I feel dirty but happy

[drethos]

Meh to each is own. When I had the Ipad I found it the most annoying device I ever had the displessure of poking. I can't stand the home button, to have to push that every time annoyed me to no end. The screen was so full of meh it spilled all over the floor and made a meh mess. ITunes made me madder then hell after taking 40mins to setup after having to plug it in, this is advanced what a joke. Then the app store is way over priced, but with everyone bowing to your will why the hell not. Game play was ok, but nothing to be amazed about. The quantity of apps is no different then any other market, theres just more of it. For every descent app there are 100 completely worthless garbage app. OK so there was some really nice apps but nothing to keep this device. The battery was really unimpressive, nothing that any of my other devices couldn't match but that was IMO. The safari browser was alot like I.e. didn't feel safe using but it worked. Now compared to the other browsers on other tablets; minimally faster then the blackberry playbook and a tiny bit more stable. The honeycomb kinda faster but a good amount more stable but nothing to say yayyy its awesome.
In the end the ipad2 isnt worth it, I would have been better off finding a reduced ipad1 and am really glad I returned the miserable thing. Its un-exciting and mediocre, the ipad 1 was better because the tablets out were nothing more then crappy windows devices with no future. But I enjoy the blackberry playbook and the samsung galaxy tab. But that's all in my opinion.

Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk

 

[whiteshadow001]

Meh to each is own. When I had the Ipad I found it the most annoying device I ever had the displessure of poking. I can't stand the home button, to have to push that every time annoyed me to no end. The screen was so full of meh it spilled all over the floor and made a meh mess. ITunes made me madder then hell after taking 40mins to setup after having to plug it in, this is advanced what a joke. Then the app store is way over priced, but with everyone bowing to your will why the hell not. Game play was ok, but nothing to be amazed about. The quantity of apps is no different then any other market, theres just more of it. For every descent app there are 100 completely worthless garbage app. OK so there was some really nice apps but nothing to keep this device. The battery was really unimpressive, nothing that any of my other devices couldn't match but that was IMO. The safari browser was alot like I.e. didn't feel safe using but it worked. Now compared to the other browsers on other tablets; minimally faster then the blackberry playbook and a tiny bit more stable. The honeycomb kinda faster but a good amount more stable but nothing to say yayyy its awesome.
In the end the ipad2 isnt worth it, I would have been better off finding a reduced ipad1 and am really glad I returned the miserable thing. Its un-exciting and mediocre, the ipad 1 was better because the tablets out were nothing more then crappy windows devices with no future. But I enjoy the blackberry playbook and the samsung galaxy tab. But that's all in my opinion.

Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk

I love my gt 10.1 its the best tab ive bought thus far. Ive owned both the xoom and ipad2

Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk

 

[apascual89]

I just got my tab to replace an Ipad1. I couldn't be happier. I just flashed the touchwiz interface yesterday. I gotta say it's even better now. A lot more visually appealing widgets (functional also). It also feels snappier.

I know this isn't the thread for this next comment, but after playing with the tablet version of Touchwiz 4, I have to ask:

Where is the freaking Galaxy S 2 for Verizon!!

 

[prim8]

Here's the article Android users buy the iPad over Google-powered tablets

Name calling isn't needed. As the article empiraclly shows, I am not alone in preferring an Android phone and an iPad. Feel free to provide your own statistical data.

Also, if they aren't direct competitors why are they located in the same section of the store and at the same price point? Why do the Android tabs always point out that they run flash? Isn't that to highlight an advantage over the iPad?

Their statistics show a reduced market share for Apple this year and next unless I'm misunderstanding them.
Apples market share drops from 82% last year to 56% this year to 51% next according to that data.
It's not surprising they had such a high market share last year, actually I'm surprised it wasn't even higher. They had no real competition for the bulk of the year.
Now that there are real alternatives they appear set to lose a rather large chunk of their market share.

 

[rsix]

Over the past 2 weeks I've had the following Tablets in my house while I decided which was best for my wife and I:

Asus Transformer
iPad 2
Acer Iconia
Toshiba Thrive
Samsung 10.1

After playing with them all I decided on the 10.1 for myself and the Thrive for my wife. My wife had to have ports, that was her biggest thing. She's a teacher and needs to be able to move a lot of files around. For me I originally thought I was going to wind up with the Asus, but the form factor on the 10.1 is amazing.... I just can't explain how much better it feels in your hands than the others I mentioned.

I think everyone has a list of their "Must Have" features and a list of their "Can live with" downsides. If someone takes the time to educate themselves on what's available and they choose the iPad over an Android powered device more power to them. The "I have to buy an Apple because everyone else has one" crowd is the one that annoys me.

 

[charley]

I just got my tab to replace an Ipad1. I couldn't be happier. I just flashed the touchwiz interface yesterday. I gotta say it's even better now. A lot more visually appealing widgets (functional also). It also feels snappier.

I know this isn't the thread for this next comment, but after playing with the tablet version of Touchwiz 4, I have to ask:

Where is the freaking Galaxy S 2 for Verizon!!

I'm glad to hear that Touchwiz adds to the experience. You're not the only one saying it. I look forward to getting it.

 

[madlaw1071]

I'm glad to hear that Touchwiz adds to the experience. You're not the only one saying it. I look forward to getting it.

I wanted to hold out for the Touchwiz update but ran out of time. Glad to hear it makes the Tab better.

 

[mapleleaf14#AC]

Much like rsix above, I have had alot of tablets around lately!

I had the original iPad, Acer Iconia, Asus Transformer, and the HP Touchpad (WebOS is the most elegant os IMO for sure, shame their app store blows and the hardware is clunky and the thing is sluggish as hell...if it ever takes off I wouldn't hesitate to buy a later generation Touchpad).

I currently own the iPad 2 and the SGT10.1 and the only reason I pick up my iPad 2 anymore is to read...I have way too many unread iBooks on it to give it up.

I think that the SGT10.1 is currently the best tablet available. I'm anxious to see if the upcoming update will make it even better or not.

 

[jazzbassist1]

This is a great thread, one of the few threads that I've read from beginning to end. Basically for me, I'm trying to decide between a GT 10.1 and an iPad 2. I love android to death, and asthetically I think the GT is right in line with the iPad 2, the only 2 things that have me worried about choosing the GT is the lack of tablet app selection and, in several reviews I've read, Honeycomb sounds to be buggy compared to iOS.

If anyone would want to confirm or deny these feelings, it would be really appreciated. All you forum guys rock!

Sent from my (friend's) iPad 2

 

[rsix]

This is a great thread, one of the few threads that I've read from beginning to end. Basically for me, I'm trying to decide between a GT 10.1 and an iPad 2. I love android to death, and asthetically I think the GT is right in line with the iPad 2, the only 2 things that have me worried about choosing the GT is the lack of tablet app selection and, in several reviews I've read, Honeycomb sounds to be buggy compared to iOS.

If anyone would want to confirm or deny these feelings, it would be really appreciated. All you forum guys rock!

Sent from my (friend's) iPad 2

Hi Jazz,

The GT is one beautiful piece of hardware.... As far as your concerns regarding tablet software, keep in mind that a lot of phone apps scale beautifully in Honeycomb, that is one reason why some developers aren't rushing to develop "Honeycomb Only" apps.

Sticking with Android also means you get to use all of your apps on both devices (Edit: by both devices I mean your Android phone and Tablet). And flash support, don't forget that sweet, sweet flash support.

Honeycomb can be buggy at times, I wont deny that, but look at the updates already... They just released the 2nd major one (3.2) and I have faith Google won't ignore the issues. That's one of the downsides to being an early adopter.

In short, yes IOS is more polished (right now) but I can definitely see WAY more upside into Androids potential to use anything else.

 

[rebornr]

This is a great thread, one of the few threads that I've read from beginning to end. Basically for me, I'm trying to decide between a GT 10.1 and an iPad 2. I love android to death, and asthetically I think the GT is right in line with the iPad 2, the only 2 things that have me worried about choosing the GT is the lack of tablet app selection and, in several reviews I've read, Honeycomb sounds to be buggy compared to iOS.

If anyone would want to confirm or deny these feelings, it would be really appreciated. All you forum guys rock!

Sent from my (friend's) iPad 2

No denying that the app selection is sparse in comparison, but on the other hand many of the apps that I turn to on my iPhone I don't need on my tablet because I have a real browser instead of a teeny weenie one and most of the content I need on my phone app is available on the internet. But then I'm not much of a game player (besides Words with Friends kind of games). That said, I still believe (maybe naively) that the apps will come - or at least the big ones that I care about like MLB and Netflix. I was really shocked that Comcast of all companies brought their Xfinity app to Honeycomb just last week (and did a great job too!).

As for the honeycomb OS - it can quit on you every once in a while but I'm pretty forgiving because it's doing SO much more than iOS in terms of processing power. I love the widgets, multi-tasking, notifications, etc, and that requires the processer to work harder. Being able to access a finder type desktop, it really feels more like a computer than an appliance. I would probably be more unforgiving with iOS because it's basically an app launcher that does one thing at a time.

I'm a big fan of Apple but after seeing their iOS 5 demo I was honestly disappointed. They are not advancing the tablet experience at all and are just playing catch up to Android Honeycomb at this point. Apple seems to be playing defense and hoping that the Android tablet app market doesn't take off or at least won't for the next year or so. Between that and the constant lawsuits that they have no chance of winning (in this decade) I just get the feeling that Apple is more worried about building moats than building the future. Wow, tangent talking much?

I do get a definite David vs. Goliath vibe with Android - ironically the same vibe I got when it was Apple vs. Microsoft all those years ago. That said, I'd be lying if I didn't say that going Android isn't a leap of faith to some extent. Sometimes you just gotta believe

 

[madlaw1071]

No denying that the app selection is sparse in comparison, but on the other hand many of the apps that I turn to on my iPhone I don't need on my tablet because I have a real browser instead of a teeny weenie one and most of the content I need on my phone app is available on the internet. But then I'm not much of a game player (besides Words with Friends kind of games). That said, I still believe (maybe naively) that the apps will come - or at least the big ones that I care about like MLB and Netflix. I was really shocked that Comcast of all companies brought their Xfinity app to Honeycomb just last week (and did a great job too!).

As for the honeycomb OS - it can quit on you every once in a while but I'm pretty forgiving because it's doing SO much more than iOS in terms of processing power. I love the widgets, multi-tasking, notifications, etc, and that requires the processer to work harder. Being able to access a finder type desktop, it really feels more like a computer than an appliance. I would probably be more unforgiving with iOS because it's basically an app launcher that does one thing at a time.

I'm a big fan of Apple but after seeing their iOS 5 demo I was honestly disappointed. They are not advancing the tablet experience at all and are just playing catch up to Android Honeycomb at this point. Apple seems to be playing defense and hoping that the Android tablet app market doesn't take off or at least won't for the next year or so. Between that and the constant lawsuits that they have no chance of winning (in this decade) I just get the feeling that Apple is more worried about building moats than building the future. Wow, tangent talking much?

I do get a definite David vs. Goliath vibe with Android - ironically the same vibe I got when it was Apple vs. Microsoft all those years ago. That said, I'd be lying if I didn't say that going Android isn't a leap of faith to some extent. Sometimes you just gotta believe

How is it that you think they did a great job with the Xfinity app? It doesn't stream so it's basically a glorified TV listing.

 

[rebornr]

How is it that you think they did a great job with the Xfinity app? It doesn't stream so it's basically a glorified TV listing.

This is the same path that Comcast used for their iOS app except that their first iteration for Android is much more stable and better executed. They followed up a few months later with the streaming. So I agree that as far as parity with iOS it's not the same - but it's good that they are making a commitment which is a tangible indicator of things to come (yes, through my rose-colored glasses...).

I think that if more big companies that could afford the resources (I'm looking at you MLB, Yelp, TripAdvisor, etc.) would just say, 'Yes, we are working on it' - it would do wonders for the platform. In the mean time, the community who want to see this platform succeed needs to reward the developers who do step up if only by downloading their app to try it out.

 

[madlaw1071]

This is the same path that Comcast used for their iOS app except that their first iteration for Android is much more stable and better executed. They followed up a few months later with the streaming. So I agree that as far as parity with iOS it's not the same - but it's good that they are making a commitment which is a tangible indicator of things to come (yes, through my rose-colored glasses...).

I think that if more big companies that could afford the resources (I'm looking at you MLB, Yelp, TripAdvisor, etc.) would just say, 'Yes, we are working on it' - it would do wonders for the platform. In the mean time, the community who want to see this platform succeed needs to reward the developers who do step up if only by downloading their app to try it out.

I hear you and still love Android for phone purposes. I think the software fragmentation is what is killing Android Tabs. It's hard for developers to commit to writing apps for tabs when there are so many different versions of Android to write for whereas just one for iOS. Or maybe there just aren't enough tabs out there yet to justify the expense of development. It will be interesting to see what happens. It's sort of "if we develop the apps people will buy android tabs" verses consumers saying "I will buy when there are apps comparable to iPad."

 

[rsix]

I hear you and still love Android for phone purposes. I think the software fragmentation is what is killing Android Tabs. It's hard for developers to commit to writing apps for tabs when there are so many different versions of Android to write for whereas just one for iOS. Or maybe there just aren't enough tabs out there yet to justify the expense of development. It will be interesting to see what happens. It's sort of "if we develop the apps people will buy android tabs" verses consumers saying "I will buy when there are apps comparable to iPad."

The fragmentation issue is a bit of a myth. It is not difficult for developers to take different screen sizes into account. As far as performance on older phones, that really isn't and issue either, they just need to specify their app isn't made for those older devices.

All of the main stream Android based tablets use almost exactly the same hardware, with vanilla Honeycomb on top (granted some have tweaked it a bit).

The main issue is the performance of the Android Emulator versus the performance of the iOS emulator. iOS emulator is easy to use, and even if you don't want to use it you still only need to buy one device to test with. Now the Android emulator is unusable... and developers can't and wont buy several different tablets just to test their apps on. Hopefully Google fixes this.

 

[rebornr]

The fragmentation issue is a bit of a myth. It is not difficult for developers to take different screen sizes into account. As far as performance on older phones, that really isn't and issue either, they just need to specify their app isn't made for those older devices.

All of the main stream Android based tablets use almost exactly the same hardware, with vanilla Honeycomb on top (granted some have tweaked it a bit).

The main issue is the performance of the Android Emulator versus the performance of the iOS emulator. iOS emulator is easy to use, and even if you don't want to use it you still only need to buy one device to test with. Now the Android emulator is unusable... and developers can't and wont buy several different tablets just to test their apps on. Hopefully Google fixes this.

I've always wondered about this fragmentation 'issue' because it never made much sense to me. Thanks for shedding some light on the matter.

 

[charley]

I've had no trouble finding great apps for this Tab, although before I bought it I thought I would due to all the internet whining. Even most of the non optimized apps are great, a few seem unusable, but there are plenty out there. There's also so much more that this tab does (great browsing experience, video chat, mine's a giant phone with GV and Groove IP) that I'm not freaking out saying "where are the apps?"

 

[dwaynewilliams#WN]

My wife and I both have ipad2s and I really want a GT 10.1. The iPad is ok, but I wishnit had swype and voice to text and flash, and google integration. I got my iPad through work so I can't complain too much, but as soon as I can, I'm getting the Tab for personal use. I'm just a big fan of Google and not just because I am blindly loyal to them, but because their products seem to make better sense.

 

[madlaw1071]

My wife and I both have ipad2s and I really want a GT 10.1. The iPad is ok, but I wishnit had swype and voice to text and flash, and google integration. I got my iPad through work so I can't complain too much, but as soon as I can, I'm getting the Tab for personal use. I'm just a big fan of Google and not just because I am blindly loyal to them, but because their products seem to make better sense.

Voice to text is the ONE thing I miss from Android. Not missing Flash or Swype, which doesn't work well on a tab you need two hands to hold.

 

[rsix]

Voice to text is the ONE thing I miss from Android. Not missing Flash or Swype, which doesn't work well on a tab you need two hands to hold.

If I may make a recommendation... Try Swiftkey X... Great keyboard, spit layout and great predictive text.

It's only $1.99 in the market right now, but I think that only lasts for the rest of the day, then the price inflates.

Here's the writeup from the main page on it. http://www.androidcentral.com/swiftkey-x-comes-out-beta