Note Pro and a Windows Laptop

[Colorado Guy]

Full disclosure, I have not yet purchased the Note Pro. The 64 GB versions are just now showing up, waiting for a black one. While my personal needs for a tablet border on "wants" instead of "needs", for work purposes I would expect a tablet to perform in tandem with my laptop.

I do travel and am required to carry a Windows laptop for work. Ok, can't change that part. Using a tablet in either meetings or on the plane would be nice, providing I can exchange the data files and edit/view the same documents. Using a laptop of any type while flying is difficult (except for those of you lucky enough to fly first class all the time...) File transfer could be by the microsd card, correct?

So, my requirements include two parts. One is ease of transfer of PDF and MS Word/Excel documents that can be viewed and edited on the tablet. I believe this is possible from monitoring the various threads. Would prefer to run MS Office on the tablet, just to avoid any compatibility issues. Is anyone using Microsoft Mobile and OneNote on the tablet? Can I get a full copy of Adobe to run on this as opposed to only the Reader? I only see Readers in the Google Play Store. Actually would like to be able to view MS Project files as well. Lots of options, and willing to buy the right software, just looking for the best seamless and trouble free options. I know the Hancom software is discussed on this forum, but I don't know if that is the free version or a higher priced "full featured" version, and if wil work for Word, Excel, PowerPoint type files. There are also MS Project viewers out there. Suggestions would be appreciated.

The other is a selfish desire to use the tablet as a "monitor only". Am a firm believer in multiple screens for productivity, and at home I have a 2nd screen expanding my desktop. If there is a way to have the Note Pro act as a 2nd monitor to the Windows Laptop (while traveling), that would be ideal. I have seen occasional references to this being possible, but have not been able to get a good sense of how trouble-free this approach is. If someone has done this using the Note Pro and can describe their real life results, that would be helpful.

Thx

 

[Golfdriver97]

Full disclosure, I have not yet purchased the Note Pro. The 64 GB versions are just now showing up, waiting for a black one. While my personal needs for a tablet border on "wants" instead of "needs", for work purposes I would expect a tablet to perform in tandem with my laptop.

I do travel and am required to carry a Windows laptop for work. Ok, can't change that part. Using a tablet in either meetings or on the plane would be nice, providing I can exchange the data files and edit/view the same documents. Using a laptop of any type while flying is difficult (except for those of you lucky enough to fly first class all the time...) File transfer could be by the microsd card, correct?

So, my requirements include two parts. One is ease of transfer of PDF and MS Word/Excel documents that can be viewed and edited on the tablet. I believe this is possible from monitoring the various threads. Would prefer to run MS Office on the tablet, just to avoid any compatibility issues. Is anyone using Microsoft Mobile and OneNote on the tablet? Can I get a full copy of Adobe to run on this as opposed to only the Reader? I only see Readers in the Google Play Store. Actually would like to be able to view MS Project files as well. Lots of options, and willing to buy the right software, just looking for the best seamless and trouble free options. I know the Hancom software is discussed on this forum, but I don't know if that is the free version or a higher priced "full featured" version, and if wil work for Word, Excel, PowerPoint type files. There are also MS Project viewers out there. Suggestions would be appreciated.

The other is a selfish desire to use the tablet as a "monitor only". Am a firm believer in multiple screens for productivity, and at home I have a 2nd screen expanding my desktop. If there is a way to have the Note Pro act as a 2nd monitor to the Windows Laptop (while traveling), that would be ideal. I have seen occasional references to this being possible, but have not been able to get a good sense of how trouble-free this approach is. If someone has done this using the Note Pro and can describe their real life results, that would be helpful.

Thx

I can weigh in on the PDF. I like Kingsoft Office. It can read many different formats of files, including most, if not all of MS ones. The free version allows to edit. I liked it so much that I installed Kingsoft on my laptop.

 

[muzzy996]

I do travel and am required to carry a Windows laptop for work. Ok, can't change that part. Using a tablet in either meetings or on the plane would be nice, providing I can exchange the data files and edit/view the same documents. Using a laptop of any type while flying is difficult (except for those of you lucky enough to fly first class all the time...) File transfer could be by the microsd card, correct?

Could be that, could be USB cable, could be cloud storage. I use Dropbox so that I can simply drag and drop a file into my dropbox, walk away from my workstation on my way to a meeting and grab the file in the meeting provided I have internet connectivity where I'm at (if I don't, I tether via bluetooth to my Nexus 4).

So, my requirements include two parts. One is ease of transfer of PDF and MS Word/Excel documents that can be viewed and edited on the tablet. I believe this is possible from monitoring the various threads.

Transfer of files is easy as there's multiple ways as indicated above.

Would prefer to run MS Office on the tablet, just to avoid any compatibility issues. Is anyone using Microsoft Mobile and OneNote on the tablet?

Microsoft Office mobile is gimped, Hancom which comes with these tablets is superior to it BUT even then it has it's limitations. If you must avoid compatibility then avoid mobile platforms altogether and go with a Surface Pro 2 with a full version of MS Office. Seriously, that's the only guaranteed way, anyone who says otherwise does not need all of the features of the software. Truly no one needs EVERY feature but power users of Office are bound to find something missing. For me it was track changes in Hancom Word. This was very important to me and it's not there. The lack of this feature makes working collaboratively on edits impossible for me using the tablet.

Can I get a full copy of Adobe to run on this as opposed to only the Reader? I only see Readers in the Google Play Store.

No full version and everything out there has pros/cons. Annotation in PDFs is still clunky, your mileage may vary. Personally I'm spoiled with PDFXChange on a PC, nothing I've tried on Android remotely comes close to the annotation ability of that windows based software.

Can't comment on MS Project viewers but I've seen other posts referring to some decent ones supposedly.

The other is a selfish desire to use the tablet as a "monitor only". Am a firm believer in multiple screens for productivity, and at home I have a 2nd screen expanding my desktop. If there is a way to have the Note Pro act as a 2nd monitor to the Windows Laptop (while traveling), that would be ideal. I have seen occasional references to this being possible, but have not been able to get a good sense of how trouble-free this approach is. If someone has done this using the Note Pro and can describe their real life results, that would be helpful.

I've used AirDisplay on my retina Macbook Pro and it's a mixed bag. To use a tablet as a monitor requires video signal over wifi so there will be lag. The problem I had is that the software I was using is that there is no way to adjust scaling so the resolution is fixed at the native resolution of the tablet. This means that text is rendered really small and at normal viewing distance it is hard to read so it makes production work impractical for me because my eyes have a hard time adjusting to the distance difference between my laptop display and the tablet.

Hope this helps.

 

[Nychotxxx]

If you use a business pc whatever that is (just kidding) then you probably should go with one of those clunky, imo, pc style tablets, UGH, that has the full ms office suite etc. The NP12 is a highly sophisticated tablet. If there is an analogy, it is more mac (for creative types) than pc (for suit - wearing business types.) I'm just being a little snarky. I have a feeling that those buying the 12.2 who do want to use it professionally are graphics - artists types because of the s-pen, and writer types who can use hancom word that melds perfectly with ms word on Mac and pc desktops and laptops (which the NP12 is starting to replace.) However, I have read comments on the NP12 forums that business people are using the NP12 hancom office and other business related apps quite successfully. Let us know your decision.

 

[Tom Westrick]

The easiest solution for you may be buying a Surface Pro 2, and keeping your documents in Onedrive. The documents will update when you have a data connection, and you'll still have a copy to work on for when you don't have a connection.

 

[Colorado Guy]

Highly appreciate the thoughtful replies and suggestions. To be honest, I would like to still get the Note Pro, as I can see how nice it would be for personal use. For my work purposes, I don't see a strong fit yet. Perhaps the Note Pro tablet is (almost) there, but the software seems to have a ways to go. And I really need a dual purpose device. While I haven't wore a suit in years, I do have to rely on MS Office and associated programs for work. My financial masters are numbers types, not creative types.

Yesterday on the airline flight home I was juggling the laptop in a cramped seat with the person in front leaning back and taking a nap. You know how awkward that is. A Surface Pro may have been almost as cramped, but at least I could have flipped the keyboard around. As I travel multiple times a month, this is an important issue with me. I would hesitate to carry both a work laptop and a separate laptop for personal use.

Tracking changes is critical, I did not know that Hancom did not support that feature. But, that is a software issue, not hardware. It would come out eventually, depending upon their development path. And there may be only a few strange people out there who use that feature, such as myself, so this may take awhile.

Hardware aside, I need the right level of software support for both business and personal use. I was hoping that the Note Pro would provide that.

I have not looked seriously at the Surface Pro 2, but realistically, maybe I should.

Thx again.

 

[Colorado Guy]

I've used AirDisplay on my retina Macbook Pro and it's a mixed bag. To use a tablet as a monitor requires video signal over wifi so there will be lag. The problem I had is that the software I was using is that there is no way to adjust scaling so the resolution is fixed at the native resolution of the tablet. This means that text is rendered really small and at normal viewing distance it is hard to read so it makes production work impractical for me because my eyes have a hard time adjusting to the distance difference between my laptop display and the tablet.

Hope this helps.

If I could slave the Note Pro to a windows laptop as a second screen, that would push me over the edge by itself. The additional productivity of two screens would save lots of time. I will look into these options more. Thx!

 

[mkhall]

I have not looked seriously at the Surface Pro 2, but realistically, maybe I should.

Before I picked up my NP12.2 I was looking seriously at the Surface Pro 2, for pretty much exactly the reasons outlined above. Sometimes I wish I'd gone the other route, but those moments are rare, indeed.

Here are a few things to consider:

* Hanson Office does an excellent job of providing an intermediate level of MS Office functionality. If you need precise formatting control in Word or macro support in Excel, though, it is not a viable solution for you.
* MS Office is coming for Android tablets, but currently you can only side-load the phone version, and it doesn't really work properly if you do. However, based on the reports on the recently released iPad version of Office, once it becomes available, it will likely be very good (and probably free, too).
* If you have enough bandwidth on both ends, there are several excellent options for remoting into a Windows machine when you need to. I don't know that I'd try it from a plane, mind you...

I hope this helps!

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[muzzy996]

* Hanson Office does an excellent job of providing an intermediate level of MS Office functionality. If you need precise formatting control in Word or macro support in Excel, though, it is not a viable solution for you.
* MS Office is coming for Android tablets, but currently you can only side-load the phone version, and it doesn't really work properly if you do. However, based on the reports on the recently released iPad version of Office, once it becomes available, it will likely be very good (and probably free, too).

The problem with MS Office for Android/iOS is that mobile platform based solutions are inherently gimped in functionality if for nothing else to reduce size and CPU load to make it effective on the platform. That is part of the reason Hancom Office has its limitations and one should not expect anything different out of an Android or iOS version of Microsoft Office There will undoubtedly be compromises made to make it functional for the majority but lets face it, the readers of forums such as here do not always represent that majority. That isn't to say that strides aren't being made but I for one am not holding my breath that a fully functional version of MS Word (with track changes/comment support for example) will be on Android in the next year or so.

Totally agree with mkhall though; there were times I wished I had gone the other way too but they are rare. As a personal entertainment device (media, web and magazine reading) the Note Pro blew away my expectations and served me well for taking notes at meetings or answering emails or reviewing plans and reports. A brief act of stupidity on my part caused catastrophic loss of my wifi note pro but I fully intend to purchase another one soon (waiting for the AT&T version to be released next month) and this time I'll get some insurance on it to protect me from myself.

 

[Colorado Guy]

Totally agree with mkhall though; there were times I wished I had gone the other way too but they are rare.

Appreciate the honesty. No device is, or ever will be, perfect. I just need to balance the need of an appropriate tool vs. a personal device.

>No device is, or ever will be, perfect.

Well, the Samsung ATIV Book 9 Plus is getting closer to ultrabook hardware perfection.

 

[PlanetPluto7]

Hancom does word, spreadsheets and powerpoint. Best used with a mouse though because of all the toolbar buttons. It is very close to Office. MS was planning a working Office for Android too.
You could cable to a pc but Samba connections are plenty fast and wireless. I use ES file manager which will also mount Dropbox just because I like it.

 

[onewac]

As a personal entertainment device (media, web and magazine reading) the Note Pro blew away my expectations and served me well for taking notes at meetings or answering emails or reviewing plans and reports. A brief act of stupidity on my part caused catastrophic loss of my wifi note pro but I fully intend to purchase another one soon (waiting for the AT&T version to be released next month) and this time I'll get some insurance on it to protect me from myself.

Don't ya just hate those moments of stupidity!! Had one of those moments with my 128GB ipad. Cracked the screen and it wasn't covered. Still works however so not all was lost. Would really hate to totally lose any one of my "toys"! Sorry for your loss.

 

[beh]

The only reason I can't scrap my Windows laptop completely is that Android does not run JAVA scripts. Something I must use to connect a number of Federal Gov't databases I use in my work. Unfortunately Oracle and Google act like a pair of 5 yr. olds over one piece of candy.

 

[madaudio]

Don't forget that, wherever you have wifi (obviously not on a plane) you can also use apps like splashtop and remote pc to use your pc (and all its programs) to work on docs. Of course, means leaving the PC permanently on.