Tablet to view and store images while traveling

[Sandy Vongries]

<p>I use Windows at home. I am interested in getting a tablet or possibly small laptop (8"x 11" OD) to fit in my camera bag to take on trips in order to view and possibly store photos. SDHC slot could prove to be of value. No plans to edit on the road. No interest in social media, camera in the device, computing, or surfing the internet with it. Budget $200 plus or minus. If you have something you use & like that fits the parameters, I'd appreciate your suggestions. I have looked in a variety of places but am seeking experienced user input prior to making a purchase. Thanks.</p>

[andylynn]

$200 is pretty tight. I just got a heck of an eBay deal on a demo Surface 3 128gb for $360 with the keyboard and pen.

What's good about that is it runs the full version of Windows 10, but I'd hate to not have the keyboard. I know you could

get a 64gb iPad Mini 2 for under $300.

[Sandy Vongries]

<p>Andy, thanks -- looked at one of those today. Not nearly as good a deal as you found! A little gun shy, as I have bought some tech over the years -- Cross pad comes to mind, that were great in theory, but not terribly useful. What I like to do, at the end of the day on a photo trip, is to review the day's work. Hard to see much on the camera. Will take another look at the Surface.</p>

[andylynn]

It gets better, because the seller didn't realize it was the LTE model. I put a Straight Talk SIM in and got the 1gb plan for

email etc in a pinch. It's a nice product. Touch and pen are very usable. It's powerful enough for most uses but I don't

think I'd want to do raw processing on it. It has a mini sd slot so I got a card and adapter for the second slot on my X-Pro2

and use it in raw+jpg. But really I mostly use it for work. I've been using an iPad but I needed something that runs a full

version of Office. I did find one Windows 10 bug with it. If it hibernates and wakes up, a system process will run the cpu

up to 100% and won't stop until it gets a hard reboot. The solution was to disable all hibernation in the settings.

[Lou_Meluso]

<p>I have a Asus Flip Chrome Book 2. Look <a href="http://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-flip-2-in-1-10-1-touch-screen-chromebook-rockchip-2gb-memory-16gb-flash-emmc-memory-aluminum/9240075.p?id=1219701747188&skuId=9240075">HERE</a> for specs. PLUSES: Very nice 10" screen-crisp and colorful-great for video too. A few nice web apps actually do a fair job of JPEG image processing if you care to that run stand alone. Very small and thin. Has outboard card storage. USB ports to off load a camera card, very decent full keyboard, screen flips around and stands on its own like an inverted"V". It's in your price range. MINUSES: some but not all apps are stand alone-needs WiFi (can use some phone's 4G as a hot spot, though). Pretty much stuck with Chrome apps (a very wide assortment, many free) but you can side-load some Android apps if you want to fuss with it. Basically a nice netbook with a killer screen.</p>

[Sandy Vongries]

<p>Thanks, Louis! Saw that in my new B&H catalog. On the possible list.</p>

[MichaelChang]

<p>Any cheap Windows tablet will enable viewing without much of a fuss using software such as <a href="http://digicamcontrol.com/#hero">DigiCam Control.</a></p>

<p>It can also control your (DSLR) camera as a bonus. </p>

<p>Storage will generally be limited to 32 or 64 GB via its removable micro SD cards, but Windows tablets are capable of On-The-Go (OTG) which will allow simultaneous charging and external storage devices attached such as USB hard drive or thumb drive. </p>

<p>My $100 Windows tablet bought almost 2 years ago does all this which came with 8.1 and I upgraded to Windows 10.</p>

[Sandy Vongries]

<p>Thanks Michael -- I always have several cards, and rarely fill one since I usually change daily. I haven't gone to 10 as yet -- suppose I must.</p>

[david_henderson]

<p>I carry a small Acer netbook to do that though it cost probably double what you're looking to spend. It loads nicely from a multi-card reader but despite that I've "calibrated" it the colours aren't great. I don't edit on the road either so all I need the screen for is to verify that the photos have loaded properly. I wouldn't dream of carrying this in a camera bag, which is strictly for things I need to take photographs and I watch the weight avidly. <br>

I do carry a tablet too, but on some trips I exceed the 64GB capacity and I do want space for trip info, email, facetime, books and tv series for planes, airports and if it rains. So no room for lots of pictures.</p>

<p>Starting afresh now, I'd buy either a well protected external hard drive with a screen, or probably cheaper a 64GB tablet with the bare minimum software on it to dedicate to photographs. No point today getting a laptop unless you intend to use some degree of computing function - which I did till the iPad came along, but now its just an unnecessarily heavy and bulky external drive for pictures.</p>

[Sandy Vongries]

<p>David, Thanks! I agree on not carrying extras in the bag and keeping weight down. Once I am at the destination, quite a lot of stuff, Chargers, cords, various spares, and usually one lens or another depending on the day's photo objectives, move in to the suitcase. Since my wife always carries a laptop to stay in touch with her company, I don't need those other aspects. Appreciate your ideas. Sandy</p>

[DavidTriplett]

<p>Sandy; Sam's Club has a</p>

<h1>11.6" Nextbook Flexx 11 - Intel Quad Core 2-in-1 Detached Windows 10 Tablet - 64GB</h1>

<p>for sale at $200. Don't know if this will work for you, but its the best deal I've seen. I'm considering one myself.<br>

Check it out <a href="http://www.samsclub.com/sams/nextbook-flexx-11-6-intel-windows-10/prod19540727.ip?navAction=push">HERE</a></p>

[Mike D]

<p>I recently got the Surface 3 (WIN 10) 256 gb with keyboard and mouse for around $450. Also bought a 200 gb micro SD card and used it for extra storage. On a recent trip to Patagonia, the Surface 3 corrupted an SD card and then the screen proceeded to go crazy on me. The Surface 3 was totally worthless the rest of the trip. I had enough SD cards to last me the rest of the trip but I wan't able to make backups to the computer or my external hard drive. Needless to say, I was not happy with the Surface and can no longer trust the Surface line of Microsoft tablet/computers. </p>

[Sandy Vongries]

<p>Michael -- the guy at Best Buy was working hard to sell me up to one, sounds like I was right to hold the line. Stuff like that is nasty on a big trip, hope it didn't spoil the fun. No plan survives Murphy... or at least darn few.</p>

[Mike D]

<p>Sandy, it was the light weight of the Surface line that made it more desirable. I am now looking for a more traditional laptop, unfortunately at more weight. </p>

[aplumpton]

<p>(partly deleted) I suggested a durable iPad tablet but then realized it is not within the budget. You might try to get hold of a report comparing the durability (lesser need of servicing) of the tablets you are considering. There was one in C. Reports a few years ago on laptops.</p>

[Sandy Vongries]

<p>Thanks, Arthur. I <em> </em>suspect like so many things nowadays, that once out of warrantee they are essentially un repairable and disposable. If whatever I choose holds up for a couple of years, in the price range, it will have earned its keep. </p>