Database Info

What do YOU primarily use your G Tablet for?

Just wanted to know what everyone uses theirs for/plans to use theirs for, so maybe we could share ideas and whatnot.
Personally, I use mine for a few reasons.
The first being is that I'm into photography, and while it's nice to have a physical portfolio to walk around with, I like having a digital one to carry around as well. I also use photoshop mobile sometimes to quickly edit photos on the fly to show to people as I'm taking them.
Another reason is for baseball uses of which I have a few. I can keep score on it using iScore, which is a REALLY nice analysis program. I also plan on using it for MLB At Bat where I can watch games live with my MLB.tv account.
I also use it for the widgets. I have it set up as a digital photo frame at work, but my boss thinks it's a great idea to allow me to have the widgets open which show me the scores of my favorite teams, what people are doing on facebook, the news, etc. That way, I'm not wasting time browsing the web while at work, and I can glance over and find out what I want to know. It's also nice to use as a digital photo frame.
And, of course, I use it as a portable media player.
What do you guys use yours for?

My gtab is my primary device for internet browsing when I'm at home. I let my family use the desktop when all I want to do is go on the internet. I stream a lot of video with my gtab. I also use it for casual gaming and emulators like n64, snes and gba. My gtab is great for long road trips too. It keeps the kids at ease and off my nerves. its a portable entertainment device which pretty much replaced my indash dvd player and headrest monitors. I mean I still have them installed in my car but my kids hardly use it anymore because they rather watch the movies I have on my thumbdrive or play snes, psx,gba with a wiimote.

Browsing forums, news sites and looking up IMDB and Wikipedia while watching telly.
Also for keeping up with work email and Gmail when away from my PC. And occasionally reading twitter.
One day I'll get around to trying out video

Check out this thread starting around Dec last year..
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=889727
Just a suggestion for the new members of the gtablet forum, before you start a new thread, please try the search feature and you would probably discover two things
1) how bad the search is - sorry to say it, it is true that it is hard to find the right info..
2) how much other info you can find.
Good luck and welcome to the club!

tyy10002 said:
Check out this thread starting around Dec last year..
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=889727
Just a suggestion for the new members of the gtablet forum, before you start a new thread, please try the search feature and you would probably discover two things
1) how bad the search is - sorry to say it, it is true that it is hard to find the right info..
2) how much other info you can find.
Good luck and welcome to the club!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Jan 4th was the last post!?!??! that was deep in the bowels of the threads huh? I'm sure we have room on the forums to have another "what do you use your "insert device here"" thread lol
10 people probably had the gtab 3 months ago. Now we have 10,000+ new ones coming lol

I doubt all 10,000 units sold will turn into 10,000 new board members. I'd guess a third of that can be arsed to join, fewer still will have the courage to try the new ROMs.
Personally, I intend to do a lot of reading before I post a bunch of n00b threads about Y CANT I PLAY ASTEROIDZ?? or whatever.
tyy10002 said:
Just a suggestion for the new members of the gtablet forum, before you start a new thread, please try the search feature and you would probably discover two things
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's the board culture concerning the resurrecting of zombie threads? I know some boards frown on it, some boards have an "age limit" (few months, usually) and some boards don't care.

My tablet I strictly a casual device!!!!fun and surf!!!!

web browsing around the house..email..some gaming...movies in the car on the road. beyond that they are somewhat limited. I really can't understand the rush to spend $800 on a newer model that basically does the same thing.
At least its driving down the price on g tablets so i will probably grab a second soon!

mpguy84 said:
Jan 4th was the last post!?!??! that was deep in the bowels of the threads huh? I'm sure we have room on the forums to have another "what do you use your "insert device here"" thread lol
10 people probably had the gtab 3 months ago. Now we have 10,000+ new ones coming lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not saying you cannot start a new thread, I am saying that there are many good info you can find from the old threads. In some cases, you may find something interesting.. We are getting more people now, and in last weeks, I am seeing a lot of new threads/questions. Good info/discussion/threads are quickly buried deep unless they are sticky. Roebeet or other senior members of the forum are trying hard to info the new members..

mpguy84 said:
Jan 4th was the last post!?!??! that was deep in the bowels of the threads huh? I'm sure we have room on the forums to have another "what do you use your "insert device here"" thread lol
10 people probably had the gtab 3 months ago. Now we have 10,000+ new ones coming lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A lot more people than 10. There was more than 3 custom roms 3 months ago!

xmr405o said:
My gtab is my primary device for internet browsing when I'm at home. I let my family use the desktop when all I want to do is go on the internet. I stream a lot of video with my gtab. I also use it for casual gaming and emulators like n64, snes and gba. My gtab is great for long road trips too. It keeps the kids at ease and off my nerves. its a portable entertainment device which pretty much replaced my indash dvd player and headrest monitors. I mean I still have them installed in my car but my kids hardly use it anymore because they rather watch the movies I have on my thumbdrive or play snes, psx,gba with a wiimote.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for asking, as a business tool, a digital dashboard. The quickest way to access my c-panel, website, surf the web and respond to communications.

I use mine to carry invoices, data and software for my computer repair business when I'm on the road. I also use it as a car audio Bluetooth stream device directly to my amps. As well a the obvious to keep up on forums, Facebook and surf. And of course to just root and ROM...
Sent from my G-Tab using Tapatalk

I carry mine to work and use it as a Pandora player and weather/news updater so I don't have to use any of my work displays for these things. Also have several remote admin tools to check on servers, etc.
At home, this is hands-down the best bathroom computer in history. All the e-magazines and forums ... and now - streaming movies from Amazon too.
I am also absolutely queer for Wordsmith Free (if you ever play against me, be very afraid!)

nunjabusiness said:
At home, this is hands-down the best bathroom computer in history.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha this is currently the job of my Evo, but for that morning poo, when I don't have my contacts in, the bigger screen will be a godsend.

Picked this G-tab up on Woot the other day so I could have some kind of device to use while on dialysis. More than likely I'll use it for heavy web surfing, moderate game play, weather, sports, streaming movies to it, portable media player, etc, etc. I'm really looking forward to getting this device. Not so enthused on having to pick between CyanogenMod, Zpad clean, TnT Lite, or VEGAn tab. Going to be tough.

General lightweight use
My workstation is a desktop. So, I use my Gtab mostly around the office for taking notes in meetings, checking email and a lightweight web browsing platform.
For personal use, I like to play 3D games on it and use it as my main kindle reading device.

I do most of my web surfing on mine.
Bought the dock a while back and started using it as a media center as well.
Plus, got a Gametel so I also use it to play all my old favorite 8 and 16 bit games.
Oh, and I let my nephews and nieces play games on it to keep them off my gaming rig.
Since I bought the G Tablet I rarely mess with my pc anymore outside of Borderlands 2 and Skyrim.

I primarily use mine as a very large very cool alarm clock. But also for browsing the web & email.
Sent from my SGH-I997 using xda premium

I use my Gtab for web browsing, e-reading, and email. I'm just starting with app development and it's also a great bargain tablet test platform for me.

I'm currently using mine to collect dust on my desk. It won't power up any longer. No idea why.
Sent from my SGH-I997 using XDA Premium HD app

Smartphones

This is just...For the fun of it. I can enjoy a bit of philosophising once in a while. I was playing around with devices of almost every manufacturer (except Motorola, sorry), and thought about the particular quirks and advantages of smartphones.
It might be nice for me first to zoom out to the platform level. There are a few platforms used right now. WP7, Android, BB, iOS come to mind as the main ones. Most smartphones developed and sold are tailored towards a particular operating system. This defines their capabilities, their limitations, and their general goal during their lifespan.
I will address each briefly:
WP7: With the latest Mango, these phones are tailored to social networking. The Lumia 800, for example, is certainly an impressive device in that capacity.
Android: These phones tend to be for people who want to play around with their OS. They generally offer large touchscreens and fast dual-core processors (the latest phones do, at least). One of the dogmas seems to be multimedia ease. I will ask a question about such phones that I will get back to later: "Is there such a thing as too large?".
BB: These phones and the operating system they run on were designed with security in mind. They offer physical keyboards which are unrivalled. RIM also have the best data technology on the market. I like to think of BBs as having the functionality of bricks, but being as hard to take down as bricks as well. These phones are far behind everyone else, but I would state that they are very stable. They also are, potentially, the best phones. I use "phones" in the forgotten capacity: for making calls. They possess the best radios.
iOS: BE UNIQUE! Well, it somewhat worked until everyone and his grandmother had an iPhone. I, personally, despise lowercase "i"s, so have never been tempted that way. What do they offer? Apps. Many, many, many apps. Need I say more? Apple started out with a brilliant idea of how to sell products to the masses (yes, I am quite fond of The Affluent Society), but they have not improved much upon that idea since its inception.
These are obviously non-exhaustive notes. The general purpose of the information written above is to determine the role of smartphones.
Addressing Android, you have speed and power. But is it necessary? The Galaxy Note is awkward. The Galaxy SII is also reasonably so. These devices try to provide a Web and gaming experience, combined with all-around functionality. Sure, they have large screens in order to provide that experience, but a tablet can perform the same things better (refer to Asus Transformer Prime). Is there a point to those functions on a phone? I want to stress "phone" again, since it seems we have strayed so far from the functions of a phone.
Nokia have been producing quality plain handsets for a long time. They sell many of these to developing countries. Their place and their existence is, I believe, justified. Whether they are needed with WP7 is another matter.
Blackberry have always targeted businesses and sought to provide fast text inputs on their phones. Their devices are built like bricks, as I said previously. The BB infrastructure is more impressive than BB phones, in my opinion. Especially the Data compression.
Apple, well...Apple is Apple.
I can only peg down three categories: BB for infrastructure, Nokia for supplying the world with phones, Apple and Android for experimentation and multimedia aspects.
So what is the role of smartphones? Are they too developed for their own good? Typing on a 4.5'' screen in landscape mode will never fail to annoy me. Apple's watchful gaze is creepy. RIM's antipathy towards progress is strange.

This is actually quite well done and addresses the various brands and OS' without being extremely biased that i would be use to=D Bravo and I agree they all have their place

Dark lord me said:
This is actually quite well done and addresses the various brands and OS' without being extremely biased that i would be use to=D Bravo and I agree they all have their place
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yay! My freestyle writing is appreciated! =)
Thanks!
Hoping that a few people will want to post their opinions and discuss. After all, we are passionate about smartphones. Otherwise we would not be on here.
Thought I would add something on my "brick" line of thinking. I and a friend got two different phones at approximately the same time in 2008. I got the BlackBerry Storm 9530. He got the HTC Dream (or G1, whichever you prefer to call it). Mine looks, feels, functions as if brand new. His is in a sorry state.

Yeah , I understand your pain of large phones , but some people just don't like tablets and want phones to have tablet-like functionality .
Don't bash me please ! *prones*
Sent from my GT-S5830 using XDA App

EmoBoiix3 said:
Yeah , I understand your pain of large phones , but some people just don't like tablets and want phones to have tablet-like functionality .
Don't bash me please ! *prones*
Sent from my GT-S5830 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For site about smartphones, I would have thought more people would be interested in this topic. But I suppose I am targeting obsessions...Try telling an iPhone user that iPhones are not the best, or that they are not particularly unique.

What is a phone??? Lol but seriously I do agree we have strayed far away from the cellphone era. We have entered a new age that began in 2005, which I like to refer to as the connected age. With the growing number of smartphone users it is easy to track down anyone you want. Everyone is connected to everyone. Our phones grow larger in size every 6months. I remember when I wanted the smallest most compact flip phone. The bigger it was the uglier it was. Now.... anything under 4.3 inches I cant even use lol. I predict in ten years smartphones will be non existing. It will be converted to tabs. U can buy a tablet for half the price of a brand new sgs2.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

I disagree with tablets being "better" that smartphones or smartphones being replaced by tablets, not everyone can or want to travel with a tab everywhere
A phones portability will trump most of times(a quick pic, quick vid, listening to music, browsing in the crapper,etc)
What i mean is that your not always able to go with a carrying bag(well girls can) or a notebook sized thing in your hands, thats when the mini tab in ur pocket comes to use
Might not be as good as a tablet for somethings but its still performs ok and makes calls, and its very easy to carry around
On the other hand, if the tablets are to replace something, is the laptop
Sent from my X10a using xda premium

negrobembon said:
I disagree with tablets being "better" that smartphones or smartphones being replaced by tablets, not everyone can or want to travel with a tab everywhere
A phones portability will trump most of times(a quick pic, quick vid, listening to music, browsing in the crapper,etc)
What i mean is that your not always able to go with a carrying bag(well girls can) or a notebook sized thing in your hands, thats when the mini tab in ur pocket comes to use
Might not be as good as a tablet for somethings but its still performs ok and makes calls, and its very easy to carry around
On the other hand, if the tablets are to replace something, is the laptop
Sent from my X10a using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

OP: you don't seem to understand that people in this era want more than just a phone, if you are complaining that smartphones these days are too advanced to be a phone, then go and get a nokia from 1998 and stop posting on XDA.

The only argument I have is that in which you seem to feel that Blackberry devices are superior in terms of security. I disagree, and also feel that a SPoF has finally shown blackberry devices to be vastly inferior in terms of both security and content delivery.
Food for thought: the US Gov't has finally decided to branch out from the bricks of yesteryear, and now are starting to allow iOS, W*, and A* devices on the AEN with server side security policy implementation. That's saying a lot since they've previously only allowed a BBD on the AEN as all other devices "couldn't be secured". Kinda hard to secure a RIM server in Canada...
Sent from my SGH-i727

inv3stment said:
OP: you don't seem to understand that people in this era want more than just a phone, if you are complaining that smartphones these days are too advanced to be a phone, then go and get a nokia from 1998 and stop posting on XDA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's like, just his opinion, man. Why you have to flame home for it, man
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

inv3stment said:
OP: you don't seem to understand that people in this era want more than just a phone, if you are complaining that smartphones these days are too advanced to be a phone, then go and get a nokia from 1998 and stop posting on XDA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1000000000000000000000000
Pipsqueak approved this message

thisisbrian said:
What is a phone??? Lol but seriously I do agree we have strayed far away from the cellphone era. We have entered a new age that began in 2005, which I like to refer to as the connected age. With the growing number of smartphone users it is easy to track down anyone you want. Everyone is connected to everyone. Our phones grow larger in size every 6months. I remember when I wanted the smallest most compact flip phone. The bigger it was the uglier it was. Now.... anything under 4.3 inches I cant even use lol. I predict in ten years smartphones will be non existing. It will be converted to tabs. U can buy a tablet for half the price of a brand new sgs2.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
negrobembon said:
I disagree with tablets being "better" that smartphones or smartphones being replaced by tablets, not everyone can or want to travel with a tab everywhere
A phones portability will trump most of times(a quick pic, quick vid, listening to music, browsing in the crapper,etc)
What i mean is that your not always able to go with a carrying bag(well girls can) or a notebook sized thing in your hands, thats when the mini tab in ur pocket comes to use
Might not be as good as a tablet for somethings but its still performs ok and makes calls, and its very easy to carry around
On the other hand, if the tablets are to replace something, is the laptop
Sent from my X10a using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is not that I am a great fan of BlackBerry. It is just that I am very uneasy about Androids. What is to say you will not be charged $1,000 on your next bill due to an exploit allowing premium text messages to be sent from your device without your knowledge?
Yes, I have a bias towards security. We have Facebook and Twitter, which are used as breeding grounds for all sorts of mayhem...Obviously all they have done is displayed all our private information to the whole world. That is really going to be regretted by everyone using those services...Sooner or later. We have the multimedia Androids which ignore fundamental issues and have grown too large to comfortably use. HAVE YOU NEVER HAD TO REALLY STRETCH YOUR FINGER TO REACH AN ICON, OR USE ANOTHER HAND?
Regarding tablets, are we really suggesting that they can beat laptops at anything important? If the general stream is towards mass procrastination, tablets have helped us achieve that. But I do not see the next 10 years seeing tablets replacing laptops.

Well, i still think the future of the laptop and notebook is the tablet
And blackberrys are not as safe as you think they are
Sent from my X10a using xda premium

smartphones - of any kind - are the functional equivalent of the light bulb. game changer. amazing tech advance.

RickMckc said:
smartphones - of any kind - are the functional equivalent of the light bulb. game changer. amazing tech advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some of the biggest advances are as simple as a dung when analized deeply but still revolutionary
Sent from my X10a using xda premium

I've been a fan of Smartphones for a while. I have a Samsung Galaxy Ace, mainly because I couldnt afford the SII at the time. I like the Bigger phones cause i can use it for reading, watching media, surfing the web, looking at pictures, etc...
Personally I'm hoping to get a galaxy note for my birthday next year as its perfect for everything I like to do with my phone.

For me, smartphone is a universal device which is computer replacement anywhere, where there are no computers.

First Time Post

Hello all. First time post. Let me start off by thanking you for accepting me into this fine community.
I had to chuckle while reading some excellent posts on the good and bad points when it came to some of the performance and features of the Infinity.
The reason for the chuckle was because I had this forum opened in one tab of my browser, and Amazon opened in another. I had actually been looking over the contents on my shopping cart. In it was one(1) ASUS Infinity tablet. I placed the item there a few days ago, but for some reason I couldn't get myself to hit the "Submit Order" button. Something just didn't feel right about the purchase. The decision over which tablet to choose is becoming more and more confusing. With talk about what may or may not be available in the not too distant future re: New iPad, Windows 8, etc etc really has me hesitating at this juncture.
My two daughters each purchased the new iPad so at least I have an opportunity to get a feel of what that product has to offer. Unfortunately, detaching them from their new toy has been a struggle all its own. One of the main reasons for my looking at products other than Apple is that their products seems SO proprietary.
In any case, I think that I will keep visiting this forum for a while longer before I make a final decision as to which tablet to choose. My apologies for the long-winded post. Peter

Hi Peter,
Deciding what Tablet you want for yourself is a very personal decision. If you really don't care about the environment (iOS vs Android) and are just a casual user - I do have a recommendation. At the risk of being flamed, I would say to get an iPad.
It comes down to this: Apps make the ecosystem. While android is gaining in applications and games, and just put out a huge checklist for Tablet developers, apple has a better application and gaming experience for the average user. You are absolutely subject to the proprietary OS, but most people don't care. It's good enough.
I love android (and I suspect that many others do as well) for a few reasons. It's mine. It's fully customizable and I can but really cool community built OS's Recovieries, etc on it. I've learned a lot about how devices work and the things most people don't see. That said, I've had my share of problems too. Many users don't know enough and brick their devices trying to do something that sounds cool but they don't fully understand. If you're a casual user there is no need to get caught up in it. Apple does in fact set the standard for hardware and Android will briefly surpass it, but it's always a tight race. Also, there are a lot more accessories for the iPad then any tablet device. I also love it because I enjoy pushing the envelope and making things better. Finally I love the community around android. It's awesome that I see the same usernames popping up across our little section of XDA helping each other out, supporting each other, joking around, and disagreeing even. It's fun.
Also, for the casual user you can go to a nearby apple store and get your issues fixed if you mess something up.
The first decision you make should be an ecosystem/environmental one. Also, if you don't have itunes there is a bit of a learning curve. I don't think that Apple products have that "intuitive feel" everyone claims. Android just seems harder because there is more customization that can take place.
Before I get flamed - I'm not advocating for Apple or the iPad, but I am advocating for really thinking about what kind of device you want and what you want to get out of it before you make your decision.
Good luck and if you have you have more questions, we're happy to help!

Osteele said:
Hello all. First time post. Let me start off by thanking you for accepting me into this fine community.
I had to chuckle while reading some excellent posts on the good and bad points when it came to some of the performance and features of the Infinity.
The reason for the chuckle was because I had this forum opened in one tab of my browser, and Amazon opened in another. I had actually been looking over the contents on my shopping cart. In it was one(1) ASUS Infinity tablet. I placed the item there a few days ago, but for some reason I couldn't get myself to hit the "Submit Order" button. Something just didn't feel right about the purchase. The decision over which tablet to choose is becoming more and more confusing. With talk about what may or may not be available in the not too distant future re: New iPad, Windows 8, etc etc really has me hesitating at this juncture.
My two daughters each purchased the new iPad so at least I have an opportunity to get a feel of what that product has to offer. Unfortunately, detaching them from their new toy has been a struggle all its own. One of the main reasons for my looking at products other than Apple is that their products seems SO proprietary.
In any case, I think that I will keep visiting this forum for a while longer before I make a final decision as to which tablet to choose. My apologies for the long-winded post. Peter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are welcome here, whatever you decide, but if you go with another tablet or OS, please don't come and tease us about how much better/faster/cooler yours is than ours. that really gets on my nerves, lol!
But I'm sure you would never do that.
I would advocate that if you are interested in customising your tablet, the Infinity is a good one. First of all, it has a beautiful screen, will continue to receive firmware/OS updates and is finally starting to be well supported by some of the best developers in the Android ecosystem. Personally, I don't care about iOS on any level. It's far to closed a system for me, too limited. My Infinity , running CleanROM v1.3 with TWRP 2.3.0.0. recovery absolutely flies. It is super fluid and very powerful. I keep it connected to its keyboard dock and I take it off the charger at 5:30 a.m. and never have to charge again though 17 hour day of almost constant use. Much of that use is internet browsing and with the CleanROM tweaks, the stock browser performs incredibly well. I also have a flawless tablet and dock. Never any problems. I also take care of it, but nothing out of the ordinary...just keep it in its case...don't drop it or spill on it.
I've been using it instead of a laptop, and it just about replaces my desktop. Browsing is actually faster on the Infinity, and watching videos is a lot nicer. I haven't used the HDMI port, so I can't comment on it, but having the micro sd, the fullsize sd and full size USB ports means I never have to worry about not having enough storage...my 750GB WD Passport works perfectly in the USB port. That's a lot of movies.
Well, I know some people are worried about unlocking and voiding their asus warranty in order to flash custom software, but I found that a 2 year square deal warranty with accidental damage coverage works better for me anyway. It cost me $99, but I found out later that with a coupon I could have saved $30. Oh well.
Anyway, good luck with your decision!

wolfman87 said:
Hi Peter,
Deciding what Tablet you want for yourself is a very personal decision. If you really don't care about the environment (iOS vs Android) and are just a casual user - I do have a recommendation. At the risk of being flamed, I would say to get an iPad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much for the quick response wolfman87. I wish that I could say that you've helped me move closer my ultimate decision. But of course you are absolutely right about that decision being a very personal one.
I suppose that there are so many factors that one may have to consider. It's so bizarre because I have been in IT for quite a while now and whenever a client asks for a quote on a new piece of hardware for example, the first question that I ask is: What exactly do you plan on doing with this new piece of hardware?
A liitle bit about myself:
Spend most of my time in a Windows client / server environment. (For better or worse my clients have dictated my skill-level)
Which is probably the reason that I am always looking to learn new things. Lately that has been:
Ubuntu desktop and server.
Virtual PBX (freePBX and Asterisk and PIAF)
Video Tutorials. Everything from Linux, jQuery, ASP .NET, Visual Studio, javascript.
Some of the things that I would like for a tablet to be able to do for me:
Receive and send email. Multiple Microsoft Exchange accounts required.
Connect remotely to client machines.
Browse the internet (many sites still require Flash)
Read all of the epub and pdf material that I now have sitting on my HP laptop
Would like to use a SIP client in order to dial thru my home based PBX with a secure VPN tunnel.
I enjoy recording music on my SSL Soundscape DAW.
Things that I found interesting about the Infinity:
Connectivity eg. HDMI - External storage - Dock
So far, I do not think that the iPad can offer any of these things. Unless I am wrong of course !!!
Once again, let me apologize for this long-winded response as well.
I thank you so much for your time and input. It is greatly appreciated.
Peter

okantomi said:
You are welcome here, whatever you decide, but if you go with another tablet or OS, please don't come and tease us about how much better/faster/cooler yours is than ours. that really gets on my nerves, lol!
But I'm sure you would never do that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are absolutely right okantomi, I would never come back to do such a thing. By the way, thank you for the great response. I suppose that some of the negative stuff that I read in certain sections of this forum got me a little nervous. I should know better. We don't live in a perfect world, and no ONE item is going to please everyone. This phenomema is what brings about change and improvement.
I will give it another day or two, discuss the purchase with my better half, then see what we come up with.
Have a great weekend. Peter

Here's my two cents... Above, someone mentioned apps... Basically, an iPad is just that - an interface to run apps. On the other hand, Android does so much more. Besides running apps, the OS itself is actually useful and a great productivity tool. The widgets that run on your desktop are simply awesome. Just by looking at my home screen, I can see my upcoming appointments, the time, the date, the weather, my Gmail account and my work email account (exchange). I can do all of that simply by turning the device on! When you turn on an Ipad you see icons - that's about it.
Add to that the features of the Transformer series, such as a keyboard dock with an extra battery, a trackpad, memory card readers, HDMI-out and a USB port and I think you can see just how powerful a Transformer running Android can be. I actually started out with an iPad 1 (as it was basically the first tablet available) - it was a great device - until I stumbled upon Android and the Transformer line! You really can do so much more with a Transformer than you can with an iPad. Hell - even this post - just try typing this on an iPad - it would take forever with the on-screen keyboard!
Like had already been stated - it all depends on what you want the device to do. For me, the iPad is just way too limiting. It may have more apps (for now - although that's beginning to change), but that is literally all that you can do with it - runs apps. There are no widgets. There is no way to expand upon the hardware (I.E. extra ports). It's very "basic".
Anyway, good luck deciding - I have a feeling that we'll be seeing you around these parts soon enough though!
By the way, don't let the "complainers" in this forum scare you off - it's mainly just so same few posters complaining over and over again. Or, it's folks that don't even own the TF700! It is deceiving - there are *many* happy TF700 users out there!
Sorry for the long post - it's just so easy to get long winded when you have a real keyboard to type with!
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk 2

Osteele said:
Thank you so much for the quick response wolfman87. I wish that I could say that you've helped me move closer my ultimate decision. But of course you are absolutely right about that decision being a very personal one.
I suppose that there are so many factors that one may have to consider. It's so bizarre because I have been in IT for quite a while now and whenever a client asks for a quote on a new piece of hardware for example, the first question that I ask is: What exactly do you plan on doing with this new piece of hardware?
A liitle bit about myself:
Spend most of my time in a Windows client / server environment. (For better or worse my clients have dictated my skill-level)
Which is probably the reason that I am always looking to learn new things. Lately that has been:
Ubuntu desktop and server.
Virtual PBX (freePBX and Asterisk and PIAF)
Video Tutorials. Everything from Linux, jQuery, ASP .NET, Visual Studio, javascript.
Some of the things that I would like for a tablet to be able to do for me:
Receive and send email. Multiple Microsoft Exchange accounts required.
Connect remotely to client machines.
Browse the internet (many sites still require Flash)
Read all of the epub and pdf material that I now have sitting on my HP laptop
Would like to use a SIP client in order to dial thru my home based PBX with a secure VPN tunnel.
I enjoy recording music on my SSL Soundscape DAW.
Things that I found interesting about the Infinity:
Connectivity eg. HDMI - External storage - Dock
So far, I do not think that the iPad can offer any of these things. Unless I am wrong of course !!!
Once again, let me apologize for this long-winded response as well.
I thank you so much for your time and input. It is greatly appreciated.
Peter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This might be a jumble of thoughts - sorry in advance:
That's really good information actually. From the first post it sounded much more casual. Since the needs that you have are more technical I would lean towards the Android side of things (I think that there are more IT based applications for Android). You can definitely set up exchange accounts (not sure how many, but I know you can). You can also remote into other machines (VPN, I think RDP, etc.). Of course web browsing comes standard, even on the base model
If you are going to be doing a lot of emails the dock absolutely is worth it. for ~$100 (if you get the 201) you get basically a netbook KB and the extra battery life. I have a friend who uses a bluetooth KB for his iPad and it lasts a while itself, but doesn't increase the tablet uptime.
Also a few people are working on getting a distro of linux up on this. It's harder since the bootloader isn't the same as the older models, but I don't think that it's something you can do on the iPad.
If you aren't running any iDevices right now it makes sense to stick with Android/Windows as an ecosystem. My other advice is go to play.google.com and look around at the apps, specifically for what you want to do: (for example: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=SIP&c=apps). This will help you get a feel for what is out there and what you can do.
For hooking up to HDMI - I actually may have blown the port on mine recently - I still haven't tested it again. But I got the Square Trade warranty through amazon (2 years plus accidental damage) for about $75. They're a solid provider and while I hope I don't have to use them, they don't care if you voided your ASUS warranty with unlocking, etc.
If you you and your better half will be using the tablet, I would say to stick to the infinity since the screen is super crisp (I assume that for emails, PDF's, remote PBXing, you aren't worried too much about the resolution) and it gets bright in the outdoors (IPS+). I have an iPad 2 for work and it really is much better than even that screen. Not as good as the iPads, but the best on the market for android.
If you really don't care about the screen, there are other good models out there. The Infinity rocks in terms of horsepower and as I mentioned the screen. Those are probably the two BEST things about it. I figure (for me) it will last at least 2 maybe 3 years. (hopefully more)
Oh, as a note - try before you buy. The headset jack is a bit weird and if you do a lot of audio it takes a bit to get used to holding it closer to the top.
Oh, and no need to apologize for being long winded

To all you great folks who have taken the time to respond to my lenghty posts, my heartfelt thanks. I have to be very honest, and I hope that this doesn't come off sounding strange, I am not a huge APPS kinda guy. Maybe I am not up to speed with that whole apps thing, but I just can't see why some folks put so much emphasis on the procurement of apps. Let's face it, how many are you really going to need / use. Once you find the ones that do exactly what you need for them to do that should pretty much do it.
Well, that's just me talking of course. Perhaps it has a lot to do with the fact that most of the time I am using my machines for work and not so much for play.
Have yourselves a safe and enjoyable weekend!
Thank you
Peter

Osteele said:
I wish that I could say that you've helped me move closer my ultimate decision.
[...]
It's so bizarre because I have been in IT for quite a while now and whenever a client asks for a quote on a new piece of hardware for example, the first question that I ask is: What exactly do you plan on doing with this new piece of hardware?
[...]
Ubuntu desktop and server.
Virtual PBX (freePBX and Asterisk and PIAF)
Video Tutorials. Everything from Linux, jQuery, ASP .NET, Visual Studio, javascript.
Some of the things that I would like for a tablet to be able to do for me:
Receive and send email. Multiple Microsoft Exchange accounts required.
Connect remotely to client machines.
Browse the internet (many sites still require Flash)
Read all of the epub and pdf material that I now have sitting on my HP laptop
Would like to use a SIP client in order to dial thru my home based PBX with a secure VPN tunnel.
I enjoy recording music on my SSL Soundscape DAW.
Things that I found interesting about the Infinity:
Connectivity eg. HDMI - External storage - Dock
So far, I do not think that the iPad can offer any of these things. Unless I am wrong of course !!!
Once again, let me apologize for this long-winded response as well.
I thank you so much for your time and input. It is greatly appreciated.
Peter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If web browsing is a must -- and for most of us, it is -- then pretty much any Android machine wins over any iDevice because of Flash support (even with the support detracted on JB devices, you can still sideload the apk and it will still work).
Shell connection has several (free) apps available. I do that from home, mostly, so I do not have really extensive experience with them.
EPub and PDF -- Mantano all the way (I use it for both technical reading (medical and biochemical literature, mostly) and leisure reading (although that is non-fiction as well, mainly (astro)physics, quantum dynamics, archeology -- the high resolution screen REALLY helps in that corner, for it renders formulae, graphs, tables, and such just beautifully!).
To me, given both private and work use, TF700 hands-down, but as has been said oftentimes on this thread already, it's your choice. And indeed you are welcome in here anyway.
Osteele said:
[...]I am not a huge APPS kinda guy. Maybe I am not up to speed with that whole apps thing, but I just can't see why some folks put so much emphasis on the procurement of apps. Let's face it, how many are you really going to need / use. Once you find the ones that do exactly what you need for them to do that should pretty much do it.
Well, that's just me talking of course. Perhaps it has a lot to do with the fact that most of the time I am using my machines for work and not so much for play.
Have yourselves a safe and enjoyable weekend!
Thank you
Peter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does make a major difference whether you use the 700 for work alone or also for leisure activity. I have two kids, aged 4 and 2, and they love tablet -- and they're ever handier than me. :S The app thingy is an ongoing search for the best-performing launcher, the best-performing office application, etc. -- and a lot of it is hoarding (I have enough games purchased-but-not-played-yet to last me for the next decade-and-a-half, hahaha!).
(Oh, and sometimes, an app is really good for all things it does, but it doesn't incorporate a feature you need. You then find another app that does, but that one either has a clunky interface (preventing everyday use) or misses some feature the other app did provide... and so on, and so on. )
Jtrosky already tackled this, but I wanted to emphasize it a bit: currently, only a small minority has devices that display major faults. Don't let the few posts about them detract you from trusting the TF700.
I was one of the many that noticed low I/O performance, which is the one issue that is faithfully reproducible, I guess -- and although not eliminated entirely, it has been greatly improved upon by recent updates. I was one of the instigators of the "I/O pressure" -- I unashamedly admit -- and I think we did the right thing in being so vocal. I love my 700, though, and I am easily standing up against the many friends carrying iDevices around (with regards to both screen quality, battery life, physical keyboard, and connection options (main USB, (micro)SD cards)...
Have a good and merry weekend yourself as well!

MartyHulskemper said:
If web browsing is a must -- and for most of us, it is -- then pretty much any Android machine wins over any iDevice because of Flash support (even with the support detracted on JB devices, you can still sideload the apk and it will still work).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good morning Marty, and thank you for your valuable input. Undoubtedly, you seem to be getting the most out of your trusty tablet. I am happy to hear that.
I am going to take in all I can about tablets in general this weekend. I know that can probably set me a back a while. I am currently delving into a little .NET programming. So, there is always WIndows 8 tablets.
Came across this article last nite:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2010050/leaked-windows-8-tablet-pricing-suggests-asus-is-targeting-big-spenders.html
Will most likely add to my confusion though. No one is holding a gun to my head, right?
Have a wonderful day wherever you may be!
Peter

Osteele said:
Good morning Marty, and thank you for your valuable input. Undoubtedly, you seem to be getting the most out of your trusty tablet. I am happy to hear that.
I am going to take in all I can about tablets in general this weekend. I know that can probably set me a back a while. I am currently delving into a little .NET programming. So, there is always WIndows 8 tablets.
Came across this article last nite:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2010050/leaked-windows-8-tablet-pricing-suggests-asus-is-targeting-big-spenders.html
Will most likely add to my confusion though. No one is holding a gun to my head, right?
Have a wonderful day wherever you may be!
Peter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, no, you're only in as much hurry as you put yourself in -- that Intel-based ASUS tablet is priced outrageously high -- 1399 dollars for a tablet? Meh. The people that would pay that )to include the dock accessory) would rather pay 1100 dollars for a really good laptop instead. I'd that swell, and I'd gain Windows gaming in the process (Borderlands 2 on the train commute ftw, hahaha! ) and a crapload of ecosystem apps that have been refined over many years instead of the 2 years we have had Android tablet apps and 0, nada, zilch for Windows 8 tablet apps.
If they price it lower, though, it might even be very tempting (especially when they do not break compatibility with Windows 7 applications -- I haven't been paying much attention to Windows 8. I guess I have some catching up to do...
And as far as your catching up goes: yes, I'd expect you to be busy reading for a week or two, at least. As we say in Holland: it will, at the very least, keep you off the streets.

MartyHulskemper said:
Oh, no, you're only in as much hurry as you put yourself in -- that Intel-based ASUS tablet is priced outrageously high -- 1399 dollars for a tablet? Meh.
If they price it lower, though, it might even be very tempting (especially when they do not break compatibility with Windows 7 applications -- I haven't been paying much attention to Windows 8. I guess I have some catching up to do...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello again Marty. I was under the impression that the pricing was somewhere in the vicinity of:
Pricing for Asus' Vivo Tab RT will start at $599
As was mentioned here as well:
http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/12/3495334/asus-vivo-tab-rt-pre-sales-begin-first-windows-rt-tablet-starts-at
IT's going to take more than a tablet to keep me off the streets. :laugh: :laugh:
Have a wonderful day. Peter

Osteele said:
Hello again Marty. I was under the impression that the pricing was somewhere in the vicinity of:
Pricing for Asus' Vivo Tab RT will start at $599
As was mentioned here as well:
http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/12/3495334/asus-vivo-tab-rt-pre-sales-begin-first-windows-rt-tablet-starts-at
IT's going to take more than a tablet to keep me off the streets. :laugh: :laugh:
Have a wonderful day. Peter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Peter!
Yes, it did say that in the article, but the RT versions of Windows 8 are the versions that carry ONLY the Metro interface, and are able to run ONLY apps that have been specifically programmed to run on that particular version (although I might have understood all that totally wrong, in which case somebody will undoubtedly be so friendly as to point me to my errors. The more usable versions will cost you significantly more, and the dock will set you back even more...

MartyHulskemper said:
Hi Peter!
Yes, it did say that in the article, but the RT versions of Windows 8 are the versions that carry ONLY the Metro interface, and are able to run ONLY apps that have been specifically programmed to run on that particular version (although I might have understood all that totally wrong, in which case somebody will undoubtedly be so friendly as to point me to my errors. The more usable versions will cost you significantly more, and the dock will set you back even more...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aha !!! Gotcha. Thanks to you, I will be going to bed a little smarter this evening. Thank you. Peter

Update
Well folks, I just wanted to stop by to let you know that I took the plung today at approx 18:00. After spending a considerable amount of time scouring the internet and reading reviews ad nauseam, I finally decided upon the Infinity. Should arrive in a few days and I must say that I am excited. Nice to feel like a kid again.
There is a good possibility that I may have a few questions once I have spent a little time with the unit. Hope you all don't mind if I post those questions here on this forum.
Thank you all again for being so helpful. I hope that I have made the right decision.
Peter

Osteele said:
Well folks, I just wanted to stop by to let you know that I took the plung today at approx 18:00. After spending a considerable amount of time scouring the internet and reading reviews ad nauseam, I finally decided upon the Infinity. Should arrive in a few days and I must say that I am excited. Nice to feel like a kid again.
There is a good possibility that I may have a few questions once I have spent a little time with the unit. Hope you all don't mind if I post those questions here on this forum.
Thank you all again for being so helpful. I hope that I have made the right decision.
Peter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bring it on bro.....We are waiting!!!

buhohitr said:
Bring it on bro.....We are waiting!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you Sir. I really appreciate that.

Congrats! Welcome to the club
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

Welcome to the Infinity family.
As a .NET Developer myself, I find this device comes in handy sometimes with the supernote it saves alot of papers and keep them all in one place. I use Supernote for writing pseudo code, brainstorming, UML diagram etc. Maybe you will find this method useful or maybe not. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy the infinity!
Cheers

Osteele said:
Well folks, I just wanted to stop by to let you know that I took the plung today at approx 18:00. After spending a considerable amount of time scouring the internet and reading reviews ad nauseam, I finally decided upon the Infinity. Should arrive in a few days and I must say that I am excited. Nice to feel like a kid again.
There is a good possibility that I may have a few questions once I have spent a little time with the unit. Hope you all don't mind if I post those questions here on this forum.
Thank you all again for being so helpful. I hope that I have made the right decision.
Peter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope so, too, Peter -- you'll find out soon enough, I guess. ; ) It does come pretty sudden, so after your initial resolve to wait it out and inform and inform and inform. I know the feeling of waiting, however, mostly gets the best of me -- I guess us gadgeteers are not the most resilient to marketing and spec sheets. Hahaha!
Welcome to the club, and don't fret about posting your questions. It's not your type of user we get fed up with, and to be honest, I think you'll be fine with the guides that have sprung up -- at least as far as unlocking woes, Nvflash, custom recoveries and custom ROMs, etc. go. It's going to take a fair bit of Play Store scavenging to find apps that suit your needs and style optimally, but we'll get there. Relish the kid feeling, and don't lose the fun in finding your way.
By the way: I assume you ordered it with the dock?

[REQ] Interactive Whiteboard Apps

I work for a university trying to find an app/software combination that would allow our faculty to use a tablet as an interactive whiteboard. I tried a couple of options and can't find very much. This might even be a nice area for someone to develop for as there isn't much competition (hint hint).
What I've found:
Most of the apps I've seen are just whiteboard apps on the tablet. Draw on the tablet screen, record it, share it, collaborate with others live. It's a nice idea, but not what I'm looking for.
What I am looking for:
Splashtop Whiteboard or Doceri (issues with both will be discussed below). These apps act as remote desktop apps with annotation and drawing tools. Think SMART Board, but without the need to be at the board.
Splashtop problems: I personally saw nothing wrong with this app/software. It is expensive, but it worked great. The problem existed with the way their software work. I don't know much in this area, but others in my department more familiar with programming expressed concerns over security and privacy. So we decided to keep looking. What I loved was that this was cross-platform, though.
Doceri problems: Well, other than the fact it's limited to iPad, no issues at all. The software concerns found in Splashtop weren't there with Doceri. We don't have one dominant platform on campus, so to adopt an iPad only solution doesn't feel right. I'd like to find something comparable to Doceri that works on Android as well, preferably on both platforms. Doceri is more expensive than Splashtop, but what it is capable of is well worth the price (cost is on software side, app is free).
Now here's the real head-spinner. When I asked Doceri about their plans with Android, I was told that they felt they had no market on Android and would more likely develop for Windows 8 instead. I understand the iPad is the dominant tablet in education, but they're not the only one there either. I would also like to point out that this response from Doceri had come to me a couple of months ago, their position could have changed since then.
Does anyone have any alternatives? Or the very least, help me show Doceri there is a market for them. If you would use their app, let them know. I know it isn't for everyone and is more of a niche for education. Or if you're feeling up to the task, to develop something to compete with both of these companies would be awesome and please keep me informed of progress. I could present that app to our faculty.
Thanks for anyone who does decide to help or at least takes the time to read this. I know it's long, but it's also a need that education needs to be filled.

livescribe

Has anyone used the livescribe sky?
How does this work with the Infinity?

Better question, has anyone used any livescribe products?

Haven't used any Livescribe products.
Looks very interesting tho...watched the demo vids on their website.
Pretty slick wifi pen definitely a very cool gadget!
You may get more response asking in the XDA general forum under accessories.

Thats OK said:
Haven't used any Livescribe products.
Looks very interesting tho...watched the demo vids on their website.
Pretty slick wifi pen definitely a very cool gadget!
You may get more response asking in the XDA general forum under accessories.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will do. Thanks

Funny you should ask- I just spent spent several days looking at it, including playing with it at BestBuy. Yesterday I decided against it. I am a college professor and was thinking about it for preparing and saving lecture notes. While it looks like a great gadget, it has some downsides for me, the most important of which is the lack of ability to erase (as far as I can see).
I ended up ordering a VuPoint Magic Wand II - which is a handheld scanner - and will allow me to scan notes to a pdf directly from any paper once I am happy with the final product. The company currently has a good deal on a "bundle". Hasn't arrived yet so I don't know just how useful it will be. Beware, there are many confusing models and it's hard to work out which is which...
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda premium