Most Android Tablets are expensive toys

[ManThatCan]

I'm probably going to get "flamed" for this post. I've owned a Flytouch Superpad III for over a year, fun, clunky, rubbish battery life. I ebayed it and bought the new Nexus 7 last month. I'm not an Apple fan, think they are pricey and have always applauded Linux from the early days (text based Red Hat with Samba) for their stand against the mighty Microsoft. So at last, a cool, high spec Android device...

OK it's impressive, super smooth, fast responsive screen, good battery life - BUT I've come to the conclusion that without 3G or 4G, what's the point of a "portable" device that isn't that portable ?

I have an old Dell 430 12" laptop. It has Bluetooth and Wi-Fi as standard. I bought a WWAN card (Toshiba) for ?10 from eBay and a ?15 1 year internet T-Mobile SIM card. It works and connects to the Internet (almost) anywhere. Oh (almost forgot) it's got a SSD too !

My point ? - I tried to "tether" the Nexus 7 to the Dell using Wi-Fi to get the "best of both Worlds". Guess what ? Android tablets don't support "ad-hoc" wireless internet connection sharing. iPad and iPhones do (ironically they don't need to !)

I'm sorry, its a TOY ! and so is the Acer and so is the Kindle Fire. Until these support 3G/4G keep your money in your pocket !

 

[dmmarck]

I'm probably going to get "flamed" for this post. I've owned a Flytouch Superpad III for over a year, fun, clunky, rubbish battery life. I ebayed it and bought the new Nexus 7 last month. I'm not an Apple fan, think they are pricey and have always applauded Linux from the early days (text based Red Hat with Samba) for their stand against the mighty Microsoft. So at last, a cool, high spec Android device...

OK it's impressive, super smooth, fast responsive screen, good battery life - BUT I've come to the conclusion that without 3G or 4G, what's the point of a "portable" device that isn't that portable ?

I have an old Dell 430 12" laptop. It has Bluetooth and Wi-Fi as standard. I bought a WWAN card (Toshiba) for ?10 from eBay and a ?15 1 year internet T-Mobile SIM card. It works and connects to the Internet (almost) anywhere. Oh (almost forgot) it's got a SSD too !

My point ? - I tried to "tether" the Nexus 7 to the Dell using Wi-Fi to get the "best of both Worlds". Guess what ? Android tablets don't support "ad-hoc" wireless internet connection sharing. iPad and iPhones do (ironically they don't need to !)

I'm sorry, its a TOY ! and so is the Acer and so is the Kindle Fire. Until these support 3G/4G keep your money in your pocket !

Honestly, you can change the title of this thread to "most tablets" are expensive toys and have the same result. Tablets as tools are a forced proposition. I did it with the original iPad; I used it in class (terrible for notes), for studying (very good as a pdf reader), and bar exam prep (very good, but I was using a blown up iPhone app that featured multiple choice questions, lectures, etc.). It only becomes useful if you are determined to use it--even in spite of better options (like a laptop).

 

[shona001]

I love my Nexus 7, I use it for the Internet, as a Sat Nav, listening to music, reading books, watching films on the train and loads of other stuff. OK it may be a toy, but for all the stuff it does I wouldn't say it was an expensive toy.

 

[ManThatCan]

Hi and thanks for the reply. I do agree (up to a point). I've always found with Linux that you have to take away the "safety net" of Windows (or maybe the "comfort blanket" is a better familiar analogy) to "force" yourself to find the apps you need and make them work. It's always seemed incredible to me (but not surprising) how Linux distros are always striving for a Windows type "look and feel". A colleague has an iPad and "threw his life" onto it, so much so that he was able to sell his previous "lifebook" - a MSI Wind netbook. To do so he must have been convinced the iPad was doing the same job. I can't say that about the Nexus 7 v's my Dell 430. To me the inability to tether these Android tablets to a 3G/4G device, albeit (in my case) a portable or (more commonly) a smart phone and hence access the "outside world" is Android Tablets #1 issue at the present time.

 

[shona001]

And another thing , what's wrong with toys anyway? I'm all for getting more fun out of life, you could say my horse is just a toy as he is just for fun and he cost a hell of a lot more than my Nexus 7!

 

[1812dave]

I'm probably going to get "flamed" for this post. I've owned a Flytouch Superpad III for over a year, fun, clunky, rubbish battery life. I ebayed it and bought the new Nexus 7 last month. I'm not an Apple fan, think they are pricey and have always applauded Linux from the early days (text based Red Hat with Samba) for their stand against the mighty Microsoft. So at last, a cool, high spec Android device...

OK it's impressive, super smooth, fast responsive screen, good battery life - BUT I've come to the conclusion that without 3G or 4G, what's the point of a "portable" device that isn't that portable ?

I have an old Dell 430 12" laptop. It has Bluetooth and Wi-Fi as standard. I bought a WWAN card (Toshiba) for ?10 from eBay and a ?15 1 year internet T-Mobile SIM card. It works and connects to the Internet (almost) anywhere. Oh (almost forgot) it's got a SSD too !

My point ? - I tried to "tether" the Nexus 7 to the Dell using Wi-Fi to get the "best of both Worlds". Guess what ? Android tablets don't support "ad-hoc" wireless internet connection sharing. iPad and iPhones do (ironically they don't need to !)

I'm sorry, its a TOY ! and so is the Acer and so is the Kindle Fire. Until these support 3G/4G keep your money in your pocket !

Such comments don't warrant a serious response.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

 

[dmmarck]

Such comments don't warrant a serious response.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

Then don't reply.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Xparent Cyan Tapatalk 2

 

[natehoy]

I'm sorry, its a TOY ! and so is the Acer and so is the Kindle Fire. Until these support 3G/4G keep your money in your pocket !

And the addition of 3G/4G suddenly turns it in to a valuable tool because.... ?

Tablets are pretty much toys. Period. Android, iPad, whatever. All toys. They are almost utterly useless at generating content of any type and are useful only for consuming content, pretty much. Actual use case scenarios are very limited. And, honestly, a practical use case for most tablets is going to be in a WiFi environment, so the addition of a cellular data radio increases the chances of it being a toy.

At $200, "expensive" is in the eye of the beholder - I certainly find it affordable enough for the enjoyment I receive from it. I would certainly not point at a $200 Android tablet and call it a "silly toy" while looking at a similarly-equipped $600 iPad that has 3G/4G on it and call that a "valuable tool" when it's going to be used for the exact same things, just used in more places.

 

[dmmarck]

And the addition of 3G/4G suddenly turns it in to a valuable tool because.... ?

Tablets are pretty much toys. Period. Android, iPad, whatever. All toys. They are almost utterly useless at generating content of any type and are useful only for consuming content, pretty much. Actual use case scenarios are very limited. And, honestly, a practical use case for most tablets is going to be in a WiFi environment, so the addition of a cellular data radio increases the chances of it being a toy.

At $200, "expensive" is in the eye of the beholder - I certainly find it affordable enough for the enjoyment I receive from it. I would certainly not point at a $200 Android tablet and call it a "silly toy" while looking at a similarly-equipped $600 iPad that has 3G/4G on it and call that a "valuable tool" when it's going to be used for the exact same things, just used in more places.

I agree with almost 100% of this.

 

[ManThatCan]

because...you can internet & email AND have great games and fun...anywhere

OK. I'm not disagreeing with this viewpoint. There's nothing wrong with toys and having fun. Maybe this is because I've never had a "smart phone" which everybody seems to have (and crave) these. Maybe I'm looking to the Nexus and iPad as "large screen" smart phones.

Surely a good "portable" device gives you lots of options to connect "in the field". Maybe I should just buy an iPhone5 ?

 

[dmmarck]

because...you can internet & email AND have great games and fun...anywhere

OK. I'm not disagreeing with this viewpoint. There's nothing wrong with toys and having fun. Maybe this is because I've never had a "smart phone" which everybody seems to have (and crave) these. Maybe I'm looking to the Nexus and iPad as "large screen" smart phones.

Surely a good "portable" device gives you lots of options to connect "in the field". Maybe I should just buy an iPhone5 ?

How would that relate?

 

[natehoy]

Surely a good "portable" device gives you lots of options to connect "in the field". Maybe I should just buy an iPhone5 ?

You're welcome to buy an iPhone5 if you want, of course, but I don't see how that even equates. The iPhone is a smartphone with a very small screen. There are PLENTY of tablets in both the iPad/Apple and Android spaces that have 3G/4G radios. There are even lots of smart phones with relatively large screens (the Galaxy S3 and Note come to mind, there are others), and they are useable as phones as well, and have 3G/4G radios that do data as well as voice.

If you want a tablet-sized screen, go buy a tablet. If you want one with a cell radio, buy one with a cell radio. It's not like there's a lack of choice of units with a cell radio on board. I don't see how falling back to one of the smallest-screened smartphones on the market is even relevant to "I want a tablet with portable Internet, and the Nexus lacks portable Internet".

One of the appeals, to me, of a Nexus is a ridiculously low price point. If Asus had put a cell radio in it, it would have raised the build cost and therefore the final price of the unit. Since I have no intention of ever buying a separate data plan for my Nexus, I chose the Nexus, because I'm not paying extra for something I'll never, ever want to use.

 

[dmmarck]

You're welcome to buy an iPhone5 if you want, of course, but I don't see how that even equates. The iPhone is a smartphone with a very small screen. There are PLENTY of tablets in both the iPad/Apple and Android spaces that have 3G/4G radios. There are even lots of smart phones with relatively large screens (the Galaxy S3 and Note come to mind, there are others), and they are useable as phones as well, and have 3G/4G radios that do data as well as voice.

If you want a tablet-sized screen, go buy a tablet. If you want one with a cell radio, buy one with a cell radio. It's not like there's a lack of choice of units with a cell radio on board. I don't see how falling back to one of the smallest-screened smartphones on the market is even relevant to "I want a tablet with portable Internet, and the Nexus lacks portable Internet".

One of the appeals, to me, of a Nexus is a ridiculously low price point. If Asus had put a cell radio in it, it would have raised the build cost and therefore the final price of the unit. Since I have no intention of ever buying a separate data plan for my Nexus, I chose the Nexus, because I'm not paying extra for something I'll never, ever want to use.

Not to mention yet another data plan which probably wouldn't "hold up" to a device that will be streaming glorious HD content.

 

[anon(924308)]

I don't have 3G/4G, so it doesn't make a difference for me either way. BUT, for my lifestyle, I don't need it. I only take my tablet out when I'm going to use it--and when I'm going to use it, I'm going to be somewhere where there is internet: a cafe, anywhere on campus, etc. I'm not going to take it to the mall so I can check my email because I feel like it. When I'm commuting, I use it for purposes that don't require wifi--reading an ebook, listening to music, planning, etc. If I was running a company instead of taking classes at college, I'm sure the lack of 3G/4G would matter more to me.

the title of your post begs for an inflammatory response, so I suppose you were kind of asking for it . By that logic, every electronic device I own is 'just a toy' since I don't want to shell out $$ for something superfluous to my lifestyle.

 

[YAYTech]

A lot of people basically use them as toys, yes, and I think we'll see a drop in the sales & use of tablets in the next couple years as people get past the "it's shiny & new!" stage and into seeing what they truly are and are not good for.

That said, I use mine for my business as well as some fun, and have no problems tethering it through my Razr. Yesterday I was able to access Quickbooks via remote desktop on it, and while on-site with a customer finalize an invoice and email it to them. I also used it to take some notes for an order. I could have taken the notes on my phone, but the remote desktop function is marginal at best with the smaller phone screen.

 

[natehoy]

Not to mention yet another data plan which probably wouldn't "hold up" to a device that will be streaming glorious HD content.

Tell me about it. I don't even go into my data usage screen on the Nexus any more. I think about what that would do to a data plan and I get scared. Really, really scared. Thank goodness for good old Comcast with their 250GB monthly caps and my trusty old grid of Linksys access points!

 

[Androhead27]

I tether my n7 to my t-mobile galaxy s 2 almost daily and share the 4g flawlessly. No overages and now they offer truly unlimited data so no more throttling. sounds like you just need a smartphone and a new carrier and you could be laptop free. Question is, is it cost effective for you or not?

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Android Central Forums

 

[ydh2323]

so the new kindle has 4g supposedly for 50$ per yr!?
and i am tethering my nex7 to my droids 3g just fine!

 

[dmmarck]

so the new kindle has 4g supposedly for 50$ per yr!?
and i am tethering my nex7 to my droids 3g just fine!

Yeah but you get only 250 mb a month, which is, essentially, a fraction of a movie.

 

[YAYTech]

Yeah but you get only 250 mb a month, which is, essentially, a fraction of a movie.

Yup, it'll basically be good for occasionally checking email & directions, but media will need to be avoided. It's a lure, and last I looked I couldn't find details on any of the higher data plans to see if they're any different than the regular data plans.