iPad and other Pads

[CorNokZ]

Hey guys

I really want to avoid getting an Apple product, so been thinking of getting an Android pad of some sort, but most of them seem to get really bad reviews. Does anyone have experience with any sort of pads that they would recommend?

It will be used mainly for school as a laptop in the backpack takes up too much space and is heavy to carry around. It needs to have Wi-fi, but 3G is not required.

Any topic related reply will be repped

Thx

 

[Aoami]

get a netbook

 

[CorNokZ]

No thx

The netbooks I've tried haven't really felt great and I hate their size and keyboard dimensions. I have a real hard time typing on any laptop really.

I will use the pad for reading mostly, I reckon, so I think some sort of pad would suit me the best.

 

[GReaper]

Galaxy Tab?

They're really an uncertain product at the moment. The current versions of Android just aren't optimised for tablet form factor, so anyone making one at the moment is pretty much going against Google's wishes.

And yes, a lot of them are getting bad reviews as many manufacturers are seeing Android as an opportunity to get the cheapest hardware possible, resistive touchscreen instead of capacitive, a pointless number of hours for battery life (less than 3 hours), possibly running ancient Android 1.6, etc. Some of them don't even include the Android Market! Why they even bother I'm not really sure.

So you can either go with an expensive Android tablet (Galaxy Tab is £469 from various retailers), or get an iPad for a bit less (£429) - which is likely to have far more quality apps. You'll probably like it even if you hate the mighty Apple empire.

 

[CorNokZ]

You'll probably like it even if you hate the mighty Apple empire.

This is really what I fear the most. Starting to like Apple products :/

My iPod Video is amazing, but iTunes is a pile of steaming shit. My friends' iPhones look great, but I don't really know what to think of the OS.

I guess an iPad wouldn't be that bad, but I am just afraid that I will be paying more for the name and fame rather than the actual product.

 

[Roo Stercogburn]

Android based tablets not been getting awesome reviews as its not really a tablet OS. I don't think there's really a good competitor to the iPad yet. I don't like the lock-in factor with the iPad and Apple have sneakily removed tethering. Price is still too high for what you get though.

In the next few months they should be seeing some decent competition arrive on the scene.

 

[Tuthmes]

YouTube - ASUS Eee Pad EP121 and EP101TC

Wait for the Asus Eee Pad. Should be soon.

 

[PLightstar]

Bought my GF a Android Pad off ebay in August only cost £80 she loves it, has Market on it. Not sure which version of Android it has. She can normally get 4-6 hours constant use if shes using the Internet but if she uses it for games she gets about 3-4 hours. The only pad thing was that she left it on the floor and accidently stepped on it so the screen has a crack in it, but it still works fine. Used an iPad myself and I just don't like the OS find it very constricting and more like a version of Symbian (which I hate) I did hear good things about the Dell Streak but haven't got my hands on one yet.

 

[ford prefect]

We have two ipads. A lot of prejudice exists towards Apple on here. Can't say I understand it, given how microsoft is embraced, but anyway having played with a Galaxy recently, they are crap in comparison, sorry, but it is true. The Ipad offers a richer browsing experience, far better navigation, a better range of apps and double the battery time. The Ipad is expensive, but you get what you pay for and it is a beautiful bit of kit. I'm sure there will be ten posts following this with some apple bashing probably by people that picked one up for an afternoon, used one in a shop or has never held one, but well I'm right /shrug.

 

[Exioce]

Possibly cover both bases?
YouTube - Dell Inspiron duo coming soon

 

[Ch3tan]

If you are using it mainly for reading, then save a fortune and get a kindle?

 

[CorNokZ]

If you are using it mainly for reading, then save a fortune and get a kindle?

Would love a Kindle, but its uses are currently very limited here in Denmark, as far as what I have read. Can it browse the net and write in word? If so it might be a possibility actually

 

[ford prefect]

Would love a Kindle, but its uses are currently very limited here in Denmark, as far as what I have read. Can it browse the net and write in word? If so it might be a possibility actually

It has a basic web browser, but no you can't write on it.

 

[Lamp]

don't get dell

you wouldn't take your driving test in a robin reliant would you?

 

[old.Tohtori]

Oh yeah, high tech baby!

 

[PLightstar]

Oh yeah, high tech baby!

I hear that you have to buy an addon called 'Tippex' if you make mistakes. I prefer the pencil addon because it comes with an editor built in at a fraction of the cost.

 

[Ch3tan]

The bin and shredder add-ons ruin the portability though.

 

[old.Tohtori]

I hear that you have to buy an addon called 'Tippex' if you make mistakes. I prefer the pencil addon because it comes with an editor built in at a fraction of the cost.

True, but the quality is a lot better with that model if you do highdef imaging and such.

Ch3t, atleast in Finland they have these bins that are stand alone. They have them in a lot of street places and you're quite sure to find one in any apartment/establishment.

Though you have a point, the data security is rather poor without a shredder addon.

 

[Zenith.UK]

We have two ipads. A lot of prejudice exists towards Apple on here. Can't say I understand it, given how microsoft is embraced

Understanding is not required.
I don't like Apple products because I don't like Apple's vertical integration of hardware and software. It's a walled off sandbox. Slap an Apple logo on anything and the price increases along with it's perceived "cool factor".

Having seen and used an ipad this weekend, I'm still not convinced. My main point of contention is that it's smaller than I expect, as I was expecting A4 size. If I go with a pad in the future, it will probably be Android because I'm used to it and it helps bring the price down by comparison.
I'm almost scottish in my miserly attitude.

 

[ford prefect]

Understanding is not required.

Neither is a debate - been there done that before. I'll just stick with my statement - you get what you pay for

 

[Roo Stercogburn]

A lot of prejudice exists towards Apple on here. Can't say I understand it, given how microsoft is embraced, but anyway having played with a Galaxy recently, they are crap in comparison, sorry, but it is true.

Extreme lock-in under the marketing guise of improving 'customer experience'. Apple are arguably the worst major league hardware provider for being completely nazi about controlling what you can do with a device you've already paid for.

 

[ford prefect]

Extreme lock-in under the marketing guise of improving 'customer experience'. Apple are arguably the worst major league hardware provider for being completely nazi about controlling what you can do with a device you've already paid for.

Don't really see why that is an issue in this case tbh. I wanted to take pictures I bought a camera, I wanted to read e-books, I bought a kindle, I wanted to surf the web and play the odd game, use the odd app I bought an ipad. Comaped to the other pads out there it more apps available, probably the best touch screen and the longest battery life.

The sales alone say everything you need to know about the product and the quality and yeah apple maybe controlling ect, but so what? you buy the tech to do a specific job /shrug

 

[mikke]

I have an ipad, and i have to say i love it! I use it for schoolwork, and it has some really productive apps availible. I can use it on and off for a week, with just browsing and reading e-books on school etc for 5 days without recharging it - which is amazing tbh.. My laptop dies after 2hrs with no power connected. It looks awesome, and it is awesome. It will be even better when i buy this, then i can use it for writing and stuff aswell!

The only downside i see with the ipad is when you want to "download" a document to it.. Safari cant do this... There are apps that can do this, but it doesent seem these apps are "talking" to eachother. So if i download a file in the Mercury browser, it stays in the mercury browser.. I cant open it in Notes etc.. Its the same problem with most other files, like pdf, powerpoint and so on. Very often i open powerpoint files in iBooks instead of KeyNote. So i cant edit it..

Bottom line - its really hard to manage your files on the Ipad. I dont know if this have changed with the recent IOS4.2 update (havent tried yet).

On the other hand.. A friend of mine has a Galaxy tab.. Its totally open, but its a mess..

 

[Raven]

Really can't see the point in paying more for less...

Get a notebook, run windows 7.

done.

 

[Zenith.UK]

This made me drool...
Acer replaces laptop keyboard with multi-touch LCD ? reghardware
A double screen laptop with touchscreen keyboard.

And then there's the pads themselves...
Acer takes on iPad with Android, Flash, own UI ? reghardware

The one that definitely caught my eye was the Win7 one that clips onto a keyboard.

 

[Ch3tan]

That Acer dual screen reminds me of the MS concept tablet, the document/book style one.

 

[Aiteal]

I got a archos 101 tablet two weeks back
ARCHOS

I really can't fault it, price, performance or spec wise
I say that as someone who codes for apple and android (and blackberry) mobile devices, (as well as teh usual server side stuff)
so I don't really have an axe to grind one way or the other.

Apple devices are well built, stylish with intuitive UI's, i have a mac-book, mini-mac and iPod touch
But i'll be fucked if I'm paying 500quid for something with no webcam and minimal hardware interfaces

There will be alot of shit android tablets released over the next year or so that damage the android 'brand', but thats the price you pay for an open system, however, like the phone market with HTC, a reliable manufacturer will make a name for themselves with good products at a reasonable price

based on my experiences with the archos 101, I'm betting on archos being the HTC of the android tablet world

I still read e-books on my 3g kindle mind you, unless they are tech manual pdfs I 'aquired' from places like wowebook

 

[Ch3tan]

Price on that Archos?

 

[Lamp]

It will be even better when i buy this...

nice...but might as well buy a thin laptop otherise you still gotta carry the keyboard bit around with you

 

[Aiteal]

I paid 280 of the english pounds

It's on back order currently, be hard to get one before xmas tbh, as I was intended on getting one for my mum so she can videocall with my daughter
or maybe even the slightly smaller archos 70

also, it has flash support, so I can play crap loads of flash games from the web as well as buying from teh android marketplace

like i said, i'm not an apple hater, i've spent too much money on their products over the past 10 years, but tablet wise, the iPad is just too little for too much (like the galaxy tbh)