Tablet for Math Class

Adu_Will · June 9, 2014

Hello, i am new to the forum. My math teacher is looking for a tablet that fits these requirements.

1) good quality, long battery life but not too expensive.

2) loads PowerPoint or other type of docs and able to write on it with hands on that page and won't interfere with other pages . (able to discard it later) HAS TO ABLE TO SEE THE SCREEN WHEN DOING THIS!

3) able to connect to a projector.

(Also the program if needed )

Thank you

Mecami · June 9, 2014

What budget are we talking about exactly? And region?

Expensive is relative...

Btw welcome to the forums

GoodBytes · June 9, 2014

Easy. Microsoft Surface Pro 3.

-> N-Trig pen digitizer (thin point pen, hover tracking, and palm rejection which enables it self anytime when the pen is close to the screen)

-> Serious power with a Haswell Core i3 or i5 or i7 CPU (I would go with the i5 if budget permits)

-> Loads of RAM 4GB or 8GB option

-> Solid build quality, and high level of attention of details

-> Junk free. Super clean. Not even driver control panel. It's that clean. (Intel control panel is there as that is a must, but that is the exception for drivers). The only extra software which MIGHT be useful, if Office download, which is great as the system doesn't have an optical drive. If you want to remove it, it's super quick (just a few MB, light, no left over.. its a just a downloader)

-> Runs FULL Windows 8.1 Pro Update 1. So you can run your programs just fine

-> Wireless AC, bluetooth 4.0

-> lighter than the MacBook Air, with the keyboard

-> Microsoft claims 9h of web surfing, which is really good for an ultrabook.

-> 2160x1440 (3:2) IPS panel

-> backlit keyboard (really well (fairly bright and even) back lit)

-> USB charging port on power brick for other devices like your phone (just charging)

-> Full size USB 3.0 port on the system

-> Supports miracast devices for wireless projector

If that is too pricey, have a look at the Surface Pro 2, which you can get second hand.

Same CPU generation (4th gen Core i5). The CPU can be the 4200U (1.6GHz to 2.6GHz) or 4300U (1.9GHz to 2.9GHz) depending if you have revision 1 or 2 of the Pro 2.

The Pro 2 has Wacom digitizer instead of N-Trig. The difference is that the Wacom supports 1024 pressure level, while N-Trig is 256 level, Wacom has no battery needed for the pen, N-Trig does. Wacom detects the pen at a father distance than N-Trig (still waiting for reviews, as so far it looks like Microsoft got the best in line N-Trig model, so it might have the same distance tracking as Wacom's, already it seams to track faster and track small handwriting very well, compared to other devices I saw with N-Trig). Wacom requires calibration (http://www.surfaceforums.net/forum/microsoft-surface-pro-2/8219-surface-tweak-tool-surface-pro-2-release.html), N-Trig does not. Wacom is not great on corners, N-Trig is fine edge to edge.

Wacom the pen needs to be in plastic (or carbon fiber), can't be in metal. N-Trig can be in metal, which offers a better feel.

So as you can see there is ups and downs. But both are fine at the end of the day.

I have the Surface Pro 2 for university (computer science, so you can see I have a lot of Math, diagrams, graphs and such to do. Love it)

The down side of the Surface Pro line: expensive. 1 USB port.

I can't comment on the Surface Pro 3, but the Pro 2 tear down pictures shows that the reason where there is only 1 USB port, is genuinely because there is no space to have it. The hinge system take a big part of it. So there is a reason for that, and not just giggles. I image the Surface Pro 3 is in similar situation.

As for price. There is no doubt that, this device is the GeForce Titan of Microsoft. It's the company "halo" product. It's definitely not a "best deal" device, but you do get your moneys worth when you compare it to other high end devices. Its definitively a device that will get you the best Windows experience.

If it is too expensive, let us know, so that we can help you find other solutions that might better fit you.

Keep in mind that:

-> 2 year warranty + accidental damage protection is 150$ more

-> Keyboard is 130$ (yes it's over priced, but the device is nothing without it, so you need it. It's sold apart, to give you a choice of color, Microsoft says... I'll you draw your own conclusions)

thirdworldking · June 10, 2014

i think the surface pro 3 would be good as it has the laptop feel to it but in a tablet form factor. it also has a digitizer pen which would be good for writing down math equations on the tablet (nothing is worse then trying to type out math equations belive me) you could also take a look at samsung line as they have digitizers but im not sure if they run microsoft office whereas the surface pro 3 does.