Tablet advice - iPad or Android?

FWIW - I'm an iPad 1st gen user and I don't have any problems with the exclusive Apple nature folks like to hate on. I'm not a programmer either but I travel a lot and I wouldn't dream of owning a tablet without mobile data radio capability. I don't own a smartphone so my iPad serves that role without a monthly contract. I pay for data when I'll need it and save money when I don't. Skype works quite nicely too and provides me a redundant mobile phone service in or out of country.

I use something called EyeTv to record/export broadcast TV shows for free to watch during many lengthy plane/train rides. My wife also rips Netflix DVD's as well. After 2 years of constant daily use the battery still lasts 8 hours. Try that with a lappy... In fact, I don't even own a laptop anymore because the iPad serves that role.

Actually looking to replace the 1st gen iPad with the 3rd as the LTE mobile data would be nice as well as the camera and hi res display.
 
cal3thousand said:
I would look at getting one of the ASUS pads. The Infinity Pad http://eee.asus.com/en/eeepad/transformer-infinity/features/ , is a particularly sweet device.

I think it matches well to your requirements and the cost compared to the iPad is another benefit. I'm planning on getting one this holiday season unless the Padfone II from ASUS comes out by then.

I think they are the best value right now at $500-600 for a full setup.
Click to expand...
I have the Asus infinity pad and its brilliant. The screen resolution is almost as high as the Ipad3, 1900x1200, reading text is very comfortable. Since I discovered http://www.tuebl.com i read all books using the infinity. About the screen,i have an AP where it displays the entire page of a full size newspaper and you can click on an article to read it. The screen is so good though you don't need to as you can read it straight from the full screen page. Because of the resolution I use the device almost always in portrait, for this forum for instance I see double the amount of posts compared to landscape . Other things I like, android has emulators for calculators like my HP48gx, old computers like the zx spectrum, Commodore 64. It plays movies and music my mate :oops: downloaded from piratebay. Basically the things I want to do are the things Apple doesn't allow. A feature I like about the Asus is the keyboard which doubles as a stand, a screen protector and doubles the battery life to almost 16 hours.

To be honest though, the user interface of the iPad is a bit more responsive but for me allowing what I want to do was key in getting android.
 
The Ipad is a nice consumer bit of tech but the Android based devices are far more flexible in what you can do with them, i.e. no tie to itunes, an SD slot for storing pics and vids and apps even the most basic ones have that.

For me I like to have both, I have a HP touchpad which I got very cheap in the fire sale last year, it is very nice but it runs Webos, however I now have ice cream sandwich (Android OS) running on it and its transformed it its also dual boot so I can go back to webos if I want to, its got an amazing screen too and the sound from it trumps the ipad hands down. You can pick them up cheap on Fleabay and putting the modified rom on it is easy, you can get a wireless keyboard for it and it charges wirelessly if you buy the inductive charging support, the XDA community is amazing and folks like Cyanogenmod post nightly builds with new roms.

Go with an Android based tablet, I still use my laptop for 80% of my general use and I wouldn't trade my tablet for it, tablet for me is a nice extra gadget but can not replace the laptop for me as I use my laptop for running high end CAD and video editing using Adobe After Effects something you cant do on a tablet.

For some a tablet can replace a PC but for me it accompanies it.

have fun, what ever you go for you are going to love it, old tech doesnt handle new media very well, its the main reason that I upgraded my laptop after 8 years :lol: it just couldnt cut the HD stuff sadly.
 
I think I will be getting a Kindle Fire 8.9" HD w/LTE and wifi when they come out in Nov.

I like the price and the fact that you are able to get 250MB of data a month for only $50 year (Apple wants $180 for the same). With that and my $6/month prepaid phone I'll be covered no matter where I go.

Some people are turned off by the Amazon adds, but for $15 you can turn them off. It runs off of a modified Android (icecream sandwich) that Amazon has tried to limit but can be easily be hacked to run all of Google's apps
 
nicobie said:
I think I will be getting a Kindle Fire 8.9" HD w/LTE and wifi when they come out in Nov.

I like the price and the fact that you are able to get 250MB of data a month for only $50 year (Apple wants $180 for the same). With that and my $6/month prepaid phone I'll be covered no matter where I go.

Some people are turned off by the Amazon adds, but for $15 you can turn them off. It runs off of a modified Android (icecream sandwich) that Amazon has tried to limit but can be easily be hacked to run all of Google's apps
Click to expand...

A little root goes a long way. That $15 fee might as well not exist for the handy.
 
My wife likes the I Pad, I won it in a contest two years ago and can hardly pry it away from her. My daughter has a new Lenovo laptop, which she balances on her lap while facebooking and at the same time doing digital art on the desktop and talking on the phone with her boyfriend. I'm lucky to have a TV and the remote if anything at all. :roll:
I like a real, full-sized keyboard and mouse best! But if I had to chose between the I Pad and the laptop I would chose the laptop, because it is easier for me to type on and has Microsoft Office installed, it can play DVDs, you can pop in the photo SD cards, etc., you can add a mouse if you want to, and the power cord is longer and sturdier. :wink:
The I Pad is a little touchy when trying to cut, copy, and paste photos and text. It's more like a giant phone screen which is ok for most, but not everything. It is lighter, and runs longer on a charge. There's lots of cool apps for it, but it just can't do as much as a laptop. :(
At least we don't fight over the computer so much anymore, because we can usually connect at the same time now.
If you can swing it, use all of the devices. Each one has advantages. But if you only want one, get the laptop. 8)
 
The fingers said:
If you can swing it, use all of the devices. Each one has advantages. But if you only want one, get the laptop. 8)
Click to expand...
agree, even a fancy tablet with keyboard etc is no match for a good laptop. Tablets are very suitable for media
consumption, not for much else...
 
Jeremy Harris said:
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?
Click to expand...
Its the OS that makes or breaks usability. Android is open-source linux, Google's significant extension of it. The Internet would not exist were it not for open-source; Apache, Linux, this forum (phpBB), etc. But linux does not have to be Android flavor. I run Ubuntu on a Dell laptop and never cease to be amazed at the power of it. The free and open-source community is huge and growing. If you're Google shy (I'm a long-standing fan who has never had my privacy compromized), then its possible to get a tablet from any number of vendors and install any flavor of Linux you want it, for free, with great ease. Check out the Dell Streak 7 tablet, for instance. Comes with Android, but you could swap that out if you wanted. Not that I suggest it. Android is not Google, but open-source, backed by a huge community of app-makers. Just saying.
 
arkmundi said:
Jeremy Harris said:
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?
Click to expand...
Its the OS that makes or breaks usability. Android is open-source linux, Google's significant extension of it. The Internet would not exist were it not for open-source; Apache, Linux, this forum (phpBB), etc. But linux does not have to be Android flavor. I run Ubuntu on a Dell laptop and never cease to be amazed at the power of it. The free and open-source community is huge and growing. If you're Google shy (I'm a long-standing fan who has never had my privacy compromized), then its possible to get a tablet from any number of vendors and install any flavor of Linux you want it, for free, with great ease. Check out the Dell Streak 7 tablet, for instance. Comes with Android, but you could swap that out if you wanted. Not that I suggest it. Android is not Google, but open-source, backed by a huge community of app-makers. Just saying.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that, it's reassuring to know, as I'm somewhat leery of having anything to do with Google, based on the radical change in their behaviour over the past few years. Knowing it's effectively open source removes the concerns I had, as presumably this means it's pretty easy to customise too.
 
Have you looked at the macbook air? It's the best of both worlds. I'd strongly suggest you do.
Good thing money is not an issue.. :wink:
 
Jeremy Harris said:
arkmundi said:
Jeremy Harris said:
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?
Click to expand...
Its the OS that makes or breaks usability. Android is open-source linux, Google's significant extension of it. The Internet would not exist were it not for open-source; Apache, Linux, this forum (phpBB), etc. But linux does not have to be Android flavor. I run Ubuntu on a Dell laptop and never cease to be amazed at the power of it. The free and open-source community is huge and growing. If you're Google shy (I'm a long-standing fan who has never had my privacy compromized), then its possible to get a tablet from any number of vendors and install any flavor of Linux you want it, for free, with great ease. Check out the Dell Streak 7 tablet, for instance. Comes with Android, but you could swap that out if you wanted. Not that I suggest it. Android is not Google, but open-source, backed by a huge community of app-makers. Just saying.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that, it's reassuring to know, as I'm somewhat leery of having anything to do with Google, based on the radical change in their behaviour over the past few years. Knowing it's effectively open source removes the concerns I had, as presumably this means it's pretty easy to customise too.
Click to expand...


When good new ROM's release (which is like a daily occurance for popular devices), they don't have any Google software in them, it's all AOSP (Android Open Source Project). Google actually forbids them from including their proprietary apps/software in the ROM, but Google does not and can not own Android, because it's an OSP, they do provide some great folks that help a lot with the development, and they roll out the most impressive changes with new versions that the rest of the developer community all helps with and polish/tune/tweak/modify/improve. When you want to add back in various google apps (if you choose to do so, there are many 3rd party options as well, but as an example, nothing has ever matched the performance of Google Maps), you have to download and install them yourself (there are 3rd party batch installers that auto-update them all for you if you wish, like 'gooinme').

To further complicate things, OEM's take the largely perfect and beautiful AOSP Android software and pervert and molest it with there own garbage skins they lay over the top and revenue grabbing bloatware.
It's quite painful to have to use an Android device as you received it from the OEM. In fact, once you've used AOSP based versions for a while, and you have to use someones unhacked stock OEM rom device, I get this strong urge to throw it down and stomp it, or at least spend 20minutes to hack it for them and re-flash there ROM to something that isn't a terrible laggy glitchy cobbled together ad infested and intentionally limited capability device. It is painful to use stock ROMs, nearly as painful as using an i-device, only at least you have the comfort of knowing you're never stuck that way with an Android device (or at least not stuck that way for long with the amazing team at XDA working on every crack/exploit they can find to free you of the garbage OEM ROM).
 
Exactly what I wanted the hear, Luke, thanks. I hadn't realised that Android was basically Open Source, I'd assumed it was a Google product, hence some of my reservations. Nice to know that I should be able to get rid of any nasty stuff lurking in the machine.

Hot favourite at the moment remains the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity, but it's not yet widely available here in the UK, I've only found sites selling imports with non-UK keyboards so far (I struggle with a US keyboard layout, and struggle even more with a French AZERTY one..........).
 
Jeremy Harris said:
Exactly what I wanted the hear, Luke, thanks. I hadn't realised that Android was basically Open Source, I'd assumed it was a Google product, hence some of my reservations. Nice to know that I should be able to get rid of any nasty stuff lurking in the machine.

Hot favourite at the moment remains the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity, but it's not yet widely available here in the UK, I've only found sites selling imports with non-UK keyboards so far (I struggle with a US keyboard layout, and struggle even more with a French AZERTY one..........).
Click to expand...
Well, yes it is a Google project. They took aim and hit the bullseye. The target was Apple and iTunes, etc. Encroachment. Watch out when elephants dance. But the entire Google edifice is built on top of open-source, not just Android. They get open-source and would never intentionally do anything to compromise their relationship with the community. They've done more for open-source than any other company, excepting perhaps Apache. Part of my love affair. Of course if you're going to focus on the warts on their arse, then I can understand being somewhat nauseated.
 
Jeremy, I plan to get an Android tablet this Christmas, but not sure which yet. I have no good explanation why, other than any of the above choices would work fine for what I do, and the Apple products are more expensive (I'm sure they are worth the extra cost to some buyers, just not me).

Here is an Android device chat room, I don't know if its good or bad, but it does have lots of chat you could lurk on for a while...

http://www.reddit.com/r/android
 
XDA developers is the source for good android info.

XDA developers is to smart phones what endless-sphere is to Ebikes.

The first day any new device comes out, someone on XDA "de-boxes" it the XDA way, meaning it gets stripped down to its bare mobo and all interesting chips and hardware is analyzed. Then its firmware protection is examined and the hacking begins.
 
liveforphysics said:
XDA developers is the source for good android info.

XDA developers is to smart phones what endless-sphere is to Ebikes.

The first day any new device comes out, someone on XDA "de-boxes" it the XDA way, meaning it gets stripped down to its bare mobo and all interesting chips and hardware is analyzed. Then its firmware protection is examined and the hacking begins.
Click to expand...

Agreed!

XDA is where all the "development" occurs. Most of the other sites out there are outlets for these Devs to share with a wider audience in a more controlled fashion. (XDA threads can range anywhere from annoying newb posts about when the next update will be out TO esoteric Linux kernel optimization posts that require a PhD in Comp Sci to understand.)

So like Luke said, It's the ES of Smartphones (XDA really was about HTC devices but Android changed that pretty quickly)
 
cal3thousand said:
So like Luke said, It's the ES of Smartphones (XDA really was about HTC devices but Android changed that pretty quickly)
Click to expand...


Speaking of the HTC/Samsung dev'ing. Today XDA TV covered a bit on the very topic and the shitty job samsung has been doing lately by sucking into the Verizon bullsh*t. I love my Note, I've been jazzed about buying the Note2 the instant it releases for the last 4 months or so, it's about $800 that I'm eager to pay to Samsung in an instant, EXCEPT if they lock the f*cking bootloader, in which case it's f*cking garbage that I would use as crappy flying clay pigeon. It's been insane to watch OEM's go in circles around this, the HTC G1 was unlocked, it was a developers wet-dream, it CREATED the whole android developer support and created the interest that caused people to write apps for Android and got the whole program off the ground. Then a few phones later, they release a new android flagship device and lock the bootloader... it's worthless garbage, a beautiful very well spec'd paperweight. The community doesn't embrace the device or creating apps for it etc (because you can't develop on it or do anything cool with it), so it's a flop and many tens of thousands of angry customers switch away from HTC (including myself), and I buy Samsung because it's unlocked and they are supporting dev's with hardware interface info so they can create drivers etc, life is great. HTC see's that they lost there customer base after bootlocking and that Samsung picked it up after going unlocked, and HTC goes back to unlocking and shares driver info etc (but there were very behind the curve in phone tech by that point). Now Samsung is playing the same card HTC did 2 years ago, releasing a beautiful amazing new device (Galaxy s3), and locking it's bootloader so it's a worthless paperweight, and angering the entire group that develops apps and firmware to make there products attractive to consumers... Ugh!

Embrace your developers! It's better for everyone!

[youtube]GTRKL5E9Iak[/youtube]
 
You can hardly blame the OEMs. They are just trying to emulate MS. They were given DOS, borrowed the spreadsheet from PARC (I guess a lot did, that's why they all look similar), and put on a different shade of lipstick and copyright any code floating around,
 
Jeremy Harris said:
Thanks for all the useful suggestions... Given the pretty resounding vote in favour of Android, it looks like I need to go and have a look at one of the better 10" tablets that run this to see what they're like.
Click to expand...
Remember the myth of Alice? Getting big or small because she ate something else? That's linux. Really big or really small and its grows to fit the space. A mistaken impression is that its the code ON the device, as shipped. NO, nooo, noo. Its the repository, the place developers put code they've made better that you want to buy. You're thinking this device, this OS. Think repository man! Its the developer community you're buying. Didn't seem like you got that message yet.
My only other reservation is the evil nature of Google. I inherently avoid using Google since they seem to have decided that it's OK to steal personal data, spy on users of their software and generally behave in a pretty unethical (to me) way.
Click to expand...
I categorically reject that assertion as pure poppycock. If it were so then Google wouldn't be in the game, but they are. I was part of the first 100,000 people to subscribe to gmail and have used it ever since. I've grown intertwinned with Google's cloud. I have NEVER, repeat NEVER been compromised. The nature of the Internet, the nature of the cloud, of Google is SHARING. They make that possible. What's this teft thing you're talking about, the so called evil? YOUR experience? What did Google do to YOU that you're afraid of now? You may be conflating Facebook and Google.
 
My first encounter with Google's tactics was a couple of years or so ago when they removed the ability to do a UK only search from the front page of their search engine, solely so they could hit users with an extra page of adverts by making UK users click through two pages to get a specific search query. There were a lot of complaints to Google about this, and they refused point blank to do anything to fix it. It was then revealed that this was a ploy to get more advertising hits, by forcing a double page load for those who wanted to search from outside the US-centric .com domain.

Next was the major privacy breach here with Google Streetview, resulting in Google being censured by the ICO here. Despite this they still seem to be intent on taking personal data from anyone who either uses one of their services consciously (i.e. using their search engine, which could arguably be called OK as you know you're giving them access to your data) or who uses one of their services unconsciously (i.e. by opening a non-Google website that contains Google information gathering (user tracking) or directed advertising elements).

I get well and truly pissed at being spammed or sent junk mail, and Google are intent on trying to ensure that they acquire information about me and my interests in order to defeat pretty much every attempt I make to live a life that's relatively free from this annoyance. It really pisses me off that I have to spend time and effort stopping Google from being a major PITA, by doing things like using Googlesharing to limit the amount of personal stuff about me they collect, using blockers to try and limit the info that Google collects on the sly etc.

The final straw for me was the experience of an acquaintance, who's a freelance journalist/video maker. He has produced a number of very popular videos on YouTube and was making a modest income from Google's Adsense service. There's an article here: http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/11/columns/guest/winter/index.htm that describes what happened to him, but suffice to say, he did nothing wrong, Google took away his income from Adsense and continue to earn revenue from his work. Frankly that stinks, and for me was the thing that finally made me switch away from having anything to do with the evil Google empire.

Maybe others have different thresholds for what they consider to be private, are less annoyed by intrusive directed advertising, or more accepting of draconian treatment at the hands of big corporations. My choice is to never knowingly deal with Google again, YMMV.
 
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