Used Surface 2 or other less-expensive Windows 8 tablet?

"BaconSandwich is tasty." (baconsandwich) 07/13/2015 at 14:21 • Filed to: None

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Long story short: my parents are headed to the Congo to serve as missionaries for a year and a half, and want to take some form of computing with them. My mom’s 17” laptop is too big, and my dad’s Nexus 7 is on the fritz. I mentioned the Microsoft Surface 3, but they thought it was a bit expensive, as they are worried about it being stolen. I know there are other less expensive Windows 8 tablets out there, but are they any good? I did find a used Surface 2 for sale locally for $275, which seems pretty decent. It’d still need a keyboard, though.

Thoughts? What would you go for?

R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet > BaconSandwich is tasty. 07/13/2015 at 14:23

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Woot always has some tablet deals going, those ASUS ones get good reviews.

spanfucker retire bitch > BaconSandwich is tasty. 07/13/2015 at 14:24

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They’re going to the Congo? You should get something a bit more robust than that. Dell Latitude or Lenovo Thinkpad T-series would be good bets. I’m sure you can find plenty of those used.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet 07/13/2015 at 14:31

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Have a Woot-deal ASUS VivoTab Note 8 myself. Not a super rugged thing, but it’s got good battery life, it’s small and light-weight (you can put it in an armored case and it still takes up less space than a small laptop) and completely capable of anything you are likely to need a computer for while in the Congo serving as missionaries... (except possibly that it has no hardware video out if you want to be able to run a projector or external display it has to have miracast support...I suppose you could get a USB video device for it...), and cheap as dirt. OKish camera, good wifi antenna, did I mention it was $165?

Dukie - Jalopnik Emergency Management Asshole > BaconSandwich is tasty. 07/13/2015 at 14:33

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Every once in a while, there is an eBay store that sells refurb’d Surface Pros for $199. I bought a 64GB Gen 1 Pro for my wife last year (she didn’t like it so it’s mine now). I’ll see if I can find the seller’s name.

manufacturer_certified is the seller’s name.

RockThrillz89 > BaconSandwich is tasty. 07/13/2015 at 14:34

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What are they using it for? Just general internet browsing, and staying up to date on the goings on in the world?

You can get a new laptop with a touch screen for less than $250 ( Here ). And you don’t have to buy the keyboard. Plus you get a warranty. Those Surface specific keyboards are quite expensive and not really worth the cost in my opinion. Yeah, they’re convient since they double as a cover, but unless you find one on sale or used, you’re going to be at $400 all in.

AndyG_UK > BaconSandwich is tasty. 07/13/2015 at 16:00

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My brothers got the Asus one with the detachable keyboard, T100 (I think), is good esp for the price, runs everything fine including office etc. I’ve got a Dell Venue 8, typing on it now, might be a bit small for your folks though but I love it.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > AndyG_UK 07/13/2015 at 18:32

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I’m thinking that an 8” tablet might be a bit small as well. I think there’s a larger Venue Pro, but I suspect it’d end up being more than the used Surface 2.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > RockThrillz89 07/13/2015 at 18:34

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Yeah, it’ll be general web browsing, Skype, etc. I suspect that a tablet might actually have better battery life than a low-end laptop. I’ll have to do some digging around to see what I can find for low cost laptops up here in Canada.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Dukie - Jalopnik Emergency Management Asshole 07/13/2015 at 18:35

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Good to know! I’ll certainly have to check them out. With the exchange rate being what it is (not great), it might make more sense to get something locally, but I’ll be sure to check them out.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > spanfucker retire bitch 07/13/2015 at 18:35

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They won’t actually be trekking around with it much - mostly just the flight there and back. The Thinkpad is an interesting option, though.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t 07/13/2015 at 18:36

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Can’t complain about a unit with a price like that!

RockThrillz89 > BaconSandwich is tasty. 07/13/2015 at 19:23

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I think where the battery life is going to depend no how lean an OS a tablet has. My surface pro 3 can chew through battery if you get more than a couple things running at the same time. Laptop has the benefit of being able to hold a bigger battery cell, but will have a more demanding OS on it for sure. Might balance out. Also, don’t forget to take a look at Chromebooks. They’re super cheap, I would assume super lean OS. No sure what programs are available to run on it though (i.e. Skype). Just another thing to take a look at if you haven’t already.

jester74 > BaconSandwich is tasty. 07/13/2015 at 20:18

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The T100 (which was already suggested) is a great choice.

boxrocket > BaconSandwich is tasty. 07/14/2015 at 20:48

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If shopping for Surfaces (which are, frankly, excellent), make sure to shop for “pro” models (if the OG and 2nd generation), as they have full Windows, whereas non-Pro models run Windows RT, which isn’t as good and is considered EOL.

I use a (Micro Center) WinBook TW801: it was $100 (refurbished ones with a full factory warranty are available for less), and the 64GB MicroSD car ran me $17 on sale, effectively tripling my (non-app) storage, There’ am a workaround to make apps install to the MicroSD or USB drive, byt I wasn’t happy with it. As it’s $100 and an 8”-class device, I have little worry about putting it in a pocket or loose in a bag, because I can buy a replacement easily and cheaply, and with OneDrive everything is backed up, so no file loss.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > boxrocket 07/14/2015 at 22:14

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Yeah, Windows RT was a huge mistake.

I’ll have to ask my parents more about how they’d feel about something smaller. There definitely seems to be more lower cost options out there for 8” devices.

boxrocket > BaconSandwich is tasty. 07/14/2015 at 22:50

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Yep, though I wonder how much of that is screen size versus components. For example, I bought the 8” TW801 for $100, but the 10.1” TW100 - with the same processor, RAM, and hard drive space - is $180, just for an extra 2.1” of diagonal space, which makes it too big to really pocket and arguably too cumbersome to use where a netbook or lesser 2-in-1 might work better.