Jeremy Harris
100 MW
Some background:
I currently use an old Samsung netbook for browsing, email, viewing photos when out and about, etc. It's fine, but is showing it's age and there's a fair bit of wear and tear on things like the touch pad and keys, so I suspect it won't be long before it starts to get a bit iffy.
So, I am looking around for a replacement, and am wondering whether to switch to a tablet, rather than another netbook. Windows has always pissed me off big time, and having recently replaced my main PC with a Win 7 machine that opinion hasn't changed (if anything, Win 7 is even more frustrating than previous versions, especially when it comes to stopping you communicating with it over a LAN that's got non-Win 7 machines on it) . If it wasn't for the investment (in learning time and money) in things like CAD software etc I'd have stopped using Windows years ago.
I'm leaning towards an iPad, as I like the display, there seems to be a wide variety of apps for it and it may be easier for an IT amateur like me to get to grips with. The big downside is no keyboard, which may well prove to be a show stopper. The Android tablets seem to include some with clip on keyboards, like the Asus Transformer. This would seem to make them a lot easier to use for things like this - scribbling stuff on ES. The downside for me is Google. I inherently distrust Google, their company motto, "do no evil" is now a sick joke, and as a company they clearly have no respect for privacy or the rights of the individual. If Android spies on users in the same way as the Google search engine does, and if it secretly collects and uses personal data for the benefit of Google, as all Google PC applications do, then I'd rather not have anything to do with it.
My needs are fairly simple:
- I don't need mobile connectivity, just WiFi.
- I do want something that's intuitive and easy to use; as I get older I find I have less patience when it comes to getting things to work (did I mention how bloody irritating Windows has become?).
- A decent amount of storage is a must, or the ability to use SD, or maybe uSD, cards to store photos etc (I value privacy, so won't entertain the idea of using the cloud).
- I want a decent display, and was mightily impressed with that on the iPad I saw recently.
- Not overly fussed about size and weight, but wouldn't want a display smaller than that on this old Samsung NC10 (around 10" diagonal).
- In terms of apps, all I really need is good web browsing, email and the ability to store and view photos and videos. GPS and mapping would be a "nice to have"; for example, I currently have large scale maps of the whole of the UK on this netbook (using Memory Map).
- Battery life isn't that critical, as I'm rarely away from power for more than a few hours.
- Budget isn't a major issue, I'll pretty much pay what I need to to get something that fits my needs well.
So, the question I'm asking the learned folk of ES is this:
Which tablet will best fit my needs? Or, should I forget about going down this route for now and just get another Windows netbook?
I currently use an old Samsung netbook for browsing, email, viewing photos when out and about, etc. It's fine, but is showing it's age and there's a fair bit of wear and tear on things like the touch pad and keys, so I suspect it won't be long before it starts to get a bit iffy.
So, I am looking around for a replacement, and am wondering whether to switch to a tablet, rather than another netbook. Windows has always pissed me off big time, and having recently replaced my main PC with a Win 7 machine that opinion hasn't changed (if anything, Win 7 is even more frustrating than previous versions, especially when it comes to stopping you communicating with it over a LAN that's got non-Win 7 machines on it) . If it wasn't for the investment (in learning time and money) in things like CAD software etc I'd have stopped using Windows years ago.
I'm leaning towards an iPad, as I like the display, there seems to be a wide variety of apps for it and it may be easier for an IT amateur like me to get to grips with. The big downside is no keyboard, which may well prove to be a show stopper. The Android tablets seem to include some with clip on keyboards, like the Asus Transformer. This would seem to make them a lot easier to use for things like this - scribbling stuff on ES. The downside for me is Google. I inherently distrust Google, their company motto, "do no evil" is now a sick joke, and as a company they clearly have no respect for privacy or the rights of the individual. If Android spies on users in the same way as the Google search engine does, and if it secretly collects and uses personal data for the benefit of Google, as all Google PC applications do, then I'd rather not have anything to do with it.
My needs are fairly simple:
- I don't need mobile connectivity, just WiFi.
- I do want something that's intuitive and easy to use; as I get older I find I have less patience when it comes to getting things to work (did I mention how bloody irritating Windows has become?).
- A decent amount of storage is a must, or the ability to use SD, or maybe uSD, cards to store photos etc (I value privacy, so won't entertain the idea of using the cloud).
- I want a decent display, and was mightily impressed with that on the iPad I saw recently.
- Not overly fussed about size and weight, but wouldn't want a display smaller than that on this old Samsung NC10 (around 10" diagonal).
- In terms of apps, all I really need is good web browsing, email and the ability to store and view photos and videos. GPS and mapping would be a "nice to have"; for example, I currently have large scale maps of the whole of the UK on this netbook (using Memory Map).
- Battery life isn't that critical, as I'm rarely away from power for more than a few hours.
- Budget isn't a major issue, I'll pretty much pay what I need to to get something that fits my needs well.
So, the question I'm asking the learned folk of ES is this:
Which tablet will best fit my needs? Or, should I forget about going down this route for now and just get another Windows netbook?