# Using tablets for business



## CarrPainting (Jun 29, 2010)

How many of you use a tablet for business?

What apps do you use, and what do you show the client?

I have an iPad 2 myself which I use extensively personally, and also use for directions and stuff on the road... (with a little help from my phone :whistling)

I am contemplating begining to use the iPad, to display pictures of past work/current jobs. Especially since a fair amount of my base are older folks who are scared to death of the computer... I dunno maybe they think it will bite them or something? :blink:

Those of you who have gone this route, experience? pitfalls? ideas?

I was thinking of loading up a dozen or so pictures in the default photo galleria, and move the 'not safe for work' pics into another app...

What are your thoughts on this?

Also, in case anyone is wondering, I use the Gumdrop case ($70) which adds a bit of 'heft' to the ipad and makes it more, 'durable' so to say... I weighed it at FedEx today, a whopping 2.05lbs!~


----------



## RobertCDF (Aug 18, 2005)

I use them enough to write an article for a magazine about it... http://www.deckmagazine.com/computers/deck-ledger--adding-a-tablet-computer-to-your-toolbox.aspx Of course that was last year, I just recently bought a new tablet that I am setting up and reviewing here http://www.contractortalk.com/f17/samsung-ativ-500t1c-tablet-running-windows-8-not-rt-review-125488/


----------



## tedanderson (May 19, 2010)

The thing about using a tablet is that you have to be able to use it swiftly and confidently and it should enhance your sales pitch rather than being the source of it.

Two things I can't stand- 1. When the person on the tablet pays more attention to the screen than they pay attention to me. And 2. When the flow of the meeting/presentation is delayed as a result of waiting for the tablet to properly function.


----------



## RobertCDF (Aug 18, 2005)

tedanderson said:


> The thing about using a tablet is that you have to be able to use it swiftly and confidently and it should enhance your sales pitch rather than being the source of it.
> 
> Two things I can't stand- 1. When the person on the tablet pays more attention to the screen than they pay attention to me. And 2. When the flow of the meeting/presentation is delayed as a result of waiting for the tablet to properly function.


Very good points, don't do ANYTHING else on that tablet during your sales presentation, if an email comes in don't even glance at the notification. And to reiterate Ted's point I usually meet with a customer for 1 hour and I use the tablet for maybe 10 minutes, if that.


----------



## VinylHanger (Jul 14, 2011)

I picked up a 10 inch tablet. I'm still not sure if it will be useful yet or not. I sure hope so, or my wife will kill me for buying a 350 dollar gaming pad. :whistling


----------



## Paulie (Feb 11, 2009)

I just saw a commercial for a tablet that is also plugs into a labtop keypad. Thought that was kinda cool.

I've been looking at buying a tablet for presentation and work at the jobsite however hesitant as usual.

I'll be watching this thread as a few others I see that have been about this topic.


----------



## RobertCDF (Aug 18, 2005)

Paulie said:


> I just saw a commercial for a tablet that is also plugs into a labtop keypad. Thought that was kinda cool.
> 
> I've been looking at buying a tablet for presentation and work at the jobsite however hesitant as usual.
> 
> I'll be watching this thread as a few others I see that have been about this topic.


You'll need to watch close what you're getting with those, the transformer by Asus (android) has been doing this for years, the new ones you're seeing now is likely the Windows 8 rt (rt is a mobile platform) tablets, good tablets but they won't run standard Windows programs whereas there are also windows 8 tables that will run standard Windows programs, I have one of these and they make a lot more sense than a mobile os based tablet.


----------



## Inner10 (Mar 12, 2009)

Paulie said:


> I just saw a commercial for a tablet that is also plugs into a labtop keypad. Thought that was kinda cool.
> 
> I've been looking at buying a tablet for presentation and work at the jobsite however hesitant as usual.
> 
> I'll be watching this thread as a few others I see that have been about this topic.


Transformer is sweet...but typing on that little keyboard is a bit painful. I bought a keyboard folio for my Xoom and threw it out. Maybe I'm to stubborn to learn to type on a little keyboard.


----------



## Paulie (Feb 11, 2009)

RobertCDF said:


> You'll need to watch close what you're getting with those, the transformer by Asus (android) has been doing this for years, the new ones you're seeing now is likely the Windows 8 rt (rt is a mobile platform) tablets, good tablets but they won't run standard Windows programs whereas there are also windows 8 tables that will run standard Windows programs, I have one of these and they make a lot more sense than a mobile os based tablet.



That's damn good to know.



Inner10 said:


> Transformer is sweet...but typing on that little keyboard is a bit painful. I bought a keyboard folio for my Xoom and threw it out. Maybe I'm to stubborn to learn to type on a little keyboard.



I can't stand tiny keyboards. I got big hands.....


----------



## Paulie (Feb 11, 2009)

RobertCDF said:


> You'll need to watch close what you're getting with those, the transformer by Asus (android) has been doing this for years, the new ones you're seeing now is likely the Windows 8 rt (rt is a mobile platform) tablets, good tablets but they won't run standard Windows programs whereas there are also windows 8 tables that will run standard Windows programs, I have one of these and they make a lot more sense than a mobile os based tablet.


Umm after going back and reading your post slowly, I can't make sense of it.....

Could you use more periods and space it out so dumb mo fo's like me can understand?


----------



## RobertCDF (Aug 18, 2005)

Paulie said:


> Umm after going back and reading your post slowly, I can't make sense of it.....
> 
> Could you use more periods and space it out so dumb mo fo's like me can understand?


After reading it again even I was confused...

It's really going to come down to what do you want the tablet to do? If you want it to just be a big iphone or a big android phone then get a tablet running the same OS. 

If you want to run real computer programs (like full fledged Microsoft Office) or any of the other commonly used programs on your desktop/laptop, then you will need to purchase a tablet running Windows 8 PRO NOT Windows 8 RT. 

Windows 8 RT is not much different than ios and android in that they are crippled OS's designed to be run in a mobile environment.


----------



## ohiohomedoctor (Dec 26, 2010)

My wife wants one of those. Did you get the one with the keyboard?


----------



## Paulie (Feb 11, 2009)

RobertCDF said:


> After reading it again even I was confused...
> 
> It's really going to come down to what do you want the tablet to do? If you want it to just be a big iphone or a big android phone then get a tablet running the same OS.
> 
> ...


Thanks, yeah I need it to run programs. 

Portfolio for clients.
Documents such as contracts, change orders....
Be able to take credit card payments.

So it sounds like I need Windows pro 8. I've never owned a apple anything.


----------



## Bone Saw (Feb 13, 2006)

Rob, I've had my eye on this setup, and your review is just what I was looking for.
is it worth getting now, or wait for bugs to get worked out

I'm assuming the pro 8 os runs virtual desktop to run xp programs (older autocad)???

what about graphic/ram intensive programs like rla or google earth?


tnx


----------



## RobertCDF (Aug 18, 2005)

Bone Saw said:


> Rob, I've had my eye on this setup, and your review is just what I was looking for.
> is it worth getting now, or wait for bugs to get worked out
> 
> I'm assuming the pro 8 os runs virtual desktop to run xp programs (older autocad)???
> ...


So far only a few bugs, nothing real major. However Microsoft is releasing a version of their surface tablet running windows pro, that'll be released in January (in theory). That could very well be an excellent tablet if you want to wait. 

Samsung also has the xe700t tablet that has an i5 and more ram, might be a better fit for real cad and heavy rla\sketchup.

I like the xe500 but I have a feeling I'll upgrade in a year or so when even more stuff is out. I bought this to replace a netbook that was a few years old and to replace my android tablet in one device. I do most of the design work on a desktop anyway, this will just be for presentations.


----------



## RobertCDF (Aug 18, 2005)

I should note there are a number of other manufactures makings windows 8 tablets, I however really wanted a stylus so that limited my selections. Lenovo has the yoga tablet that is really cool but doesn't do stylus (clarification on styluses, yes you can get one that works with any touchscreen but they aren't precise enough, the s pen has a tip like a pen).


----------



## MOTB (May 13, 2009)

*Tablet as a PC*

Hi all,
Not sure if you are aware, but you can also run a tablet in the normal PC browser mode too by using Google Chrome and on the top right menu button of Google Chrome you can select "Request Desktop Site". It allows browser based applications to work within the tablet environment. Check it out by accessing your favorite applications since you may be able to get away with using the tablet for graphical application while using it in Desktop mode for business applications. I have had customers trying it out with MyOnlineToolbox for the estimating and invoicing and so far so good. Hope this helps for those who want a tablet but also favor the portable PC.
Brian


----------



## SpecBid (Feb 24, 2012)

@MOTB, exactly. Opening a MS Skydrive account, then using Chrome requesting a desktop site, will allow you to edit any MS Office document, pretty seamlessly. Been doing that on my iPad for about a month, and it's great. Also, Google Drive app for iPad allows you to edit Word docs, I believe, but not certain.
There is alot of flexibility and performance already out there, just have find what works best for you. That's one of the main reasons we haven't released an app for our application, SpecBid. It (like most web based apps) works amazingly well on every device, especially on a tablet using Chrome.


----------



## SelectDecks (Nov 27, 2011)

alright I'll be the one to ask the sketchup question - I know it's been discussed many times before but it seems like these things change every 6 months

SU is an important part of what we do so I'm trying to find what the absolute best tablet is for viewing SU files - I don't want/need full functionality but a viewer that would at least allow you to zoom, orbit, etc would be just peachy

Rob - you seem like the utmost authority on tablet info so what are you seeing w/ regards to SU?? I had a guy try and tell me Sight Space http://limitlesscomputing.com/sightspace worked really well on his Samsung Note but the screenshots don't look so hot on their website.

Thanks for the input


----------



## RobertCDF (Aug 18, 2005)

RenovatorsWV said:


> alright I'll be the one to ask the sketchup question - I know it's been discussed many times before but it seems like these things change every 6 months
> 
> SU is an important part of what we do so I'm trying to find what the absolute best tablet is for viewing SU files - I don't want/need full functionality but a viewer that would at least allow you to zoom, orbit, etc would be just peachy
> 
> ...


I now use a new tablet that runs full windows (seen here http://www.contractortalk.com/f17/samsung-ativ-500t1c-tablet-running-windows-8-not-rt-review-125488/ ) since it runs real windows OS it runs sketchup just fine as well as any other legacy windows programs. 

I've used the sightspace program and it works ok, it's not great and being able to have full SU is so much better. 

I would hold out just a little longer if you are considering a windows tablet, the surface PRO from microsoft will be out in Jan (in theory) and it should be a good option.


----------

