Canada? The computer vendor says no I am not a front-row blogger invited to wine and dine at all the latest product releases. I don't write reviews for the hardware side of El Reg. When it comes to technology of any kind, I am in the same boat as you, dear readers. I have to buy the shiny with my own bent coppers. When I am in the market for a brand new something- …
I wrote to Viewsonic to ask about availability in Canada and the response was a mess, on the second try, I was able to get an actual "no".
I almost bought one anyway (via my American cousin) but the inability to put my hands on the physical device left me with the worry that I might not like the feel. Had I been in the US for black Monday, I would probably have purchased one.
I never considered the oversize-phone/tablets, the prices are high and I don't want a phone or a multi-year contract.
You pretend you bought a Galaxy Tab and that you've had it just long enough so the novelty has worn off and all your friends are sick to death of hearing about it.
By that time you will have come to the conclusion that at nearly 8 inches long and nearly 6 across, it's too big to fit in your trouser pocket - so you need to carry a bag to keep it in. You have further realised that having it in a bag is very inconvenient when someone calls or you want to plug your head in for some tunes (esp. if your bluetooth connection gets shielded by the bag) so you carry a phone in your pocket, too.
Since you now have to carry a bag, you might as well have a laptop in it - with a decent sized screen and a proper keyboard, rather than that greasy, dirty and fingerprint covered touchscreen (where you cover up with your finger exactly the thing you're trying to access).
You are now ahead of the field. Whereas most people are still in the thinking-of, or buyers remorse stages, you have a good 3 months on them. You can talk sagely to prospective buyers about the advantages (for you have read the reviews, too) and you can warn them of the disadvantages - or not. You can feel superior to people with even the latest tablets and if you really, really can't shake the desire to actually own one - don't despair, they'll be up on eBay soon when everyone who did buy them in the first flush of enthusiasm discovers the drawbacks for themselves.
No it doesn't have huge battery life (though enough to last a day of my usage patterns, possibly only 3-4 hours of Angry Birds). Also doesn't have the fastest processor and OH GOD PLEASE LET ME TURN SWYPE AND THAT AWFUL LEFT-HAND QUICKBAR OFF, however it's responsive enough, capacitive, and 800x480 is quite enough for this seven inch screen thankyouverymuch. Stupidly high res = more gpu needed = more power = less battery life + more expensive.
This thing's 300 quid. Compared to the Tab and Pad, it's a bargain with wifi, 3G, tethering and portable AP functionality. Don't think it'll manage 720p video but ffs, you're not going to notice on a screen this size. Just downsample to 480p and enjoy your extra storage space.
So let me get this straight, Trevor: you say you'd rather pay $2,000 for an Android tablet with 6-hour battery life and a USB connector than $500 for an iPad with 10-hour battery life, and an AC charger and USB charging cable included.
Seems like a pretty steep price for maintaining your membership in the Apple Haters Club. ;-)
I simply have requirements Apple refuses to meet. Such as the ability to actually cut down on the number of devices I use. I need to be able to use my tablet as removable storage. I need to be able to carry around more than 64GB of media. (I refuse to cart a laptop with me on vacation for no reason other than to have my library available to sync with iTunes!)
MicroSD cables are /everywhere/. iPad chargers are not. So in short: give me a standard MicroUSB interface, access to the filesystem of my device, and support for removable media, or give me death!
If Apple's iPad 2 has all these things, I'll be the very first person in line. I promise. I'll take pictures.
If you lived in Toronto you wouldn't be having all these complaints.
Besides living in the cold of Alberta your pad/tablet will only be operable a few months each year unless the Chinooks** happen by.
** See: < https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Chinook_wind >
They are generally larger than smartphones and and harder to keep warm and lose heat more quickly. Then there's the wind-chill factor. Smartphones can keep snug and warn under your clothing.
The rapid temp changes with a Chinook might cause condensation. Apple has admitted that it's warranty denying moisture detectors are defective and rely on the ability of an Apple employee to 'interpret' the colour of the detector not exactly scientific.
Of course, if it's an Apple product you are out of spec, anyway, with your operating specs.
Well, I do drive down to Vancouver once a year. Edmonton --> Prince George --> V-Town --> Cowtown and home again.
Takes a little over a week to do the circut, with only a could of days in V-town and a couple of days in Cowtown to get things done. I do agree however that Edmonton --> Seattle for a big of kit is madness. The fuel alone would be worth more than the gear!
Edmonton to Bellingham would be a more reasonable trip, taking only about 14 hours. One way. So it's a weekend trip. Since I used to do Calgary to Vancouver for the weekend, at 11.5 hours one way, it's doable.
Not enjoyable (I've done Calgary to Seattle), very hard on the body, but doable.
Bloody expensive in gas, food, and lodging though for a gadget. Better to just have someone who lives close to the border get it for you and ship it.
Do the cell-connected tablets use regular sim cards?
If so, and you really are willing to spend the money, then perhaps you can order a tablet from the states, buy a cheap phone with a data plan, and swap the sim cards.
Just don't blame me if you spend a lot of money and it doesn't work. :-)
Be happy Trevor, here in Edmonton it is now 31 degrees C warmer than it was 48 hours ago!
Yeah, but have you noticed how it's all melting, only to re-freeze tonight? They sent the graders through Beaumaris yesterday, but there's still 15cm of solid black ice on the roads. I've no real yen to see all the snowbanks melt back onto the streets only to add another quarter metre of ice.
Wake me when the snow is not only gone, but the city is significantly less /brown/. As bad as winter is, spring is worse. An entire city covered in sand. Sand and rain and sleet and more sand.
You complain about devices not being available in Canada. The problem actually is: only a few manufacturers readily launch their products outside the US market. And when launched six months later, they sell with absurd conversion rates and taxes.
Why? That's a question all us non-USAnians would like an answer.
We don't get European versions, Asian version or American versions.
Basically Canada is too small to bother with. There are just a few big wholesalers selling off the stock that won't sell in the USA, and Canadian retailers aren't industrious enough to bypass them.
And the prices here for consumer electronics are as shamelessly jacked-up as their are in the UK.
My kids got me a SuperPad for xmas. Dual TF slots android 2.1 w/market. Plays h264 720p just fine. Can't get hdmi on the 60 plasma to work. Screen is resistive. I get about 4 hours of video. CCplayer will even play 960x540 xvids. Dual usb wifi and rj45 enet. Lots of issues latest updates help. Less than 300US.
Honestly a fun toy. Typing this on it! Android is pretty stable but I would like it to be a tad more powerful. this is 800mhz 192mb. It needs to be 1.2ghz 512mb. The rest of the spec is peachy 2gb flash is plenty with the abundance of usb and tf. Worth the 200+ from china to figure out I'd rather tote a netbook :). Acually of the USB keyboard worked better it could almost replace the netbook.
It's no better anywhere else on the planet. Even Hong Kong gets more stuff, cheaper, and earlier, than the (apparently third-world) country I live in*.
Welcome to the rest of the world. Specifically, the bit that doesn't speak English natively.
* (Italy. Apple's iTunes Store lacks many of the features found in the UK and US, while Amazon only got around to creating an online presence here a few months ago.)
Have you observed Asian tourists window-shopping? "ooh, look, we got that in Kyoto 2 years ago". Could be
- they want to make their own feel good while on holiday
- the companies are not well enough organised to manage a world-wide roll-out
- the iffy models get beta-tested at home, and only the better ones make it to ROW
I have tried to wean myself off cutting-edge products, just to reduce the bleeding.
There are far more capable devices to be had for the same or less money. I don't know how many times I've seen someone pull out an iPad in a cafe, followed by a stand, followed by a keyboard. Just get laptop for gods sake!!
Tablets have some uses, but for almost anything of any importance you're better off with a netbook or laptop.
My Asus 901 was too small for many things and I still needed a real notebook.
Gave the netbook to my nephew and use a tablet where a phone is too small and a notebook not needed.
E-Mail, contacts and calendar mostly with some games and an occasional video thrown in for good measure.
It even works fine with the files from my DSLR, one with a big sensor and huge files btw.
"Unfortunately I believe that Samsung abandoned the early adopters who bought the original Galaxy by refusing to release a firmware updates."
I think the above sums up my biggest gripe with the current tablets situation. Tablets have evolved from the world of mobile phones. Mobile phones are more like devices - like a TV or microwave. Not like a computer. In majority they spend their entire life using the same firmware version (or equivalent of) as they were shipped from the factory. The only time this might get updates is if a fault is found. Classic/dumb mobile phones in their majority suffer the same fate. People buy them, get tired of them, and throw them away. No software upgrades, no new tricks. Which is great for manufacturers. They get to push newer models at us as fast as they can.
Now with tablets (and to a significant extent smartphones) - their level of functionality approaches in a greater degree the level of functionality of a computer. Their price is also higher. Thus people will start more and more to realise that their shiny, expensive toy can't really be taught new tricks. Sure, there are ways of hacking about with these things - but it's not like on a pc. You can't just get your brand new copy of [insert favourite operating system] and install it on a device 5, 6 or even 7 years old. You have to do a lot of research, you have to wait for somebody to have figured out a way of breaking the whichever esoteric variation of bootloader your smartphone or tablet is using - and then do some custom Android (or whatever else) image for it.
However, I don't think the manufacturer (in this case Samsung - but you can choose any other example) is the only one responsible for this situation:
1. ARM might be theoretically a fairly open architecture - but it is mainly open for the licensees - not so much for the end users. With each licensee producing their own variation of the platform - in majority of cases you can't just run vanilla versions of OS's on these devices.
2. The bootloader (or whatever equivalent for the BIOS in the ARM world) seems to vary a lot from device to device. This means even more customisation for a manufacturer in order to release a new version of the firmware (together with point no.1).
3. Google themselves don't seem all that keen to build backwards compatibility with older devices in the newer versions of Android. Devices just 2 years old are not compatible with the latest version of Android. I suppose this is the price of break-neck speed with which Android and the tablets/smartphones develop nowadays - but it leaves people with un-upgradeable devices as a result.
So until the bootloader on various ARM platforms won't be universal, and we won't have a truly open OS to run on these things where the community can contribute and provide drivers and updates in a more universally accessible fashion - the situation will probably stay the same.
I think I'll stick with my 3 years old ultra-portable laptop - which can still be taught new tricks, can be plugged into any peripheral I want to plug it, and can be OS upgraded in any way I please. Bulky and un-tablet like as it is.
Open software + Open hardware = End user freedom. Android worth nothing as FOSS as long as is runs on proprietary closed software. The same thing happened when people tried to run FOSS on laptops, it took a long time until they managed to make it work because of the proprietary nature of laptop hardware. So far the PC hardware is (still) open but I sincerely wish anyone good luck with any other platform, especially with phones, intelligent or not.
Let me start by saying I have a fairly basic Nokia phone too (on PAYG) which has a handy UMA facility that can link to my Orange LiveBox at home - and therefore bypass the dodgy Orange signal where my house is (in a dip). So I am a 2 phone user - from previous use of HTC Touch HD - I mostly hate the use of the majority of TOUCH SCREEN ONLY phones (ie NO physical buttons).
The Galaxy Tab was always of interest to me - as I can also use it as a phone, I am not tied to an airtime provider, and it can use a standard size SIM (externally accessed).
Although I am mostly very pleased with my new Tab ... I still DESPAIR (yes even almost a DECADE after Psion left the consumer marketplace!!) that my Psion NetBook is not a current machine. With the benefits of (Adroid?) OS, better screen (brighter and more resolution), added bluetooth, built in fast Wi-Fi ....it would be FABULOUS (even changing little else). Even without 3G it would be fab (I could use a Mi-Fi device if I needed 3G access anywhere).
The Psion Netbook (and 5mx / Ericsson MC218 come to that) were/ARE perfect from factor devices. The NetBook can easily load any OS from the CF slot. If only Psion had been braver in the very late 90s and early 00s - I have no doubt whatsoever they could have been a 'best of everything' Nokia/Apple/Blackberry/ Android device, all wrapped up together.
I wonder if anyone at Psion Texlogic has the balls and know-how to set up a new consumer division and return with an Android device (or MULTI PLATFORM ??) device(s) ?
Take away a lot of the 'gimmicks' that you have on a iPhone/iPad OS, Android OS, Symbian OS ... and admittedly the hardware tweaks that make some of the latest devices more '2011 era' .... and I beleive the Psion NetBook/S7 form factor (7" screen) is PERFECT. They could scale it down (5mx/Revo size) - or up even (10" screen?).
-
Gadget lover that I am ... I HATE change for changes sake. Yet that is the era we live in now. Psion was (thankfully) NOT a 'change for changes sake company ... .yet it was mostly IMHO the reason for their downfall. Ironically they had bluetooth models ready when they bailed out back almost a decade ago + (at that time). Had they got to Psi-Win build 2.3.3 many years earlier earlier ... (and later added things like bluetooth USB etc too) - they'd still be a key player.
Such a shame.
I am also a huge Arcam fan (I have upgraded my CD palyer internals, new upgraded DAC) - also around 1990/2000 era + I bet there is still loads of customers that continue to give Arcam dealers 'upgrade money. I just think Psion could have been this sort of company ... as a sweet antidote to the 'throw away' Apple generation that started with the iPods and iPhones.
I'm kinda stuck with the issue of where to actually look at a good selection of Android phones that are not tied to a carrier.
Over Christmas, I would have liked to look at some devices that were supposedly "hot Christmas products" but could I actually find any to fondle? Nope. And yes I live in Canada, Vancouver to be specific.
I guess this is an issue generally though. There are a lot of Telus/Virgin/Fido/Rogers places that are eager to get you on contracts and have a small selection of locked phones, but if you want something a little different, who stocks them?
... if it's just to tide you over. I say that while busily bricking $50 direct-from-China devices after having misunderstood google-translated rooting instructions. Yes, it's lots of crap and you have to learn chinese to get all the functionality out of it. But you appear to need it for surviving a commute. Even chinese batteries last that long.
It is not just tablets, but pretty well anything technologically related. I contacted Sony in Canada to ask about the availability of the new Sony Alpha 580 which has been available in the United States for about three months. They told me that they do not know when / if the camera would be available in Canada.
For some strange reason, it seems that computer / camera manufacturers seem to think that Canada is a frozen wasteland of non-technical people.
However, like some people have stated, is there really a reason for a tablet? A coworker just told me that he spent half the night converting his movies so that he could play them on his iPad. Hmmm... I can get a 9" DVD player from Wally-world for $129.
If you can manage that it will probably serve you well.
We are going through a tablet explosion. Prices will fall or same-price capabilities will rise. Competition will also hopefully bring prices down. Yesterday's "old-hat" Android 2.x will be devalued with the arrival of 3.x, and 3.x in turn when 4.x arrives. eBay should soon be stocked with a flood of "less capable" tablets which are today's "top notch". And by then the 3l33t h4x0rs should know which old devices are a bargain in being rooted and upgraded.
The longer you can hold out, the better value for money deal you'll get. In the meantime use a netbook :-)
Where the hell is the site owner getting a gig for $2?
My Canadian cell provider charges $30 for a 1 GB plan, and $.05 / MB if you go over. That's $50 not $2. Roam and it will cost you $.03 / kB!
This is why I don't have a smart phone. It is getting better, a year ago your $30 got you only 500 MB, and $.02 / kB if you went over!
I recently had the pleasure of moving from Europe to Canada, and besides the essentially closed markets for mobile phones, home internet, TV etc, the lack of a majority of products that can be found in the US or the UK is driving me up the wall. It's not just tech - although trying to find a specific model of laptop was actually impossible, and I had to settle for an inferior 'Canada spec' version - it's clothing, furnishings, food products, drink, services. Amazon.ca is a joke; hardware vendors are engaged in blatant price-gouging, and the governments (federal and provincial) tack on an extra percentage to anything shipped over the border. It's pretty shambolic, all told, and the best you get when asking why the market is so awful is "it is what it is, eh".
Sheesh, stop complaining, Canada still has easy access to all the US gadgets. Over here in forgotten New Zealand, if you want a 45W AMD CPU, you can choose a 235e or nothing. No other dual-core, no triple-core, not quad core. How's that for choice? And they'll cost an arm and a leg too. Sigh...
... for you considering how good a country NZ is otherwise. About the only place you can go skiing in the morning and scuba diving in the afternoon!
I'd move there in a heartbeat if:
a) I had any useful skills so I could get a job there (should have become a doctor...)
b) it wasn't so far away from our family in the UK
I moved from Europe 10 years ago with my IT skills.
Yes NZ has got some good sides (hence why I moved, even though english is not my native language, and despite the crippling distance to family & friends).
Note that it is a lot easier to ski and scuba dive on the same day in Vancouver (which I love, but it's probably a good thing we didn't go there seeing BC's economy atm) than in NZ. It would be just as feasible in Nice or Ljubljana.
These good NZ sides are no reason not to be aware of the shortcomings, like very limited tech choice, ridiculously slow and capped and expensive so-called broadband, or totally crappy housing building quality.
Trevor, if one manages to find a US retailer willing to ship to NZ (good luck), one wiIl probably get charged USD30 or USD50 to ship something like a teeny weeny CPU. That's the kind of rorts we have to live with here. Again, no hard feelings, we made the choice, but grass is always greener etc.
You are right of course; ideally, the whole world would have the incredible choice and low prices the USians enjoy. But hey, better living here than living in the states imho. You lose some, you win some as they say. We made a choice, and alleviate the down sides as we can.
Sure there are 10 times less of us than there is in the States but on average we make more money, pay way more for everything and we aren't in a reccesion. No don't try and sell products here.
At least we got the per-byte billing ruling overturned by Parliment today (not that Sasktel was changing, gotta love the crowns!). I have to admit our democracy moves fast when we file big petitions. While were at it lets get cell phone companies under control (the NDP has a bill they've been trying to put though for the last too years.) and stop this paying more for everything nonsense. Our dollar's worth more than the American dollar now not the .65 it was 10 years ago. Adjust market, adjust!
In closing Alberta sucks but I wish I still had my old job there ;)
Love watching the Applephiles on the tube pull out their huge iFondle slabs, then flinch anytime anyone comes within 2 feet of them!
Even better watching the one person with an iPad stand in the train's doorway reading or playing on the iPad. The train pulls into a station and the look on the iPad owner's face can only be described as sheer terror, as everyone pushes past trying to get on or off the train in that very careful and considerate way only underground train users manage!
Sorry, tablets are just a little too bulky for some of the confined public spaces, like public transport. Book readers you can just about get away with, along with phones and iPod touches, but tablets I can imagine are the subject of many an insurance claim!
Galaxy Tab is fine as-is. I honestly don't care if Android 4.0 Chocolate Gateau or 5.8 Messiah are ever released for it; it was brilliant on the day I bought it and won't suddenly stop being brilliant when Google release a small collection of interface upgrades - which is all most versions are. Hell, I still have my Android 1.5 G1 phone and it's a perfectly decent device. The improvements are minor.
The 7" size beats the hell out of 10"ers for portability and, funnily enough, ability to type on it (as it's narrow enough to thumb-type in portrait mode). Not to mention replacing a phone AND a netbook, and fitting in a jacket pocket.
hi,
Ordered a desktop with the new Intel 2600K processor but the Sandy Bridge controller on the motherboard got recalled before the computer arrived. So even when things are available in Canada you don't actually them. Glad I ordered through a brick and mortar because the hassle of returns would have bugged me to no end.
Amazon.COM still ships to Canada, except it won't ship most of its electronics to Canadian addresses. And it won't sell MP3s to Canucks.
Amazon.CA has crap choice in electronics. And no MP3s to sell. Plus, it insists on sometimes shipping via UPS, which I loathe.
Yup, totally agree with this article.
Trevor, if the Nook Color is a no-brainer, you should look up a lawyer in Great Falls, Montana, talk to him/her, and send them $300 to cover the purchase of Nook at B&N, and shipping to Edmonton by Fedex, plus a little left over for lunch. I doubt it would take too many calls to find someone who would do that for you. (Get them to put a letter in the box, and describe it as 'legal documents'!!! for customs).
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