Author: Adam

It’s very simple… Do I want a toy (in other words, more for entertainment than productivity), or a useful portable device?
I go back and forth on this, which is why I don’t own a tablet yet. Apple didn’t help much with that awesome display they crammed into the new iPad, either. That just looks awesome! However, I get snapped back to reality on days, like today, when I have to lug my laptop around troubleshooting the network at work. I really need that RJ45 on days like this, the iPad doesn’t have one. Not to mention the iPad won’t run our database programs, or allow me access to any sort of file system. I could possibly work around some of these things, I do use my iPhone quite heavily for work… I RDP to servers and use apps to ping IPs via wifi, which is well and good, but sometimes I need a command line to make certain things happen. I need a PC… An honest to goodness Microsoft Windows PC. I just want one that’s light and has sufficient I/O to accomplish my daily tasks, like troubleshooting networks.

I’d like to see a tablet that:

1. Has a file system
2. Has an RJ45 jack
3. Has a physical keyboard available, attached or not
4. Runs Window
5. Has and SD slot
6. Has a USB port
7. Is light weight
8. Is thin and can one-handed

I haven’t found such a device, exactly. Asus had a couple of devices that were close. The EP121 was super powerful, but not enough I/O ports. My favorite right now is the T101MT, but I think they just discontinued it.
http://usa.asus.com/Eee/Eee_PC/Eee_PC_T101MT
I’m still looking. May best and only option, may turn out to be a panasonic tough book. Unfortunately, that brand name carries an even higher price tag than an iPad, by about 4x. But it just might be 4x more useful.