OT: What Tablet would you recommend?

il_principe

apreading wrote:

Unless I am mistaken, the Ipad doesnt do flash, which rules out iplayer, youtube etc along with many other sites.

I fancy a tablet but would only be interested if it had a proper browser that does flash, Microsoft Word editor & PDF viewer, mapping (google maps & viewranger) and Kindle. Other than that, I dont want too big - 7" would be fine but I do want battery life to be as good as possible.

Flash is dying, Adobe are abandoning it on mobile platforms, and Apple don't allow it for good reason (namely battery life). http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/11/adobe-kills-mobile-flash/

The iPad does do iPlayer and Youtube. It's a tablet ffs, it's not designed for geeky people, it's designed for consumers and non-techy folk.

So you can write and edit docs, view .pdfs, maps, use kindle and it has a stonkingly good battery life - even when watching movies or playing games.

optimisticbiker

Sketchley wrote:

I have an iPad2 a gift from a supplier. I have a HTC Desire phone. The iPad frustrated me immensely when I first switched it on. Probably a great box for non technical people but technical people and programmers it's pain in the @rse. You cannot do anything with it unless it's an app. Most apps cost money. What more I got given from iTunes vouchers but I couldn't spend them in apple on line store to buy a case. At every turn since opening the box apple seems to want more money from me, be it for iCloud or Apps blah blah blah.

There is no functionality to transfer files / music from the media server without installing iTunes on my PC & I don't want to do that. In the finish I have to buy a £6 app that does it, but it cannot write to the iTunes library as it's read only in the API so have to run it's own storage library. I can do this for free on Android.

I do not like the way apple insist you do it there way or not at all.

I cannot watch premiershiprugby.tv as it doesn't do flash, I could on an Android tablet.

If I was buying one for myself I would go down the Android route.

In short iPad2 great hardware spoilt by over restrictive OD and a desire to extract money from you. Good web browser though apart from the no flash thing.

Anyone want to buy one?

All very good non-technical reasons for not having an iPad. I am not anti-Apple, I like the quality and design of their products, but I dislike their approach to locking you in to their revenue model. Open-source it's not.

vermin

Sketchley wrote:

Anyone want to buy one?

I'm no salesman myself, but that pitch would not have impressed Sir Alan!

bails87

Sketchley, it sounds like you should be paying someone to take it off you!



I'll do it....£200?

sketchley

bails87 wrote:

Sketchley, it sounds like you should be paying someone to take it off you!



I'll do it....£200?

I'll happily swap for an "Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime"

CiB

DonDaddyD wrote:

yeahbuhwhat?

I'm sorry. New York. Soak. Dance Music. Bath. An iPod Touch!?

You clearly aren't how my minds eye pictures you.

Always fancied m'self as an enigma. Or an anachronism maybe. When Kieran's done with his cloak of mysteriousness I'll borrow it off him.

Anyway. Back to tablets. I don't much like being wrong but am jolly happy to be corrected. Is the word then that apps apart, these other tablets offer much the same or better, and that they aren't as clunky or as ugly as they were last year? Something I came across not so long ago is that the iPad diverts all of its energies to providing a smooth & responsive GUI, whereas Android and other OS's don't hence the apparent clunky response that I've seen [on Android devices]. And because of this by-design prioritisation Android etc will never match the iPad's smoothness. Scan-reading articles on El Reg only to wish I'd paid more attention later prob not the best way to go about buying a tablet, but I'm not yet.

Like I said - Apple Fanboi I ain't but don't see the logic of not getting the market leader with the apps that suit if buying the opposition means getting something not quite as good for about the same money and then wishing I hadn't ignored the obvious.

NGale

Galaxy Tab or Playbook would be my choices. I also wouldn't go for the iPad because I personally don't believe it's as great as people make it out to be.

I have just ditched my iPhone in favour of getting another BlackBerry (I have always had one in one form or another since around 2000) After the novelty of the iPhone wore off I realized it wasn't actually that good a phone, whereas for me the Blackberry has always been consistant over the years (there is also the fact that contact with his nibs is easier on the BB due to BBM)

When it comes to Apple people are too easy to believe the hype. Apple are masters of marketing there is no doubt about that, but essentially what they sell is products for magpies, people who like shiny new things. Not just that the people fan boys who buy everything Apple tend to think they are cool because they own everything do to with Apple and therefore I generally want to punch them repeatedly for being total c**ks

As for cycle apps, well I have a cheap andriod phone which does the job there nicely as Strava don't yet do a BlackBerry app

rjsterry

Il Principe wrote:

apreading wrote:

Unless I am mistaken, the Ipad doesnt do flash, which rules out iplayer, youtube etc along with many other sites.

I fancy a tablet but would only be interested if it had a proper browser that does flash, Microsoft Word editor & PDF viewer, mapping (google maps & viewranger) and Kindle. Other than that, I dont want too big - 7" would be fine but I do want battery life to be as good as possible.

Flash is dying, Adobe are abandoning it on mobile platforms, and Apple don't allow it for good reason (namely battery life). http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/11/adobe-kills-mobile-flash/

The iPad does do iPlayer and Youtube. It's a tablet ffs, it's not designed for geeky people, it's designed for consumers and non-techy folk.

So you can write and edit docs, view .pdfs, maps, use kindle and it has a stonkingly good battery life - even when watching movies or playing games.

This. We are in the process of having our office website changed from Flash to html as a decent proportion of our clients are likely to find it via their iPad.

DonDaddyD

Hasn't this just descended into the pros and cons of iPhone vs Android equivalent?

Apple don't do open source, we know this, we've always known this. It's been the same rule for their iPod, Laptops and their Desktop Computers for pretty much my entire lifetime.

What you don't get is choice, you buy into the Apple brand. It's hard to leave/switch over. You can't tinker.

What you do get is a premium price setting product with very little faults, everything works well and works with each other. Until Apple decide that it shouldn't.

If I liked a Tablet I would probably buy the latest version of the iPad, much like my MP3 player is an iPod. It works and does everything I as a consumer need it to do on the tin. It's also a one off payment and buying Apps is no different to back in the day when I was purchasing songs for the iPod.

I wouldn't buy an Android tablet yet because they aren't there yet. Having said that in my palm is a Samsung Galaxy Nexus with Android 4.0. The operating system truly is beautiful (I actually don't see the point of a company specific overlay like HTC sense). I use this far more than I ever used my iPhone. It's relative size (nearly 5 inch screen) means it could push itself into the micro Tablet market (ironic that seeing as I hate Tablets with a passion). I use it to do work, browse the net, shop, post on the website and watch youtube clips. I use the my Samsung before considering to do the same funtions on the PC. And the actual telephone function is arguably now a secondary feature.
Android 4.0 is Android's attempt at unifying the Tablet OS with the mobile phone OS and it has done so brilliantly. I am truly loving it.

That said:

I'd probably wait until the next generation of Andriod Tablets boasting Droid 4.0 came out. However, the really sensible option would be to wait for Droid 5.0 as that will likely deal with the battery drain of Flash.

sketchley

And another thing, I've crashed Safari half a dozen times on the iPad2 it's not as bullet proof or "just works" as people make out.

essex-commuter

Sketchley wrote:

And another thing, I've crashed Safari half a dozen times on the iPad2 it's not as bullet proof or "just works" as people make out.

PORN.

sketchley

essex-commuter wrote:

Sketchley wrote:

And another thing, I've crashed Safari half a dozen times on the iPad2 it's not as bullet proof or "just works" as people make out.

PORN.

DonDaddyD

When Android crashes it makes a crashed program on windows 3.1 seem pleasurable. At least with that you've got buttons to push in anger and frustration. Poke a tablet/touchscreen too hard and you run the risk of damaging the phone.

Porn also crashed my phone you see. Pulling out (the battery and sim card) didn't solve the problem.

vermin

Steve Jobs used to wax lyrical about Apple's products being magical and wonderful. I think he confused the products with the marketing; that's where Apple's real genius lies. It seems half the world believes the hype. I'm not complaining - I currently benefit from their profits. But the old assumptions that the Android UI is not smooth as iOS, or that it is complicated, messy or wanting for user-friendliness, just don't stack up anymore. And, because Android now has about four times the market penetration of iOS, application developers are investing more in Android, so the applications differentiator is largely a misnomer too.

For me, the Transformer Prime is at the top of the tree at the moment. This write-up is from a blog that is frequently accused of having a pro-Apple bias:

http://www.trustedreviews.com/asus-eee- ... top_review

That said, my father-out-law, seeing I had a Galaxy S2 and knowing that I'm a bit of an undercover geek, decided that it must be the better gadget and that it would be a good idea to trade in his iPhone for the Galaxy. Unfortunately for him, and for me, he can't stand it and blames me.

sketchley

As I said earlier when I unpacked the iPad2 I put it down again in frustration. I was expecting as per the marketing hype a brilliantly intuitive and fluid user experience. It felt most disappointed by it it just wasn't what I expected (which was to be blown away and converted to an being an apple fan boy).

meanredspider

I only have one gripe for what I use the iPad for and that's the way it handles pictures (both on the Web and on the device itself) - it's almost impossible to find the name of any image. I have no idea if Android is any better.

The sheer volume of add-ons for the iPad (accessories, apps, etc) means that you're in by far the best position to have the widest range of uses for the product. It's either an iPad or it's "another tablet". My kids and I all have them instead of laptops and we have one powerful, 27" screen, desktop for the stuff that can't be done on an iPad. No messing about with viruses or firewalls or laptop leads.

It's interesting at least that the debate has moved on from "What's the point of a tablet (iPad)?" that filled these forums a year or two back. Now the debate is "Which tablet (iPad or other)?"

vermin

@meanredspider I think the earlier question is still valid. The answer, for me, is part of the reasoning behind preferring Android variants, and particularly the Transformer, to the iPad. The Transformer is, arguably, a much more viable standalone productivity tool [oh God, did I just write those words? :shock:] (a proper laptop replacement rather than just a dumb screen that needs to be docked to a real computer).

optimisticbiker

Having done some more surfing, errr, research, I'm seriously liking the Asus Transformer Prime, but not seeing it advertised at the £500 price point suggested in the reviews... Not clear how it gets upgraded to ICS though...

vermin

OptimisticBiker wrote:

Having done some more surfing, errr, research, I'm seriously liking the Asus Transformer Prime, but not seeing it advertised at the £500 price point suggested in the reviews... Not clear how it gets upgraded to ICS though...

http://www.misco.co.uk/product/190845/A ... ablet-Grey

Upgrade to ICS will just come as an over the air upgrade from Asus. Supposed to be coming before January month end.

meanredspider

vermin wrote:

@meanredspider I think the earlier question is still valid. The answer, for me, is part of the reasoning behind preferring Android variants, and particularly the Transformer, to the iPad. The Transformer is, arguably, a much more viable standalone productivity tool [oh God, did I just write those words? :shock:] (a proper laptop replacement rather than just a dumb screen that needs to be docked to a real computer).

The iPad (if that's what you're refering to) doesn't need to be docked to a computer. A keyboard is available (though kinda defeats the prime benefit of a tablet - its extreme portability and ability to use it would needing a surface to put it on). The iPad never set out to replace the laptop in the same way that a microwave doesn't really replace a conventional oven. There's a big overlap. The Transformer is trying to be both and I'm not entirely convinced by it. Forced to choose just one device that does "everything" I think I'd choose an ultraslim laptop (a la MacBook Air or PC version). I'm not forced to choose one device so for 95% of what I do, the iPad covers it - the remaining 5%, the desktop is there.

I also don't buy the "Marketing Hype" argument. It's very convenient for the naysayers because the marketing is very slick. The truth though is that the device does meet a huge majority of needs and suits our lifestyles. We bought one for my son whilst he was going through a year of chemotherapy and hospital treatment. It's portability made it ideal. The more I saw of it, the more impressed by it I was so, when my Windows laptop died, it was the obvious choice. No hype. No bedazzlement. No Fanboi behaviour - just a clear, rational choice of someone with extensive PC experience & skills.

vermin

meanredspider wrote:

vermin wrote:

@meanredspider I think the earlier question is still valid. The answer, for me, is part of the reasoning behind preferring Android variants, and particularly the Transformer, to the iPad. The Transformer is, arguably, a much more viable standalone productivity tool [oh God, did I just write those words? :shock:] (a proper laptop replacement rather than just a dumb screen that needs to be docked to a real computer).

The iPad (if that's what you're refering to) doesn't need to be docked to a computer. A keyboard is available (though kinda defeats the prime benefit of a tablet - its extreme portability and ability to use it would needing a surface to put it on).

That's not what I meant - I was simply referring to the requirement for another mothership computer to get content on and off the device via the Apple dock connector and itunes. I may be wrong, but I thought the only other way of getting music, films, books, whatever, onto the iPad was via the itunes store. By contrast the Android devices use SD cards from cameras, USB sticks from computers, wifi and bluetooth transfers and downloads from all manner of other web-based providers (including bit-torrent). I think Sketchley made a similar comment above.

The iPad never set out to replace the laptop in the same way that a microwave doesn't really replace a conventional oven. There's a big overlap. The Transformer is trying to be both and I'm not entirely convinced by it. Forced to choose just one device that does "everything" I think I'd choose an ultraslim laptop (a la MacBook Air or PC version).

I agree, as I said originally, I would personally opt for a Windows-based device for the full functionality it would provide. However, Windows 8 is due to arrive this summer and is coded for ARM compatibility. I don't know, but I not be surprised to learn that it could be loaded onto the Transformer, transforming it into a full Windows machine. Which would be very nice indeed.

I'm not forced to choose one device so for 95% of what I do, the iPad covers it - the remaining 5%, the desktop is there.

I also don't buy the "Marketing Hype" argument. It's very convenient for the naysayers because the marketing is very slick. The truth though is that the device does meet a huge majority of needs and suits our lifestyles. We bought one for my son whilst he was going through a year of chemotherapy and hospital treatment. It's portability made it ideal. The more I saw of it, the more impressed by it I was so, when my Windows laptop died, it was the obvious choice. No hype. No bedazzlement. No Fanboi behaviour - just a clear, rational choice of someone with extensive PC experience & skills.

No problems - many people like the Apple way and that which they do, they do well.

Most importantly, I hope your son is well now.

DonDaddyD

Tell me this. Name one thing the iPad does that the iPhone or iPod Touch (when connected to a wireless network) doesn't?

Yes there is overlap with devices. But I've struggled to see past the fact that the iPad is just a duplication of uses that the iPhone and (to a lesser extent) the iPod Touch already do (albeit on a bigger screen).

meanredspider

vermin wrote:

That's not what I meant - I was simply referring to the requirement for another mothership computer to get content on and off the device via the Apple dock connector and itunes. I may be wrong, but I thought the only other way of getting music, films, books, whatever, onto the iPad was via the itunes store. By contrast the Android devices use SD cards from cameras, USB sticks from computers, wifi and bluetooth transfers and downloads from all manner of other web-based providers (including bit-torrent).

I think much of the understanding of iPads is based upon the previous IOS. This version makes the iPad much more stand-alone. I can't remember the last time I docked it. There are plenty of ways of getting other content onto an iPad (camera SD cards, camera USB, Kindle content via Amazon, Audible audiobooks etc etc), WiFi, Bluetooth.

Flash is the oft-quoted limitation but, as noted above, the iPad is a little ahead of the game in that respect. Even the BBC are now not putting all their news content in Flash (I was surprised to discover). It will soon be a non-issue and we'll all be the better for it (Flash content used to make my HP lappy cook!).

I'm more than happy that people choose whatever they want - I just get a bit bored of the inaccurate stuff that exists about the iPad. I used to run a successful Web development business with my brother - PCs were my living - I've just got bored with fighting the operating system now that I don't have to. Apple isn't perfect but it is so much easier.

vermin wrote:

Most importantly, I hope your son is well now.

He's doing just great now, thanks. Not fully recovered but on the journey.

meanredspider

DonDaddyD wrote:

Tell me this. Name one thing the iPad does that the iPhone or iPod Touch (when connected to a wireless network) doesn't?

Yes there is overlap with devices. But I've struggled to see past the fact that the iPad is just a duplication of uses that the iPhone and (to a lesser extent) the iPod Touch already do (albeit on a bigger screen).

Just one? Download photos/video from an SD card or USB.

Sure, they do many of the same things but one fits in your pocket and the other has a big screen. Simples. It's more complicated I'm sure as the processing power and battery life etc are different but, if screen size wasn't important, we'd all have 17" portable tvs and 12" laptops

itboffin

What's all this shouting ...? we'll have no trouble here!

Apple is undoubtedly super bloody coooool and just work, but limited and fairly locked down to what Apple agree, hence the just working part.

I'm an avid Mac user at home and work and have been for years, that said I fecking hate the iphone because of the 3 & 3Gs shit-bricks of a phone, what an overpriced pile of dog shite they we're.

having purchased a Samsung 10.1 tablet for 'er in-doors this xmas i'm now a total convert, so powerful flexible and simple to use, seemingly limitless uses not limited by the manufacturer, which does mean you need to pick your apps and QA might not be as good as Apple.

FWIW I switched phones from Apple to HTC and couldnt be happier, esp as i'm about to get an upgrade from the awesome Desire S to the Desire HD.

I do also have many many windows and linux laptops and work stations dotted around the house, none work as well as a mac.

Sexy mac's mmmmm

vermin

meanredspider wrote:

I just get a bit bored of the inaccurate stuff that exists about the iPad.

The internet is full of inaccurate nonsense about all the competing OSs - it's a result of (i) personal familiarity with particular OSs and smart marketing, (ii) prejudices attached to other OSs as a result of either poor experiences using early versions or negative marketing by the OS providers against their rivals (both open and clandestine/viral), (iii) the speed of evolution of the hardware and software and (iv) too much freedom of speech ;-).

He's doing just great now, thanks. Not fully recovered but on the journey.

Good news.

optimisticbiker

Well after careful reflection.... I ordered an Asus Transformer Prime from Misco - Amazon had no stock... wil be here tomorrow

vermin

Jealous! Would like to hear what you make of it.

optimisticbiker

I tried to convince myself to wait... but my tax rebate was saying 'spend me, spend me' before Mrs OB gets there first

vermin

And if it doesn't work out it looks like you could sell it on fleabay for a tidy profit when you return from Oz.