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Android tablets to rival iPad
superboyac:
(This is not a criticism, just a comment):
From the discussion, it doesn't sound like many of you understand how truly different a tablet is from a laptop or a desktop. Comparing a tablet to a laptop is like comparing a compact car to a pickup truck. They are both cars, but practically speaking, they are entirely different animals. Nobody would compare the towing capability of a truck to a compact car...and then criticize the compact car for not being able to tow as much.
This is the transition people are going to make the next few years. I didn't "get it" myself until I used my ipad daily for a couple of months. Now I get it. A tablet is a handy thing to have while you are out and about. A laptop and desktop are more for gearing down and doing something relatively serious. It's more than just being "handy". There is most likely going to be a strong shift towards tablets the next few years, similar to what we've seen with laptops in recent years. When laptops first came out, the same things were said "But my desktop can do so much more for the same money". Now, a lot of non-hardcore computer users use laptops as their primary computing device. A similar shift is going to happen with tablets. People are going to forget about their desktops and laptops and just use tablets for everything.
Remember, most people are very light computer users compared to us. They check email, browse the web, chat a little bit, and that's it. That's really it. My own sister got an iphone and she has stopped using her desktop...like within a week. This is NORMAL.
So I have a hard time contributing to a discussion where people discuss laptops/desktops and tablets as if they are comparable. I just don't know what to say. Specs has nothing to do with it. There are motors in a lot of different equipment, but you wouldn't compare the motor of a copy machine with backup generator.
40...I know you don't like Apple, but the ipad easily lasts a workday on a battery charge. I don't think you'd be disappointed, unless it was purely a financial issue. I can't say for you whether it's worth the money or not, but I think I can say that you'd be happy with it.
wraith808:
My biggest quibble is with battery runtimes. I'd consider getting a tablet if they could just provide a battery that would last for a 'standard' workday (i.e. 8hrs under normal use) without needing to be plugged back in.
:)
-40hz (March 23, 2011, 09:16 AM)
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Today is the third full workday that I've been using* mine, and I haven't plugged it in yet. And my battery is at 42%.
*Using includes books (writing a presentation), remote desktop, taking notes, calendar, e-mail, and browsing...
Gailin:
I bought a Nook Color and rooted it. It can become an awesome tablet that only costs $200. Sure it is not as full featured as the Samsung or Xoom, but it is also 400 dollars cheaper. Also, you retain all of the nook capabilities for your library, shopping. I spend a lot of time in waiting rooms etc, so it provides a nice middle form factor between my phone and laptop for passing the time. Sometimes carrying a laptop and the associated accessories can be cumbersome and the phone is a bit small for large amounts of reading.
It does have a couple rough corners since the Nook Color has only been out a few months. But there is a very active community constantly improving the rooted ROM's abilities and stability. For instance, the Nook Color has bluetooth abilities in hardware, but were turned off in software. The modding community has found a way to activate it and provide bluetooth support. This now allows the nook color to do SIP calls over wifi.
xtabber:
(This is not a criticism, just a comment):
From the discussion, it doesn't sound like many of you understand how truly different a tablet is from a laptop or a desktop.
.....
This is the transition people are going to make the next few years. I didn't "get it" myself until I used my ipad daily for a couple of months. Now I get it. .... People are going to forget about their desktops and laptops and just use tablets for everything.
...
That's really it. My own sister got an iphone and she has stopped using her desktop...like within a week. This is NORMAL.
-superboyac (March 23, 2011, 11:27 AM)
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I agree with this, except that I would say that tablets are more comparable to smartphones than to PCs, whether desktops or laptops.
I am not going to use my Android phone for work, but I do find that I use it for many of the things that I used to use a computer for. A tablet would expand that capability even more, meaning that my computers would be used more and more just for the kind of work that requires a keyboard and a big screen. For everything else, which simply means everything for much of the population, a tablet would be not just adequate, but a better tool altogether.
That said, I'm just not impressed with the iPad. I had the chance today to play with both an iPad with a Motorola Xoom. The Xoom has some rough edges and is way overpriced, but I liked it much better than the iPad. Perhaps because I'm more used to working with an Android phone than an iPhone. It just seems much more flexible and capable, and I find the rectangular shape more pleasing than the squarish iPad. But the killer feature is the 1280x800 screen that simply blows the iPad's 1024x768 screen away, particularly with HD video, which I think will be a major factor in determining which tablets succeed in the non-geek market.
Deozaan:
So I have a hard time contributing to a discussion where people discuss laptops/desktops and tablets as if they are comparable.-superboyac (March 23, 2011, 11:27 AM)
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Here's how they are comparable to me:
I want a pretty good Core i7 PC. I also want a pretty good Android Tablet.
Given that they both cost (about) the same, if I had to choose between them, then I'm totally choosing the Core i7 PC. On the other hand, if the Xoom was about $400 then I would probably postpone my Core i7 purchase for later and get the tablet.
It's not worth it to me to get such a relatively limited "compact car" for the same price as the much more powerful "truck" when I want both but can only choose one.
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