Review: Tablet-PC hybrids a study in trade-offs

By RYAN NAKASHIMA

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES

Since Windows 8’s debut in October, there have been a range of hot-looking devices that try to combine elements of tablets and traditional PCs. These hybrids seem as if they’d be great for relaxing with an e-book and for writing stories when I need to snap back into work mode.

But trying out three tablet-PC hybrids running Windows 8 has convinced me that the good old laptop still reigns for creating documents quickly and accurately. It’s still superior for working at a desk, table, counter, or on your lap. And it has the best possible mix of battery life, processing power and compatibility with legacy software.

Unfortunately, where the hybrids worked well as tablets, they fared poorly as document-creators, or the other way around.

I don’t think I’m alone in wanting a be-all, end-all machine that bridges the gap between tablets and PCs. The three hybrid computers that I tried didn’t meet my needs. They show promise if you’re willing to give up typing speed for something compact, or if you don’t mind a heavy tablet that you’ll have to look down at in your lap. Just be aware of these constraints before you buy.

Iconia W510 by Acer Inc. ($750)

The white and metallic Iconia W510 is an attention-grabber with its slender profile and detachable screen, which on its own weighs less than an iPad, at 1.27 pounds. In detached mode, small speakers on either side of the screen create a muted, if tinny, stereo sound effect. It’s a comfy couch companion when all I want to do is check email and watch Netflix videos.

Unfortunately, the W510’s guts didn’t match its pleasing exterior. Videos played in fits and starts. I needed a half-hour session with a Netflix customer service rep to troubleshoot video issues, which were resolved by uninstalling and reloading two different programs. Xbox Music, which comes with Windows 8, repeatedly failed to go past a single song play when using the service’s Smart DJ feature. This problem didn’t occur with the other two machines I tested.

As a work tool, the W510 delivers on its promised ultra-long battery life of 18 hours when the keyboard is attached. I never managed to reach the limit in the course of a day when fully charged.

There were plenty of quirks that detracted from that convenience. It took several installations of Office, and a call to Microsoft representatives, to figure out that the computer was hiding the Office icons in an obscure part of the tile-based interface. Microsoft said this was because I switched my log-in details in the middle of the process.

Having to troubleshoot software issues and not being able to connect to the Internet consistently made the device too frustrating to use.

Surface Pro by Microsoft Corp. ($899)

The latest device from Microsoft is the epicenter of design Catch-22s.

It uses Intel’s i5 processor so it can run a full version of Windows 8 well. But the chip gets hot and requires a fan for cooling. That adds bulk and a vent around the outer edge. All this means the Surface Pro is one-sixth of an inch thicker than the Surface RT, which runs a lightweight version of Windows 8 and can run only software designed for that system.

The Pro is also half a pound heavier at 2 pounds. For me, it’s too heavy to use comfortably as a tablet.

Then there’s the detachable touch keyboard cover (an additional $120). It seems downright flimsy on the heavier Pro. On your lap, using the keyboard is prone to error. It frequently needed to be detached and reconnected. Using the on-screen keyboard doesn’t help as it blocks your view of what you’re doing.

Because of these issues, Surface Pro works best when it is propped up on a flat surface with its kickstand and the keyboard lying flat in front of the screen. I prefer a laptop with a bigger, more-responsive keyboard.

Yoga 13 by Lenovo Group Ltd. ($1,300)

This device gets its acrobatic name because it can fold back on itself and transform into a tablet.

Although Yoga looks like a sleek laptop with rubberized coating, at 3.4 pounds, it’s nowhere close to light enough to be used as a tablet. The 13-inch screen seems gargantuan when bent back in tablet mode. It’s more than twice as heavy as a full-size, 10-inch iPad, and 4.5 times as heavy as Google’s smaller, 7-inch screen tablet, the Nexus 7.

Other than that, it works like a high-end laptop. The version of Yoga powered by Intel’s i7 chip did everything I want a laptop to do. It has an easy-to-use keyboard and enough processing power to avoid lags using key programs such as Office. It also solidly connected over Wi-Fi to the Internet.

Its touch screen allowed me to use Windows 8’s tile-based interface with ease. The screen is big enough so that when using the desktop area, programs that appear in traditional Windows format are somewhat navigable using my finger, although it’s difficult.

The Yoga 13 has long enough battery life to be used for an entire working day without charge, and it had better and more-powerful speakers than the other two devices by far.

In the end, the Yoga worked best for me, but it didn’t offer much in the way of being a usable tablet. All three machines were constantly loading software updates from Microsoft and app-makers, which can slow down your connection speed.

For me, typing and connectivity are paramount to getting my work done, and the expectation most people have when using a tablet is that it should be simple to use and set up. But I felt like I needed an IT department to make these machines hum like they are supposed to.

Despite the attractive designs, I found it’s still easier to get most things done on my current, Windows 7 laptop.