Samsung Google Nexus 10 tablet review Why would you buy a tablet other than an iPad? Obviously, some don’t care for Apple’s locked-in system and others like the way users can dig more deeply into the workings of Android. Good enough reasons, sure, but the truth is that until the day dawns when a tablet is of comparable specification, but substantially cheaper than …
They may nibble at specs against the iPad but the fact is iOS is the killer feature for most people - easy to use - consistent across devices, more secure, easier to deploy for corporates etc. Then the App Store - far more genuine tablet applications and the typical quality is far higher. Lastly service and support - well Apple wins hands down unless Samsung have their own stores etc. - my Samsung developed a fault and would reboot over and over = no phone for 3 weeks. To compare I dropped my iPhone - the camera slightly dislodged - went into an Apple Store - left it with them - 20 minutes later fixed phone. Until you have experienced it there is no comparison.
Incidentally I ended up buying an iPhone BECAUSE Samsung were going to have it for 3 weeks and I can't be without a phone for that long. You have to factor in that phones do break (like anything else) but it's how they deal with it that is the issue. Another friend took his ageing 3GS in with a small crack on the plastic back - they just replaced it - free.
I think I prefer Android to iOS, but your points in relation to the maturity of the app store and the usefulness of shops are good ones. The screen aspect ratio is another question of personal preference.
There's no mention of it in the article, but I've found (on my Nexus 7) that Chrome sucks as a browser. Boat and Dolphin are much quicker, and this really shows on the Nexus 10. Sunspider score with Boat is quicker than the iPad4, but waay worse when using Chrome. This agrees with my subjective experience of using the browsers. Chrome is unresponsive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKuYoyo-pH8
Over here, where there is no Apple bring-in service, if an iPhone breaks, you are without a phone for 2 weeks, while it is sent away for repair by the carrier.
This month, we've had 1 iPhone 4S with a duff battery, one iPhone 4S with unusably weak Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (wi-fi range less than 1M) and 2 dropped Galaxy 3S with broken screens. The 2 iPhone users are without their phones for 2 weeks, having to make do with old Nokia candy bar phones. The carrier brought in 2 replacement Galaxy 3S and swapped them out on the spot, no questions asked.
"iOS is the killer feature for most people"
For this little black duck iOS definitely kills my desire for an iphone/ipad. As the article starts out with, I don't like the Apple lock in, and I like being able to customise my own device. I also like the way that Android is developing new features rapidly, ios is little different from from it was when it started.
But plenty like iOS obviously and that's cool if that floats your boat.
"consistent across devices"
As is Android - I have exactly the same ROM on my tablet as I do on my phone. The home screen/launcher is higher resolution to take advantage of the bigger tablet screen, works exactly the same, just with more space for widgets etc.
"To compare I dropped my iPhone - the camera slightly dislodged - went into an Apple Store - left it with them - 20 minutes later fixed phone."
In Australia (Brisbane) you have to make an appointment a week in advance and drive 20kms put of the CBD to "go into an Apple Store". If you just turn up they turn you away and tell you to call and make an appointment...
Only had 1 fault out of three Samsung devices since I got rid of the iphone, but I could at least take it to the store I bought it from to get it looked at. They replaced the phone on the spot with a new one (though I'm sure that may not always the case).
Of course the best warranty is one you never have to use!
I always get my phone on a contract with my network provider, which basically makes them responsible for it.. yes I've had to return a phone once, but it took 3 days not 3 weeks for the repair.
I know my current mobile provider has worse service than my last, but I traded off customer service for speed...
Original post is absolutely true of "most people" (not techie commentards). Went tablet-shopping with Mrs this week and tried to stay in the background as she made her decision.
I thought she'd compare Nexus 7 and iPad mini and end up stumping up the extra for the iPad due to the "it just works" philosophy. In the end she opted for a Galaxy Tab2 10.1 which is now available for less than £200.
Despite us not having a single Apple device in the house, I'd certainly agree with the OP's points - with Apple you pay premium prices and get premium service. But we're plebs so we pay pleb prices and put up with pleb service... you pays your money and you takes your choice!
The thing is, IOS doesn't just work. It's a pain in the neck to do anything simple with it that doesn't involve Itunes. Want to transfer a file to your iPad? You can't just hook the device up and transfer it as you would to a USB stick with IOS; you've got to go through Itunes. With Android devices, it's easy; you plug it in and then select "Mount file system" on the device. And it isn't just techies that can plug in a USB stick and expect it to work.
I don't have experience of this tablet, but my wife has an iPad 3, and I've found that the keyboard on it wasn't amazingly responsive; it was sluggish. Not as sluggish as that on my Orange San Francisco (which cost me about £100 two years ago), but it was still sluggish. What was I doing? Something processor-intensive? Well, yes, if you consider entering a search term on the Safari browser to be intensive.
Somehow, I expected more.
I'm not saying it's all bad, but it's FAR from all good. If this had been around at the time my wife got the iPad, I think she would have got this instead.
"The thing is, IOS doesn't just work.", I'm assuming you mean "The thing is, IOS just doesn't work."
The thing is, it does work, and that's why the iOS devices still achieve customer satisfaction levels that other manufactures just can't match.
It's also difficult to understand the iTunes hate. Posters are complaining that in order to move a movie onto an iPad you have to go through iTunes, rather than just "drag and drop" onto the device. But to put a movie onto an iPad, you just drag and drop from windows into itunes, sync, done deal. There's no difference in the transfer procedure.
Anyway, I'm off to advise JD Power that they need to start polling The Reg readers when undertaking surveys, as their results are clearly skewed! According to http://www.jdpower.com/content/press-release/1hzUPsP/2012-u-s-tablet-satisfaction-study.htm the iPad is top of the satisfaction table, while Samsung devices are below the industry average! Looking at the downvotes here for any post that even whiffs of iPad love, JD Power has some explaining to do!
Let the downvotes begin :)
"With Android devices, it's easy; you plug it in and then select "Mount file system" on the device"
Plug it in?
How quaint... I just turn on the FTP server installed on my Nexus 7 and send it over from my desktop! ;o)
(Or open the FTP client and suck it over).
I generally find iOS (and OSX for that matter) over protective and simplistic. Trying to do complicated things is either impossible, or buried. For your general Joe/Jane Bloggs in the street I guess this is great, but unfortunately I'm the guy they then ring up with the terrifying "Hey, Steve, you know about computers and stuff right? Well I have this problem with my iphone"...
I think I'll stick with my 'droid devices.
Having said that, I probably won't be buying an N10. The iOS OS wasn't the only reason I didn't buy an ipad. It's just too damn big! I really don't think I have a use for something like that. The N7 in my pocket is perfect for just that reason. It is in my pocket.
When I was still using my iPod touch 2G I found I used dropbox a lot for files iTunes didn't like.
Now with the Nexus 7 I can still use dropbox, or a standard USB cable (cheap) or a USB Stick / Drive with a USB2g adaptor and the Nexus Media Importer app (no root required).
And it's not linked to only one computer, no "do you want to wipe out all your stuff" if I plug it into a different computer that happens to have iTunes on it.
And I could remove quicktime (quick? HA!) from my computer.
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""consistent across devices" - So long as all your devices are Apple ones"
Well, yes. I think that's the point being made. The user experience across the various Android OEM's is different. Not necessarily a bad thing, Samsung is consistent with Samsung et c.
""more secure" - Really?" It seems that way. Incidents of malware reported are significantly higher on Android than on un-jailbroke iOS devices. Just saying "Really?" doesn't change this.
""easier to deploy for corporates" - Huh? No it's not." Would you like to elaborate?
"Well, yes. I think that's the point being made. The user experience across the various Android OEM's is different. Not necessarily a bad thing, Samsung is consistent with Samsung et c."
It is if you pick the right devices, from the same manufacturer, giving the Android devices the same home-field advantage as Apple.
Not that it's a very valid point, still. Unless we are some kind of morons, it's not exactly frikkin' rocket science to figure out ho two GUIs work, is it? Or is that the selling point: Apple is great if you are sufficiently stupid that you can't figure out where the sodding buttons are are two different screens?
"It seems that way. Incidents of malware reported are significantly higher on Android than on un-jailbroke iOS devices. Just saying "Really?" doesn't change this."
Saying 'it just seems that way' doesn't, either! But then: Look at market share. Not only is that an influence, it influences what malware is built for. That doesn't make Android less secure: It makes it a more rewarding target. And if you go to the kind of business meetings where you are expected to not just turn your phone off but take the batteries out, then iProducts aren't great, either.
But if security really counts that much for you: Go Blackberry.
"Would you like to elaborate?" - Yeah. People I know who have to still deal with crap like this come into the pub on a weekly basis wailing "some senior manager wants his goddamn iPad hooked up to our network" followed by them downing a couple of pints and moaning. Luckily, I don't have to deal with that any more.
"Saying 'it just seems that way' doesn't, either! But then: Look at market share. Not only is that an influence, it influences what malware is built for. That doesn't make Android less secure: It makes it a more rewarding target. And if you go to the kind of business meetings where you are expected to not just turn your phone off but take the batteries out, then iProducts aren't great, either."
Apple has had the bigger market share an the richest users for years, and yet they have never had a malware problem like android!
"fact is iOS is the killer feature for most people"
Your 'most' is shrinking however. Sure, the mini may help but Apple have experienced a 15% dive in market share during Q3 2012, and long may the trend continue, say I.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/apples-ipad-slips-as-android-tablets-tick-up-in-market-share-for-third-quarter/2012/11/05/2300936e-2743-11e2-b2a0-ae18d6159439_story.html
"To compare I dropped my iPhone..."
I dropped mine too. Then for good measure I drove a herd of cattle over it, just to make sure.
For crying out loud, what is this insanity with preventing users from being able to stick storage cards into these??
Any other Android units, I can get with SD card slots, but I have to suffer from stupid OS overlays.
In the Nexus line, there is NOT ONE device with SD card slot now.
Why do you make decrepit products just to save $ 0.78 on the Bill of Materials?
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quote: "They're going it for the playground arguments or to please the train spotters... I mean spec spotters.
Can't they come up with their own ideas?"
I know what you're saying, but manufacturers have been iteratively increasing resolution on handheld devices since well before Apple moved in to the handheld market. Samsung is one of those manufacturers who has been highly active in the handheld space prior to Apple (they started in the 80s). So who is it that you believe "owns" the idea of resolution increase, to intimate that Samsung are copying that way?
Also, spec spotting is exactly what techies will do when evaluating purchases in the tech field. I'm not going to buy product A if product B has more grunt for less cost, and like a lot of actual techies I rate function over and above form. "It's prettier" is not a selling point for me, so where else can I look but the spec sheets?
Apple aren't immune from playing the playground argument / spec spotter crowd either. Just look at each press release for every subsequent iPhone or iPad iteration, and you'll see them crowing about how fast (or how much faster) the new product is. The latest iPad was a particular case in point with a "we can't even see them (i.e. the competition) in the rear view mirror" being a particular favourite of mine... what is the actual measured difference in speed between the A6 (1.3GHz dual core) and e.g. a Tegra3 T30 (1.4GHz quad core) that prompted that statement? I don't recall it ever being properly quantified, so I have to assume that it is for a given definition of "them" :)
If Apple's competition also resort to pointless ePeen measuring based purely on specs, and the occasional bit of name calling or slighting, then can you really blame them?
I actually don't like the metal back of the iPad. Picking it up when it's cold is not a nice experience, and if you've got dry hands it's kind of slippery. And heavy. I've always thought the iPad3 is a bit on the heavy side (since there is not a lot in the weight, I'd probably feel the same about the Nexus 10, but I've never held one). One of the reasons I got a Nexus 7 - much nicer in the hand (IMO).
The difference in pixels is largely down to the aspect ratio, and the fact they've picked a standard resolution WQXGA (2560x1600), a common res. for big screens.
I think this is known as, "Drinking the Kool Aid so much it just tastes like water now."
Retina is an Apple marketing term and means nothing. It's not a magical PPI which indicates a perfect display. If you think that lower than Retina is bad and higher than Retina is bad then, well, you probably won't understand this reply. I'll leave it here for others to read, though.
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Standard laser printers are 600 dots per inch and that gives about as good a result as commercial print. 300 dpi printers are visibly inferior. My guess is that 600 dpi is where LCDs will end up, at a resolution that meets the norm established by the printing industry over the years. On a tablet with a 10 inch diagonal that implies a screen resolution of about 4800 by 3000, or one iteration up on the present level.
The "retina display" fails to take into account that people do look at things closer than "normal viewing distance".
There's a trade off to be made. More pixels need more GPU power to drive, more bytes to store images etc. Since LCD screens aren't just black or white like a laser printer they tend to look better at lower resolutions, so my bet is that 300 DPI is the practical limit.
What amazes me is that the whole world wasn't sitting there going "Oh my god, those huge square pixels, they hurt my eyes!!!" for all those years before Apple (sorry, Apple's LCD manufacturing suppliers) brought along "retina".
And you know what... A large proportion of the world are still using those huge pixels without screaming in pain or going blind... Weird eh?
Although I'll have to admit I enjoy Apple fans re-arranging their arguments now somebody else has brought an anaconda to the willy-waving competition.
I've got to admit to being a bit of a "fandroid" but I do think Apple deserve credit for making the masses aware of the existence of high-resolution displays and to make the masses demand them. Until recently "retina"-style displays were a rare thing to come across and then very, very expensive. And I certainly was someone who has for a long time wished for them to become generally available.
Personally I've gone off Apple when my laptop charger gave up while I was traveling and the urgently needed replacement cost me a mind-boggling EUR 89. Not going back there. But as I said I'm certainly grateful they've popularised high-res displays which are now becoming mainstream.
My main Thank You and my money goes to Google+Samsung though for actually delivering the device I've been waiting for since the iPad 3 came out: An affordable high-res 10" Android tablet.
Now keenly waiting for non-Apple laptops with high-res screens.
I agree with AC 11:43 - Apple get Kudos for reversing the trend toward lower resolution screens. 10 years ago I could by a laptop with a 1440 x 1050 screen, but recently it is very difficult to buy a laptop with anything other than a 1280 x 768 resolution screen - which is a massive step backwards in terms of usability and the manufacturers refer to them jokingly as HD screens.
With apple introducing higher resolution screens, in phones, tablets and macbooks, and phone manufacturers and Google following suit - I can only hope that laptops will follow soon.
Why do you need an SD slot?
If it's just to hold movies and photos, then let me introduce you to Nexus Media Importer.
Disclaimer - I have no connection - I am merely a happy user of this excellent app.
"Why do you need an SD slot?"
To carry more stuff - its a tablet aimed at media/internet consumption, a little pointless if you can't store media on it!
"If it's just to hold movies and photos, then let me introduce you to Nexus Media Importer."
You don't need an app to use USB host on Android - just use a file explorer or open files from the USB drive in whichever media program you are using.
But carrying around adapters/cords and USB drives is nowhere near as convenient as throwing a 64gb microsd in the device when you buy it and having heaps of storage built in.
+1 on the "no sd no sale". Hopefully Samsung will bring out a similar model with an sd slot like their current tablets. I'm sure Samsung would like to have a high res screen like this to counter the ipad.
Totally agree with you, SD slot is a must on any new device I buy.. hence I got the note10.1 over this,and the note is an amazing tablet, I know people might not like a stylus, but if you've ever used a GFX tablet (I have one on my desk) you'll love it, so much more natural to scribble than to try typing with one hand on the go....
"USB OTG a la nexus 7 i.e. root and use stickmount or Nexus Media Importer (no rooted solution)"
Or just plug it in and open whatever file you want in the media player et al or navigate to the file using a file explorer - you don't need additional software or root as long as the device supports USB host.
"you don't need additional software or root as long as the device supports USB host."
True but they seem to be talking about the Nexus 7 which doesn't support it without additional software. I've got one on my desk which I'm about to do a factory reset on so I'll confirm! :-) I know I wouldn't have pissed about rooting the thing if I'd not had to in order to get Stick mount to work.
"...you don't need additional software or root as long as the device supports USB host."
Unfortunately, the Nexus 7 (and almost certainly the Nexus 10) do NOT support it. Hence the need for Nexus Media Importer or StickMount (if you're happy to root your machine).
(What did I do to get the downvotes above?)
"Because shit hanging out the side like a hideous tumour is of course what you want.
No, No SD, no sale."
The thing has... how much on-board memory again? You really need more film choices than that for a weekend away?
Or you can't plug the USB stick in, transfer the data and then unplug it?
Or the idea of someone seeing you with a USB stick and a cable hanging out of the side of your device causes you so much social shame as to be unbearable?
/shrug.
I'm not you, but those aren't good reasons for me. It's practically Apple-user-esque to my mind, but then I don't have a side panel on my PC, either.
We are different customers. I don't think that warrants a 'fail' really, do you?
It has 16Gb, I have no idea how much is usable. Perhaps 10gb? 12gb?
My kids have 2 peppa pig DVDs. They are about a gig each. They also have a couple of Thomas the tank DVDs another gb. They often cant decide what to watch between Cars 2, Cars, Tinkerbell 1 or 2 (dont have the others yet). They are a gb each.
That is before the music CDs have been added or perhaps something us adults want to watch in the evening.
A 32GB card would take care of all the above worries and enable said card to be swapped into my phone should I want to use phone or tablet for something else. I dont want a franken cable hanging out of the bottom and in the car I dont want to have to swap 4gb of data becuase the kids want to watch a "certain episode" then another etc. It might be fine for you in which case I wish you the best of luck. But for me, no sale.
I like to keep a lot on my tablet at any given time - a massive collection of photos so I can leaf through or show them around - videos for flights, and maybe some random useful files. The point is, a simple microSD slot would cost pennies to include, and then I have the option of swapping out storage as much as I want, having it flush and internal. This is a 10" tablet, there's more than enough room for it. To be honest, a full size SD slot would be even more useful, as then I could download photos directly to it from my camera.
Don't defend these simple, and very useful omissions, because one day functionality you want will be lacking, and you will be surrounded by people also saying "why would you need to do that? why don't do it like THIS, pff, you're so stuck in the past", and you will be frustrated. Don't defend bad design.
"No SD slot . No sale."
Micro-USB-to-USB cable and a USB drive (which I always have on a key-ring these days anyway)?
I know the cable is a chore, but I honestly prefer USB drives because they stick into everything and they don't get lost in the bottom of pockets. And if you're carrying the thing in a case with a little pocket on, there's really no extra chore in carrying the cable... unless you are concerned with an unsightly bump in the pocket, in which case there's something already designed for people who care about that kind of thing. *points to Applestore*
If they're not going to allow the memory to be expanded they should at least start with a decent amount. I could probably live without a card slot if the tablet had (say) 64GB to start with ... but even so a slot would be an added convenience. The ability to attach a card using USB host connection and an adaptor would be a much more acceptable solution if the internal memory were greater to start with.
I have a Galaxy tablet with 16GB and I keep a 32GB card in the micro-SD slot, and that gives me enough. 32GB total would be cutting it a little fine.
I agree. no SD is a killer for me. Looks like a cheap tab2 rooted for me. 32gb SD cards are cheap. The amount of converted kids dvds I can put on that is quite a sum. Certainly enough for a long journey or plane flight.
16Gb (how much is available to use?) wont go very far indeed.
I totally agree with everyone on this, but nobody seems to grasp that Google want you to store all your stuff on their servers, or download/stream content from the cloud rather than store it locally.
Personally, I just plug it into the computer and load up what i need, and then when i'm done, clear it off and load more. Not perfect, but at least I'm not wasting bandwidth uploading tons of stuff to the cloud.
I have a Nexus 10 and love it. For me, having vanilla Android is more important than an SD slot..already upgraded to 4.2.1.
"Perhaps you are comparing more recent Android tech with an older iPhone, which would not really be fair."
I'm comparing the 3GS with the original Galaxy S - they were both on sale at the same time so I think its a reasonable comparison as these things go.
With the 3GS I had to turn all the auto sync/push features to get a day's battery life out of it. Using the Galaxy on the same network and my usual usage patterns I could run absolutely everything and still finished with more battery (according to the respective phone's guages).
Bottom line was the battery life affected how I could use my phone. I'm not precious on numbers, if both phones lasted all day with my usage patterns I wouldn't care if one had a bigger battery number at the end of the day.
The iphone 5 could be much better on battery life, I don't know, but I'm sold on the customisation and features of Android OS now, even though ios talks much better to my macbook pro.
"Anecdotal evidence is anecdotal."
Absolutely I'd never claim otherwise, but the Android is known for poor battery life comment in the article doesn't even quote an anecdote.
My original point was that the article comment was rubbish - there's nothing inherent in Android that gives it poor battery life. Sure there are no doubt some cheap Android phones that may have poor battery life due to their hardware, but its not the OS...
*On the Android Side*
The cloud integration of Android (assuming you are on a ICS/Jelly Bean build of course) is first class. Way better than anything that Apple have. That is a fact and while Apple are getting better, Google have got it mastered. Contacts, email, chat not to mention bookmarks. I can (and have) started composing an email on my PC and finished it in the car (misses driving obviously!) on my phone. Likewise, starting surfing on the Phone (chrome) and finished reading at home, no need to bookmark, you can see all the other devices. And multi-user is fantastic. I no longer have to see the kids build an ice cream/cake/ice lolly icons for those tedious games (they are on ios too!) cluttering up my desktop. Likewise, I hate facebook but the misses loves it. Well, I don't need to see her crap anymore either!
Did you know you can upload 20,000 of your own music tracks to google if you've already got them (for FREE!). They then are available to either stream or download to the device from within the music app? Suddenly an SD card slot doesn't seem quite to important does it! (I put 2,000 up the other day, works a treat)
Did you know you can install a DLNA server on your phone to watch content on a DNLA TV. (This is quite common on modern TV's). Don't need an apple TV box! I'm assuming apple don't allow such applications.
And finally, google maps rocks. And on android you can cache it for off line use.
*On The Apple Side*
The apple hardware does always 'feel nice'. I don't quite know what magic they use, but you cant deny an apple piece of hardware does feel good in the hand. IOS is also undeniably simple. My misses never got on with android on her phone, and while she sometimes pokes like a chimp at the phone, I generally have to give her a lot less support that when she had an android phone. Cost of the hardware made me cry, it is very expensive for what it is but thats how those apple people like it.
IOS do seem to get the APP's first too, but this is becoming less so.
Overall
I think the article is somewhat unfair to suggest that its not PC replacement, neither is an ipad fully. I've got office apps, I can cache most stuff for off line. And the apps are better in some instances on android than ios, and sometimes the other way around (lets just say iplayer!). While I don't deny I'm probably bias towards android I don't dismiss IOS at all. Its good at what it does.
The weird thing is my kids use both and they have no preference. So maybe that's the truth (kids are awfully truthful). The fact that they don't distinguish which device they pick up means they are both equally useful and good and actually its the prejudices we get as adults that make us believe one is better than the other!
I agree with the cloud connectivity of google being great, but I thing a micro SD slot is important, and I would have loved to see a full size SD connector there as well like the raspberry pi's (i.e. not flush when inserted)
I brought a note 10.1, and an OTG connector so I can connect full size sd cards from my camera and put the photos on the tablet (also I back up to a NAS drive) but at 16GB, there isn't enough room to copy over a full SD to the tablet, and when on the go i.e. I am in a hotel somewhere and i am charged massive $$$ per megabyte, being able to copy to a micro SD I have inserted into the tablet is great..
the cloud only works for media & backup if connectivity is universal, which is isn't
I got one of these as an early christmas present for my wife. I was going to also use it to learn a bit of android development, but I can't prise it out of her hands, so I had to get a Nexus 7 for my dev work. :)
The display is amazing, and watching high-res films like Timescapes is awesome. The non-metal case is nicer to hold than an iPad (I don't have an iPad but some of my friends do, so I can compare!). I guess that's really a matter of taste though.
Overall this is an amazing tablet; very glad I managed to snag one.
I know this is pushed hard by the vendors, but apart from the nerds on the train, does anyone watch movies on a tablet?
I watch on a laptop - it stands up on its own and I listen to music from my phone - its more portable.
My tablet is mainly a tertiary - "I need a browser right now" device. Yes I want it to play video, but its certainly not the media display of choice.
"apart from the nerds on the train, does anyone watch movies on a tablet?"
I assume you don't fly much?
A tablet is way better suited to playing movies in-flight on a meal tray, the battery life is much better than any laptop I've owned and its 1/3rd of the weight (which is handy in Aus where you have a 7kg carry on limit)
Not when I'm at home, when I have a desktop/TV for my media, but those of us "nerds" who have to commute or travel frequently often find that for media consumption on the move a tablet beats most other devices hands down, especially if your laptop is large/heavy/old with bad battery life/non-existent. I know my girlfriend will often use her Nexus 7 to watch an episode of something even when at home because it's lighter/easier to carry round the house/I've nicked her laptop.
At the end of the day it's a form factor that is useful for some and not for others. Just because *you* don't use it for a particular purpose because your life is set up a particular way doesn't mean that others won't get use out of it, or that it's not good at fulfilling that purpose.
"Just because *you* don't use it for a particular purpose because your life is set up a particular way doesn't mean that others won't get use out of it,"
What nonsense. Only my requirements matter. And they are a monchrome screen on which I can do CAD, with the cursor controlled by 2 rotating white dials (one controls drawing in the x asis and the other in the y axis) combined with a patented, inverted 'shake-to-clear' feature. I also require infinite battery life.
Until recently there has only been a largish 10" model available (in a rather fetching red plastic) but a few years ago a 4" 'mini' version was launched...
Years ago, I would take a laptop on holiday with me, with a bunch of DVDs to get over jet lag.
These days, thank goodness, I don't need a relatively bulky device and spinning bits of plastic to do that.
And when I'm at home, I download to my iPad, where I often beam the movie to a 50" plasma display, via AirPlay.
I dont. The kids do. Out in the car? chinapad keeps em quiet (4 hours to the grandparents and 6 to the inlaws; the downside of living in cumbria). Looking around the garden center when the kids are usually bored? Perfect! Then we go to the park to burn off steam afterwards.
iPlayer on the BB Playbook is superb and I can route it through my TV. For a replacement, I want a tablet with a proper separate HDMI out (and a magnetic charger connector like the PB) so I don't overuse one connector.
Come on Samsung, magnetic power connectors and hdmi ports can't be subject to patents can they?
...that Google's business model is to know as much about you as it can in order to flog you stuff, and by omitting the SD card slot you have to send all your data through the cloud, preferably via their servers. It's no surprise that this has no SD card slot and others are right - with a Google device it ain't going to happen.
Is there another reason why there's no highly useful (micro-)SD card slot? They cost pennies so it's not cost. Other manufacturers have no problem putting them into tablets so it's not technical. Is it so they can overcharge you for the model with extra storage? If not, why doesn't Google put SD card slots in their products?
Honestly, I have no axe to grind on this one - I'd really like to know the answer.
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"but the truth is that until the day dawns when a tablet is of comparable specification, but substantially cheaper .. "
Sorry, but no, the truth is that people buy Apple because they love Apple, it is pure emotion, specifications and price are not a factor (Android devices have out-spec'd and under-cut Apple for a long time, the only thing Apple had going for them on the spec sheet was display resolution and now even that's gone). It is true though that there are people who buy Android devices because they can't afford Apple devices.
Not in the tablet space they haven't. Until the Nexus 7 came along, there wasn't really anything significantly cheaper that was any good (IMO). And Apple are still in the lead when it comes to GPU performance, by some margin (have a gander at the andandtech benchmarks). I think the Nexus 10 is faster (and better, because of flash) for browsing, but only if you don't use Chrome.
"Who derides the Boxster? By far better value for money than a 911 with all the widgets and gadgets added on"
Try driving with the top down for a few days and you'll find out that every road user and pedestrian does!
But on a more serious note 'Better value than a more expensive Porsche' is not really a great selling point. I can think of eight other cars I'd prefer for the money!
I currently have an Acer A500 and I think its time to upgrade. I have been sorely tempted by Windows ultrabooks and tablets with keyboard docks, however, the Nexus is turning my head as it could just slot into my Kensington case with bluetooth keyboard.....
First world problems eh?!
I currently have an Acer A500 and I think its time to upgrade.
You might want to try an A510. Cheaper and faster (I'm getting over 11,000 out of AnTuTu from mine). Depends on what your use is. As a coffee table reference and media device for indoor use it's perfect, but the lack of an IPS screen might be an issue to you. To me, the horsepower of the Tegra3 is more important than the screen. If I can't see the pixels without holding it up to my nose and it's bright and clear enough in all light levels, I'm happy.
JB promised this year, Acer's addons seem both actually useful to have and easy to disable and it's got an SD card slot......!
I have to say that I am very taken with mine and think it represents the best "bang for buck" around at the moment. Build quality is a way above what I was expecting from Acer at that price too.
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those of us with our music stored - for free - in the Google cloud.
those of us who use Google Docs for productivity.
those of us who buy our ebooks from Google Play Books.
those of us who use Picasa to store our photographs in the cloud.
those of use who want GPS, decent maps and full navigation as standard features on a tablet.
those of us who use Gmail as the primary resource for email and contacts.
the list goes on and one sign-in brings all that to any and all my Android devices instantly.
There are good reasons other than price that Android phones outsell Apple phones and the seamless integration of Google's cloud services with Android is one of them. I makes iCloud look medieval by comparison.
Granted there are more fancy apps for iPad but personally I don't want or need any of them.
As for who watches video on their tablet - me for one, every day on my Nexus 7.
That's fine and choose what works for you - I won't downvote anyone for that. But if you *honestly* believe that you can't do functionally equivalent things in the iOS world...
The key phrase to all of this is "...but personally I don't want or need ..." and anyone who has different wants or needs to anyone else automatically gets downvotes by the schoolkids.
Let the nit-picking begin...
But if you *honestly* believe that you can't do functionally equivalent things in the iOS world...
You certainly can, but if you want to extend that across your entire device set, that means also buying a Mac, Apple TV, etc, etc. As I've said before, that Apple iPad ad extolling how simple it is to play things on your telly sports the disclaimer "Additional hardware required.".....
My Android tablet syncs data and mail with my other machines automagically. It also talks to my DLNA enabled devices perfectly too as either a push to the screen or as a DLNA server, as do my other machines. All seamlessly and without buying additional bits 'n pieces to make it work.
It's all done using a simple trick known as "adhering to the standard". Apple might like to give it a try rather than reinventing the wheel and deciding it should be square[1] all the time.
[1] With rounded corners. Obviously.
I've surprised people before by playing home videos off my phone to the tv without even being in the same room, or playing music, or starting a film, all I can do from my phone with my DLNA TV, i've even done it round friends houses once they let me get on their wlan.. iPhone users, and they buy a decent tv, but their iPhone doesn't have the same capability out the box as my phone...
Its much easier if I want to show off some holiday photos to just throw them onto the tv from my tablet or phone than to pass round the phone/laptop/tablet....
DNLA is nowhere the panacea that you're trying to claim. The "standard" has so many optional bits that it may be completely impossible to get two DNLA devices to talk to each other. It's certainly not zero config if you can get it to work.
Conversely AirPlay auto-discovers compatible devices when available and provides a simple pick list to select the device you want to play on. You get the options of audio playback, video playback and screen mirroring.
Even the DNLA folk realise that their standard is both broken and lacking. Microsoft are trying to push a certified DNLA config and Miracast are adding mirroring (but have almost no devices that support it).
Yep, you hit the nail on the head.
I really don't care there are more niche dedicated iPad apps (which of course you have to buy separately - someone nobody bothers to mention), pretty much all the top Android apps have included tablet layouts, and that's more than good enough for me, I buy the app once, and it works great on ALL my Android devices. I don't want two different ecosystems, one for each aspect ratio, that iOS has.
The Nexus 10 is better than the iPad4 in ever single way, it's just a shame nobody in the tech media is brave enough to say so...
I like the Nexus 10 a lot, but it's not better than the iPad4 in every single way. I'm teetering on the fence about which I'd get (if only I was rich enough). The GPU in the iPad4 is far more powerful, and there is (for now) much greater maturity and diversity of apps for the iPad. The biggest problems I'd have with the iPad are iOS and iTunes, both of which seem noddy and restrictive (probably because I've now got used to Android).
I read on here the argument behind the screen resolution and it persuades me. But saying that the screen is better because it has more pixels is as lazy as comparing digital cameras by the same metric. I read a review that said that the Nexus screen, while good, is not as good as the iPad's, in terms of colour saturation, black levels and backlight bleed. I'd like to do my own side-by-side comparison. And in terms of pixel count, unlike for digital cameras, once you reach a "retina" level of pixel density, increasing it further is a complete waste of time and CPU/GPU resources, because you won't be able to see the difference.
I'm no iPad fan, by the way.
I'd be amazed if there are many people making a purchase decision based simply on tiny screen differences. Basically most people will decide on platform and go from there. Simply put, if you choose Android, and you are even remotely interested in a 10 incher with a decent display, this is the only choice.
Making a decision on screen only is like choosing between BMW and Audi based on top speed. Statistical correct but pointless.
Judging from the praise through the review and the result shown in the benchmarks it seems that code is being massively optimised. It benchmarks lower than quad core systems but not by a high margin and it maintains the overall smooth performance. This can only be a good thing for battery life and I hope that it transfers to other devices from other manufacturers *cough*HTC*cough*.
Disclaimer: I own several HTC devices and really like them (and Sense) but they still have battery issues.
Different ARM cores, most of the quad cores on there are Cortex-A9 dervatives, the Cortex-A15 is well known to be about 50-60% faster, clock/clock vs the A9.
The A15 is also more power efficient than the A9.
Seems quite slow actually given the spec, would have expected it to be on a par with the S3, if not slightly quicker.
I think quite at least some of the benchmarks are cut in half by using Chrome. For example, in Sunspider with the Nexus 10 Chrome gets roughly 1350ms, and Boat is more like 775ms (Dolphin is somewhere in the 800s). It's certainly subjectively much faster and more responsive using other browsers too (on both Nexus 7 and Nexus 10).
The A15 is more power efficient than the A9? Think again. The A15 was designed as a desktop device and its actually quite power hungry. So much so that ARM have designed the A7 to pair with it and disable the A15 during light duty work. Hit the Nexus 10 with heavy workloads and its battery life falls to about 4 hours.
I wish reviews would stop referring to the "this could well be the ipad killer".
Most new tablets have overtaken the ipad in terms of usability ages ago. If you want to be locked in then fine get an Apple product. If you want more freedom to do what you want with YOUR hardware, get an Android device.
Better resolution than ipad, more power, better speakers, lighter, cheaper. clearly an all-round better tablet. they whine about no sd slot and even though apple doesnt have one either, they still award them the standard 10% apple bonus score for their reviews.
Register, I hope Apple are paying you cash for this bias, because if you're doing it independently of that then you're not right in the head.
Why get this when Windows RT just launched? It's different, not just another Windows Mobile clone like iOS, Android and Blackberry plus full interoperability with 95% of desktop PCs will soon enable it to dominate the market. Anyone who says differently is a moron. Please feel free to advertise your 'moron' status with a downvote.
But it looks really ugly in those photos. It looks big and clunky even though I imagine this is not the case, maybe just the way black plastic looks against an aluminium iPad? Has anyone seem them both in the flesh to compare?
Also - do you really need to fight on the resolution front? Why not just pick a good resolution and leave it at that, rather than mess about in a pissing match?
In my view, IOS wastes space on larger screens with the rows and rows of icons with zero customisability.
Sure, we need an 'app drawer' to choose apps from - but what about the option to have widgets to show informationat a glance? I mean, why does Siri have to launch using the HOME button rather than a drop down menu or widget? Why not have a quick view with weather, time, and recent emails/ims? Or a popup video viewer, split screen etc....
The thing is, Android is offering all these things and more depending on which ODM you go for, and you can ADD the functionality a device lacks from the store.
As for diversity in the App store. yes, IOS has the advantage there, but it's diminishing rapidly.
18 months ago when i had a HTC Desire, it was abysmal and way behind IOS in both quantity and quality.
It's a whole different story now, and not only is the PLAY store significantly better, with editorial and curation, but the range of apps is better and higher quality.
I switched from an iPhone to a Galaxy Note 2 recently, and have never ceased to be impressed by what the Android OS and samsung are offering.
My ipad may well be replaced by a Nexus 10 or similar soon.
iPad has mindshare right now, but the markeshare taken by Android tablets is eating into ipad rapidly - it's about 48% of the market now, but that wil easiy increase next year with devices like this.
People are no longer 'automatically' choosing iPads and will do so less and less in the coming year.
Whilst I don't disagree with you, you seem to be forgetting about something....
"Why not have a quick view with weather, time, and recent emails/ims? Or a popup video viewer, split screen etc...."
Its called notification centre and does exactly what you are asking for!
http://www.planet1107.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/ios_5_notification_center_lockscreen.png
You choose what you want in in and what to display then you simply swipe your finger down from the top of the screen. And you claim to have an iPad?
Actually there are.
The iPad wipes the floor with this one on graphics performance. The Nexus doesn't even come close, see Anandtech for details. Even the old iPad 3rd gen was faster than this.
Guess what matters for apps driving such a beast of a Hi-DPI screen?
But I'll give you that to run a couple of crappy widgets and a do a bit of web browsing it may be OK.
"You choose what you want in in and what to display then you simply swipe your finger down from the top of the screen. And you claim to have an iPad?"
except you cant choose what you have in it.
Notifications are not the same as 'at a glance' views of popular applications.
NC on iPad has no weather. Where's my at a glance news headlines next to my at a glance IMs? Or my quick access music player, alongside my updated train times?
The notifications in NC are disposable - I.E. when they arrive, they are static - once you clear them, then they're gone forever. A proper at a glance inbox shows whats actualy in yourinbox without having to go into the ful client.
Same with a calendar.
The beauty of Android is that I can have all thee SIDE BY SIDE if I wish.
NC just has a big monolithic scrolling list with a couple of Apple designated widgets at the top.
So very good, just no cigar.
Since the primary function of my Nexus7 is to relieve me of the need to get off my arse except to recycle beer or fetch snacks, the fact that it talks nicely to my shared drives via wifi and my hi-fi via bluetooth makes on-board storage irrelevant. I have my MP3 library sitting happily on a shared network drive, and I don't want to clutter my devices up with multiple local copies of everything. If I need to access it when I'm elsewhere, there's a cloud for that (though I don't need to, I like my house and spend most of my time there).
I've yet to master watching tablet telly, though. The problem used to be Auntie's insane allegiance to Flash, but since they got their act together with iPlayer (are you listening 4OD?), the issue is purely mechanical - however I hold the thing, my hands eventually get tired or I accidentally press part of its touch-screen and cancel the playback. I think I need a device like harmonica-playing guitarists use, to hold it hands-free at a comfortable watching distance from my head. Any suggestions?
But the one thing I do really really really HATE about it is how it forces me to have a Google ID and link all kinds of personal and LAN stuff up via some cloud mechanism that I don't want and over which I have no control. Which is exactly what a lot of commentards above like about it.
Just goes to show how different folks' strokes can be - so as it's Friday, here's beer to drink to la différence!
It's not an ipad. It is not supposed to be an ipad. It's an alternative to the ipad.
It is good enough to stand on its own. It is not too compromised if you are avoiding an ipad, for some reason or the other (mine has always been the accessible file system).
It is well made, easy to use, speedy, has a wonderful screen, easy to hold, has good sound. You can connect USB flash drives with a simple OTG cable too (works wonders at meetings).
It'll do the light document editing, web, chat, video etc things very well. Very usable for remote desktop thing too. Very good battery life. Has good selection of software. What more?
I think it is well worth over 80%.
Let me see:
* It has a better screen than the iPad 4
* It's lighter than the iPad 4
* It has better speakers than the iPad 4
* It is cheaper than the iPad 4
* It has more RAM than the iPad 4
* It has a faster CPU than the iPad 4
* It has a faster GPU than the iPad 4
* It has multiple user accounts (iPad 4 doesn't)
* It has working Maps (iPad 4 doesn't)
* It can sideload apps out of the box not tying you a store (iPad 4 can't)
* It can handle mulitple "official" stores e.g. Amazon + Play and no doubt others (iPad 4 can't)
* It can be rooted and then run unofficial ROMs (iPad 4 can't)
* It can run non-Webkit-based browsers (iPad 4 can't - if Webkit has a bug, you're screwed)
* It can run emulators from official stores (iPad 4 can't)
* It has a GPS on its wi-fi only model (iPad 4 doesn't)
So despite all these obvious advantages, the review decides it's worse than iPad 4 and is only worth 80%? Something wrong surely?!
iOS is your simple answer oh and an app store filled with better quality 'tablet' apps. You also get far better service and support from Apple (I've experienced them both) and your Apple device is likely to be supported for far longer (I have friends still using their 4+ year old iPhone 3GS when most similar aged Androids have been sent back in a charity bag by now).
>>Perhaps you could enlighten those of us fortunate enough to not own an iPad, and explain where it is better?
Since you can't even ask a simple question without feeling honour-bound to demonstrate what a fanboi you are, I think I'll save my time writing a proper answer you won't read.
* It has a better screen than the iPad 4 - But few apps to take use of it
* It has more RAM than the iPad 4 - But few apps to take use of it
* It has a faster CPU than the iPad 4 - But few apps to take use of it
* It has a faster GPU than the iPad 4 - But few apps to take use of it
* It can handle mulitple "official" stores e.g. Amazon + Play and no doubt others (iPad 4 can't) - But few apps on those stores that are of any quality
* It can run emulators from official stores (iPad 4 can't) - Yes, it can also run malware from the official stores
If I buy an Android tablet it will be this one, it's the best by a long long way from what I can see, but until there is a good amount of quality Android tablet apps it will just remain a test device.
Multiple user accounts - it's myPad not yourPad.
How many (normal) people genuinely have different user accounts on their Windows machines - I'd say 99% either have no password or login with the one username / password on one machine.
Sideload apps / rooted etc. = joke for most users.
What is the point in a more than retina screen.
Cheaper - maybe not when you factor in TCO / warranty / service etc. Price and VALUE are not the same.
Compare a (wifi only) tablet to a mobile phone: the phone costs a zillion times more due to the monthly fees. A wifi tablet is a simple one-time purchase costing more than a good bottle of wine but perhaps a bit less than one good tire. You can drop the idiot fanboi approach and just buy one of each - thereby gaining access to multiple App Eco-systems (best thing ever!).
Apologies in advance to those that are forced to choose only one or the other and are thus trapped within a single eco-system. It must be awful.
I can't figure out if you are talking about really cheap tablets or ridiculously expensive plonk?
Anything over £3.99 is too much for any wine (it all tastes like drain water) and I can't even find a tyre supplier willing to charge anywhere near £319 for a tyre. What are you driving?
Personally I couldn't give a fuck about ecosystems or secret-squirrel clubs or any of it. My tablet(berry) is a cool media player, handy for full-screen facebooking/reading el reg on the bog, and plays angry birds. The more android ports that get released into my "ecosystem" the more one salient fact becomes clear: They're all shite. The bulk of what you do with a tablet is provided for in-the-box, and a bigger "ecosystem" just means more fucking fart apps and shitty games written by illiterate teenagers who refer to themselves as, "we," to sift through to find a decent VPN client or whatever.
So ya, multiple ecosystems? Fucking nightmare :p
I have both a Nexus 7 and iPad Mini - 9 times out of 10 I find myself reaching for the iPad - it's nicer to use, feels better to hold - seriously to comment you need to try then both side by side.
Then for some it comes down to cost but what is it - about £90 for something you will probably own for say 3-4 years (almost certainly with the iPad - but of a question with the Nexus 7) and the difference is pretty small.
I suspect if people already use iTunes / have iPhones or iPods etc. they will just buy the Apple anyway - other people will try them both and decide on the cost / benefits. For most people there is little difference so it comes down to a cheaper, plastic tablet (Nexus 7) or an iPad Mini for an extra £2 a *month* over it's 4 year life?
Because you look like a tit watching films on your laptop on the train. The review says this is an excellent media consumption device... By your reasoning why buy laptop? You could buy a full on desktop for the same price... A laptop doesn't always fit the same use cases as a tablet.
Seems like a comment for someone who hasn't used public transport for over a decade.
Everyone seems to use a laptop to watch a movie on the train these day and age.
You also look more like a tit trying to hold your tablet up with both hands to to get a good sitting postion than having a laptop sitting compfortably on the lap with the screen held up by itself.
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