Tablet Wars 2011
- Thread starter Hardknock
- Start date
I have a Nook Color. It's cool and the community's great. Very functional.
But I have to say that tablets need to ditch Android 2.x and Cortex A8. The Android 2.x stock browser is particularly awful. It's very slow on scrolling and some sites grind it to a halt. It's some sort of combination of garbage collector issues and the complete lack of 2D acceleration. Opera Mobile saves the day with GPU accel but it has its own issues due to being very bare bones and the Opera people seem to have zero interest in fleshing it out with some features (like say bookmark import/export or easy user agent config).
I played with a Xoom and its stock browser seems far superior. This was just a quick look though.
I don't see myself paying $500-600 for a tablet however.
But I have to say that tablets need to ditch Android 2.x and Cortex A8. The Android 2.x stock browser is particularly awful. It's very slow on scrolling and some sites grind it to a halt. It's some sort of combination of garbage collector issues and the complete lack of 2D acceleration. Opera Mobile saves the day with GPU accel but it has its own issues due to being very bare bones and the Opera people seem to have zero interest in fleshing it out with some features (like say bookmark import/export or easy user agent config).
I played with a Xoom and its stock browser seems far superior. This was just a quick look though.
I don't see myself paying $500-600 for a tablet however.
In multiple things , i've posted the links to the reviews where they state this
mize said:
So your saying for the full flight of 9 to 15 hours you will just be sitting there using your tablet ?
Btw the andriod tablets aren't hitting 10hrs either , they are lower than that unless you want to use the tablet with 20% brightness and look at a static page.
Now look at me traveling.
Detroit to Osaka 14hrs . I can bring my andriod tablet for entertainment but then the reality sets in that i can't do any work on it ! So now I have to bring my laptop also which defeats the purpose .
For me I can bring my windows tablet getting 4-6 hours of battery life and my nook getting another 10 hours of battery life. Oh and my 3ds which i allways carry getting me 4 hours. So now I'm at 18 hours to 20 hours and I don't have to bring any redudant hardware.
Everyone needs something diffrent and as I said in the reply to a post about windows 8 and battery life we have a whole new generation of chips coming out in time for windows 8. So it shouldn't be the 4hrs to 6 hours we have today , it may be 6hours + for high def video which is what many andriod tablets are hitting now .
I found a neato $40 phone-sized 5000 mAh battery pack with a micro USB connection. That would add 50+% more battery life to most of these devices.
It's this thinger
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180600707742
It's this thinger
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180600707742
where did u find that ?
I use this 2800mah one
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10833&cs_id=1083311&p_id=7664&seq=1&format=2
Its only $12
Scouring eBay as usual.
So you get 10+ hours of video playback on your laptop?
Ahh...no, you don't. 4-6 on a windows laptop is impressive if it isn't brand new...I kinda doubt your numbers there...unless you're at half brightness with low-cpu/gpu tasks.
So let's say you want to watch the 3rd season of Breaking bad - you just have to transcode it for both your laptop and your Nook (which, incidentally, is a tablet) and...oh wait...you can still probably only watch 8 episodes maximum. Also, by your description the Laptop and Nook are redundant hardware.
Also, watching movies on a laptop > 13" is a pain in coach...
To each their own. I used to pack many devices like you suggest (PSP, iPod Touch, Laptop, DS) but as I travel more and more I want fewer things, fewer chargers, definitely no cartridges or CDs/DVDs.
Unfortunately I find reading on and LCD painful so my iPad2 won't be my ereader any longer...color e-ink anyone?
You get used to it. Always an aisle seat so you can get up and walk at will. My first few 8 hour flights really sucked, but now anything under 10 is a walk in the park. 14+ will always suck. Having only carryons really helps though. There's a freedom to never waiting in baggage claim...just go.
Microsoft said:
Doesn't say what parts were inaccurate, but I'd say it remains an unknown at this point.
I used to sleep more on flights but I've found that staying up for most of the flight makes going to sleep on the destination times zone's "night" much easier and I "reset" to that time zone basically immediately. If I sleep most of the flight I jet lag quite a bit. In the former scenario that long day and 8-10 hour sleep snap me right on to the time zone and I sleep like a baby for the entire week or two without issue. I have also learned that minimal or no alcohol makes it all go smoother too...which is hard since I'm a bit of a drinker
I think you miss the point completely. A ios /andriod tablet would have to complement my laptop . So I will be stuck with both which in turn reduces portability.
With a windows tablet I would only need to bring one device with me
You can google for yourself
LIke I said , battery life is getting better and with windows 8 newer chips will come out which may offer even better battery life .
My nook is an e-ink screen. I'd use it for reading.
Anyway breaking bad is 22minutes 4hr 30mins is 270m . 270/22= 12.27 . So I guess I can watch 12 episodes ? The transformer getting 7 hours would let me watch what 420 minutes 420/22 = 19 .So I guess neither will play full seaosns ?
Oh and by not having to carry a laptop with me i can carry some form of recharging battery. That would be great
I don't see how a tablet is much better , i'm not going to want to hold a tablet for 15 hours so i'm going to want to prop it up on the tray table
You gotta look at it from my prospective which i don't tihnk you've prorperly gaged.
Look for work i need windows and programs that only work on windows , i also need to be able to remote in . So while i think andriod tablets are great (need more software but it will come ) i will still need to bring my laptop.
So the question remains, whats larger an acer iconia windows tablet + 3ds + nook e-ink or a andriod tablet + a laptop .
I rather take the 3ds , nook and windows tablet. The nook can be read on the beach or at the pool , the 3ds can be played whenever and my tablet can be used for work , movies and surfing the web.
Thats why my nook goes every where with me .
Look the windows tablets have many faults and I will say them. They are heavier and have lower battery life. However all these things can be fixed.
We have only seen a few windows slates and i think with the move to windows 8 we will see alot more
We're far from a point where it becomes silly to have more battery life. I don't have a link, but surveys have shown that 8-10 hours is sufficient for most business users as it's enough to get through the day without worrying about running out of juice. Above that I suspect most people won't be as tempted by more battery life until it lasts for multiple days. I've heard multiple people say they love that their e-reader doesn't need to be charged for a week or more.
I get your point was just correcting your details and timelines. And btw both might be in time for Windows 8 (on netbooks/laptops) but the tablet versions might not. Remember the tablet versions of the chips always take a bit longer. Possibly a quarter or two more.
They run a standard battery life test on 3G, brightness is kept at 50% and they continously load some pages. I dont think they use flash to test their smartphones/tablets though. The Wifi test is the same test on 3G + music playback + email downloading so its pretty much real world use.
WRT the Xoom and 5 hrs playing flash, are you really going to be using flash for 5 hours straight? Real world browsing will get you 8-9 hours.
Also remember the windows tablets are using beefier batteries(36 Wh for the Acer vs 25 Wh for the Ipad and 24.5 Wh for the Xoom) and weight a fair bit more than most tablets. Right now you can realistically get 8-9 hours of use from a ARM tablet, you can get barely half that from an X86 tablet
eastmen: I'm not at all opposed to a windows tablet, but if it's going to replace both my iPad2 and my laptop it needs 10+ hours of battery.
Also, Breaking Bad episodes are 45 minutes, not 22 great show.
The point I guess I'm not getting across is that all the chargers for all these items you're carrying count toward the hassle and space too.
I used to go your route as I said. Windows laptop, ipod, book, PSP, DS. It took up my entire briefcase or backpack (I switch between a few) and I had to have a ton of cables. For me a laptop and ipad2 work better - more streamlined - and, as I've said - I think I can get that down to just the ipad2 since most of my "work" on travel is customer meetings so my laptop mainly does email and skype.
Also, Breaking Bad episodes are 45 minutes, not 22
great show.The point I guess I'm not getting across is that all the chargers for all these items you're carrying count toward the hassle and space too.
I used to go your route as I said. Windows laptop, ipod, book, PSP, DS. It took up my entire briefcase or backpack (I switch between a few) and I had to have a ton of cables. For me a laptop and ipad2 work better - more streamlined - and, as I've said - I think I can get that down to just the ipad2 since most of my "work" on travel is customer meetings so my laptop mainly does email and skype.
Do they ? The T series seemed to come shortly after the E series. I don't see why they would take longer as they seem to be lower clocked verisons .
As for the acer iconia , my friend has it and he is getting almost 6 hours of surfing the web . So I don't think its quite barely half , it seems to be a little more than half.
eastmen: I'm not at all opposed to a windows tablet, but if it's going to replace both my iPad2 and my laptop it needs 10+ hours of battery.
Also, Breaking Bad episodes are 45 minutes, not 22
Is it ? Is it the one with the guy who played Lex Luthor on smallville ?
Anyway by you needing an ipad 2 and a laptop your already doubling what you want to use. You go on to say that the chargers for all these itmes are hassle and space also. However I don't agree.
The charger for my 3ds + the micro usb cord for my nook are much smaller than the charger for my laptop and isn't much more stuff than the just the ipad 2 charger .
I def travel light and since i mostly go to florida and half the trips now have my 2 year old nephew and 6 month old neice i can understand the need to pack light . However if you actually took my 3 items ( win 7 tablet , 3ds , nook ) and then took your two items , i think you will find that my stuff will actually take less room .
Your lucky , but for me i'm gong to need a windows tablet for a very long time .
hoom
Veteran
So the Galaxy 10.1 was launched with suprisingly limited media coverage. (at least that I've seen)
Reviews seem decent but I'm a bit iffy about there being no USB, HDMI or SD slot.
Possibly will be there for the 4G versions?
The 8.9 is still no ETA, seems to have confirmed same lack of USB, HDMI & SD slot.
I had thought that 8.9 would be the sweet spot with same resolution as 10.1 but smaller more portable form factor but reviews of Playbook & comments from people who have tried both bigger & 7 inches make me think 7 may work out better.
I really like the idea of fitting in my coat pocket.
I just don't like the lower resolution though.
Fortunately, Huawei have announced a 7 inch with ~1280*800 resolution which looks really tasty:
http://tablets-planet.com/2011/06/2...nch-android-honeycomb-tablet-at-communicasia/
http://tablets-planet.com/2011/06/21/first-video-hands-on-for-the-huawei-mediapad-tablet-posted/
http://vr-zone.com/articles/huawei-...oid-3.2-honeycomb-dual-core-tablet/12697.html
1.2Ghz dual core Qualcomm CPU with Adreno 220 GPU (MSM8660?).
10.5mm thick is not groundbreaking but not bad.
Mini HDMI, Micro USB & SD card.
5Mpixel camera.
390grams is nice & light.
Only going for 6hrs on the battery though.
Android 3.2 which is apparently basically 3.1 optimised for 7 inch screens.
Reviews seem decent but I'm a bit iffy about there being no USB, HDMI or SD slot.
Possibly will be there for the 4G versions?
The 8.9 is still no ETA, seems to have confirmed same lack of USB, HDMI & SD slot.
I had thought that 8.9 would be the sweet spot with same resolution as 10.1 but smaller more portable form factor but reviews of Playbook & comments from people who have tried both bigger & 7 inches make me think 7 may work out better.
I really like the idea of fitting in my coat pocket.
I just don't like the lower resolution though.
Fortunately, Huawei have announced a 7 inch with ~1280*800 resolution which looks really tasty:
http://tablets-planet.com/2011/06/2...nch-android-honeycomb-tablet-at-communicasia/
http://tablets-planet.com/2011/06/21/first-video-hands-on-for-the-huawei-mediapad-tablet-posted/
http://vr-zone.com/articles/huawei-...oid-3.2-honeycomb-dual-core-tablet/12697.html
1.2Ghz dual core Qualcomm CPU with Adreno 220 GPU (MSM8660?).
10.5mm thick is not groundbreaking but not bad.
Mini HDMI, Micro USB & SD card.
5Mpixel camera.
390grams is nice & light.
Only going for 6hrs on the battery though.
Android 3.2 which is apparently basically 3.1 optimised for 7 inch screens.
