A good tablet for development - Suggestions?

As you know C3 will run on mobile and tablets, I want to give it a try, I always wanted to take game development with me.

But I wander, what device should I pick?

I think it should have very very strong CPU, good ram, good videocard.

Secondary: Storrage, battery life, I preffer non-apple

And as a "big-fingered" person, I preffer something with 10+ inch display, 12 is good

Price - rational. I know that I'm asking for something that should be priced 700$+, but maybe there are some good deals

It is a kind of first topic of a kind, so maybe it should be more open topic, so feel free to suggest and discuss

I'm considering getting a Microsoft Surface Pro 4, they are really nice

But I wander, what device should I pick?

I think it should have very very strong CPU, good ram, good videocard.

In a tablet? This is somehow a apparent contradiction... Maybe the Surface comes close (in fact the built in hardware is the same as in a common laptop) - but then u have to rely on the CPU-integrated Intel HD Graphics-Card with poor performance...

Get a cheap android tablet - will do the job. Depends on how the touch interface is integrated in c3. I personally won't attach a mouse/keyboard to a tablet in order to work "mobile"...

I suggest you wait for the beta and try it out first on a friend's tablet before buying one yourself.

Get a cheap android tablet - will do the job.

I'm more considering, what are the good options among the android devices.

The cheap ones wont do the job, I testes some games on tablets, and those have high resolution with weak specs.

The phones running better than those tablest

I hope to find something with good specs.

Lets say something that can run smooth 60fps with 30 256x256px physics sprites with blur both vertical and horizontal in full screen resolution.

And the price is something secondary for me.

Surfaces... Maybe...

I would buy an Android tablet to make use of the build'n'run option that was mentioned in a previous blog.

I would recommend the latest Galaxy Tab.

What is the use of a windows tablet since you're going to pay for the android exporters monthly ?

Let's see this from a different side:

When you're developing a mobile game and it runs smoothly on the android device (in the browser or direct apk build) - you know exactly where you will end up with performance. With C2 this is not so easy - you are forced to export regularly apks and check for perfomance issues. What runs fine on your x86 development pc rig / surface tablet could run with poor performance on a android/iphone or whatever mobile device - so for me this is a huge improvement on mobile game developement we will get with C3...

For sure there are still so many things we DONT know about C3 - so it's difficult to imagine what the cloud / browser based design really can improve for mobile game developement.

Personally I don't want to develope on a mobile device (even if it is a surface). Here in my institute there are some people using surface tablet pcs... And yeah they suck . Shitty keyboard, small screen - meh...

I have a galaxy note 10.1 , however wont be using c3 due to the licensing type

I use surface pros. 3 and 4.

They have replaced my desktops and laptops.

They have more than enough performance with tons to spare for anything construct 2 can produce.

They have astounding but high dpi screens. You can dock them and use like a desktop. Actually you don't even need the dock. Just use with any Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. or u can plug some in.

The tablets themselves have a display port out so you can have very nice dual screen setup where you can instantly test touch. I have the game running on the tab screen with C2 on a 24 in screen plugged into it.

I use live preview over lan for a number of phones and Android tablets... This is fine for checking mobile performance there isn't need to keep making apks)

( have no idea what people are smoking when talking about monthly fees for apk builds)

They also have sd card slot for back up.

You can use them with all your regular windows programs.

Of course the one thing that really sets them apart is the superb stylus and it's uses.

I have rediscovered my love of drawing and painting with these wonderful devices and if pixel art is your thing then you need one now.

Also I have "discovered" that to work out real maths you need to write it down with a pen. Again here the surface pros have been a revrlation

negatives

1) the surface pro 4 battery gives u about 5 hours regular non gaming use. Don't take notice of the 9 hour claim on ms site. The sp3 is better at about 8 hours. However the sp4 is thinner which I have found myself liking.

2) once you've worked with microsoft edge ( which is still new and a little buggy) browser you will see what a bloated laggy mess chrome is and never want to touch it again. But it looks like for now Scirra C3 will be on chrome.

Many normal windows programs including c2 are not optimised for touch or stylus.

I'm not sure about developing full time on a tablet or even laptop. To properly work with C2 and mostly likely C3 you need a large screen end of story. however I don't think you can beat the surface pros in the tablet department. And As said previously kick out the stand, plug in a 24 in monitor and you have the best Dev setup you could ask for.

These are not really issues for me but just FYI.

Personally I think these devices with the stylus capabilities should be mandatory for all 2d ga me devs but that's just me.

I picked the i3 pro 3 up for about 300 quid on eBay refurbished with a brand new screen as a test.

Picked up a new i5 sp4 over Christmas for 845 with a free xbox one s. Look out for deals like this if going new.

The sp4 is a tad more responsive but really They are each as good as the other.

And when ur done coding you have a nice tablet to watch films on in bed....

Sure. But when you are also working with 3d tools and other engines like unity3d or unreal the hardware limitations because of the gpu and the small screen are really annoying. Also, here in my workplace (higher technical school) we don't have the possibility to connect another screen. There just are none . And carrying around a big screen doesn't make any sense...

Don't misunderstand - I totally get your points. But on my opinion you can get better and more useful hardware by just buying a laptop. Finally

Back to topic. As said before: scirra wrote they will integrate touch for c3 interface. So let's see in April how well this will work out ... we will see

I own a Windows tablet with a Wacom digitizer with both pen and touch support, and various smaller Android tablets, and an older iPad 2. From experience I can tell you that doing any real work on the road (outside drawing and ideation) is a very painful and cumbersome process on tablets without an actual keyboard.

Doing any game development without a keyboard is like trying to run through a river of mud - SO slow and frustrating. I tried. It is no fun at all. Tablets are meant for media consumption foremost.

The OP mentions large fingers - you will probably need a stylus in that case. Android and iOS pen support is rather primitive, and imprecise compared to Wacom, though.

Another issue is screen size. For productivity you need something bigger than a regular iPad. An iPad Pro would be okay from this viewpoint, but you would still have to deal with the lack of a keyboard - and you mentioned you do not want to go down the Apple road. But a stylus is offered by Apple to make like easier working on the screen. Fingers, in my experience, are way to in-precise, and prone to errors.

Android tablets seem to be on the way out - even Nvidia cancelled their upcoming game tablet. The only Android tablet that I might suggest to get at this point is the Google Pixel tablet, but that one's only available in the US, I believe - and anyway, that screen size is too small for actual (game) development.

Windows tablets like the Surface Pro are very expensive, and you'd be better off getting a notebook for less money.

Perhaps consider looking into Chromebooks? Those seem to be the next step in the evolution of Android. I've looked at several at the Google booth at BestBuy, and the screen sizes are pretty good, they have keyboards and are convertibles: use them either as tablets or note(net)books. Android apps run in a window, and multitasking is possible.

Since Construct 3 is going to be Chrome based, a Chromebook seems like the perfect companion for on the road C3 development: you get both a (large) tablet, and a proper notebook for development. Games can be tested in an Android environment. And most of these fall within your budget as well.

SpielerZwei

Fyi. I can run blender, unity, , catia, AutoCAD just fine on surface pro 4. I regularly play heroes of the storm on it and it will even play Overwatch. Try running those on an android tablet. You are behind the times wrt integrated graphics performance. Also there are few laptops with stylus support.

I would suggest to wait for the beta at least. Not terribly long way left.

I'm also using a Surface Pro 4. I highly recommend it for development, especially of you're developing for mobile/tablet and have touch in mind. It's basically a 1 stop studio all in one, since it can run full softwares like, Photoshop, Aftereffects, Maya etc, for creating assets as well. Another big plus is stylus.

My usual position when working is on my back in the sofa with just tablet on my belly and the stylus in my hand. No mouse, no keyboard. Since you don't have to write a lot of code with C2, the on screen keyboard, along with the built in predictions and quick picks it's really easy to use without mouse/keyboard. The on screen keyboard is enough for some expressions etc when needed.

Performance is great, and battery life is decent (If you're out and about) but most of the time when I'm home i keep power cable connected.

SpielerZwei

Fyi. I can run blender, unity, , catia, AutoCAD just fine on surface pro 4. I regularly play heroes of the storm on it and it will even play Overwatch. Try running those on an android tablet. You are behind the times wrt integrated graphics performance. Also there are few laptops with stylus support.

You didn't get my point. To be honest when it fits to your recommendations that's fine. But it doesn't to mine. When things get complex especially with 3d content or vr the performance of a surface is poor. Sure for simple 3d or 2d projects this isn't an issue. And sure you can't do that on a android tablet too... but that's not the point. Whatsoever I'm exited about what will be delivered by scirra.

And even back to the topic: for me it makes no sense putting money on a overpriced tablet just to be mobile. But hey maybe for u or others it would be.