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Can anyone tell me how the screen looks when compared to a nook color? I am looking for a good tablet that can handle school books and isn't too hard on the eyes. I know the nook screen is great but would like a larger screen than 7". Thanks!
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
For me the screen was what killed this device for me. The viewing angles are pretty bad, no way you can set this flat on a table or desk and not hover directly above it to read what's on the screen. Straight on everything looked pretty good, but there will very soon be lots of Android tablets that will have better screens on the market. If you're just looking for something to get you through till then the gtab is a good bet, otherwise I would wait on the next wave of them to hit.
Yeah, the screen isn't all that great. I just played around with a friend's ipad last night and the screen is way better. I've heard the nook is pretty good too, but haven't seen it in person.
Having said that, I can easily do just about anything I want to. I watch comics on it in portrait and I'm used to it. In two years I'll think its archaic, but what tech isn't like that? I think for the next 6-18m the best you are going to do to get a better product with a better screen is to spend $500-800 on one. I wasn't willing to spend that much. I spend $350 and was happy.
I've also spent a few minutes on the phone with a friend figuring out how to do things on the ipad that are easy on the gtab. So it really just depends on what you want it to do, and what media you want it for.
Nook is very nice. Gtab not so much. But remember the internals blow the Nook away.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
The price point was the prime consideration for me. Technology evolves too quickly for me to justify spending a large sum of money. This tablet for circa $400 and no monthly 3G data plan was a better purchase for me than an Apple or Samsung at roughly twice the price, especially considering the probability of something significantly enhanced showing up in a year. The combination of Viewsonic support and the developers' efforts and users willing to participate in Q&A in this forum is superb. The view angle isn't an issue for my wife and me; we watched some movies while on a 4k mile roundtrip train trip, and easily used WiFi at train stations and stopovers. I bought this in the end of November, and no regrets.
Tom
Maybe my video can help you make a decision? I'm obviously only one opinion, so I'd say watch my video and a bunch of others on Youtube before you make a decision. Also, if it's possible, hit up a local Office Depot or Sears or something, someone around you may have a demo of one. Happy shopping!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO1XyVK6cms
Call sears before you go. Most of the stores around here have a cardboard mockup on display. You can't see the real thing. If you want a pnp no brainer tab with a pretty screen, you don't want G tab. If you want to play this is great.
Depending on your needs, the limited viewing angle may be either a feature or a bug. Last week, my boss had the middle seat on an airline flight. The guys sitting on either side of him were both working with tablets. He couldn't tell what the guy on his right was doing because his screen had a lousy peripheral viewing. He said he spent a very informative flight reading the presentations on the tablet of the guy on his left whose screen was highly readable from where he was sitting. Go figure....
Porsche or VW
PORSCHE 911turbo with so so paint job
Or
VW with perfect paint and a good stereo
I know my choice even with some tinkering...
Try looking at most laptops and netbooks with the display tilted back or worse yet hold it in "portrait mode"
This tablet is at least $700 less with no contracts. 24m x $30+150
G tablet is off the chart fast.
Nook may be ok. But g tablet looks future proof for at least 1 generation. So nook + 1 more device.
Plus I really like the kindle app on a 10.1 screen.
n2thecloud said:
PORSCHE 911turbo with so so paint job
Or
VW with perfect paint and a good stereo
I know my choice even with some tinkering...
[snip]
Like buying a core i7 computer running windows xp
montyhp
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Not sure that the "selling my g tab" threads are making sense to me. Or that they represent the majority of the faithful fans.
So I wanted a "keeping my g tablet" thread.
1. Ok, if you wanted an ipad they just dropped in price, but can you really go back???
2. Xoom is still at least 200 more right now. You can buy a laptop for 299 easily.
3. Some other dual core tegra brands "may" come out, but that is still iffy at best and they still cost more.
4. HC will come out and be supported by the devs on g tablet.
So do you have any thoughts here?
I am keeping my g tablet and really enjoying the freedom of android tablet fun. Try Dungeon Defnders to see the real potential of this HW!
keeping my gtab but getting an ipad 2 for gaming.Droid games suck at the moment
keeping my gtab but getting an ipad 2 for gaming.Droid games suck at the moment.
angry birds.... lawl. with the weakness..
Sigh...I'm hearing Sam's Club may be selling the xoom for $540, still a bit on the fence about it. If only the viewing angle on this screen wasn't so poor it would be a no-brainer.
Unless something gets donated to me I'll be keeping mine for a while, since i sold my netbook to get the g-tablet, plus a dozen or so odd jobs to pay for it. Work is bad and money is worse, so I tend to be Mr. Bargain pants.
Thought I should add I love it, as do the kids and wife
Just picked up mine a few days ago as it was the best decision I have made . Can't Really see the need to a motorola xoom (other then the 1GB Ram and 1280x800) and won't go with ipad (they don't even have emulators.... so sad).
Now if I could just find a good case
Got mine two weeks ago after doing some extensive research on which one to buy.
The viewing angles aren't great but don't bother me at all. Keeping till something comes out in the same price range with all around better hardware "screen, processor, memory, etc".
Keeping mine, as well. If anything else, it's a good Tegra dev unit.
I can fully understand why some people are jumping ship, and I did get a Xoom myself (on the super cheap). But the Xoom still has a LOT of problems to be worked out.
I'd still like to see HC on the GTAB - that would be the icing on the cake, AFAIC.
Love Gtab
I am not a Gtab owner, I am getting one actually. Before I made the decision, I was thinking to buy a Galaxy tab also (similar price, better screen but smaller size, and I feel Samsung is a better brand) ...I am talking about the sprint galaxy tab of course (T-Mo's and ATT's are more expensive) ......At the meanwhile, there is way more support (xda devs) for the Gtab than the Sprint galaxy tab....so, all in all, I chose Gtab, best tab in $300-400 price range so far..
ps: ipad 2 is coming soon, and we all know the 1st gen ipad has huge price drop....ipad is great, very good in quality and performance.. but..I just don't like apple, coz it is not customizable...
I plan on keeping mine as well, and I'm probably one of the few people on here that could care less about HC. To me its great eye candy, but it seems like we would loose way too much in terms of a trade off till google does some updating on it. (USB, MicroSD, etc...) I'd be perfectly happy if we could get some updated drivers for the Gojimi's Ginger Vegan. Now that would be sweet.
Apple is a status symbol and I have never been into that Would have considered an Ipad 2, but I much prefer the Android Platform and believe it will overtake the iPad/iPhone.
A not as good of screen and a little bit heavier than the iPad, but the external SDCard, Android Platform, Duo chip, 512MB RAM, and price has me not looking back. I have my music library and movies on the external card. I also have the hope of getting my honeycombs... Ha!
Got a Malata case from the group buy (see accessories section if you want one) and I am really loving my setup for under $400
Keeping mine too.
I will be keeping mine, until I find something I like better within the same price range. I will hand my tab down to my son who uses it more then I do anyway!
Keeping my Gtablet.
The power/$ ratio is just too good. I have seen benchmarks with the Xoom that put them neck to neck. Granted it doesn't have all the bells and whistles.
Keeping mine as well...absolutely love it. Anyone complaining about viewing angles should try getting a skinomi skin, it did wonders. And now that we have not just Cyanogen support but now Caulkin is onboard as well.
corwinmortac said:
Keeping mine as well...absolutely love it. Anyone complaining about viewing angles should try getting a skinomi skin, it did wonders. And now that we have not just Cyanogen support but now Caulkin is onboard as well.
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You mean this? It's a combo pack with a carbon fiber skin.
http://www.skinomi.com/viewsonic-g-tablet-carbon-fiber-skin-protector.html
Not sure how a skin would improve viewing angles, could you pop up a pic at an upward angle for comparison? I swear, I want to love this thing, but the screen is kind of cooling me on it. I think it really is something I'd spend another $150 for if the rumors of that wifi Xoom are true.
Keeping mine. Does everything I need it to do with VEGAN 5.1. Try expanding your memory on the ipad2 2. Spent a bunch of money on a screen security angle protector for my laptop so when I travel the people next to me on a plane can't see the screen so No issue with the GT screen. Have an iphone and don't like being told what I can and can't do with my investment.
i use mine for news, web-browsing, email and writing. along with a few other random things like wordwise (words with friends doesnt align exactly right for me), and twitter (so i can keep up with the daily bits o' wisdom of colbert, charlie sheen and gilbert). it also kept me from going cabin crazy during recent flights, watching some shows i had recorded. for all of these things, this thing is perfect. i dont get the aggravation over the viewing angles; but then again, i havent played around with other tablets for comparison. i also dont use it much for gaming. i have a ps3 for that one. so yeah, im definitely keeping mine. i havent regretted the purchase for a single moment- thanks especially to all the devs on these boards.
btw, do tablets really need a second camera on the rear? i cant imagine someone holding up a 10" tablet to get a picture of their wife in front of the white house
keeping mine...unless another model meets some specific need i see no point in getting a different one. For me every other tablet out or coming out is missing some piece of the puzzle not to mention most are much more money...anything over what i paid for my gtab and i could buy a absolutely killer laptop so why bother. The people that are running from gtablet to go to xoom etc are going to be the same people jumping from that to the "next big thing later" have fun pissing your money away.
I could not imagine getting rid of this very inexpensive tablet.
Definitely keeping mine in anticipation of HC.
You just can't beat the price.
It seems everywhere I look while doing my g-tab research, this debate rages. And, just like abortion and the relative value of left wing versus right wing, most of the time the debate degenerates into name calling and general idiocy. I actually think it IS an interesting discussion to have.....and one with valuable points to be made on both sides. It is important for people to go into the decision of which product to buy with a full quiver of knowledge rather than buying something which doesn't meet their needs or wants. Whether we are talking about three hundred bucks or six hundred, it is not pocket change.
First and most out of character for me, I want to talk about the strengths of the ipad. It is, in typical Apple fashion, a beautiful, iconic, well designed gadget that makes gadget whores the world over salivate to get their paws on it. Despite the many negatives about a closed technosystem (which I will get into later) Apple's technosystem also provides a simplicity and elegance that is almost unmatched in the operating system universe (with the possible exception of Webos). When I am advising friends on what computer or gadget to buy, if money is not an object, I always say this: if you want to do ten things simply and elegantly, ios is a great choice. But if you want to do an eleventh thing, or any of the first ten thing in a different way, Apple won't let you.
Surprisingly, one of the arenas that Apple is really dominating is portable gaming. After years of being a PC gamer and scoffing at my Mac gamer friend with their pathetic game library, I thought that Android would at least be on par. Much to my shock, even Webos is a vastly superior platform for gaming when compared to Android. It is my opinion that Google and Nvidia need to address the sad dearth of good games ASAP if they have any hope of breaking into a race in which they are already a lap behind.
Finally, I will say that Apple has done a masterful job of building an absolutely rabid fan base. As an overarching company, it's frankly shocking the kind of product dedication they are able to inspire. A few years back when Apple laptop hard drives were failing at an alarming rate, my hard core Apple friends looked for ANY excuse to let the company off the hook. But they have worked VERY hard through marketing and mostly (minus Steve Jobs) fantastic public relationsto build that kind of relationship with the consumer. Android and it's various licensees need to develop an interface that is much more user friendly and accessable to the non technically minded public.
Now to my beloved Gtab. Clearly from a hardware perspective it is on par with, or arguably superior to, the ipad. What seems to be overlooked in these discussions over and over is that to compare the Gtab and the Ipad is essentially the same thing as comparing a Honda and a Lexus. A Honda will most likely last as long or longer than a Lexus, and run as well or better. But people who buy Lexus are willing to pay a tax on luxury and brand name. But the Lexus costs over twice as much, so ultimately comparing the two based on their merits is less valuable than asking what the owner wants from their purchase. Clearly the Gtab, clocking in at around half the price of the Ipad, is a far better bang for the buck. But if what the consumer wants is the brand name, cool factor, and the 'it just works' mentality, and they are willing to pay a premium for the 'privilege' of owning Apple, then an Ipad may very well be the right choice for them. However, I think that with VERY little
technical know how, the Gtab quickly becomes an obvious alternative. It obviously holds the advantage when it comes to the web (complete flash compatibility is a fairly huge advantage right now and could become a bigger one as people develop useful flash apps for business), and the open market is both an advantage and disadvantage. There is no quality control in the Android market, but there is also far more scope for creativity and innovation now, and depending on how Google etc play their cards, and most definitely in the future.
Obviously, cheap memory expandability is a massive advantage to the Gtab. Non- expandable devices, in this era of cheap flash memory, cannot be looked at as anything but simple greed. The same goes for proprietary ports and cables. Gtab has a clear advantage here with usb, micro usb, microsd, and the possibility of easy hdmi out in the future.
Android itself has major advantages and disadvantages. It is not nearly as intuitive or as easily picked up as Ios, but it has far greater room for quantum leaps forward. Ios, to avoid alienating it's core users, is forced to take a far more conservative, evolutionary approach. Android needs to use this to it's advantage by making bold, market changing leaps forward and continuing to undercut Apple on price point, rather than playing catch up and releasing expensive tablets and trying to compete with Apple at what they do best (I believe the Xoom was a fairly major miscalculation, but won't go into that now). Apple is at risk of falling into operating system complacency like Palm did in the early 2000s. Android should leap on innovation, and reward it well....swype is a fantastic example of this. I'm writing this on my Gtab with swype right now, and there is nothing in the virtual keyboard world that even comes close.
In closing, let me say that I choose Honda over Lexus. I choose an open technosphere where I can use technology as I wish. I love my Gtab and plan to use it for the foreseeable future...but I pray that Nvidia and Google get together and realize that an open system doesn't have to mean a system without a game plan. Nvidia needs to get on the stick and release a raft of games that show off the technology Tegra 2 can bring to the table. Android tablets, and specifically sub 300 tablets could be a real draw to young gamers as an alternative to the new DS and the forthcoming PSP IF they had a good library of possibilities. They need to continue to support those of us that have already jumped aboard. Make us be the missionaries of their coolness. Just in the Woot/Tigerdirect liquidation over 10,000 Gtabbers have been added to the ranks. That is NOT an insignificant number. They need to build as many IT/business friendly apps as humanly possible. Apple's insistance on doing things their way has left them extremely vulnerable to any companies that can offer a more business friendly solution. This and this alone is why RIM is still in business. If Viewsonic and all other licensees could get even a portion of the 18-25 portable game market AND get a portion of the 30-50 business market, they would be in an excellent position to take a bite out of the big Apple. Having said all this....I admire Apple. I admire their consistant refinement of already existing technology. They may only make evolutionary leaps, but damn they do it well. But as long as I can buy more product and more freedom for half the price, that's the way I'm walking.
I'll just say that I bought the gtablet for the family so that we could surf the web on a comfy couch. Web content includes flash. The ipad doesn't support flash.
The OS is irrelevant when you're surfing the web, so the choice is obvious.
What was the point of your thesis? Who and why would you go with any general consensus on any man made products these days especially when they are mostly made in China with the exception of the lexus Isn't that one of toyota's non-braking brands? Mostly people are swayed by emotional responses to what they feel they may be getting. It is sad to know so many are building their self esteem, self worth, value from having or owning innate objects including g tab. Enjoying is one thing but feeling superior as a result of is another.
I can't stand apple products for me they have no value. The company is not environmentally or human rightfully responsible. Coupled with the arrogance of jobs thinking the entire Internet should change their usage of flash because he doesn't have the capacity to put it into his products. And I particularly don't like the ipad because it is nothing more than a pictorial cash register with the lion's share going to apple. Nothing about Apple appeals to me not even the design. The fisherprice gui or the odd shapes and the rotten apple logo. Anytime you bite into an apple and leave it uneaten it rots. To each his own reasons to buy or not to buy.
edirector said:
Enjoying is one thing but feeling superior as a result of is another.
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Funny story. So, I was sitting on the train other day going home. Had my gtab out playing some games. Out of all the seats that were available around, one guy had to sit down right next to me. I usually don't mind so I usually have my stuff between my legs instead of taking up a seat like some people. So, without pausing, this guy got out his ipad 2 and started playing games with it.
What I found funny was that I was dressed practically in rags because I had spent the whole day in the concrete lab working on one of our test machines. This guy was in some casual business attire (very white collar-like).
The gtab really is the poor man's tablet while the ipad and the xoom are the rich man's tablets.
I can't stand apple products for me they have no value. The company is not environmentally or human rightfully responsible. Coupled with the arrogance of jobs thinking the entire Internet should change their usage of flash because he doesn't have the capacity to put it into his products. And I particularly don't like the ipad because it is nothing more than a pictorial cash register with the lion's share going to apple. Nothing about Apple appeals to me not even the design. The fisherprice gui or the odd shapes and the rotten apple logo. Anytime you bite into an apple and leave it uneaten it rots. To each his own reasons to buy or not to buy.
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I wouldn't go that far with apple. I do recommend apple to most people who ask for my advice. Let's admit it. Apple really is made for those who only sees the outside. And it works right out of the box.
goodintentions said:
Funny story. So, I was sitting on the other day going home. Had my gtab out playing some games. Out of all the seats that were available around, one guy had to sit down right next to me. I usually don't mind so I usually have my stuff between my legs instead of taking up a seat like some people. So, without pausing, this guy got out his ipad 2 and started playing games with it.
What I found funny was that I was dressed practically in rags because I had spent the whole day in the concrete lab working on one of our test machines. This guy was in some casual business attire (very white collar-like).
The gtab really is the poor man's tablet while the ipad and the xoom are the rich man's tablets.
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I can't stand apple products for me they have no value. The company is not environmentally or human rightfully responsible. Coupled with the arrogance of jobs thinking the entire Internet should change their usage of flash because he doesn't have the capacity to put it into his products. And I particularly don't like the ipad because it is nothing more than a pictorial cash register with the lion's share going to apple. Nothing about Apple appeals to me not even the design. The fisherprice gui or the odd shapes and the rotten apple logo. Anytime you bite into an apple and leave it uneaten it rots. To each his own reasons to buy or not to buy.[/QUOTE]
I wouldn't go that far with apple. I do recommend apple to most people who ask for my advice. Let's admit it. Apple really is made for those who only sees the outside. And it works right out of the box.[/QUOTE]
But it doesn't ipad 2 has serious operable issues and economic standing in life has no correlation to tech toys. Who can't afford an iphone they are selling for $49 and you can get ipad at walmart. People utter such nonsense in reference to apple products. I paid $500 for my cell phone cash.
It boils down to a matter of choice. For myself I will own 2 or 3rd of these products none apple. I will pick up playbook next as soon as I see what the development community can do with it. My spouse offered to buy me an ipad not costing me a dime I said don't waste your money.
I agree and have said much the same thing since I bought my first Droid 1. I have since upgraded to a Droid X and the Gtab.
Apple is great, if you like living inside a tight little box. Android is for those who like to express themselves and push the limits.
Then I started some new classes and they give me a Macbook Pro. I must admit, the packaging was very nice, especially compared to my last HP (that is now trash because HP won't support it...) but the first thing I did was pull out my copy of Windows 7 and partition the hard drive. I might have to do some of my design work on the Mac partition, but the rest of my time is spent on a "normal" computer.
I would agree with a lot of the thoughts already expressed on this thread, however I don't think that the gtab is a "poor man's tablet". To say so implies that our tabs are somehow less than the xooms and ipads. In almost every category the gtab holds its own or far exceeds the competition. In fact, with the exception of the display (which I actually don't have issue with since I'm in landscape all the time anyway), I think the hardware is superior in every way to the ipad. The fact that Viewsonic managed to make a product compete on a level playing field with the top tablets in the market today for less than half the price is incredible and goes to show how much the manufacturers (especially Apple) are making off of consumers.
I do recommend ipads for my friends who aren't tech-savvy. As was said before, Apple products just work and you do have to respect that. The completely closed system in which they operate allows for total control and an unparalleled experience for the AVERAGE user. My Evo and my gTab are inoperable for some length of time about once a week because I won't stop messing with them. And Apple products do look sexy, in a man-purse gucci sunglasses kind of way.
Comparing iPads and gTabs as Honda and Lexus isn't a fair comparison. A better comparison would be a modded out Nissan Skyline GT-R with twin oversize turbos, nitrous, and a shake-your-neighbor-out-of-bed-to-watch-your-burnout tunable exhaust (That's the gTab) versus an out of the box Ferrari. Both are fast. Wicked fast. And both look sexy in different ways. The most important thing is that they both run a 1/4 mile in pretty much the same time. The Ferrari has a v12 and a carbon-fiber monocoque chassis from the factory, but the Skyline has more cupholders. The guy driving the Ferrari gets out of his ride at the local Starbucks and has every money-grubbing trophy wife drooling on it. The guy with the skyline has to reprogram his standalone ECU to back it out of the garage, but gets his hood shined by models for Turbonetics. The Skyline has a back seat.
The gTab is not a poor mans tablet. The gTab is a tablet for people who want to smoke that d-bag in the ferrari but are smart enough not to drop $120k on it. And comparing the gTab to the iPad isn't even worth doing. The hardware is too close to call, the benchmarks are inconclusive at best. What we should be doing is comparing end users of these products.
I would say both have their places. I love my gtab and believe it suits my needs and temperament to a tee. However, I am by training and inclination a tinkerer and I don't mind the occasional lockup or reboot as the price I pay for the ability to tinker. My wife and mother, on the other hand, would be seriously torqued if it happened to them on anything approaching a regular basis. Consequently, they both have iPads and not gTabs.
I am the antithesis of an apple fanboy (my wife gets pissed because I constantly refer to her iPhone as an iSuck) but not really for any reason other than what I perceive as the inherent arrogance of The Steve and his minions. And I dislike being dictated to. But other than my philosophical issues with apple I really can't say too much negative about the iPad, other than I think it's ridiculous that they have neither SD card support or, and I consider this borderline criminal neglect, USB ports. For people like my technophobic mother though, they are just what the doctor ordered. The iPad is the only device we've ever found that will consistently allow her to access the web and email without turning her off or intimidating her.
On the other hand, I think the android tablet market has a lot of promise but is trying hard to strangle itself at birth with the pricing structures the manufacturers keep adopting. That's all I will say about that for now (though I did rant about it here: http://www.swamphole.org/content/tablet-computing-101). If the vendors can get that under control and Google doesn't piss too many people off with their to-date refusal to release Honeycomb, I think these tablets have a very bright future. Right now I don't think any of them are stable enough for anybody but the people who are tech savvy and/or don't want an iPad for whatever reason. For those folks that are willing to put in the effort I think devices like the gTab can be made into far superior tablets than any iPad.
Thanks, Macros764, for your post. This us (non-Apple users) versus them (Apple users) feeling has existed for ages now and it's good of you to remind us that there are 2 almost entirely different markets (and possibly mentalities) at work here. Another person noticed what you hinted at in your post (the Honda vs Lexus distinction) and commented on it long ago.
I'm talking about Neal Stephenson's interesting essay, "In the Beginning... Was the Command line", which you can search for on Google (as a new poster, I can't add a direct link here).
His essay written in 1999 was about Linux, Windows and Apple users, but you can replace Linux with Android everywhere in that essay and it will still all ring true.
I like Mr. Stephenson's terms for the different kinds of users. Android users are like H. G. Wells's Morlocks--they're the ones who like to tinker with stuff and tend to know how those things work. Apple users have always been the Eloi. They don't care how things work as long as it does (and it looks good).
I tend to be a Morlock (and I suspect a lot of the users on this forum are too, to varying degrees), but some days, I wish I could be an Eloi.
Enjoy reading the essay. Be warned that in true Stephenson style, it is a very long piece.
An enjoyable and thoughtful piece - better than the usual flames and rants that the word Apple usually provokes. Never one to miss an opportunity to add my two cents, here I go. To begin with I have many years experience - I was in IT before the PC was born so I've had a chance to watch the whole thing from start to finish. There was a time when there was just DOS and every computer ran it - branded or clone. There was another alternative CP/M and I used it but it died by natural selection. I think there was even Unix around at that point but it was specialized. Later there were a lot of different things to choose from Windows, Apple, Commodore and lots of other things that have disappeared. Windows evolved into the os for business (after IBM shot itself in the head with OS2) and Mac became the os for graphic arts. It kind of stayed that way for a long time and Apple really was a niche market. Linux appeared but it was brutal in those days. Everything was manual setup, X sometimes worked and sometimes didn't and you had no idea how things would work on your particular box. I have been playing with linux since those early days but ultimately in my business environment windows was the os of choice. Apple remained something that "the print guys" used. In my mind the displacement of the walkman by the ipod marked the shift of Apple's fortunes. Whether it was the cash or the public perception of Apple or both they suddenly became a much bigger player. They clearly "got" the marketing thing and their closed garden approach did make them very palatable for the masses who were willing to pay extra to be safe from the blue screen of death, endless virus attacks and debacles like Vista. Linux has continued trudging but the continued fragmentation still prevents it from really getting into the game. Ubuntu is the best hope for Linux in my opinion. They seem to have figured out that mainstream users don't need 10 different word processors in each distribution - just one good one that works something like Word that people are used to. I think that if Ubuntu continues the way it is going it will see more and more adoption over time especially as Windows becomes more and more clunky in the effort to squeeze cash out of increasingly savy users. The problem for Ubuntu is that it may be too late.
Increasingly, I find that the tablet idea that I once scorned is probably the direction that things will go in for many users. Executives where I work want to know if they can have a tablet - not a laptop to take with them. People at home are happy to curl up on the couch with a tablet to surf the web, read email and interact with friends. Apple knows this because they have had the experience with the ipod, the iphone and now the ipad. Their closed world gives them a huge advantage because they don't have to worry if google is going to release the source code for them or if Invidia will bother to write drivers for them. They control it all.
So, what's a g-tabber to do. Well we can't make Google release Honeycomb, we can't force Invidia to write drivers and it doesn't seem like we can even get Viewsonic to do much of anything. I worry that Android will fragment the way Linux did and all the competing versions will just sap the strength of the whole.
That said - I've got Vegan Ginger on my tablet, I've added Clemsyns kernel with CIFS support so I can access my files on my server. I've picked and chosen apps, 99% of them free so I can do almost everything on my g-tab that I can on my PC. It is fast, cool, and completely under my control. I keep pushing the envelope to see what else I can do with it. If it never evolves beyond where it is right now it will still be the best $300 I've spent on gadgets. The developer support in this forum is enviable and I know that I haven't done or learned everything about the g-tab yet. So my g-tab may not be the expensive fancy sports car ripping down the highway that the ipad is but man, when I go off roading and mud bogging with my g-tab, I have a blast! So choose your vehicle for you activities and don't try and second guess yourself or anyone else. Life is short - be happy!
austontatious said:
I would agree with a lot of the thoughts already expressed on this thread, however I don't think that the gtab is a "poor man's tablet". To say so implies that our tabs are somehow less than the xooms and ipads.
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I don't think it implies any such thing. It does, however, define your social status. It's like what school you went to for college. For some, the only reason they went to school A, which costs $60,000 a year, is because they're following the family tradition and the father is some lawyer or doctor. For others, a school like Iowa State or U. of I. looks just as good but costs only a fraction of what school A charges.
The ipad and the xoom really were designed for people to show off. Everything about them looks, exterior wise, looks good and classy. The gtab, for lack of a better word, is ugly looking. Here is what Robert has to say about the difference between an android device like the gtab and something more high class like the xoom or the ipad.
Android is like having an old beat-up Chevy - not much to look at at first, but after some tweaking under the hood, a good paint job and redesigning the interior, you have a great car that not only runs and looks good, but is designed for you because you made it that way. iOS is like a really nice looking car that came off the assembly line - looks nice, runs great and all the car shops have accessories for it, but there's nothing unique about it. Looks like everyone else's car. So it depends on what you want.
In almost every category the gtab holds its own or far exceeds the competition.
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And yet a lot of people on this forum have specifically expressed that if they had the money they'd buy the ipad or xoom.
In fact, I am convinced that if the ipad, xoom, and gtab all cost the same, nobody would even consider buying the gtab... except for me. I like to hunt down non-mainstream items to own. I don't like my stuff to look like everyone else's.
I have a G-tablet. I like it. I wish it had Netflix and HuluPlus like the Ipad. I wish it was easy to find accessories for it, like the Ipad. Having not ever actually used an Ipad, at this moment I sort of wish I had one, If I had one I would probably miss all the tinkering I can do with my Gtab.
If my Gtab could stream netflix and huluplus it would be no contest.
Pexcer said:
I have a G-tablet. I like it. I wish it had Netflix and HuluPlus like the Ipad. I wish it was easy to find accessories for it, like the Ipad. Having not ever actually used an Ipad, at this moment I sort of wish I had one, If I had one I would probably miss all the tinkering I can do with my Gtab.
If my Gtab could stream netflix and huluplus it would be no contest.
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I have both an iPad2 and a Gtablet. The iPad2 is very nice, and does what it does very well. And, it prints to the local laser printer. Streams netflix, etc.
You have to jailbreak it to get access to the stripped down MacOS that is iOS, with shell, etc, which I'm not doing - did that with an iPod Touch a few years ago, and although its fun it really doesn't add much now that the app store has soaked up most developers.
iPad2 = just works. If it does what you want, you're golden. If you're willing to risk a $600 device, you can jailbreak it and gain a level of tinkering that is about 20% of the tinkering you can do in Android on the GTablet.
So, yeah - GTablet is way more fun to tinker with, swapping in new kernels, playing with various roms... Android is still a lot rougher as well, and more open (you can drop in stuff *not* from a walled garden) but for the average person who just wants a pad to couch surf, read the news at breakfast, do their email, read books, or play games... iPad2 is going to do it. It's going to do it as well as a laptop, and a lot more conveniently, without the hassle of virus checking or other crap that most people would just as soon not deal with.
I feel like the "status symbol" argument is a strawman. If you're just a regular person, not into coding, tinkering, etc... not into more than surfing and email and maybe some games, the iPad is going to be as good as a laptop, and about as much if not less in cost. This is why the iPad is eating into laptop sales, and killed the netbook market.
Can Android get there and compete? Unless Honeycomb is way WAY better than Gingerbread, I think they're at least a year if not two away from parity with the current iPad2 just on software. Again, I'm not considering myself (or likely anyone who would even visit xda-developers) as the iPad target market. But there are way more people in the target market than are here
I have both. I bought the G tab back in January knowing full well the issues with it. It was my intention to mod it like most here but for one thing or another haven't done it yet. I do like customizing main screen anyway I like to, with widgets and such, something the IPad can't do. The fact that I can convert movies on my pc and copy by USB drive is great. Photo viewing, music, surfing the net, audio books are great on it.
I decided I really wanted the IPad for my business which has many more and better apps suited for it. I can take pictures of job sites , keep track of estimates and invoicing with some very good apps.*
The whole Mac cult is creepy but I knew about that. The display is very good, no denying. Form factor, great.
I am keeping both of them.
So, the first half of the video tells us how impressive this machine is based on the specs alone. And then the 2nd half totally rip this machine apart based on user's performance.
No, I'm not posting this in the wrong forum. I am reinforcing my idea that VS has got some really big idiots running the show. They're sitting on top of a gold mine (the gtab) and they're just ignoring the gtab for some reason. On the other hand, they are spending all their resources trying to forward the viewpad series. The viewpad 10 isn't better at anything. It's sluggish as a windows 7 platform and it's incredibly out-of-date as an android device. It's also 2 pounds and twice as thick as the gtab.
Seriously, VS, isn't it time you take your collective heads out of your ass and start paying more attention to the gtab? Isn't it time you nourish your REAL customers (the gtab community)? You have a freakin' huge community here who love your gtab. Heck, my elderly dad loves his gtab, and he's totally computer illiterate. Don't abandon us for the viewpad, which we all know is failing miserably. Don't try to pretend like you're making good business with the viewpad. It's a piece of junk because it's not better at anything. You have a real product here, the gtab.
Give us updates and perhaps even honey. Don't ignore your gold mine.
Here is a serious review of the viewpad.
Hello everyone,
Need your help folks.
I need a tablet for my 9 years old boy, and I am a newbie.....
I thought about either Asus Transformer or Galaxy 10'
- fast browser with flash, youtube, facebook
- skype with video
- avi, mp4 etc playback ( I dont want to convert files, I want to play them stright
after downloading)
- easy data transfer from my PC
- GPS navigation (copilot, igo etc) without using data
- some games working like : moshi monsters and android stuff (I ve got Galaxy 2)
Do I need a custom ROM for all above option?
Please share your thoughts, I ve got 2 weeks to make the decision.
Thank you for your help
Tough question
I guess the answer is; It depends.
The sturdiness of the construction should be a certain plus considering how a 9 year old may handle it. ASUS are good about upgrading so even if you don't root it you might not need to wait much for upgrades.
If he is going to use it for school work the keyboard/dock would be a HUGE advantage since it also has a card reader in the dock so he can backup any work or transfer to main computer with ease.
The drawback would be the price especially considering possible longevity in the hands of a 9 year old (one lucky 9 year old).
If it's good for a 30+ year old boy, i reckon it will be GREAT for a 9 year old boy
- fast browser with flash, youtube, facebook
Use alternative stock browser (dolphin for tab is good)
- skype with video
- avi, mp4 etc playback ( I dont want to convert files, I want to play them stright
after downloading)
Use moboplayer or mx player
- easy data transfer from my PC
Use software data cable
- GPS navigation (copilot, igo etc) without using data
- some games working like : moshi monsters and android stuff (I ve got Galaxy 2)
All previous android games will run on tablet although not all will perform great if not optimized considering tablet 1280x800 rez (yeah im looking at you star blizt)
You may want to give a 7" tab as a test run just to be safe.
Sent from my A500 using XDA Premium App
Adrian.Chandra said:
- skype with video
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Are you sure?!?
Btw if my 2.5 yo son fights with me to play with it, 9 yo will be crazy about it for sure
9 year old daughter uses it all the time. Plays games mostly. 4 year old son also plays games on it. Real question is not age though, but rather maturity level of said child. My daughter has has a PSP since she was 2 and son got one this year. Both have rules to follow when using these asnd other devices (computer, game consoles, etc). Set those rules first and you sxhouild be good.
P.s. its also good for you to be familiar with the devices they use.... so you know how to restric access, fix, and otherwise maintain these devices.....
I bought an Acer Iconia because I could not find the Transformer. I picked up the Transformer about 2 months ago and gave my 9 year old daughter the Iconia and she has been doing great with it. SHe is taking pictures, videos, and playing games.
IMO the 7" form factor would work better for hands that size. If you do get one for a 9-year-old, I would suggest a screen protector and bumper-style case.
My son is 8 and he uses it all the time. He is mostly playing games and sometimes watching TV. He loves the transformer dearly.
My 7yr old nephew came over w/ family for dinner last week. His mom brought the ipad. i let him use my Trnsfrmr and he liked it. Upon handing it to him, he went to Market and downloaded some games even I didnt know about. Alot were available on Appstore so he knew what he was looking for. Some of them worked with the Playstation 3 controller. After playing Youtube videos that were driving me crazy, he had to go and didnt want to put it down! Put a case and a screen protector on it and your 9yr old should be fine.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
I have three tablets, a Gtab, a TF and an Ipad. When I chase my 8 year old off of one he sneeks aroundand starts playing games on of the others. He prefers the tablets over a pc now. Be sure to limit access to the market!
Am I the only person in this thread who is fascinated that no one has brought up that there is a debate whether or not a 9 year old should have a tablet as a full-time device?
The majority of this thread is about letting a child use their tablet part-time. But OP's idea is to give a CHILD a tablet. Just so confused on what this world is turning into. Investing a $300+ device for a 9-year old.
zephiK said:
The majority of this thread is about letting a child use their tablet part-time. But OP's idea is to give a CHILD a tablet. Just so confused on what this world is turning into. Investing a $300+ device for a 9-year old.
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Why not? If you have the money of course and he/she is reponsible enough to not be playing 12h a day. Better if they learn technology quickly so they are not behind.
^ I think you are.
And don't worry, in say 10 yrs or so, people will be talking about giving a child more than just a tablet, like a high-tech helmet that serves as a media player all in one.
The Transformer is good for any age. It comes down to the fact of getting a 9 year old a tablet, or anything of this value. like zephiK said. $400 is kinda steep for something that may be thrown around, banged around, dropped, etc. The ViewSonic GTab is only $350(?) and while it isn't that much better than $400, the 50 that you save and probably go to a accidental damage insurance/warranty.
I wish my parents would think of giving me something that cost over $100. If I wanted anything over that, I had to chip in at least 25% or wait til Christmas/birthday and that would be my only present from them
They are both veyr good to use for kids..
Unless he needs the keyboard dock I think a Nook color for $250 is a better choice for a child. The 7" is a better size for small hands. It is a a nice piece of hardware with a beautiful IPS screen. You can easily root and flash a custom rom to turn it into a fully functional Android tablet
marcmarshall said:
Unless he needs the keyboard dock I think a Nook color for $250 is a better choice for a child. The 7" is a better size for small hands. It is a a nice piece of hardware with a beautiful IPS screen. You can easily root and flash a custom rom to turn it into a fully functional Android tablet
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+1 to this. Of course with it's 7" screen, it can be a ereader once he starts reading more for school and fun. Since he will probably only be using it to play games, watch movies, and maybe go on some websites, the Nook's hardware is perfect for that. No need to pay for the Tegra 2's hardware when he probably won't need it
EDIT: I was in Staples today, and saw that the Dell Streak is only $250 or $299. It would definitely need to be rooted and run a custom rom, because the stock on the Streak is crappy. If I were you, I'd choose between the Nook Color and Dell Streak. The Streak would probably be worth it in the long run, as it won't become outdated as fast. Too me the TF is a serious decision, unless you're absolutely sure. (I'm basing the seriousness off of what I've seen kids around his age do..)
we have 3 of them in our household now. My 9 year old daughter used her birthday money to buy one, with help from mom and dad, and my 13 year old daughter just did the same this week for her birthday.
Depends on the child...
Like I said in the title "Depends on the child". I personally wouldn't buy my 14 year old girl one because she's broken 3 high dollar cell phones in a little over a year. I'd buy both my boys one in a heartbeat. My 7 and 3 year old sons both share my nook color and treat it like gold. At 9 I'd look at the new Acer 7 inch tablet. I almost wish I'd have waited for that myself (my 7 inch nook always fit great in my my work slacks or loose jeans) but I like the nice big screen on the Transformer for watching movies in bed (great for those nights when my 3 year old sneaks into ed with my wife and I and won't go to sleep. Thomas and Friends to the rescue). Think about a few things such as the maturity of the child, form factor (what's the size most suited to her), cost and manufacturer support (Asus hands down has the best support, ie. updates)
Kids love choices so pick two or three options and let her choose what she wants out of those. Ristrict Market and internet access as well. Too much crap out there nowadays that children have no business looking at. And finally for the love of everything holy do not break down and give her an iPad....just don't. Its our duty as parents to lovingly guide them down the righht path. And if lovingly doesn't work then bribe generously.