Galaxy Tab 10.1 Vs. iPad 2 Review

DeviceGuru writes "DeviceGuru's 10-inch tablet smackdown pits Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 against Apple's iPad 2. At price parity the iPad 2 is probably a better bet for the average user since it's a more stable, near-perfect device with a rich assortment of apps for nearly every possible function you'd like to perform on a tablet, reasons the post. However, with the Samsung tablet's cost of goods rumored to be around $215 versus $260 for the iPad 2 for comparable models, Samsung could drop its 10-inch tablet's price to $425 and pose a serious challenge to Apple's device. But will they...?"

Comments

Better Value

[sonicmerlin]

If you can go on Newegg you can already get a 7 inch dual-core tablet for $300. Or you could get the Transformer for $400. Pretty soon Archos will release their own 10 inch dual core versions for sub $400. Heck the Viewsonic G Tablet has been out since last year for $300. Competitors will drive down the price of these tablets until they've pushed margins so low we finally get sub $300 10 inch tablets. Until then however I think the iPad 2 is just better bang for the buck.

Re:Better Value

[Starteck81]

I think it's wise to focus purely on the specs. WARNING CAR ANALOGY: It's like having powerful car but the seat is milk crate and the steering wheel is made of unpolished metal rods welded into a square. Sure, it's fast but the ergonomics are so awful that who would really want to use it? Most of the cheaper tablets out there suffer from the same problem.

Re:Better Value

[zoffdino]

My manager bought the Viewsonic G Tablet the same time I bought my iPad 2. His reasoning was that the G Tablet has the same hardware, hackable to run Honeycomb but at half the price of the iPad. He tried to sell it 2 weeks later for a $50 discount and no buyer as of yet (3+ months). It really scared me about the things that the G can't do: Skype video call, Netflix streaming, dearth of apps. At least Angry Birds was good. Even if Samsung is willing to take a dive and have a $75 price advantage over the iPad, the iPad still has better name recognition, and more apps. All the Android manufacturers keep pushing out new hardware, but software is what makes the consumers want them. Has any of them push for more indie dev other than Google?

Re:Better Value

[Microlith]

The G Tablet runs the same android as most other tablets. It's problem is the shitty screen that makes it unusable, and it came out running Android 2.2, so you had to root and install the market before it was usable.

Re:Better Value

[KreAture]

That is exactly how I feel the ipad is. Polished on the outside, secret on the inside and I am not allowed to peek inside nor add any update not approved by the manufacturer and without paying the manufacturer a piece of the update-price.
Oh, and the ipad comes without a passanger-seat and lighter-plug meaning if someone wants a ride, they have to take my seat, and I can't plug in anything.

Re:Better Value

[WillyWanker]

I think you don't give consumers enough credit. Yeah, there are a lot that run out and buy an iPad cause it's the cool new must-have tech gadget that they'll use for a month and then toss on the shelf (and then only pull out when friends come over or for social gatherings -- gotta keep up the "I'm cool" image). Then there are those that actually do pay attention to specs and features. Cause if that weren't the case every laptop sold would be an atom-based netbook.

Re:Better Value

[Starteck81]

This is not a personal attack so please don't take it as such. I understand that you want to play with the engine and stuff behind the dash board but that means you are not the target audience for iDevice products. Android is a better choice for you. My comment was aimed at the other 90% of the populations that do not want to tinker with the stuff behind the dashboard. Would you not agree that the iPad is a better choice for those who do not wish to tinker? If not please explain why.

Re:Better Value

[oakgrove]

Could you please explain to me what on my Xoom requires "tinkering"? It works pretty freaking well as far as I can see. I have had plenty of time with iPads and I don't see how they are easier to operate than an Android tablet with Honeycomb.

Re:Better Value

[node 3]

No, I think it's clear that you're the one not giving consumers enough credit. They are choosing, in overwhelming numbers, the tablet that they actually want. You're the condescending prick who is saying they are just mindless drones buying iPads for social status, right down to explaining why iPads are so visible everywhere as some sort of "conspicuous consumption" type display.

Specs are absolutely meaningless except in as much as they effect your experience with the product.

Then there are those that actually do pay attention to specs and features. Cause if that weren't the case every laptop sold would be an atom-based netbook.

How so? Nobody goes, "oh an Atom processor? That's an in-order, dual core 32-bit CPU, presently topping out at 1.X GHz..." They just know (or are advised) that netbooks are dumpy notebooks and buy accordingly. And if they buy poorly, their *experience* is affected. Which is what I pointed out in my first post. It's not the specs themselves that matter, it's the user experience those specs lead to.

So a dual core Android tablet doesn't mean experience parity with the iPad. All it means is that the Android tablet has a dual core processor, and is *probably* better than a single core Android tablet.

And, like I said, few people ever walk up and ask if a specific tablet is dual core or not. All they care about is how well it works. And for that, the iPad is head and shoulders above the "competition".

And if you gave consumers as much credit as you say you do, you'd understand that.

Re:Better Value

[JorDan Clock]

Could you please explain to me what on my Xoom requires "tinkering"?

The price.

Re:Better Value

[WrongSizeGlass]

Could you please explain to me what on my Xoom requires "tinkering"?

Nothing requires tinkering. But if you want to tinker then the Xoom is a better choice. If you don't want to tinker then either device is a (potentially) a good choice based on your wants, needs and any other Android or iOS devices you own or use.

Re:Better Value

[ozmanjusri]

No, that's not true. I bought the Asus Transformer.

I like tinkering myself, but my GF is determinedly non-geek and still prefers the Android interface to iOS. Given that the hardware specs favour the Asus, as does the price, the Transformer is clearly a better device than the iPad.

Re:Better Value

[cynyr]

I think the better part of your argument is the lack of "the passenger seat" (multiple account support). These devices really do get passed round/left on a coffee table. I know if i had one, and left it out i would expect that my guests feel free to pick it up and play with it.

Both iOS and Android are rather weak in this area to be honest and I hope someone gets it together soon. I'd still probably not consider the iPad due to the hood being welded shut, but with the correct maintenance agreement i could be persuaded.

Re:Better Value

[nathanh]

That is exactly how I feel the ipad is. Polished on the outside, secret on the inside

It's not secret on the inside. The hardware and software APIs are extremely well documented. You are confusing your ignorance of the product with an imagined secrecy.

I am not allowed to peek inside nor add any update not approved by the manufacturer

You are allowed to peek inside - Apple even has a free developer program and downloadable tools to let you do exactly that. Download the free OS developer tools, develop any app you like, and install your app on your IOS device.

The only caveat is that Apple won't help you install "whatever update you like". And you most certainly can't sell products on the Apple App Store that don't conform to their rules. But there's nothing stopping *you* from installing *your* apps on *your* devices.

This is what irks me about the supposedly Free Software and Open Source advocates when it comes to Apple's IOS. Free Software could really go to town on IOS. For example, Apple won't distribute MAME through their App Store; and fair enough too. But anybody with a free developer account could compile the source code for MAME for IOS (assuming it exists) into an app, sign that build with their developer certificate, then upload the binary onto their own phone.

Instead people bitch-and-moan that they can't use Apple's App Store to distribute binaries. Why is that a problem? This is a community built on open source and free software. So why not distribute the apps as source. If open-source is such a big deal, why the fascination with bundling everything up as binaries and asking Apple to distribute it?

So you could have any app you like on your iPad or iPhone. The only barrier to entry is you need to know how to compile and install software. Is that really a problem in the Free Software world which has distros like Gentoo? It would keep out all the annoying non-developers too. It would be like the good old days of Linux when everybody actually knew UNIX; before the hoi-polloi found out about it and fucked it up.

Re:Better Value

[peragrin]

90% of the population won't change their own oil, and only put air in the tires when they have too.

these people put gas in their cars and that is all. iDevices are similar, you set it up once, and maybe add a fancy steering wheel cover, and that is it.

Re:Better Value

[blacklint]

Unless it has changed in the past couple years since I've last looked, deploying code to your own iOS device requires a $99/year developer subscription. Which very much is preventing me from installing my apps on my devices. The free tools don't provide you with a certificate to deploy to real hardware, only the emulator.

Re:Better Value

[PopeRatzo]

That is exactly how I feel the ipad is. Polished on the outside, secret on the inside and I am not allowed to peek inside nor add any update not approved by the manufacturer and without paying the manufacturer a piece of the update-price.

Where does the fun come in?

I know I'm in the minority, but if I can't pop the lid and mess with the noodles without violating some eternal oath, or having it turned by remote control into a very slick-looking trivet, it's just not for me.

God bless 'em for selling a zillion. My Apple stock continues to enhance my nest egg (but not as much as if they'd pay a goddamn dividend instead of just accumulating a war chest to buy the competition). However, it's just not for me. It wasn't designed with me in mind, and it doesn't fire my imagination. A $250 Android tablet, on the other hand...

So I'll leave the iPads for others to buy and watch closely for just the right moment to sell my stock.

Re:Better Value

[Xest]

Agreed, I actually own an iPad 2, but not an Android tablet. I do however have an Android phone.

There's a lot of rough edges on the iPad, it's merely a myth by Apple fanboys that it's got a somehow perfect UI experience. I don't know how Android tablets compare, because I've never used one, but certainly compared to Android on my phone, Android is the nicer OS imo. It has no more rough edges than the iPhone, and yet has a lot more features.

To cite some examples, I don't like how in the Apple store, if you want to browse games, they're not terribly well categorised into genre. If you scroll through the full list of all 3500 or whatever, and get half way through the list, select a game to view, then go back, it drops you right back to the start of the list, so good luck finding what page you were on again. I've found clearing search filters and then searching on category returns no results, which seems like an illogical action to me, you have to go back to the start and start again. I don't know why there was ever a whine about fragmentation on Android, the half-size game rendering with a little 2x button to double the pixel size to play iPhone apps on the iPad is the most god awful hack I've ever seen, it's just brutal. Sometimes you get a question about wanting permissions for something that doesn't really have any meaning to anyone who doesn't already understand it (i.e. regarding notifications). There's also a lot of use of touch where there really needn't be such that you end up having to guess what gesture you're meant to do where half the time, or even bypass believing the feature isn't there because there's no sensible UI indicator a gesture is possible on some interface elements to manipulate them. The standard Apple device quirks, like having to hand over your name, phone number, address, and so forth just to be able to even use the device in the first place utterly stink, and getting media onto it seems to be an absolute pain, you either have to find some app, or convert it, and then sync your media via iTunes- far easier on Android to just copy it straight across via USB, Wifi, or taking the SD card out tbh.

Of course don't get me wrong, I still like it, it's a nice device, but being objective about it it's not the miracle device Apple fanboys make out, it certainly has at least as many rough edges as Android, but fundamentally the biggest problem is that sometimes I sit down with it and think is that it? You've got a desktop with list of icons, and you've got the apps they lead to which themselves are somewhat restricted as to what they're allowed to do. I don't like the fact you can't have useful gadgets on the desktop, I don't like the fact I have to use the iPhones shitty keyboard and less than stellar autocomplete that acompanies it and completes when you don't want it to, and that you can't instead have something like Swype- you really can feel the restrictions on the device when you've used Android and then use an Apple device for a while, they really are quite painfully limiting.

My partner likes the iPad 2 for what it is, she likes being able to just use iPlayer and such on it, but I think both of us agree, had we not received it free as a gift we certainly wouldn't have bought one, but to be fair it's likely we wouldn't (yet) have bought an Android tablet either, however if we did buy a tablet off our own backs at some point, then it probably would have been Android- there's just no benefit to the Apple experience, the fragmentation issue is apparent on Windows desktops to Android, to iPads - it's a fact of computing progress, the rough edges exist in no more numerous or serious ways on both operating systems, but most damning is that the restrictiveness of the Apple ecosystem really can be felt and that's where the iPad falls down.

Re:Better Value

[silanea]

Let me get this straight. You truly cannot fathom why FLOSS developers shun the Apple ecosystem in favour of Android when by your own admittance developing iOS apps for your own device comes with a $99 or, more realistically for the majority, $1099 premium on a $499 (for the cheapest model) price tag versus no additional cost whatoever (I do not know anyone with a tablet but no x86 compatible machine) and $300 to $500 pricetag? Wow. I thought such people existed only in soap operas and politics.

Re:Better Value

[stewbacca]

I don't change my own oil for two reasons: if I screw it up, I'm the only one to blame, and it costs me more in supplies to change my own oil than it does to pay Jiffy Lube. Taking my car to Jiffy lube every 5-6 months, buying tires and a battery every three years, and filling it up is all car maintenance should be. If it is anything else, you are a serious hobbyist, or you are doing it wrong.

5 quarts of generic oil at wal-mart (with tax is $20). A standard oil change, plus filter at Jiffy lube is $25, and they'll dispose of the oil. Most importantly, my time is worth 10x both of those, easily.

This is the heart of the anti-Apple rant. Some of you are so stubborn that you'd rather change your own oil, even if it costs you MORE money to do so than to let somebody else dictate the steps (proper steps that work just fine, mind you) and process to change the oil. It's this mentality that the has driven the rest of us to coin the phrase, "he's so damn smart he's stupid", when it comes to talking about our software developer coworkers.

Re:Only things that matter:

[keytohwy]

Except actual users don't, you know, give a shit about Flash. http://blogs.forbes.com/elizabethwoyke/2011/07/08/taking-the-pain-out-of-tablet-typing/?partner=yahootix From the article: The study, which polled 1,011 U.S. tablet users in June, found that typing large documents (more than 500 words) was the chief frustration among respondents, netting a 44% response. Other tablet features were also singled out as irritations, but less vehemently. Battery life, for instance, got a 36% response while “limited connectivity” earned 23%, “not enough apps available” got 19% and “no flash” 3%.

Executive summary

[CharlyFoxtrot]

If you're the kind that likes to do a lot of handwaving about openness while boring all your friends and have a 'DIY attitude' (read: lots of free time), buy the Galaxy Tab. Everyone else, stay away until they either become significantly cheaper than the iPad or Android has caught up in marketshare and polish (which, conveniently, is always 6 months from now.)

Re:Executive summary

[gutnor]

Executive summary: unlike the rest of the iPad competitor, the Galaxy tab look like a worthy competitor, meaning 95% of everything you would do on one work well on the other. If you are an ios user and happy, buy an iPad. If you are a bit bored after so many iPhone, just buy the Galaxy tab for a change. Vice versa for Android users.

For new users, if you like tinkering, the galaxy tab is for you. Otherwise, get an iPad, to have *today* the reference tablet, or a Galaxy Tab 2 to have an old version of *tomorrow* reference tablet (Galaxy Tab 3). Unless you need flash, in that case, buy a laptop.

Re:Executive summary

[jedidiah]

...kind of depends on what you want to do with a tablet/phone and whether or not this will run afoul of Steve's vision and what the devout fanboys think you should be doing with a tablet.

More and more it becomes easier and easier to want things that the devout fanboys will call "geeky".

Re:Executive summary

[vlm]

Everyone else, stay away until they either become significantly cheaper than the iPad or Android has caught up in marketshare and polish (which, conveniently, is always 6 months from now.

6 months from now, when the androids can finally compete head to head with the ipad2, and all the early adopters have expired after being shot in the back with arrows, I'm sure sales against the ipad3 with retina display or whatever its supposed to have will be ... once again, not so brisk; but I promise once again, in just 6 more months, we'll have an Ipad3-killer android tablet ... ready by the rollout of the ipad4...

Re:Executive summary

[jo_ham]

It's one or the other - if you want to claim they have the polish *and* and marketshare, then you are dreaming.

There are some really awesome Android handsets that are more than a match for the iPhone. These don't make up the majority of the Android market share though - that distinction belongs to the cheaper "built to a budget" phones that can also run Android. I've seen several of these handsets too (and used them) and they are nowhere near the polish of an iPhone (or their much better Android cousins).

So, it is more accurate to say "Android has swelled its marketshare by going after part of the market that Apple has no interest in - cheap, crappy smartphones - while also having some genuine iPhone equivalents". You can't simply say that have "overtaken iPhones in marketshare and polish".

There are some features of Android that I'd love to have on iOS, and funnily enough, they weren't features that the cheap Android phones I've used have had on them either. Other than that, by far the biggest downer on the cheap ones is the quality of the screen and the quality of the touch response.

Of course manufacturers can make something equivalent to the iPad 2 "within a year" - they just can't make it cheaper than Apple, which has been the rub. Everyone automatically assumed that Apple was slapping a giant markup on the iPad and making hay while the sun shined. The number of "just you wait for the Android tablets at half the price with better features! any day now! any day! next month!" posts that we saw on slashdot and other sites during the iPad 1's unchallenged reign was remarkable. The closest we really got was the Xoom, which, funnily enough, cost pretty much the same as the iPad. What they were hoping for was to be able to get some sales going because the Xoom was better than the iPad 1, but Apple went ahead and one-upped them and released the iPad 2 at the same time and for the same price as the first one and the Xoom is dead in the water. It didn;t help that they rushed it to market too quickly because of the impending iPad 2 and shipped it with some of the much lauded "essential missing features" of the iPad not working at all (SD reader, Flash, usb).

Re:Executive summary

[oakgrove]

These don't make up the majority of the Android market share though

Can you cite that? The only lists I can find of top-selling Android phones are almost completely dominated by the "super phones", i.e., Evo 4G, Motorola Droid, Galaxy S. The crap Android phones seem to be far outsold by the good ones. Which kind of blows a hole all through your long-winded theory here.

Re:Executive summary

[oakgrove]

I have no cite

That's what I thought. Here's Amazon's best seller list in post-paid cell phones. Notice the list is dominated by high-end Android handsets. Here's an article from a while back showing the same thing.

Your personal experience means squat and it would be great (and make for a more honest dialog) if you wouldn't pretend like it does.

Re:Executive summary

[stormj]

Everyone else is always in a cult. It couldn't be that different people like different systems... for valid reasons.... could it? I personally like my iPad and can see why a lot of others would too. I don't think people who want a tab are broken or stupid or evil. I just worry that reviews that are always grading Apple's competition on a curve will result in more people unhappy with what they get because it wasn't the iPad killer they thought it was. But if they like it in the end, so what to you and me?

Re:Executive summary

[oakgrove]

If you have a more authoritative source, bring it on. Amazon is a very mainstream site and is credible.

Every Android vs iPad review...

[node 3]

Every Android vs iPad review, summed up:

"The iPad is the best product, hands down, but if you don't mind dealing with a bunch of issues, the Android tablet is a strong contender."

It's like all reviewers need a horse race, and will bend over backwards to try to say nice things about the Android tablets. Do you think they'd do the same if the tables were reversed?

Re:Every Android vs iPad review...

[node 3]

What the hell are you talking about? DeviceGuru is a Mac magazine?

Why not take your own advice, and broaden your horizons? Android is getting its ass handed to it in the tablet space.

But here on slashdot, apparently it's easier to just say things like "Cult of Apple" or "fanboy", than to actually make arguments based on reality.

Re:Every Android vs iPad review...

[Anonymous Coward]

No, they grade Apple on a curve.

When no one had Macs, marketshare was proof that Macs were inferior. Now that everyone has i-Devices, marketshare is proof that the owners are sheep.

Re:Every Android vs iPad review...

[stephanruby]

What are you implying? That the Samsung Tab 10.1 is all bad?

You may not seem to like this, but the Samsung Tab 10.1 is a strong contender (to the big iPhone lookalike). For some people with expensive existing music collections/movie collections (that predate iTunes or that were not gotten through iTunes), an Android tablet is really the only option they have. To a consumer, it's not a question of freedom, they rarely care about that, it's really a question of being able to play the stuff they already paid for.

Not only that, but the Samsung Tab is lighter and feels better in your hands than the iPad 2, and has the ability to turn off the auto-screen rotation (not just on an application basis, but on the entire device, this is useful when you're using it while laying in bed). And unlike the iPad 2, the Honeycomb version of Android was designed with the size of the larger screen in mind. Haven't you noticed that the screen icons of the iPad 2 are far too spread apart than they really need to be? And don't get me started on multi-tasking which the iOS still hasn't gotten right (despite their claims to the contrary).

And if you happen to own an hdmi-enabled television/flat screen, the next best choice is probably the Xoom, not the iPad2 (which tries to control everything you try to video-out). With a Xoom, you can mirror anything you have on your screen, you can play games on the big screen, you can play your music collection/movie collection through it. You can do anything through it. This is a huge plus for my friends. With the iPad 2, the only way it will allow you to play a movie through to a bigger screen is only if you purchase the movie through iTunes (it won't even allow your netflix streaming to go through to a bigger screen unless you're willing to purchase that same movie a second time).

So like I said, the Samsung Tab is a strong contender, and even the Xoom (in some areas). And unless Apple loosens up the control it holds over everything you do on your iPad, it's leaving huge openings for Android-based tablets to sweep in and take over some of the Market.

Re:Every Android vs iPad review...

[node 3]

You are 100% incorrect about HDMI mirroring on the iPad 2.

As for any existing Android tablet as being a "strong contender", that flies in the face of reality. You are making a theoretical claim (for example, that the Tab feels better, or that icon spacing on the iPad is a problem, etc.). This is all well and good, but the fact is that the iPad is outselling all Android tablets by a very wide margin, so clearly these aspects which you claim make the Android tablets "strong contenders", in reality, don't.

Re:Every Android vs iPad review...

[kangsterizer]

To be fair the iPad 2 also let you lock orientation device wide. In fact it let you bind the lock button for that task and its very handy.

Galaxy Tab 10.1 owner here

[Necroman]

Disclaimer: I got my galaxy tab for free, so I have a little extra love for it.

I've been using the tablet for a couple months now and I'm pretty happy with it. Since the Android 3.1 update came out, it fixed a lot of the initial software issues I had with the device. My biggest annoyance is the lack of Netflix support. But overall, it's been great for web browsing and standard tablet activities.

Pros:

• Flash support. (could be listed as a con also, due to flash advertisements and focus stealing issues).
• A more open app store. For example, I wanted an app that showed wireless AP strength. Android has some nice apps for it, the iPhone does not since the APIs on the iphone/ipad are private.
• Choice of web browser and mail app. You get popups like on windows saying "which app do you want to open this in".

Cons:

• Android devices vary quite a bit from one another in both firmware version of device configuration. This causes apps to not always behave properly on your device, or not be supported yet (skype and netflix).

In the deeper parts of the device I'm sure I could find complaints, but as a web browser/email client and occasionally playing games on it, my Galaxy Tab 10.1 has been a good experience (again, since 3.1 came out).

The 3.0 firmware that was originally on the Tab was really buggy. I had lots of rendering errors when visiting various websites (Google News was a big offender). but they fixed all my major issues since then.

Re:Only things that matter:

[cyber-vandal]

If units sold means a better product then Britney Spears is one of the best musicians in the world.

I ditched my iPad for Android

[Sarusa]

I've had an iPad since the day it launched. And I do like the hardware and I prefer the screen ratio to the Android tablet widescreen - the page size is better for reading magazines and comics.

Then Woot had a sale on refurbed XOOMs and I bought one. Imagine, I can just plug it in with mini-USB and transfer files or SSH them over wifi. I can replace the soft keyboard with a better one. I can have mail on my 'desktop'. Basically, there's very little I can't control, especially with Tasker. The screen on the XOOM is not quite as good as the iPad's in sunlight, and of course the iPad has a far better game selection, but I don't think I can go back at this point. So since I think the Tab 10.1 is better hardware than the XOOM except for that stupid proprietary cable that'd be even better.

My biggest regret is that I could only delete iTunes from my computer and not skull@#$ it till it died, since that's what I feel like it was doing to me every time I was forced to use it.

Exactly.

[MrEricSir]

(which, conveniently, is always 6 months from now.)

As someone who works in the open source world, I gotta say that's not only spot on, but applies to almost all open source software. You're trading ease of use for configurability and openness, at the cost of glitches and big, empty promises.

Re:Exactly.

[Anonymous Coward]

Bull-fucking-shit.

I am using a Thinkpad R60 right now with Ubuntu 10.04 LTS. Everything works perfectly. All of the hardware works. When I close the lid, it immediately goes into standby. When I open it, it immediately comes out. Wireless, bluetooth, everything flawless. The software I run has yet to crash one single time. Firefox runs perfectly. Chromium-browser runs perfectly, all of the cli apps (ssh, vi, etc.) run perfectly. Networking, i.e., Samba, apache, ssh server, run perfectly. There is nothing even remotely glitchy at all. It's like an appliance. I don't know what shit you are using, maybe you wrote it yourself but the open source software I use is fantastic.

Re:Exactly.

[manekineko2]

(which, conveniently, is always 6 months from now.)

As someone who works in the open source world, I gotta say that's not only spot on, but applies to almost all open source software. You're trading ease of use for configurability and openness, at the cost of glitches and big, empty promises.

Yeah, that's why I'm still running Internet Explorer. Firefox and Webkit (among the most popular and widely distributed of open source software) may have configurability and openness, but they'll never match Internet Explorer for its ease of use, lack of glitches and fulfilled promises.

Re:Exactly.

[oakgrove]

Yeah, I'm sure the guy only has 5 "apps" installed on his computer. Geez. Just gnome itself pulls in over a hundred distinct applications. Have you ever even seen Linux?

Motorola Xoom owner here

[oakgrove]

I also got my Xoom for free.

I've had my Xoom almost since it first came out and I, as you, have had a much improved experience following the 3.1 update. A friend of mine as well as my boss both have iPads that I have had much experience with and here's my 2 cents.

I prefer the Xoom for the following reasons:
The web browser makes more sense ergonomically on a tablet than Safari does on the iPad since it has tabs that are always viewable.
Higher resolution widescreen display.
I prefer the way multitasking works as I just hit a button on the taskbar and thumbnails of currently running programs display to pick from.
Always visible and consistent "back" button on the taskbar.
Widgets
Wi-fi hangs on to a signal better. My boss is constantly getting the "would you like to sign up for a cellular plan" pop-up on his iPad when the wi-fi falls down.
Google Music integration with the music player so all of my stuff is always at hand.
Scripting layer for Android so I can write and run python scripts right on the device.
Choice of keyboards including "Hacker's Keyboard" that gives me access to all keys including Esc, Ctrl, and Alt for vnc/ssh sessions.
Firefox web browser that stays in sync with my desktop browser including tabs/settings/passwords, etc.
Ubuntu chroot so I have an industrial strength cli environment right on the device.

About the only advantages I see for iPad is the interface is smoother and their are more tablet oriented apps. Some people claim that it is simpler to operate but I don't really think that is the case. I have yet to see any particular exclusive apps that would draw me away from Android and I can get past the relatively small difference in smooth. YMMV.

Re:Motorola Xoom owner here

[shutdown -p now]

There is one huge disadvantage that I see with Honeycomb tablets: the stock browser is a horrible, slow piece of crap. It's probably the fourth time I post this on Slashdot, but this just serves to highlight the point: there have been two Honeycomb updates already (3.1 and 3.2) and none of them fixed it. It is still impossible to post a comment on Slashdot using the stock Honeycomb browser: the typing lag is so slow that it is an exercise in frustration and nothing else. Meanwhile, Safari on iPad can do so just fine. Heck, browser on my Android phone can do it!

And before I get a bunch of replies about how it's Slashdot HTML/JS that's crap (it is, but it's not relevant in this case) - it's not just Slashdot. Same problems on XDA forums, for example, A bunch of other places, too.

I can't imagine how this kind of bug can go unfixed for two significant updates.

Re:Something I've never understood

[vlm]

Tactical error on my part. A better standard /. analogy would have been:

$9K for a used beater from '05 with 100K miles driven hard by teenage fast-and-the-furious wannabe that often breaks down vs $10K for a new one of whatever jedidiah thinks is a decent car brand.

The point remaining, if I'm gonna toss out a substantial amount of dough for a luxury, I want it to "just work perfectly", not be "kinda close for 10% less".

"Kinda close for 10% less" is how you sell 6-32 screws to engineers who wanted to use 8-24 screws but the boss forced the redesign because its a little cheaper. "Kinda close for 10% less" is not how you sell luxury goods.

"Here's my new Rowlex... Its almost like a Rolex, in that its worn on a wrist and tries to tell time, but not really, because it doesn't work. Oh well, I saved 10%" ... um, maybe, just maybe, that would fly at a 2600 meeting, but probably no where else..

Re:Only things that matter:

[node 3]

No, but they'd be the "clear winners", which is what was claimed.

Re:Only things that matter:

[oakgrove]

For support entire web: neither there are plenty of sites a galaxy cannot access.

I have Firefox installed on my Xoom with the desktop UA string. What site can I not access?

You can easily and cheaply develop custom applications for the ipad

If you already have a Mac, sure. Otherwise, you will need to buy one to the tune of at least 7-8 hundred dollars, then pay the 99 dollar iTunes fee. For Android, you just download eclipse and the Android sdk for free on whatever computer you have at hand whether it has Windows, Linux or OSX on it. Then when you want to load your app on your device, you pay nothing.

For user customization what kind of customization?

Widgets? Alternative launchers? Themes? And that's before you root it.

The last two items are so low on the list of what real users want to do it.

Users don't like widgets? News to me as a person that administers a fleet of Iconia A500's. Also, in a corporate environment, my boss cares a whole lot on how easily and cheaply I can develop for our tablets.

Re:Hack Much?

[oakgrove]

That's strange as according to this review, the xoom gets 8 hours and 20 minutes on a charge. I usually go a couple of days on a charge using it on and off.

Re:Open Screen Project

[PCM2]

Used to be until two and a half years ago [wikipedia.org]. In February 2009, Adobe published the SWF specification under a license that does not prohibit third-party SWF players. Flash Player remains proprietary software, but the spec license change has allowed for Gnash [wikipedia.org], Gordon [slashdot.org], and Smokescreen [slashdot.org].

That argument seems to be sort of a smokescreen to me (no pun intended). None of those projects can play all Flash content. The most mature of the three, Gnash claims to support "most" Flash v7 and "some" Flash v8 and 9. Flash is on Version 10. As long as the only way to reliably play Flash content is to install the Adobe product, then Flash remains "closed" as a practical matter. Same is true of Microsoft's XML-based Office file formats; you can read the specs, but how many open source projects can reliably read/write .docx files? I would say none.

Re:Only things that matter:

[macs4all]

If units sold means a better product then Britney Spears is one of the best musicians in the world.

Funny, that's exactly what Android users keep using as "proof" that Android phones are "better" because of a few quarters of higher sales numbers.

Re:Only things that matter:

[PCM2]

None of the demos on this page( http://www.apple.com/html5/ ) will run on the Galaxy Tab. Therefore the Galaxy Tab does not support the entire web.

How do we know if they'll run on the Galaxy Tab? They very well might, if Apple hadn't put up a wall that prevents non-Safari Web browsers from viewing them. The content won't load on a Galaxy Tab, but to my knowledge nobody has checked whether it will run (which isn't the same thing). Saying that makes Apple's product superior is like saying Internet Explorer 6 is a better Web browser than Chrome because Chrome can't view Web pages with ActiveX controls on them.

Re:Or jailbreak it

[manekineko2]

Heh, open in the sense that any door is open if you have a crowbar.

Re:OT Anecdote as Data

[PCM2]

Just tried it on a Galaxy Tab 10.1 and it works fine. I personally never put much stock in display models, especially at a high-traffic "big box" store like Best Buy. Those display units go through hell. If one crashes, I just think, "Jesus, couldn't they have even put a working one out for display?"

Re:Galaxy Tab has already been declared the winner

[PCM2]

That's weird. You say the Galaxy Tab has already been declared the winner, but the link you provide declares the iPad the winner... and goes as far as to use words like "obnoxious," "tolerable," "hurts to look at," "sledge hammer approach," and "Samsung ruined it" to describe the Galaxy Tab. (Note that the review is just of the various tablets' screen technologies.)

Re:Or jailbreak it

[KreAture]

And every month someone with a autowelder comes and closes it again.
He also removes any addons you may have installed and makes sure the welds are stronger this time.

Btw, my friend tried to park his iCar in my garage and iGarage wanted to erase the tapes in his 8-track and glovebox.
Will I have to install a new carport to avoid it (tinker?) or will someone relax a bit soon?

No longer comparing Apple's to apples...

[JackAxe]

I have an iPad(iOS 5 -- I'm a developer.) and an ASUS Transformer to name just two of my tablets. My iPad is really just glorified personal media player -- and at that task it's overpriced. My ASUS on the other hand is closer to my MacBook Pro with the niceties of a tablet. For what I do and what I like, it's hands down better on almost every front

I MY FREAKING OPINION -- just like the article this is linked to:
The iPad is for someone that's heavily invested in iTunes and enjoys an overly simplified UI that holds one's hand and lets that user know exactly what they can and can not do. It's a device that throws individuality out the door in favor of conformity -- every iOS device looks pretty much the same with only a slight variation in the background and it's pretty sad that almost all of them have AngryBirds installed. iOS has become rather generic.

The iPad is a safe and limited tablet that will rarely evolve beyond what it is now. It's main purpose is to keep the user in Apple's eco-system and it does an excellent job at that task.

Android(Honeycomb) tablets on the other hand, are for those that want the consumption strengths of a tablet, but WAY more functionality like a traditional OS. They're devices for the tinkers, the individuals, power users. People that don't readily conform to one generic set standard and would like to personalize their experience outside of just having different apps available.

They're excellent devices for those that don't need their hand held and can make decisions on their own.

Re:ipad vs galaxy

[cynyr]

not to be too much of an ass/youngin' here, but wasn't most of the rest of the world outside of MSdos 3.30 using slashes at the time anyways?

Re:OT Anecdote as Data

[517714]

You should have stayed with the generic argument against anecdotal "evidence" which is much stronger than the case specific one. If you want to see the tablet floor models that really get used a lot, go to an Apple Store. But they don't seem to crash.

This is a troll.

[Antisyzygy]

At price parity the iPad 2 is probably a better bet for the average user since it's a more stable, near-perfect device with a rich assortment of apps for nearly every possible function you'd like to perform on a tablet, reasons the post.

Come on. I like how the OP tacked on "reasons the post" at the end to somehow claim objectivity. You did a great job of being objective OP.