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[Q] Looking to buy a tablet

The choices I'm looking at area really just two:
iPad 2
Motorola XOOM
I am guessing that you'll all tell me to get the XOOM because, well, it's XDA developers. Although I'm kind of leaning towards that direction, I would like to have concrete reasons other than "Apple is evil".
The biggest problem I have with the XOOM is that it's not IPS, if it were I'd already have bought it. So for those of you who have the XOOM, is it's screen ok in terms of viewing angle? Cuz I'm just sooo sick and tired of weird colors or reversed colors from TFT panels. And I'm also really sensitive to minor inaccuracy in color, just makes me so mad. Thank god it has a 1280X800 resolution or it would've been out of question instantly.
The second biggest problem is design. I mean excuse me, most tablets except the iPad and iPad 2 look like ****. I think the XOOM is the only acceptable looking one, yet it has a crappy looking back side. The Samsung Galaxy tab, is one of the ****tiest looking product I've ever seen. Why? Not only because its stupid thick, the proportion of its size versus its screen size is ugly, and its display theme totally does not match its physical appearance. So all other Android tablets are out of the question, they just look like ****. Those of you who's studied art must know, that it's all about proportion, the golden mean and all that. Not the absolute size or design of anything in particular.
You may all hate the lack of personalization and the icon tile of iPad, but it is just soooo much more harmonious in terms of design and looks. Not that I'm gonna be unpractical but the difference is just so significant I can't ignore it.
The iOS also has a significantly larger number of apps at 65,000. Now I don't own any iOS devices so I don't really know how many of them are actually worthy of using. The last time I checked Honeycomb has like, what? 400? Even though I don't play games so I can exclude all the iPad games that still sounds like a huge difference. I'm not sure what that translates to.
Having said so many good things for the iPad 2, I have problems with it as well. I'm so frustrated, no product is perfect.
The iPad 2 doesn't have retina display, I hate the term retina, it's as if Jobs invented a new type of screen just be increasing resolution. But really, why haven't any phone yet to beat the iPhone 4? All I see is bigger and bigger screen, without any of them beating iPhone 4 in resolution. Shame on the Android phones. And yes, I love pixels period. Anyway, the iPad 2 resolution is a bit unsatisfactory, it's smaller than the 720p's 1280 in width, that's the most problematic. It should've been 1280X960.
I my self also have a problem with customization in iOS, and it's icon tile. I think although Android 2.x look stupid on tablets. Android 3.0 looks awesome, and it seem to function a lot better. I think my self as really good at electronics so I won't be frustrated by its complications as long as it's not stupidly designed like the BB PlayBook which I spent 20 minutes trying to figure out how to quit an application and failed, such a stupid product, bad looking as well.
So yea... only if the XOOM had IPS screen, a bit longer battery life, and a little less stupid back cover. It would've been perfect.

Why limit to just 2? Why aren't you looking at new android tablets from Samsung, Asus, LG etc.?

Asus transformer, dont wast your money on apple garbage

because they look like ****. unacceptable in appearance.

I use an Android phone. I got an iPad, in the end it is just a big iPod Touch to me and not much more. I gave it to my wife who use it as an e-reader. I got a netbook instead and installed Ubuntu in it, now I have a real portable computer instead of a computer wannabe. Battery life is good enough and easily beat any smartphone out there in continuous use.

I mean yea the iPad is a big iPod touch. But the idea is that, that is just what it is, and the fact that it is big alone is enough reason to get it.
I can also see how the Honeycomb OS is more powerful, computer wise, if you want it to be a computer which it really isn't, it's a tablet.
But then, Honeycomb doesn't have the high quality apps the iPad is already filled with. which means less functionality in that sense.

Functionality is what made me gave up iPad. What it can do my Android phone could do it too.
The only pro is battery life which is legendary for a portable.
Of course it all depends on your need, so I suggest you look into what sort of specific function are you looking for.
For me it was web browsing, what I hate about my phone is it can't handle some web pages properly, the iPad is no better, if not worse (no Flash). So YMMV.
But if you just want a tablet and care about look, iPad is the way to go.

Hi
Ok, At first I bought myself the Blackberry Playbook, its multitasking of the new QNX OS is amazing great, battery life is not as promised by blackberry. Than when they made an announcement that Android Apps will be delayed in the merger passed the summer, I exchanged it for a Motorola Xoom, I was never a big fan of Motorola but I will tell you, I love this freaking Tablet, its fast reliable. Only thing I am slightly disappointed is even on a fast wifi. It freezes videos on cnn.com and msn.com( those are the only two I have tried so far.) Youtube plays flawlessly on wifi, I also use the 4G hotspot on my HTC EVO to get the internet anywhere I go.
Battery Life: I have played games on it. to test battery and I will tall you I am happy. I took it to work Played Doodle jump and Fruit Ninja THD on it and I came home with battery still at half full. I do not have my Xoom now since my sister in law decided to steal it, it's been 2 days now and I called her earlier and she told me battery is still halfway full. This girl plays Poker Stars on the thing all day long so I am happy I have a reliable device. I just wish they made better cases for it and the speakers in the front not back.
PS: APPLE SUCKS!! lol.
Primarily I bought the tablet to take it to school and do work on it. If I am doing a PowerPoint presentation and I need to throw it to a PC I do not want to have an IPad in that situation. Because you cant do mass storage transfer. Only way of transferring the file is emailing myself. now if I have a WiFi only IPad that sucks if I have no internet connection to email it. Also if the file is bigger than 10MB you cannot email it to no one unless you separate the file into two or more. Thank you for open source
Also im not hating on apple products, I am hating on the people who make the OS which is so strictly locked down by apple.
Sure you can jailbreak, but not everyone knows how to do it, OR some people are to by the book and don't do it. OR they are plain Dumb

The XOOM is a great tablet, actually. The only downside is that since it's so new, it's native apps are a little glitchy and there aren't many apps for tablets on the Android Market. But both of those will be resolved soon.
Try out a XOOM, they're great.

I would honestly wait for maybe another 3-4 months- within that time frame there should at least another 3-4 highly competitive Android tablets running Honeycomb and it'll give time for more usage of the tablet version and some updates will be on the way. In fact Honeycomb 3.1 has already been confirmed to be released very soon.

Crazy991 said:
The XOOM is a great tablet, actually. The only downside is that since it's so new, it's native apps are a little glitchy and there aren't many apps for tablets on the Android Market. But both of those will be resolved soon.
Try out a XOOM, they're great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good point- Xoom native apps are still little glitchy.
You could even check out the LG G-Slate (branded as the T-Mobile G-Slate). Has 3D (which i don't care for) and it's running very similar hardware to that of the Xoom. Only downside to this one is the cost and the lack of a wifi only version.

Crazy991 said:
Try out a XOOM, they're great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you can handle the somewhat buggy Honeycomb on it, I agree. Not that it's bad by any stretch of the imagination, just has a few odd quirks.
Of course, this is xda, so I mean...modding it probably isn't entirely out of the question.
The iPad on the other hand "just works". My only gripe with it is the lack of expandable memory.
The decision really comes down to open vs. closed. If you want a more open device that you can tinker with, the Xoom is it. If you want something that just works, but is locked down pretty tight, the iPad is it.

Top hardware but lots of stuttering: do we deserve better?

OK, I bought an Android Tablet. Although the iPads probably are better for the average user, that's not the case for me: I'm a developer, a tweaker. I want to root stuff, to play with widgets, customisations, and so on. That's why I feel more related to Google than to Apple.
So I went for an Android tablet. I did not want a cheap, slow, outdated one like the ones you can buy at the supermarket for no money.
I was going for quality, so I bought an Asus Infinity. The tablet with the fastest hardware you can get. Splendid HD screen. Nice hardware keyboard included. This should be a top buy!
I have the tablet for some days now, and yes, the hardware is quite good. Decent aluminium unibody, although the color is not my style and the shiny metal catches all finger prints. The 1920 x 1200 display is really outstanding. No complaints here.
But where it goes wrong is the software ...
Android ICS, with minor tweaks by Asus, looks ok. But the OS and apps don't run smooth at all...
Apps run slugish or even freeze for seconds. Even keyboard input hangs sometimes. The stock browser and the Google Chrome browser can render basic sites quite well, but more advanced stuff like animations and video is just bad.
I compared with an iPad 1 and the iPad almost always wins involving smoothness of scrolling and interacting with inline video. An iPad 1, more than 2 years old, is faster than the Android tablet with the fastest hardware available on tablets. That's just ... sad. Very disapointing.
Another problem is the fact that no sites are well tested on Android, resulting in quirks that probably are solved on iOS because every decent site developer does test on his iPhone and iPad. But not on the huge number of Android devices out there. And being a developer myself, I know by experience that each device can have its own quirks.
A good example is wrong platform detection, resulting in bad user experience at the best, lack of features, or even no content at all at worst. 'You need to install Flash to run this site' ... Ok, Android can run Flash, but its days are over, as we all know.
So, what's up next?
Shall I make use of the 'cooling down period' and return this tablet? Exchange it for an iPad3? Will Jelly Bean solve some issues? Will these problems be solved by a system update? Will future sites be rendered better when html standards are used more often and Android browsers improve?
That’s a lot of if’s, no?
Apps running slow:
-stock browser
-Chrome
-Dolphin browser: better than the above, but css3 transformations/animations still very bad compared to iOS
-Google plus: scrolling the items is really bad
-Pulse: swiping between pages of an open article is slow and stutters
-Google Earth: slow and even crashes
Apps running ok:
-gmail: smooth
-currents: rather ok, sometimes
-Plume: ok
-Google maps: smooth
I guess, the situation will improve over time. But when will that be? If ever?
Did I expect too much? Am I exaggerating?
Your thoughts please!

My thoughts are that you cannot compare ipad and Android. Everyone keeps saying how smooth is ipad but everyone seems blind to all of the things iPad cannot do and Android (especially the Infinity) does.
I will not make an extensive list but just mentioning browsing the Web, half the websites are gone with iPad: no flash support and even the supposely replacement html5 renders quite poor on iPad. Check the html5rocks slides for instance.
If you are not sensible to that, get an iPad and you will be stuck but happy. Otherwise, open up and discover what Android had to offer.
the change log for jelly bean are out.check them out, that brings quite some news and fixes.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

chevdor said:
My thoughts are that you cannot compare ipad and Android. Everyone keeps saying how smooth is ipad but everyone seems blind to all of the things iPad cannot do and Android (especially the Infinity) does.
I will not make an extensive list but just mentioning browsing the Web, half the websites are gone with iPad: no flash support and even the supposely replacement html5 renders quite poor on iPad. Check the html5rocks slides for instance.
If you are not sensible to that, get an iPad and you will be stuck but happy. Otherwise, open up and discover what Android had to offer.
the change log for jelly bean are out.check them out, that brings quite some news and fixes.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't get me wrong, I am very aware of the benefits of Android. That's why I bought an Infinity ;-)
But I have a strong feeling that surfing the web is just a better experience on an iPad ... and surfing is a primary task for me and most of us.
Dolphin HD works the best, but still regular freezes of seconds. I guess this should be better with the outstanding hardware of the infinity, no?
Tnx for your response.

Gert Stalpaert said:
I guess, the situation will improve over time. But when will that be? If ever?
Did I expect too much? Am I exaggerating?
Your thoughts please!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know this is not the ideal answer regarding a device you just paid top dollar for but: it may have some software issues but it also has highly capable hardware. Thankfully, there will be many great developers paying attention to this device. Either via official updates or through the combined efforts of the community (or both), I expect most of the issues will be worked out. At the very least, the updates Jelly Bean brings address the lagging and stuttering on Android, and this device will most likely get it soon enough. You can rest assured knowing this is one of the best Android 10-inchers out there and with the proper support it can only get better.

I have only had android tablets up to this point.
I have had the Asus Tf101 and 201. I always found something laggy, or apps crash, etc. Even putting custom ROMS on them caused them to have unique issues based off of whatever ROM I put on it. SO I was constantly re flashing to the new ROM, hoping it fixes the issues and doesn't cause additional issues.
I spent more time flashing, than just using them. What fun is that?
So after I heard all the weird Asus Infinity issues, I canceled my Asus order. I ordered an Ipad 3. Should have it thursday of next week.
But I am using the Ipad 1 that is a work tablet, and it just works. No crashes, no weird little issues.
I am sold. I can't believe I hated the Ipads so much.
One negative to the Ipads though, that I will miss. And that are the widgets and live wallpapers. Other than that, Ill kepp my android phone, but the tab will be an Ipad.

acdcking12345 said:
I have only had android tablets up to this point.
I have had the Asus Tf101 and 201. I always found something laggy, or apps crash, etc. Even putting custom ROMS on them caused them to have unique issues based off of whatever ROM I put on it. SO I was constantly re flashing to the new ROM, hoping it fixes the issues and doesn't cause additional issues.
I spent more time flashing, than just using them. What fun is that?
So after I heard all the weird Asus Infinity issues, I canceled my Asus order. I ordered an Ipad 3. Should have it thursday of next week.
But I am using the Ipad 1 that is a work tablet, and it just works. No crashes, no weird little issues.
I am sold. I can't believe I hated the Ipads so much.
One negative to the Ipads though, that I will miss. And that are the widgets and live wallpapers. Other than that, Ill kepp my android phone, but the tab will be an Ipad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had been considering getting a new iPad rather than waiting for Android to get the tablet basics right; however, the main reason why I haven't is my dislike for Apple's motto of litigation over innovation. So I will give Android tabs another chance and get the Infinity. There will definitely be another *new* iPad and this will certainly not be my last tablet. Hopefully Jelly Bean will improve the whole experience. If it gets it and I love it, then great. Otherwise, I am sure I will be able to sell it for a decent price.

I see what you mean. I figure when you can get a tab with Jelly Bean, I hope that android tabs will work better. I hope so. Android is open source and great things go on with newly developed ROMS.
I just can't handle all of the crap wrong and all of the constant issues having to be fixed. For awhile, Ill use the Ipad 3 and wait until android really kick ass. Unless the new MS Tablet is even better.

Android will never compete with UI experience in comparision to Apple unless they change the underlying system.
Apple gives all power to the UI first which results in a smooth experience. But that will also cost power for background tasks. So while you can smoothly scroll your pages in a PDF suddenly it takes ages to load a page, I have seen it.
Android is balanced. So you might see stuttering while scrolling through PDF's but pages will load a lot faster.
That as an example.
It is up to you what system you prefer.
There is a detailed blog post by some google dev somewhere, couldn't find it, sorry.

Jelly bean will definetly smooth out anything having to do with touch response such as scrolling and pinch zooming. That is if it does what its supposed too.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium

My suggestion is to go try out a Nexus 7 and see how smooth it is. The Infinity will be very similar to that once it's updated to Jelly Bean.

KilerG said:
My suggestion is to go try out a Nexus 7 and see how smooth it is. The Infinity will be very similar to that once it's updated to Jelly Bean.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is only our wishful thinking, not a fact yet.
I don't see iPad outperforming Infinity in real life performance however, apart from lags when copying large amounts of data (I can't seem to notice iPad 2 being better for browsing, tried it with iPad 2 today - and remember that on the Infinity it is 1920x1200; iPad 3 with a somewhat better resolution has been reported to become burning hot btw).

What bothers me is not the issues with Android, but the shortcuts and crappy manufacturing that seems to plague the category. Asus, for example, comes out with innovative stuff but seems to chronically release devices before they're ready. Samsung came out with a solid, if uninspiring, 10 inch tablet last year, but the new one has been getting reviews that say it's inferior to the previous model. The Nexus 7 is finally rolling out, but with reports of sloppy build -- Asus strikes again? The Acer has decent specs on paper but doesn't make the target in terms of real-life operation.
I hate Apple with a fire deep in my belly. But, most of the time (iPhone 4 antenna excepted), when they release a mobile product, it's ready to roll -- functionally and aesthetically. Much higher initially quality than the Android products I've had or shopped.
Seriously, how fooking hard can it be to put together a decent feature set and build it properly?

I see your point. There have been numerous bugs in every single iPhone version however. My friend who was apple-lover has returned 80% of their devices in the recent years - from iPad 2, through MacBook Air to LCD.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda app-developers app

It lags due to the weak Tegra 3 GPU not able to run at full 60fps for the 1920x1200p.
Heck it even lags on 1280x800 sometimes. Even with Jelly Bean, it will still have hiccups due to the GPU limitation.

MrPhilo said:
It lags due to the weak Tegra 3 GPU not able to run at full 60fps for the 1920x1200p.
Heck it even lags on 1280x800 sometimes. Even with Jelly Bean, it will still have hiccups due to the GPU limitation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You say this, yet the Tegra 3 used in the Nexus 7 isn't as good as the one in the Infinity. The GPU is plenty capable, as it's buttery smooth in Jelly Bean. There is no GPU limitation, it's software at the moment.

So here is my quick background.
I have been a huge fan of tablet. I started out with Windows based tablet back when it was Windows XP that was like 7-8 years ago. Then I moved onto very first android tablet Xoom. Switched to Samsung Galaxy 10.1. Due to specific application only available on Ipad, I had to go with Ipad so I bought iPad 2 and sold Galaxy 10.1, which I still have. I then got Galaxy 10.1 4G Verizon back, which I sold in anticipation of Transformer infinity..
So with that, here is my take on iOS vs. Android.
"Really depends on what you do."
Stability/Fluidity: iOS
It is indeed the fact iPad runs smoother. Though there are some test showed higher stability rate of Android over the iOS, my personal experience goes along with crowd i.e. iOS is more stable. BUT I have not tried ICS (nor New iPad).
Also there is another catch here. iPad is not fail safe. It does still crush and if it crush, it crushes constantly i.e. simply cannot open the file or perform the action.
Multitasking: Android
As someone else suggested earlier in this forum, this is probably due to difference in the underlying focus/design motto between iOS and Android. iOS DOES NOT do real multitasking. I know some say it does, but it's not true for at least the current iOS version and with my iPad 2.
It basically freezes/hibernate the background application. I tried to download files in background several times, or have some application load files into, which usually takes several minutes as it tries to decompress or do whatever it needs to. So after launching these tasks, I go surf web with different browser or application. I go back there is nearly zero progression. There may be minimal multitasking as I have seen progression of downloading file for like 1MB after 10 minutes but this happened more like within the initial few minutes or seconds and since then it had to be frozen in background because I did check this after 2 minutes and still the progression were the same.
Alternatively, needless to say but Android allows you to download files in background but sounds like transformer line suffers from hanging when this happens. I never used torrent on tablet but I remember downloading some files like 100MB+ on web in background while I was using some other application, which usually worked no problem but my foreground application was not demanding.
Applications: Mixed
This is where it really comes down to what you want. Many says Apple store is better, which I agree with games. So if games are your priority, I go with iPAD. It may change in the future, but by the time it changes basically you can buy newer better tablet anyways. So for now for games, go with iPad. But personally, if truly want to play games, I'd rather by portable gaming system like 3DS or PS Vita... But that's just me. Apple store certainly have more selections, and better optimized for iPad. However, many of iPad applications are not free and no real trial. So you have to sort of buy and see.
Whereas, android has tons of applications that are free with ad. This may be one reason why app developers are not making much money on Android market hence avoiding or deprioritizing... who knows. But some applications are simply better on Android. For instance, I use Anki which is perhaps the best cross platform flashcard application. If you want to have the real version of Anki on iPad it costs $20+. You can sort of do a work around with cheaper $5 application but you won't get autosynch of decks, no statistics transfer etc. Whereas on Android.... It's FREE and does autosynch. Other application is ebook reader like epub and pdf. When comparing iPad applications to the Android at least iPad 2 vs. Galaxy 10.1, large files like 300+MB epubs opened much quicker on Galaxy 10.1. Not sure if this is due to pure CPU advantage vs. application difference.
Notifications: Android
Sort of fits into the multitasking but iOS notification is less invasive (using good term), less evident (more of cons for me). When I get new email, Android nicely shows pop up on the corner. In IOS, I generally have no clue until I close my application and check my email. Though notification works with iMessage so may be its just Apple deciding who gets what access to the notification.
File Transfer/Management: Android
Huge downside of Apple. In last 6 months or so, they have added wifi file transfer/synching but this happens only when you have your iPad plugged into outlet.
Individual applications may decide to offer wifi file transfer, but generally slow and its individual application based.
Files are local to each application so very easy to have duplicated files consuming your hard drive space. For instance, if you have a book in iBook, opening it in other EPUB reader you simply have to make a duplicate copy within the other application.
Android is basically simply drag and drop and generally most files can be open from any application anywhere though some does make its own local copy. As far as transfer, AirDroid is such an awesome application.
Jellybean:
The theme of this is amazing. The functionality is not ground breaking but Google finally decides to put emphasis on the UI fluidity. So if it achieves what its intended, I think overall Android simply becomes better ecosystem as it already offers more functionality and flexibility but the major drawback/downside was the UI fluidity. Though as far as application stability, I am not sure if Jellybean is answering that part as I never read anywhere specifically stating such. In any event, ASUS generally so fast in pushing the latest version of Android, I would personally wait until Jelly bean comes out and see if it truly solves the issues. Its definitely a possibility but no gurantee so buying something based on the speculation may not be an optimum unless you got tons of money to spare.
Nexus 7:
Just like Jellybean. This is simple speculation, and probably we should not buy a system based on "what will likely to happen" because there is no guarantee. But I am speculating/hoping when Nexus 7 sells well, which probably does. Developers will have much better support on tablets. Even though Nexus 7 is 7 inch tablet, its resolution is compatible to non-high def android tablet i.e. in theory all the nexus 7 optimized applications will look native on the non-high def android tablet though button layouts may be slightly suboptimal. This is definitely much better than scaling phone app onto the tablet resolution.

I also 'hope' that ASUS gets their act together and resolves the IO issue and lag, or that JB really does the trick. But care should be taken I'm afraid: I'm sure there were many Transformer Primer users who went ahead and purchased 'hoping' the GPS issue was software resolvable; they weren't, it was terminal, and GPS was removed form the official specs. ASUS has a track record.
Lets face it, the camera click issue on 'press to focus' is a hardware design fault (they have not insulated the microphone/s from the focus mechanism). Hard to see how that will ever be solved. It is not an issue that will bother many but what is significant is that it is a sloppy, muppet mistake like the GPS issues on the Transformer Primer that could have been easily avoided - a mistake that camera manufacturers like Casio were making 10 years ago on early digital cameras (I know, I had one). That's just not good enough ASUS.

robhorsefield said:
I also 'hope' that ASUS gets their act together and resolves the IO issue and lag, or that JB really does the trick. But care should be taken I'm afraid: I'm sure there were many Transformer Primer users who went ahead and purchased 'hoping' the GPS issue was software resolvable; they weren't, it was terminal, and GPS was removed form the official specs. ASUS has a track record.
Lets face it, the camera click issue on 'press to focus' is a hardware design fault (they have not insulated the microphone/s from the focus mechanism). Hard to see how that will ever be solved. It is not an issue that will bother many but what is significant is that it is a sloppy, muppet mistake like the GPS issues on the Transformer Primer that could have been easily avoided - a mistake that camera manufacturers like Casio were making 10 years ago on early digital cameras (I know, I had one). That's just not good enough ASUS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good job copying and pasting from your other thread.
The I/O issue isn't hardware related from what I can tell. It really just seems like something that just needs to be resolved in the kernel.

robhorsefield said:
I also 'hope' that ASUS gets their act together and resolves the IO issue and lag, or that JB really does the trick. But care should be taken I'm afraid: I'm sure there were many Transformer Primer users who went ahead and purchased 'hoping' the GPS issue was software resolvable; they weren't, it was terminal, and GPS was removed form the official specs. ASUS has a track record.
Lets face it, the camera click issue on 'press to focus' is a hardware design fault (they have not insulated the microphone/s from the focus mechanism). Hard to see how that will ever be solved. It is not an issue that will bother many but what is significant is that it is a sloppy, muppet mistake like the GPS issues on the Transformer Primer that could have been easily avoided - a mistake that camera manufacturers like Casio were making 10 years ago on early digital cameras (I know, I had one). That's just not good enough ASUS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ASUS has problems with attention to detail. Failing to notice these issues is completely indicative of poor engineering and lacking quality control. Users have been identifying problems right away. I can deal with minor software discrepancies; those can eventually be solved. However, basic hardware problems like these are alarming. On their own they might seem minor, but compounded (camera, I/O, screen ripples, SD card support, ...) I wonder if ASUS just took a bunch of hardware components, fit them together like a puzzle, and then sat on it for months without testing waiting for release. This device is coming half a year after it was announced. These issues could have been corrected.

KilerG said:
Good job copying and pasting from your other thread.
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Click to collapse
It wasn't exactly the same. ...same poor design and manufacture problems, so same opinions and comments apply, sorry, fact.
cipherbreak said:
ASUS has problems with attention to detail. Failing to notice these issues is completely indicative of poor engineering and lacking quality control. Users have been identifying problems right away. I can deal with minor software discrepancies; those can eventually be solved. However, basic hardware problems like these are alarming. On their own they might seem minor, but compounded (camera, I/O, screen ripples, SD card support, ...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bang on the point, thanks. And compounded also with the Prime GPS debacle.
I doubt Apple will let another Antenna-gate slip out, we'll see.

My Surface Review from an android fanboy.

So I bought the surface about a week ago and decided to write up a review for it. Before I purchased it I went on a 2 day "journey" examining why not to buy it. See I already own a nexus 7, but since Microsoft debut the surface I've been in love with its beauty, plus I'm realizing that 7 inches is enough for me. So I was going to choose between a Nexus 10 and a Surface, and.....an iPad.....
My initial thought was to go with the Nexus 10, I mean, I love android on my phone, HTC One X, my apps would all be able to be re-downloaded, I use google everything, music, drive, docs, etc.... So no brainer right? Wrong, actually the first thing I did was eliminate all Android tablets from thought, for one reason, they are pointless. My nexus 7 was literally a 7 inch version of my HTC One X, not a new experience, it was a big phone. I don't want a big phone, I love my phone, I want a tablet, and in my opinion, the Android OS does not do enough to differentiate the two. So suprisingly I was left with the Surface vs the new iPad. This became an easy choice of do I wan't flash or not, and I choose flash, like I already have.
The specs of the surface don't do it justice, you have to use the device to see the difference. The screen is beautiful, I wouldn't say as beautiful as the iPad screen but the colors are certainly better than the Nexus 10. Plus it shows more on the screen at once than both of the those tablets while having the same clarity in text thanks to Clear Type. Just spend 5 minutes with one at a Best buy and you'll see what I mean. I don't do a lot of tablet gaming, any really sans emulators. And the GPU in the surface is just behind the one in the iPad according to tech sites like anadtech, which still puts it in front of the amazing Exynos in the Nexus 10. Plus, the only browser benchmark I found for it says it scores a 994ms in the sunspider test, which is better than the Nexus 10's 1384ms by a decent amount. So this is a good example of specs being worthless, mostly.
Now to what I love the most about the Surface, IE 10. Feels like I'm browsing on my desktop, not a tablet. I browsed to youtube.com as soon as the tablet booted up for the first time, it loaded right away, fast, and was youtube.com. Not youtube mobile which my nexus 7 likes to send me too, even in chrome.... The video played fine and I cannot overstate how amazing the touch accuracy is, even when using dolphin browser on my nexus the process of selecting 1080p option or even skipping through video is frustrating to say the least... In IE 10 it works exactly like it does on my desktop. And then there is multitasking! Example, yesterday I had google music playing in one tab, was at gmail.com in another g chatting, and used the multi-window feature thingy reading espn news in the espn app, and it felt almost as natural as on my desktop. Another thing that was nice was g-chatting while watching twitch.tv, it feels nice not to have to re-buffer the video, just because I wanted to answer a message on facebook chat. Things like that tell me that I have something more than just a big phone.

Great write-up.
I get what you mean when you say that an Android Tablet is just like having a big phone, and even then, not everything with Android likes the larger screen.
Thanks!

Wow. I was practically in the same scenario as you. I'm not gonna rewrite it here cuz I already have explained why I chose the surface cuz I already have in numerous other threads but ..I too purchased a htc flyer over a year ago thinking it would be awesome cuz its android and I love android...but it was just like my htc phone. even then, my phone was better cuz it was always connected to the internet. So I returned it a week later.
Anyhow, great write up.
Sent from my Windows 8 device using Board Express

You pretty much summed up my own thoughts on the Surface.
Many people slate (excuse the pun) the Surface for not having as many apps or for having a low-res screen or for having poor hardware specs. I can only assume those people have never used one. I have yet to meet someone who owns a Surface who doesn't absolutely love it.
I've owned Asus Transformer, Nexus 7, and every iPad from 1 to 3 and the Surface is the only tablet that I can actually do some work on.

I updated the EOS3 to 4 on my Xoom yesterday night and found it really counter intuitive compared to the Surface, I've got loads of apps on Play though but the kids can use that and I'll use the Surface as I can see myself shifting from Google to Microsoft, have a Surface now and a Nokia 920 on order..

Trig0r said:
I updated the EOS3 to 4 on my Xoom yesterday night and found it really counter intuitive compared to the Surface, I've got loads of apps on Play though but the kids can use that and I'll use the Surface as I can see myself shifting from Google to Microsoft, have a Surface now and a Nokia 920 on order..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I made the shift in total.
Android Tablets to Surface
Android Phones to WP8 (920 here as well)
GMail to Outlook.com (I hate what Goggle did to their IMAP that makes it almost useless for non-android phones)
Google Calendar to Outlook
Google Drive to SkyDrive
I am not totally untethered from Google and love it! I have not lost a thing and in some respects, gained a lot!!

I looked at a surface next to a new iPad, sorry iPad's screen alone beats the crap out the MSFT offering.
If I need a smaller factor tablet I think Nexus 7 is a top contender tied with NoteII, I just despise Samsung TouchWiz interface.

Nice to hear, I wasnt a huge Google fan to start with but then I got my DHD and then a few tablets, the only thing that I'll end up keeping on Google is my YouTube account by the looks of it..
One thing I do want to be able to do it have a map that shows all friends in a group by address as I run a club that I have everyones address for, if I could show that on a map, either with google or bing that'd be pretty neat..

lqaddict said:
I looked at a surface next to a new iPad, sorry iPad's screen alone beats the crap out the MSFT offering.
If I need a smaller factor tablet I think Nexus 7 is a top contender tied with NoteII, I just despise Samsung TouchWiz interface.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have to agree here. As an iPad 3rd gen owner and a new Surface RT owner - the iPad screen wins hands down. I am enjoying my time with Surface, but I cant help but feel in the back of my mind that I will be missing out on a LOT when the Pro comes out. After checking out some of the hands-on across the web regarding the Pro I have to say I am very impressed.
I'll have to give it a lot of thought, as the Pro variant will be a lot more $$. There are some things I have been using as a workaround, such as using RDC when I want to use desktop apps - but the trade-off is how slow it is if I am working remote. I also am not a fan of IE10 at all, TBH - but all the other offerings are terrible.
As someone that was an early adopter of the 1st gen iPad, I remember what that was like and how much more restricted I felt then than I do now with the iPad. In a lot of ways I feel the same with Surface in the sense that I pick it up to do a few things but get an itch to want to switch to another device to get it done easier and/or more quickly.

GaresTaylan said:
Have to agree here. As an iPad 3rd gen owner and a new Surface RT owner - the iPad screen wins hands down. I am enjoying my time with Surface, but I cant help but feel in the back of my mind that I will be missing out on a LOT when the Pro comes out. After checking out some of the hands-on across the web regarding the Pro I have to say I am very impressed.
I'll have to give it a lot of thought, as the Pro variant will be a lot more $$. There are some things I have been using as a workaround, such as using RDC when I want to use desktop apps - but the trade-off is how slow it is if I am working remote. I also am not a fan of IE10 at all, TBH - but all the other offerings are terrible.
As someone that was an early adopter of the 1st gen iPad, I remember what that was like and how much more restricted I felt then than I do now with the iPad. In a lot of ways I feel the same with Surface in the sense that I pick it up to do a few things but get an itch to want to switch to another device to get it done easier and/or more quickly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What device do you switch to in an attempt to get more work done? Just wondering.

zacsxe said:
What device do you switch to in an attempt to get more work done? Just wondering.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am still using both my 3rd gen iPad and my Surface RT. I use both for work. Depending on the task, I keep switching between the two. I have a Galaxy Note 10.1 as well - but I primarily just use it as a media consumption device, and its usually in the hands of my wife.
The company I work for, like many Im sure, is primarily a windows shop. The Surface does integrate much easier with native Office for example. On the iPad, I was using Pages, Numbers & Keynote for Word, Excel and PPT. As a heavy mac user at home, I was used to these apps, but if I need to convert docs from Pages to Word for example, so others can open the doc - sometimes I run into compatibility issues.
Where I run into issues though... since I cant install legacy apps on the surface I can work in software such as IBM Access, Mochasoft, etc. There are apps for these in the app store for the iPad. Once the Surface Pro comes out, I have a feeling that my iPad will be moving more and more to the side as a straight media consumption device.

Galaxy note 10.1 or Asus Vivotab Smart

They are different operating systems i know and cant be compared. but I'm hesitant for any of these tablets. I love android and this would be my third tablet (actually only keep one, earlier donated it to my family). But my problem is android tablet-specific applications, many of which are stretched versions of the phone or simply lack of design. Applications for Windows 8 RT are few but all are focused on tablet but there are 50% decent that look great and really tablet friendly. Android for me was the customization and power to get ROMS but lately I see that IOS or Windows already have apps that do the same, maybe not at the same level but they do. And customization is getting really stall because every os is adding stuff that ROMs have. I know that many reviewers wont recommend Windows RT but the vivotab comes with windows 8 +RT and cost the same as the galaxy note 10.1 also it has 5 touch point and the s-pen ( i think every windows tablet comes with the s-pen) . I just want to know if anyone with the note 10.1 like the windows 8 tablet or find it more productive . Im not starting a fight about OS but i want to know how people feel about both tablets for work related aplication.Sorry about my english feel free to correct me. thank you

I start by saying that this is just me and my opinion only obviously. Windows is for "windows people" which is to say they want to turn it on,have it work and fancy it up with the options Windows gives them. It can only be customized so far. Now that's not to say it's less productive by any means. I've checked out their foray into tablets and it only reminds me of everything else they do, which I don't like. I stopped using Windows as a main OS long ago. If I do use it, it's a VB and even that is extremely limited.
As far as a comparison goes, most tablets are useful for your basic needs and even limited professional needs. I just happen to prefer open source stuff.
I hate Samsung phones, hate them. I actually debated for a long time before I bought this tablet because of my "Samsung bias" and almost went with a Windows unit. In the end I felt this tablet suited my needs more and was more "me" if that Mae's any sense.
The best advice I can give is test them both out and then test them again, and then again. I did and I don't regret my purchase for one second. Maybe this helps you,maybe not but either way best of luck with your decision.

insanecrane said:
The best advice I can give is test them both out and then test them again, and then again. I did and I don't regret my purchase for one second. Maybe this helps you,maybe not but either way best of luck with your decision.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love android tablet too and agree that maybe tablets will not replace a desktop PC for productivity, but i find myself in time to upgrade
i bought the motorola xoom on day one and it was 7 months of hell using honeycomb (im sure windows RT users will know that by now but im more interested in a windows 8 tablet which is the vivotab smart and apps that work for windows 8 will work here.
im not trying in anyway to change peoples mind about galaxy note 10.1 but i would like to hear someone who have touched a windows 8 tab and tell me if its a good buy or will it not replace android any day. I have not seen any windows 8 review that is honest and not try to compare android/IOS/windows

First and foremost, you are right. Windows RT and Android are different.
Also, both form factors are different as well.
I usually recommend the Note 10.1 over its performance and S-Pen, but only for people who would actually use it. If you take lots of notes, or need to make a quick sketch, or if you are a student, even if you work woth a lot of papers and you need an all-in-one productivity tool, note taking board and Internet device, with all the extras that a powerful configuration has to offer, the Note 10.1 is the one to go for.
If what you need is a fast, Internet surfing machine, basic stuff like searching e-mail, social feeds, playing a game or two and use all that in a simple, modern, clean interface, go for the Vivotab. You also get Office suite, which is good for some in some cases.
I have used a Note 10.1 and a Samsung ATIV SmartPC Pro, and I must say, even though both tablets have S-Pen, (and God that Ativ hybrid is gorgeous), I still prefer the Note. It's up to you and your personal choice. I bought the Note anyways because it was that "finally-device" for my first true Android tablet. Even if some reviews were messed up (drunk reviewers? Jokes).
At the end of the day, I always knew I wanted this tablet as soon as it was announced. It's great for me as a student and as a worker as well. It's a great, efficient and powerful companion that never lets me down. But if you prefer keyboard+simple usage+office, go for the vivotab.
Sent from my GT-N8000 using Tapatalk HD

I love windows. I'm a windows guy. I can take apart, put together, overclock, underclock, bypass, or anything on earth I want to do with any windows based machine. That said windows RT is not my favorite. Surface with windows pro will be out soon so if your going windows on a tablet id wait for that one. Full pc capabilities. Your not gonna be flash restricted in a year and then there's silverlight as well.
BUT, on a tablet you may also want to consider windows tablets have much less battery life, are ram restrictive, in the growing stage so apps are limited, weigh a lot more, are not as community supported as android, the new one's scheduled for release this year with full windows are running i5 which is awesome but comes at a price. Noise. Lots of noise. Those cpu get hot so must be fan cooled, noise noise noise. Android? Blessed silence. Heat. Anyone whos ever held a laptop knows about the hot spots. If you have a fan there will be a hot spot and the back is likely to get warm as well.
Overall, though im admittedly a windows lover, I choose android on a tablet. And I wont speak about apple as I hate their business model with a purple passion.

Well, i am an Android guy, but thats about phones. On a tablet, I think Asus Vivotab Smart is a good choice. Mine will be shipped tomorrow. It is a Cloverfield tablet, so it runs full blown W8. Apps are no problem here. Battery life is ok due to the low power 2760 cpu, which outperforms tegra 3 and Kraits. And it is affordable. I got mine for less than 500 Euro. So it might worth take a look.

jerses said:
They are different operating systems i know and cant be compared. but I'm hesitant for any of these tablets. I love android and this would be my third tablet (actually only keep one, earlier donated it to my family). But my problem is android tablet-specific applications, many of which are stretched versions of the phone or simply lack of design. Applications for Windows 8 RT are few but all are focused on tablet but there are 50% decent that look great and really tablet friendly. Android for me was the customization and power to get ROMS but lately I see that IOS or Windows already have apps that do the same, maybe not at the same level but they do. And customization is getting really stall because every os is adding stuff that ROMs have. I know that many reviewers wont recommend Windows RT but the vivotab comes with windows 8 +RT and cost the same as the galaxy note 10.1 also it has 5 touch point and the s-pen ( i think every windows tablet comes with the s-pen) . I just want to know if anyone with the note 10.1 like the windows 8 tablet or find it more productive . Im not starting a fight about OS but i want to know how people feel about both tablets for work related aplication.Sorry about my english feel free to correct me. thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Jerses,
I've had the Asus VivoTab Smart for about a week now, and so far it's been great. I've loaded Office 2010 Pro onto the device and haven't noticed any lag in load times etc. Having a full version of Word, Excel and OneNote are a must for me, and this tablet fits the bill nicely (it's also the cheapest over here in NZ). I did think I'd need Outlook as well, but I'm finding the built in Mail app works fine - it's nice and fast for reading email on the go, displays HTML email fine, and needs nearly all my needs. I do refer to Outlook for some of the heavy lifting (scheduling meetings etc).
I mainly use for work, so haven't used video or music much.
this table doesn't have a stylus (as noted before) - but you can use one of those 'generic' stylus (like the ones for the iPad) which work fine. I personally think Windows tablet developers are missing a trick here, the Windows handwriting recoginition is out of this world - it reads my scrawl better than I do.
Overall, for an easy to use, not much customisation needed, tablet - I'd highly reccomend this one.
KD.

I leaned a lot for the Galaxy Note stylus 10.01 but there are not many applications for android that support this pen ... I imagine that in the future things may change but by then it will be time to update my tablet back.
I did some research on the stylus you say and there are very good choices, from typical sausage tip, a fine-point stylus (Adonith jot) to one that emulates an S-PEN, same functions to nullify the palm (jot Touch) and pressure sensitive. The latter is ipad but no doubt that technology pass android or windows 8.
I feel bad for leaving behind android, I actually really like the OS but I feel still very green to the world of tablets and that some apps feel more like they where made for a 7" tablet. Also im kind of scared of this seen how bad apps (Phone/Tablet) look on the nexus 10... i think that proves that having one app fits all is not going to work in near future.
So I think I opt for the smart vivotab think android will live in me .... maybe as BlueStacks or dualboot lol

I really prefer android over apple for both phones and tablets (own apple and android in both). I can't speak intelligently about windows 8. I can say this as a first time android Note 10.1 tablet owner - I bought 2 of these for my 6th & 4th grade kids since they wanted apps (games mostly) and I wanted them to be able to do their homework for school (light use of "word and excel"). Overall the notes are a great single quiver solution and we are all extremely happy with them. But, I have to say if my kids were in High school or college I think the challenges we have in some instances with printing and converting polaris office files to word and excel I would absolutely take a hard look at a Windows pro tablet or even laptop. Maybe it isn't fair since we've only had our Notes for 4 weeks but printing anything not portrait is a chore and coming from a strong Word and Excel background leaves me wishing Polaris Office had a lot more capability.

i'd actually love to get a win 8 tab (not rt). no rooting, no waiting on updates from mfg's and running any windows program. what i do hate is the 16:9 screen ratio. it's just too elongated for me.

I was really keen on getting a Surface, but in the end I decided on the Note. It actually came down to one main point, I can't type on the Surface in portrait mode. I loved the integrated keyboard and cover of the Surface and lamented that something similar wasn't available for the Note. I bought a BT keyboard with a stand so I can have the Note in either landscape or portrait depending on my needs, as soon as I can find one that integrates with the Note as a cover I will buy that.
Sent from my GT-P3113 using Tapatalk HD

Just for some clarification, the VivoTab Smart seems to run full Windows 8, not RT (it has an Intel Atom (x86) processor). Won't be nearly as locked down as RT, and might be decent if you rely on some Windows apps.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=38329609&postcount=11

Don't forget you can run android on x86 machine. You can dual boot android and windows 8 on the asus vivatab smart.
Nothing beat having a standard keyboard on the screen with all the copy/paste ctrl alt characters and shortcut up/down/left/right buttons etc you have on a standard windows. windows 8 has everything you need for a tablet and more more more more. the asus at 499$ worth any peny believe me. maj-left or right to select ... the end of the tablet copy/paste nightmare on phones and tablets.

I'm in the market for a new tablet as well. I have a Motorola Xoom and while it served it's purpose, it didn't quite cut it as a tablet for me. Why? Well first of all, the performance just isn't very good. I've installed several roms on it and it just gets very laggy and unresponsive after a while. The second thing is the weight. I can't comfortably use it as an e-book reader in bed, which is a big want for me.
I went to Best Buy and played around with a few tablets and was really impressed by the Asus Vivo Tab. It was light, very responsive, and after watching a few HD videos on it and playing with it a while, it never got warm. My bit drawbacks for it are first and foremost, it's running Windows 8, which is good and bad. The good is that it'll run native x86 apps, the bad is that it's Windows 8. Will I need to instal Antivirus on it? Can I anticipate BSOD? Not that you can't get lock ups on Android, I've had plenty on my Xoom. Finally, I've read it's useless for all but the most basic gaming (think Angry Birds). I don't game on my tablet at all but my son does.. but then again, he has my old iphone to game on so gaming's not a big deal.
I'm wondering how Bluestacks runs on it though. Anyone tried running Bluestacks on one of these?

Help me decide which tablet
Hi guys
Please help me to decide which tablet to buy. I have been looking at both the Asus VivoTab and the Samsung Galaxy Note. I am not at all tech savvy so must of what you talk about goes right over my head. I want a tablet to take overseas with me. I want to watch movies, surf the net, catch up on my emails, read a book and play the occasional game.
Just give me a really quick idea of which one will suit my needs.
Thanks

They both suit your needs, you only have to ask yourself if you prefer to work with pen or keyboard.
Sent from my GT-N8010 using Tapatalk HD

Kumabjorn said:
They both suit your needs, you only have to ask yourself if you prefer to work with pen or keyboard.
Sent from my GT-N8010 using Tapatalk HD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is that really the only diference? I have been going mad looking at all the specs etc.. Is one easier to use than the other? All help gratefully accepted.
Thanks

Other differences won't really make a dent in your intended usage. Ease of use will be more important than any technical discrepancies.
Sent from my GT-P3113 using Tapatalk HD

Kumabjorn said:
Other differences won't really make a dent in your intended usage. Ease of use will be more important than any technical discrepancies.
Sent from my GT-P3113 using Tapatalk HD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My husband and I went out this morning to have a good look at both units and at this stage I am pretty sure that we are going to go with the Samsung.
Thanks for all the input.

Best tablet for a laptop replacement?

I am willing to sell my laptop because I am addicted to computer games (dota 2, total war series etc), especially that I'm at university and I need to keep focus on studies.
So I need a tablet for the occasional browsing, office editing/reading and especially for watching movies and TV shows (this is the most important aspect). I will get enough money from my laptop to buy the best thing out there, so budget isn't a problem.
I am an Android user since I used the HTC Desire back in the days, then moved on to nexus S and fell in love with Nexus devices. So the Nexus 10 was my top interest so far, but I heard some of the devices have light bleeding (and I'm very sensible to display quality) and the resolution is actually too big, so the GPU is not powerful enough for it. There are some rumors a new nexus 10 will be unveiled by google with a quad core CPU and a better GPU, but I need a tablet now, not in 4 months or even later, especially that my country doesn't sell nexus devices on google play. Online stores in Romania just got the nexus 10 at the start of this month, so there's no way I'm gonna wait for the new one.
Then I had a look at the iPad 4: I absolutely loved the build quality and how it generally felt, everything was extremely smooth and it looked great, but the 4:3 aspect ratio is a total bummer, considering that I will watch a lot of movies. I tried to find a video to see how movies run on the ipad but had no luck.
Other tablets didn't seem to get me excited too much, was looking at the asus transformer t700 but it has outdated hardware and I heard its slower then the nexus 10.
So the question is, iPad 4 or Nexus 10?
I don't want answers from fan boys, please be realistic.

Also, I don't want to hear anything about converting movies and things like these, I just want to throw the movie on the tablet and see it, be it mkv or avi, blu-ray size etc.

Nexus 10 is way much better and could do all the things you listed above, unless your prefer iOS

El7r said:
Nexus 10 is way much better and could do all the things you listed above, unless your prefer iOS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never owned an iOS device, I'm just wondering which one is better.

bump

I would suggest the Asus Transformer prime with the keyboard dock especially since you're a student and you could use it like you would a laptop in class.

In terms of specs and power, the ipad is pretty great and has the biggest library of apps.
The nexus 10 isn't as absolutely all mighty but it's pretty close, and it's got android, so it'll be much more capable of replacing a laptop computer than the ipad ever will be.
I personally despise Apple, I have had extremely bad experiences with them. I'm currently on an iMac, so it's not a matter of bandwagoning and fanboyism and stuff. I truly believe Android is better and more capable than iOS. The nexus 10 is probably the best android tablet on the market, though the Samsung Galaxy Note could be good for you as you want to use it for productivity and the s-pen is supposed to be amazing. No experience with it though, but I have a nexus10 and I got rid of my laptop afterwards, don't need it anymore.
I use the n10 as a laptop too, I take notes in class and everything, if you add a bluetooth keyboard, you'll get a lot of functionality out of it.

drarnold said:
I would suggest the Asus Transformer prime with the keyboard dock especially since you're a student and you could use it like you would a laptop in class.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^^^ This
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

Nexus 10 is beefy specs, very beautiful.
I'm using a nexus 7 right now, with logitech android keyboard and wacom tablet pen.
If you plan on writing notes on tablet instead of paper; I found it difficult in classes where proff writes so fast its hard to keep up.
I'm sure depends on tablet pen you get. But for writing apps for android, there's not too many good ones like there is on apple app store atm.
I tried alot of writing apps; best one that was suited for me was papryus for android. I still couldn't keep up writing notes on it.
Typing notes on it is amazing. Much better then lugging around a laptop.
If you plan on going with writing notes, I suggest something with a digitizer.
If writing notes on tablet isn't an issue your on your mind.
Then i would go with nexus 10 w/ bluetooth keyboard.

lvnatic said:
I am willing to sell my laptop because I am addicted to computer games (dota 2, total war series etc), especially that I'm at university and I need to keep focus on studies.
So I need a tablet for the occasional browsing, office editing/reading and especially for watching movies and TV shows (this is the most important aspect). I will get enough money from my laptop to buy the best thing out there, so budget isn't a problem.
I am an Android user since I used the HTC Desire back in the days, then moved on to nexus S and fell in love with Nexus devices. So the Nexus 10 was my top interest so far, but I heard some of the devices have light bleeding (and I'm very sensible to display quality) and the resolution is actually too big, so the GPU is not powerful enough for it. There are some rumors a new nexus 10 will be unveiled by google with a quad core CPU and a better GPU, but I need a tablet now, not in 4 months or even later, especially that my country doesn't sell nexus devices on google play. Online stores in Romania just got the nexus 10 at the start of this month, so there's no way I'm gonna wait for the new one.
Then I had a look at the iPad 4: I absolutely loved the build quality and how it generally felt, everything was extremely smooth and it looked great, but the 4:3 aspect ratio is a total bummer, considering that I will watch a lot of movies. I tried to find a video to see how movies run on the ipad but had no luck.
Other tablets didn't seem to get me excited too much, was looking at the asus transformer t700 but it has outdated hardware and I heard its slower then the nexus 10.
So the question is, iPad 4 or Nexus 10?
I don't want answers from fan boys, please be realistic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Asus Transformer Prime / Infinity: I've played with the Nexus 10 and as far as options go it trumps the Nexus 10. The 10 is a great device, but as far as using USB, adding options, batteries expansion (DOCK), SD, etc the Transformer wins. The outdated hardware/slower than nexus is partly true. The real truth is that the noticeable speed is only on tests. Running apps side by side the speed difference is down to a second or two. The TFT700 is a quad core and the Nexus 10 is a dual core. If you don't put the TFT700 into econo mode then the speed is pretty much even or going to the TFT700 at times.
Now the biggest thing I liked with Nexus over the TFT700 is the micro usb charger and plugin. That and the screen. But outside of that, the TFT700 offers something that no other tablet offers, expansion and expansion. Want another battery? Plug into the dock and you get a keyboard and a battery. Want to add an SD/MicroSD for more space? Just slide the car in. Need to use a USB thumb drive to share something with somebody that has a computer or laptop but don't have a wireless signal? Just put it into the dock. Comparing the batteries in just the devices alone, the 700 to outlast the Nexus 10 in a side by side comparison.
The Nexus does offer the best picture and the newest software updates, but the ASUS team and XDA does a pretty good job of keeping the two running in a neck and neck race.

Transformer series tablets are great. I bought a tf300t after much research and an extremely happy with it. As stated before, the dock ads full functionality for taking notes in class. Supernote came pre-installed on mine which allows you to add drawings to your notes which is essential if you will be taking any chemistry classes.
Sent from my SGH-S959G
CM10.1 Nightly, AJK Kernel

I am attending a medical university and I need a notebook for notes, professors also verify our notes at the end of semester so writing on an electrical device isn't possible for me. I will be using the tablet to watch movies and occasionally create some office files on it (though I can still go at the university's library where we have computers for that).
Does anyone have any experience with a jailbroken iPad? How dependent is it to a PC? I heard you need one when you jailbreak it (same goes for rooting on android), but what then? Can I just download cydia apps on it and install without problems?

The Nexus 7 will fit into your back pocket. ...
Sent from my SCH-I605 using xda app-developers app

lvnatic said:
I am attending a medical university and I need a notebook for notes, professors also verify our notes at the end of semester so writing on an electrical device isn't possible for me. I will be using the tablet to watch movies and occasionally create some office files on it (though I can still go at the university's library where we have computers for that).
Does anyone have any experience with a jailbroken iPad? How dependent is it to a PC? I heard you need one when you jailbreak it (same goes for rooting on android), but what then? Can I just download cydia apps on it and install without problems?
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Well it seems you really want an iPad. I will say this, your notes can be verified on either Nexus ( 7 or 10) and the Transformer. In fact the supernote feature of the Asus is very similar to evernote (although I would still use Evernote or Onenote). You can even use Google to transcribe directly to the supernote feature. If you are looking to take notes in class for Medical, try looking at LiveScribe Skypens.
Ok back to your question, not to bash the iPad, my mother and sister love theirs, but it is too restrictive for my tastes. This includes jailbroken. If you are planning on doing any kind of syncing that does not involve your cloud features you will have to sync via a PC. Apps / updates /purchase can all be done with a wireless feature (although it is much slower). Taking notes you can use Evernote / Onenote, but the handwriting / bluetooth keyboards are not even on the same playing field as the Nexus / ASUS. I can verify that as a CS/Cyber major these notes can be verified and the audio playback / video playback you will have to get permission from your teach if you are allowed to record in class first. Also in terms of watching movies you will be limited to what ever you purchase or convert to the iPad's movie player unless you sync / convert / play with it on your PC first.
PC / Mac Rules for Tablets:
You do need one for an iPad and most Android devices. I say most because there are some devices you can root/break via webpages (Apple has since closed the security hole... so you would need an older OS).
Downloading from Cydia is just like downloading from any market place, with the exception of that you do not know if it has been scanned for malware/virus/permissions. Unlike Google/Amazon you will not be told of the permissions or what exactly it will be using on your system. Also keep in mind that some apps will just not work due to the age of your device / os if you are going from Cydia.

Just to be more specific: when I meant notebook, I meant an actual notebook
You know, the one with real papers on which you use a pen to write
So I am not writing absolutely anything on a tablet/laptop. I will only use the tablet in university when I'm on some boring classes, to surf on some blogs or play some games.
Edit: I'm not really that convinced to buy the iPad, I would just be curious to own one for a while, to see how it performs in the long run. So I will probably buy it and if I don't get the hang of it in 30 days then im gonna return it and go for the nexus, where everything will be so simple for me.
I never actually held the nexus 10 in my hands so far, didn't get the chance to see it in any store, just online. Does it have at least equal quality as the ipad? I know its some kind of rubber plastic like the nexus 7, which felt good (tried that one).

If you want a good laptop replacement tablet: Go buy a PC Tablet (with the rotating displays, keyboard based).
Expensive, but fits the bill. Im pretty sure Hewett Packard (HP) and Dell have some tablets like that. Look up touchsmart on Google.

Anyone say razer edge yet
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---------- Post added at 04:35 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:34 AM ----------
lvnatic said:
I am attending a medical university and I need a notebook for notes, professors also verify our notes at the end of semester so writing on an electrical device isn't possible for me. I will be using the tablet to watch movies and occasionally create some office files on it (though I can still go at the university's library where we have computers for that).
Does anyone have any experience with a jailbroken iPad? How dependent is it to a PC? I heard you need one when you jailbreak it (same goes for rooting on android), but what then? Can I just download cydia apps on it and install without problems?
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You can peint from a tablet using wifi
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lvnatic said:
Just to be more specific: when I meant notebook, I meant an actual notebook
You know, the one with real papers on which you use a pen to write
So I am not writing absolutely anything on a tablet/laptop. I will only use the tablet in university when I'm on some boring classes, to surf on some blogs or play some games.
Edit: I'm not really that convinced to buy the iPad, I would just be curious to own one for a while, to see how it performs in the long run. So I will probably buy it and if I don't get the hang of it in 30 days then im gonna return it and go for the nexus, where everything will be so simple for me.
I never actually held the nexus 10 in my hands so far, didn't get the chance to see it in any store, just online. Does it have at least equal quality as the ipad? I know its some kind of rubber plastic like the nexus 7, which felt good (tried that one).
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Click to collapse
If you are under the age of 14, or, over the age of 45 than an iPad is a better choice.
If you want flexibility than get an android tablet.
If you want buisness stuff then get a non RT tablet (Windows 7, 8) (RT is no good for business stuff).
I find the tablets with folding displays to have the most bang for their buck. That is just my opinion though.
Please thank if this was useful.

andronald said:
If you are under the age of 14, or, over the age of 45 than an iPad is a better choice.
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My mom, my dad, and my step mom all have Android phones or tablets. They are all over 45. My mom is the kind of person who asks me to find where a program saved a file, my dad got his phone after having only had a flop phone. None of them are struggling.
As of ICS simplicity and noob friendliness isn't really an issue.
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Hi,
I have an Asus Transformer TF300TG and it is absolutely great. We are using it at home for fast access to internet (emails, cooking receipts, small gaming). It has 3G capability, so you just plug a data sim of your favourite GSM carrier and you are OK to travel and use it on the way.
The battery lasts literally for hours, there is one battery in the tablet part and other in the keyboard part - when tablet is drained and you connect it to the keyboard unit, it recharges from it.
There are a office pack preinstalled (Supernote) and for making notes and easy spreadsheets, it works quite OK.
Hope it helps.