Too many Android tablets?

[NickA]

Do Android tablet actually sell? I've purchased two: the Transformer and last night I just picked up the Acer 7" A100. These tablet forums are dead though. I tried to do some research in the forums, but most had only 1 or 2 new posts a day. It seems the most asked questions are about NetFlix and how to get it to run.

Are there just too many Android tablets to choose from? Let's face it; under the hood they are all the same. As you go from tablet to tablet in your local Best Buy, what are you looking at? You are picking it up to see how it feels, maybe checking the number of ports. Checking out the price of course But you're not comparing the OS. Phones are a little different because you have Blur, TouchWiz, Sense, etc.

I guess what I'm asking is: why do people still choose the iPad? You can have your choice of size, shape, color, price, ports/options, docks/accessories and oh, you can actually configure your tablet the way you want to. So why do people still spend $500.00 on an iPad, when you can pick up a decent Acer A500 for 398.00, or a Thrive for 429.00. Does Honeycomb have a bad reputation for not being stable? Do sales people push Apple? Is it the marketing? Please don't tell me it's the number of apps available.

So what does everyone else think of Android tablet sales vs iPad, and what can be done to sway a potential table buyer to look to an Android tablet?

 

[rockcruze]

because, they love things simple
They just need an all in one utility which iPad has.

 

[michikade#AC]

Here's what I think:

iPad/phone/pod is still a universally known thing. It represents youth and creativity. People may disagree, but think about it - it is marketed that way. Also, as many Android developers as there are, there are more "official" Apps in the apple app store versus android market. This is slowly changing, but people still see iOS devices as one stop shopping for all their Apps. Apparently people also don't mind not having flash support.

Android has been around a while, and while the market is absolutely saturated with devices running Android OS, people still see it as either a) an underdeveloped platform, or b) the poor man's iOS device. I personally prefer Android OS to iOS, but the general public doesn't see it that way. Maybe it's because I like to tinker, I don't know.

Also, can't really complain when I paid $298 (well $322 after tax) for mine. It does about 95% of my requirements and will probably exceed expectations once rooted.

 

[NickA]

Is there Android tablet which is cheap and high-performance?

Depends on what you consider cheap. For $399.00 you can get an Asus or Acer 10" tablet. Or for $330.00 you can get a 7" Acer A100 which has the same specs as the two I just mentioned.

What are you looking to spend?

 

[MeshiaSamurai]

Here's my theory. Apple has a bit of a corner on the Android market because of great marketing, and a very well established brand.

Tell someone you want to get a tablet made by Asus, or Motorola, or Acer, and they will look at you funny. Tell them you are getting an iPad, and they know exactly what you're talking about.

With some better marketing to show off what these Honeycomb tablets are capable of, I think you'd see a lot more people picking them over the iPad.

That said, the availability of quality apps specifically designed for tablets might have something to do with it as well. Lets face it, the Android tablet is still in its infancy. Honeycomb hasn't been out very long, and developers are just starting to truly design their apps to run on a tablet.

I'll say this, when I pulled out my Transformer last night and started taking notes on it for a meeting, everyone wanted to know all about it. In the end the sentiment was, "That thing seems even better than the iPad".

The addage, "Build it and they will come" only works if people actually know it's been built.

 

[michikade#AC]

Here's my theory. Apple has a bit of a corner on the Android market because of great marketing, and a very well established brand.

Tell someone you want to get a tablet made by Asus, or Motorola, or Acer, and they will look at you funny. Tell them you are getting an iPad, and they know exactly what you're talking about.

With some better marketing to show off what these Honeycomb tablets are capable of, I think you'd see a lot more people picking them over the iPad.

That said, the availability of quality apps specifically designed for tablets might have something to do with it as well. Lets face it, the Android tablet is still in its infancy. Honeycomb hasn't been out very long, and developers are just starting to truly design their apps to run on a tablet.

I'll say this, when I pulled out my Transformer last night and started taking notes on it for a meeting, everyone wanted to know all about it. In the end the sentiment was, "That thing seems even better than the iPad".

The addage, "Build it and they will come" only works if people actually know it's been built.

This happens me too - i pull out my Vizio and people start freaking out when I watch a flash video or play a facebook game. "I can't do that on my iPad! "

I can't wait until Android tabs start getting more app development. When it does, with some more advertising, it'll be huge.

Sent from my Vizio tablet using Tapatalk

 

[NickA]

The Flash thing is so over played at this point. The HP had Flash, now it's dead. The BlackBerry PlayBook does Flash, and they are dropping prices and the factory that makes them is laying off workers. There are so many iPhone/iPad optimized web sites that Flash isn't even missed anymore.

Sony just released a Tablet, Samsung just released an 8.9" tablet. Now there are rumors of a Xoom 2, that weighs the same as the original! And the prices of the tablets keep starting at 499.00.

In two days, more iPads were sold than the total number of BB PlayBooks. New Android tablets are coming out weekly it seems, and the thought is "Ho hum, another Android tablet".

And by the way, those tablet specific apps you're talking about? Google is telling developers that created Honeycomb apps to make them compatible with Ice Cream Sandwich. So as a developer, all I heard was I gotta create Honeycomb apps. Now I have to go back and change all my apps to work with ICS.

So is there such as thing as too much Android? Yes. Now it's not just the fragmentation in phones, it's tablets. Some with 3.1, some with 3.2. Some getting updates, some not, and on and on.

 

[michikade#AC]

Well. I suppose it really depends on what you want. I personally like Android, my family all likes iDevices. Line them up and they really do almost the same things. None are as robust as a full PC or Mac, but they offer something else - a level of portability that even laptops don't quite have.

So basically, it depends on what you like. If you're a blackberry person, you get a playbook. If you're an iPhone person, you go iPad. If you're an android person, you get an android tab or an iPad.

Sent from my Vizio tablet using Tapatalk

 

[NickA]

Well. I suppose it really depends on what you want. I personally like Android, my family all likes iDevices. Line them up and they really do almost the same things. None are as robust as a full PC or Mac, but they offer something else - a level of portability that even laptops don't quite have.

So basically, it depends on what you like. If you're a blackberry person, you get a playbook. If you're an iPhone person, you go iPad. If you're an android person, you get an android tab or an iPad.

Sent from my Vizio tablet using Tapatalk

Well said.

 

[dark96]

so i'm trying to get a tablet for my wife, at first I was looking at Samsung 10.1, but then I started to look at the Acer and the Asus. My question is which of those two seem to be the better deal? They seem about the same price. Though the fact that the Acer has a USB port is rather nice. Just wanted some options, and also wasn't sure where to post this. Thanks

 

[Charlesleonard]

It seems to me that part of the problem is with Google and it's constant hyping a new os version. 2.0,2.2,3.0,3.01,3.02, and waiting for ice-cream. Some apps don't work well with 3.0+ without major fiddling around under the hood.(Netflix) The average purchaser doesn't want that hassle. Also I've noticed that many of the new 7 inch devices are coming out with 2.2 rather then 3.0. Hopefully ice-cream will be the one that resolves the issues, if not then iPad will continue to dominate. Before anyone acuses me of being an iPad lover, I got the G1 the day it came out, currently galaxy s1, and the a500 for my tablet. That said I'm not blind the the faults of android. So my thoughts are that Google needs to get a stable version that will last for more then a week before rumors of the next latest and greatest start. Then the developers will have time to develop quality apps that will compete.

 

[Atomicvoice]

so i'm trying to get a tablet for my wife, at first I was looking at Samsung 10.1, but then I started to look at the Acer and the Asus. My question is which of those two seem to be the better deal? They seem about the same price. Though the fact that the Acer has a USB port is rather nice. Just wanted some options, and also wasn't sure where to post this. Thanks

I have been lookin to get a tablet since I returned my hp touchpad....that I loved. After hp went all crazy I started to look for a new phone and found the sgsii and started to watch diff YouTube videos and decided to switch to android from my Pre-. Love the phone but still wanted a tab. First one to catch my eye was the galaxy 10.1 bc it was also samsung and it had been workin well for me. Wasn't sure about the $500 price tag tho....so I have been hitting up the deal sites a lot waitin for a good sale on one. Never even really looked into many other tabs till yesterday when newegg.com posted a deal yesterday. Buy the transformer and get the keyboard dock for free. $150 value. I couldn't turn it down. Should be able to replace all my laptop needs and still use it as a tab when I want to. And with the keyboard you can get up to 16 hours of batt. Life. Check out some YouTube videos and see what covers your needs. Most of the tabs are the same specs....just diff ports and weight, just depends what you want to use it for. Hope it works out for you.

 

[END]

so i'm trying to get a tablet for my wife, at first I was looking at Samsung 10.1, but then I started to look at the Acer and the Asus. My question is which of those two seem to be the better deal? They seem about the same price. Though the fact that the Acer has a USB port is rather nice. Just wanted some options, and also wasn't sure where to post this. Thanks

To me there are only two Android tablets I would purchase. Asus Transformer and Samsung Galaxy 10.1 Both are excellent Android tablets each with their own pros.

Asus- IPS Gorilla Glass screen with 178 degree viewing angle, and a company that has really been supporting their product with quick updates.
Samsung - Nice and sleek, vibrant display, very light.

 

[stricsm]

I like the iPad and Apple products. My wife and daughter both have iPhones. My problem with Apple is cost and annoyance. The iPad is overpriced in my opinion. The annoyance comes from iTunes (memory hog and too many updates). I think Apple made a huge mistake by not allowing Swype technology on the iPhone and iPad. I bought a couple of Kindle Fire's (daughter/son) because of price and I like the way Amazon does business. I haven't bought a tablet for myself yet but when I do it will be Android since I really like my Samsung Android phone. I'm going to play with the Fire for a while to see if it will meet my needs.

 

[mbaseball3]

+1 on asus transformer. i have fat fingers so the keyboard is a little to get used to but its awesome. i weighed all aspects of the tabs for over a week. i settled on transformer. besides its specs, which are in line with samsung galaxy, its got an amazing screen, has ability to pop in sd cards, hdmi out, and the dock gives you ability to plug in full size usb. imo it was a no brainer for the cost. 399 at bestbuy with options vs samsung galaxy with no options. its just a direct competition to ipad.

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk