OT - Black Friday & Cyber Monday and the Tablet Market

[Fishy]

No Dropbox yet - kinda ironic given that I think they supported Windows 6.5 initially.

I think Microsoft has dropped some seed money in to get some of the major apps, but maybe since they're pushing their own cloud storage solution, (SkyDrive?), Dropbox was probably not high on their list. You can work around it - I just created a tile bookmark to m.dropbox.com and basically use DB in the browser. Not perfect.

In practice, the phone is pretty slick. I have some design issues with some of the major apps - lots of wasted space in some - but the overall look is pretty bright and airy. Some minor complaints - the weakest part of the beast is the phone software. If you want to change the audio source or put it on speaker phone, you have to drill down into the menu - not easy if you're on a call.

Some strong points - it handles media as well as an iPhone. Even if you have a Mac, they have a great app that will sync the phone with iTunes or whatever media you have. The user interface is very nice as well - it's prettier than iOS and more reliable than Android. Nice to see them do something other than just copy the stackable grid of icons.

 

[DaddyChoc]

Kindle with no camera or HDMI.. is a deal breaker. There's a few for 200-250 with everything

 

[ZenConn]

I have HP Touchpad for $220 off ebay brand new. It's perfect for kindle reading, web, email, facebook, angry birds, etc. I'd get that over Fire any time.

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk

I also got myself the HP touchpad for 150. waiting for Android ICS port in a few months since the source code has been made public....

 

[Dogbreath2U]

I also got myself the HP touchpad for 150. waiting for Android ICS port in a few months since the source code has been made public....

how technically skilled do you have to be to change the touchpad over to android? Is it just a matter of following directions? Is it a safe process? Does it work well?

 

[Fishy]

how technically skilled do you have to be to change the touchpad over to android? Is it just a matter of following directions? Is it a safe process? Does it work well?

It isn't difficult, but it is one of those 'if you have to ask, you shouldn't do it' sort of things.

At a minimum, you should have an idea of what it's doing to the device. With any of these custom ROM installs, there will come a day where you flip the thing on and something bad happens and you have to find your way back. You can't pick up the phone and call customer support when your OS was built by a 13-year old in the Ukraine.

 

[DaddyChoc]

I got a Dell Streak 7" for 170.00 Black Friday wknd and a Acer-A500 10" for 225.00 (waiting on both to come so I can decide which on Im gonna keep) BOTH are better than the Kindle (according to the specs)

 

[DogMania]

I got a Dell Streak 7" for 170.00 Black Friday wknd and a Acer-A500 10" for 225.00 (waiting on both to come so I can decide which on Im gonna keep) BOTH are better than the Kindle (according to the specs)

Let me know what you think about the tablets once you get them. Great pricing. Where did you find them?

 

[RS9999X]

how technically skilled do you have to be to change the touchpad over to android? Is it just a matter of following directions? Is it a safe process? Does it work well?

The Android port reviews are usually "gee whiz isn't this neat" reviews.
The meat of the interview, the stuff that doesn't work, is usually at the end (See snipper below) and a prtial list at that/
The reviews tend to concentrate on stuff like web browsing and Kindle and other stuff which the Native HP WeOS does anyway.
It's a work in progress and seems to be abandoned as far as getting all the glitches out of an Android port.

>> It’s not all sunshine and roses. There are some serious Wifi connection issues present, usually resolved by a reboot, and the battery lasts only about half as long as it does on the TouchPad’s native WebOS. It’s a good thing, then, that the complicated install process leaves WebOS intact – you can choose between Android and WebOS every time you boot up. While this isn’t as elegant as some of the virtualized solutions proposed, it allows you to take advantage of the rock-solid and beautiful interface of WebOS while still having access to the Android apps you’ve grown accustomed to.>>

I'm waiting for the Win 8 port. Seriously. HP tested it.

 

[gibhunter]

I'm waiting for the Win 8 port. Seriously. HP tested it.

Me too. Windows 8 seems like a great tablet OS. I hope HP ports it though I won't hold my breath waiting.

 

[DaddyChoc]

Let me know what you think about the tablets once you get them. Great pricing. Where did you find them?

Best Buy

 

[Fishy]

The Dell Streak has been discontinued - you've likely seen the last of them.

 

[ZenConn]

how technically skilled do you have to be to change the touchpad over to android? Is it just a matter of following directions? Is it a safe process? Does it work well?

You can always get a feel for the problems people were having with the Android port - it's in alpha so a few things don't work.

http://forum.cyanogenmod.com/forum/504-hp-touchpad/

The Android port allows you to dual boot into either the Android or the WebOS. I didn't find it too hard but I did read up on some of the problems people were having so I'd at least know or get a feel on what to do if something happens ...

 

[ZenConn]

Surprised no one has mentioned the ASUS Transformer Prime. It's truly a great machine.

It's got a hefty price tag, but I think it's worth it, especially if you are considering a laptop replacement as well.

There's a number of reviews out there ... here is one.

http://www.androidcentral.com/asus-transformer-prime-review

 

[Fishy]

Great looking hardware on paper, same miserable software/app situation. When Android tablets start to sell in numbers that make developing for them worthwhile, then start to consider them. Until then, avoid them unless you have a high pain threshold.

Adding a keyboard to a tablet adds a keyboard to a tablet. It's not a laptop replacement. (I have a keyboard and mouse working for my Thrive...it makes it just marginally more productive.)

 

[DaddyChoc]

The Dell Streak has been discontinued - you've likely seen the last of them.

really it just came out... guess I'll be returning it

 

[DaddyChoc]

how about the Playbook, is that any good?

 

[RS9999X]

how about the Playbook, is that any good?

Do you want to read Amazon Kindle books on it? Amazon scuttled their reader for Playbook.

 

[Fishy]

It's been out for quite a while - they actually used to sell a 5" version of it that was phone. (I actually had it for a while - was like talking into a pop tart.) But there's no reason to return it if you like it - you got a good price on it and you could probably flip it on ebay and actually make money.

 

[DaddyChoc]

Do you want to read Amazon Kindle books on it? Amazon scuttled their reader for Playbook.

nah just trying to see how it matches up with other tabs discussed here

 

[DaddyChoc]

It's been out for quite a while - they actually used to sell a 5" version of it that was phone. (I actually had it for a while - was like talking into a pop tart.) But there's no reason to return it if you like it - you got a good price on it and you could probably flip it on ebay and actually make money.

I just never heard that it was discontinued... maybe the 5' is buried and the 7 is "new and improved"?

 

[DaddyChoc]

ok Im reading that its buried... now I got a decision to make.