I've been playing around with this new tablet for a few days now, and I have got to admit it is sweet. I have been looking for something that I can commute with when on the bike as my saddle bags size don't allow me to fit my laptop. I researched, googled, youtubed, even hit Wambli up hard with questions (as he recently went through the same thing) trying to find one that I would be happy with. I wanted a tablet with expandable memory, a decent battery life, and that wouldn't be too horribly outdated in the next 6 months or so. I went with a new contender, The Sony Tablet S. Here are a few of the things that really shined for me.
First off the shape. While I actually did not like the wedge shape at first, it grew on me with its functionability. This folded magazine shape makes it much easier to hold in your hand than a flat tab. While the center of gravity is surprisingly still in the center, the extra mass just fits your hand better. The screen auto rotates so it doesn't mater if you are using your right hand or left. Another little benefit is if you are using sans case, it will angle its self slightly towards you when set on a flat surface, this helps with glare.
The case is an easel case which means it folds up on it's self to prop it up. Cool feature, and it keeps the screen protected when in transit. My only beef, is that the flap that secures it covers the IR port. I tried to use my soldering iron to make a professional looking hole in the leather, but being a leather case the tablet is able to move just enough to justify me having to make the hole a little bigger. Oh well, not a big deal.
The IR port brings something new to the table. Here you have a smart universal remote at your fingertips with hundreds of devices built in, and the ability to "learn" new devices using the remote. I was able to make a single remote for the day room at the fire house that can control the TV, cable box, Blue Ray player, and surround sound. Cool feature. The devices are able to be labeled and you can store plenty of them.
The screen is very responsive, so far this is the only one that really preforms similarly to the iPad. The commands are snappy and fluid. Hands down this is one of the best touch screens on any Android device I have got to use. The surface is actually plastic, which at first felt just like that. My fingers didn't glide across the screen well at all, but after using it for a few hours, it was just like the gorilla glass on my Droid Bionic. The display is very crisp and the colors are rich. A very impressive display indeed.
In a side by side test the tab was only about 2 seconds slower to load the G&A home page than my laptop was. Also noted that the laptop has adblocker on it, so that may have helped load the page faster. Web pages do load quickly though, and the interface works well with most pages.
The charging cord is proprietary which at first I was less than thrilled about. Until I had it charging and Kimber snagged the cord with her foot and it quickly broke free. On a standard plug in, the tablet would have ether hit the ground, or there could have been damage where it was plugged in. I am actually liking the Sony setup.
Another thing to point out, the tablet is Playstation certified, and you can buy original PS1 and PSP games from the Sony market. I did download a game optimized for the S Tablet and although the game was a complete rip off of the Halo series, the graphics were impressive for a tablet based game.
In short, this tablet rocks. It was everything I wanted and needed. I highly recommend it if you are looking for an all out tablet. The 32Gig version runs $599, but I was able to get a healthy discount. But with the ability to add up to 100+ gigs with the full sized SD port, you could easily get away with the $499 16Gig model.
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