Which tablet?
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- chuckie
I'm thinking about getting my folks a tablet for christmas, can't afford an ipad, Any suggestions what I should get instead?
- fues0
Any reasonably priced Android tablet?
- not really, ESPECIALLY if you've ever used an iPadmonospaced
- emphor0
Bio Slim
- zaq0
Kindle Fire http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Fir…
- sine0
at $199 for the kindle fire amazon is going to make a killing this christmas
- autoflavour0
take the blue pill
- raf0
Buy them something else then. Android tablets are only good if you're a geek in need of the feeling of superiority coming from the fact you can upload any files on/off it and use it as an oversize USB stick.
Buy a new iPad from Craigslist? Kindle Keyboard or Touch for books?
- monospaced0
The Kindle Fire is kind of a sad excuse for a tablet.
- d_rek0
@monospaced,
disagree. It's a very affordable and capable tablet. But there is a *VERY* clear distinction that needs to made with a Kindle Fire and most other tablets out there. It's really a device for MEDIA CONSUMPTION. It's really great at handling most visual media (books, video, web). It's perfect for my fiancee, who's only personal-computing needs are reading books, browsing the web, and watching videos.
That being said what it is NOT A LIFESTYLE device for a people on the go. It does not do productivity stuff very well(or at all). It's not going to manage your iCal/Google calendar for you. It's not for power-emailers on the go. You're not going to get access to all of those pointless, esoteric app store/google market apps.
If you want all of that stuff (most people do) then get an iPad/different android tablet.
- monospaced0
@d_rek
I agree, it is a glorified media player with basically no foreseeable productivity capabilities. It has no GPS and a laughable mail client. And for these reasons (and many, many, many more), it shouldn't be defined as a tablet, let alone a competitor to the iPad.
I think it comes down to how one defines a tablet. If it's form-factor alone, then sure, the Kindle is a tablet. But when you define it as a new computing device that makes life and work easier, the thing is well, "kind of a sad excuse for a tablet."
- meh. Another apple to orange comparison. Do your homework already.d_rek
- I did my homework man! Tons of it. The Fire really underperforms in so many places.monospaced
- Let's face facts, the kindle is no iPadgoldieboy
- detritus0
imho, the 'tablet' moniker was always an open one, catering to the loweliest of dumb terminals (actually, more so this end) up to productivity computers.
Certainly, my personal vision for tablet use is to have a handful of them around the place, referring to my main computer where complexity is needed (ie. as additional interfaces for software or nodes to pull data to).
I doubt that the majority of people buy into Kindle as a productivity device — hence the maintenance of the Kindle brand tag.
- you're also correct, but you missed the part where Apple finally defined the consumer tabletmonospaced
- In that case, may I point out that Amazon have themselves never referred to the Kindle Fire as a 'Tablet;.detritus
- fair enough, but didn't they do a direct comparison with the iPad?monospaced
- moldero0
Browsing the Internet on the iPad sucks dicks. (yup "s" for plural because it sucks many many dicks) I'm my opinion. Not just because of the lack of the flash player, but it seems like a good portion of creatively designed HTML 5 sites are designed for a mouse and not a finger. Other than that, iPads pretty damn cool, but it makes me curious if browsing on other tablets is any better?
- moldero0
Last week I tried the photon browser to see how flash runs on the iPad, it ran, but super slow, but what was worst was since most decent flash sites use a lot of mouse over actions as part of its interaction and or navs which is not really possible to use with a finger, makes me wonder what the real reason jobs was all over flashes nuts in the first place.
- ernexbcn0
iPad is the only reasonable choice. I'd wait version 3 though for the double resolution display everyone seems to agree it will have.
- sine0
honestly, i prefer the ipad for it's broader application. but why knock the kindle... it is what it is, and doesn't pretend to be anything else. it's also a 3rd of the price of a ipad.
- monospaced0
I'm knocking the Kindle Fire because as an iPad alternative for a guy who doesn't want to spend $500, I think it's a bad choice. That's all. Otherwise, I definitely see it's place in market and I wish it the best.
- the ipad's competition/alternat... is android tablets, not the kindle... the kindle is diffirent peice of tech.sine
- agreedmonospaced
- d_rek0
@monospaced
You're really thinking about it the wrong way. 'iPad alternative' is not the way to think about it. If you want an 'iPad alternative' you need to look at the other tablets on the market. You're seriously doing an Apples to Oranges comparison here. The iPad is an iPad. The Kindle Fire is a Kindle Fire. While inherently similar the distinction I mentioned above is really what sets them apart. You really need to quit thinking of it as an iPad alternative.
- So who ever mentioned the kindle in the first place on this thread is wrong (zaq). He asked for a tablet alternative... No?goldieboy
- sine0
i think what mono might be getting at is that people might think they're buying an ipad at a 3rd of the price when they buy a kindle fire, but it's not quite the case, as an ipad and kidle are 2 completely different things.
- that and really, I'm doing this in context of the 'original poster' and the recommendations for the fire in the postsmonospaced
- Hombre_Lobo0
I'm considering a tablet for Christmas and I have been looking round.
Firstly an 'ipad alternative' is a tricky thing. The major selling point of the ipad (and iphone) is its operating system, which is quite different from android and choosing between them comes down to personal preference and what activities you like to do on a tablet.
I'm currently choosing between the asus eee pad transformer and ipad 1/2, but obviously they are massively different.
For android I was leaning towards an Asus Eee pad transformer -
Great value. Best screen on any tablet (its IPS and on par with the excellent screen of the ipad, but higher resolution which is the case with android devices). smoothest of the android bunch too.
I'm an android fan, love open source, I love being able to install whatever i want from wherever i want with android (i have a bunch of install file apk's on my phones hard drive), and love being able to install apps that don't need to be given the go ahead by apple.
I like being able to back up my android phone completely with a few key presses and a reboot. I like being able to use it plug and play style, like a usb drive, then access and easily browse the files.
(these things may be possible with the jail broken ipad, but I currently dont know)
But also think the ipad is great, its well built, looks nice and minimal, and interface is smoother than android and has more apps (classic arguments). But no flash support, you have to use itunes and doing everything 'Apples way' is quite annoying for me. Great well built products though. (the fan boys and arrogant keynote speeches are another negative factor, but they shouldn't really be a consideration as the products are great)
One thing that does annoy me about android tablets though is that even with dual core they are still not as smooth as the ipad, BUT BUT BUT the most annoying thing is, I could buy an android tablet, take it home and install a much smooth operating system on it created by some random developer. Why the hell cant the interface be smooth by default? My single core phone is smooth as hell and gorgeous.
This does piss me off. if the power of android has doubled recently, why is Honeycomb still a bit laggy.
Tough choice for me. But if i were you i'd go with the asus eee pad transformer. Gets great reviews, and seems to be the best android tab at the mo.
- I like to be able to backup my iOS device wirelessly without any rebooting, and without jailbreaking.monospaced
- *like being able tomonospaced
- you couldn't just write "you can do that on ios too". its clear you love apple, just reign it in a bit mmmkay.Hombre_Lobo
- no, if I wrote that themonospaced
- then I would be saying that Apple's product sucks dick. instead i pointed out how superior it ismonospaced
- Hombre_Lobo0
but yeh, as others have suggest, the kindle fire looks like an absolutely bargain, great hardware, but is very different to ipads and android tabs.
If you could get it hacked and get android on it, which is only a matter of time, it would be sweet.
- i think amazon just needs to open up their marketplace or even allow google marketplace and it would make all the more differenced_rek
- differenced_rek
- it's still subpar hardwareernexbcn
- How is it subpar hardware? Dual 1ghz. The ipad 1 has worse specs, but is still a good tablet.Hombre_Lobo
- Yeh drek, lack of apps will be the major problem.Hombre_Lobo
- georgesIII0
why buy a shitty kindle fire to save a buck, then complain it's not up to the level of the ipad,
just get the ipad brah or if you want some kind of freedom get a transformer, in two weeks the new one should be out,
I was honestly thinking in getting a transformer but lucky for me hp made another dumb fuckn move and I got two touchpad for the price of the asus,
dual boot webOs/android (honeycunt) work flawlessly,
but let me save you some time, the tablet is for your folks,
just go here and save yourself some street creds
here: http://www.apple.com/ipad/- Wish I got one of them touch pads!
Honeycomb run nice on it? I heard apps have trouble because of the different resolution.Hombre_Lobo - Because the touch pad has s different resolution to the standard android tablets.Hombre_Lobo
- Wish I got one of them touch pads!