Tablets - iPad, Galaxy Tab, Playbook, XOOM & More

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by McG

hardware? highly overrated in consumer electronics (although i will certainly attest to bravia and playstation being good) and not materially better than direct competitors in tvs, radios, receivers, speakers, portable electronics, car stereos, phones, computers, projectors or anything else i can think of. i remember when paying the "sony premium" actually meant something...so yah i am disappointed to write this paragraph.

Their ultraportable laptops are certainly pretty good, unless the quality has nosedived in the last year or so. By very good, I mean "not bad for a PC" The PSP seems decently built (I have very limited exposure to those though), as does their point and shoot cameras, so I guess at the very worst, we should expect them to not totally suck on the hardware side.

[OldDutch]

I wouldn't say Sony hardware is totally overrated, but I see your point. Sony has taken a hit design wise, but I think that is more due to compition in the lower end of the market.

Their higher end stuff is still very slick IMO. You just have to pay for it. The VAIO Z series is a very well designed laptop. It is also 2 grand. I have an XBR and love it. Beat value TV out there? No way. However it is the best designed one I have seen.

Their Android phones are well designed too, and innovative. A PSP phone is a cool design idea. I wouldn't buy it, but it is pushing design in this electronic category.

This tablet is a cool design too. I really don't think Acer or Samsung could pull this off first. They will let Sony design it, then in 6 months make their own cheaper version. The innovation is still with Sony, and that is the point I am trying to make.

[MickMcGeough]

Samsung unveils some pretty cool looking accessories for the Tab:

http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/03/s...ltimedia-dock/

[OldDutch]

Originally Posted by MickMcGeough

Samsung unveils some pretty cool looking accessories for the Tab:

http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/03/s...ltimedia-dock/

iPad does have a leg up in accessories. So I am glad Samsung is providing these things.

I admit I was shocked at the $150 keyboard/case. I am about to pick up a ZAGG one for the iPad which is $100. Seems kind of steep for the same thing. Unless the materials are higher quality?

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by OldDutch

iPad does have a leg up in accessories. So I am glad Samsung is providing these things.

I admit I was shocked at the $150 keyboard/case. I am about to pick up a ZAGG one for the iPad which is $100. Seems kind of steep for the same thing. Unless the materials are higher quality?

The Zagg keyboard is pretty high quality. The keyboard mechanism is actually made by Logitech.

I didn't find it fit my use patterns properly (when I need a keyboard, I'm usually doing intensive work that the iPad isn't up to the job of), and sold it to someone on here. Consider carefully what you want the keyboard for - if its not for extended typing in a word processor, spreadsheet, etc, it's probably not as useful as you think. Flipping back and forth between Safari and IM and twitter with the keyboard was just irritating, and it added no value. If i was going to sit down and work on a piece of journalism, or take notes in a 2 hour lecture, it woulda made a lot more sense.

Just my opinion.

-Scott

[CKPThunder]

Originally Posted by OldDutch

iPad does have a leg up in accessories. So I am glad Samsung is providing these things.

I admit I was shocked at the $150 keyboard/case. I am about to pick up a ZAGG one for the iPad which is $100. Seems kind of steep for the same thing. Unless the materials are higher quality?

If you live in Calgary, it seems that GPS City is selling the Zagg keyboard for $80 for the iPad 2 and the iPad 1.

http://www.gpscity.ca/zagg-ipad-2-za...num-cover.html


http://www.gpscity.ca/zagg-ipad-zagg...num-cover.html

Edit: I guess they have sold out of the iPad 2 keyboard.

[Cheese]

Originally Posted by Boblobla

I still like my playbook. It does everything I need it to and being able to tether it to my cell means I didn't need to get a 3G model.

Out of the box I could open a .pdf, .doc, .xls. It suits my purpose, which is more business than pleasure. Now that there are lots of apps that support a file structure it meets my needs. I hope we will get Android apps as promised, but I am not too concerned.

If I want angry birds I will use my the iPad 2 I bought for my wife.

Couldnt agree more. I won an iPad 2 and outside of games and artsy stuff it is of absolutely no use to me...I will give it to the kids. A buddy of mine has the Playbook and it is much more suited to my business apps.
Not to mention Flash.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Cheese

Couldnt agree more. I won an iPad 2 and outside of games and artsy stuff it is of absolutely no use to me...I will give it to the kids. A buddy of mine has the Playbook and it is much more suited to my business apps.
Not to mention Flash.

Also not to mention you can actually attach files to your emails on the playbook. Things like documents, spreadsheets, etc. Huge difference if you need to be able to do that sort of thing.

[Tinordi]

You can't attach files on the iPad? Laugh. What a joke.

[Bobblehead]

iPad and a lot of tablets are consumption devices. They aren't very good for creating or generating content except in a pinch, but for actually viewing, reading, some games, etc. they seem to do pretty well.

Here is a recent article that seem fair:

The iPad 2 is decidedly less than stellar as a productivity device, and it's not about to replace my laptop as a real on-the-go office, let alone my massive, six-core desktop with a glorious 30" display. On the other hand, the iPad 2 is downright superior to virtually any netbook and also a great many laptops for various types of media consumption, from book reading to gaming and perhaps even web surfing.

http://techreport.com/articles.x/21325/1

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Tinordi

You can't attach files on the iPad? Laugh. What a joke.

ya, a lot of people laugh that there is no native email on the Playbook...but the email through the blackberry is better than what the ipad offers IMO. Nothing to worry about though. Apple will soon fix this and launch a commercial telling everyone how awesome the new email is on the ipad 5 I'm sure!

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by Slava

ya, a lot of people laugh that there is no native email on the Playbook...but the email through the blackberry is better than what the ipad offers IMO. Nothing to worry about though. Apple will soon fix this and launch a commercial telling everyone how awesome the new email is on the ipad 5 I'm sure!

Emailing attachments is so 90's...doesn't everyone just drop the file in question into the public folder on their Dropbox and send a link?

You seriously email attachments around?

[Slava]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

Emailing attachments is so 90's...doesn't everyone just drop the file in question into the public folder on their Dropbox and send a link?

You seriously email attachments around?

Not only do I send attachments, but I receive attachments all the time. Probably at least 1/2 dozen a day. It never even dawned on me to use dropbox for everything actually...until your post.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

iPad and a lot of tablets are consumption devices. They aren't very good for creating or generating content except in a pinch, but for actually viewing, reading, some games, etc. they seem to do pretty well.

That's a pretty ridiculous statement - you're using the wrong apps if that's the case, or you've developed a workflow that is poorly suited to a tablet, or you've got an extremely narrow view of what "generating content" is. That's not a personal attack but there are many, many of us that are using tablets as integral tools in our daily workflows.

It's not about content, its about information. Tablets are superb at collecting and processing information in the field (ie. anywhere your computer isn't), whether its sales orders, inventory management, inspection checklists, meeting notes, rough sketches, time and task identification, sorting and scheduling, mobile conferencing, etc.

[Russic]

I email attachments on the iPad all the time. Downside is that you can't do it from the email app (have to do it from the app that runs the file).

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

That's a pretty ridiculous statement - you're using the wrong apps if that's the case, or you've developed a workflow that is poorly suited to a tablet, or you've got an extremely narrow view of what "generating content" is. That's not a personal attack but there are many, many of us that are using tablets as integral tools in our daily workflows.

It's not about content, its about information. Tablets are superb at collecting and processing information in the field (ie. anywhere your computer isn't), whether its sales orders, inventory management, inspection checklists, meeting notes, rough sketches, time and task identification, sorting and scheduling, mobile conferencing, etc.

And how many of the folks getting iPads are using it for that function? Judging by the people you see in lines to pick them up and the folks I know who have them, the VAST majority like them because they are handy to look stuff up quickly when they are watching TV or for watching/playing while they are commuting.

While you may have some very good use cases for it in your everyday life (many of which still sound suspiciously like consumption of data; just a different type of data and different reason for consumption) up to this point your use cases are not the driving factor in the adoption of these devices. In time perhaps they will be, but up to this point I haven't seen it.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

And how many of the folks getting iPads are using it for that function? Judging by the people you see in lines to pick them up and the folks I know who have them, the VAST majority like them because they are handy to look stuff up quickly when they are watching TV or for watching/playing while they are commuting.

While you may have some very good use cases for it in your everyday life (many of which still sound suspiciously like consumption of data; just a different type of data and different reason for consumption) up to this point your use cases are not the driving factor in the adoption of these devices. In time perhaps they will be, but up to this point I haven't seen it.

I see entire segments of the computer using public that are glued to their iPads because its the first time they've been productive with computers in their life - because they were awful at using computers to begin with. Maybe people don't set out to get an iPad as a productivity tool, but once they start, the results are shocking in terms of how diverse their usage patterns begin to be.

I think we're talking at cross-terms though. I'm thinking about productivity, I think you're talking more about content creation. An iPad in the hands of someone who previously was computer challenged can become a monster productivity tool. Those people were never going to be big content producers regardless though - really, very few people are even in downtown office towers.

[Mike F]

Interesting development: Viewsonic is releasing a new tablet that runs Windows 7 and Android 2.3.

Story

Aimed at business users, the ViewPad 10pro runs Android 2.3 "Gingerbread" as an application on top of the Windows 7 operating system, according to Viewsonic. "Users need to simply tap on the Android icon to make a seamless switch between business productivity and...entertainment," the company said in a statement.

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-20...#ixzz1VG4fUQ7N

Essentially trying to do with two OSes what Windows 8 will do with one.

Throw in the docking station for actual productivity, and you're getting closer to the tablet I've been waiting for: a transformation of my regular computing, not throwing another device in my kit.

[FanIn80]

^^ You lost me at Viewsonic.

[chemgear]

Not surprisingly, HP is getting killed:

http://allthingsd.com/20110816/ouchp...ld-hp-tablets/

According to one source who has seen internal HP reports, Best Buy has taken delivery of 270,000 TouchPads and has so far managed to sell only 25,000, or less than 10 percent of the units in its inventory.