The extra long life battery, MS Office, keyboard/cover and 4G communications will make the Nokia Lumia 2520 a hit with lawyers and professionals looking for an all day tablet
Nokia Lumia 2520 tablet could be the iPad competitor with lawyers and professionals
Microsoft has dreams of owning the tablet market with lawyers, accountants and other professionals, since they have their office business.
However, professionals are sticking to the iPad as their tablet of choice.
The Nokia Lumia 2520 is the first Windows tablet that can give Microsoft a foothold in the market, if they continue to sell it after the takeover of Nokia’s Lumia smartphone business.
Despite the average reviews from the media and bloggers, the Surface 2 is a very good tablet for work. The Lumia 2520 is just that much better with longer battery life and 4G LTE communications.
While it seems intuitive that lawyers would prefer a tablet that mimics their office computers, which are almost totally Windows and Microsoft Office, the iPad is still the favorite tablet of lawyers.
When they are in court, lawyers don’t general create Word or Adobe PDF documents. They just need the ability to read them on the screen or get a file that is missing.
The Apple iPad fills the bill with apps that can read Word and PDF, use 4G communications back to their offices and the iPad’s battery lasts through long days in court.
Video: Nokia demonstrates Nokia Lumia 2520 with Power Keyboard
The original Surface lacked an all-day battery and of course did not have anything more than Wi-Fi communications, which is insecure for sensitive legal documents.
The Surface Pro 2 is a better tablet with longer battery life, Office 2013/ 365 capable, has a docking station for serious work back at the office but it only has Wi-Fi communications. Another strike out for professionals.
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That’s where the Nokia Lumia 2520 beats both the Surface 2 Pro and the iPad. It has everything including 4G LTE communications and a keyboard with an extra battery.
The Nokia Power Keyboard adds 5 hours of extra live to the already impressive 11 hours of the 2520. The Power Keyboard also has a trackpad and protection for the tablet in the form of a folio, perfect for the lawyer’s case.
Nokia 2520 comes in 4 colors
The Lumia 2520 will retail for $499 and the Power Keyboard for $149. The package is only $50 more than a Surface 2 and keyboard but with 4G LTE and the extra battery it should kill the iPad and Surface 2 in head-to-head comparisons.
And if you have a little flair in your professional life, the Nokia comes in 4 colors.
Office Integration
The Lumia 2520 uses Windows 8.1 RT which some analysts consider less than ideal. For lawyers and other professionals, that is not an issue.
The Lumia 2520 comes with full versions of Office 2013 RT – Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote.
SkyDrive cloud storage is embedded into the operating system. Professionals will be able to securely access their files from anywhere there is a 4G signal. With SkyDrive, files can be stored only in the cloud (the default) or on the tablet and the cloud. If you want to take files with you, it’s best to synchronize them before hand since it can take time to download them.
The Office license that comes with the Surface 2 and Lumia 2520 is oddly not available for business use but that is not an issue for people already using Office 365. Each license of Office 365 allows you to use it on 5 devices and the Surface/Lumia 2520 qualifies as one of them. See Surface 2 Buyers In For An Ugly Surprise
Office 2013 RT that is included with the Lumia 2520 does not support SkyDrive Pro and direct integration with Lync. Lync MX provides most of the features in Lync better than any other app on the iPad. See First Impressions of Microsoft Lync MX on a Microsoft Surface RT Tablet. Lync is not a user installable product. Your IT support team should explore all the issues with RT and Lync on the Lync Tech Center.
Microsoft is said to be upgrading Office to a real touch version in the spring of 2014. For all the limitations of Office 2013 RT see the FAQ.
The $64,000 question is will Microsoft realize the great product that Nokia has created with the Lumia 2520 and market it to business professionals. Or will the Surface division at Microsoft kill the Lumia 2520 as a competitor. Only time will tell.
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