Laptop or Tablet?

[apcs13]

Hello everyone,

I recently picked myself up a NVIDIA shield tablet (using it to post this actually) and so far the experience has been mostly okay. However, I have had some serious issues, including ones that forced me to take the tablet back and get another one. Some issues include a "coil whine" from the tablet's CPU that is usually quiet but in a quiet room you can definitely hear it, one time (not too long ago) the speakers made an awful screeching sound while listening to Spotify, sometimes the system is a little sluggish in switching apps and in changing screen orientation on the home screen, and sometimes (like while I was writing this) the stylus will not work properly However, despite these issues (plus poor PC game streaming quality, but I don't know if that is the tablet's fault), I am overall enjoying the experience.

However, one of the reasons that I bought this tablet was as a portable replacement for a laptop, and as a way to take notes in my classes. So far it meets both of these requirements well, but I was recently surfing on the web and found the HP Stream 13 Laptop. This laptop is 13" as the name implies, costs only $230 (much less than the Shield + keyboard + controller + case). Would it make more sense to return the tablet due to the issues that I have had so far, since they may return or get worse, and go with the cheper laptop and save over $100? The laptop could also run Steam's game broadcasting service, although that is limited to PC game streaming (no NVIDIA GRID, which I enjoy but am not yet sold on for when it will begin costing money in July) on a local network.

TL;DR NVIDIA Shield Tablet or HP Stream 13 for school work and game streaming? (Read: already have Shield, but have had some issues and am still in return window).

Thanks so much!

 

[g-unit1111]

No I would not get an HP Stream - there's definitely better units that you could get in that category and if you want a tablet I'd suggest something like a Samsung Galaxy Note 12.2 or a Dell Venue 11.

 

[apcs13]

No I would not get an HP Stream - there's definitely better units that you could get in that category and if you want a tablet I'd suggest something like a Samsung Galaxy Note 12.2 or a Dell Venue 11.

What is wrong with the stream? From what I have seen, it has gotten pretty good reviews, but if you don't think that it is a good buy, l would appreciate if you would tell me why, and possibly list an alternate laptop? Thanks!

Also, I do already have the NVIDIA Shield, and If I were to keep using a tablet, I would probably stick with this one.

Thanks for the help!

 

[shahbaz200]

I would stick with shield because its quad core and I think its Tegra K1 have better GPU. HP stream is dual core and running windows 8. Nvidia shield is quad core running android which is more fast then windows imho.
If tablets boom speakers work fine with games and videos, then it could be a bug of spotify app or problem in connection.
I don't know why it is sluggish for you because its an high end device. Have you updated your device?

 

[Lumia925]

I would always pick a bad bad bad laptop running Windows, over a very good tablet running Android.
Call me old fashioned, but when computing, i like the comfort of a physical keyboard and a touchpad, and I like Windows software wayyy more than Android apps.

 

[g-unit1111]

No I would not get an HP Stream - there's definitely better units that you could get in that category and if you want a tablet I'd suggest something like a Samsung Galaxy Note 12.2 or a Dell Venue 11.

What is wrong with the stream? From what I have seen, it has gotten pretty good reviews, but if you don't think that it is a good buy, l would appreciate if you would tell me why, and possibly list an alternate laptop? Thanks!

Also, I do already have the NVIDIA Shield, and If I were to keep using a tablet, I would probably stick with this one.

Thanks for the help!

I got the $99 Stream 7 and the thing does not hold a charge and it's only limited to 32GB micro SXHD. I much prefer my Dell Venue 8 Pro over that since it has a much better touch screen and 128GB SD card capacity. And don't pay too much attention to store reviews - those are pretty worthless most of the time.

 

[apcs13]

I would stick with shield because its quad core and I think its Tegra K1 have better GPU. HP stream is dual core and running windows 8. Nvidia shield is quad core running android which is more fast then windows imho.
If tablets boom speakers work fine with games and videos, then it could be a bug of spotify app or problem in connection.
I don't know why it is sluggish for you because its an high end device. Have you updated your device?

I'm hoping it is only Spotify, and it very well could be, as it was having other issues playing back on my tablet earlier. I'm guessing that issue is due to my tablet being on Android 5.0.1 Lollipop, and possibly Spotify is not completely ready for that.

The device is fully up-to-date, with all apps updated to their latest and the latest Shield OTA Firmware update installed.

 

[apcs13]

I would always pick a bad bad bad laptop running Windows, over a very good tablet running Android.
Call me old fashioned, but when computing, i like the comfort of a physical keyboard and a touchpad, and I like Windows software wayyy more than Android apps.

I absolutely agree with you, which is why I ordered a bluetooth keyboard to use with the tablet when I have to do school/other work on the go. I have tested it out a little bit in conjunction with the Shield, and so far it works quite well, although obviously a cheap bluetooth travel keyboard is no where near the level of a mechanical keyboard, however it seems to be working well for me so far.

In regards to Windows and Windows apps, I also do agree with you, but the reason that I would be fine with keeping an Android-based tablet is because the main apps that I need are the MS Office suite, and Word, PowerPoint, and Excel are all on Android for free, and they work as a less feature-rich version of the desktop counterpart, but it has all of the features I need. Otherwise, some websites are formatted in a less rich way and I can't run any piece of software I want, but so far the Android ecosystem is working surprisingly well for my productivity needs.

Thanks for the input though, I still need to test out my solution and see if it does hold up well enough in the ways you pointed out.

 

[apcs13]

No I would not get an HP Stream - there's definitely better units that you could get in that category and if you want a tablet I'd suggest something like a Samsung Galaxy Note 12.2 or a Dell Venue 11.

What is wrong with the stream? From what I have seen, it has gotten pretty good reviews, but if you don't think that it is a good buy, l would appreciate if you would tell me why, and possibly list an alternate laptop? Thanks!

Also, I do already have the NVIDIA Shield, and If I were to keep using a tablet, I would probably stick with this one.

Thanks for the help!

I got the $99 Stream 7 and the thing does not hold a charge and it's only limited to 32GB micro SXHD. I much prefer my Dell Venue 8 Pro over that since it has a much better touch screen and 128GB SD card capacity. And don't pay too much attention to store reviews - those are pretty worthless most of the time.

The Stream 7 is a tablet though, the Stream 13 is a laptop. I have seen reports of the laptop getting around 7-9 hours of battery life during normal usage on a single charge, which is pretty good compared to all my other previous laptops. The Stream 13 also does come with a 32 GB eMMC SSD, plus room for an expandable SSD stroage option, which would be enough storage for what I need to use it for (simple word processing, streaming a few few games, etc.) Also the reviews I read were only from PCMag.com, youtube reviews, and customer reviews.

Also, I don't know if I have said this before, but my decision is between the NVIDIA Shield Tablet and a cheap laptop that is around the same price. I am not really interested in any other tablets at this time.

Thanks again for your help!