How to turn your tablet into a mobile workstation

If you’re sick of juggling laptop, tablet and phone on your trips out and about, here’s some good news for you.
You don’t need a laptop anymore!
The below items and applications give you all the flexibility and access you need for powering up and accomplishing those tasks while on the road… all with just your iPad, Surface or Andriod tablet.

Keyboard

• The clear difficulty to using a tablet on the road is the lack of a keyboard. There’s no way you’ll get those documents written if you have to finger punch every letter! Traditionally keyboards have been clunky and large, impossible to carry around. But that’s not the case anymore.

  

  Many companies offer fold away or integrated keyboards that are about the same size as your iPad so it only takes up a little more depth. The better ones allow touch typing, although you might need a little practice!

• Cases

  The scariest thing about bringing your tablet with you everywhere is that it needs to sit on some pretty ‘interesting’ surfaces or be shoved in your bag along with yesterdays chocolate wrapper.

  
  Protect your tablet with a good case – it will add a little bit of bulk but it’s worth it. Some fold out keyboards double as a case. It’s also possible get to waterproof cases if you’re worried about needing to, ah, work in the rain.
  

• Screen Protector

  When your tablet is out on display make sure you get a screen protector. You never know what idiot is going to walk past with a drink too-full of sticky coke. A screen protector can mean the difference between a quick wipe and pull-off or a full replacement (which is not cheap!)

• Battery Backup

  Finding yourself stuck without any battery left in your tablet is the equivalent of the end of the day’s work. There’s no need to panic and slink back to the house before your next meeting; portable battery packs are plentiful.

  

  If you don’t want to invest in a full portable battery, buy an extra charging cable to keep in your bag. Most cafes are happy to let you borrow their power while you drink a coffee.

• Mobile Speaker
  If you’re in an outdoor café trying to show someone a promo video, you don’t want to be relying on the tiny speakers of a tablet. Small mobile speakers are easy to transport and relatively cheap. Alternatively you may want to invest in some headphones or blue tooth headsets if you need to Skype a lot.

• Applications

  There are some great applications out there to assist with being on the road. Here are some of our favourites but have a search through the App store to confirm which ones you need:

  Productivity: word/excel. All Microsoft products can also work on a tablet so you don’t need to lose time converting documents.
  Task management: applications like Asana and Trello are cloud-based and can be accessed from any device, anywhere.
  Remote Access: Software like Log Me In can give you access to a main computer at home if you give it permission.
  Documents: Dropbox works on both tablets and mobile phones.

• Warranty

  Ensure that you have a good warranty for your tablet if you’re going to be carrying it around into unknown environments.