February 01, 2013 | Paul Merak | Comments 0

iPad or Surface RT for work

Tablets are no doubt entering the work space, even though bosses are’t too sure whether to replace the old clunkers just yet. There had been 75.3 percent more tablets sold in 2012 than in the year prior. Global tablet market is still dominated by Apple and its iPad tablets covering about 53.8 percent of the market. Just in the fourth quarter of 2012 Apple had sold 22.9 million iPads. A lot of these sales weren’t just customers wanting to play their Angry Birds. Many of these sales were snatched up by businesses, banks, governments, schools and hospitals.

Police and courts are picking up iPads; state legislatures in Texas and Virginia use iPads to increase the flow of government documents among lawmakers. Governments in Sweden and Netherlands made significant orders as well. 8,000 iPads went to Barclays bank to help employees server their clients better. Clearly, tablets are getting adopted not just in homes, but also in the places of work.

Now, iPads are selling well. Apple sold 48.1 percent more iPad and iPad mini tablets in last quarter of 2012 than in the same quarter of 2011. Tablet trends however indicate that android tablets are being adopted quicker. While Apple’s tablet share dropped from 53.8 percent just two months ago to current 43.6 percent, companies like Asus and Samsung featuring android and windows tablets grow at remarkable rates. Samsung’s tablet business grew 263 percent, while Asus grew 402 percent last year. Samsung doubled its tablet market share in just 3 months. At these rates it is just a matter of time for none-iOS based tablets to take a more significant place at work and at home.

For most people working on just the tablet should be hard. Keyboard dramatically increases productivity. Both iPad and Surface have keyboards you can pick up, so it is entirely possible to use either as a replacement of notebook, or even a desktop computer.

iPad has many choices when it comes to keyboards. They vary in many things including prices. What iPad misses though in the work environment is Microsoft Office 365, which Microsoft sneakily decided to hold off on for iOS and android in hopes to boost its Surface tablets.

Microsoft Surface Windows RT tablet with Type Cover keyboard

Microsoft Surface RT tablet with either Type Cover and Touch Cover keyboard will do most of the work. Many (including me) prefer larger screens, but then the larger the screen the less portable the device. All Microsoft Office software works on Surface RT including Word, Powerpoint, Office, Access as well as SkyDrive. What will not work for you is older Microsoft software. Surface RT is simply not compatible with older versions of software. Another thing you may want to be aware of is that Microsoft Surface RT tablet works exclusively with Internet Explorer. There are of course many browser apps that do not support IE. And what about other browsers or other search engines?

If you choose Microsoft Windows Surface RT tablet as your choice of a work tablet you will experience limitations synonymous with budget hardware. Only this isn’t a budget tablet! Surface RT tablet starts at $499 and the keyboard will cost you extra. Type Cover costs $130, while Touch Cover keyboard will set you back by additional $120. Some makers just insist on making a top buck even if their products aren’t moving so well.

Read Tablet’s profit margins !

Type Cover (left) and Touch Cover (right) keyboard (click)

Microsoft has introduced Windows 8 and Windows RT last year along with flagship Surface tablets. Microsoft Surface RT tablet has been selling modestly as users aren’t too familiar with the Windows RT OS and also because the tablet is slightly overpriced.

Read Windows 8 vs Windows RT! Don’t miss our full Windows 8 review !

New iPad Retina 128GB model is to be released on February 5th, while Microsoft Surface Pro tablet, featuring the full fetched Windows 8 Pro OS will be launched on February 9th.

Source zdnet

iPad or Surface RT for work

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