Anyone recommend a good tablet for wall mounting?

It will be a while before I actually buy something, but I was wondering if anyone has one to recommend for wall mounting. My ideal wants are listed below. I have a strong preference for Android (or possibly windows 8) as I'm not an Apple fan. Will use it with HAI and probably MainLobby. I really wish Haiku Helper supported Android.

I've done some searching but there are a million tablets to choose from and most are simply not well suited for wall mounting applications. WAF is a big factor.

Wants:
10 inch or larger capacitive touch. 1024x768 or higher resolution. Prefer 16:9 but 4:3 is ok.
Android 4 or higher OS.
Suitable for wall mounting onto the wall (not into the wall).
Will use POE (not WiFi). Prefer an Ethernet port but I know few tablets have one. I have found a good USB 2 to Ethernet dongle and POE receiver I can stuff in a double gang box behind it so Ethernet port is not mandatory.
Built in speakers, front facing camera, and microphone.
Cost of $300 or less (but I'm flexible).

Thanks.

I don't have any specific tablet suggestions but I did read a comment on Cocoontech that the Android OS doesn't wake up by simply touching the screen. Therefore, any Android tablet you look for should have some sort of button on the front bezel so that you can wake up the tablet.

I'm very interested in wall mounted tablets too as I was almost ready to make an investment in a security and HA system but decided to wait and see what happens with Windows 8 tablets and HA software. Also, waiting to see how the Leviton purchase of HAI turns out and whether I should go with Z-wave or Zigbee for lighting, locks, etc.

David

I'm assuming that since I'll power it from POE that I can prevent it from ever going to sleep.

Without getting into the OS flame wars, this is an area where Apple will reign supreme and nobody else will even come close. The reason for that is very simple - it's their closed ecosystem. For Android and MS, they are software providers who will/have to support any compatible hardware which means an ever changing flux of hardware from day to day running the same OS, and quite unsuccessfully when you consider the overall experience. Think about it - the poor app developer either develops for what he likes and doesn't care about the rest, or he spends a lifetime trying to accommodate every combination of OS/Device/Resolution - it's a never ending nightmare. Every other day there's a new Android product with a different screen, different hardware, etc - I can't imagine trying to keep up!

There's a reason that there's never been a car made with an Android connector or a Windows connector. There's never been a radio or a speaker system sold as being an android dock. Apple's simple and consistent form has created a platform that people can and obviously have developed for. For anyone trying to make a buck, they go for the single largest target audience, and Apple wins 100% of the time.

Your goals can only be served by Apple products or much more expensive, less expansive, and less flexible windows options... the choice is yours. If you won't go apple for personal/religious reasons, I'd look at a dealer to bring in Crestron; that's the only other solution I've seen that can go as far.

I try to be pretty unbiased - but observant at the same time.

I'm also very interested in setting this up. I'm picturing installing Tablets through my home replacing Keypads, than (probably the same idea as Mr. Spock) on top of having Keypads for my ELK system located through the home I'll also have video intercoms throughout, media control for my media center etc. All from one device!

Disclaimer: I work for Absolute Automation, which is an Elk Distributor. I'm setting up an ELK System at my home, what better way to learn the products!

Three comments:

1) SOFTWARE: I don't know anything about developing for Android but my understanding is the Microsoft development tools do make it easier to support the myriad of devices out there. I especially think the Windows 8 apps that will run on a phone, tablet, and computer could be very good for the HA environment.

2) HARDWARE: Apple is king due to ubiquity, interoperability, and few devices to support. Then again, it only takes one good tablet and mount for Android or MS to take a good portion of the HA market. But being a niche market, it will likely happen, just not very quick or loudly.

3) Related to replacing security keypads with tablets, I'm not sure that is a good idea. I'm looking into purchasing a security system and I think a tablet or touchscreen computer would subsidize the keypads with additional functionality and information. The thought of coming in one night and the tablet not working when I need to disarm the alarm frightens me. Or when my wife needs to hit the panic button and the tablet is in another app. As a matter of fact, the keypads are one of the reasons I'm leaning towards Elk (vs HAI) in terms of the (less expensive) options of keypads/touchscreens and am especially interested in the Elk M1KPAS in various areas as a discrete arm/disarm station with additional info and functionality provided by tablets nearby.

DISCLAIMER: I work for MS as a consultant, not developer.

David

On Tablets vs. Keypads - I do agree that I wouldn't replace my security keypads 100% with something like an iPad unless it was a purpose-built device like maybe a Crestron panel or one of HAI's offerings. I mention this fairly often around here - I like to see real keypads around the exits and in the Master Bedroom, then touchscreens in central locations in the home.

We used to see lots of great options for in-wall computers running Windows but they've fizzled away over the last few years. I don't suspect you'll see a lot of products offering accessories like in-wall mounts as you do with iPads, but given the hardware flexibility of Windows and Android, it is quite likely that eventually someone will start making industrial touchscreens or something similar running one of these OS's - I'm slightly surprised it hasn't happened yet.

That said, the most flexible options that are pretty slick right now IMO are in-wall iPad holders/chargers that let you walk by and grab the tablet to make changes, then put it back when you're done. Set the mood and browse the web, then put it all back after. Apple needs to add a way to have a "home" app to return to - that'd make this even better.

Work2Play - That sounds like a nice iPad wall mount...do you have one in mind?

This one is pretty expensive, but it sure looks cool. ^_^

I have one on my Christmas wish list.

http://www.launchport.com/products

dgage said:

Work2Play - That sounds like a nice iPad wall mount...do you have one in mind?

Click to expand...

I'm about to head out the door, but I can point you to a great resource to look at different mounts ^_^
http://cocoontech.com/portal/lists/apple-ipad-mounts

Good points on keeping a few real keypads around home, I was going to keep one mounted beside the m1 but I like the idea of also having one in the master bedroom for use as a panic button or just as a reliable arming station.

Also, though it hasn't happened yet, unless you're running your hardware on a Vlan and keep it off the web, no matter what the OS for the provider is, sooner or later it's going to have a security vulnerability or some sort of issue that could compromise your system. Just an observation from dealing with lots of security hardware, both on LAN's and WAN's.

While touchscreens add the "sexy" factor, unless you have a purpose built piece of hardware and specific software on it, it's got security vulnerabilities of some sort. While I love the ability to choose a I-droid or A-pad to load my XY software on and keep the costs down, especially on the manufacturer side, it's still going to be an open platform and protocols within the OS that can still be exploited. How that hardware is managed is going to be the governing factor.

You can certainly lock down a Windows machine if you want to. And, if you are using a client/server based system, the key bit is the server, and it can be made very secure. If a client in a wall is a dedicated automation kiosk type client, then it can also be quite locked down since it doesn't have to do hardly anything and would never need to access the WAN, other than perhaps some very constrained and safe things like weather data.

There may be many ipad wall mounts, but thats not exactly what I was looking for. I was looking for a ipad wall mount that when my ipad is installed, it would look like a high end touch screen rather than a ipad taped to the wall. The least expensive one i found cost me about $150 and the fit and finish wasn't too bad. But it charges my ipad when it is docked, the ipad easily slides out when not in use, and it has that wow factor I was looking for. Like some of the other people in this forum, I am also an avid believer that you should not use a ipad as a dedicated controller. In my home, we have 3 iPad wall mounts throughout the house, elk navigators at 2 entry doors, and one regular keypad next to my alarm panel as an emergency backup
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If it's the in the wall and not something you can remove, why does it even need to be an iPad? You could put anything you want in there, There are plenty of WIndows open/closed frame touch screens designed to fit in the wall, right?