Learn me starter tablet for work and personal

My only computer is my Galaxy S7 Active and I'm getting more responsibility at work that requires scheduling, reminders, and other things.  I'm working toward a management position and my whole life I've been a hands on guy (construction, fabrication, repair etc) with terrible administrative and clerical skills, but I didn't need them.  I'm a pen and paper guy in a digital world.  Time to get with the program and start learning what will work best for me.  I have a work issued iPhone that I dont like but an iPad is not out of the question due to compatibility.  Thanks in advance

I'm all Android, so I've got an older Samsung Galaxy Tab A with the S-Pen that I use recreationally as well for actual work.  My company has us all on Office 365 so my work notes are all in OneNote, but I use an app called FiiNote for my personal notes.  Unlike "regular" stylii, the s-pen is very precise and provides a very natural writing experience for note-taking and drawing.  I've used it to join WebEx conferences and present and have even used it to present via Google Slides and PowerPoint in conference rooms equipped with the Barco ClickShare system.  For under twenty bucks, I bought a Bluetooth keyboard for it that I can use when I need to do some serious typing, but I find that pretty rare.

When it comes to taking notes and stuff like that, both of the apps I use have the ability to categorize notes (in my case, by customer or by project) and can export those notes as JPG or PDF.  OneNote even has some handwriting->text conversion abilities, but I don't use that terribly often -- it is okay with "normal" words, but a lot of technical things get it confused.  They also have the ability to either import an image or pdf file so that you can mark it up or to use the camera to capture and insert a picture into your notes.  I've use the pdf import facility to fill out forms and email them back when necessary -- much easier than trying to scan things back in or to keep track of paper.

The best thing about it is that any time I'm handed any sort of paper, I can capture it, categorize it, mark it up, and then never lose it.  Everything is copied to "the cloud" so if I change devices, everything goes with me with zero effort.  I also never have to worry about losing any notes or anything.  While I can't search my handwriting (although, with the text conversion, you could), I can at least go to the appropriate category and see every note I've ever taken.  Just the other day, I leveraged that system to go back into my notes that I took last year at the end of the parish festival to show the logistics team what I needed in my booth and where I needed it and why.  Took me longer to dig the tablet out of my backpack than it took to find the right note.

I think the big question is if you want to keep your schedule, reminders etc in the Appleverse or in the Googleverse. IIRC your work phone should be able to access both.

I've generally got my feet firmly in both camps when it comes to phones (I have both an Android and an iPhone) but for tablets my preference is an iPad - for some reason the Android tablets that I've tried to didn't work that well for me.

OTOH the cheapest decent-ish tablet might be one of the Amazon tablets, but I'm not sure if they can access Google services.

I’ve been burned with too many android devices having hardware failures or loss of support. If this thing is earning you a living, get the iPad Pro and don’t look back.

iPad Pro might be like bringing a howitzer to a knife fight, though, unless the OP needs the stylus.

Good point re the support (or rather, lack thereof) with a lot of the cheaper Android devices.

Just a dumb question but why not just ask your employer to provide you with whatever their standard is? I haven’t seen a construction supervisor or foreman with out a tablet in years. The technology has come so far and gotten so cheap contractors hand them out like candy. 

 The general contractor, on one of my projects, gave all of the consultants iPads to do up site visit reports in real time. I can walk the site and note deficiencies, progress and even write change notices on the fly. The electrical sub contractor immediately gets my notes. We can quickly meet and resolve issues as I find them rather than me having to go back to the office, type up my report and issue it. It’s a brave new world and I’m loving it.

In reply to wae :

So you use the camera to scan in docs like the "Tinyscanner" app? I'm an android guy and a Samsung fan so your advice, info is helpful, thanks you

In reply to Wayslow :

I'm a Level 2 Biomed for the global leader in dialysis, both manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and treatment.  I've been promised a management position inside of 2 years.  My boss said I'm like a duck who'd found its first pond.  That said, I'm very good with machines, but the scheduling, documentation, meetings, employee certifications etc of an Area Technical Operations Manager or ATOM, is new to me.  This is a personal device I want to use to help me learn or developed my skills in managing time, people etc on my own, at work and access GRM and YouTube for Challenge research etc at home.  It's just trying to catch up with the 20 somethings I work with before they hand me a work issued laptop and expect me to have a way to keep up with everything

In reply to Justjim75 :

I actually import via the camera to OneNote and FiiNote directly.  I've used some of the scanner-type apps in the past and have had luck making PDFs, but I like being able to file the docs with my other notes in a single app.  

It might be a good idea to ask IT if the company has any critical software / applications that are platform-dependent.  If they are Apple-centric, no brainer, buy a iPad Pro.  If they are a Windows shop, a Surface tablet might make more sense.  If they aren't tied into a platform, ask what they would suggest. 

If you take their advice, they have a bit of a vested interest in making sure their suggestion works for you and might event spend some time helping you get it set up properly.

A case of beer might help with that, by the way...

We have Onenote on our computers at work, I'm gonna look into that ASAP, thanks!

In reply to CJ :

I'll be happy to share a case of beer with y'all for your suggestions,  but the nearest IT guy is in Waltham Mass, I'm in Mont Al.  

Global Corp with BILLIONS in assets and thousands and thousands of employees

Anyone interested its Fresenius Kidney Care

We are issued iPads at work.  I’m not very good with computers but it is reliable and pretty much idiot proof. As a bonus pretty much any young person on the street can answer tech questions.  

if this is for real work get something that you can connect to the  net , probably LTE thru your phone carrier , 

and something you can add a keyboard to if needed , 

And find out  what most everyone is using Apple or Android as you may need to use the same apps.......

My work tablet is a 8" Samsung Galaxy Tab A. I provide my employees with a 7" Galaxy Tab. Mostly used for instruction manuals, wiring diagrams, and hospital floor plans. 

We do a good bit of work with Fresenius here in town. We handle all the door repairs for them in the area. 

In reply to Toyman01 :

That's pretty useful info too, thanks.  You do the automatic doors with the "button"?

In reply to Justjim75 :

Manual and automatic. If it's a pedestrian door, we'll work on it. 

An iPad is a very good tablet.  They will be obsolete before they break if you put it in a good case.

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

We put ours in otter boxes. As far as I know we’ve never had one damaged by dropping or water and they’re outside for 8 hour shifts every day.

In reply to Wally :

Yup.  Most of ours live in Otterbox cases also.   Never had anything wrong with them that a restart didn't fix.

My current choices are ipad 9.7 32g for $320 or a Samsung Tab A 10 $190 both at Costco or getting a cheap starter tablet (Insignia 11.6 with keyboard) and hoping my work comes through with the iPads we've heard rumors about for 2 years. The Insignia is Bestbuys cheap Chinese store brand but is big, doesn't have the mandatory apps of a Samsung eating up space and speed and is inferior in every way to the other 2 except price at $150. My buddy used to be Geeksquad and said they're great for the money, and if it outlasts the warranty it may be worth a try.  Work promotion has been promised (not worth much but I do trust my immediate supervisor to come through if he can) I side of 2 years which comes with a new laptop and air card thing, so I may cheap out and spend the extra $50 to $150 on my Challenge projects!

I'll second the longevity of iPads.  I'm on my third one so far, but the other two are still around and kicking.  My oldest is an iPad 2 I bought on the release date in 2011.  It is so slow at this point that it is mostly used for looking at PDF files and YouTube videos in the garage for whatever project I am working on, but it still chugs along.

I'm still using my Galaxy tab A from 2017 or so. Any of the name-brand hardware is going to hold up if you take reasonable care of it.

Toyman! said:

I'm still using my Galaxy tab A from 2017 or so. Any of the name-brand hardware is going to hold up if you take reasonable care of it.

 

For the most part I agree, as long as you don't consider Amazon as a name brand.  I've not had good luck with them, and I am pretty gentle with my high tech toys.

In reply to eastsideTim :

Amazon tablets are junk and built to advertise their products. If you are paying $50-$150 for a tablet, you probably aren't the customer, you are the product.