Tag: tablet
Microsoft’s Surface Thunderbolt 4 Dock is a high-speed laptop and tablet hub
Microsoft is no stranger to making elaborate laptop docks, but its latest may be particularly appealing if you need a genuinely robust hub for work. The company has unveiled a Surface Thunderbolt 4 Dock that, as the name implies, uses speedy Thunderbolt 4 (and hence USB 4) to connect your laptop or tablet to all your peripherals. There’s enough bandwidth to connect two 4K monitors at 60Hz, as well as 96W of power that’s enough to recharge some demanding portable PCs.
The dock offers a healthy mix of modern and legacy ports, plus a few helpful design touches. You’ll find two USB-C ports, two USB-A ports, a 3.5mm headphone jack and 2.5Gbps Ethernet on the back, but you’ll also find one USB-C and one USB-A port on the front — it shouldn’t be awkward to plug in a thumb drive or phone. Tactile indicators on the back make it easier for people of various abilities to find ports by feel, while the 20 percent ocean-bound plastic reduces the environmental impact.
Before you ask: while the dock is designed with the Surface Laptop 5, Surface Laptop Studio and Intel-based Surface Pro 9 in mind, that’s not a strict requirement. Any computer with Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 ports should work. You could attach a MacBook Pro, if you’re feeling ironic.
The Surface Thunderbolt 4 Dock is available today on Microsoft’s store for $300. That’s considerably more expensive than many laptop docks, and you may wish it had features like a full-size SD card reader. The price is on par with similarly powerful docks, though, and it may be worthwhile if you’d rather not spend valuable minutes plugging in peripherals when you sit at your desk.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-surface-thunderbolt-4-dock-is-a-high-speed-laptop-and-tablet-hub-161856424.html?src=rss
Xencelabs’ new display drawing tablet gives Wacom a run for its money
Graphics hardware manufacturer Xencelabs has announced the Pen Display 24 Studio Series, a new display drawing tablet designed for creative professionals. The 24-inch display is the company’s first drawing tablet with a built-in display to join its range of standard pen tablets and comes equipped with features that rival Wacom’s Cintiq series.
The biggest advantage that Xencelabs has against Wacom is affordability — at $1,899, the Pen Display 24 is considerably less expensive than the $3,500 Wacom Cintiq Pro 27 and includes accessories like a stand and a shortcut remote that Wacom doesn’t include as standard.
Like the Cintiq Pro 27, the Xencelabs Pen Display 24 features edge-to-edge tempered glass that’s been etched to provide friction…
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Amazon Fire Tablet vs iPad: What’s the right tablet for you?
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Fire sale: Snag Amazon Fire HD 8 tablet for $60 (40% off)
Amazon tablet sale brings the Fire HD 8 down to $60
Amazon has kicked off another round of discounts for its Fire tablet lineup, with both standard and Kids models on sale. The highlight of the bunch is a deal that brings the latest Fire HD 8 down to $60. That’s $5 more than the all-time low we saw over the holiday season, but still about $25 off the eight-inch tablet’s typical street price since it arrived last September and $40 off Amazon’s MSRP.
Fire tablets as a whole have had the same drawbacks for many years now: They don’t come with access to the Google Play Store or official Google apps by default, their hardware is neither as fast nor as nice-feeling as a good iPad, and the non-Kids models come with lock screen ads unless you pay extra. They make up for that, however, by being extremely affordable, and offering just enough performance to get by if all you need is a larger screen for reading, streaming video and casually browsing the web.
The Fire HD 8 is likely the cheapest acceptable tablet for most people. It’s made of plastic, and its 1,280 x 800 resolution display isn’t as sharp as a full 1080p screen. Still, it’s durable, its battery should last more than 10 hours on a charge, it charges over USB-C and you can expand its 32GB of storage up to 1TB with a microSD card. While it won’t feel fast, it’s serviceable if you stick to the basics, and its display gets bright enough. As with all Fire tablets, you’ll get more out of it if you already subscribe to Amazon Prime and use services like Prime Video, Audible or the Kindle app. It’s not a great value at full price, but its shortcomings should be easier to accept at this deal price.
Elsewhere in the sale, the Kids and Kids Pro versions of the Fire HD 8 are each down to $100. That’s $20 more than their all-time lows but still roughly $30 off their average street price. These get you the same hardware as the standard model, but with a large protective case (the Pro’s is a bit slimmer), a more kid-friendly UI activated by default, a two-year warranty and a one-year subscription to Amazon’s Kids+ content service. Several Fire HD 10 tablets are also discounted, with the base model down to $120. That’s not a great deal — we’ve seen the device fall under $100 many times before — but the slate itself is faster and offers a bigger 10.1-inch display with a sharper 1,920 x 1,200 resolution.
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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-tablet-sale-brings-the-fire-hd-8-down-to-60-154654168.html?src=rss
Milkybar giant Nestle joins obesity fight with tablet that ‘expands’ to give full feeling
Lenovo’s Ideapad Duet 3I Is a Budget 2-In-1 Windows Tablet
Laptops and tablets each have their place, but some products bring the best of both worlds together. The new IdeaPad Duet 3i from Lenovo is the company’s latest attempt at that.