[Closed] Android Tablets

-Keyboard - for creation
-No keyboard - for consumption

Most people don't need a keyboard.

I'm tempted by one of these for my Grandad - I gave him my old desktop pc a while ago and he's got quite into surfing the net (read BBC, Guardian, Salford Reds etc), but thats all he does, plus he managed to install google chrome last time I went round....by accident!

I like the idea of him having something to surf the net on thats simple, and wont get him all confused. iPads are bloody expensive tho!

Something that I can a) type on rather than click buttons and b) fits in a pocket would be perfect for me

[img] [/img]

spodding

Now that's a word I've not heard in a long time...

I have often thought you seem oddly familiar, but if I really did know you then you'd have recognised my username.

bought mrs xiphon an android tablet - Eken M001 - off the classifieds here.

With the default Android OS ROM - it was absolutely shockingly bad.

Works much better with custom ROM flashed onto it.

No way would I have paid full whack for it - they have similar low-end devices in Currys.

Now that's a word I've not heard in a long time...

Can you do that in an Alec Guinness voice? (-:

It's not a word I use by accident, certainly. I'd have picked up on someone else using it.

I have often thought you seem oddly familiar, but if I really did know you then you'd have recognised my username.

*intrigued*

My memory isn't what it used to be. Where are you going with this?

Al Tesco has a £10 off offer at the mo and I have another 10% discount if You want a new iPad 2 (£399-£40-£10) almost for the price of the original iPad.

I used my mates iPad couple of times and it is nice, works great, simple to use and intuitive. However I don't earn well enough (yet ;-)) to spend over £300 for a gadget.

Motorola Xoom gets good reviews but it's even more expensive than the iPad. I'll have to stick to my Android mobile and a 13.3" laptop + a 19" LCD screen for now. I can see the iPad fitting well between the mobile and laptop however I'm not getting one yet (might think about getting one if my OH's laptop packs up) until they will be closer to the netbook price range.

Cougar does the word 'ewtoo' mean anything to you?

Hah.

I think perhaps we're at angry dolphins but sharing a common etymology. Did you know a nice lass from Warwick?

(in answer to your question, no, but the definition I found on Wikipedia does).

The verb 'to spod' was widely used by people using such 'talkers' based on ewtoo, with results not dissimilar to this forum in many ways...

However the word itself is older so yes perhaps you are right.

No I did not know a nice girl from Warwick, although I know one who currently lives nearby 🙂

I didn't say a girl, I said a LASS.

I thought you were coming from [url= http://www.cheeseplant.org/~daniel/pages/cph.html ]here[/url] you see.

I think we win the "randomest forum tangent ever" award; do you use any sort of IM that we could continue this conversation on without boring the crap out of the rest of the forum?

Hi,

Have had a Vega for four months. Can't fault it too much for the price. You need to get the Modaco update to get Market.

Comparing it to my Desire in terms of day to day use it is very good . The screen viewing angles are not great when compared to the Ipad or Desire. It is obviously where they saved money.

It runs most of the apps the Desire runs with only a couple that don't scale to the right size. It does not have any lag, as good as the ipads I have played with.

Only had a desk top pc so do use it alot around the house. Handy to use with Jamie Oliver's 20 minute meal app. There is a great TV show streaming app which gives you pretty much every show you can think of on it. Big bonus of having flash.

Pays your money makes your choice!

Regards

Am I the only person who wants a medium (7" ish) tablet with handwriting recognition?

I can't be, can I?

It seems apple hatred is trendier than apple fanboyism now. And more irrational.

Why would you choose a patently inferior product, with 20 or so apps designed for it (vs 70,000), for similar -some cases more- money... Just because you don't like the company's CEO?

The iPhone certainly has some decent competition - the iPad does not.

And as for consumption only, the next gorillaz album has been CREATED entirely on the iPad.

The Vega I played with 3 days ago had awful screen lag compared to the iPad...I ordered the latter pretty much on that alone..

Am I the only person who wants a medium (7" ish) tablet with handwriting recognition?

I can't be, can I?

Samsung Q1.
http://www.samsung.com/uk/business/b2b/products/notebooks/ultra_mobile/q1.htm

Mines running TabletXP with 2gb of memory. Dirt cheap off Ebay a year or so ago. Use it for Nav software in my Landrover and watching Iplayer etc in bed.

the next gorillaz album has been CREATED entirely on the iPad

plus, like all other gorrilaz albums, it'll have 2 or 3 decent tunes and a load of poor filler .... 😈

Edhornby, that doesn't mean anything! The most powerful computer it the world would still need an external audio / midi interface!

The korg software is a good example of how powerful the ipad is. Really cheap too - 10 quid instead of a few hundred for the hardware version.

Am I the only person who wants a medium (7" ish) tablet with handwriting recognition?
I can't be, can I?

Am I the only person who wants a medium (7" ish) tablet with handwriting recognition?
I can't be, can I?

HTC Flyer could be exactly what you want then...

I never found handwriting recognition to be worth it, but then - I can type 🙂

Am I the only person who wants a medium (7" ish) tablet with handwriting recognition?

I can't be, can I?

Apple Newton ??

Ha, Apple newton. Ace. And Mr Jobs has said no HWR on any Apple product now.

I can type too, but if I have a tablet in one hand then I'd prefer to write (I'm assuming you can do that molgrips ;-)) instead of using a keyboard layout that's designed for 2 hands...

HTC Flyer does look good, yes but it doesn't have HWR specifically. Never heard of the Q1.

Asus Memo looks pretty good, but tbh most tablets seem to be overpriced compared to the iPad at the moment.

FWIW I was in Dixons airport Edinburgh and they were listing Vegas for £177 and Amicos for £75.

Staff member tried to turn former on with volume control ❓

And they had no stock 🙄

This one could be good:
[img] [/img]

Sony though, so it depends on which bit of the company make it...

More about the two new Sony's here:-
[url= http://www.coolsmartphone.com/2011/04/26/sony-announce-s1-s2-tablets/ ]http://www.coolsmartphone.com/2011/04/26/sony-announce-s1-s2-tablets/[/url]

The Sony clamshell looks interesting, but I'm guessing that there's a fair number of Android games that won't work with a "broken" screen - Angry Birds for example. Can't see it being much good for reading the newspaper, either - that black space in the middle would get irritating pretty fast.

Think that you can choose between using both screens for one app, or separate screens for separate apps (you could have Angry Birds on one screen, and Singletrack forum on the other!). Also, for papers / books, you should be able to turn it to portrait and make it more "book like".

That Sony clamshell looks awful. The first non-Tablet tablet?

(Unless they get the screens going right to the hinge of course, so it is effectively one big screen that goes small enough to put in a pocket - that might be useful)

Think that you can choose between using both screens for one app, or separate screens for separate apps (you could have Angry Birds on one screen, and Singletrack forum on the other!). Also, for papers / books, you should be able to turn it to portrait and make it more "book like".

Be crap for reading papers / books, with that dividing line in the middle. A proper tablet would be far superior. Likewise I can't see games developed for tablet screen shapes would work very well on a thin, long screen. I'm guessing 95% of the time the bottom screen will be used as a keyboard.

Which Magazine rated the Galaxy tab as th best of the Non-iPad machines, followed by the Dell Streak, if that's any use. thought the Dell uses Android 1.6 rather than 2.2

Be crap for reading papers / books, with that dividing line in the middle.

I think it's a feature:

[img] [/img]

Otherwise known as the "spine" of a "book". Have you used one?
[img] [/img]

😉

That's not the same screen aspect ratio though, is it?

[url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/samsung-galaxy-tablet?replies=3#post-2508270 ]cough[/url]

mogrim - Member
That's not the same screen aspect ratio though, is it?

Well, no, but then again you get books in lots of different "aspect ratios". You wouldn't want to read a coffee table style Encyclopaedia Britannica on it, but would be fine for books and newspapers.

Anyway I don't even like Sony, I'd probably just buy an ipad...

*Backs away from being labelled some sort of fanboy fanatic*

Why you selling, iDave?

Well, no, but then again you get books in lots of different "aspect ratios"

I'm with mogrim - from your photos that Sony clamblet would struggle to fit two columns of your illuminated [i]Ars Technica[/i] there - assuming it even has a suitable resolution to provide readable text at that size.

that Sony clamblet would struggle to fit two columns of your illuminated Ars Technica there

No need to be rude now is there!

*goes back to reading the internet on his crappy 2.5" phone screen circa 2005*

Well, no, but then again you get books in lots of different "aspect ratios". You wouldn't want to read a coffee table style Encyclopaedia Britannica on it, but would be fine for books and newspapers

Not convinced, it's a very narrow screen - be OK for a newspaper column, I suppose - but you wouldn't be able to see the photo at the top without playing around with pinching / scroll.

If it had a proper(ish) keyboard and just the one screen, however...

Charlie, only selling as I'm not traveling with work as much as planned and I can use the macbook and desire for everything at home.

lol, I wish I'd posted a picture of the other one now!
[img] [/img]

For mogrim though, how about this one:
[img] [/img]

lol @thebunk - that's still not a proper keyboard, though!

I'm writing this on the Vega i bought at Heathrow last week for £207 🙂

Out of the box it's pretty limited, as has been mentioned, but a few minutes and the ROM is now running Modaco, and it's great! Faster than my Samsung NC10 netbook for a lot of things, although typing isn't necessarily one of them 😉

Screen isn't amazing, but for a fairly cheep and cheerful device I'm pretty impressed.

Cheers, Rich

You can get styli that work on iPhone and iPad screens, along with apps that have handwriting capability. As far as the consumption/creativity argument goes, there is GarageBand for the iPad now, along with the full Korg synth, and an exact replica of a whizzy sequencer much loved by hiphop and early dance types. There are full midi connectors for the iPad, also mic inputs. There are also brushes available to use with paint and drawing apps. The thing with the iPhone, and much more with the iPad, is that it's a 'blank slate', there for people to create ways of using the damned thing.
Much as I'd like one, it's going to have to wait for ages until I replace my ageing seven year old laptop. Maybe next year.
Or the year after.

[url= http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/science-%26-technology/yes%2c-it-does-do-telly%2c-weary-sony-tells-uk-201104273755/ ]Does it do telly though?[/url]

Flashy content-free video of the Sony S1 tablet and S2 clamblet in action:

I'm not blown away.