10.1 vs. 8.9 vs. 7 inches

[FreakyLocz14]

I think an LG G-Slate is for me. 7 inch tabs feel more like oversized phones to me, while 10.1 inchers feel too big to hold and use comfortably for extended periods of time. I was initially weary of signing a contract for a tablet, but I won a lightly used one for $375 off EBay; and was stunned to learn that the 200 MB 4G plan (I'm mostly on Wi-Fi, so that is enough) is only 10 bucks a month.

What screen size is the sweet spot for Android tablets, in your opinion? Why that size?

 

[tagacapiz]

10.1; any smaller and reading becomes an eye straining exercise

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

 

[Major]

I use a 10.1" tablet around the house (wi-fi Xoom), but I am definitely interested in a 7" tablet that I could carry around at work. I'm a pharmacist and I use various medical apps in my practice. I use my phone currently, but a 7" tablet would be alot easier to read.

 

[FreakyLocz14]

10.1; any smaller and reading becomes an eye straining exercise

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

10.1 feels massive to me. I need something I can carry around on the go. I tried out an Asus Transformer, but it felt too massive in my hand.

I use a 10.1" tablet around the house (wi-fi Xoom), but I am definitely interested in a 7" tablet that I could carry around at work. I'm a pharmacist and I use various medical apps in my practice. I use my phone currently, but a 7" tablet would be alot easier to read.

Two tablets don't fit into my budget, so a 8.9 incher seems like a nice middle ground.

 

[frh1]

I spend a lot of time on the road. With mobile apps like Google Navigate and Vlingo, and speach to text and text to speach, my 4.3" phone was still too small to use with any degree of safety mounted on the dashboard of my truck.

I made a makeshift mount for my Ipad on the dash. But it was too big to put anywhere near my line of sight without blocking the gearshift lever, guages on the dash, the radio, or my view of the road. It was pathetically slow using my phone's 3G connection, and it lacked the apps I am comfortable using on the road. It gets hot enough in the cab of my truck that a can of coke my son left in the cup holder exploded. So unless I put it in an ice chest, there's no way I could leave a 10" tablet in the truck during an appointment.

I bought a 7" Samsung Galaxy Tab. With the help of a hacksaw, file and a handfull of rubber bands, I modified my old Droid X dash mount to hold the tablet. It was so useful I completely locked it up twice in the first 4 days. A second Galaxy Tab proved the device lacks the processing power and working memory for heavy multi-tasking.

So I returned the Galaxy, bought an HTC Flyer and turned on Mobile Hotspot on my phone. Google Navigate would be taking me to an appointment, the phone would ring, and I would be driving around in circles for a half hour. Ultimately, I wound-up with with an HTC EVO View 4G. In some ways the Galaxy Tab was easier to use. But I will stick with the View even though I'm still working through issues like it's lack of the HFP bluetooth profile that would allow speach to text. (I will have to root it to get that function.)

I had a shoe repair shop sew a belt clip diagonally on the cornern of a M-Edge pouch designed for a nook color. So when I leave the truck, it goes on my belt. Because the pouch is diagonal, it doesn't even interfere with sitting in a chair. Turns out, the 7" tablet is just the right size to display a picture, pdf or short U-tube video presentation without sidetracking the sale. (I was never able to do that with a netbook or laptop.) Yesterday, in a neurologist's office, It was extremely helpful to be able to look-up medical terms in real time.

It's also a great size to use as an ebook reader (even though it has a brightness issue in a dark room (that has already been solved by rooting). And it doesn't hurt that the Ipad's Apple Bluetooth Keyboard syncs with the View.

Having said all that, I am typing this on my Ipad because my 6 year old "family room" laptop just died, and the View's 7" screen seems a little small for posting in a forum. In a couple of days I will be near a Best Buy store and plan to take a hard look at the Asus Transformer as a replacement for the laptop.

For taking it with you, without nothing beats

 

[FreakyLocz14]

I spend a lot of time on the road. With mobile apps like Google Navigate and Vlingo, and speach to text and text to speach, my 4.3" phone was still too small to use with any degree of safety mounted on the dashboard of my truck.

I made a makeshift mount for my Ipad on the dash. But it was too big to put anywhere near my line of sight without blocking the gearshift lever, guages on the dash, the radio, or my view of the road. It was pathetically slow using my phone's 3G connection, and it lacked the apps I am comfortable using on the road. It gets hot enough in the cab of my truck that a can of coke my son left in the cup holder exploded. So unless I put it in an ice chest, there's no way I could leave a 10" tablet in the truck during an appointment.

I bought a 7" Samsung Galaxy Tab. With the help of a hacksaw, file and a handfull of rubber bands, I modified my old Droid X dash mount to hold the tablet. It was so useful I completely locked it up twice in the first 4 days. A second Galaxy Tab proved the device lacks the processing power and working memory for heavy multi-tasking.

So I returned the Galaxy, bought an HTC Flyer and turned on Mobile Hotspot on my phone. Google Navigate would be taking me to an appointment, the phone would ring, and I would be driving around in circles for a half hour. Ultimately, I wound-up with with an HTC EVO View 4G. In some ways the Galaxy Tab was easier to use. But I will stick with the View even though I'm still working through issues like it's lack of the HFP bluetooth profile that would allow speach to text. (I will have to root it to get that function.)

I had a shoe repair shop sew a belt clip diagonally on the cornern of a M-Edge pouch designed for a nook color. So when I leave the truck, it goes on my belt. Because the pouch is diagonal, it doesn't even interfere with sitting in a chair. Turns out, the 7" tablet is just the right size to display a picture, pdf or short U-tube video presentation without sidetracking the sale. (I was never able to do that with a netbook or laptop.) Yesterday, in a neurologist's office, It was extremely helpful to be able to look-up medical terms in real time.

It's also a great size to use as an ebook reader (even though it has a brightness issue in a dark room (that has already been solved by rooting). And it doesn't hurt that the Ipad's Apple Bluetooth Keyboard syncs with the View.

Having said all that, I am typing this on my Ipad because my 6 year old "family room" laptop just died, and the View's 7" screen seems a little small for posting in a forum. In a couple of days I will be near a Best Buy store and plan to take a hard look at the Asus Transformer as a replacement for the laptop.

For taking it with you, without nothing beats

My Transformer performed well. It was just too big for me. I'm a college student, so I need my tablet in class, or while sitting somewhere like the cafeteria, in a hallway, or while walking around campus. The size of the Transformer is not ideal for the latter. It also needs to fit nicely in my backpack. The 8.9 inch LG G-Slate feels like a reasonable size, being even smaller than the iPad. Most 7 inchers don't have good enough processing power and/or are running older versions of Android. Most of them feel like oversized phones sans the phone calling ability rather than a tablet. I might invest in a Bluetooth keyboard.