Informal Survey

[m1a1mg]

BB playbook

 

BB fanboi.

[Mike Steele]

BB fanboi.

 

It was always the front runner....

[Ivanhoe]

[m1a1mg]

http://bfads.net/

[Murph]

I have an iPad (64gb 3g) that I got used, and while a nice toy for surfing the net, playing Stupid Zombies, and getting email, you really can't use it for serious work. Plus I am too cheap to shell out for a data plan with AT&T. So basically I got a $900 Ipad for $400 and it is a nice toy. Stick with laptops for any serious work, other than surfing Tanknet.

 

 

My wife has an iPad. It's neat. I'm still not sure what it's for though.

[Rickard N]

I said "proper" which means one with a proper tablet Windows, which is Windows 8.

 

I got a smartphone about 2 years later than I could have because I was waiting for Windows Phone 7. No rush for me to get a tablet either, I'll wait till Win 8 tablets become mainstream.

If I was to get one, I'd like to have a tablet with a "normal" OS on it. If that OS is Win 7, Win 8 och whatever doesn't matter all that much. I'm not that impressed by all these "special OS for a tablet" a'la mac or linux. But hey, if you think win 8 is the solution, wait for that

 

/R

[Juan Sosa]

I have an iPad and use it every day. It has replaced my laptop for everything I do at home outside of playing World of Tanks. Mostly I use it to read newspapers (WSJ, Miami Herald, etc), magazines (National Geographic, Wired), catch up on my Google Reader feed and the obvious uses of internet browsing and email. For this kind of activities I like it much better than a laptop.

 

Over the last couple of years I've left my laptop behind and taken it with me in a few business trips and more personal ones. There have been very few times where I've felt constrained by it. I can type on the keyboard fast enough and the app selection allows me to do everything I need. I'm a happy camper and will probably upgrade to the iPad 3 when it comes out.

 

As for alternatives, I don't like the 7 in form factor and was disappointed by the app selection and IU feel of the Android products I've tried.

[Juan Sosa]

I'm interested in a surfing/reading device bigger than this iPhone, yet smaller than a laptop. I recently downloaded some books (thanks again, you-know-who ), and my laptop is kinda awkward for simple reading. Even though I can easily read this iPhone, the tiny screen is not the most comfortable reading surface. I'm considering a Droid phone for its larger screen; a tablet the size of a paperback would be interesting, since it could still fit in a pocket.

 

If you want it mostly for reading books I'd suggest a regular Kindle. Its cheap enough to be almost disposable, tiny and a great screen for reading.

[Harold Jones]

I've had an Acer Iconia tablet for about 4 months now and I've really come to like it. It's android so there's a gajillion apps out there for it. I mostly use it for reading ebooks around the house, mainly because it's way more flexible than my nook. I can download either e-pub or kindle format books from the library over wifi instead of having to plug it into my PC to sync up. I also use it for general web surfing and basic email.

 

When I travel I use it for all of the above and also to store Pics from my camera and thanks to SIP Droid it can make 'free' phone calls over a wifi connection through my office SIP application server. At 2 pounds it's heavier than an Ipad but it's still lighter than a laptop and does most everything I'd use one for when traveling for personal business. I still need to lug the laptop when I travel for work though since it doesn't have a VPN client that works with our corporate VPN.

 

It has a USB port so I can plug in a standard USB keyboard if I really want to do some serious typing. It also has two cameras, a 5 MP on the back and 2 MP front mounted one for video calls. Besides the USB port it has a mini USB port for connecting to a PC, an HDMI out port and a headphone connector. The one thing I don't like is that it doesn't charge over USB but instead has a dedicated power cord, battery life is good and so far I haven't lost the damn charger on a trip.

 

My wife has a nook color which is much smaller and lighter but seems crippled compared to the Acer.

[Archie Pellagio]

Anyone got any info or experience with the Samsung Windows 7 tablet?

 

http://www.samsung.com/au/consumer/pc-peripherals/notebook-pc/thin-light/XE700T1A-A01AU/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail&tab=feature

 

I saw it the other day at boxing day sales and was intrigued by it.

 

How does Windows 7 handle the touch screen interface?

 

Seems an interesting netbook replacement that also fills the role of tablet ease of use for reader type tasks.

[Corinthian]

After 7000 years, people are back writing on tablets.

 

And they accuse me of being a luddite....

[Ivanhoe]

Anyone got any info or experience with the Samsung Windows 7 tablet?

 

I would test the snot out of one before buying. I'm skeptical that the low-power CPUs in tablets will run WinXX fast enough. That's the beauty of iOS and Android; they are bare-bones OSes, without the 40+ system processes contending for CPU cycles and bus time.

[thekirk]

I'm pretty happy with my ASUS Transformer. The thing people need to remember with these things is that they are not PC replacements--They're adjuncts. I take mine out for doing inventories and take-offs, and have pretty much decided that this thing is the way of the future for reading material. It's very nice to have all the plans on it in .pdf, along with all the catalogs and manuals. Of course, you also have to ruggedize the damn thing by buying a case for it, but what the hell?

 

Consumer electronics really need to start being made better, at least for some market segments. There are like two or three ruggedized smart phones out there, and even they don't meet my standards for standing up to abuse. Trouble is, most people prefer to buy new phones when they break, rather than buy something you can beat an elephant to death with at the get-go.

[Mike Steele]

After 7000 years, people are back writing on tablets.

 

And they accuse me of being a luddite....

 

That's because you are a Luddite.

 

I got a BB Playbook (32gb) through a combo of gift cards and other things. Fanbois of the world unite!

 

The thing people need to remember with these things is that they are not PC replacements--They're adjuncts. I take mine out for doing inventories and take-offs, and have pretty much decided that this thing is the way of the future for reading material. It's very nice to have all the plans on it in .pdf, along with all the catalogs and manuals. Of course, you also have to ruggedize the damn thing by buying a case for it, but what the hell?

So true,