Ask Slashdot: Best Android Tablet For Travel?

PerlJedi writes "I am planing a long trip (to Ireland), and want to buy an Android tablet to take along for the trip. I am a software engineer (I actually work for Slashdot), a Linux geek, and an Android fan. I would like to get a tablet primarily to use for entertainment (when I'm not working or building robots in my workshop, I'm usually playing with my phone), but something I could get some work done from in a pinch would be a major plus (all I need to be able to work is a Web browser, and an ssh terminal, preferably with a keyboard). My current cell phone is the Samsung Charge, rooted and running GummyCharge 2.1, and it is a good bet I'll want to root whatever tablet I get, if not right away, soon after getting it. From an entertainment standpoint I want something that is large enough to watch high definition videos on, with a battery life that will make it practical for use on a long flight. Having a decent camera would be a nice plus, but is not an absolute necessity. Having a forward facing camera for video chat would also be good, but is also not a necessity." PerlJedi's got a few options in mind; read on for the details of his reasoning and help him fulfill his quest. "My brief initial search has yielded the following initial contenders:

• Asus Transformer Prime: This is currently my favorite, for a few reasons: Tegra 3 quad core processor (that's just plain cool); it's designed with a docking station in mind, making it perfect for using for work; sleek, thin design; light weight; available with up to 64 GB. It is on the pricey side, though.
• Toshiba Thrive: I must admit, I know very little about this one. Unlike the others, I have not heard much hype around it. From what I've read thus far, pros include: full-size SD slot; full USB support; full HDMI support. Cons: Bulkier and heavier than its opponents.
• Motorola XOOM: This one has been available for some time, which can be both good and bad. Its problems should be known and understood by now, but it's lost some of the sex appeal of the new product.
• Samsung Galaxy Tab: The Galaxy tab line has also been on the market for a while. It does have some added appeal to me because my phone is also from Samsung, so the rooting processes, and available ROMs, will be more familiar to me.
• Sony Tablet S: Like the Toshiba, I have heard little hype about this tablet. Its feature set also seems similar to the Toshiba. I must admit here, I may be a bit biased against Sony over some of their recent treatment of the hacker/maker community."

Comments

Hmmmmm....

[Anonymous Coward]

iPad 2?

Re:Hmmmmm....

[InterestingFella]

And iPad doesn't have the technology? It isn't merely "fashion", as you state it. On top of technology, Apple has made sure that the interface is great for the user. That is a good. Linux also lacks in this in many things. Hell, if you have read slashdot even a bit you see how even the 'geeks' here are upset about Firefox UI changes and the newest Gnome and Ubuntu looks. User interface matters, even to geeks.

Re:Hmmmmm....

[Tsingi]

--
Islam is a religion of murder and hatred.

Your comment about Islam is the kind of bigoted remark that fuels religious hatred. Good work asshole.

As for Islam, Jews and Christians seem to be wiping them out at an accelerated rate. But that's not murder and hatred?

Me, I'm not prejudiced on the topic, I hate all religions equally. They are all dangerous, especially those fanatics waiting for the "Rapture". They WANT the world to end. You have to know that they are willing to help it along, and there are a lot of them.

...... Seriously?

[bodangly]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=best+android+tablet+travel# Is this what Ask Slashdot has become? Seriously, are tablets in general not designed for travel? Please lets get some worthwhile questions on here, I don't know maybe something related to NEWS FOR NERDS or STUFF THAT MATTERS? "Asus Transformer Prime: This is currently my favorite, for a few reasons:" There you go, you answered your own question. All you are going to get is 100 other people's "favorites". Mod this comment down now.

tablet schmablet

[bazorg]

Just get over the tablet fad and buy a MacBook Air or something similar. Saying "I want a tablet" as a starting point and then going on about how all the computer-y things that you want to do with the device just shows that you started off the wrong foot. Keep tissue at hand if you really feel compelled to poke the screen of all your gadgets.

Re:An iPad 2 would be the best choice.

[aristotle-dude]

Frankly, I'm disappointed that you are a platform snob. You want a device because of the "platform" rather than what it does for you. As I pointed out, the iPad is a great device if you want to connect to anything be it a mac, windows pc or even linux machine running x-windows. You don't even need to use iTunes to manage it now with the release of iOS 5.0.

The first e-commerce platform I launched in my career was written in perl and ran off a linux server with apache back in 2000. I was a windows user from 1996-2002 at home but I wrote software for both windows and linux (perl) at work. Even after I switched to an eMac at home, I still wait for it.... wrote software on windows and linux at work. When my workplace decide to move to the .NET platform for our online products, I learned .NET. I am still a mac user at home but I also have a windows partition on my Intel mac for running games and other applications that have no mac counterpart. I never complain about using windows at work while I write software using .NET, Java and python because I am a professional.

Do you see me calling myself .NETSith, .NETJedi or JEDI.NET? No. If you lost your job at slashdot right now and you came looking for work at my employer, they would not hire you. First of all, PERL is a dying language and second of all, we don't tolerate platform or language zealots. I use the tools at work that I have at my disposal and we use the languages that are the best for the job. Sometimes we have to use Java or Python to integrate with off the shelf software.

If Apple had not released the iOS platform then I would probably not be using a tablet. Let's be honest for a second, if it was not for the iOS platform, Android would look like a Blackberry knock off runnning on phones with keyboards on the bottom and tablets would still be a microscopic niche market dominated by windows. There would be no Android tablets or even WebOS tablets. WebOS would not exist if Apple had not forked KHTML to create webkit.

They are recommending it because of what you asked

[SuperKendall]

Frankly I am disappointed that so many people recommend I get and iPad when the OP specified that I want an ANDROID tablet.

You ALSO said you wanted good terminal software. As mentioned, the iPad has a TON of SSH and VNC choices. It also has good keyboard support, with a number of third party keyboard cases...

You need to decide if you want Android for the sake of it or if you are interested in an iPad and with it functionality over form.

Also, on a side note you do not need Windows. With iOS 5.0 you can activate an iPad and never have it touch a PC. It'll back up to iCloud (free) and you can update the OS/software on device.

Just because the iPad is popular, doesn't mean that it is right for everyone.

It also does not mean it is not right for you. I have never let the popularity of something factor into the choice of buying it or not.

But for me, a hacker/maker/tinkerer, I will much rather use android because it gives me the freedom to do all of the things I want to do with my hardware.

Jailbreak it and you have just as much freedom. More really, since it's easier to hack than Android.