# In Less Than Two Years, a Smartphone Could Be Your Only Computer



## ekim68

> With each passing season, another wave of mobile devices is released thats more capable and more powerful than the generation preceding it. Were at the point where anyone armed with a current model smartphone or tablet is able to handle almost all of their at-homeand even at-worktasks without needing anything else. Were living proof: for the last two years, WIRED has been able to cover events like CES almost exclusively using our smartphones.


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## hewee

Not for me.


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## kobaltx

Smart phones use apps. Still need computers to make them.


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## valis

Either of you read the article?



> "Will we always need a desktop? No, not all of us will," says consumer trends industry expert and Kantar Worldwide's chief researcher, Carolina Milanesi. "Some of us already don't."


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## hewee

Yes I did read it. I thinks on my desktop I would not trust on anything I lose control of. With WiFi etc and made apps you just can not lock things down like you can with a desktop or laptop. 
I never like chat or sharing programs and that is what a Smartphone is made to do.


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## valis

Thing is, hewee, they are evolving, and rapidly. I spend about 95% of my non-work comp time on a tablet. This may be the best tech purchase Ive made; books, movies all play fine, Im obviously online, it cost me $40 and it fits in my back pocket.


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## hewee

valis said:


> Thing is, hewee, they are evolving, and rapidly. I spend about 95% of my non-work comp time on a tablet. This may be the best tech purchase Ive made; books, movies all play fine, Im obviously online, it cost me $40 and it fits in my back pocket.


$40 total or a month? What is it you got?


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## valis

no, $40 total. BestBuy had a huge sale around the first of December, got a Lenovo 5500f tablet. It doesn't come with 3g, but does with wifi, and I already had a mobile hotspot for work. Works great for me.


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## hewee

Wow that is a great deal.

I got the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 for over 3 times that cost and it's a 7" screen. Going to take it back to Costco. I would keep it for music and video but the sound just does not sound good. 
Plus don't like that it's hooked up to my Gmail account.

Like to get something I can make safer like my computer and be able to use same programs so not means a laptop unless a tablet is the same. I like to get a Convertible Laptop type that has Windows OS. Then I can install things on it just like on this computer. 
I like my hosts file and my control on not seeing ads and knowing what goes out and what comes into the computer and I don't have that with the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 and I just don't that. Do not have a cell phone either. If I can get a free one that really is just a phone or more just basic with camera that is all I need. I would get more use by having the camera then the phone.

But I did find out I did not have the WiFi right here at home. Got the newer Comcast modem that has the WiFi but you also have the share WiFi and I still need to find out how to turn it off. But I was using the share WiFi but now got account on the Galaxy to use my Comcast account so get a whole lot faster speed. I just got 48 Mbps download on WiFi so that is great. But speeds jump around a lot because I just got 29 Mpbs.
I used http://speedspot.org/ for the test. It finds hot spot too


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## valis

If you use costco a bunch, may have to switch to cash. Pretty sure they are killing off the AMEX ability there.

Yeah, I got lucky and got a smoking deal on it. Outside of my phone, this is easily the most used tech purchase I've made in the past 5 years. Watch movies, read books, access the web......


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## kobaltx

Hi Valis . All you seem to do with your tablet is social media. Tell me the real computing you can do with your tablet. That would interest me.


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## kobaltx

Nearly forgot, you are aware that ALL smart devices can and should be classed as spyware.Think about it smart devices are 2 way carriers of information. Computers are reasonably secure for now.


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## valis

I use it as a tablet. For computing I use my laptop. 

What else would I use it for?


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## valis

kobaltx said:


> Nearly forgot, you are aware that ALL smart devices can and should be classed as spyware.Think about it smart devices are 2 way carriers of information. Computers are reasonably secure for now.


Dont really agree with that one. Any internet device can be compromised; classing hardware as spyware to me just seems silly.

That said, I do work IT, and know enough not to access my bank account from my cell. Thats just common sense IMHO.


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## kobaltx

Hi Again I,m not talking about the obvious bank accounts etc. Samsung admits to spying via their smart devices. Read their small print it is all there. Gmail scans e-mails and searches and targets accordingly. Google, every time you switch on wants to update all its apps.What it is doing is collating information on you. They already know where you live. Believe me the two years you are talking about Big Brother will truly have arrived if not here now. It will all be done in the name of national security. Look at what your government wants regarding the internet. Still silly?


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## valis

but that isn't hardware; that's is all software installed on the hardware that's doing that. And it's not new.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbins_v._Lower_Merion_School_District

Big Brother has been here for a looooong time, and it's only going to get worse. One could do far, far worse than reading up on two-factor and learning how to secure your mobile devices. This helped me out quite a bit.

and yes, still silly. Look, this is the infancy of the digital age; to think that nation-states aren't going to use this for just as malicious stuff as possible is to be living under a rock. That said, no reason to run around yelling the sky is falling. Just secure it better, and stay on top of the news. That's what I meant by the 'common sense' part. I'll go to my grave believing that at least 95% of all malware infections could have been avoided by that particular app.


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## hewee

valis said:


> If you use costco a bunch, may have to switch to cash. Pretty sure they are killing off the AMEX ability there.
> 
> Yeah, I got lucky and got a smoking deal on it. Outside of my phone, this is easily the most used tech purchase I've made in the past 5 years. Watch movies, read books, access the web......


I love my Costco AMEX. Just got my reward coupon check the other day. Only card that I really get a reward on.

Yea you got a great deal



kobaltx said:


> Nearly forgot, you are aware that ALL smart devices can and should be classed as spyware.Think about it smart devices are 2 way carriers of information. Computers are reasonably secure for now.


This is one thing I do not like. I like a computer where I can control things so much better.

Also really a ipod with a camera is all I need. Would get camera and can use it for music and video's. Plus it's smaller and more easy to carry around. Wish the new ones were like the older ones that are smaller because it's so easy to carry.


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## kobaltx

Hi Again - Most of my stuff is as secure as i can make it. I do try to keep up to date. I,m not saying the sky is falling in just being aware. No doubt we will sleep easy tonight until the next heartbleed virus or its ilk gets loose. Then the it experts will be doing somersaults finding a cure.PS. Like my tablets but love my computer.


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## valis

hewee said:


> I love my Costco AMEX. Just got my reward coupon check the other day. Only card that I really get a reward on.
> 
> Yea you got a great deal
> 
> This is one thing I do not like. I like a computer where I can control things so much better.
> 
> Also really a ipod with a camera is all I need. Would get camera and can use it for music and video's. Plus it's smaller and more easy to carry around. Wish the new ones were like the older ones that are smaller because it's so easy to carry.


hewee, have you heard about this? this is what I was refencing earlier.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/costco-stop-accepting-amex-cards-133314755.html


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## valis

kobaltx said:


> Hi Again - Most of my stuff is as secure as i can make it. I do try to keep up to date. I,m not saying the sky is falling in just being aware. No doubt we will sleep easy tonight until the next heartbleed virus or its ilk gets loose. Then the it experts will be doing somersaults finding a cure.PS. Like my tablets but love my computer.


Love my tablet and love my rigs. But I know enough that, in that case, it's best that the right hand hasn't the foggiest what the left is doing.

Stuff like heartbleed I wouldn't worry about. That was blown so far out of proportion it was also silly. Yes, it was bad, but if I recall correctly it either dealt with SSH or SSL, and the vast, vast majority of end users aren't going to be affected by that. Their banks could easily be compromised, though, and that's where the problem lies, as you and I can only do so much to secure our digital identities. Problem is, we need to trust others with very sensitive info, and I hate that. Two can keep a secret if one is dead.

FYI, my ID was one of those hit in health industry last week. I've done what I can, obviously, but again; my ID was compromised through NO action of my own. These are the failures that you need to be aware off.


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## hewee

valis said:


> hewee, have you heard about this? this is what I was refencing earlier.
> 
> http://finance.yahoo.com/news/costco-stop-accepting-amex-cards-133314755.html


Yes I looked it up after the above post so got the sad news. Hope they still get new cards with good cash back like AMEX has for me for many years. 
Plus I like the pay by phone. They have been really good to me.


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## valis

See? 

I HATE pay by phone, and refuse to use it. Can't control that. 

Heck, that's why I always make sure to pay the pizza man in cash.


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## hewee

I found this here http://www.capitalone.ca/credit-cards/costco/#
But if you don't pay in full each month the card is going to cost you a lot more in for the ANNUAL INTEREST RATES. 6% more then my AMEX.
But that was for Canada I bet so for use here it would be less.


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## ekim68

I haven't had Credit since 1989, it costs too much...


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## hewee

A Credit if you pay in full each month will not cost you unless you still spend more so use more money each month to pay it all.
Then if you keep that up you get in trouble. I did that in the 1980's and stopped it.


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## kobaltx

Final thoughts on this. Perhaps it was silly of me to say tablets are spyware, the permissions that you have agree to use the apps give them access to all the information they need. You gave them permission. Hardware and software is a symbiotic relationship. The discussion was on spyware facts which you seem to have an ambivalent view on. Silly I may be but blinkered I am not. Thank you Tech guy you remembered my birthday. See you next year if you remember again.


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## valis

Of course we will.


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## zx10guy

I have much of the same concerns voiced here about using a tablet for my daily computing needs. I ran into a category of tablets called slates which are pretty much full blown laptops compressed into a tablet.

My first slate was a Asus EP121 which sported a i5 processor, 4 GB of memory, and a 64 GB SSD. While I loved the ability to run full Win7 along with all the software, the short battery life and the weight of the thing was getting cumbersome.

I recently got a Dell Venue 11 Pro 7000 series. This tablet has been the answer so far for my mobile computing needs. It can operate as both a tablet and a laptop. The tablet has an option to dock with a keyboard which also includes an internal battery to allow me to run this setup for about 10 hours straight. This tablet has a newer i5 processor with 8 GB of memory and a 256 GB SSD. It has a single full sized USB 3.0 port and a mini HDMI port. If you get Dell's 4 in 1 adapter, it converts the single USB 3.0 port into a GigE, full sized HDMI, VGA, and a USB 2.0. The Venue 11 also has a docking station. There is a newer version out now which has the newer mobile M processor further increasing the run time of the tablet on battery power.

Or there is another alternative from Dell which is the Lattitude 13 7000 series with even better specs than the Venue 11 Pro 7000. The only drawback with the Lattitude is the lack of any I/O ports. To get the ports, you have to dock to the mobile keyboard. Would much prefer to have the ports on the tablet itself.


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## kobaltx

Thanks for your heads up. Wasn,t going to come back I usually end up arguing with some adjudicator. Your tablet looks ok add 3g 4g to complete it. But it makes a big phone.I think the next generation computers could be what I really want. I think they may incorporate a lot of new software and hardware ideas. Anyway I live and hope.


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## Triple6

zx10guy said:


> I recently got a Dell Venue 11 Pro 7000 series. This tablet has been the answer so far for my mobile computing needs. It can operate as both a tablet and a laptop. The tablet has an option to dock with a keyboard which also includes an internal battery to allow me to run this setup for about 10 hours straight. This tablet has a newer i5 processor with 8 GB of memory and a 256 GB SSD. It has a single full sized USB 3.0 port and a mini HDMI port. If you get Dell's 4 in 1 adapter, it converts the single USB 3.0 port into a GigE, full sized HDMI, VGA, and a USB 2.0. The Venue 11 also has a docking station. There is a newer version out now which has the newer mobile M processor further increasing the run time of the tablet on battery power.
> 
> Or there is another alternative from Dell which is the Lattitude 13 7000 series with even better specs than the Venue 11 Pro 7000. The only drawback with the Lattitude is the lack of any I/O ports. To get the ports, you have to dock to the mobile keyboard. Would much prefer to have the ports on the tablet itself.


Very similar to the Lenovo Helix: http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/tablets/thinkpad/thinkpad-helix-2nd-gen/#tab-tech_specs
I have a client who bought several of these and used them to replace their desktops, laptops, and tablets with this single unit. In the office they use external monitors for more screen area and a USB hub with multiple USB ports and Ethernet for connectivity. Then they take the tablet with or without the keyboard dock when they leave the office.


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## Triple6

Personally if it wasn't for this forum I would use my personal laptop very little but I like the full size keyboard for that. My desktop barely gets turned on anymore. My cell phone does everything else and it's always on me and easily accessible so I heavily use it. Now pair a cell phone with a something like a Chromecast or other screen mirroring device and for many people it perfectly suffices for their social and entertainment needs.


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