Don't Know About You, But I'm Waiting Before Getting an Android Tablet

[OGCF]

WARNING: This is kind of a rant

I, like many of you on this forum, is VERY tempted to pick up a Galaxy Tab or one of the generation 8 Archos tablets. But I'm getting a really bad feeling in my gut that now is NOT the time to buy one.

Although the two previously mentioned tablets look utterly AWESOME, I'm feeling that Gingerbread is going to be the OS to wait for with tablets. All of the tablets look promising but they're also really scattershot.

Archos has great specs, the awesomeness of froyo, and a killer price but there's no official Google support and even though there are workarounds it's simply not as integrated an experience as it should be. The Galaxy Tab again has fantastic specs and what looks like the single best tablet customization of Android, but since Samsung spent a lot on R&D for this the price looks to have suffered in an effort to recover costs. Of course until we get some confirmed pricing this point isn't very valid. But when a hardware manufacturer does this much work on top of a mobile OS, you know the base software simply can't and probably shouldn't support it. It's a good illusion, but there's a chance better products could come out soon after and at a better price.

So in my opinion, to avoid buyer's remorse, people should wait until maybe November/December/January. I think by then a lot of great tablets will be launching like that rumored Verizon-Motorola tablet or the HTC tablet or many others. Of course it would be more ideal to wait for Gingerbread, and there's a chance that it could happen in November/December like 2.0 did last year, but there's been no launch date confirmed.

This isn't a hate piece on Android's fragmentation or anything, this is just my rant on why I hope 3.0 will bring Android tablets up a notch and streamline the process so that we get better products for cheaper prices. So I'm going to tough out the winter onslaught and pray Google answers my prayers

 

[anon(21022)]

Well the Galaxy Tab should have an upgrade to 3.0, says Samsung.

Either way, for me, the 2 big problems are:

1 - Archos tablets, Cruz tablet, etc: no Market access = no go;

2 - Samsung Galaxy Tab, Moto Verizon tablet: tied to contract and provider, not as free as the iPad for example, that you get data on a need basis, micro-SIM cards for other countries if you travel, etc. As a traveller, this is very important for me, I DON'T want to be tied to a provider or contract.

Patrix.

 

[bbalak]

2 - Samsung Galaxy Tab, Moto Verizon tablet: tied to contract and provider, not as free as the iPad for example

Isn't the 3G iPad tied to AT&T? I realize there are non-3G versions, but their price points are so much more expensive compared to the 3G versions of the Android tablets we've see so far.

I plan to wait for the rumored Verizon tablet, or a non-3G version if it isn't priced in the stratosphere.

The word "Free" (In reference to price or "freedom") shouldn't be used in the same sentence of ANY Apple product. The last laptop we bought was a MacBook Pro. Very nice; however, the more I use it, the more "trapped" I feel. Their software assumes you are too dumb to do it differently or outside the great and powerful Jobs' vision of perfection. It is the first, and last Apple computer I will buy.

 

[anon(21022)]

Isn't the 3G iPad tied to AT&T? I realize there are non-3G versions, but their price points are so much more expensive compared to the 3G versions of the Android tablets we've see so far.

I'm not from the US, so I can choose from different carriers

And EVEN in the US you aren't tied to a contract or to monthly data, you can turn it on or off pretty much at will (go one month with data, a few months without, for example)

I plan to wait for the rumored Verizon tablet, or a non-3G version if it isn't priced in the stratosphere.

Anything Verizon is of no interest to me, however, since I'm not in the US.

The word "Free" (In reference to price or "freedom") shouldn't be used in the same sentence of ANY Apple product. The last laptop we bought was a MacBook Pro. Very nice; however, the more I use it, the more "trapped" I feel. Their software assumes you are too dumb to do it differently or outside the great and powerful Jobs' vision of perfection. It is the first, and last Apple computer I will buy.

That's one opinion. I love my Macbook Pro and how I don't have to babysit it, and how it allowed me to focus on other things than OS internals (like I always was tweaking when I was running Linux or FreeBSD). Sorely needed that during my travels, battery's good (more freedom to move around), OS doesn't get in my way (more freedom to get things done).

Matter of perspective eh?

When I was talking about the freedom with the iPad, it's exactly that you aren't tied to a contract, or even in most countries, to a single provider. Not even to a single country, you could take your USA-bought iPad to Canada and get a micro sim card for a 250MB of data while you're here, and not pay outrageous AT&T roaming fees.

Sounds like freedom to me, compared to a Galaxy Tab tied to one provider, where you pay monthly, are tied in a contract so you can't change provider or stop your data access for acouple of months if you're home sick and will use wifi... and so on.

FWIW though, the 3 UK plans for the Galaxy Tab look pretty awesome, I hope they're an example of what's coming. Plus the Tab is more of a portable device... Samsung is marketing it as an on-the-go tablet, while the iPad is more of a couch/bed tablet lol.

Patrix.

 

[anon(52425)]

I now this is an android place but my iPad is hands down the best investment I ever made

 

[irishpride]

The Archos 101 easily has the specs to be upgraded to Gingerbread and from what I understand there is a pretty easy hack to get the Market on any tablet where its not already enabled.

I agree 100% with the previous poster that said "free" and "apple" should NEVER be used in the same sentence.

Sent from my DROIDX