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

[Rubicant]

This may be a stupid question, but my wife and I are looking at possibly getting a tablet, and I'm wondering if we should go with a netbook instead.

We have a desktop that can do the heavy lifting, and a laptop which is nice for her in that it is portable but still powerful enough to do whatever she needs.

What I'm looking for in either a tablet or netbook is something that can be used easily for travel for reading books, watching movies, listening to music, and email communication when the opportunity arises. I'd also like it to be a bit useful around the house as a multimedia device and web browser. In terms of travel - portability is a huge deal for me.

Any thoughts / suggestions?

[Russic]

Since you have a laptop and you mention reading books, I would go with a tablet (*disclaimer: I don't like netbooks). Generally I find people like netbooks when a tablet doesn't perform a function they like. Your desires are all covered by tablets imo.

[MickMcGeough]

Originally Posted by Rubicant

This may be a stupid question, but my wife and I are looking at possibly getting a tablet, and I'm wondering if we should go with a netbook instead.

We have a desktop that can do the heavy lifting, and a laptop which is nice for her in that it is portable but still powerful enough to do whatever she needs.

What I'm looking for in either a tablet or netbook is something that can be used easily for travel for reading books, watching movies, listening to music, and email communication when the opportunity arises. I'd also like it to be a bit useful around the house as a multimedia device and web browser. In terms of travel - portability is a huge deal for me.

Any thoughts / suggestions?

I've bolded the reasons tablets exist.

[Rubicant]

Originally Posted by MickMcGeough

I've bolded the reasons tablets exist.

That's kinda what I figured but was just looking to see if Netbooks provided that as a better option. It seems my initial guess was correct though that a tablet is the way to go.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Rubicant

That's kinda what I figured but was just looking to see if Netbooks provided that as a better option. It seems my initial guess was correct though that a tablet is the way to go.

A netbook might be a lower priced option, but won't be the most suitable option for the tasks you have indicated.

[Finner]

You may want to look at the Asus transformer for you needs. Has a great battery life, an IPS screen for awesome viewing angles for movies/reading/browsing etc. and you can pick it up with an optional attachable keyboard for when you don't want to hold a screen or if you need to type longer emails. Price is very reasonable, under $500 for the tablet and dock if i'm remembering correctly.

[MickMcGeough]

Originally Posted by Finner

You may want to look at the Asus transformer for you needs. Has a great battery life, an IPS screen for awesome viewing angles for movies/reading/browsing etc. and you can pick it up with an optional attachable keyboard for when you don't want to hold a screen or if you need to type longer emails. Price is very reasonable, under $500 for the tablet and dock if i'm remembering correctly.

I think it's about $550 with the dock.

I'm thinking about getting a Transformer and just buying the dock later if I really need it. It's not going to replace my laptop so I don't think it's for everyone.

[MickMcGeough]

Endgadget reviews the HP Touchpad:

http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/29/hp-touchpad-review/

I've been pretty interested to see if WebOS could be a competitor but it sounds like HP dropped the ball hardware-wise. And at an iPad2/Galaxy Tab 10.1 price point I can't see it getting too much attention. Shame, because the OS looked really promising.

[Rubicant]

I decided to go with an iPad 2, but I gotta say that acquiring one even at this stage after release is kind of frustrating. I still haven't managed to find the model that I want and am thinking about just ordering it online.

*Complaining about Apple store below*

I will probably be in the minority here but I dislike the Apple store. That whole setup just annoys me. As someone who had never been in the door before, I wasn't sure how it worked. I found someone with a blue shirt on who looked like she hated her job, and asked her if they had any in stock. She then informed me that they had very few in stock, and then stared expectantly at me. Even though it wasn't exactly what I was looking for, I told her that I might buy the model they had - if there were any left. She then walked me over to the iPad 'station' and pointed at a demo model. I was then told to push the specialist button and that would put me in queue to talk to a salesperson. It seemed like a cross between a high tech shoe store and a bakery where one takes a number. Anyways, I just ended up walking out as the method of service combined with the absolute throng of humanity was irritating.

Again, judging by how crowded that store always is, I'm likely in the minority.

[OldDutch]

Originally Posted by Rubicant

I decided to go with an iPad 2, but I gotta say that acquiring one even at this stage after release is kind of frustrating. I still haven't managed to find the model that I want and am thinking about just ordering it online.

*Complaining about Apple store below*

I will probably be in the minority here but I dislike the Apple store. That whole setup just annoys me. As someone who had never been in the door before, I wasn't sure how it worked. I found someone with a blue shirt on who looked like she hated her job, and asked her if they had any in stock. She then informed me that they had very few in stock, and then stared expectantly at me. Even though it wasn't exactly what I was looking for, I told her that I might buy the model they had - if there were any left. She then walked me over to the iPad 'station' and pointed at a demo model. I was then told to push the specialist button and that would put me in queue to talk to a salesperson. It seemed like a cross between a high tech shoe store and a bakery where one takes a number. Anyways, I just ended up walking out as the method of service combined with the absolute throng of humanity was irritating.

Again, judging by how crowded that store always is, I'm likely in the minority.

Your not. I hate the Apple store, it is a victim of it's own success. I only go in there to demo a product, then order online if I like it. I know I don't get it right away but I just can't stand being in that store. As a person who has a tech background I find the clientele in the store makes me really uncomfortable.

[Azure]

So we're looking at getting a couple tablets for work and I could use some advice.

We need something that'll connect to Exchange Server, do email, calender, tasks, and run something along the lines of Office. Specifically Excel and Word. All of this would be done over WiFi.

We heavily use Microsoft Office right now.....Outlook, Word, Excel, so I'm thinking it would be best to go with a Windows 7 tablet. Outlook especially is very important. Not sure if the Windows 7 tablet comes with it pre-installed. Guess I'll go do some research.

Any recommendations would be great.

Something durable would work great considering it'll mostly be used on the factory floor.

[Azure]

I think I might be looking at something like this.

http://www.dell.com/ca/business/p/inspiron-duo/pd

More portable than a laptop, but still the same functionality.

[FanIn80]

Was playing around with an Asus Transformer today. It's pretty cool, but I'd want something that runs a full Linux distro.

I've been thinking about picking up one of those Asus Slates I mentioned earlier in this thread, and dumping Windows in favour of the new Unbuntu with the fancy touch screen overlay.

[MRCboicgy]

Had my transformer almost 3 months now, and its still running strong. Just a great product, and at least 4 people have bought them after playing with mine. It's great for multitasking and with g+ app for android, it's nice to use.

Most importantly, Angry Birds on it is wonderful :P

[OldDutch]

Originally Posted by MickMcGeough

Endgadget reviews the HP Touchpad:

http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/29/hp-touchpad-review/

I've been pretty interested to see if WebOS could be a competitor but it sounds like HP dropped the ball hardware-wise. And at an iPad2/Galaxy Tab 10.1 price point I can't see it getting too much attention. Shame, because the OS looked really promising.

Ya that is too bad. I really like the concept of WebOS, but it hasn't really taken off in any form. It might actually be a software, and not hardware where HP dropped the ball. A 1.2 ghz/1GB RAM is on par with other Android devices, but the experience is sluggish. Sounds like poorly written/inefficient code to me. Good news is that could be fixed to be a bit better with an update down the road.

Problem is the attention span for a new tablet is in weeks, not months. So once an update comes, Best Buy probably won't be carrying it anymore. Just look at the Xoom, that product died in 8 weeks.

Add in a price that is the same as the market leader, and your dead out of the gate. RIP Xoom, Playbook, Tab, Touchpad. Your respective companies rushed you out the gate, with buggy software, and poor price point, so you were DOA before you were born.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by OldDutch

Add in a price that is the same as the market leader, and your dead out of the gate. RIP Xoom, Playbook, Tab, Touchpad. Your respective companies rushed you out the gate, with buggy software, and poor price point, so you were DOA before you were born.

The issue is that there's really two markets - the tablet market, and the iPad market. All those tablets you mentioned compete fairly well with each other in the tablet space. But none of them currently hold a candle to the iPad, and can't get any traction, or sway consumers from that market.

Gruber made an interesting point (and didn't back it up with numbers, unfortunately), that the original iPad sold 300k units on launch day. Which tablets to date, have sold that many total?

It's too bad the Playbook in particular is so hobbled in my opinion - the form factor and hardware quality seem quite good, but everything else sucks. And nobody is ever going to write apps for the thing with its own OS, which pretty much dooms it. Same thing for WebOS - it looks like a really good platform, but you only have one tablet using it, so I don't know who would develop for it at this point.

[QuadCityImages]

Asus is shipping 400,000 Transformers a month. Also, what is it exactly that the Galaxy Tab and Transformer don't hold a candle to the iPad at? I will grant you that there aren't anywhere near as many tablet-optimized apps for Android tablets as there are for the iPad, but what else?

[Mike F]

Story: Did the iPad lose a big chunk of market share to Android?

Any one want to hazard an answer as to why one shouldn't expect the iPad market share to follow the path of the iPhone market share; i.e. initial domination gradually eroded as quality competitors arrive on the market?

[OldDutch]

Originally Posted by QuadCityImages

Asus is shipping 400,000 Transformers a month. Also, what is it exactly that the Galaxy Tab and Transformer don't hold a candle to the iPad at? I will grant you that there aren't anywhere near as many tablet-optimized apps for Android tablets as there are for the iPad, but what else?

Wow, knew this was going to happen as soon as I said I liked something Apple... Android, I come in peace, I am not your enemy, the dreaded "Fan Boy".

Now that we are on good terms... I never mentioned the Transformer in my post. I did that intentionally. The transformer is a great, well thought out product. It is generally stable, cheaper, and more versatile than the iPad with the keyboard attachment. Based on my post I give it full marks, and the market is rewarding it.

As for the original tab, come on, that thing is junk. It didn't even run an OS built for tablets. Buggy, slow, expensive in comparison. It had very little going for it other than form factor. It failed, that much has been proven.

What I am saying is that Apple is the market leader here. You need to come with a slick product, or people will stick with what they know. Xoom, Playbook, Tab, Touchpad are all products that were rushed to market and failed. You can't argue that.

My post was never an Android vs Apple debate. I won't go there, cause I read enough of that garbage online. It was an honest statement that these big players are dropping the ball. I really hope ASUS teaches these guys what it takes to challenge the leader. Only then will we get a good choice of tablets to choose from.

[Azure]

Apple did the same thing with the iPad that they did with the iPhone. Brought the best original idea to the market, and sold a bunch. Made their billions too.

Android has the luxury of putting out a bunch of crappy models until finally they'll release a 'Galaxy S' tablet that will sell 30 million units, and then a 'Galaxy S 2' that will sell 100 million, and so on and so forth.

I think there is room for both. The tablet market is huge. And competition is good.

Android may be activating 550,000 phones per day, but Apple just posted a record quarter and has $75 billion dollars in the bank. All of that without the new iPhone, which will probably instantly sell millions of units more.