My final conclusion... this is just a luxury item.

**AldousSnow** · 08-07-2011, 11:19 PM

Don't get me wrong.... I love the Tab, but for practicality... there is absolutely no way this device isn't anything more than a $500 entertainment system. Sure, I can use Netflix, Google Music, Skype, shoot pictures, watch youtube... surf the internet and read books. But.... I've been doing this way before I decided to plop down $500 to do it on a 10"inch flat screen. In the end... even tho I will keep it, I accept the fact that all I've really done is paid for a few scrollable widgets.

**ShinyTop** · 08-07-2011, 11:41 PM

Can't deny it is a luxury. But less so when your eyes get to the point where you need help on the Dinc's screen. I was thinking of an early upgrade of my phone but with the Tab that can wait at least another year. And yes, the upgrade cost early would have been a large part of the cost of a Tab. A luxury? Yes. And I am very glad I treated myself.

**nalpakj** · 08-07-2011, 11:44 PM

At the risk of asking a dumb question...what did you think you were buying that differs from your description above?

**AldousSnow** · 08-07-2011, 11:51 PM

I was hoping for a possible laptop replacement. And what I read led me to believe that I may be getting a decent laptop alternative. But given the choice between the two... I still do most of my serious work on the laptop... and if i want to watch netflix on the go... i have the tab.

**nalpakj** · 08-08-2011, 12:31 AM

Ahh....ok. I neve even considered it to be a possible laptop replacement unless you only use your laptop for web based applications that are not heavy on input. I just dont think its the intention of the product.

**Kyle Gibb** · 08-08-2011, 07:42 AM

Originally Posted by AldousSnow

Don't get me wrong.... I love the Tab, but for practicality... there is absolutely no way this device isn't anything more than a $500 entertainment system. Sure, I can use Netflix, Google Music, Skype, shoot pictures, watch youtube... surf the internet and read books. But.... I've been doing this way before I decided to plop down $500 to do it on a 10"inch flat screen. In the end... even tho I will keep it, I accept the fact that all I've really done is paid for a few scrollable widgets.

The entire tablet market is the same way. Even the iPad, with 1000's of apps, really is still a luxury item. Sure, there are some use cases for tablets on the horizon, especially with digital textbooks for colleges & high school, but right now tablets are just a media consumption device. They don't have the portability of smartphones (thanks to their wireless data) and don't have the productivity power of traditional laptops or desktops.

That said, the market is probably headed in the direction of tablets becoming a dominant platform for computing. When laptops started becoming popular, people said that they were too underpowered to do real work. Well, that is no longer really the case except in extreme situations. I think in the next decade or so we will see a transition from the traditional desktop/laptop computing model to some hybrid of the smartphone and tablet.

We already see it with what Moto is trying to do with it's WebTop software - a situation where you dock you mobile device into a station that offers more screen size, perhaps a keyboad and mouse, and maybe added memory/processing power. Especially as we have seen a maturation of the two major desktop computing OS's (OS X and windows), a lot of the innovation has been shifted to what we now call the "mobile space."

The next decade will be very interesting, that is for sure.

**AldousSnow** · 08-08-2011, 07:57 AM

I agree Kyle.

**gdbjr** · 08-10-2011, 11:43 AM

The problem is the app selection. I have a iPad 2 that I have been using to take handwritten notes at work, annotate PDF's and plan my projects on. But there just isn't any apps for android that will let me do the same thing. Until android can get some good productivity apps then yes the Tab will be just a luxury item. Sadly I think I will have to return my tab and go back to the iPad.

**dmcman73** · 08-10-2011, 04:03 PM

Originally Posted by gdbjr

The problem is the app selection. I have a iPad 2 that I have been using to take handwritten notes at work, annotate PDF's and plan my projects on. But there just isn't any apps for android that will let me do the same thing. Until android can get some good productivity apps then yes the Tab will be just a luxury item. Sadly I think I will have to return my tab and go back to the iPad.

Do you even own or have ever used a Honeycomb based tablet?

Repligo Reader: . A very powerful PDF program that allows you to annotate, highlight, place text overlays, etc. This has been out for quite sometime and I use it every day.

Note Everything: . A note takign application where you can hand write your notes or type them in

Now with TouchWiz on the Tab 10, it comes with a built in hand writing notepad and the best part is that it can over lay on top of any other open windows you are in rather than the notepad app opening up hiding everything else. Don't like the Tab 10? Then HTC made their Flyer tablet with hand writing in mind with their special Bluetooth stylus and advanced hand writing app.

I'm in the IT field and all I use is my TAB. I can create word docs, excel docs, power point, PDF editing, remote desktop into my servers, send / receive emails, monitor my network, SSH remotely into my linux box, FTP and I can keep going on and on.

Please, before you open your mouth and insert foot about your iPad, please do a little bit of research.

Thank you.

EDIT: I'll also add in Evernote even though it does not allow you to hand write a note, it's one of the greatest note/organizers out there and allows you to synch all your notes with every device you own by saving them in a cloud.

**eclass82** · 08-10-2011, 07:21 PM

I LOVE MY GT10.1 I just wish the app market had a bigger selection and more choices.

**soccerfon711** · 08-10-2011, 08:55 PM

I really like my GT10.1. I, too, am hoping that we will see an increase in apps very soon. It is taking quite a long time and I think it's because companies were waiting to see if Honeycomb could gain some popularity. Now that they have seen it has, they will probably start to develop.

**slopokdave** · 08-10-2011, 09:52 PM

I don't have a computer, aside from my work laptop, and I get along just fine for a couple months now with my Transformer.

I use my work laptop for work; and that's it.

**Major** · 08-11-2011, 10:36 AM

I find the app selection to be far more than sufficient. Every time someone who is complaining about the app selection actually states a specific need, we see someone else show that an app for that purpose already does exist in the App Market.

**ccm435** · 08-11-2011, 01:32 PM

The apps are there, but most just need to be tablet optimized. Other than that you can do anything on my Tab 10.1 that an iPad2. or any other tablet can do. I do agree its more of an "entertainment" device than one for "productivity", but if one really wanted to make the switch over from a laptop to this tablet you really could.

-cm-

My two cents.

**AnimaTechnica** · 08-13-2011, 11:25 AM

I call it a companion device. Fast and easy access to my email, news articles, facebook. If i need to worki use my laptop

Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk

**Beezzy** · 08-14-2011, 09:32 PM

Damn right this is luxury, when I have a mac, evo3d, and this. Do I need it, no? But I love it!

**Droid_Nation** · 08-14-2011, 10:26 PM

Whatever you want to call it, I really enjoy using mine. Much easier to use than my 4" Droid X screen. And being a bit of a slave to technology, I had to get one.

**drethos** · 08-15-2011, 05:45 AM

Well if you break it down just about all these consumer based devices are luxury items. The ipad is luxury no matter what they say. The only one that isn't is the blackberry playbook hurrr durrr..... No its not its kinda a luxury item. But if anyone really needs this rather then wants then their is really something wrong. Someting proffesional has everything in it and no games. I play angry birds and watch movies alot.

Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk

**Topdecker** · 08-15-2011, 05:27 PM

I have mine rigged up with Gaia which is a topographical map application. I can import KML overlays which allows me to georeference my collection of historic topo maps (1890-1940). I can use to walk old homesteads in real-time and find the sites of houses that haven't stood for over 100 years. I can do the same thing with a laptop, but the applications cost like 5x more and the laptop weighs more and runs down a lot faster. Why do this? I metal detect and this allows me to get on target quickly.

I do quite a bit of non-digital art. Using Sketchbook, I can arrange masses, block them in with color, and decide if I like a composition before picking up watercolors or pastels. It is especially nice with landscape references as you can quickly simplify and modify the masses. You might consider it a luxury, but it saves me the cost of watercolor paper or sanded pastel paper and if you knew the cost of that stuff, you would do what you could to keep from wasting it.

Other than that, I am using it as a reading device. I am trying to teach myself java and it is really handy to be able to read a PDF like a zoomable book while not ALT-tabbing around.

Luxury uses - heck yeah, music, graphic novels, movies etc, but I am slowly applying it towards work. It is what you make of it.

Top

**deeteroderdas** · 08-16-2011, 06:51 AM

Originally Posted by eclass82

I LOVE MY GT10.1 I just wish the app market had a bigger selection and more choices.

I really wish people would stop saying this. What does the statement mean, really? What apps are missing? Do you really need 10K games? 50 different ways to display your gallery images?

**soccerfon711** · 08-16-2011, 12:03 PM

Originally Posted by deeteroderdas

I really wish people would stop saying this. What does the statement mean, really? What apps are missing? Do you really need 10K games? 50 different ways to display your gallery images?

Some of us would like choices, yes. That's why most of us have chosen Android because of the customization and the differential hardware. Just because you do not want a variety of apps and games, does not mean that the rest of us don't.

**deeteroderdas** · 08-16-2011, 10:24 PM

Originally Posted by soccerfon711

Some of us would like choices, yes. That's why most of us have chosen Android because of the customization and the differential hardware. Just because you do not want a variety of apps and games, does not mean that the rest of us don't.

I never said anything about not having choices. My question was: what's missing? The people that say "There aren't any apps" never seem to give specifics. What's missing? Every time I have gone to the Market to find an app fill an need, there's been something that works, usually free.