i think i'm gonna get a tablet on black friday, moving away from PC's it seems...

[lxskllr]

i had an atom-netbook....great battery life but sluggish even for minor tasks. it was handy, but jesus, it was frustrating

I mentally adjust when using portable devices. Low performance is acceptable to me as a trade off for portability. I'd go ballistic if I used a desktop that had netbook performance.

 

[Anubis]

I can't speak for Excel, but I show some really basic power points on the iPad without a problem. I'd suspect that problems with some more complex formulas in Excel are probably due more to software than the hardware. I think once Windows 8 hits ARM that software for Android and iOS will probably benefit as well.

I think W8 on ARM will kill Android tablets though. They still have yet to make any significant foothold in the market, mostly due to pricing.

Yea the math is generally what kills it, as for PPT my def of simple is prob off, Simple to me is a 20 slide 30 meg PPT filled with graphics. Graphs pasted in as enhanced metafiles of they lose the needed resoloution. my POS work laptop actually struggles with them

 

[Zargon]

Looks pretty cool. I'm tempted to get one just to run Windows 8 preview.

I've been eyeing some of the 21-23" multitouch displays for win 8 preview with metro myself.......a user on here built a 23" honeycomb tablet with one and it was sweet

 

[corkyg]

. . . That's about all tablets are good for; toys.

Amen! Tablets are entertainment tools, not work tools. Entertainment tools = toys.

 

[poofyhairguy]

OP, if you want a snappy Android tablet forget Black Friday deals. It is Asus Transformer Prime or bust. The old Tegra 2 tablets don't have enough power for their screen resolution to be considered snappy.

 

[McWatt]

I've been eyeing some of the 21-23" multitouch displays for win 8 preview with metro myself.......a user on here built a 23" honeycomb tablet with one and it was sweet

That sounds good if you're a futuristic ATM or an information kiosk in a mall, but for personal use it's much more efficient to move a mouse 1/2 inch than to move your arm 2 feet for the same effect.

 

[Leros]

Lol I'm browsing the net from my phone in bed right now would be nice fo have just a kittle bit more power and a badass screen

Its nice for being a larger screen and its also more powerful. I can surf the net 2-3x faster on my iPad than my iPhone using the same wifi connection. I think its just the faster processor.

However... I can hold my iPhone with one hand, which is kinda nice sometimes. Sometime's I'm laying on my back or something like that and its awkward to hold the large iPad above me with both hands. Its easier to hold my iPhone with one hand.

I would say I use my iPad and iPhone about 50/50 when I'm at home.

 

[Doppel]

Within 10 years, games will be streamed video you control remotely like OnLive. Your local hardware won't matter.

It's coming.

I doubt the cutting edge games will be like that in 10 years. SOMEBODY has to process the graphics, so if it's not you it's a monstrous central server, and for a game requiring essentially no latency (action game; when you press button you fire instantly), even a broadband connection won't give a good experience.

----

I had an atom netbook and it was a pile of crap. Not only was its resolution 1024X600 but slower than dogsh*t in January. Small doesn't have to be slow, though, e.g. ipad.

 

[lxskllr]

Using someone else's computer and software to manipulate data takes control away from the user. That's not a good thing. "Cloud computing" is a bullshit term. "Shackled computing" is just as nebulous, but perhaps more accurate.

 

[smartpatrol]

I doubt the cutting edge games will be like that in 10 years. SOMEBODY has to process the graphics, so if it's not you it's a monstrous central server, and for a game requiring essentially no latency (action game; when you press button you fire instantly), even a broadband connection won't give a good experience..

I agree. Plus keep in mind within 10 years, we'll be using smartphones with at least a terabyte of storage, and probably 4-5x as much processing power as a Playstation 3. (IF Moore's law holds up) It's hard to see much need for a streaming gaming service when we're packing that kind of power.

 

[Leros]

I agree. Plus keep in mind within 10 years, we'll be using smartphones with at least a terabyte of storage, and probably 4-5x as much processing power as a Playstation 3. (IF Moore's law holds up) It's hard to see much need for a streaming gaming service when we're packing that kind of power.

I think the biggest issues with mobile computing power is battery life and cooling. You can't exactly slap a heatsink and fan onto your phone.

 

[Genx87]

Best Buy is having a sale on the ASUS Transformer for 249.99 on black friday.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

Whatever works for you. Personally I find that with a 4", dual-core smarthpone (Optimus 2X), a tablet is redundant. It's just an oversized phone that you can't use to make calls.

While I do have a laptop, I almost never use it. When I'm on the move, it's so much easier to just bring the smartphone. Unless I need to type long documents, that's all I need. At home I obviously use the more powerful desktop system.

10" screen better than 4" screen. For quick look ups of stuff, my 4.3" phone is fine, if I'm going to be sitting on the couch or doing some serious reading or surfing, I'd rather have a larger screen.

 

[slatr]

I don't find tablets especially useful, and I'm not a big fan of Android. Give me a netbook any day. I have bought a few bottom end tablets lately for gifts. I'm giving one to my daughter, one for my mother to use as a picture frame, and one for me as a toy. That's about all tablets are good for; toys.

So if I use Citrix Receiver to connect to work with my Asus Transformer it is a toy?

Man work has got to be pissed at me... I better get a non-toy before they find out.

 

[slatr]

Lets see what apps I use on my toy:

Citrix Receiver - Connect back to work for email, rdp, aduc, sql mgt, remote control my pc ect..
Webex
Polaris Office
Gmail
Kindle

Can it be a toy, sure.. I love plants versus zombies, angry birds ect..

Just call it like it is. As it stands, my tablet can be both a toy and a solid productivity tool.

 

[Tom]

It's nice there are so many different options these days.

My choice is a pretty powerful but light gaming laptop,gives access to largest gaming library in the universe and can do anything a good desktop can do.

And an ipod touch mostly for cheap access to the Apple apps. and portable gaming

And a Winmo 6.5 phone for gps, 3g web access, etc. and Office apps.

 

[Doppel]

I think the biggest issues with mobile computing power is battery life and cooling. You can't exactly slap a heatsink and fan onto your phone.

True, but my first phone back in '99 ran for about an hour of talk time and that bitch got HOT. It was analog, but an ipad2 smokes many PCs we had not many years ago and barely gets warm doing it.

I basically moved from PCs when laptops got affordable to my standard, maybe a half decade ago. They are disposable and it's fine with me.

 

[MagickMan]

OP, if you want a snappy Android tablet forget Black Friday deals. It is Asus Transformer Prime or bust. The old Tegra 2 tablets don't have enough power for their screen resolution to be considered snappy.

This. There are only two tablets to consider, unless you're scraping the bottom of the barrel, iPad2 and TF Prime.

 

[Leros]

True, but my first phone back in '99 ran for about an hour of talk time and that bitch got HOT. It was analog, but an ipad2 smokes many PCs we had not many years ago and barely gets warm doing it.

I basically moved from PCs when laptops got affordable to my standard, maybe a half decade ago. They are disposable and it's fine with me.

My iPhone gets pretty hot if I do anything resource intensive like a 3d game. I worry we're nearing the limit of mobile computing power.

Can't wait for optical chips

 

[zerogear]

Tablets are useful for.. reading books/comic/watching movies in bed.. and light browsing on the couch. That's about the extent that I have found the tablets useful for.