What kind of tablet should I get?

[enis083]

Anyone play with both the Kindle Fire HD and the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 or any other small ~7" tablet? I'm primarily interested in reading books from Amazon, light web surfing and playing movies when I travel.

 

[N4g4rok]

Between this and Surface's poor resolution, apps and shady future, still seems Ipad has a lot of edge, at least for me.

I don't see how 1366x768 is poor considering the Surface's physical screen size. for 13 - 15 inch laptops it's unpleasant, but on the surface it seems like a perfectly fair trade off compared to the battery and performance deficits you would have seen if it was 1080p or the like.

 

[TallBill]

Anyone play with both the Kindle Fire HD and the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 or any other small ~7" tablet? I'm primarily interested in reading books from Amazon, light web surfing and playing movies when I travel.

Kindle HD is OK for what you describe. My software keyboard is kinda lame and the silk browser sucks but you can replace those without rooting. I hate the carousel And the inability to edit/control it. I use the adw launcher.
Screen is nice though, battery life is good, and the HDMI out is very handy.

 

[JavaMomma]

Just got a retina iPad for Christmas, it's pretty darn good. I've bought 4 games in the last week. Just did a search - they're all iOS only as of right now, it seems if you plan to do any gaming at all, Android isn't the answer.

 

[lopri]

I don't see how 1366x768 is poor considering the Surface's physical screen size. for 13 - 15 inch laptops it's unpleasant, but on the surface it seems like a perfectly fair trade off compared to the battery and performance deficits you would have seen if it was 1080p or the like.

I would have said the same a couple of years ago, but Apple changed the game with its "Retina" displays. You get used to high PPI, and the difference becomes unmistakable. When all smart phones and even sub-$200 tablets boasts 200+ PPI, the low PPI of Surface really sticks out like a sore thumb especially for text.

I suppose you can un-train your eyes back to lower PPI display. That's definitely possible per individual. There are people who use large 720p/1080p TVs as PC monitors and are not bothered by naked pixels.

Personally for me, though, Surface is a hard pill to swallow all things considered (cost, size, weight, performance, etc.) Even more so when I look at the alternatives. I took a trip to a BB today and saw it again, and my mind didn't change. The thing feels like a heavy, rigid picture frame rather than a portable device.

 

[Crono]

I would have said the same a couple of years ago, but Apple changed the game with its "Retina" displays. You get used to high PPI, and the difference becomes unmistakable. When all smart phones and even sub-$200 tablets boasts 200+ PPI, the low PPI of Surface RT really sticks out like a sore thumb especially for text.

The Surface RT with it's high contrast and reduced glare (less than the iPads) is actually pretty decent even with lower resolution. Seeing the retina iPad in person the first time I was actually pretty disappointed. Not that it was bad, but I don't see what the hype is about. It's pretty, but it doesn't make it much easier to read than ClearType (only display technology that does for me is E Ink).

Higher resolution/pixel density is nice to have, but it isn't a necessity for me in smaller screens. I only find myself really needing higher resolution than 720p in 14"+ displays.

Try using the iPad and Surface RT side-by-side. Unless you are the kind of person who looks for individual pixels or holds tablets 3" away from your face, I doubt the lower resolution of the Surface RT will bother you that much.

 

[lopri]

Well that's what I did today at the BB.. Surface looked great before I opened a web page. Colors are better calibrated than yester-years' budget tablets, so even though it lacks richness it does look sharp. Again, before I held it and actually tried to read text.

As I said, there is a huge subjectivity factor for this kind of comparison and how one's eyes have been trained or how tolerant. I am sure many will appreciate Surface's screen.

 

[Crono]

Well that's what I did today at the BB.. Surface looked great before I opened a web page. Colors are better calibrated than yester-years' budget tablets, so even though it lacks richness it does look sharp. Again, before I held it and actually tried to read text.

As I said, there is a huge subjectivity factor for this kind of comparison and how one's eyes have been trained or how tolerant. I am sure many will appreciate Surface's screen.

I can't fault you for preferring the iPad screen.
But personally while I can read just fine on the iPad, Surface RT, or any other tablet or smartphone for hours at a time, the only devices I actually feel completely comfortable reading on are the E ink Nooks and Kindles.

I can't wait until color E Ink or similar technology comes along. It would be even better if such displays could refresh fast enough for video/animations.

EDIT: Looks like there is a color E Ink e-reader already, but the technology isn't mature yet.

 

[dagamer34]

Baloney (classic Apple FUD) and baloney squared.

In fact, any of the stuff you'd be running "phone apps" for with the Nexus *doesn't exist at all* for RT. It takes a wilful sort of perversity to claim that this is in any way a better experience.

Better experience now? No. Better experience in the future? Absolutely. The lack of an app means egging on developers to make one, where as in Android land, developers can be lazy making a tablet version. Just take a look at how Dropbox looks on the Nexus 10. It works, but it screams "We don't care about Android tablets."

The nice thing with Windows RT is that ANY app you download from the store is meant to be used on a tablet. It will be far easier for Microsoft to convince developers to make a Windows 8/RT app than it will for Google to convince Android developers to make a 10" tablet app. Android tablets have been out for 2 years and there has yet to be a great selling 10" Android tablet.

It's not FUD. It's just the truth.

 

[dagamer34]

The Surface RT with it's high contrast and reduced glare (less than the iPads) is actually pretty decent even with lower resolution. Seeing the retina iPad in person the first time I was actually pretty disappointed. Not that it was bad, but I don't see what the hype is about. It's pretty, but it doesn't make it much easier to read than ClearType (only display technology that does for me is E Ink).

Higher resolution/pixel density is nice to have, but it isn't a necessity for me in smaller screens. I only find myself really needing higher resolution than 720p in 14"+ displays.

Try using the iPad and Surface RT side-by-side. Unless you are the kind of person who looks for individual pixels or holds tablets 3" away from your face, I doubt the lower resolution of the Surface RT will bother you that much.

I'm just waiting to see what the Surface Pro looks like. Same display tech but at 1080p should look awesome.

 

[Crono]

I'm just waiting to see what the Surface Pro looks like. Same display tech but at 1080p should look awesome.

Yeah, same here. I've been wanting the Pro since the initial announcement, been making do (though it's pretty good) with the RT for now.

The weight and battery life of the Pro should put it more in ultrabook territory, unfortunately.

 

[HeXen]

I don't see how 1366x768 is poor considering the Surface's physical screen size. for 13 - 15 inch laptops it's unpleasant, but on the surface it seems like a perfectly fair trade off compared to the battery and performance deficits you would have seen if it was 1080p or the like.

lol. sure whatever you like man

Try using the iPad and Surface RT side-by-side. Unless you are the kind of person who looks for individual pixels or holds tablets 3" away from your face, I doubt the lower resolution of the Surface RT will bother you that much.

now try loading up a bunch of tabs and side by side apps. Surface is slow, no review will dispute that and considering i have an Ipad 1, i was not too impressed the first time i used the Surface. Holding it portrait trying to read a book is not fun. I read a lot of e-mags and Surface seems to demand from it's design that you hold it in Landscape mode. Felt like they tried to make a Netbook with a thin keyboard and touchscreen....oh wait.

No one wants cheap or sluggish tablets, they just don't really do to well with consumers for obvious reasons. Cheapo's sell then users quickly discard them or go unused. Likely some better RT Tablets will come soon but for now, if anyone actually wants to use a tablet daily, it's really either Nexus 10 or Ipad.

I'm just waiting to see what the Surface Pro looks like. Same display tech but at 1080p should look awesome.

Pault Thurrott mentioned that unfortunately, it's going to be the same exact as the one demo'd..loud, hot and difficult to hold for very long. Apparently has a fan in it and he said it got pretty hot, thicker and heavier. Still will use the Ivybridge. Hearing that and if true, seems a lot may be in for some dissapointment.

 

[dagamer34]

Pault Thurrott mentioned that unfortunately, it's going to be the same exact as the one demo'd..loud, hot and difficult to hold for very long. Apparently has a fan in it and he said it got pretty hot, thicker and heavier. Still will use the Ivybridge. Hearing that and if true, seems a lot may be in for some dissapointment.

Demo'ed where? Most of the things you listed (size, weight, the fact it has a fan) have been known for a while. As far as temps go, it's basically an ultrabook. I don't have any fantasies about a 17W Core i5 Ivy Bridge CPU suddenly sipping power and being as cold as ice when under heavy use.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

Just got a retina iPad for Christmas, it's pretty darn good. I've bought 4 games in the last week. Just did a search - they're all iOS only as of right now, it seems if you plan to do any gaming at all, Android isn't the answer.

You do realize that you can run emulators on Android tablets and basically have the ability to play thousands of games that are not available on Ipads right?

 

[N4g4rok]

You do realize that you can run emulators on Android tablets and basically have the ability to play thousands of games that are not available on Ipads right?

I'm hoping more games and hopefully an emulator start to make it onto windows RT soon. just found out the drivers for 360 controllers are still in there and a couple games are compatible.

lol. sure whatever you like man

I'm just suggesting that visible pixels aren't so bad.

 

[Crono]

now try loading up a bunch of tabs and side by side apps. Surface is slow, no review will dispute that and considering i have an Ipad 1, i was not too impressed the first time i used the Surface. Holding it portrait trying to read a book is not fun. I read a lot of e-mags and Surface seems to demand from it's design that you hold it in Landscape mode. Felt like they tried to make a Netbook with a thin keyboard and touchscreen....oh wait.

Surface doesn't seem sluggish to me, though perhaps a few updates later it might be faster now than when I got it. I owned the iPad 1 for about a year, switching between apps on the Surface and having side-by-side apps is a much more fluid experience on it. The iPad does seem to be more consistent, though. I think the OS will get better over the next few months, as I recall Windows Phone 7 had some minor issues when I used it right after launch which got fixed by NoDo/Mango. Even the iPad a few weeks after launch had some issues for me with Netflix and other apps crashing, which I was willing to tolerate as an early adopter. I think people have to give Microsoft some time and credit here considering how late they are (relatively speaking) bringing a product to the current generation of tablets.

There are some inherent flaws, though, of the Surface RT.
I agree 100% about portrait mode. It's much too wide a tablet to use comfortably in that orientation, I never use it that way even for books that normally benefit on other tablets.

EDIT: There is one app that is sluggish on the RT: Xbox Music. Which is amazing to me considering that's an official MS app and a touted one. They really should have just ported Zune (of WP or desktop flavor) which has a better UI, anyway.

 

[HeXen]

I agree 100% about portrait mode. It's much too wide a tablet to use comfortably in that orientation, I never use it that way even for books that normally benefit on other tablets.

That was the major thing that kept me from getting it as initially i couldn't wait for it's release and was dead set on it. I use mine for reading more than anything. Not sure if i could get used to it in landscape without having to zoom in on the magazines...now books themselves and web sites wouldn't be as bad but i tend to read a lot of digital mags. Coupled with lower res and reviews i've read on Tegra 3's performance and i guess i'll go with another ipad since i already have invested apps in it though i may wait to see what Ipad 5 brings