Tablet Wars 2011

I'm still waiting on reviews on the HP TouchPad before I decide what my second tablet will be.
Android is sweet but still can't manage all the functionality of iOS...

 

Well no other tablet is going to be able to match the functionality -- app and peripheral support -- of the iPad in the near future.

I can see the advantage of a 7-inch tablet though. I borrowed an iPad for a 2 week trip and didn't feel a strong desire to take it out and about with me, even though I could have slipped it in my messenger bag. The 7-inch probably would have been better for that situation. Maybe load a e-book on there. Had a Mifi device so used the iPhone plenty but it would have been nice to have a bigger screen sometimes.

Might have been more tempted to use the 7-inch form factor for a GPS when driving -- instead of using a dedicated Garmin.

 

what about using a Happy Hacking Keyboard? (lite 2 version)

did anyone had a try.
using one with a tablet or other mobile device would make it a better computer than even a netbook sometimes. it's a keyboard better than the majority of desktop keyboards, apparently. has two full size USB ports on it as well.
so you could plug in regular game controllers, usb drives, wired ethernet and so on.

 

I had a Galaxy tab 10.1 on pre-order at Amazon, but canceled at the last moment when I read about this issue. http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=15958
Supposedly there are performance issues when current Honeycomb tablets go into anything other than standard landscape mode. I had intended to use it mostly in portrait mode.

This youtube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jbm8QAS3DI shows the problem.

I'll drop by Best Buy when the HP Touchpad launches to check out both that and the Galaxy tab 10.1 to see if the supposed lag is something that's enough to bother me. Otherwise, I'll get the Touchpad because WebOS is looking pretty awesome.

 

Just keeping it fresh with some raw numbers.

What tablet war you might ask because the market have clearly spoken for 2011 so far.

 

Engadget has there HP Touchpad review up. Basically with better hardware it might have been a contender with webOS 3...might have been

 

Better hardware than what?
The dual-scorpions @ 1.2GHz + Adreno 220 should be more than enough to at least side with Tegra 2 tablets.

If the Touchpad is sluggish, it's not the hardware's fault, it's the OS that's not as tuned as Android and iOS.

OTOH, it's an Engadget "review", and they almost always go out of their way to favor Apple.

 

It's not the processor, but rather the form factor. It's heavy and bulky compared to competitive tablets and its lacking some features that, while not incredibly useful, are still desired by many (back-facing camera, etc.)

Then there's the immature software and lack of tablet-oriented apps.

 

Yeah, the reviews were disappointing. People mentioned failing to load programs, flash videos not playing, and general sluggishness as it goes on (like memory leak). I had the Touchpad pre -ordered it at BB, but reading the reviews and seeing the videos, I changed my mind and went with the Galaxy tab 10.1.

The hardware form factor and weight I was willing to live with, if the software was great out of the box. But since both were disappointing, might as well go with the Samsung. Regardless of the state of Honeycomb, at least they got the hardware part right.

 

I hope somebody pilfers the webOS card HMI, webOS notifications and their email app. All three are the best on a tablet from a company that can't get it together.

 

That's a major complaint i personally have with the iPad. 100,000 apps just announced and they're mostly all shoddy shovelware games i'm not interested in. I bought an iPad (and not an iPod touch) for the apps, not for gaming. I'm dissappointed so far tbh.

I'm at a point that if someone whoops out a Win8 ARM based tablet next year with solid specs i'll be all over it.

(MS should do one themselves)

 

Interesting as I've been quite happy with iPad apps so far...I have a ssh app, remote desktop app, decent IMAP support, good Word/Excel/Powerpoint interoperability, decent drawing apps, GotoMeeting and a swath of good video software.

What exactly are you looking for?

 

There are really some things that would work well but so far hasn't made its way. A full-featured version of Photoshop, for one. The processors (especially if you made use of the off-load engines) are fully powerful enough to do some serious photo editing work.

Full featured Illustrator, perhaps even some CAD tools (I can definitely see pads being used as aid input devices for CAD).

Robust note-taking apps would also be nice, similar to HTC's note app with the Flyer.

 

But now you're talking mouse or stylus + kb...CAD with fingers? Ugh.

 

Yeah, those 3 items look to be unmatched in the tablet space. I've been playing around with the Galaxy Tab 10.1 for a day. And while Honeycomb is ok, I wish it had the WebOS UI.

I have to say, the 10.1 is one sexy piece of hardware. Too bad HP wouldn't or couldn't match Samsung's in re-engineering their tablet after seeing the ipad2.

The one worry I had was the Tegra2/Honeycomb portrait performance issue. It might have been a bit overblown in my mind. The UI and browser in portrait is not quite as smooth as landscape, but I have to look for it to notice.

Flash performance is fine, youtube videos actually plays better than on my netbook (asus HE1000). Flash is the main reason I didn't look at the ipads, I could live without it but why should I have to.

And I set the browser to "desktop." I don't really need to see the mobile versions of sites with a screen that size.

 

There are rumors that Samsung might license webOS...now that would be uber cool.

 

I don't know, it seems like the bulk of those interested in webOS tablets are people who are devoted to webOS based on the Pre.

Problem is of course, the user base of the Pre isn't that big.

With no software support, it's probably going to get about as far as ... BeOS or Amiga, technically admired but mainly a cult following. HP isn't going to spread the dollars around like MS has to attract 3rd-party development either.

 

I'm not a fan of the Pre or any other slider, but webOS is very nice IMHO. Much more so than Android or iOS. I agree it will likely die a death of neglect as HP is a company with no soul since selling off their heritage in analytics, but I do hope someone steals/copies the innovations of webOS.

 

I hope Google steals them for Android 4.0, or even future 3.x.

Btw, I just found out about Plex. It streams to my 10.1 beautifully and looks amazing. I have a server that's populated with tons of tv recordings (from Sagetv dvr). No problem transcoding on the fly and streaming recorded 1080i and 720p mpeg files made from HDhomerun, converted 720p mkv files, and assorted xvid avi's. The only issue are recordings made from an Hauppauge HD PVR (intermittent pauses).

I was considering rooting it, to get Hulu working. But now I don't think I'll be needing hulu for the tab anymore.

Edit: I never had a pre either, only had iphone and android phones. The Touchpad interested me initially because WebOS just looks impressive.

 

I didn't mind that much at first, but now after having used the ipad for about 3 months it's really starting to get annoying, to a point where my next tablet absolutely has to play that content. Pretty much everyday I run in to having to switch my PC on, because this POS can't play some video.