Windows tablet, i5, ssd, 12inch+, charging by usb

bobson1

I need help finding a Windows tablet with a decent spec that charges by USB (preferably type c). I nearly bought a surface pro 4 today until I realised it has a weird charger and that's a deal breaker for me. I want something that has:

12.3 inch or bigger screen
At least 128gb ssd
i5 or similar
Windows 10
Stylus pen functionality
And most importantly I want it to charge from USB (micro or type c)

Can anyone recommend anything that matches those criteria? I can find lots with laptop chargers but the closest I can find is a tab pro s which had a slower processor and smaller screen than I would like. I would also be happy with a laptop or tablet 2 in 1 as long as all the above are met

Many thanks

next010

Lenovo's surface clone the Miix 510 might meet your criteria, picture on site show usb type c charger but not sure if its for the laptop/tablet or just external devices.

Johnmcl7

What do you mean charge by USB?  The spec you've mentioned cannot be powered by a normal USB charger like a phone can, it needs something with more power so I'm assuming that's what you mean by the 'weird' Microsoft charger as it is a USB type-C socket it uses for charging.  I have a Dell 2 in 1 which is also charged over USB-C but it's more like a laptop power supply with a USB-C tip rather than the usual round tip.

bobson1

Thanks. I mean that I want to charge the tablet with a USB cable (I don't want to have to carry a charger round with me just for the tablet). Like the cube iwork12 which uses a micro USB to charge (I bought an iwork12 but the performance wasn't fast enough so I sold it on and am now looking for a better spec but the charger seems to be the problem for me)...

bobson1

Could you use a normal USB C phone charger to charge your Dell? (Even if it would charge slowly)

Johnmcl7

No, it doesn't have enough power - the Dell's USB-C charger is rated at 45W which is far higher than a standard phone charger.  The Cube Iwork12 you've mentioned appears to use an Atom processor which is the maximum I'm aware of that can be charged with a phone charger as the Atom processors have similar power consumption to the ARM processors in phones and tablets.  The Core-M processor in my Dell devices is much higher at around 5W and the Core i5 ULV processor is much higher again at around 15W.

Technically you could do it the other way round and use the higher rated tablet charger to charge a USB-C phone so it would still be a single charger however I'm not recommending this as there seems to be a lot of issues with USB-C devices not complying properly which means it could fry a lower rated device.  My experience with USB-C so far is limited as I've only the one tablet that uses it right now, the rest are micro USB or a proprietary connector.

John

bobson1

Thanks John.

I thought the galaxy pro s charged on a type c but I didn't see the other end of the cable so guess that might be the same as your Dell

Johnmcl7

The Galaxy Tab Pro S charger is a smaller design similar to a mobile phone/tablet charger but it's rated higher at 25W also its Core-M processor uses around a third of the power of the Core i5 you've specified.

It should be possible to charge a USB-C phone or tablet using a higher rated charger for something like the Tab Pro S or similar models so you'd still only need a single charger for both phone and PC but it's not something I've done myself and I'm concerned about various headlines on USB-C cables not meeting certification and frying lower powered devices.  I did want to have a single charger for the Dell and my phone as well but decided just to keep to two power supplies to avoid issues particularly as my phone supports Qualcomm's quick charge.

bobson1

Thanks John, you've been really helpful I think I will just accept that I'm going to need 2 chargers