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When Should I Buy an Android Tablet?
jpyeck writes "I've deliberately avoided the smartphone craze, due to the fact I've never utilized any phone (landline or otherwise) enough to justify the monthly fees. But the geek in me craves the 'smart' part of the equation, especially since I got a bonus this year-end that is burning a hole in my pocket. The iPad is out of the question because I need a bit more hack-ability in my gadgets. I am drooling over the Android Honeycomb demo from the CES. I've had my eye on the Galaxy Tab, though it sounds like it won't support Honeycomb. The Xoom looks great, but who knows when it will come out? The consensus seems to be 'wait a few months for Honeycomb.' If you were me, with limited patience, would you buy an Android tablet now? If so, which?"
You would have already got one!
Many tablets coming in. I'm going for the Asus eeepc 121. Theoratically should be able to get a full blown linux distro on it.
If I were you, I'd put the year-end bonus in a 6-mo CD, and get the tablet when the CD's term is up
Geology - it's not rocket science; it's rock science
Guy at work had a Nook Color with android put on it, was eff'n sweet. No 3g, but it has wifi and he just connected it to his phone. I was suprised at how well it responded, i'm sure the Galaxy Tab is snappier, but this thing moved quite well. So all in all, I'd say maybe get a Nook Color to see what you like? Its 250$ and it is pretty nice. Would be real handy at home or on lunch from work or whatever where you just want to surf the net and play angry birds.
So basically, -1 troll/offtopic is really slashdots way of saying "I hate that you thought of something before me."
When the value of the tablet finally exceeds the trouble you go to claiming "how much better" your netbook is to your friends, and finally to yourself. Then you can make keeping the tablet customized and updated and flashed and jailbroken your new personal hobby for a few years.
Don't blame me, I voted for Baltar.
http://twitter.com/#!/morrildl/status/22845294886518785
Wait for tablets that tout Android 3.0 Honeycomb as that version is geared towards proper tablet support. The tablets out now are hack jobs to be able to run the older versions of Android, such as faking accelerometers and other hardware Android specifies.
Because its too much $. At least for me. While i would rather have one, I can get a decent Android tablet for under 200. If the ipad was down to 300 id have chosen that instead.
Its not a 'reqiurement' to have one so the budget comes into play for some of us.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
In case you haven't noticed, companies have been trying to make a tablet computer for 10+ years. The iPad finally showed people it could be done and now everyone is scrambling to come out with something competitive. Wait at least 6 months to see what comes out, because right now, there is very little selection and the chances of anyone getting it right on their first attempt is pretty small.
make imaginary.friends COUNT=100 VISIBLE=false
Posting from my rooted nook color.
Seriously, with the native book app installed, plus the kindle app and angry birds. This is some of the best$ 250 I've ever spent.
Ps:
You pay tax b&n books, but not on amazons.
If you are looking for "hackability", why not choose an iPad (or iPad 2)? If you want to hack the tablet, you can easily jailbreak the iPad and then hack it as much as you want. iPhones have been shown to run Android, I'm sure and iPad will eventually be able to run Honeycomb as well.
Seems like the best I have seen and they made it a point to improve the interface with their own homegrown, yet still allow you to install ubuntu if you like. Tegra2, pixelQI, hdmi out, good battery, weight, and size. I have seen nothing else beat it. Of course it is still only in preorder.
If you really must have Android tablet, do as Google says and wait for the release of android 3.0.
Google says 2.x is not suited/intended to run on tablets, so your experience is likely sub-par.
There are no atheists when recovering from tape backup.
If I remember correctly, there was a story about a non-phone Galaxy S PDA coming out. I would personally prefer a PDA to a tab. Smaller means smaller screen, but much easier to carry around. I see people carrying around iPads and I think, you do know that there's an iPod touch that's the same thing but easier to carry, right? Lol. And if you're willing, you could get a Nexus S unlocked, because if you don't put a SIM card in it it should work just as a mobile Android platform that uses Wifi. That's not a small chunk of change, though.
I know that doesn't really answer the question, though, lol. But if I wanted to get an Android tab, I'd be more likely to just get a netbook and put Ubuntu on it. Half the cost, twice the function. And, yes, I know that's flamebait, but I never understood the appeal of tabs.
But... to actually *answer* the question, given those options, my opinion would be to go ahead and get a Galaxy S tab now. There'll always be something new on the horizon. When Honeycomb comes out, you'll just be drooling over the next version, "Dancing Banana." (And, yes, I did just make that up.)
If I was you I'd consider the value of a Pay as you go, low cost Android phone over the tablet form factor.
Best in the UK is the orange San Francisco at £100, easily unlocked and if moved to Tmobile it's £20 per 6 months 3G internet.
I'd buy an unlocked Nexus S and not get a contract for it. Not as big as a tablet but it would be an awesome platform for playing around with Android and at some point if you wanted the phone portion too that would be trivial to activate.
I know that's outside the parameters of your question but I thought I'd throw it out there.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
Why are you so pissed ? He's asking a tech question, on a tech related website and he's about right wondering which Android tablet to get, there's so many flavors of the damn, thing, so many considerations (will it run honeycomb being one of them), price versus features, etc. It's not that easy to pick one.
Companies are going to rush to get their tablets out with Honeycomb, and the hardware might vary as they compete with one another.
Look at the market right now. You've got tablets as cheap as $100 with shitty hardware. There's the middle ground with hardware that works and at the high-end you have the ipad and galaxy tab. I'd wait until even the commodity hardware is enough to make a decent tablet
Don't buy it unless it has a standard connector like USB.
You've waited this long to buy a smart phone because you don't use your phone?
Just because it's called a "phone" doesn't mean that's the primary function. I make very little use of my "phone" to actually talk to people. You've missed out on years of great utility because of this ridiculous notion.
Buy the notion ink Adam it has the same hardware specs as the xoom and it will shipping very soon and I think the best part is that it has a pixelQi screen.
It already has a sweet UI, and I the developers have mention it will be upgradable to 3.0 http://www.notionink.com/
It boils down to what you are after, the galaxytab is quite small (7" or so) and I could get the same functionality out of a phone. I opted for something a big larger (11") with an NVidia tegra chipset so I could play HD movies. Do you want something with good hardware and size (350USD+) or something small and more economical? (200USD+)
I have the Viewsonic gtablet[1] and it's quite nice. The default firmware/rom that it ships with is horrible but you can use an alternate ROM like TNT Lite[2] and it's really slick. I am able to watch 720p/1080p HD movies on long plane rides (after i've re-encoded them with ffmpeg to fit native reso and mp4 format) use Skype and any other Android apps with an 8-10hr battery life.
[1] - http://www.viewsonic.com/gtablet/
[2] - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=842004
Have a squat over at the hobo house.
...seems superfluous...
If you have to get one now, the Viewsonic G-Tablet for $400 is as generic an Android tablet as I've seen; Tegra 2 processor, 10.1" 1024 X 600 screen, 512MB RAM, 16GB flash, mini SD card slot, mini and full-size USB ports, B/G/N WiFi, Bluetooth, an honest 8-10 hours of battery life, etc., etc.
If you read the reviews, there seem to be two categories. People who are disappointed with the out-of-the-box Tap-n-Tap interface and return it, and those who spend an hour or two updating the software and are happy with it.
Viewsonic does seem committed to improving the G-Tablet and is reportedly pushing out frequent software updates.
And it's available from Amazon and Sears.
Saying that you won't buy a smartphone because you don't use your phone enough is like saying that you won't buy a computer because you don't use a typewriter enough.
A smartphone is basically a universal data device at your fingertips at all times and all places. When was that movie out? How late is that store open? Where is Grandma's? What was that server's IP? It's Star Trek, man. Star Trek. A phone just lets you talk. The scale of functionality difference is several orders of magnitude.
The ______ Agenda
and bought the Archos 101 - Really loving it.
You really a tablet? Must be a tablet? You can afford it now, and then later? It must be with android?
My approach would be to get a netvertible (like Samsung sliding PC or Asus Eee Pad Slider, to put 2 examples on the spotlight right now), on which i could install some kind of Linux, like Ubuntu or Meego, or if no available, Android 3.x or even (bletch!) Windows. But for now for most of the needs of portable computing my N900 works pretty well.
1. If you already have an IRA, put it there.
2. If you don't already have an IRA, open one with your bonus.
3. If you are allergic to IRAs (or live outside the US), put your bonus in the highest yield savings / checking account you can find (yeah, I know the yields are terrible, but something is definitely better than nothing).
4. If the bonus is big enough to slice of a small amount to have a nice treat, only then buy something as ephemeral as a tablet.
The economy still is in serious recovery mode. You should be saving and investing right now.
Put my fist through my alarm clock with its ding-dong death inside my ear. - The Blackjacks.
If I were you I would get Notion Ink's Adam on the next pre-order. They seem to have received very positive press at CES, and their tablet appears to be ahead of the curve by at least a few months.
My sole reason for owning a table would be for digital comics. comiXology is excellent on both Android and iOS (and your purchases are cross-platform!) While comiXology has Marvel and DC, they don't have some of the smaller and well known publishers like Dark Horse and IDW. Those are only on iOS and PSP.
No, you don't buy one now. Even Google themselves said that Android wasn't designed for Tablets yet (With Honeycomb being the first "proper" version for tablets).
Furthermore, these first-gen Android tablets are pretty great in some ways, but they're still the first generation. Waiting for Honeycomb is by far the most sensible thing to do, particularly as it will coincide with a hardware refresh of sorts (such as nVidia's Tegra 2 being available).
You COULD get an existing tablet and then hack Honeycomb onto it, but who knows how well that'll work out. You can wait 2 or 3 months and get a much better investment.
+1 IDisagreeSoHeMustBeATrollOrAnAstroturferOrAShill
The iPad i(and in general iOS devices) are actually more "hackable" in the classic sense of the word.
If you like to write software, either is fine. But the spirit of hacking is also partly in altering what is there to suit a need you have.
Because jailbreaking enables use of the MobileSubstrate, and most applications are written in Objective-C, you can not only write your own applications but very easily add hooks and modifications into existing applications - it's a lot easier to hack an addition to an application you already like to make it do something extra, than to write your own application from scratch.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I'm following the tablets rather eagerly as well. Only this xmas did I get acquainted with Android (2.1) phone and I'm positively surprised. Still, personally I'll be waiting until MeeGo tablets start popping up before I make my decision about a tablet. Unless I run into an irresistible offer as I did with the phone.
Buy? I took an older Motion Tablet PC I had, stuck an extra stick of RAM in it, and formatted it to install the Android OS. It works really well. If you are tech-savvy, I'd recommend doing the same before buying a high-dollar iPad competitor android tablet. If the price is right though, I'd recommend the purchase. Browsing the Internet on the built-in Chrome browser with flash playback works really well. Much like the iPad is a large iPhone in a sense, this is a large version of an Android phone. I'm really impressed with the tablet OS. The tablet PC has a gig
"Instant gratification takes too long." - Carrie Fisher
I'm hacking just fine now with an Archos 70 (7") tablet running Android 2.2.1. However, I'm preparing an app for Android Market, and this was a relatively inexpensive investment as a development testbed (~$340). No telco wireless account needed. I have no doubt that this Archos will draw some flames, but it does what I need.
I'm still scratching my head over the notion that a dual processor will be needed to run Honeycomb for a "tablet-specific" version of Android. There's still lots of work that can be done with Froyo and Gingerbread on tablets. Whiz all you want to on iOS, but you shouldn't need 2 gigaflop-plus processors to host a very functional tablet-specific app environment.
Of course, If all you want is to wave the cheapest and fastest hackable big red hardware d!ck, wait on...
BTW, serious developers are making $$ now serving both iOS and Android markets. Yeah, I can be a fanboy too, but my royalty $$ have proven the value of mastering both the iOS and Android dev environments, no matter what I really prefer best.
I was in the same place about honeycomb and decided to compromise between a cheaper android tablet now and a high end honeycomb tablet when they come out.
I chose the Kendo M7 and paid aprox USD 200 for it....
http://www.expert.se/Product/Product.aspx?id=5985637 (google translate is your friend) ...and I am fairly happy with it for ebooks and video.
This communication is secured using Rot-26 Encryption Algorithm, Unauthorized decryption will be subject to laughter.
I've never seen one that small before.
Because its too much $. At least for me. While i would rather have one, I can get a decent Android tablet for under 200. If the ipad was down to 300 id have chosen that instead.
The iPad is still on its initial release, its still primarily being sold to the early adopters. IIRC the iPod started out at $500, the iPhone started out at $600, ... eventually they got to $250 or $200. Apple likes to have multiple configurations for these devices, a good, better and best sort of thing, each at very different price points. One year's "best" model is the next year's "good" model at nearly half the price. If you can wait for a product line update or two you may very well see that sub-$300 iPad.
That's really why you are getting a tablet - to do things, right?
So, are you going to be telneting around, or developing,t aking it wardriving, or trying to create art? Are you going to be using it to read email and surf the web from your couch, plus stream or watch movies on it? Do you want it to impress your friends?
See, that will answer your question. If you're going to be just hacking to hack, get a mid-level Android box (sorry, too many for me to keep up with). If you're going to be surfing and looking at email, get an iPad - unless you want flash, in which case get the top of the line Android tablet today. Want to impress your friends - well, the last recommendation covers it - Android if your friends are hard core linux geeks, iPad if your friends are anything else. Don't forget to ask yourself how big a screen you need. The 7" and smaller models do NOT work well for any sort of book use, save novels, unless you like squinting.
Based on your description of what you want (i.e. - you really don't know for certain) - put that bonus somewhere that you can't touch it for 6 months, and then decide next summer what you want after Honeycomb is out.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
WHY should I buy an android tablet?
"I've had my eye on the Galaxy Tab, though it sounds like it won't support Honeycomb."
Yes only if you only ever read slashdot.....
http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/06/honeycomb-will-not-require-dual-core-cpu-as-minimum-hardware-spe/
Do yourself a favor and read a dedicated gadget blog. I recommend Engadget, though many will say they are biased toward *insert whatever company person who makes statement loves*.
In anycase, you should wait though, if only for some of the amazing new Tegra 2 based tablets
I'd recommend the Viewsonic G Tablet now except that the LCD screen sort of sucks. But the performance is absolutely awesome (with updated software - the original stock software it shipped with was very, very buggy and beta quality).
So I'd wait for a 10.1" Tegra 2 option with an IPS or other better quality screen. Twisted Craptastic errr Nemastic LCDs should be outlawed.
I too am way behind on these little hand computers. Just got an iphone and a blackberry, next I'm getting some android thing. Don't care which the OS won't bee too different from one to the other. I'm starting to get one cheap used gadget of every mobile OS to mess with them all, along with a couple of prepaid chips.
Build your own energy sources from scratch. http://otherpower.com/
The real question that needs to be answered by the original poster is "What are you going to use it for?" Tablets look nice and all, but any real typing on them is problematic. I've used both a tablet and a netbook and writing papers or working on coding is an order of magnitude better on the netbook with a real keyboard vs a tablet. You simply cannot touch type on one.
If all you want to do is browse the net, check some emails and use facebook/twitter, then a tablet would be okay. But if you need to do real work, a reak keyboard wins every time. That's before even looking at the price difference. Most netbooks are 1/3 the cost of a tablet.
A tablet might make you feel cool, but a netbook means you are smart. In the long run, smart trumps cool.
I would recommend AI Smartbook (http://alwaysinnovating.com/products/smartbook.htm) which I would eventually buy myself. :)
Its highlights:
* Unique hardware design (the system is split between several devices that fit together: of a very powerful palmtop MID, a tablet and keyboard + additional battery which turns the later into a laptop. (There is also an HDMI thing that allows the system to become a HTPC of sorts). These all could be purchased separately and constitute a single system when used together.
* Extremely good autonomous work record
* Free software and Open hardware (!)
* Advanced virtualisation capabilities
* Active team behind it
Is this enough?
The Galaxy Tab is a great device: portable, tons of software, fast. It works fine with 2.2, you don't need Honeycomb (but Honeycomb has dropped the dual processor requirement, so it may be coming). If you need a tablet now, that's the one to get.
If you don't need one urgently, just wait and see.
Yes, I said less than $40 per year! I know you said you're interested in a tablet, but I think you might like this idea instead. Here's how to do it: First, buy an android CDMA phone at full price. I got mine from wirefly.com. Yes, that costs more up front, but you'll make it back in less than a year. So I guess that technically makes it more than $40/year, but it really depends on how long you keep the phone. In any case it's going to be a lot less than any of the other carriers.
Anyway, I use and recommend the Droid X, but any Verizon or Sprint android phone should work fine. Instead of activating with Verizon or Sprint, activate with Page Plus. They're a Verizon reseller, which means you get the Verizon network at a fraction of the price. Buy a $10 standard plan card. Be sure to turn off 3G data in your phone, or it will eat up your money really fast. You'll use wi-fi instead. Set up a google voice account if you haven't already, and set up that account on your phone. Download sipdroid from the market, and use it to set up a pbxes account. Set up your gv account to forward to both your phone and your gtalk account (which forwards to your pbxes phone, ie. sipdroid). Now you can make and receive free calls wherever you have wi-fi, and you can use your page plus account when you don't. Since most of your calls will probably be when you have wi-fi, the $10 will be good for 120 days, and as long as you activate another $10 card before those minutes expire, all of your minutes are good for another 120 days. You will only be able to use wi-fi (not 3G) for data, but I rarely find that to be a problem. You can also turn on 3G whenever you want, if you don't mind paying $1.20/MB. If you find yourself using up the minutes too often, they also have other options, including an $80 card that extends you account for up to a year, or monthly options that include a decent amount of 3G data. You can find out more details about this in howardforums' page plus section.
You might be waiting a while. There's still no N900 successor as Nokia puts its energies into resurrecting Symbian[1] via a shiny Qt interface. As for 'tablet' devices, I think other vendors would be waiting for some traction before launching a Meego branded product.
Android and Meego are both Linux distros. So in theory you can buy an Android (or Win7) tablet today and 'upgrade' to Meego when it's ready. Assuming you don't buy a locked-down appliance...
Firstly, the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch are eminently "hackable" and programmable. If you can't figure that out you don't deserve to hack, or program for that matter.
Secondly, you don't need to get a iPhone, just get the computing power of it in the iPod Touch. Saves on fees and 4th Gen iPod Touches are as low as $170 now. I know as I just bought another for my family. Delivery on Tuesday. We already have two earlier ones.
I got the Nook Color for a birthday present and immediately set about rooting it. I have it now fully rooted with a new USB driver that allows it to recognize the ad hoc wireless network from my tethered droid phone. I have full shell access and the only thing it doesn't do that I would like it to is play back xvid files (works great with h.264 files though). Also installed some other other ebook software so now it essentially a Nook/Kindle/Kobo + Android tablet with all 8, 16 and 32 bit video game emulators :)
Not bad for
Wait until dual core tablets become common. Current single core tablets are orphans -- they'll never run Honeycomb.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
I would wait until HP releases the much awaited tablet with webOS. Analysts are anticipating 40 tablet models from HP in 2011. http://pulse2.com/2011/01/04/hp-hosting-webos-event-on-february-9th-will-we-see-a-palmpad/
Yeah, this should get me some down votes. Karma to burn and all that.
I would say that if you want to have a nice tablet experience now, buy an iPad. If you can wait, wait for iPad2. If can wait even longer, then I think the second round of Android tablets after Honeycomb (Honeycomb 2?) should be awesome. iPad has literally one year head start vs everything else and iPad 2, presumably with video chat camera is just around the corner. Android is moving up fast, but it will take time to catch up to the quality and the quantity of apps iPad has/will have in the next 6 months.
In Soviet Russia, articles before post read *you*!
I personally have the Huawei s7 and love it. it is a little light on accessories at the moment but the community has rallied around to get a list of compatible items.
The site listed below has a good breakdown, hack list and pending works for most of the tablets on the market.
http://www.androidtablets.net/forum/top-tier-brand-android-tablet-discussions/
Go travel somewhere, or buy a musical instrument, or furniture.
I would definitely wait for Android 3.0 both because the software will be optimized for the larger screen of tablets and because current tablets like the Galaxy Tab do not have the hardware required by 3.0 (i.e. dual-core processors) and therefore can never be upgraded. If you can wait a few months it will be well worth it to get a tablet that will be eligible for OS upgrades for at least a year or two. I didn't buy the iPad because I think it is too large and unwieldy to really be portable. However, I was just at CES and played with the Galaxy Tab for a few minutes. While I wouldn't buy an Android 2.2 tablet, I have to say the size of the Galaxy Tab is perfect. With the 7-inch screen it's about the same size as my Kindle. It can fit in my pocket. Ideally, I would like to buy an Android 3.0 tablet on a 7-inch screen, with a USB port. I want the USB port in case a USB tether option becomes available that would let me share the data connection from my Motorola Droid to the tablet. That's another reason to wait. Make sure you get one with all the hardware specs you think you might want, if that ends up being possible (hopefully the hardware manufacturers won't cheap out on things like USB and SD card readers)
I have a Viewsonic G Tablet. The default OS sucks, but you can easily replace it with 3rd party ROMs. The hardware's pretty good, and it's cheaper than an iPad.
If you're just trying to scratch a nerd itch, wait.
A lot is going to happen the next few months. This is a really bad time to buy a tablet unless you have a specific need to fill that just can't wait.
IMO, as always.
Then buy a brand new one.
The US government have made it clear that we have no inalienable rights; any we do not defend vigorously will be taken.
My mother was given a Samsung Galaxy Tab a few weeks ago. It's a pretty nice tablet but it's not quite as good as the iPad and neither is a replacement for my MacBook or any reasonably compact laptop for that matter. The Galaxy Tab has all sorts of capacitive buttons on the rim of the display that get activated accidentally if you are careless with your fingers while manupulating it. I can't fault the performance, not that I have done insane benchmark tests, but it seems to be every bit as snappy as the iPad. The Biggest problem with the Galaxy Tab is the Android software, it was originally a mobile phone OS and it shows a bit. If the iPad gets a ranking of 10 i'd allocate the Galay Tab an 8. There is nothing you can do about the irritating capacitive buttons but i'd still give the Galaxy Tab a 9 if they'd fix some irritating things about Samsung's Android OS flavor such as gigantic drop down boxes and dialogs, long paths to some menu items, the slightly erratic gesture response and the fact that international support for some European alphabets only exists in the SWYPE keyboard (which doesn't work all that well IMHO) but not in the regular keyboard. One other thing that annoys me about the Galaxy Tab is that I can't seem to be able to find the kindle App for it on Android market but that's hardly Samsung's fault. I'd say the iPad fairly narrowly wins out due to slightly better software and the fact that it has no capacitive buttons which eliminates accidental input.
Wait to see which of thse are rooted, and how the flashing is done. I expect many will be pretty well locked-down.
Of course, if by hackability you mean applications, well, you're good to go. But I'm waiting for Honeycomb (3.0), better CPUs and GPUs (dual core Tegra for instance) and capacitive screens. Won't be cheap.
deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
I didn't go to CES this year. Did anyone who did go, see a Android tablet that had a combined wacom and capacitive touch screen on one LCD? I know the HP Slate has something like that but the stylus uses a battery and I would rather have a passive stylus.
Most people were bashing the iPad when it was announced last year because "it was just a giant iPod", and "not as useful as a netbook". Now all of sudden the tablet is the next big thing.... Anyway, you don't have to wait, you either get one or don't, there will always be better devices in the horizon so it's pointless to wait, make a list of the things you want and by the one that fits.
Instead, spend half as much on a good refurbished laptop, and be able to do everything you want to do at half the price.
I don't respond to AC's.
If it's half the price of an iPad, maybe it's worth it, but the Android tablets I've had my hands on are glitchy, unresponsive, and have serious touch screen issues. Hopefully Google will get its act together in the next couple years.
As it stands, the current generation iPads are less responsive than first gen iPod touches. It's sad, given the superior hardware.
Get a playbook when they come out. Those things look to be f'ing awesome. Should allow you to do almost anything you want anyway since QNX is POSIX compliant. From the demos I've seen, they look to be pretty powerful too. Don't get the galaxy tab, it's a piece of shit and Samsung isn't very good with updating software.
DNA -- National Dyslexic Association
I just got an Archos 70. Runs Froyo. No phone, has WiFi. Very hackable, Archos has built in a dual-boot mechanism, and is one of the few Android makers to be good about posting their GPL'd code. (They just put up an Angstrom distro you can dualboot.) If you just want a tablet to hack, and don't care about not having access to the cell network, an Archos generation 8 tablet is not a bad way to go. At this point, though, you have to consider *any* money spend on *any* tablet to be money flushed down the toilet. In my case, I got it mainly for hacking and am happy to consider it a disposable hack-toy.
I'd expect google to endorse their own tablet with a partner (much like the Nexus one and the Nexus S)
that's what I'd wait for
i have a tablet for you now i just got. a Archos70. It is great. It has a camera usb port. 8gb memory and you can add 32gb card. All for just under $300.oo and you can get it in a few days. Honeycomb may be out in a few months but you have to have a dual chip. and there are very few apps for this os now. My tablet has wifi too, so you can use it almost anywhere. buy right from Archos. No waiting now!
Where is Grandma's?
You're not a very good grandson, are you?
I'm also in the market for a tablet for school (or maybe a laptop, though i'd like to play around with android). I'm looking for long battery life, and quick startup/sleep. My old laptop only lasts for about 20 minutes without power so I need to get something soon. Probably going to use it to markup slides or maybe handwritten notes (formulas and stuff like that). Also would be used to remote desktop to my windows pc at home for any heavy lifting (compiles). There's wifi everywhere, so don't need or want a data plan with it.
The galaxy tab seems cool, but I don't want to be forced into a data plan. The archos 101 seemed much more reasonable. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.
You should get an Android tablet at about 3:17pm (local time) on Tuesday.
... does not need 3G, or 4G just wifi.
Needs a big screen, like a laptop screen 1280x720 minimum.
I don't need to play games on it. Not hard demanding 3D games. board games, etc, would be fine. but playing the latest version of crysis? got a computer for that.
I want something I can use to view mags, webpages, read ebooks, watch vids, and probably do a little web browsing.
I don't want a computer, and i don't want a smartphone, have those. Have portal video game consoles also.
how many all in one devices do we really need? Why do you need a tablet that does what a smartphone can do, when you'll never replace the smartphone with the bigger tablet?
Be seeing you...
I'd be tempted to wait at least till RIM releases their "playbook". The CEO has been making some pretty big claims about the superiority of their new tablet and it might be worth the wait. Not to mention Nokia and Motorola both want a piece of the tablet pie and both have clearly stated they believe the ipad is inferior to their offerings. So given that 3 major vendors have significant announcements forthcoming, it seems like smart money to at least wait till summer. Good luck with your purchase.
There is no security when liberty is sacrificed.
If you really want a smartphone (aka handheld computer) but won't use it enough as a phone to justify the expensive plan, here's what you do: get an unlocked Nexus S, which is a really nice phone available with no commitment. Then sign up for T-Mobile's "pay as you go" plan which lets you buy time in increments as small as $10 that (once you've spent a total of $100) last for a whole year before expiring. I use my Nexus One only rarely as a phone, but constantly for other things. I spend a total of about $25/year on phone charges. And they recently added the ability to buy data access ($1.50 for 24 hours), which is really nice on those rare occasions when I want data and don't have access to wifi.
"I'm too busy to research this and form an educated opinion, but I do have time to tell everyone my uninformed opinion."
This is a nice Tegra2 tablet with rather good community support. The main downside is that the screen is TN and not IPS. But it seems well made and is looks like it will have no problem going to 3.0. Android. And for under $400 it is relatively well priced for a 10.1 inchtablet
I'm not sure what is "improper" about the current support. Almost all apps scale up nicely to the large screen on the Galaxy Tab and there are tons of on-screen keyboards that work well on the big screen. For web browsing, Kindle, PDF viewing, and viewing and editing Office docs, the bigger screen is god-sent.
I'm sure Android 3.0 will have some nice features, but you don't need it for a good tablet experience.
I've been considering an Archos device. But is there an official way to get Android Market on Archos devices that Google won't cease-and-desist like it did back when CyanogenMod was distributing the Google Apps? And where can I try its display and touch screen before I buy one? Best Buy and Sears don't appear to carry the Archos 5 or Archos 43.
Quote " especially since I got a bonus this year-end that is burning a hole in my pocket. "
We got 10 -20% unemployment, depending on what numbers you believe, which has been getting worse every month since O got elected; we got deficits, we got a technology competiton we are loosing with Asia,,,and you want to buy a smart phone
how about you take the bonus and figure out how to get Chinese to spend their remimbi on stupid gadgets made in america - at least someone will have a job
and don't tell me to lighten up...
I am at CES as we speak and motorola demo'd xoom and stated it will be avail march 1st. I called my verizon rep and they confirmed. No one will comment on price other than it will be less than ipad by a lot. $300?? ;)
If I remember correctly, there was a story about a non-phone Galaxy S PDA coming out.
In the Korean and European markets. I'm not aware of any U.S. release date for the Samsung Galaxy Player.
And if you're willing, you could get a Nexus S unlocked, because if you don't put a SIM card in it it should work just as a mobile Android platform that uses Wifi.
For one thing, a phone costs twice as much as an iPod touch because they have to put in the 3G and GPS receivers. For another, I've read horror stories of other Android phones such as T-Mobile G1 not allowing use of apps without an inserted SIM, instead allowing only voice calls to emergency services.
You could have just bought an iPod Touch if you want the "smart" without the phone plan.
Among current PDA-like devices, it appears to be a case of pick any two:
But if you get a smartphone or tablet via the $40/mo plans
My voice plan through Virgin Mobile USA is currently $5 per month. Does any Android phone plan in the USA approach that?
And the difference is a data-plan that allows you to transcend wi-fi spots (which are NOT ubiquitous from my experience.).
A properly designed application will include an offline mode, not only for devices without 3G but also for use on an airplane or other areas where 3G has 0 bars.
...Is probably the best resource online for all the Android tablets around, even the cheap sub $100 ones from China (clones that run Froyo are at least $140).
...isn't a winning strategy, then are you saying that Apple is losing? They are printing money and consistently rank high in customer satisfaction. Doesn't really look like losing to me.
If I buy such a device used, won't the used price plus the cost to replace the worn-out rechargeable battery exceed the price of a new device?
I read that Samsung was starting to lock down the firmware and kernel updates.
No thank you Samsung.
Would you buy a laptop you couldn't install your own kernel updates on? Why should a mobile be any different?
get this tablet, waiting for honeycomb to come out might be the smartest but if you want the ports and hdmi output, then as a tablet with pixel qi for reading on this one is the best. http://notionink.com/
If open-ness and hackability are your aims, I would suggest considering a MeeGo tablet since that is as open and as hackable as you can get.
Max.
Some of the things I would like to use it for:
oh... also forgot something that a later post reminded me of:
SIP to access our phone account while traveling.
Just get the Xoom... It's simply the best option right now in practically all respects... (best network, fastest processor, Honeycomb, thin, durable, great price point, on & on & on...)... You have to start somewhere so why not start with the what's currently best?
once you know that, and find one that can do it, go for it.
in my personal case, that means reading books, watchings vids, browsing the internets, and doing some light office stuff. i need a reasonably open system (not apple), a good screen (asus and the adam seem promising), and lotsa ports + full bluetooth for a keyboard, mouse, headset, and good battery life. As always with portable system, build quality is important.
it also seems that any android version lower than 3.0 is not designed for tablets. i'll probably wait for 3.0 unless some of the new pads have very good hardware specs. i'll be watching asus closely, from what I've read they seem to be the ones closest to getting it.
The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
Like me. They kicka$$. Then with the money you saved. Buy another in 6-9 months when hcomb settles.
Posted from my a101.
J
I mean...
Beat Up Martin.
Oblig Simpsons Reference.
Yep, I just bought one of these last week and am pretty happy with it now that I have TNT-lite on it.
It has a great CPU / GPU and a very nice large display. The viewing angle problem isn't terrible, in widescreen format people beside you will be able to watch the content. In portrait mode the colors will be a bit off if the viewing angle isn't ideal.
Worth mentioning is that is does lack some features that will limit your Android hacking:
That said, I'm actually pretty happy with it, since my cheap-ass android phone (HTC 3G Slide) complements it nicely, providing most of the missing features it lacks (physical keyboard, HSDPA tethering, GPS/compass).
The G-Tablet isn't going to replace my netbook... but it runs a different OS and has a different interface, so I do use them for slightly different things.
I bought an archos 70 just before xmas for $300 cdn. 500-600 plus contract is way too much for me - xoom, galaxy, the price has to drop below netbooks
Anyway it works great and will allow me the patience to wait for the real fun stuff that comes out next xmas
Just a pseudo-random date, but I hope it will give you the incentive to go out and buy something soon.
If I were to buy an Android tablet now, mainly for hackability, I'd go for an inexpensive one just to test the waters. I find the Nook Color an attractive option, but you can also get a generic tablet like this one: http://www.nowsupplier.com/android-22-os-tablet-inch-with-freescale-imx515-cortex-a8-chip-support-flash-player-10512m-ram-p-1413.html. I believe that the first experience with a new type of device should be with a low end (but not completely crappy) version, so that you get an idea what you want to do with it and what's important to you, and buy a second one that fits your real requirements later.
The other option is just to go ahead and buy an Android phone. That's what I decided to do after some consideration (haven't bought it yet). That's because a phone is something that gets more use and you carry with you more often, and it has pretty much the same specs except a smaller screen.
Well with all the lockdowns going on with Android, I would honestly wait for the rumored "PalmPad" that's expected on February 9th. I don't know that it will be a ready to sell announcement, in fact, I kind of doubt it, but if it seems worth it to wait for Honeycomb, might as well consider all your available (hackable) options, and unless HPalm decides to change the way webos has worked when they introduce the "PalmPad" it will be easily hackable and easily repairable. I'm currently resetting my Palm Pre right now as I have some craziness going on from some of the poor choices in patching that I did, and it'll take all of 20-30 minutes of an automated system to do it, and another 15 minutes of automated backup restores. Really, I think (cue the flamewar) that Palm's produce line sucks right now, but their software and hackability make them my absolute first choice for anything gadgetie.
"Don't meddle in the affairs of a patent dragon, for thou art tasty and good with ketchup." ~ohcrapitssteve
Just because it has to be hacked to enable basic functionality does not make it more hackable, it just makes it more hacked.
Realistically, the two are separate concepts. You should be able to write software without the requirement to hack, you should also be able to hack without expressly wanting to write software.
You mean what Android and Windows Mobile do without the need to void the warranty?
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
Having seen the Xoom in person at CES it leaves a bit of excitment in the back of your mind about how of its hyped up glory will actually deliver. Now, talking to Motorola its set to come out at the end of Feb for Verizon. No price was discussed but I would say around $500-$600 with a 2 year contract. Again im just guessing and hope im wrong. As long as it is not delayed then time will tell very shortly. Very promising indeed.
The Notion Ink Adam is one of the best designed Tablets there. Its design is very good. They just sold out their preorder. You can check reviews by Slashgear & Engadget. Notion Ink has been disclosing their design strategy in their blog which gives you an idea behind the design. This tablet is a Hacker / Nerds dream. Check out the Tech Specs at their website
There will ALWAYS be something shinier coming soon. Take the plunge now!
I finally took the smart phone plunge when Virgin Mobile came out with a REASONABLY PRICED plan. I sometimes have phone envy for my wife's Fascinate (Verizon) but it just ticks me off that her phone & service are imperfect while paying 3 times as much as I am!
I'm a very happy user of the archos 70. I could no longer wait for the "tablet android" (honeycomb) for buying a tablet, and wasn't willing to spend over 500 euro for playing around with something that will be obsolete in half a year (galaxy tab).
Ipad wasn't an option as i wanted a light 7 inch device (reading) and i'm no apple fan.
I considered the 250 euro of the archos a small risk for trying out the tablet concept (it got good reviews aswell). After a good month of usage, I'm amazed by the device, i love it. It has its downsides (eg. Softkeys), it required some tinkering to get everything properly running... but it scores big in the value for money department.
The plan as to ditch it for a more advanced tablet if i would turn out to find the tablet concept usefull for myself. As things stand now, someone will need to make something pretty amazing before i will replace this one.
So my advice, go for cheap instant gratefication with an archos :)
A few months ago I bought a WeTab from these people http://wetab.mobi/en/, and it rocks. I don't know if it's already shipped to the U.S.A., as I'm in Europe, but the specs look really good: 2 USB ports, 1 mini HDMI, the usual audio out jack, and a proprietary port (for a dock) on the bottom, but unused at the moment (the company hadn't produced a dock yet). It runs a WeTabOS, which is basically MeeGo + a graphical interface known as 4tiito, and that OS can easily be replaced by whichever flavour of GNU/Linux you'd like (MeeGo, Ubuntu, ...), and I think someone could also try cramming windows on the SSD. The processor is an Intel N450 at 1.66Ghz, with 1Go of DDR2 RAM. There's also a webcam, a SIM port... Basically everything you would need. At less than the price of an iPad (I paid mine about 460 euros, while the iPad here is 499 euros).
I've just bought an Archos 70. And i'm very happy with it. It's my first android device.
Android pretends to be more hackable than iPad, bit is not. iPad runs 50,000 native C apps plus 300,000 native C iPhone apps, plus you can write your own apps in C/C++/Objective-C and Open GL ES, or in HTML5 for iPad's 100/100 Acid browser, which provides the only full-size Web view on a mobile. Galaxy Tab has Java, no full-size apps, no C, and its browser is a pixel-doubled phone view of the Web that only gets 90/100 on Acid.
Lie to yourself all you want, but one reason iPad is popular is how easy it is to install and create apps. In other words: it is hackable.
I have a desktop (Core i5/8GB)
I have a laptop (Core i5/6GB)
I have a netbook (Atom dual core)
I have a cell phone ($20)
I have a portable internet tablet/audio device (Nokia N800)
These have 24", 15", 10", 1.5", and 4.5" viewing screens.
So, I'd like a device that is about 7" for reading and surfing, but has a real keyboard and 15+ hours of battery. Honestly, I'd love the N800 Maemo interface on a 7" device. Screw MeeGo, give me Maemo/Linux.
I'm all tapped out on gadgets for money. I might spend $120 on a 7" screen, provided I can hack it for use as a remote access device and run 90% of my Maemo apps including the GPS, SIP and Skype apps. WiFi only networking is fine. No cell data plan wanted.
Oh, the netbook was free and I barely use it at all. While the Nokia N800 gets used a few hours every day and it is 3 yrs old. Some days it is used 8+ hrs, so I understand why folks like their smart-phones, but I don't understand why they'd pay $50/month for a data plan.
I'd buy a mini-netbook today for $99 http://www.tomshardware.com/news/CherryPal-Africa-99-OLPC-Netbook,9275.html if it ran Linux and had a little more memory than the Nokia.
Having nearly been killed by some dumb bitch talking on her cell phone while driving, I'm getting so disgusted with all of this tech gadgetry obsession. Why not just write a check payable to People Republic of China and get it over with. The truth is that people's lives are so pathetic and boring now that the only thing they can find to do with themselves if fuck around with their phones. Pathetic.
If the OP wants a toy and has the cash, he should buy a toy. Nothing wrong with that.
I do question whether or not tablets have any practical use, or enough to justify the cost. It seems like their only niche is in letting you surf the web in a reclining position.
Archos 101 tablet.
Hands down best Android tablet, if not the best tablet out there.
The only thing I do not like about the unit is the build quality is not too good.
The camera on the thing is also pretty much worthless, obviously it was an afterthought.
But other than those things it is awesome.
They do not have flash yet for the unit, but it is comming.
Probably at the end of February from what I have heard.
But the unit is very fast, and it is priced right. Works great with my Fedora 14 Laptop.
I use mine for watching movies, reading PDF's and surfing the net.
Awesome for those things.
-Hack
Got Geometrodynamics? Awe, too hard to figure out? Too bad.
When you need one.
Buy the iPad 2 don't buy a knockoff Android version that are a copy. Won't have to wait for updates when they come out, don't have the fragmentation of every manufacturer making the OS difference from one another and holding the updates back. But if you want to hack the heck out of it then Android is probably your best bet, but I'd wait a few months till like April, May, or June when they officially will probably come out. The Motorola Xoom looks like about the best, but they are all probably going to be $400 plus. You can jailbreak (aka hack) the iPad as well too. I don't see any advantage though.
Nook Color. Good specs, cheap price, and rife with hackability.
Many good points above and almost all answered by the Notion Ink Adam. My Tegra 2 3G with PQi display is shipping next week
+1 Funny to be sure, but there is a balance.
I waited carefully, and then, checking the spec charts, finally ditched a WinMo6 phone for an iPhone 3GS. Then after a chunk of time passed, I took it off contract and now use it on AT&T's GoPhone prepaid plan. Skipping iPhone 4, Skipping iPhone 4.5 (There's some unmarked new stuff making the rounds again), and I'd like to skip iPhone 5 if I can hold out. iPhone 6 would then be my upgrade point.
I only buy tech about every 2.5 Generations if I can wait it out, but at some point you have to live life. That's why there's a real situation called Good Enough going on in the tech world. XP is/was Good Enough to skip Vista, and I am trying to resist Windows 7 if I can hold out 2 more years. Right about Windows 8 with AMD's 8-core response to the successor to Intel's Sandy Bridge with it media crap , feels like the right upgrade from XP. This far out it's not at all clear there will be a Windows 9. They might be pulling crazy Azure Rent-Your-Air stunts by then.
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
You can't offline google searches.
I can because I can live with half-hour latency in some cases. While riding the bus, I enter Google queries into my netbook, and the results open in new tabs when I arrive at Wi-Fi. It's currently not worth $60 per month to me to make the results show up any faster.
You must have an unadvertised plan.
Correct. Virgin offered a $15 per 3 months plan once I had added a bank account or credit card for automatic top-up and completed a successful $20 top-up.
This means a total of 100 minutes [...] some of us don't have land lines, either at work or at home.
Unlike some people, I don't use a cell phone to replace a land line. I make very few voice calls from my cell phone, mostly to arrange rides. Routine calls are for land lines, and we've worked out that a land line plus two cell phones on Virgin's unadvertised auto-top-up plan is far cheaper than three full-price cell phones on a family plan.
anyone who must participate in tele-meetings, be available for sales calls, or perform any number of phone related work functions.
I happen not to be on call 24/7, and if I were, my employer would pay for a phone to be used exclusively for work.
Are you willing to spend more than $6 per month on your phone?
Yes, but not ten times more.
Do you spend $100 on TV?
No. I don't even watch TV unless someone else has it on. I won't spend more than $10/mo on movies because I'm willing to wait 6 months for the DVD and then 28 days for Redbox/Netflix to get it.
Drinks?
I spend $40 per month on Pepsi products to treat my mental condition, and my psychiatrist and I use this as a replacement for $120 per month Strattera. I don't drink alcoholic beverages.
Would I rather spend $100 on Voice/Data rather than one-way crap like TV
Other people in the same household prefer one-way crap because they just want to relax. One, asked why she doesn't use MSNBC.com, told me she "would rather sit in the [recliner] and watch [MSNBC TV] than sit in there and read that little screen." Even a home theater PC wouldn't help when sites such as Xfinity TV (formerly Fancast) condition on-demand access on a subscription to one-way crap.
Get a used HTC Dream aka Google G1. Plus "extended battery".
1. They are on the market the longest, making their "hacker" support the most complete. Yes, they are alive and popular, new Cyanogen versions reach these first.
2. With a qwerty keyboard, they are very nice to use. Yep, iPhone screen keys beat Android screen keys hands down, so qwerty is a great boon. There are newer models with qwerty but none as inexpensive and as well "hacker-supported".
3. The biggest downside, battery time, is gone if you buy the bigger battery. And currently most of these phones are sold due to their battery being about to die.
4. The CPU speed while inferior to newest models, is still fine, and the cost is way lower.
5. The only peripherial sometimes found in other models is camera flash. Everything else is there.
6. Used = no contract, or extra bonuses within current contract for extending without acquiring a new phone.
Of course the first thing to do is to root and upgrade to Android 2.2 and get the overclock widget, since the phone has been purposely downclocked by the manufacturer to extend the battery life. This way you get an acceptable performance (vs quite a sucky one of the original) and the extended battery is completely capable of handling the extra load.
45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
No, unless you were replacing dialup and a land line at home, I couldn't. Where do you get wireless service for that price?
Virgin Mobile USA, $15 top-up every 3 months. It complements instead of replacing my land line at home. Likewise, I have broadband at home with a cap far higher than the 5 GB/mo that the mobile broadband carriers offer.
Carl Helmers, the first editor of Byte Magazine, said it very, very early on in the piece.
"There are people who make things happen, people who watch things happen, and people who wonder what's happening."
The first couple of issues of Byte, by the way, were corner-stapled and printed on blue paper to discourage photocopying.
Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
Repeatedly times for example http://www.handy-mobilfunkvertrag.de/ visit and buy immediately, if it is so inexpensive in the price to me the price pleases.
There's the Pogo Stylus for iPhone and iPad. All you have to do is ask Google.
Software already available for that (has been since Instant TeX on a NeXT though that only did single characters):
InftyEditor - http://www.inftyproject.org/en/software.html
FFES - http://research.cs.queensu.ca/drl/ffes/
There's also
MathJournal - http://www.xthink.com/MathJournal.html
which is a commercial product, the new version supports LaTeX
William
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.
I'm curious, what Pepsi products do you use to treat your mental condition? I've never heard of anything like that being done.
Diet Mountain Dew and Pepsi Max, used in place of Schedule II stimulants such as Ritalin and prescription norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors such as Strattera. I use canned caffeine to treat Asperger syndrome, which was initially diagnosed as ADD and responds to the same meds.
The cheapest plan I've found for an Android phone in the US is Virgin Mobile's $25/month for "unlimited" data + 300 minutes. But there is only one phone you can use on it, and it's not very good.
Samsung Intercept on Virgin is indeed priced close to an iPod touch; thanks for the tip. But how is it "not very good"? Unresponsive touch screen? Unresponsive CPU? Bad reception? No Market? Ancient OS? Something I'm not thinking of?
Whatever you do, avoid buying anything Android related from Motorola. I bought a Milestone (UK version), which had "flash ready" advertised on the box. Flash requires Froyo, and Moto have repeatedly pushed back the release date (most recently from Q4 2010 to Early Q1 2011).
Phones by other manufactures can avoid this issue by using unofficial roms. We dont expect company support forever, and the open source community picks up the slack and continues to support older devices (example - early HTC android devices can run froyo).
Motorola however have locked their boot loader, so only the stock kernel can boot. They use strong on-chip encryption for this (think Playstation style public/private key stuff, except Moto used a proper random number generator...). This means that the unoffical roms are half arsed, as they cannot fix issues in the stock kernel. The device has been rooted however (by way of an exploit, not help from Motorola).
So, if you buy a motorola tablet, expect to a) be unable to put software of your choosing on their and b) no upgrades from Motorola after about 12 months. Also if my experience with the milestone is anything to go by, it will have unfixed bugs remaining after support has stopped.
See http://www.facebook.com/motorolaeurope for motorolas "marketing" facebook page - its hilarious - every post is commented on hundreds of times with people complaining about the lack of updates and locked boot loader. That page must be harming moto, yet they keep it up. Its funny...
If the Xoom was made by anyone else, id buy it in a shot, but once bitten...
as soon as the new one comes out.
Ignore people that complain about stylus input. Ignore people that wish the tablet would be a laptop.
They don't get it. It is the beginning of the end for keyboards and mice for routine tasks. If you are a musician and have an iPad, you already know this.
Can't believe there aren't any comments here on the Notion Ink Adam yet. Real devices haven't shipped yet but it is looking like a great tablet. I have already ordered one and am eagerly awaiting it.