OT: What Tablet would you recommend?

optimisticbiker

exactly my thinking... even used it would still be only a few £££ off...

itboffin

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.

Yeh but do those "special sites" claim to be fully Safari compatible ?

itboffin

DonDaddyD wrote:

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.

Almost D^3 Apple do open source in fact they've been a force for good for many open source projects, it's amazing how many companies and individuals who've developed some of the most significant aspects of the modern internet use macs and linux.

Only last week i sat in an office in Baltimore with the architects who 'guided' Amazon and Facebook on their current path of AWESOME - every laptop on the table was a mac but pretty much all the tech we talked about was linux and open source.

I love my job 8)

optimisticbiker

Its arrived My Asus Transformer Prime... it soooo cool and so much faster than the Galaxy Tab and the screen is far more vibrant...

Charged up for a couple of hours to get enough juice (needs 15% charge before you can update it) - it charges the keyboard battery first, then the main tablet battery. Connected to work wifi, set up basic 'pattern' security (draw a wiggle on the screen to unlock), downloaded Ice Cream Sandwich updates, reboot - total time 11m. Played the demo of riptide (jetski race simulation, steer by tilting tab) and found out I'm still crap at these games... but the graphics, speed and sound is amazing

More later, still finding out...

sketchley

OptimisticBiker wrote:

Its arrived My Asus Transformer Prime... it soooo cool and so much faster than the Galaxy Tab and the screen is far more vibrant...

Charged up for a couple of hours to get enough juice (needs 15% charge before you can update it) - it charges the keyboard battery first, then the main tablet battery. Connected to work wifi, set up basic 'pattern' security (draw a wiggle on the screen to unlock), downloaded Ice Cream Sandwich updates, reboot - total time 11m. Played the demo of riptide (jetski race simulation, steer by tilting tab) and found out I'm still crap at these games... but the graphics, speed and sound is amazing

More later, still finding out...

At this point had you got an iPad2 Apple would have charged you at least a fiver.....

optimisticbiker

Sketchley wrote:

OptimisticBiker wrote:

Its arrived My Asus Transformer Prime... it soooo cool and so much faster than the Galaxy Tab and the screen is far more vibrant...

Charged up for a couple of hours to get enough juice (needs 15% charge before you can update it) - it charges the keyboard battery first, then the main tablet battery. Connected to work wifi, set up basic 'pattern' security (draw a wiggle on the screen to unlock), downloaded Ice Cream Sandwich updates, reboot - total time 11m. Played the demo of riptide (jetski race simulation, steer by tilting tab) and found out I'm still crap at these games... but the graphics, speed and sound is amazing

More later, still finding out...

At this point had you got an iPad2 Apple would have charged you at least a fiver.....

Skype loaded (free), works fine with front cam.
Windows 2008 TS client (not free) loaded, logged on to my production servers OK , sorted
Dropbox client installed (free)

Now downloading the development tools stack

Keyboard is great... really usable for meeting notes and the like, wouldnt want to write war and peace on it tho

Mr Sworld

Hmmm.. The Asus sounds good, was tempted by the Galaxy Tab. I'm installing and streaming a whole bunch of Samsung Series 5 HDTV's at work, the Tab would automatically connect and control them. (Which is so geek cool...) :oops:

Canny Jock

Typing this on a Galaxy Tab updated with Ice Cream Sandwich - I would recommend it, but the Transformer Prime looks to have moved things on and would probably be my choice now.

I did play around with an iPad first but found it a bit frustrating, as I've always liked messing round with gadgets to get them to work the way I want. I am a bit of a geek though. The iPad definitely has a better choice of high-quality apps, but I was mainly looking for a web browser, email and video functionality, and the Tab does all of this very well. And I don't have to use iTunes!

I can see the appeal of an iPad for a lot of people though, if you want something that is easy to use out of the box it's ideal. My Mum loves hers (she's 64).

meanredspider

Canny Jock wrote:

. And I don't have to use iTunes!

Typing this on an iPad. And I don't have to use iTunes either

Canny Jock

Interesting, how do you copy videos/music across?

sketchley

I don't use iTunes either. I have a buffalo terrastation nas box with all my music and video on it, which I also installed twonky media server on. I've got an app called media connect cost £6 ish which allows me to connect via wireless to my home network and download locally. Another app from same company flexplayer allows me to play any video format I like. One note is that tune library is read only in Api so it stores mp3s in own library. It also acts as dlna server so I can stream from iPad to ps3 if I chose to. However, I could do all this pretty much out the box on android phone at no cost, I can also just plug it in to my computer as hard drive and copy what I like to it.

optimisticbiker

wrote my frst Android app, albeit a simple one, yesterday. Doddle to set up and start using development environment, excellent O'Reilly tutorials on youtube... almost makes coding fun again

"Silly Commuter Weight Loss" app for the Android anyone?

vermin

Any more thoughts after a few days?

optimisticbiker

vermin wrote:

Any more thoughts after a few days?

Sitting here in Cafe Nero answering emails, browsing the web and jotting thoughts down for a strategy document. So far the Asus Transformer Prime (ATP) has been a dream to use. The docking keyboard is really good to type on and unlike some reviewers I find it quite good even after a couple of hours. I had a play with a mates Bluetooth keyboard on his Galaxy Tab but even when the two are in a purpose designed case they end up being bulkier/heavier and not as nice to use.

The ATP and Android 4.0.3 ICS seems pretty stable, not had any of the issues I've seen mentioned. Battery life is excellent, so far only charged it every other day and that's more than it really needs from the usage. Its been in every meeting with me and I'm still in love with it Only real change I have made is to load up the Opera browser. Its more predictable than the inbuilt one (in that it doesn't interpret screen touches oddly from time to time), but this is something thats true for the Galaxy Tab as well.

Had it plugged into my 24" HDMI monitor after work last night and was watching some HD movies I copied onto an SD card, its just sooo fast!

There is one downside though... in a public place like this its only a few minutes before someone wants to see how it converts from a notebook to a tablet and back... Mind you, had some interesting chats with some lovely young things ... it seems to attract females, I wonder if the purpley/grey finish and the rounded shape make it less intimidating than the others of its ilk.

vermin

OptimisticBiker wrote:

it seems to attract females

Sold

optimisticbiker

vermin wrote:

OptimisticBiker wrote:

it seems to attract females

Sold

YMMV as they say - I can't guarantee its just the ATP that has this effect (based on previous experience of course)

woodford2barbican

UK mobile retailer Clove this week stopped selling the Prime because it isn't convinced that "all units we could provide you with are working correctly".

http://www.reghardware.com/2012/02/02/u ... mer_prime/

Never had this worry with my iPad!

vermin

woodford2barbican wrote:

UK mobile retailer Clove this week stopped selling the Prime because it isn't convinced that "all units we could provide you with are working correctly".

http://www.reghardware.com/2012/02/02/u ... mer_prime/

Never had this worry with my iPad!

Err, no, but then that's the price of being at the cutting edge, rather than just adding gloss to old technologies.

woodford2barbican

vermin wrote:

woodford2barbican wrote:

UK mobile retailer Clove this week stopped selling the Prime because it isn't convinced that "all units we could provide you with are working correctly".

http://www.reghardware.com/2012/02/02/u ... mer_prime/

Never had this worry with my iPad!

Err, no, but then that's the price of being at the cutting edge, rather than just adding gloss to old technologies.

:roll:

spen666

so the price of being at the cutting edge is having equipment that does not function properly?

sounds too high a price to pay for me

optimisticbiker

Actually whenI was looking for a vendor many hadnt got stock but were saying this... after a couple of conversations it turned out that many couldn't even say what the problems were... so I am not convinced. Indeed the report highlighted says "We asked Clove to clarify its criticism of the Prime, but it would not be drawn on what problems its customers have experienced with the tablet."

If you read other reports these aren't issues with the physical technology, other than some debate about the GPS, yes its slow to lock on from cold but no worse than my Garmin Edge 800 - about 4min after a complete cold boot and it's often useless indoors (just like my Garmin, but all GPS are useless in a building with solar-glazed windows). There are some issues with some components of Android 4 (and they affect other Tabs as well) but theres fixes for those coming out now (indeed might already be out). And some have reported issues with the wireless. And a few minor other things. But I've not had any of these and found it to be pretty solid.

And it worked out of the box...

Cutting edge, not really... there no new technology here, the screen is the same as used on iPad2, Galaxy Tab, etc. made by Samsung, the case is a cut down version of something Sony, Asus, Acer and others have been doing for a while on netbooks etc. and while the NVIDIA Tecra CPU is new, its not new technology as such. What arguably makes it 'cutting edge' is the packaging, and that is pretty neat.

vermin

I would say that the implementation of Tegra 3, ICS, GPS and a removable keyboard/docking station with battery, removable storage and USB host in a tablet is entirely unique and probably something of a challenge. As far as I am aware, the reported issue concerns the GPS receiver, but many reviewers/purchasers have reported no problems. I can't comment on whether there is an issue or not, but it certainly doesn't appear to affect all units, as would be expected in the case of a hardware problem such as that suggested.

Whatever the case is, the usual smug iPad comments are a bit tiresome. Yes, you like your gadget. I'm sure it's great, but it doesn't do what OB needed or what I am looking for. You might as well add that there's nothing wrong with your pencil sharpener.

optimisticbiker

vermin wrote:

I would say that the implementation of Tegra 3, ICS, GPS and a removable keyboard/docking station with battery, removable storage and USB host in a tablet is entirely unique and probably something of a challenge. As far as I am aware, the reported issue concerns the GPS receiver, but many reviewers/purchasers have reported no problems. I can't comment on whether there is an issue or not, but it certainly doesn't appear to affect all units, as would be expected in the case of a hardware problem such as that suggested.

Whatever the case is, the usual smug iPad comments are a bit tiresome. Yes, you like your gadget. I'm sure it's great, but it doesn't do what OB needed or what I am looking for. You might as well add that there's nothing wrong with your pencil sharpener.

Good point about the removable storage & USB host, that is unique. The USB host in the keyboard and reads my 16G USB stick, my Lumix camera and my MP3 player no problem. The only as yet unresoved issue I have is that the Lumix records HD movie files in .MOV format and Android doesnt handle that natively, I can load the file across OK but I can't play it (its OK on PC). I just need to find the right app. The removable storage is a MicroSD slot in the tablet itself and an SD slot in the keyboard. Both are good to XC (64Gbytes) though currently I have a 16Gb and an 8Gb in there, one full of movies and the other with music and I still have 27Gb internal free...

vermin

MX Video works with most formats

meanredspider

vermin wrote:

woodford2barbican wrote:

UK mobile retailer Clove this week stopped selling the Prime because it isn't convinced that "all units we could provide you with are working correctly".

http://www.reghardware.com/2012/02/02/u ... mer_prime/

Never had this worry with my iPad!

Err, no, but then that's the price of being at the cutting edge, rather than just adding gloss to old technologies.

I've just been reading on HUKD about people considering sending their Primes back due to very poor WiFi performance (didn't think WiFi was cutting edge). The same users seem to have given up on GPS too (cutting edge?) though arguing that GPS isn't really an important feature.

Sounds like some teething troubles at "the cutting edge" of old technologies.

vermin

You know, you don't have to belittle OB's purchase.

optimisticbiker

vermin wrote:

You know, you don't have to belittle OB's purchase.

LOL, its OK... i take no notice of third hand hearsay.

For the record, the wifi on my Prime is better than the iPad in comparative tests a couple of days ago in our office (when one of our access points failed), and will also go further down the garden at home than an iPod and the same as an HTC Wildfire S. Of course, other people's mileage will vary and it may be different on a different channel or when there are many networks - having said that I was using BTOpenzone in a coffee shop in Fleet Street earlier this week and there were over 30 usable strength networks competing for airspace.

I have loaded a Wifi Analyser app (like a Android version of NetStumbler) and it shows very clearly that the Prime is seeing signals down to -90dBm, well below the level you can reliably connect.

So far I have nothing but positive views on the Prime...