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

[Hanni]

I just found a Kindle Fire on kijiji for $170 which is very tempting. I understand that some features won't work here like movies and cloud services but the persons ad says app/games will not work either. Anyone know if this is the case?

Edit: After some searching it looks like there is a CyanogenMod for the Fire so I could always go that route. I'm just looking for a cheap tablet for a few games, internet browsing and as an ereader to replace my kindle.

[flamesrule_kipper34]

I found a 7" HD Google Android 2.3 Tablet for $150 on DealFind the other day...any people have any experience and/or thoughts on this one?

[Rathji]

I would never buy a tablet off Dealfind.

Mostly old tech ends up there, waiting for someone who doesn't know better to snag it up. Paying $150 for something there, when a Playbook, Fire and Vox are $200 is just ridiculous.

[Hanni]

Well that's irritating, got an email back saying it's sold but pointing me to one of those BS online auction sites where apparently she bought it. So post fake ad on kijiji and use responses to try and generate site traffic?

[Regular_John]

Looks like they've extended the bizarre $299 across the board offer into Canada as well. Now till February 2nd.



To those of you who have jumped on the $199 models in the past few months, is it worth picking up a playbook? At $299 for 64gb it's hard to pass up on. Just not sure if I'll be left with that "should have gotten an iPad" feeling.

[Rathji]

Extra storage space for me means next to nothing, so the difference between the 16GB and 64 GB models is negligible. For that reason, I was happy picking one up for $200, but wouldn't be for $100 more.

The only way you can be sure if you would be happy with a Playbook over an iPad is to compare the app store. An important note: Right now, there isn't a real good native email client for the Playbook - the only one is available through Android App player, but if you can bridge it to your Blackberry, it becomes a lot better.

[MickMcGeough]

Originally Posted by jaydorn

Looks like they've extended the bizarre $299 across the board offer into Canada as well. Now till February 2nd.



To those of you who have jumped on the $199 models in the past few months, is it worth picking up a playbook? At $299 for 64gb it's hard to pass up on. Just not sure if I'll be left with that "should have gotten an iPad" feeling.

Yeah the Playbook is very much not an iPad. If you've got the budget, get an iPad. If you don't, don't bother comparing it to an iPad. Compare it against other tablets in your budget.

If you aren't comfortable installing a beta operating system on your tablet, I'd hold off. It's a good device and it's great value at $199/$299, but it just doesn't have the software that its competitors do.

Without the (beta) 2.0 OS on the Playbook, it's basically a web browser with a handful of games and apps. I found that after I installed the beta operating system, set up the device in developer mode, tracked down properly-packaged Android apps that will run on the playbook, sideloaded them via some java terminal jazz (or via a 3rd party app in Windows), it was actually a legit tablet.

Unfortunately if you don't make a hobby out of nerding out on gadgets like I do (or have your own in-house nerd that can do it for you), I can't really recommend it.

If you hold off for a bit, $300-$350 will likely get you a budget Ice Cream Sandwich tablet in the next couple of months (Acer comes to mind). It likely won't measure up hardware-wise to the Playbook, and it won't have 64GB if you want to carry your media around, but it's got the Android market.

[Hack&Lube]

The price range for me buying a Playbook would have to be at the $150 level. Even then, the $100-$150 level ebook readers like the Nook and some other generic Android devices would win out for me because I could put my own stuff on there. The Playbook itself is fantastic hardware. Just the software and app selection side is pretty tiny and restrictive. The apps that are out for the Playbook are well made though.

[Rathji]

What do you mean "put your own stuff on there"?

[Regular_John]

Originally Posted by MickMcGeough

Yeah the Playbook is very much not an iPad. If you've got the budget, get an iPad. If you don't, don't bother comparing it to an iPad. Compare it against other tablets in your budget.

Honestly I've always been underwhelmed by the iPad, or at least at it's price point, just never struck me as a good bang for your buck. And this is coming from a guy who uses macs at work & home and totes around an iPhone. Every time I've played with one it's been "well, it's just a giant iPod touch" and starting at $500+ I've just never pulled the trigger.

But a smaller tablet at less than $300? Might be worth my while. At the end of the day I'm more interested in web browsing & video than playing angry birds.

[REDVAN]

Angry birds is on all platforms now, practically.

I am really looking at an Andriod (like the asus for example, maybe the samsung), even though I have apple iphones and ipods. I am a PC user (windows.... for work).

Pretty happy with the new android stuff- hope it keeps increasing in popularity.

[chemgear]

So is the Nook dying as well? (I have no experience with 'em):

http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/05/tech...nook/index.htm

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2012/01/.../?iid=HP_River


Barnes & Noble is now in full retreat. In announcing that it might unload its Nook e-reader business, the company is admitting that it can't finance the future of the book business while it's still lashed to the past of the book business.

Or, more precisely, it could finance the future of the book business if only investors would look the other way for a few years and let the company lose lots of money while it did so. But of course investors won't do that. Yesterday's announcement that it is exploring "strategic options" for the Nook business was meant to appease those investors. In the short term, at least, that isn't enough: B&N (BKS) shares were down about 20 percent in afternoon trading

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by chemgear

So is the Nook dying as well? (I have no experience with 'em):

http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/05/tech...nook/index.htm

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2012/01/.../?iid=HP_River


Barnes & Noble is now in full retreat. In announcing that it might unload its Nook e-reader business, the company is admitting that it can't finance the future of the book business while it's still lashed to the past of the book business.


Or, more precisely, it could finance the future of the book business if only investors would look the other way for a few years and let the company lose lots of money while it did so. But of course investors won't do that. Yesterday's announcement that it is exploring "strategic options" for the Nook business was meant to appease those investors. In the short term, at least, that isn't enough: B&N (BKS) shares were down about 20 percent in afternoon trading

Selling off the Nook is a pretty bad shorterm decision for Barnes and Noble in my ignorant and un-informed opinion.. It could turn out like how Blockbuster decided to pass on being Netflix's partner years ago when Netflix was looking to break into the market...or when Nintendo spurned Sony and Sony decided to make the Playstation on their own. Ironically, Atari was also asked by Nintendo to be the company to release the NES stateside and they declined on that also.

I digress but I think that the digital platform could be a traditional bookseller's bridge to the future when all the other big footprint bookstores are going out of business one by one.

These American companies need to get some Japanese business philosophies going with their 50-100 year plans. Why else do you think Honda and Sony are doing crazy things like robotics and cybernetics research all the time? It doesn't do anything for their car or television sales.

But alas, investors want quarterly results and B&N execs look like an NHL GM making desperate trades instead of building for the future.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Rathji

What do you mean "put your own stuff on there"?

Put a different Android kernel and rom on it. I think FlameOn is trying to compile his own CM9 rom weeks before Cyanogen releases anything.

I recently rooted and wiped all the B&N stuff off one of the old Nooks and put CM7 on there and it's a freaking brand new system that has everything I would need and I would take over an iPad any day! Works great with the ADW EX I bought for $0.10 during the Google sale. The interface looks and feels fantastic now.

Looks like ICS will work on it

[DrJ]

Just picked up a 64 gb Playbook and I really wish I took advantage of the $200 offer for the 16 gb. In the 30 mins playing with it, I'm digging it so far.

[Bobblehead]

Playbook OS 2.0 due out in Feb.

This version finally brings a native email client to RIM's tablet, complete with unified inbox and tab-based navigation for keeping multiple messages open simultaneously. It also has a rich text editor — something not often seen on mobile devices — and support for setting auto-responders and signatures right from the PlayBook itself. (For those wondering, there's still no BBM.)

http://www.theverge.com/2012/1/9/269...-0-preview-ces


And on another note, I FINALLY received a shipping notice for a Transformer Prime. Futureshop sucks.


Edit: And even though I pre-ordered a month before release, even though I just received a tracking number and haven't even received it yet, BOOM, it is out of date.

The new Transformer Prime isn't sacrificing quality for quantity with its move to a much higher pixel density — its display is still made of the SuperIPS+ stuff that impressed us so much when reviewing the TF201. Another highly significant upgrade is in the tablet's rear cover design, which has been altered to allow for better GPS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth performance. Great for new buyers, to be sure, but we wonder how happy owners of the current-gen Prime will be with this news.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/1/9/269...oid-4-ces-2012

Anyone manage to get their hands on a Transformer Prime yet?

Preorder or in store?

[fleuryisgod]

Originally Posted by Bent Wookie

Anyone manage to get their hands on a Transformer Prime yet?

Preorder or in store?

I've been looking myself with no luck. By the sounds of it without a preorder it will be February at the earliest.

[Torture]

I have it pre-ordered at Memory Express but it hasn't come in yet.

[flamesfan6]

Originally Posted by fleuryisgod

I've been looking myself with no luck. By the sounds of it without a preorder it will be February at the earliest.

some lucky guy here in victoria gets the first one today, im kind of annoyed, sounds like ill have to wait a few weeks before they get through the pre-orders though