I figure this is as good a place as any to address my dilemma.
My girlfriend wants to buy me an iPad or something similar for my 30th birthday. All I can really see myself using a tablet for is surfing the internet while pooping. It's a gadget that I want but I'm having a tough time trying to find other uses. We have a nook, so reading books on a tablet is pretty much out.
You also can surf the net in bed or from the couch!
The latter actually can be useful for things like looking up gamefaqs when you get stuck in a console game or need a map, looking up blackjack strategy in games that have that as a minigame, etc.
I figure this is as good a place as any to address my dilemma.
My girlfriend wants to buy me an iPad or something similar for my 30th birthday. All I can really see myself using a tablet for is surfing the internet while pooping. It's a gadget that I want but I'm having a tough time trying to find other uses. We have a nook, so reading books on a tablet is pretty much out.
IMO things one wants, but wouldn't ever actually buy oneself, are the best candidates for gifts. I cannot speak for how other people use it, but I've an iPad2 and about 95% of the time I'm using it for browsing, watching video, or as a digital picture frame, with the rest being email/games.
The other issue is that I want the eeePad Transformer to succeed so badly because I firmly believe that the tablet/netbook is the future of laptops or at least that it absolutely should be.
REALLY bad reason to get it. Chances are good it will be left unused after initial novelty has worn off. Get the best platform right now, not what it could be. Unless it's going to be a development platform for you.
Personally I don't think there's going to be a real competitor to Apple in the tablet space until Win8 tablets drop, though I'm not sure how bad the fragmentation is across Honeycomb hardware offerings.
I use my tablet for looking at gamefaqs on the couch all the time. It's probably my primary use
Also nice for traveling. I only have a wi-fi tablet, but it's still a lot easier than bringing a laptop, especially on a plane.
I haven't done this yet, but it would be a way for me to lend out my Kindle, since I can still read on the tablet. It has a white text/black background mode, so it's actually pretty easy on the eyes.
My biggest complaint is that the keyboard is very laggy. Luckily it has autocorrect, helps out some. But it's easy to make mistakes and hard to fix them. I bought a thumb keyboard app on someone's recommendation. It is better than the default, but still laggy on input.
Any idea's about windows tablets? I've seen they're coming out with them soon(some out already apparently), but they seem quite expensive, and no idea about quality.
I'm lusting for a Samsung series 7 slate. It has the same internals as the series 9 laptops and a Wacom digitizer as well as a touch interface. It seems like the perfect tool for meetings, notes, and design reviews at work.
Anybody have any thoughts on the Toshiba Thrive? Little bigger than other tablets, but the selection of ports is a huge draw for me. Full sized HDMI? Yes, please. User-replaceable battery is also a big draw for me. I've been hurt before.
Not that ports are the only draw for me (though an SD slot is a pretty big deal, given that I do often find myself travelling in areas where internet/wifi is spotty). I actually don't mind a little extra girth, in fact I think I prefer it (every time I've held an iPad outside of a case it just felt flimsy to me). Plus, it's dirt cheap right now...looking at NewEgg, I can get a 16GB for $400 with a $70 gift card thrown in (which I will use), or an 8GB for $380 with $80 thrown in.
Speaking of, is there any reason I couldn't get by with 8GB? I'll almost certainly be buying either a 16GB or 32GB card anyway, which is what all my data (including movies and music) would wind up on. I see that my phone appears to have only 2GB of internal storage (plus the 32GB card I picked up for it), and I still have plenty free. I'd imagine that 8GB would be more than enough space for the OS and apps into the foreseeable future?
Lastly, is it a reasonable assumption that these tablets will all be upgradable to ICS?
Anybody have any thoughts on the Toshiba Thrive? Little bigger than other tablets, but the selection of ports is a huge draw for me. Full sized HDMI? Yes, please. User-replaceable battery is also a big draw for me. I've been hurt before.
I tried it out before buying my Transformer. I didn't really like the feel of it and the screen was okay but not great. I'm cool with Mini HDMI, it is not like cables are expensive. I picked the transformer because it is so versatile, which is what I needed the tablet for (dock has USB and SD, tablet has microSD). Only downside is the proprietary cable for charging that is 3 feet long (ugh).
Not that ports are the only draw for me (though an SD slot is a pretty big deal, given that I do often find myself travelling in areas where internet/wifi is spotty). I actually don't mind a little extra girth, in fact I think I prefer it (every time I've held an iPad outside of a case it just felt flimsy to me). Plus, it's dirt cheap right now...looking at NewEgg, I can get a 16GB for $400 with a $70 gift card thrown in (which I will use), or an 8GB for $380 with $80 thrown in.
Speaking of, is there any reason I couldn't get by with 8GB? I'll almost certainly be buying either a 16GB or 32GB card anyway, which is what all my data (including movies and music) would wind up on. I see that my phone appears to have only 2GB of internal storage (plus the 32GB card I picked up for it), and I still have plenty free. I'd imagine that 8GB would be more than enough space for the OS and apps into the foreseeable future?
Sounds like a good deal for the tablet. I would go with the 16gb for $30 more (price plus extra card), though if that's the only difference. You probably won't use up 8GB of space on apps (you can put all your other stuff on SD cards), but having that extra space in case is worth it to me.
Lastly, is it a reasonable assumption that these tablets will all be upgradable to ICS?
I don't know, honestly. The only problem I have with Android is that some manufacturers simply don't update their stuff. I bought my GF a Samsung Epic when it came out, and the thing is still on 2.2 (she doesn't want to root it). They keep saying a 2.3 update is on the way for it, but it's so far down the line it's ridiculous.
By the way, doesn't even look like the Thrive has been updated to 3.2, which I got on my Transformer months ago.
So, I bought a Velocity Cruz Micro Reader R102. Apparently, its somewhere between an e-reader and tablet. Newegg had it on sale for $70 from $150.
It looks like its pretty bad, but it can read e-books, and surf the web better seemingly better than my iPhone 3g. The resistive touch screen isn't a plus, but really, it looks like it does what I want at a price I'm willing to pay for something that isn't amazing. Also has other users who seem to be modding it pretty well, so thats a plus.
So, I bought a Velocity Cruz Micro Reader R102. Apparently, its somewhere between an e-reader and tablet. Newegg had it on sale for $70 from $150.
It looks like its pretty bad, but it can read e-books, and surf the web better seemingly better than my iPhone 3g. The resistive touch screen isn't a plus, but really, it looks like it does what I want at a price I'm willing to pay for something that isn't amazing. Also has other users who seem to be modding it pretty well, so thats a plus.
I picked one up as well, waiting for it to be shipped. From what I'm seeing online it's advised to load a better version of android onto it. I'm checking out slatedroid.com for the benefits and more about this.
I am getting the feeling that Amazon is going to take over the lower end of the tablet market with today's announcement of the Fire. It might take a few months and maybe a second gen model, but they are pretty much the only player that can compete with Apple on content delivery.
I am hoping that the increased competition might knock $100 off the cost of the iPad 3, but that may be wishful thinking.
Win 8 tablets look cool, but I think they are going to be too late, particularly if it takes a while to get an app ecosystem going.
So, I bought a Velocity Cruz Micro Reader R102. Apparently, its somewhere between an e-reader and tablet. Newegg had it on sale for $70 from $150.
It looks like its pretty bad, but it can read e-books, and surf the web better seemingly better than my iPhone 3g. The resistive touch screen isn't a plus, but really, it looks like it does what I want at a price I'm willing to pay for something that isn't amazing. Also has other users who seem to be modding it pretty well, so thats a plus.
I picked one up as well, waiting for it to be shipped. From what I'm seeing online it's advised to load a better version of android onto it. I'm checking out slatedroid.com for the benefits and more about this.
I have a question for all you tablet users as a matter of curiosity:
The tablet seems, in general, to be a device for media consumption (and some utility features, of course) - they have big, nice screens for such light, portable devices. I get that. But I'm a little confused about how that consumption occurs. Browsing is one thing, but there is a lot of focus on watching videos on your iPad or whatever. How often are you actually watching videos on your little portable tablet instead of on your larger, superior TV or even PC display? What is the context for this - public transit, waiting at the doctor's office, flying overseas, etc., or are you actually using it a lot at home? Does this actually happen often enough that you find yourself genuinely appreciating the portable video consumption that a tablet makes possible?
Win 8 tablets look cool, but I think they are going to be too late, particularly if it takes a while to get an app ecosystem going.
There will be quite a rich app ecosystem (as it were) for Win 8 tablets upon release since it should be backwards compatible with Windows 7 apps (http://www.windows8release.com/2011/09/windows-8-will-be-backwards-compatible-with-all-windows-7-applications/), and will presumably carry over the compatibility Windows 7 had for apps designed back to XP. That's the main reason I think Win8 tablets have a shot at unseating Apple in the next couple years, assuming Microsoft can nail the touch interface in a non-phone platform.
So what do you guys make of the new intel ivybridge gear? Since such a large portion of their features seem to be well suited to portable devices (better power management, more powerful onboard GPU then sandybridge) i reckon I'll hold off on picking up a tablet until that hits. I know nothing about how apple operates; would it be a reasonable assumption that apple will iterate on the iPad2 early next year and incorporate the new ivybridge chips?
So, I bought a Velocity Cruz Micro Reader R102. Apparently, its somewhere between an e-reader and tablet. Newegg had it on sale for $70 from $150.
It looks like its pretty bad, but it can read e-books, and surf the web better seemingly better than my iPhone 3g. The resistive touch screen isn't a plus, but really, it looks like it does what I want at a price I'm willing to pay for something that isn't amazing. Also has other users who seem to be modding it pretty well, so thats a plus.
I picked one up as well, waiting for it to be shipped. From what I'm seeing online it's advised to load a better version of android onto it. I'm checking out slatedroid.com for the benefits and more about this.
if only you had waited till today
To pay nearly 3x as much for something similar? lol.
So what do you guys make of the new intel ivybridge gear? Since such a large portion of their features seem to be well suited to portable devices (better power management, more powerful onboard GPU then sandybridge) i reckon I'll hold off on picking up a tablet until that hits. I know nothing about how apple operates; would it be a reasonable assumption that apple will iterate on the iPad2 early next year and incorporate the new ivybridge chips?
Zero chance.
They will iterate to an iPad 3 in the next 6 months or so, but the new device will be based on the ARM architecture like every iPad before it... like an A6 or something. It will likely have a gig of ram, a much better GPU, and a retina display. And it will be stupidly fast because even though there are going to be better spec'd tablets at that point, none will be optimized for the OS like this guy will be.
The iPad 2 is underwhelming spec wise compared to some of the new Android tablets... but it makes them look like a choppy mess when you compare actual "in-use" performance.
SW-4158-3990-6116
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
I have a question for all you tablet users as a matter of curiosity:
The tablet seems, in general, to be a device for media consumption (and some utility features, of course) - they have big, nice screens for such light, portable devices. I get that. But I'm a little confused about how that consumption occurs. Browsing is one thing, but there is a lot of focus on watching videos on your iPad or whatever. How often are you actually watching videos on your little portable tablet instead of on your larger, superior TV or even PC display? What is the context for this - public transit, waiting at the doctor's office, flying overseas, etc., or are you actually using it a lot at home? Does this actually happen often enough that you find yourself genuinely appreciating the portable video consumption that a tablet makes possible?
I wouldn't say all media is video. Things like Instapaper, RSS readers, Flipboard, etc make consuming written stuff a great experience. Flipboard for iPad is amazing for just chilling out on the couch and flipping through your RSS or Twitter or Facebook and reading articles or viewing photos or going 'Oh hey, so-and-so linked to a video, I'll just continue to relax here on the couch and watch it.' Games for iOS, while not super deep, are a great bit of entertainment that loads up in seconds, versus starting up a console or launch a PC game.
It's the casual nature of these kinds of device, the 'I can just go anywhere with this thing and relax and watch a video, or read a book, and not have to worry about toting around a laptop bag or being tethered to a power outlet'
HP Touchpad has flash and a SNES emulator... Not sure about the Blackberry specific tethering though.
With a bit of homebrew patching it makes a really nice device for the $250-$300 price that they are going for on Ebay.
HP Touchpad has flash and a SNES emulator... Not sure about the Blackberry specific tethering though.
With a bit of homebrew patching it makes a really nice device for the $250-$300 price that they are going for on Ebay.
Hows its hardware? I've heard mixed things about it. Specifically that it's a "bulkier" tablet but for whats its worth I assume it's still fairly small. And bulky really isn't the worst thing for me, its might unintentionally take a light beating where I'll be taking it.
It is a bit bulky compared to the iPad 2(thicker, heavier). Mine actually got dropped twice the day after I got it before I got a case for it but luckily no damage other than a scratch on the back plastic. Some people have been complaining about cracks in the plastic around the speaker holes but I didn't see in mine after dropping it and I haven't bothered checking since I've put in a case.
The whole thing is a fingerprint magnet but I think that is just the nature of all tablets. Now that its in a leather case I only have to worry about fingerprints on the screen. The screen itself is pretty nice and I haven't picked up any scratches on it so far.
I wouldn't be paying iPad prices for the tablet(which is what it originally sold for before HP dropping them) but for the $265 on Ebay I'm quite pleased. I was thinking this was just going to be a stop gap for me until the iPad 3 comes out but right now I'm in no hurry to get an iPad.
you could get a BlackBerry Playb-oohahahaha I can't even finish that sentence.
The OSs that support flash are WebOS, which nobody is going to make hardware for anymore, and Android.
It sounds to me like you want an Android tablet.
Is honeycomb the newest Android OS?
How are tablets for upgrading OS if a new version comes out? Possible?
I don't have first hand experience, but fragmentation seems like an ongoing issue with Android. No clue if it will become better/worse with Android getting greater share in the tablet market.
My series 7 slate arrived today. This thing is blazing fast. Photoshop with pressure sensitivity like an Intuos. The fan is kind of odd hear, but the slate has more power than my coworkers MacBook Pros.
Picked up a transformer while away on business and I am completely new to Android anything. So far I love the device, amazing battery life with the dock, the screen is great and wifi is nice and fast. I need to learn a bit more about how things work but so far everything has been straightforward and intuitive. The android market is great and having basically a single sign on with all my google shit is incredible.
I just bought a Wopad i7 tablet from some crowd in China. For a hundred euro, you get a tablet with a 1GHz Rockchip RK2918 processor, 512MB ram, 4GB storage (you have the option of getting up to 32GB), wireless-n and a five-point touch capacitive screen that runs Android 2.3. When people first saw it, they thought it was a leaked screenshot of 7" version of the iPad, it looks so close. HD Youtube videos look and play well - I put several films onto the 16GB micro sd card I got for it and they played perfectly, with no slowdown when I slid the bar across to fast forward across scenes. Games play well, and though I haven't tried any, apparently most 3D games play with no problems either, barring those designed for nVidia's Tegra chipsets (I think the i7 has a Vivante GC800 chip). With another twenty euro for DHL Express delivery, it took around three days to fly from Hong Kong straight here to Ireland.
Powerful and cheap. What more can you ask for? If anyone in the States is interested, a guy called Roman who runs topnotchtablets.com sells them. He also has a firmware up for download for it that I would suggest you install. For anyone outside the States, I got it from hongkongeek.com for €99 euro, though it's gone up in price since to €116.
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You also can surf the net in bed or from the couch!
The latter actually can be useful for things like looking up gamefaqs when you get stuck in a console game or need a map, looking up blackjack strategy in games that have that as a minigame, etc.
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IMO things one wants, but wouldn't ever actually buy oneself, are the best candidates for gifts. I cannot speak for how other people use it, but I've an iPad2 and about 95% of the time I'm using it for browsing, watching video, or as a digital picture frame, with the rest being email/games.
REALLY bad reason to get it. Chances are good it will be left unused after initial novelty has worn off. Get the best platform right now, not what it could be. Unless it's going to be a development platform for you.
Personally I don't think there's going to be a real competitor to Apple in the tablet space until Win8 tablets drop, though I'm not sure how bad the fragmentation is across Honeycomb hardware offerings.
Also nice for traveling. I only have a wi-fi tablet, but it's still a lot easier than bringing a laptop, especially on a plane.
I haven't done this yet, but it would be a way for me to lend out my Kindle, since I can still read on the tablet. It has a white text/black background mode, so it's actually pretty easy on the eyes.
My biggest complaint is that the keyboard is very laggy. Luckily it has autocorrect, helps out some. But it's easy to make mistakes and hard to fix them. I bought a thumb keyboard app on someone's recommendation. It is better than the default, but still laggy on input.
They really need to learn how to optimize for their hardware platforms - keyboards should never be laggy. Ever.
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
3ds friend code: 2981-6032-4118
Not that ports are the only draw for me (though an SD slot is a pretty big deal, given that I do often find myself travelling in areas where internet/wifi is spotty). I actually don't mind a little extra girth, in fact I think I prefer it (every time I've held an iPad outside of a case it just felt flimsy to me). Plus, it's dirt cheap right now...looking at NewEgg, I can get a 16GB for $400 with a $70 gift card thrown in (which I will use), or an 8GB for $380 with $80 thrown in.
Speaking of, is there any reason I couldn't get by with 8GB? I'll almost certainly be buying either a 16GB or 32GB card anyway, which is what all my data (including movies and music) would wind up on. I see that my phone appears to have only 2GB of internal storage (plus the 32GB card I picked up for it), and I still have plenty free. I'd imagine that 8GB would be more than enough space for the OS and apps into the foreseeable future?
Lastly, is it a reasonable assumption that these tablets will all be upgradable to ICS?
I tried it out before buying my Transformer. I didn't really like the feel of it and the screen was okay but not great. I'm cool with Mini HDMI, it is not like cables are expensive. I picked the transformer because it is so versatile, which is what I needed the tablet for (dock has USB and SD, tablet has microSD). Only downside is the proprietary cable for charging that is 3 feet long (ugh).
Sounds like a good deal for the tablet. I would go with the 16gb for $30 more (price plus extra card), though if that's the only difference. You probably won't use up 8GB of space on apps (you can put all your other stuff on SD cards), but having that extra space in case is worth it to me.
I don't know, honestly. The only problem I have with Android is that some manufacturers simply don't update their stuff. I bought my GF a Samsung Epic when it came out, and the thing is still on 2.2 (she doesn't want to root it). They keep saying a 2.3 update is on the way for it, but it's so far down the line it's ridiculous.
By the way, doesn't even look like the Thrive has been updated to 3.2, which I got on my Transformer months ago.
It looks like its pretty bad, but it can read e-books, and surf the web better seemingly better than my iPhone 3g. The resistive touch screen isn't a plus, but really, it looks like it does what I want at a price I'm willing to pay for something that isn't amazing. Also has other users who seem to be modding it pretty well, so thats a plus.
3ds friend code: 2981-6032-4118
I picked one up as well, waiting for it to be shipped. From what I'm seeing online it's advised to load a better version of android onto it. I'm checking out slatedroid.com for the benefits and more about this.
I am hoping that the increased competition might knock $100 off the cost of the iPad 3, but that may be wishful thinking.
Win 8 tablets look cool, but I think they are going to be too late, particularly if it takes a while to get an app ecosystem going.
The tablet seems, in general, to be a device for media consumption (and some utility features, of course) - they have big, nice screens for such light, portable devices. I get that. But I'm a little confused about how that consumption occurs. Browsing is one thing, but there is a lot of focus on watching videos on your iPad or whatever. How often are you actually watching videos on your little portable tablet instead of on your larger, superior TV or even PC display? What is the context for this - public transit, waiting at the doctor's office, flying overseas, etc., or are you actually using it a lot at home? Does this actually happen often enough that you find yourself genuinely appreciating the portable video consumption that a tablet makes possible?
There will be quite a rich app ecosystem (as it were) for Win 8 tablets upon release since it should be backwards compatible with Windows 7 apps (http://www.windows8release.com/2011/09/windows-8-will-be-backwards-compatible-with-all-windows-7-applications/), and will presumably carry over the compatibility Windows 7 had for apps designed back to XP. That's the main reason I think Win8 tablets have a shot at unseating Apple in the next couple years, assuming Microsoft can nail the touch interface in a non-phone platform.
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better
bit.ly/2XQM1ke
To pay nearly 3x as much for something similar? lol.
3ds friend code: 2981-6032-4118
They will iterate to an iPad 3 in the next 6 months or so, but the new device will be based on the ARM architecture like every iPad before it... like an A6 or something. It will likely have a gig of ram, a much better GPU, and a retina display. And it will be stupidly fast because even though there are going to be better spec'd tablets at that point, none will be optimized for the OS like this guy will be.
The iPad 2 is underwhelming spec wise compared to some of the new Android tablets... but it makes them look like a choppy mess when you compare actual "in-use" performance.
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
Thanks for the heads up syndalis
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better
bit.ly/2XQM1ke
I wouldn't say all media is video. Things like Instapaper, RSS readers, Flipboard, etc make consuming written stuff a great experience. Flipboard for iPad is amazing for just chilling out on the couch and flipping through your RSS or Twitter or Facebook and reading articles or viewing photos or going 'Oh hey, so-and-so linked to a video, I'll just continue to relax here on the couch and watch it.' Games for iOS, while not super deep, are a great bit of entertainment that loads up in seconds, versus starting up a console or launch a PC game.
It's the casual nature of these kinds of device, the 'I can just go anywhere with this thing and relax and watch a video, or read a book, and not have to worry about toting around a laptop bag or being tethered to a power outlet'
What tablet OS's support flash and have an (good) SNES emulator for them? edit: oh, and tethering? Can these things tether to my blackberry?
Price not a factor, great hardware is if you're going to suggest a specific tablet.
The OSs that support flash are WebOS, which nobody is going to make hardware for anymore, and Android.
It sounds to me like you want an Android tablet.
Is honeycomb the newest Android OS?
How are tablets for upgrading OS if a new version comes out? Possible?
With a bit of homebrew patching it makes a really nice device for the $250-$300 price that they are going for on Ebay.
Nintendo ID: Incindium
PSN: IncindiumX
Hows its hardware? I've heard mixed things about it. Specifically that it's a "bulkier" tablet but for whats its worth I assume it's still fairly small. And bulky really isn't the worst thing for me, its might unintentionally take a light beating where I'll be taking it.
The whole thing is a fingerprint magnet but I think that is just the nature of all tablets. Now that its in a leather case I only have to worry about fingerprints on the screen. The screen itself is pretty nice and I haven't picked up any scratches on it so far.
I wouldn't be paying iPad prices for the tablet(which is what it originally sold for before HP dropping them) but for the $265 on Ebay I'm quite pleased. I was thinking this was just going to be a stop gap for me until the iPad 3 comes out but right now I'm in no hurry to get an iPad.
Nintendo ID: Incindium
PSN: IncindiumX
I don't have first hand experience, but fragmentation seems like an ongoing issue with Android. No clue if it will become better/worse with Android getting greater share in the tablet market.
Best tablet on the market, runs Win7 on a core i5, 4gb of ram, and 64gb ssd. Touch screen + stylus. Sadly it's also $1200 roughly.
This is only true until Monday when Samsung's slate comes out and has a sandry bridge processor and twice the ssd space.
it gives out 1200$ handjobs
Gonna do a battery life test tomorrow.
Powerful and cheap. What more can you ask for? If anyone in the States is interested, a guy called Roman who runs topnotchtablets.com sells them. He also has a firmware up for download for it that I would suggest you install. For anyone outside the States, I got it from hongkongeek.com for €99 euro, though it's gone up in price since to €116.
Nothing's forgotten, nothing is ever forgotten