Choosing an Android Tablet: Take 2
- June 28th, 2011
- Posted in IT Advice
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Since six months ago, when I all but recommended a prospective tablet buyer to go the Samsung Galaxy Tab, things have changed, a lot. Back when I got the Galaxy Tab, I was impressed, it was portable, beautifully build and a pleasure to use.
In hindsight, it was nothing more than a 7″ version of the Android phone I already carry with me every day.
Time for a bit of background…
Last year, when the alleged tablet race started, the creators of Android (Google, for those who aren’t following) were not happy with the creation of tablets based on an operating systems that their spokespeople have been repeatedly quoted as saying is not ready for tablets.
Fast forward to today and say hello to Android 3.0 (a.k.a Honeycomb). Honeycomb was rewritten from the ground up especially for tablet devices, and that brings us to today, with our current iteration of tablets. So, how do I choose one?
Well, let’s begin then shall we.
With Honeycomb came a whole new wave of tablets, currently these are mostly 10 inch tablets running on Nvidia’s dual core Tegra2 platform, with ample storage and some amazing features to boot. Basically, its twice as powerful with 6 times the battery life and same sized screen as the netbook I was blogging from last year.
Now, which one do you choose? Well, I am blogging right now from the Motorola XOOM 3G with 32GB of internal storage and it is a beautifully built piece of technology. That being said, it is currently the most expensive Android 3.0 tablet on the market.
The current player to name a few are as follows:
Motorola XOOM
This is a well built, Dual Core Tegra2 processor which clocks in at 1GHz, 1GB RAM, 32GB internal storage for apps and multimedia, WIFI only and 3G models available. Excellent screen and touch screen quality and responsiveness, plenty of accessories from Motorola. Good speakers, front and rear cameras, GPS, gyroscope, accelerometer, barometer (yes, barometer!), and it uses the new standard micro-USB port. The XOOM has a micro-SD slot which currently doesn’t work, long story, but Motorola is in the process of releasing an update to enable it.
Asus Transformer
The aptly named transformer attempts to be a little bit more than just a tablet. For an extra wad of cash you can buy an optional keyboard dock which provides additional battery life, some extra ports (USB, SD card) and of course, a keyboard. The tablet even has a USB port itself for plugging hard drives and such into. That said, even with the keyboard, the transformer still works out cheaper than the XOOM. Other specifications remain the same, with the exception of two options for internal storage being 32GB or 16GB. The transformer does not have a 3G (mobile internet) version at present.
Acer Iconia A500
The Iconia, again has very similar spec to the other two, it is slightly larger than the XOOM with more bezel and in my opinion, a slightly cheaper build quality to it. The screen is brighter than the XOOM however, some see it even has better colours, and it comes with 16GB internal storage, a very good choice for the buyer on a budget. With a brushed metal finish it certainly doesn’t feel cheap and from some of my own testing it ran smoother than my XOOM.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
Not currently available in the UK, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is Samsung showing that they will not be left behind. The slickest and thinnest of all the tablets came about after admittance from Samsung that their initial show model embarrassed them next to the iPad2. Not wanting to be out done they went back to the drawing board and made what I can only call the most beautiful piece of tablet technology you will see this year.
Hardware wise, the new tablets are all pretty much on par, but they all have vital and subtle differences that set them apart. The Samsung for example features a proprietary connector rather than a standard USB for connecting to the pc, which also means you need a special adapter to connect external devices. The transformer features the dock which essentially makes it a little Android netbook at will, and undoubtedly has the most connectivity options with all the extra ports.
The latest version of Honeycomb, 3.1 (still not available to some of them due to delays by the manufacturers with integrating their own changes), makes several enhancements. It brings, amongst other things, improved multi-tasking over the previous build, connection of external USB devices such as Playstation3 and Xbox360 game controllers by USB, you can even connect your digital camera to copy and edit your photos from it.
It is a difficult choice to make, and it would take me days to cover the details of why I would recommend one over the other and how the choice of manufacturer is more important than ever these days, but I will be happy to answer questions in the comments or by email.
My advice is to go to a large store, play with them all, don’t be shy, spend a good while playing with each of the devices, see which one you like the best, look at the specs and see which catches your eye because essentially, aside from minor details, they are all very similar.
If you’re still not sure, wait a little longer, some 7″ honeycomb tablets are on their way. Look at which ones are getting updated quickly to latest Android versions, and make an informed decision. If your uncertainty is regarding whether or not you really need a tablet, I can’t tell you, but I will say this. I am writing from my XOOM now, I no longer own a laptop, and my desktop computer has forgotten what I look like.
I will soon be writing a post about how relevant I think the laptop/desktop is anymore, where I ask myself and the rest of you, are they really necessary in this day and age?
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Good read Hamid. I actually bought a Galaxy Tab last month but it wasn’t necessarily the hardware that interested me – it was the fact it was the only tab i could find where a carrier (TalkMobile – “piggybacking” on Vodafone) offered unlimited Internet.
I still can’t quite believe that Orange, along with most other networks, offer a maximum of 2gb (you could actually argue 1gb, given the other gig has to be used “off-peak”). The tab was perfect for two reasons: A, it was also a phone and B, it offered unlimited Internet. /rant
I pretty much use the tabs 3g for my laptop now when I’m not at home (thus defeating the tabs purpose!) but it was a good investment. I debating waiting for these tablets to be released; the XOOM sounded sweet with its dual core and the new Samsungs sounded great, but in the end I assumed that none of them would offer unlimited internet and bit the bullet. Yet to be disappointed!
Well they’re all available now except for the Samsung, and I’v tried them all, at least briefly. As for unlimited internet, I use a pay as you go sim with a network called GiffGaff (piggybacks on O2), they offer unlimited internet for a top up of atleast £10 (although their internet has been free for the past 5 or so months, so I havn’t topped up since my initial top up). But they offer a great package with minutes and texts, which you can’t technically take advantage of on a tablet like these ince they weren’t designed for texting/phone (but can be semi-easily enabled with some software modifications). The Galaxy Tab is nice, I used it for a good few months and it’s a good size, but in terms of usability it isn’t done justice like Honeycomb does to the new ones. It was a bonus that it had text/phone capability though but as I was using it for development in work i rarely used it for either of those.
Yeah, I spoke to Carphone Warehouse who actually said i’d be better waiting for the new releases but it all came down to the free internet offer. I didn’t want to pay for the tab either (though i did pay a small amount) so in terms of what i wanted from it, and what i needed, it was perfect. I use the office function quite a bit for work but apart from that it’s purely for recreational use. I can imagine for more demanding tasks the XOOM is perfect, what with the dual core and its various other features.
Oh and no mention of the HTC Flyer? It’s upgradeable to Honeycomb, is it not? I was considering that one too.
Yeh, you’re quite right. I debated over mentioning the flyer but it’s a bit different, and because I know how slow HTC are at getting updates out, it could be a while before it’ll get Honeycomb. Currently, Honeycomb doesn’t support it anyway, since it has a Qualcomm Snapdragon dualcore and not a Tegra2. As of ndroid 3.2 it should support those processors so it’s then just a matter of time. I might update the post later once it’s official.
Cool. I’ll keep an eye out for your next blog – sounds interesting.