getting the best of both worlds

[Thenuts89]

I had been an iphone user for two and a half year until earlier this year when i switched to android. I love my galaxy nexus and the customization and google integration android offers but i miss some things About ios, mainly stability, optimized and polished apps, but mostly...gaming. games come out much faster on ios and certain developers (epic games) don't even consider making games for android.
Right now i am in the search for a tablet. I was considering the Nexus 7 (i dont like 10 inch tablets ), but then the ipad mini was announced...i know the nexus 7 has better hardware.for a lower.price, better screen etc...but then again, ios has much more tablet apps. Since i am no fanboy, i said to myself, why not have a device with each os and get the best of both worlds...
So my question is: would you rather have An android phone and an ipad, or N iphone and an android tablet?

 

[KingofFire]

N iphone and an android tablet

 

[Red Storm]

If I had to choose, I would definitely go with Android phone and iPad.

Edit: I forgot the Nexus 10 has a super nice resolution too, so changing tablet to Android.

 

[QueBert]

I know you didn't offer this as an option, but personal I'd take iOS for both. I love being able to play with Android. I've owned 4 Android phones, but in end most of my time's spent using apps not customizing my phone. And iOS apps are in a different galaxy quality wise, I was never able to get past this. That's changing, but there's still a gigantic gap.

 

[Ravynmagi]

I have a Galaxy Nexus and an iPad 3. On phones I think Android is amazing, the apps are great and I love the openness of the Nexus (and Android). It's easy to root, I'm tethering for free, and I can block all the annoying ads which waste precious screen space on a phone.

On the tablet, I've had a few Android tablets. But the iPad is the one I really use. Android's weak point right now is tablet optimized apps. I can pretty much do most of what I can on the iPad, but the experience just presented much better on the iPad.

I'd get an iPad 4 and Nexus 4 if you must have one of each. An iPad mini would not be such as easy choice, it's using a 2 year old processor, I think it might have only 512MB of RAM. I like the idea of a lighter iPad, but I think there are way too many sacrifices on the iPad mini for a price that is still pretty high.

Also the Nexus 10 tablet has incredibly impressive hardware and screen. I'm kinda on the fence about replacing my iPad 3 with this. I could possibly forgive the shortage of tablet apps for the Nexus 10 starting at only $400.


So for me the Nexus 4 is definitely my choice of phone. For tablet I'd lean Nexus 10 over iPad 4 and wouldn't even consider an iPad mini.

 

[ChronoReverse]

Android Phone + Apple Tablet

 

[zaydq]

an iPad is better in today's market than the Android offerings. Many Android tablet apps are just blown up phone apps where as the iPad has apps specifically for the iPad.

So if i had the choice, i'd say Android phone and iPad.

 

[lopri]

I simply think it's better to get both from a same vendor. Either pick Google or Apple. I am looking at it from a longevity point of view. Not that I have a crystal ball, but you risk paying double for everything and having to perform additional tasks to get things done.

I largely agree with people above. Android phones give you more freedom than iPhones, and iPads are better than Android tablets for now. But I don't see any of them opening their system up, especially to each other. You won't see Google Play store in iPhone/iPad, and same will be true for iTunes on Nexus devices. And both have different file systems and different ways of handling user-generated contents. (or more to the point, different ways of giving permission to users)

As the era of "OS as cash registers" is upon us, people need to think a bit more before decide upon a device. You buy a movie from Google Play, it won't play in Apple device and vice versa. Accessories will not be compatible with each other as well.

Windows 8 Pro tablet may be, in theory, the most versatile - but it is way premature to predict how that market will turn out. For all I know, x86 may not catch up to ARM in power consumption for long, in which case you will have to carry either slower, heavier, or more expensive devices that need to be charged more frequently.

Personally I weighed my options and currently leaning on Google. I still have iPhone/iPad, but I've had enough of Apple's BS and moving on. I am waiting just a little while longer to see how Windows 8/RT will fare.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

Android phone and iPad I guess.

 

[TheStu]

Windows Phone and an iPad.

 

[TuxDave]

If I had to choose, I would definitely go with Android phone and iPad.

Yeah, but mostly because I think an Android tablet would be a huge mistake. Android tablets are still in the realm of "early adopters" because of the huge lack of tablet optimized apps while the Android phones have started to catch up (minus games).

But then again, you lose any ecosystem optimizations by having both on the same platform. I personally (probably will get people angry) would do anything to avoid Android tablets right now until the app market catches up. Same thing with Windows. Both need to bake for a year for me to see how well they're adopted.

Edit On the side note I was actually thinking of going this way mainly because tablet data plans are so much cheaper than phone data plans. Was thiiiis close to dumb phone + iPad but I don't think I can do that.

 

[Oyeve]

Android phone and android tablet.

 

[Red Storm]

Yeah, but mostly because I think an Android tablet would be a huge mistake. Android tablets are still in the realm of "early adopters" because of the huge lack of tablet optimized apps while the Android phones have started to catch up (minus games).

But then again, you lose any ecosystem optimizations by having both on the same platform. I personally (probably will get people angry) would do anything to avoid Android tablets right now until the app market catches up. Same thing with Windows. Both need to bake for a year for me to see how well they're adopted.

Actually, I picked iPad because of the resolution, forgetting all about the Nexus 10. I change my answer to Android phone and tablet. I use tablets purely for media consumption (video, audio, books and websites), and Android's flexibility just can't be beat.

Phone is Android without question IMHO. I want something that does what I want, how I want it, and faster than a grid of icons can give it to me.

 

[ponyo]

Android phone and Android tablet. I have GNex and Nexus 7 and extremely happy with both. For my wife, it's iPhone and iPad. She has iPhone 4S and iPad 1&2 and soon iPad 4. She's extremely happy with the iPhone and the iPad. I think it makes sense to stick with one platform so you won't have to rebuy the same apps.

 

[Aikouka]

If I had to choose, I'd probably go with Android phone and Apple tablet.

However, I agree with this...

I simply think it's better to get both from a same vendor. Either pick Google or Apple. I am looking at it from a longevity point of view. Not that I have a crystal ball, but you risk paying double for everything and having to perform additional tasks to get things done.

I don't want to double dip in software. At one point, I had an iPhone, iPad and Android tablet, and I've just never been happy with the Android tablet. I was getting frustrated with it last night just trying to update flippin' apps! Every time one of them would finish updating, the panel on the right would quickly scroll through headers (i.e. panel that includes name, icon, update/view/open buttons) for a bunch of other apps before it got back to the one that it should have. This seems like a bug, but it ended up causing me a lot of grief, because I meant to hit update (three apps required manual updates), and ended up selecting to view an app instead. :|

I really ought to just sell the tablet as I never use it anyway.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

Android phone and iPad. Easy. I far prefer Android phones to iPhones, IMO they have surpassed Apple's products in almost every single way. On the other hand, I've still got the impression that Android tablets haven't really improved as much as in the phone space compared to way back when in the Honeycomb days.

 

[Ravynmagi]

Windows Phone and an iPad.

Haha... After the Nexus 4 reviews came out today, I think may need to take a look at some of these Windows Phone 8s.

 

[TheStu]

Haha... After the Nexus 4 reviews came out today, I think may need to take a look at some of these Windows Phone 8s.

That's what I had going for a little while (well, WP7.5) until I got my iPhone on the cheap.

 

[TuxDave]

Actually, I picked iPad because of the resolution, forgetting all about the Nexus 10. I change my answer to Android phone and tablet. I use tablets purely for media consumption (video, audio, books and websites), and Android's flexibility just can't be beat.

Phone is Android without question IMHO. I want something that does what I want, how I want it, and faster than a grid of icons can give it to me.

<--- apps apps apps. I could never give that up based on how much I actually game.

 

[Red Storm]

<--- apps apps apps. I could never give that up based on how much I actually game.

To each his own. I don't have a single game on any of my mobile devices. I just don't see the appeal, especially since I have an actual gaming computer and seeing the stuff on phones and tablets feels like going back to the stone age in terms of gaming.

 

[TuxDave]

To each his own. I don't have a single game on any of my mobile devices. I just don't see the appeal, especially since I have an actual gaming computer and seeing the stuff on phones and tablets feels like going back to the stone age in terms of gaming.

I don't play games on my phone at home, that's what my gaming PC is for. Gaming on the phone is for on the go and they're pretty good. You're missing out on how good they've become.

 

[Red Storm]

I don't play games on my phone at home, that's what my gaming PC is for. Gaming on the phone is for on the go and they're pretty good. You're missing out on how good they've become.

I keep up to date on them, it's just the incredibly limited controls + mobile games feeling inherently cheaper and lower quality just keep me away. My on the go entertainment is to open up an e-book or watch a video.

 

[TuxDave]

I keep up to date on them, it's just the incredibly limited controls + mobile games feeling inherently cheaper and lower quality just keep me away. My on the go entertainment is to open up an e-book or watch a video.

If by limited control you mean any game that relies on emulating the digital control pad + buttons on screen, yeah I agree. Those are the game developers that haven't figured out how to use a touchscreen interface and those suck a LOT.

There's a large suite of programmers that figured out how to make it work. Even the silly games like "Cut the Rope" is designed properly with touch interface in mind. I don't know what types of standards you have for gaming or if you just haven't sampled the games on iOS much, but they're really good now. In fact I struggle to find games that I want to play on the PC these days.

But as you say, to each his own and if your entertainment is reading and videos, enjoy!

 

[lopri]

Dunno.. I feel like there are more than enough apps on both camps. Apple sure has much more but how many apps a person would need?

For me, the #1 utility of a tablet is paper replacement. Thanks to tablets I don't need to carry books or documents. Laptops were overkill for that purpose - which was why I loved my Kindle during the past years. The fact that they do everything else, and also replace thumb drives, is a plus. (a major plus, indeed)

$200 for a Nexus 7 isn't too big of an investment for what you get. (it's a bargain, in my book) People used to pay $300~400 just for their music collection (an iPod) or to read books without carrying them (a Kindle). Nexus 7 does both and almost everything an iPad does.

3rd party apps and contents do matter but for me a tablet is first and foremost a device that handles my own data. (You'd prob. understand the frustration I'd had with iPad by now)

Right I am waiting for a 32 GB Nexus 7 to be available. My first Nexus 7 (16 GB) had a faulty wi-fi adapter so had to return it. I might as well wait a little longer to see how Nexus 10 and Surface/Surface Pro will fare.

So in the end, it is up to the personal usage and hardware/price.

 

[SAWYER]

Android phone and ipad