The Tablet Thread

[L[0ne]R]

I'm planning to get myself a tablet for Christmas, so I started doing some research on the topic. I want to get away from Apple and finally check out Android now that it has some good alternatives to Apple's toys (like Samsung Galaxy series), so definitely NOT getting an iPad. Currently I'm leaning towards Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, primarily because along with nice hardware it also comes with an S-Pen which is a great feature for me as a newb artist. External memory support is also a great bonus since I never have enough room for all my porn music. However it is very pricey (a whooping $500), so if you know of any cheaper alternatives - please post in the comments.

I'd appreciate it if you share your experience with Android tablets and the OS itself, since I know almost nothing about Android or Galaxy and only started reading about them yesterday.

[n00bface]

Google Nexus (either 7" or 10") is unbeatable for the price, and it's Google, so it's well supported. I have both a Nexus 7 and a Galaxy Note, and the Galaxy Note has a really frustrating screen lag as well as a generally un-intuitive interface. I still occasionally mistake the screenshot button for the app button because most other android devices have the app button where the screenshot button is...like, Samsung, why you gotta do me like that? Why can't you just conform with the standard?

Anyway, the Google Nexus 7 is baller. I'd rather have the 10" screen, but when I bought it the 7" was all that was available. It's incredibly fast, super cheap, but no S-pen. Battery seems to last me a few days at a time, but the truth is that I rarely use it except when I'm on break between classes, reading PDFs in class, or taking shits. And truth be told I'd bring my laptop with me to shit with instead, but my wireless network adapter freaks out when I switch rooms.

[L[0ne]R]

Yeah, I'm actually starting to lean more towards Nexus 7. The hardware is still powerful enough for music, video, web-browsing and hopefully most games too. Low internal storage in Nexus 7 and lack of SD Memory support are what really put me off at first, but apparently with a little fiddling it's possible to mount external drives via USB. As for lack of S-Pen.. I still have a good 'ol paper sketchbook, so I'll live I guess. The advantages of Note 10.1 don't seem to be worth the extra $250.

Also from what I've read, the resolution is the same on both Nexus 7 and Note 10.1, despite different sizes of the actual screen. So how do screens feel in terms of quality and readability? Is the display on N7 large enough to browse websites without having constantly zoom in and out?

And a question about Android in general: how much customisation does it have? How hard is it to mod the thing, jailbreak, install custom skins and themes, and so on?

Oh, one more question. How well does the music app work? Is it possible to import music from external hard drive into internal music library, so that it works natively and uses all the features of a built-in music app?

[zakath]

I have a Motorola Xoom, Ainol novo7 auroroa 2, asus nexus 7 and a Galaxy Note 10.1 and I wouldnt recommend buying anything that isnt a nexus device as updates are the most important thing on android, so basically I would go for either a N7 or N10 all depending upon which size you prefer(personally I prefer the bigger ones). Also if you want to flash roms etc nexus devices are the way to go as you can be sure that they will have the biggest support from the community and are also really easy to root/flash. On nexus 7 you will need to zoom in and out just so you know. I cant really say anything about the music app as I use Spotify for music myself but there are tons of music players for android so wouldnt really worry about that.

[14th_account]

zakath apparently collects tablets in his spare time.

[zakath]

zakath apparently collects tablets in his spare time.

well its kinda strange I buy a tablet or laptop etc. but my friends and relatives tend to lend them and leave me tablet/laptop less so then I buy a new one and history repeats itself

[jrgp]

Whichever tablet you buy you need to realize that it is not a full computer. You can't run Windows, and Ubuntu for arm is still a while away. You'll be living in a walled garden with no chance to run any real programs, like steam, soldat, ms office, whatever. Just get a netbook and don't look back. I'm loving my Eee PC (I'm posting this from it). It even runs KAG.

[Keron Cyst]

i 2nd jrgp. i feel tablets are just luxury items and thought the iPad was the stupidest thing in the world because i was expecting it to run a touchscreen version of Mac OS X just as some nifty portables run a touchcreen full Windows. but what does it run? iOS. What a waste when you can get an even more portable iTouch.

im happy with my cheap cruddy Acer Aspire One. it does what it needs to and a bit more if youre patient. number one reason for buying was weight. the only advantage a tablet has MAYBE is the zero bootup time and immediate accessibility... which is easily defeated by the fact that it cant really do many things. but what cant an Android phone do that u should buy a whole tablet for whatever functionality youre seeking instead of a simple netbook? theyre novelty gift ideas but arent very practical.

If you are seeking basic quick accessibility of email, Facebook, and simple web-browsable stuff, go get an Amazon Kindle Keyboard 3G. you can whip it out at a moment's notice, it's lighter (and easier on the eyes) than all of the above products, and you can check your e-mail while on a truck in Mexico, a bus in Germany, at a gelato parlor in Italy all with no wi-fi, courtesy of Amazon's lifetime free worldwide no-contract 3G. just make the one-time unit purchase and browse 50mb/month for free for life.

i just typed this post on it in fact (which explains the bad grammar :p I'm just being quick). i bought it FIRST for its web browser, THEN for its e-reading capabilities and everything else it is actually known for... and they are not bad or useless at all. far from it. oddly enough it fills in all the gaps for me, doing things that my laptop can't (or would be a real hassle to pull out just to do).

edit: and you can get it for as low as $70 on Craigslist by ppl. leaving it in mint condition bc they don't know how to use it properly or don't look into the details of things. did u know the Kindle is an mp3 player too, with LOUD speakers as well as a headphone jack? i would highly suggest a Kindle Keyboard 3G over any other piece of portability-focused technology. But strictly only the KK3G; all other Kindles have no or severely restricted 3G capabilities.

edit 2: just got an alert. refurb. unit today only for $60 at all4cellular.com - go get it dude(s)!

[L[0ne]R]

I plan to use the tablet to listen to music, watch youtube, play simple games, and bounce around the internet while lying on the bed in my room, so I'd rather have a touchscreen and a simpler interface than a keyboard and a trackpad. I don't plan to do anything "advanced" - I already have a desktop PC for that.

I'm still trying to decide whether I should stick with Nexus 7 (32gb) or go for Nexus 10 (16gb). I don't know if the high-res display is really worth sacrificing 16gb and extra $150 since the videos I watch are almost never higher than 1080p. I'm worried that such a high res could only make things look worse. :/

[Keron Cyst]

Yeah, videos can't be watched on a Kindle. Then go for the 7, right?
EDIT: additionally, if it can support it (I don't know)... http://dealnews.com/San-Disk-8-GB-Class-4-SDHC-Memory-Card-for-5-free-shipping/639372.html

[L[0ne]R]

Unfortunately neither of the Nexuses have SD slots (and it doesn't seem like Google plans to change that), but at least it seems easy enough to hook up an external HDD via USB, or even access network drives. I've pretty much decided to go with Nexus 7 after all, and luckily they just started selling 32GB models so storage shouldn't be too much of an issue.

Thanks a lot for the info, guys. It really helped.

[Keron Cyst]

You may want to wait for these results (read the comments): http://lifehacker.com/5964434/best-android-tablet
The results: http://lifehacker.com/5964800/five-best-android-tablets
The result of the results: http://lifehacker.com/5965442/most-popular-android-tablet-nexus-7

You're good to go.

[Espadon]

Just dropping in to note that I thought slates were the most stupidest thing until I attended Games Developer Conference last spring. Slates have enormous practicality as a presentation platform; ex., it makes for a superior artwork portfolio. Every other form factor is either unwieldy (netbook) or inadequate (smartphone).

[iAmBullet]

Can you download and play Soldat on Tablet PC's and have good quality performance?

[L[0ne]R]

Can you download and play Soldat on Tablet PC's and have good quality performance?

Probably not. I saw some people on youtube install Windows XP on some tablets, but it ran like crap.

[iAmBullet]

lol Good point...not to mention playing Soldat on a tablet would be the most annoying thing in the world now that I think about it... Does seem pretty cool though.

[Daniel King]

Google Nexus (either 7" or 10") is unbeatable for the price, and it's Google, so it's well supported. I have both a Nexus 7 and a Galaxy Note, and the Galaxy Note has a really frustrating screen lag as well as a generally un-intuitive interface. I still occasionally mistake the screenshot button for the app button because most other android tablets have the app button where the screenshot button is...like, Samsung, why you gotta do me like that? Why can't you just conform with the standard?

Anyway, the Google Nexus 7 is baller. I'd rather have the 10" screen, but when I bought it the 7" was all that was available. It's incredibly fast, super cheap, but no S-pen. Battery seems to last me a few days at a time, but the truth is that I rarely use it except when I'm on break between classes, reading PDFs in class, or taking shits. And truth be told I'd bring my laptop with me to shit with instead, but my wireless network adapter freaks out when I switch rooms.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 was announced recently and has a decent list of specs. The Google Nexus 7 which has been designed by Asus is so far one of the unbeatable tablets in the market with a good price tag.

[Vos]

Is it possible to run arsse on tablets? if anyone tried atleast..

[Daniel King]

Is it possible to run arsse on tablets? if anyone tried atleast..

Yes it is possible but you need to have more memory.

[Vos]

more hdd memory? what for does it need so much?

[Vucgy92]

Tablets are SH*T !
Buy a lap-top if you want something portable and not that incest called tablet!