Onslaught of Android tablets

[amirm]

Looks like Amazon shot higher than people thought. Quick comparison chart of new HD devices:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2409367,00.asp

 

[XV-1]

My Google Nexus 7 is great fun to play with and just about the perfect size for web cruzing.

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

Ultimately, these things are about apps. If I can't get the George Harrison guitar collection app, I don't care if the thing is 22G. hardware will not win the day.

Tim

 

[FrantzM]

Ultimately, these things are about apps. If I can't get the George Harrison guitar collection app, I don't care if the thing is 22G. hardware will not win the day.

Tim

Hardware and OS run the apps .. If there is demand for an app it will come from whatever platform. I have also witnessing that onslaught Android-based tablets and the prices are falling. I was able to get one from Tiger for $89!! .. I don't know how good that one will be. It is for Remote Control application so not much will be needed from it ... Yet, I have read that some of those cheapies are more than decent ... We'll see

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

If there is broad demand for an app, yes, it will end up on most platforms. But apps, at least the way we use them in my house, are not always universal. They are ways of personalizing and customizing the experience. That's why the example I used is not just for Beatles fans, but for Beatles fans that are also vintage guitar fans. That app would mean nothing to my son, a lot to me. On the other hand, he has a couple of Marvel apps on our iPad I've never looked at. A very broad selection of highly specialized apps is what makes the experience, not the hardware, IMO. I love a bang for the buck. I've worked that space in hifi very effectively over the years. But if I found a system that had all the hardware capability of mine at a fraction of the price, but it would only play the most popular new releases, I'd reach much deeper into my wallet. YMMV, of course. I understand that many people just use portable devices as laptop substitutes. If that's the case, go for the $89 pad!

Tim

 

[Keith_W]

At the moment I run an iPad 1. It is an incredibly lousy piece of hardware - the screen is low res, it is slow, and Safari frequently crashes. I hate it.

However, my needs are fairly simple - I only run 3 applications regularly. The web browser, Zinio (to read magazines), and Kindle (to read books). My main requirement is that it has a high enough pixel density to read without having to zoom in all the time. Oh, that and - proper multitasking. The iPad doesn't cut it - it only loads one webpage at a time.

I only have three choices - the Asus Transformer TF700, the Amazon Kindle HD, and the iPad 3.

I am completely opposed to giving Apple any more money given their recent douchebag behaviour. But the Android competition doesn't quite cut it either - the Asus is expensive and scratch prone, the Kindle HD is plasticky. Looks like I will soldier on with the iPad a little while longer, or cross my fingers that the rumoured new HTC tablet will cut it.

 

[audioguy]

I am completely opposed to giving Apple any more money given their recent douchebag behaviour.

But you have no strong opinions on the subject!

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

At the moment I run an iPad 1. It is an incredibly lousy piece of hardware - the screen is low res, it is slow, and Safari frequently crashes. I hate it.

However, my needs are fairly simple - I only run 3 applications regularly. The web browser, Zinio (to read magazines), and Kindle (to read books). My main requirement is that it has a high enough pixel density to read without having to zoom in all the time. Oh, that and - proper multitasking. The iPad doesn't cut it - it only loads one webpage at a time.

I only have three choices - the Asus Transformer TF700, the Amazon Kindle HD, and the iPad 3.

I am completely opposed to giving Apple any more money given their recent douchebag behaviour. But the Android competition doesn't quite cut it either - the Asus is expensive and scratch prone, the Kindle HD is plasticky. Looks like I will soldier on with the iPad a little while longer, or cross my fingers that the rumoured new HTC tablet will cut it.

I think you need to look at the software you're running. I'm running the most basic iPad2. I'm running much more processing-intensive software (my son games on it, I watch movies) than e readers and I've had no speed problems and not a single crash. The screen is not super high resolution, but I have no trouble reading on it. Don't know if there was a resolution upgrade with the 2 or not. I know there was with the 3. Sounds to me like an iPad 3 would address all of your issues but really, if all you want to do is read and surf, just about anything will do the trick. No need to spend iPad money, regardless of Apple's behaviour.

Tim

 

[asiufy]

Of course you'd not enjoy your iPad, Keith_W, you're predisposed not to.
Besides, you're well outside the iPad's target user base. You want to use it like a computer, so get a computer-on-a-tablet, like the Windows 8 beasts coming out soon.
My father, OTOH, loves his iPad 1. Reads magazines, browses, checks email, all that without me having to teach him a thing. Try that with any computer, even a Mac, or, *gasp* an Android tablet.
I recently upgraded his iPad 1 to the new iPad, with hi-res screen and all. He said he liked the old one well enough, that the upgrade wasn't even necessary.

 

[FrantzM]

One last thing

We could debate all day about "innovation" but the other tablet manufacturers must work on their user interface ... They need to innovate so far none of the tablets manufacturers has presented anythinf noteworthy... In term of UI... Virtually ALL of these look like a copy of the Apple UI, often a poor copy... It is clear that they take their clues from Apple, and there may be a subliminal signal in the user minds, that they are buying a copy often a bad one of Apple's...
SO far no one has truly come up with a non-Apple but user-friendly UI... Android has blazed no new paths in Graphical User Interface... Are they good? Some are.. Are they getting real inexpensive? yes. Are they easier to use than Apple IOS? No!

For the record, I love the Amazon Kindle Fire but its software is nowhere as polished or smooth as Apple's not its user interface, the product itself doesn't sxude High Quality the iPad does, none of the tablets I have held, do... I use the Fire more but it isn't close to an Ipad IMHO, YMMV, IME, etc