/making-the-switch-laptop-ipad-to-surface-pro-3/

Nice review. Thanks for the link.

My pleasure

<p>The Surface Pro 4 is set to debut in July and may be fanless with possibly in a 14" version. I fyou can wait that long. Or you may start seeing discounts on the old model. http://www.techradar.com/us/news/mobile-computing/laptops/surface-pro-4-release-date-price-news-and-features-1285416</p>

I hope they bump the max ram to at least 16gb. The

current limit of 8 is the only reason why I don't have one.

<p>When I travel, I usually bring both an iPad, for reading, and a 13" Macbook. Neither the iPad nor any other tablet that I have seen comes close to the Macbook for organizing and editing photos or for writing documents. But, the Macbook is indeed a bit cumbersome to stuff into a carry-on suitcase with everything else I need. So, I have been thinking about replacing it (and, perhaps my iPad?) with an 11" or 13" Macbook Air. It has two USB ports, an SDXC card slot, and a real keyboard, which for me is a necessity.</p>