The best tablets for Christmas
Thank God for Microsoft. Without it and its new Surface tablet this article would be nothing more than me running around having an Android versus iOS argument with myself. Thankfully, as with smartphones, the arrival of Windows 8, here in its RT incarnation, has saved mankind from a bipolar tablet OS nightmare. More importantly …
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Cut 'n' Paste
Shouldn't "2012's top e-book readers: the best..." actually say Tablets, rather than be an exact copy of the text from yesterday's top e-book reader article?
Better than the Gadget Show anyway
(as if that's difficult, these days)
Their small tablet comparison ran to the iPad Mini and the Kindle Fire HD, and that's yer lot... I guess Apple and Amazon paid them not to include the Nexus 7, which would have wiped the floor with both of them. I can't even remember which one won, so irrelevant it became in an instant.
Sometimes...
i wonder why i both reading el reg after shit like this - Basically this article could be summed up as, never used either a Surface or an iAnythig, i LLLLOOOOOOVVVVEEEEEE my Andriod tablet. Review my arse.
Re: Sometimes...
It's a change from the iThing reviews, which always get given to the one person in the office who loves them.
They always end up with 90% scores and reading like Stephen Fry's blog.
Re: Sometimes...
Let's get one thing clear, anyone who says they "love" a gadget not matter what OS it runs should be taken outside and shot. Or at least prevented from breeding.
I make no bones about the fact I use Android day-in-day-out but that's more to do with the fact all my "stuff" is in the Google cloud than any fundamental advantage it has over iOS or WinRT.
I don't know what half-arsed sites you usually read, but around here we only write about kit after we have used it.
(Posted from my iPad)
Re: Sometimes...
Which is a testament to how good they are if they get that rating on here which some may argue is not necessarily a very Apple-friendly environment?
keyboard-cum-covers?
I guess you should make sure you're holding it right?
Right?
Re: keyboard-cum-covers?
You need massive hands, apparently.
"...and a maps app that sucks the scabs off a zombie’s nutsack."
<ripple of polite applause>
Re: "...and a maps app that sucks the scabs off a zombie’s nutsack."
Apple haters love to jump on this forgetting that now iPad users have MORE choice - the Apple Maps app AND Google Maps and Apple Maps are better for some people (satellite mapping seems more up to date for one thing). It's such a trivial issue for most people - it takes 10 seconds to save Google Maps to an icon.
Re: "...and a maps app that sucks the scabs off a zombie’s nutsack."
I couldn't disagree with you more. I found it stomach-turning and unfunny and unnecessary.
Maybe i'm just getting old, maybe it was the Nachos Grande I was eating at the time.
"And don’t forget, the Surface comes with Microsoft Office pre-loaded." Fantastic. Unles you need to exchange documents with people using the real version of Office, then suddenly, 'Oh, it's not quite compatible, didn't you know?'
Microsoft can't even make Office 365 compatible with the real thing. Pathetic.
Exactly. That is why I bought SoftMaker for my Nexus. It handles office files perfectly so far.No, not affiliated.
"And don’t forget, the Surface comes with Microsoft Office pre-loaded."
..which isn't licensed for commercial use either- so unless your employer wants to give you another MS office license for your new toy, you're technically a feeelthy license-breaking commie mutant traitor. Classy.
Re: "And don’t forget, the Surface comes with Microsoft Office pre-loaded."
"which isn't licensed for commercial use either"
I I wasn't a libertarian scumbag, I would place a phone call to the Towers of the Antitrust Taxfeeders.
I pay for it, I use it as I like. Suck it up, Microsoft.
Hey, on second thoughts, I won't pay for it.
char_aznable_removing_glasses.jpg
What about the no-names?
Having a drool over all the tablets that your mum could pick up with the weekly shopping is all very well. However we're supposed to be TECHIES here and therefore aware of (if not altogether happy with) lots of suppliers who's wares don't appear on the high street.
So how about a comparable look at the generic tablets available with odd-sounding names on the back that don't get much press (because they don't take out full-pages ads?) but could give the highly promoted offerings a run for their money.
Re: What about the no-names?
A few unheard of brands sneak into some of these articles, but they're always crap in some way or another. If there are any good ones, I wouldn't mind knowing about them.
Oh but Kobo, or any other obscure e-reader-tablet-hybrid, don't count. They're all shite.
Re: What about the no-names?
> If there are any good ones, I wouldn't mind knowing about them
Exactly.
Take for example the newly released Onda V972 (catchy name!) 9.7 IPS, 2GB, quad core processor (and 8 core GPU). Up for grabs at $240 - but is it any good?
It sounds great on paper, but until someone puts it head-to-head with some better known tablets, in real-life situations, it could easily be a couple of hundred quid wasted.
This is what we need to know.
Re: What about the no-names?
This, a thousand times this. I don't get email and facebook ms' asking whether they should buy an ipad, Transformer or Nexus, no, they wanna know whether Tesco's £50 offering is better than the no name they found on Ebay for £75. So I dutifully look at the specs (generally 512MB, 4 GB storage, SD capable, 5 finger capacitive screen & Android 4), I usually advise going with supermarket offerings cause their return policies... well, they generally have one if the product turns out to be shit.
And what was with the Surface love? the picture showed a Surface Pro (pen included), the 16:9 ratio is not a generally popular format for the tablet market, besides which, most of the Android tabs also do 16:9, and the included MSOffice is for non commercial use only - which to my mind precludes it for writing a book or creating excel sheets because they might generate money in the future. In fact, the only use for Office on the RT I can see is for students doing homework or mums writing out shopping lists.
The ipad mini is a pisstake tho', I think Apple are just seeing how far they can push their ifans.
Sent from my iPad3 - suck it!
Re: What about the no-names?
Onda V712, Ainol Novo 7 Fire, are Chinese-made (but so are all the others) 7'' with 1280x800 IPS screen, 1Gb RAM, dual-core A9, HDMI-out ... for 125€ ... asked for one for Xmas, wondering if Santa-Klaus will have it for me.
Re: What about the no-names?
I agree and disagree. Yes it would be nice to know about no-name brands, but no, I wouldn't necessarily trust the Supermarkets. Although many will accept returns on things that are not what you wanted, they are not under anything like as much legal obligation as mail order companies, who must take something back, opened or not, faulty or not, if you just say you don't want it.
In fact I have often seen things in shops, whipped out my phone and ordered it from their own online store. Most recently some Beats from HMV (and they were cheaper). Oh I should just say they are for my fashion conscious daughter, before anybody says anything...
Re: What about the no-names?
I'm not sure that a gadget named Ainol would be much good in the bragging arena and you may get some odd looks in PCWorld asking where the Ainol products are.
Blackberry
Got my son a 64Gb playbook for Christmas. He will only use it for video & music though so if any of you just want a "media consumption" device it's a steal at £129
Re: Blackberry
£129 is not bad for a basic media player but I'd still pay the extra for a Nexus 7 or iPad Mini and get something that is likely to last longer.
Re: Blackberry
I had a PB (32 MB), really to see what BB10 was going to be like before plunking down money for a BB10 phone. With ver 2.0 OS, I had the hope of more apps via the Android emulation.
Then one day my PB froze. It turned into a brick. It would barely take a charge (if the PB battery goes completely flat it causes other issues) and had to be returned for a repair. The repair was a replacement, with 90 days cover or the balance of the 12 months original cover, whichever was the longer.
Given if it happened again, and I was outside the cover period, I was looking at a total loss, so I sold it. It was a lovely tablet, but the chance that it would turn into a brick again, with minimal use, never mind any kind of hacking involved, was enough for me to ditch it.
No mention of the playbook? There was 4G version released this year (with a 50% increase in CPU speed to boot).
Playbook is basically a kids toy or will be after the OS is discontinued - what do they have 1% of the market - or will have soon?
it's still 64GB of kid's toy!
my kids will love theirs! - well only one of them gets a Playbook - the other sproglet will get the Vtech Innotab2 (around £60, he'll get an 8gb SD-card ) and I can get my iPad2 back
It's solid with a decent amount of app and is very capible. Not to mention there is the the third version of the OS coming and will work on the orginal device.
You can dress up a poo all your like but it is what it is.
Christmas ?
When you are discussing their suitability for Christmas, availability might be relevant.
If google can't get a Nexus 10 to me in the next week or so, the missus is going to have to make do with an iPad 4.
If you can't actually buy it, it might as well not exist.
"...and the rest. Asus Transformer Pad Infinity. Reg Rating 80%"
actually, you gave it 85%, same as all your "2012's top e-book readers"
http://www.reghardware.com/2012/08/14/review_asus_transformer_pad_infinity_tf700t_64gb_android_tablet/page3.html
the cost is a bit of a killer though.
Re: "...and the rest. Asus Transformer Pad Infinity. Reg Rating 80%"
Oh look, you gave 90% to the Asus Transformer Pad TF300
http://www.reghardware.com/2012/06/13/review_asus_transformer_pad_android_tablet/
Higher than all your "2012's top e-book readers"
No Reg christmas love for Asus??
Re: "...and the rest. Asus Transformer Pad Infinity. Reg Rating 80%"
Okay, let me put on my Big Old Register hat here for a second and state without hesitation:
The Asus Transformer is fucking awesome. One of the best devices I have ever used. I don't have a Prime, or an Infinity or any of the new ones. I have the original. TF101.
And it rocks.
I give it 90%. Why 10% off? Because there is a bloody settings key were the delete key should be. In fact, there *is* no delete key at all and that drives me mad. Polaris Office is also a steaming heap of goat feces if you are trying to use a mouse + keyboard to get work done...which, you know, is the sort of thing you do with a hybrid device like the Transformer.
It is so close to perfect. So close. It is a nice Android-powered tablet. It is a 12-hour netbook. It has MicroSD, SD and 2x USB ports. It's fast, responsive and capable. You can access your legacy Windows applications by using the RemoteRDP app in keyboard+mouse mode, or the Wyse Pocketcloud app in touch mode. There are a plethora of available browsers, apps for nearly everything.
Except an office package that wasn't chiselled out of a fucking stone tablet by a collection of lobotomised guinea pigs on crystal meth.
And that keyboard. Fuck the keyboard.
So in all, I give the Asus Transformer (Android) line 90%. The devices are so amazing they almost offset the two hideous flaws that devastate Android devices for real use.
The best tablet for Christmas
remember a tablet is not just for Christmas!
And on the day after Christmas, the best tablet has to be a Paracetamol, or maybe Alka-Selzer.
Well...
I got myself a galaxy tab 2 10.1. I don't need the powerhouse of the others. But it does the job.
Re: Well...
And it's pretty cheap - and even more so at the moment with the £50 cashback.
Re: Well...
I went with the galaxy tab 2 7in with a 32g class 10 SDHC card it was still cheaper than the nexus 7, and played every video I flung at it perfectly(what I bought it for)
There is no 'Best' device any longer
Pretty well all the ones (apart from the dirt cheap bits of kit) available today will do the main things such as
Web Browsing
IM (skype etc)
Play Music & Videos.
just as well as the next one.
Therefore, IMHO the decision about which one to get is purely down to the user preferences.
If you want a decent OOTB user experience then an iPad will give you that.
With a bit of work( thus easy for those who post here), an Android device will also do that.
I have a Kindle Fire HD. It does just what I want it to. I can hear the naysayers gritting their teeth even now. Yes it is a virtual walled garden. However for my requirements it is perfect. Get that, MY needs not yours so don't tell me it is a POS, walled garden crap etc. It works for me.
The same goes for my mother with her iPad. It works for her and she's 90years old.
The fact that pretty well all tablets will do what most people want (bigotry aside) is a sign of a maturing market. Just like Laptops and PC's.
Re: There is no 'Best' device any longer
The Kindle Fire is the most walled of gardens - so as long as you do not mind driving on Amazon roads and filling up with Amazon fuel that's just great. The iPad is very open by comparison. Basically I see no reason why anyone would buy a Kindle Fire vs a Nexus 7 or even spend the extra and get the iPad Mini. It's roughly the same price as the Nexus 7 but does so much less.
It's like the people who buy Maglites (who are not buying them as 'batons') with standard incandescent bulbs thinking they have a great torch (flashlight for the US visitors) when you can get something many times brighter, smaller, lighter and with a better battery life - for the same or less.
Re: There is no 'Best' device any longer
Kindle Fire is basically for people who don't give a crap or don't know better - i.e. someone who sees it as an upgrade from a b/w Kindle e-reader. If I got one free I would give it to someone else as would have no use for it - why would you when you compare it to a ipad or nexus or well pretty much anything else.
Re: There is no 'Best' device any longer
You really don't get it do you...
For MY requirements it is perfect. For yours? probably not.
For me, the following are what I rate highly
- Runs for a 10/11hr flight (eg LHR-LAX, LHR-BKK or LHR-JBG) without needing at seat charging.
- Plays my music collection (all ripped from LP's and CD's) so no need to go online or stream anything.
- Lets me view TV shows recorded on my PVR in a Hotel Room (via HDMI cable)
- holds my reading material for my business trips, mainly lots of Free books from Amazon and Guttenburg etc
I know that many other devices can do most if not all of the above. Therefore the 1st item above becomes more important.
I also know that it is not perfect but from the devices available at the moment, it suits me the best. When I can get a Nexus/iPad/some other tablet with a 24hr operational battery life, then I might be tempted to change.
When you understand that these are my requirements AND that I did research alternatives please come back with a sensible comment instead of just dismissing an opinion that is different from yours.
Re: There is no 'Best' device any longer
You can replace your Maglite bulb with LEDs. You can't generally run over the knockoffs in an artic and still expect them to work.
Even the most devout fan of Android...
>>Even the most devout fan of Android would have to concede that it has failed to repeat its smartphone success in the tablet arena
You haven't hung out in these forums have you Mr. Writer?
Best tablet for Christmas
Valium. Wake me up when all the 'buy, buy, buy, your country needs you to buy' shite has gone away.
MIT Professor gives Win 8 on tablets thumbs down
The post in the linkis entitled "Windows 8 is a Christmas gift for 'someone you hate"
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/philg/2012/12/05/christmas-gift-for-someone-you-hate-windows-8/
So there you go, an Android tablet for my friends and Windows 8 to my enemies ;-)
This is an MIT Prof saying this, not just some kid. And he's not the first expert to criticise Windows 8 - a world-famous usability expert gave it the thumbs down too.
Lessons learned: do not let marketing design your UI! And that goes to Gnome 3 and Unity too, not just Windows 8.
Re: MIT Professor gives Win 8 on tablets thumbs down
One thing I've found in common between Windows 8, Gnome 3 and Unity: none of them have been anything like as bad as "expert" opinion had made out and led me to expect.
Granted there are things I don't like about each, but there are things I dislike about every single OS and UI under the sun and different users have different needs and expectations but the awfulness of all three has been much exaggerated. Once I'd got passed the initial "this is not as it was before and therefore shit" part of the experience things started to make more sense.
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