i cant live without ports

[shortylickens]

Tablets arent real computers. The whole point of them is to strip down to the absolute basics. Web, email, light games.
Anything else you still need a laptop. One day we will have the perfect device, but we arent there yet.

Also, as most tablets do everything wirelessly, we are needing ports less and less every year. Discs are less necessary too. Cant recall the last time I stuck a DVD in my computer. I just stream Netflix and Hulu and such. Most of my games now install over Steam. Havent bought a disc game in a very long time.

So from that perspective, tablets are the ultimate legacy-free device.

 

[JD50]

I travel quite a bit and have never ran into a problem of not having cellular reception or access to WiFi.

Simply telling you that I *can* live without ports as they are not needed if you do things right.

What does that even mean? I've traveled to plenty of places that don't have 3g or wifi access, and some that had incredibly slow wifi. That's great that you NEVER find yourself without 3g or wifi, but some people do.

 

[Red Storm]

Tablets arent real computers. The whole point of them is to strip down to the absolute basics. Web, email, light games.
Anything else you still need a laptop. One day we will have the perfect device, but we arent there yet.

Also, as most tablets do everything wirelessly, we are needing ports less and less every year. Discs are less necessary too. Cant recall the last time I stuck a DVD in my computer. I just stream Netflix and Hulu and such. Most of my games now install over Steam. Havent bought a disc game in a very long time.

So from that perspective, tablets are the ultimate legacy-free device.

I thought about it and gaming (specifically, Starcraft 2) was the only reason why I still have a full fledged computer and OS. That's just not worth having a $1000+ device. I'd much rather sell it and get myself the Nexus, Transformer 2, and still have money left over. Android has my needs covered.

 

[Zaap]

My Android phone can. Now that I learned how to use ext2 microSD cards in it I was able to test my largest 1080p mkvs last night. My SGS2 played each one flawlessly in full 1080p via HDMI on my TV.

Now whenever I go to hotels I can just take my phone, a few cables, and a few MicroSD cards filled with content to entertain my wife and myself.

I didn't realize this was possible. (Full quality mkv playback from a phone).

Okay, this I would probably use on trips.

 

[shortylickens]

I thought about it and gaming (specifically, Starcraft 2) was the only reason why I still have a full fledged computer and OS. That's just not worth having a $1000+ device. I'd much rather sell it and get myself the Nexus, Transformer 2, and still have money left over. Android has my needs covered.

Tablets cant play blu-rays. They cant play 1080p mp4's really well. They cant play most of the exotic formats at all. Even my netbook with the dual core Atom and VLC Player can do all that and then some.
Nor can you store your media library on a tablet, 32GB isnt nearly enough for most people. Its certainly not yet ready for streaming from a home server, though I suspect that issue may be the first to get addressed.

You really cant do good school work on Mobile Office either, especially Power Points.

BUT, most of the traditional reasons for having a full computer are becoming moot as mobile technology progresses. All your PIM stuff and social networking is actually better than traditional computers offer. And I bet thats what people spend 3/4 of their time doing. Many who used to sit all day at a desk would rather be out and about, checking things on the fly, dealing with them, and then quickly getting back to their lives.

 

[Red Storm]

My MacBook Can't play Blu-Rays either.

The SGS2 can play 1080P MKVs, so I don't think the Transformer 2 will have any trouble with that. Plus it will no doubt have USB ports and an SD card slot as the original Transformer did, so storage won't be an issue.

I don't have a media library. I used to, and I guess it's more useful if you're living with a family, but I didn't see the point. I saw something once, I was done seeing it, so there was no point in saving it.

I have never, ever needed Powerpoint for any of my college work. Actually I've never used anything other than Word, which can easily be replaced with Google Docs for my needs.

It's funny cause I started as a die hard custom desktop builder. And then I slowly progressed to laptops, ditching desktops. Now I'm ready to ditch laptops and go with tablets.

 

[Patranus]

Its certainly not yet ready for streaming from a home server, though I suspect that issue may be the first to get addressed.

Huh. I streamed a HD blu-ray rip of Ghostbusters from my 6 year old NAS while being driven to Sacramento last week.

Not sure where you are getting your information.

 

[Andrmgic]

The SGS II has fantastic codec and container support thanks to samsung's additions to the platform.. most android devices can't do that..

As others have said, Tablets aren't really intended to replace a computer.. they are a nice inbetween if you want to watch video on a larger screen than a phone or surf the web on something bigger than your phone but don't want to carry a full computer..

I think a lot of people that buy a tablet really want an ultra-light notebook but didn't want to spend the money.

 

[shortylickens]

My MacBook Can't play Blu-Rays either.

The SGS2 can play 1080P MKVs, so I don't think the Transformer 2 will have any trouble with that. Plus it will no doubt have USB ports and an SD card slot as the original Transformer did, so storage won't be an issue.

I don't have a media library. I used to, and I guess it's more useful if you're living with a family, but I didn't see the point. I saw something once, I was done seeing it, so there was no point in saving it.

I have never, ever needed Powerpoint for any of my college work. Actually I've never used anything other than Word, which can easily be replaced with Google Docs for my needs.

It's funny cause I started as a die hard custom desktop builder. And then I slowly progressed to laptops, ditching desktops. Now I'm ready to ditch laptops and go with tablets.

Actually by media library I meant music. I dont know too many people with music collections small enough that they could squeeze it all on a 32GB card and have room left over for apps and one HD movie.

EDIT:
Though with Amazons Cloud player, holding your collection is slowly becoming a thing of the past too. But if you are in an area where you dont have a reliable fast 3G collection, that could get annoying. Even worse if you dont have an unlimited data plan.

 

[shortylickens]

Huh. I streamed a HD blu-ray rip of Ghostbusters from my 6 year old NAS while being driven to Sacramento last week.

Not sure where you are getting your information.

What tablet?

 

[kubani1]

i guess the US kinda sucks with 3G coverage, in the UK I have never found a dead spot and I have unlimited bandwidth on my phone contract.... that said, i don't have an iphone, but still, connection issues are not an issue overseas.

and also, don't pretty much all hotels now offer free wireless anyways?

and doesn't apple offer adapters for all of those usb/hdmi needs anyways, granted they cost a bit more than the adapters for other devices, but still, they are there, its sounds more like you have a problem with apple than the actual storage issue.

 

[kubani1]

Actually by media library I meant music. I dont know too many people with music collections small enough that they could squeeze it all on a 32GB card and have room left over for apps and one HD movie.

that's funny, because I don't know many people who have more than say 10gb of music, i do, but most of it crap i never listen to anyways, even then, 32 gb would hold all my music, apps and a handful of movies.

 

[shortylickens]

that's funny, because I don't know many people who have more than say 10gb of music, i do, but most of it crap i never listen to anyways, even then, 32 gb would hold all my music, apps and a handful of movies.

Once you rip all your CD's at highest quality and get a few albums from Amazon, its not hard to get up to 30 gigs or so.
And I dont even have a lot of CD's. One small case full. I know dudes with multiple large cases overflowing with shit.
I'm 32 so me and most of my friends started our collections with cassette but really went nut when CD's were popular and there was no pure digital version of music yet.
Young people nowadays dont even have CD collections, which blows my mind.

Heck, I dont even consider myself a huge music fan, but with all those free and dirt cheap albums on Amazon, its easy to go buck wild and download tons of crap.

 

[poofyhairguy]

The SGS II has fantastic codec and container support thanks to samsung's additions to the platform.. most android devices can't do that..

But Tegra 3 should be able to based on what Nvidia has told us. We will probably have to pay for Dice Player though (I already have to play mkvs with DTS on my SGS2).

 

[Red Storm]

that's funny, because I don't know many people who have more than say 10gb of music, i do, but most of it crap i never listen to anyways, even then, 32 gb would hold all my music, apps and a handful of movies.

Yep, me too. I also don't see the point in playing a 1080P video on a small 720P screen (other than "because I can"). Yes, if your library is already in that format you may not want to change it, but I don't have a giant 1080P movie collection along with a 100GB+ music collection sitting on a NAS. That's beyond overkill to me (cool, but still overkill). That's why I think a tablet like the Transformer Prime could function very well as a complete replacement.

As others have said, Tablets aren't really intended to replace a computer.. they are a nice inbetween if you want to watch video on a larger screen than a phone or surf the web on something bigger than your phone but don't want to carry a full computer..

I think a lot of people that buy a tablet really want an ultra-light notebook but didn't want to spend the money.

Nope, definitely do not want an ultra-light notebook. I no longer need a desktop OS, most if not all of my needs are taken care of by just having internet and flash, the few remaining other things are handled with already existing Android apps.

 

[LostPassword]

i need ports as well. when i travel, i bring along a camera and take crap loads of video and pictures.
whats the point of a travel device, if i can't even offload my media files?
in the past, i've resorted to buying used/refurbished netbooks, then ebaying them right after for a small lost.
i hope window8 tablets change the game.

 

[annomander]

i need ports as well. when i travel, i bring along a camera and take crap loads of video and pictures.
whats the point of a travel device, if i can't even offload my media files?
in the past, i've resorted to buying used/refurbished netbooks, then ebaying them right after for a small lost.
i hope window8 tablets change the game.

In my opinion a Windows 8 tablet will not be the same type of device as a iPad or Android tablet.

These tablets are great at consumption, game playing and email and web browsing, great to give to your parents so you never having to update the windows install, clean a virus off it, etc

They just work, for the simple things that they do, email, surf, play a game, view pictures and occassionally write something and more then enough apps to do other stuff without having to manage a full OS or wait for 10 minutes till its switched on and sorted itself out.

Great at what they do.

I think a windows 8, while still not being a full blown OS will have a lot more functionality behind it which will be good points but will also bring back a lot a lot of the hassles that the current tablets have eliminated

 

[SlitheryDee]

i need ports as well. when i travel, i bring along a camera and take crap loads of video and pictures.
whats the point of a travel device, if i can't even offload my media files?
in the past, i've resorted to buying used/refurbished netbooks, then ebaying them right after for a small lost.
i hope window8 tablets change the game.

I know the ipad can do that, and I strongly suspect nearly all current android tablets could do it as well.

 

[annomander]

that's funny, because I don't know many people who have more than say 10gb of music, i do, but most of it crap i never listen to anyways, even then, 32 gb would hold all my music, apps and a handful of movies.

Same here, used to go around gathering as much music as I could from all sources, ended up with 40GB, new iphone, just created a playlist of just over a gigg.

 

[LikeLinus]

Huh. I streamed a HD blu-ray rip of Ghostbusters from my 6 year old NAS while being driven to Sacramento last week.

Not sure where you are getting your information.

What file size, pixel size and bitrate was that file? I have a VERY hard time believing you downloaded anything near blu-ray quality (25 - 50 GB) over a 3G network while driving in an hour and half (run time of the movie).

Lets say you even used some torrent that is an 19020x1080 version in the 2-5GB range. I don't believe you downloaded 5GB in an hour and half over 3G in a car and watched it streaming with no problems. Gotta call shens on that.

 

[LikeLinus]

Yep, me too. I also don't see the point in playing a 1080P video on a small 720P screen (other than "because I can"). Yes, if your library is already in that format you may not want to change it, but I don't have a giant 1080P movie collection along with a 100GB+ music collection sitting on a NAS. That's beyond overkill to me (cool, but still overkill). That's why I think a tablet like the Transformer Prime could function very well as a complete replacement.

The reason I only use 1080p files is longevity. You may have a 720p TV now, but what happens it if dies or you want something new.You would be stuck with lower resolution files when you could have just done it 1080p in the first place and sort of "future proof" your collection.

So I found it's just better to start with FLAC and 1080p rips than a lower quality version. Especially with storage being so cheap now adays. They are still a quarter of the size of the originals, but now I can stream everything throughout my house and not have to change disc. It's convenient.

 

[Patranus]

What tablet?

iPad

 

[Patranus]

What file size, pixel size and bitrate was that file? I have a VERY hard time believing you downloaded anything near blu-ray quality (25 - 50 GB) over a 3G network while driving in an hour and half (run time of the movie).

Lets say you even used some torrent that is an 19020x1080 version in the 2-5GB range. I don't believe you downloaded 5GB in an hour and half over 3G in a car and watched it streaming with no problems. Gotta call shens on that.

Where did I say anything about downloading? I said I *streamed* the video. Encoded as M4V. Direct blu-ray rip converted to M4V in HandBreak with close to max settings.

 

[poofyhairguy]

The reason I only use 1080p files is longevity. You may have a 720p TV now, but what happens it if dies or you want something new.You would be stuck with lower resolution files when you could have just done it 1080p in the first place and sort of "future proof" your collection.

Plus who wants to re-encode all this HD content? When you rip the data off the BluRay it is in 1080p. Even if you download off the net usually it is in a format that your average iPad can't take. To make it anything else, takes up to a day (on a quad-core) of encoding time.

My HD movies library now has 1300 movies. I could never re-encode all of that, so going forward the devices that can play those files as they are get my business.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Where did I say anything about downloading? I said I *streamed* the video. Encoded as M4V. Direct blu-ray rip converted to M4V in HandBreak with close to max settings.

Well that is no different than just using Air Video really. If we are going by that, I have watched "HD Rips" on my iPhone since 2008.