CR1970

Hello all, I am in need of a single device for business travel. Currently I travel with my iPhone, a 13" Macbook Air and an iPad Mini. I am trying to get down to one device + phone. I love the IOS apps but I will still have my iPhone so the iPad just feels redundant. We use it for touch screen annotation and end of day entertainment. I LOVE the Apple eco system but have never been as much a fanboy that I would avoid using anything non-apple.

My needs are the following:

1. Touchscreen for active stylus based annotation, and commenting on PDF.
2. Portability and durability, the lighter the better.
3. Processing power to run the Adobe CC suite. Not full time, but on occasion.
4. Reliability and reasonably malware resistant (Why I always preferred to travel with Apple products)
5. Entertainment - Lots of downtime and don't want to also have to carry something for watching movies and reading.

I am currently down to the Surface Pro 3 (i5 with 8 gb ram/256 gb) and the newer HP Envy X2 (Core M 8 gb ram/256gb).

I will also run Quickbooks, outlook for my e-mail client as well as the other Office 365 products. A Microsoft platform seems like a no brainer and really the only option as far as I can tell, but would like to run it by the forum to see if anyone has other suggestions.

For those of you who have made this jump, is it going to be hard to migrate from multi device IOS/OSX to a single device Microsoft OS and still be as productive? I plan to use both long term, I am just looking for an ultralight travel setup but still need something that I can use for real production.

Also, I am a little worried about browsing on a non Apple product. Almost every one of our Win based laptops and workstations has been infected, and some even pulled from production at some point because it had been infected with some sort of malware, even from just browsing vendor/manufacturer websites. *Knock on wood, but in 20 years we have yet to have one Apple product go down or pulled from use for similar reasons.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

AussieExPat

I haven't purchased yet, but am looking at doing the exact same thing and I have a number of coworkers who swear by the Surface Pro 3 for exactly what you describe -- wanting full productivity and minimum weight to carry.

I wouldn't lose sleep over the virus issue, just ensure you use appropriate anti-virus software.

idayvuelta

I use an iPad Air with LTE for productivity - mostly office and noteshelf with an adonit pixelpoint stylus for PDF annotations. The pixelpoint connects over bluetooth and, I've found, has great palm rejection and accuracy. Adding a case with a built-in keyboard (logitech type +) has also been a game changer by making work on Word documents/powerpoints and longer emails easy. If you can live with the iOS versions of Quickbooks and Adobe CC, it may be worth waiting until the rumored iPad pro is released this spring, which is expected to have more ram, a faster processor and a larger screen.

There are, of course, limitations with iOS that I'm sure you're aware of. It's definitely not a laptop/desktop replacement. Another limitation is that I often have to save documents to the cloud to get basic tasks done (such as shuffling a document between email and Word) because you can't save the device itself. This can be an issue if you're in a flight or area that doesn't have a cell signal. Still, because the iPad is so small and compact, I've always got it with me. I only bring the iPad when traveling, and even around town but away from the office I'm able to accomplish a lot of tasks quickly and efficiently on the spot rather than waiting to get back to a laptop or desktop.

I don't think I answered any of your questions, but hopefully my set up will be of use for others looking for an on-the-go setup.

l3arefoot

macbook air i still think is the way to go. I've gone through two in the last couple of years, i'm pretty hard on mine, haven't found anything that holds up as well. I dual boot windows on mine - I'm in the opposite boat, I'm unable to be productive on mac OS.

using an iphone 6+ has pretty much replaced me using the ipad, don't travel with it anymore.

i've never had virus issues.

JClishe

I have a bit of everything:

- Surface Pro 3 (i5 / 8GB / 256GB)
- Lenovo X1 Carbon Touch (supplied by my work)
- iPad Air
- 15" MacBook Pro Retina, 2014
- iPhone 6+
- Windows 8 desktop at home

100% of my personal files are on OneDrive, and 100% of my business files are on OneDrive for Business. We use Office 365 at work and I have Office installed on all my devices, so when I leave the house I can truly just grab any device I want depending on what I need to accomplish and know that I can get to any data I need. I'm also a very heavy OneNote user for both work and personal stuff and love the SP3 pen.

When I'm working from home I'm on my desktop. When I go into the office or am visiting customers around town on sales calls, I only bring the SP3. When I'm traveling overnight or on extended trips, I'll bring the SP3 and maybe additional devices. I'm a fairly serious photographer and have Adobe CC on my desktop and MBP, and standalone LR on my SP3 (due to Adobe's 2 device limit, otherwise I'd have CC on all 3 devices). So if I know I'm going to be shooting a lot and doing a lot of editing, I'll bring the MBP - purely for the screen. The SP3 is fine for editing but the 12" screen can get tiresome and I prefer the mobile setup of the MBP and Intuos tablet. Unfortunately my X1 Carbon, as great a device as it is, doesn't see much action.

I rent and purchase movies on Xbox Video on my SP3. It's a great device for long flights, as you can watch a movie with the keyboard flipped back, and then flip it around when you need to get into Office and get work done.

Bottom line, when I want or need to only carry a single device, I'll grab the SP3 100% of the time and I can easily go on lengthy trips with it by itself (I was just in Seattle for 6 days for work and only had the SP3 with me). But there may be situations where I'll travel with multiple devices depending on needs for that trip, primarily if I'll be shooting a lot or if I know I'll have a lot of downtime to edit images already in my editing queue.

Hope that helps.

CR1970

Very helpful, we have a similar file management setup although we use Dropbox since it predates our switching to Office 365 last month.

I am glad that the SP3 can be a one device solution. We are also in the same boat on CC. I own a printing company and we already have it on our secondary designer's Mac and primary designer's PC, I wasn't aware of the 2 device limit. We may purchase a second license so that will give me two more devices.

Lightroom is also our primary choice for photo editing. We use it on site with customers when they are doing head shots or product photos. Glad to know that it can run on the SP.

We thought about this option although we couldn't come across a pen that was as precise as the devices that were designed with an active stylus from the start. We have never tried the one you mentioned though, so maybe that could be a short term fix and I can hold out for the new SP4 or even see what Apples comes up with. We need very precise pen performance since many of the check boxes and lines are very small on the forms we fill out with our clients. Plus, we need full CC functionality. I thought that the IOS version didn't run InDesign.

I will definitely look into the Stylus option you mentioned.

Thanks everyone, the feedback is very much appreciated. Good to know that a SP can handle the workload. As much as I love the Macbook Air, it just gets a little heavy when having to carry it with a touch enabled device along with the other documentation I carry. I always go back to the Air when I can get away with just carrying a laptop but lately I can rarely go anywhere with just the laptop. Hopefully the SP can change that, or maybe Apple can if they come out with a touch screen device that can also run OSX! Wishful thinking I know, but it would be nice.

Dubai Stu

What tempts me the most are the cheapest Chinese ultrabooks with Android tablets. I think Windows can be a good notebook system, but I think its tablet apps are sub par.

chx1975

Sigh. I am a bit tired of sounding like a raving lunatic but by using Apple products you are working against freedoms. https://amsterdam2014.drupal.org/keynote-cory-doctorow Also check http://xkcd.com/743/ this comic before telling me you just wanted to use software that works. It's almost five years old now...

pilotalan

Same here.
Same here. I use OneNote every day, annotating PDFs, Word docs, Powerpoints, etc.
Look at LinkedNotes - Excellent.
My Surface Pro 3 is my only device for my use. I used to carry a Lenovo Yoga Pro and an iPad 3 (in addition to the client's iPad that I have to carry, but which is for customer work only).
My Surface goes with me everywhere, all day, every day.
This.
This.

I have a Surface dock at my home office, and at my client office, each with a monitor, keyboard/mouse, scanner, and printer.
Pull the Surface out in one place, walk in to the other, drop the Surface into the dock, and pick up exactly where I left off.

If you need a hotspot, you can use your phone.
Full disclosure, I do disaster response, so I carry an iPad mini that functions as a hotspot with 10 hours battery life, and as a backup for the Surface. It's on AT&T vs. my phone on Verizon, so it's also network redundancy. If not for disaster work, I would not carry the iPad mini.

JClishe

You linked to a 50 minute video that I'm not about to watch without understanding why I should watch it, and then a comic that's apparently making fun of someone for using a Word document?

I have absolutely no idea what message or agenda you're attempting to convey.

idayvuelta

With all due respect to chx1975 and the point he or she was trying to make (and as someone who is interested in internet privacy and security I hope chx1975 replies), JClishe reminded me of the brilliant scene from Billy Madison...

http://youtu.be/5hfYJsQAhl0

MaxBuck

I continue to carry three devices: a pen-enable Android tablet (Samsung Note 10.1), a pen-enabled phone (Note 4), and a Windows laptop (Sony Vaio with an i7 processor running Win7 64-bit). I've looked into Windows tablets but find them suboptimal, so will continue to do the dual OSes for awhile.

The pen-enabled tablet really makes pdf and dwg annotation a breeze, which is why the Note 10.1 is the only machine for me. All three of these are essential business tools for me. But I understand the attraction of iOS for Apple fans.

willyroo

The killer convergence for me is Office 365, W8.1 (not RT) on a touchscreen device, and the same configuration on the WP8.1 Lumia 1020. Currently have a Dell Venue 11, although the S3 is a better device IMHO.

Dubai Stu

My wife is on the road every week. She is a veracious reader. Our shared Kindle account has upwards of 1,500 books in it. She has a company issued Surface Pro 1 and hoped she could use it is as a tablet, but I found the Kindle App really subpar. It didn't have great formatting options and more importantly it had no support of collections. The tablet apps I did find for it were pretty subpar.

In November we spent a couple of days at her best friend's house and I played with the friend's SP 3 to see if it was significantly improved and I didn't see it in terms of the App side. I liked the device as a notebook, but not as a tablet.

I carry a Mac 11 inch Air and an iPad. I'd love to combine them, but I don't see it with the SP. The other thing I have to say is that so far I think my keyboard is significantly better than the mechanical keyboard on the SP.

pilotalan

Microsoft markets it as "a tablet that can replace you laptop", it should be marketed as "a laptop that can replace your tablet".

The only thing you compromise on (and only a little bit) is they keyboard, and I find the Surface keyboard to be better than many laptops out there.

I first got a Lenovo Yoga Pro due to the exceptional Lenovo keyboards. I parked the Lenovo becuase of the much lighter weight, much thinner profile, better screen, and infinitely better stylus of the Surface.