CVS has some super cheap tablets like the Craig and one from Sylvania, both can be had for around $75-$80 with coupon. The Sylvania one has HDMI, USB host, microSD and an ARM11 1Ghz processor in it and a rubberized back. Not too shabby in my opinion. However it only has 256mb RAM and a resistive touchscreen.
Regardless, I've seen the nook color join the ranks here, so I know people here like low cost tablets. And its almost cheap enough to almost be disposable, so hacks and mods would be less risky and they could be applied in more hazardous/embedded applications like home automation or automotive use.
Here is a review some dude made on youtube of the Sylvania:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_hYbmEBupw
Anyone else interested in taking this seriously?
Merkury Innovations 360-Degree iPad 2 Rotating Stand. I assume it would be fine.
If anyone was wondering this...NO
Hopefully, I can return it.
Not an uncommon thought, but no.
The TP is closer in dimensions to the iPad 1 and can use a few of its cases/covers, but the TP is slightly thicker.
Thanks for sharing, saves others the misery of testing. Good luck in returning it
Reviews with accompanying video moved to bottom for readability.
Ars Technica
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/10/microsofts-first-stab-at-a-pc-surface-reviewed/
Verdict: Surface RT is a nice tablet, but Windows RT is an unknown.
AnandTech
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6385/microsoft-surface-review
LaptopMag
http://www.laptopmag.com/review/tablets/microsoft-surface-rt.aspx
Verdict: 3.5/5
Pros: Striking industrial design; Innovative Touch Cover; Sharp display; Microsoft Office included; Long battery life
Cons: Few high-quality apps available for now; Poor-quality cameras; Sluggish and unresponsive at times
The Verdict: The Surface and its innovative Touch Cover proves that Microsoft can make hardware to rival the iPad, but the app ecosystem needs to catch up.
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/24/t...eils-the-surface-its-first-tablet-review.html
"Sleek Tablet, but Clumsy Software"
ABCNews
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/mi...indows-tablet-turned-laptop/story?id=17540348
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/video/microsoft-surface-rt-video-review-17549478 (video review)
Wired
http://www.wired.com/reviews/2012/10/microsoft-surface/all/
AllThingsD
http://allthingsd.com/20121023/hardworking-tablet-with-pc-chops/
Gizmodo
http://gizmodo.com/5953866
TheVerge
http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/23/3540550/microsoft-surface-review
Verdict: 7/10.
Pluses: Ambitious new software. Solidly made, handsome hardware. Full Office suite. Excellent battery life.
Minuses: Performance is hit or miss. Weak ecosystem. Buggy software. Doesn't live up to hybrid promise.
Engadget
http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/23/microsoft-surface-rt-review/
As a perspective, the Anandtech review compared prelim performance numbers against an (unnamed) Clovertrail tablet:
"On the user experience side alone, the Clovertrail tablet is noticeably quicker than Surface. Surface isn’t slow by any means, but had it used Atom hardware it would’ve been even more responsive.
"Across the board Clovertrail manages a 30 - 50% advantage over Tegra 3. Granted we’re not looking at power consumption here, but the Clovertrail tablet I’m comparing is even smaller/lighter than Surface for what it’s worth."
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6385/microsoft-surface-review/10
On the ergonomics of the Touch/TypeCover, a key selling point for Surface:
http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/23/microsoft-surface-rt-review/
"However, the Touch Covers reveal the Surface’s fundamental flaw: The Surface is ungainly large when deployed. When used with the Surface’s kickstand and a Touch Cover, the whole contraption is 10-inches deep. That’s the same depth as a 15-inch MacBook Pro. An iPad with a Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard is only 7-inches deep; most ultrabooks are 9-inches or under. A Surface with a Touch Cover barely fits on most airplane seat-back trays; it doesn’t work at all on the trays that pull out of an armrest. That’s a problem.
"This design makes it very hard to use the Surface with a Touch Cover anywhere but a tabletop. It needs a 10-inch deep flat surface. I could not use the Surface with a Touch Cover sitting in an armchair, walking around, or laying on my back in bed. Forget about using it on the commode; it sits too precariously on the legs for comfort. These are use-cases that I do nearly daily with my iPad and Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard. The Surface is only usable when seated at a table or desk."
On video out:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6385/microsoft-surface-review/6
"On the left edge of the device there’s a custom video out port that can be paired with a Microsoft made VGA or HDMI dongle. I tested HDMI output with Microsoft's dongle and unfortunately the result wasn't very good. The 1080p output had a lot of issues with scaling quality (as you can see from the shot below) and there was a lot of tearing on the screen with a big impact on UI frame rate."
I did have the same thought about plains and trains etc its a real pain. Though its worth noting that you should be able to plug in a standard keyboard and do away with the cover. I really don't think its worth the extra £100 that said I think the whole thing is overpriced! That said I am an MS fanboi so I will be getting mine but I do fear that they went for looks over function.
If I had a spare £1000 the best I have seen by a clear mile is the sony duo 11, that device makes the surface look pathetic but then at double the price it really should.
lumpaywk said:
I did have the same thought about plains and trains etc its a real pain. Though its worth noting that you should be able to plug in a standard keyboard and do away with the cover. I really don't think its worth the extra £100 that said I think the whole thing is overpriced! That said I am an MS fanboi so I will be getting mine but I do fear that they went for looks over function.
If I had a spare £1000 the best I have seen by a clear mile is the sony duo 11, that device makes the surface look pathetic but then at double the price it really should.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love how all these reviewers are ragging on the app selection alleady - The thing is just coming out and all of the apps are being wrtiten for tablet - There's already like 4k and more are to come since its part of full Win8 as well. Even the Ipad doesn't have many apps written just for tablet. What's also frustrating is they are saying how buggy it is - Give me a break, like MS is not going to ever update the thing. I guess the tech world has higher expectations because its MS and they love Apple so much.
Let the product be released and get in the real world for a bit before we cast judgement.
As long as the hardware is solid, which it sounds like it is, the rest will be sorted out.
guitar1969 said:
I love how all these reviewers are ragging on the app selection allready - The thing is just coming out and all of the apps are wrtiten for tablet - There's already like 4k and more are to come since its part of full Win8 as well. Even the Ipad doesn't have many apps written just for tablet. What's also frustrating is they are saying how buggy it is - Give me a break, like MS is not going to every update the thing.
Let the product be released and get in the real world.
As long as the hardware is solid, which ist sounds like it is, the rest will be sorted out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if the reviewers don't point out both positive and negatives of today, when should they?
its been released to the real world, folks are giving real reviews, today.
last i saw the ipad and mini ipad have somewhere near 275,000 applications.
its not mature, that's for sure. if there were no issues to improve, it would stagnate and not change. I love to read honest, real reviews pointing out possibilities for improvement, it means there -will- be improvement.
Hey guys, i have just come across this on kickstarter.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/glowdeck/glowdeck-wireless-power-light-and-sound
It looks interesting and i think it may be the first of its kind? Anyone aware of any other viable alternatives? I love that it has multiple charging coils so you can just chuck your phone down on it.
This will beat my current setup which is an energizer qi charger and an old logitech alarm clock with a bluetooth ipod dongle (this works well btw, just not pretty)
What do you guys think? Any other things like this available or going to be soon?
dalton8 said:
Hey guys, i have just come across this on kickstarter.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/glowdeck/glowdeck-wireless-power-light-and-sound
It looks interesting and i think it may be the first of its kind? Anyone aware of any other viable alternatives? I love that it has multiple charging coils so you can just chuck your phone down on it.
This will beat my current setup which is an energizer qi charger and an old logitech alarm clock with a bluetooth ipod dongle (this works well btw, just not pretty)
What do you guys think? Any other things like this available or going to be soon?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks nice! For a $100 for the mini version is kinda steep for a charger. $275 for the one with bt speakers and display...is ok, but still kinda steep for a nightstand piece. EDIT: I kept looking at it and I opted for the single display with speakers lol. I may change my mind down the road, but I like the look of it. It's a step up from the multiple charger stands like the Tylt VU but that one has no display and runs retail for $70usd plus any shipping.
glowdeck - Wireless Power, Light, and Sound
kpjimmy said:
Looks nice! For a $100 for the mini version is kinda steep for a charger. $275 for the one with bt speakers and display...is ok, but still kinda steep for a nightstand piece. EDIT: I kept looking at it and I opted for the single display with speakers lol. I may change my mind down the road, but I like the look of it. It's a step up from the multiple charger stands like the Tylt VU but that one has no display and runs retail for $70usd plus any shipping.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see you guys are discussing Glowdeck - which is great; I'm very glad to hear that it is of interest to you - so I thought I'd chime in and try to explain some of the price-related comments you raised. A backer just asked how much I expect the Multiple Device Edition to retail for after the Kickstarter campaign, and here's a paraphrase of the response I sent him:
Because there are still some cost details to be hammered out (with components suppliers/manufacturers), it's difficult to say exactly what the retail price point for Glowdeck will be (assuming the campaign succeeds), but I set the reward levels on Kickstarter about $50.00 below what I expect the Multiple Device Edition to retail for (i.e. $375.00). I thought this would be a way to reward the first folks who support the product.
To be sure, it's not an inexpensive product, but in addition to going against the grain (at least in the tech world) with an elegant wood finish, I was determined to use only premium quality components. Instead of Glowdeck being a product that does a bunch of things just okay, I set out to build a high-end device that would perform excellently across the board.
The question now is whether the market is willing to pay a little bit more for a product that doesn't skimp on quality - both aesthetically and functionally. But with your pledge, I'm encouraged that the answer might be yes...
Feel free to contact me at [email protected] if you have any questions or comments, and please continue to spread the word!
glowdeck said:
I see you guys are discussing Glowdeck - which is great; I'm very glad to hear that it is of interest to you - so I thought I'd chime in and try to explain some of the price-related comments you raised. A backer just asked how much I expect the Multiple Device Edition to retail for after the Kickstarter campaign, and here's a paraphrase of the response I sent him:
Because there are still some cost details to be hammered out (with components suppliers/manufacturers), it's difficult to say exactly what the retail price point for Glowdeck will be (assuming the campaign succeeds), but I set the reward levels on Kickstarter about $50.00 below what I expect the Multiple Device Edition to retail for (i.e. $375.00). I thought this would be a way to reward the first folks who support the product.
To be sure, it's not an inexpensive product, but in addition to going against the grain (at least in the tech world) with an elegant wood finish, I was determined to use only premium quality components. Instead of Glowdeck being a product that does a bunch of things just okay, I set out to build a high-end device that would perform excellently across the board.
The question now is whether the market is willing to pay a little bit more for a product that doesn't skimp on quality - both aesthetically and functionally. But with your pledge, I'm encouraged that the answer might be yes...
Feel free to contact me at [email protected] if you have any questions or comments, and please continue to spread the word!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does the Glowdeck top up the phone overnight? Ive read a few posts about some qi chargers charging the phone to 100% then turning off completely, so if you charge it over night it will be at about 90-95% in the morning instead of 100%..
glowdeck said:
I see you guys are discussing Glowdeck - which is great; I'm very glad to hear that it is of interest to you - so I thought I'd chime in and try to explain some of the price-related comments you raised. A backer just asked how much I expect the Multiple Device Edition to retail for after the Kickstarter campaign, and here's a paraphrase of the response I sent him:
Because there are still some cost details to be hammered out (with components suppliers/manufacturers), it's difficult to say exactly what the retail price point for Glowdeck will be (assuming the campaign succeeds), but I set the reward levels on Kickstarter about $50.00 below what I expect the Multiple Device Edition to retail for (i.e. $375.00). I thought this would be a way to reward the first folks who support the product.
To be sure, it's not an inexpensive product, but in addition to going against the grain (at least in the tech world) with an elegant wood finish, I was determined to use only premium quality components. Instead of Glowdeck being a product that does a bunch of things just okay, I set out to build a high-end device that would perform excellently across the board.
The question now is whether the market is willing to pay a little bit more for a product that doesn't skimp on quality - both aesthetically and functionally. But with your pledge, I'm encouraged that the answer might be yes...
Feel free to contact me at [email protected] if you have any questions or comments, and please continue to spread the word!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would absolutely be interested in something like this, but the Qi wireless standard, while the dominant standard now, may not be in the near future. I'm sure you've done your research to know that a bunch of big names back another standard (and I won't get into it here). As such, investing $200+ on a device that may not work with my future devices is a hard pill to swallow. I'm not the kind of person that would buy a wireless charging case as an accessory so if my next phone doesn't support Qi, my Glowdeck would lose much of it's functionality.
In addition, and again with my view of never buying a wireless charging case, just not enough phones support Qi natively (integrated). If wireless charging was mainstream (and ignoring the standards war), I would really be interested in something like this. I currently use a wireless charger for my Nexus 4 and it's awesome, but will my next phone have it? My next phone may be the Moto X and it's already stated that it won't come with wireless charging. If my phone is the Nexus 5, again, we will not know if it comes with wireless charging. I almost feel that if I buy a Glowdeck, I would be restricting myself to wireless charging phones only to ensure I won't be stuck with having a $200 alarm clock.
Overall, wireless charging having an uncertain future through it's adoption and competing standards hurts this product in my eyes. Tack on the premium price and I can't see myself buying something like this right now. However, the idea is great -- many times I wish I had 2 wireless chargers so I could put one on my nightstand. Glowdeck does this and so much more.
Just my feedback that I'm sure people will disagree with. Goodluck on your campaign!
Really nice charger/speaker/clock! Would love to have one but yes, the price of $275 (not considering FX) is a bit too steep for me since it is just going to be a "want".. But you have a nice product there! Good luck with your kickstarter project!
Enhanced said:
I would absolutely be interested in something like this, but the Qi wireless standard, while the dominant standard now, may not be in the near future. I'm sure you've done your research to know that a bunch of big names back another standard (and I won't get into it here). As such, investing $200+ on a device that may not work with my future devices is a hard pill to swallow. I'm not the kind of person that would buy a wireless charging case as an accessory so if my next phone doesn't support Qi, my Glowdeck would lose much of it's functionality.
In addition, and again with my view of never buying a wireless charging case, just not enough phones support Qi natively (integrated). If wireless charging was mainstream (and ignoring the standards war), I would really be interested in something like this. I currently use a wireless charger for my Nexus 4 and it's awesome, but will my next phone have it? My next phone may be the Moto X and it's already stated that it won't come with wireless charging. If my phone is the Nexus 5, again, we will not know if it comes with wireless charging. I almost feel that if I buy a Glowdeck, I would be restricting myself to wireless charging phones only to ensure I won't be stuck with having a $200 alarm clock.
Overall, wireless charging having an uncertain future through it's adoption and competing standards hurts this product in my eyes. Tack on the premium price and I can't see myself buying something like this right now. However, the idea is great -- many times I wish I had 2 wireless chargers so I could put one on my nightstand. Glowdeck does this and so much more.
Just my feedback that I'm sure people will disagree with. Goodluck on your campaign!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the feedback - it is all well taken. Deciding on a wireless standard was difficult, but there was a rationale behind the decision to go with the Qi standard (at least for the time being), and I think I will address this point in an update to the Kickstarter campaign in the next few days.
---------- Post added at 04:45 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:11 AM ----------
tanwg said:
Really nice charger/speaker/clock! Would love to have one but yes, the price of $275 (not considering FX) is a bit too steep for me since it is just going to be a "want".. But you have a nice product there! Good luck with your kickstarter project!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the kind words. And I know where you're coming from with regard to the price. Out of curiosity, would a modified version of Glowdeck with no display (nor WiFi connectivity) appeal to you as well? If so, what price would seem reasonable for such a product?
glowdeck said:
Thanks for the kind words. And I know where you're coming from with regard to the price. Out of curiosity, would a modified version of Glowdeck with no display (nor WiFi connectivity) appeal to you as well? If so, what price would seem reasonable for such a product?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like the display because that will make it function as a bedside clock too, but WiFi to receive feeds does not appeal to me . As for price, I would not comment since I don't know the cost involved in such a project.
IMO Lose the display, things like daydream make up for it. The screen is too small anyway (OR/AND) Lose the wifi, apps should make it possible to pull all info from the phone. Make something like a slope or stand with the nfc inside so the phone can stay upright(Also lowers the number of coils u need).
It has all of the functionality I've ever wanted in speakers before except the design is so terrible. I don't know why anyone would want the weird wood finish on this, it looks so tacky and gives off a hipster vibe. I would kill to have a speaker with all these functions in something more geometric, modern, satin colors and less of a 1950s vibe. Price is also a turnoff.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Any 2015 tablets with user replaceable batteries? I mean as in simple swap in/out as with my galaxy s4. I imagine some of the phone/tablet hybrids have them, but I am more interested in a full size tablet, at least 7 inches. I googled it and couldn't find anything recent, so would appreciate any help, thanks.
James