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Handhelds Portables Hardware

Hands-on With the iPad Alternatives On Display At IFA 156

Barence writes "This week's IFA show has seen a flurry of Android-based alternatives to the iPad emerge from leading manufacturers. The Samsung Galaxy Tab made a strong first impression on PC Pro's reviewer. The 7-inch tablet's TFT screen 'beams forth with rich, saturated colors and wide, wide viewing angles,' the device is capable of Full HD playback and the TouchWiz UI is 'clearly intended to draw customers away from the iFamily.' Elsewhere, ViewSonic has launched a pair of 7-inch and 10-inch tablets, the larger of which dual boots into either Android or Windows 7. 'Our first moments with Windows 7 were surprisingly painless, too: we expected the Atom processor and 1GB of memory to be horrendously sluggish, but it wasn't the case,' PC Pro reports. Finally, Toshiba's 10.1-in. Folio 100 marries Android 2.2 with Nvidia's Tegra 2 platform to deliver 'mighty graphics crunching power.' The build quality left a little to desire, though. 'The 14mm thick chassis feels lightweight, and even relatively gentle twisting motions left the Folio's plastic body creaking under the stress.'"
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Hands-on With the iPad Alternatives On Display At IFA

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  • Software. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 06, 2010 @09:38AM (#33488094)

    Software, software, software, software, software, software, software.

    HOW IS THE SOFTWARE?

  • Display (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Am I the only one who doesn't like OLED and AMOLED displays? Sure they have vibrant colors but they are too saturated and not "real". Kinda like TVs at the hardware stores are setup to compete over color, without any regard for looking real.

    • Re:Display (Score:4, Insightful)

      by delinear ( 991444 ) on Monday September 06, 2010 @09:55AM (#33488198)
      I guess it depends what you're using them for. For web browsing I like the saturated colour, it tends to make things a little easier to distinguish on a small screen (my experience is with the HTC Desire), and menus and apps look visually very appealing. For movies/Youtube the screen is small enough that the colours aren't really off-putting, but on a slightly bigger screen, for watching TV or feature length movies I'd probably find it too much.
    • by RMH101 ( 636144 )
      well, on the Tab you're not getting AMOLED as they've run out of them. This is why they're shipping with "Super TFT". HTC are doing it with the Desire, too.
    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by stoanhart ( 876182 )
      No, I love them. In fact, after having a Vibrant, I intend not to buy any more displays unless they are AMOLED. I just love the deep black levels.
    • by mjwx ( 966435 )

      Am I the only one who doesn't like OLED and AMOLED displays? Sure they have vibrant colors but they are too saturated and not "real". Kinda like TVs at the hardware stores are setup to compete over color, without any regard for looking real.

      Actually, Colour is one of the strengths of OLED, especially SOLED although AMOLED has more colour depth then LED. It's brightness where AMOLED suffers because unlike LED it's not backlit but this results in a massuve reduction in power consumption. Seeing as the LED s

  • by MeNeXT ( 200840 ) on Monday September 06, 2010 @09:45AM (#33488134)

    I care about being able to install, without having to ask permission, in the future any or other possible OSs. Windows 7 starter is a non starter.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      not only a non-starter, but I hate having windows forced down my throat as being "free"... it's NOT, you're paying for it... and I, for one, refuse to pay for something I do not want on the device... I want to be able to buy it without an OS... not even Android... I just want driver disks made available or available for download
      • by WiglyWorm ( 1139035 ) on Monday September 06, 2010 @10:02AM (#33488240) Homepage
        So click decline on the EULA screen. Part of the EULA says that if you decline the manufacturer is responsible for giving you a refund.
        • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

          So click decline on the EULA screen. Part of the EULA says that if you decline the manufacturer is responsible for giving you a refund.

          Indeed, and in some countries (Europe mainly, I don't know much about the situation overseas) there's been several court cases where the guy declining the EULA and wanting a refund won against the retailer who denied it to them.

          Refund ranged from the retail price of Windows Home edition to a flat amount (100$ or so) to 1/4th or 1/5th of the total price of the computer on which the software was installed. This refund was not limited to Windows per se but also included all the preinstalled software that the r

      • by wvmarle ( 1070040 ) on Monday September 06, 2010 @10:42AM (#33488448)

        I'm afraid that you belong to such a minute minority that your needs will never be catered for, or only by super special vendors. I'm willing to bet that >99% of the buyers of say, an tablet PC, want the device to work and be usable out of the box. Even if they were keen to install something else on it later. And that means having an OS and some applications pre-installed is a must. Having to download drivers, to download all the software, whatever is not just a chore, you can't even do it with your device if it doesn't come with anything installed.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by nomadic ( 141991 )
      I care about being able to install, without having to ask permission, in the future any or other possible OSs. Windows 7 starter is a non starter.

      While I wouldn't use Windows 7 if I could avoid it on a tablet, I'd rather have Windows 7 forced on me than iOS.
      • The problem is that manufacturers seem to be stuck bundling some sort of an OS with their computers. IIRC that was the justification that Dell gave for offering FreeDOS with some of their computers, since they'd likely end up in trouble for encouraging piracy, they had to include something.
        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Duradin ( 1261418 )

          And car makers are stuck bundling an engine with their cars.

          You should have to tow your new chassis off the lot to your garage to drop an engine of your choice in.

          • by drinkypoo ( 153816 ) <drink@hyperlogos.org> on Monday September 06, 2010 @01:03PM (#33489546) Homepage Journal

            You can sell a car kit, or indeed any portion thereof. Licensing is up to the purchaser if they want to drive it on the street, but even in litigation- and regulation-happy California you are permitted one (curses!) fully custom automobile that is not subject to many restrictions normally placed on road-going vehicles. IIRC they invent a VIN and it's attached to the body so it's in your best interest to have something infinitely repairable and more to the point, that will make you happy forever. If I were shorter I would have considered a GT40, but 6'2" is about the maximum driver height for an unmodified vehicle (i.e. factory spec body.) Now I fantasize about a tube-frame version of the lancer evo with a 4motion TDI setup :)

            • You can sell a car kit

              Do GM, Ford, Honda, etc. sell car kits(*)? That's basically what this microscopic market share that wants an OS-free tablet expects. Just like with car kits, go to a custom shop and spend an exorbitant amount for exactly what you want, and the mainstream vast majority can get what they want (or at least, are willing to pay for).

              (*) Directly, at the dealership. I have no idea what their subsidiaries may do.

              • Do GM, Ford, Honda, etc. sell car kits(*)?

                When a vehicle is fairly new you can generally buy anything but a body from the factory through a dealer. Some few vehicles are also sold as a "white body" which is literally a primed body (and when applicable a chassis, but in practice today that means unibody.) This is generally reserved for the most popular vehicles used in classes of motorsport where a fully-built engine will be installed, and where all suspension parts will be replaced down to the last bolt and bushing. Commercial trucks are often sold

        • That's because the vast, vast, vast, vast majority of people want an OS pre-installed. Why would they cater to a miniscule minority over the people who make up 99.9% of their customer base?

  • by Chrisq ( 894406 ) on Monday September 06, 2010 @09:46AM (#33488150)
    Is it just because I'm a nerd that I think a thin netbook with a proper keyboard would be more useful and just as portable?
    • by delinear ( 991444 ) on Monday September 06, 2010 @10:01AM (#33488234)
      If it's because you're a nerd you're probably asking the wrong audience! Personally I can't see the advantages over a netbook or ultra-portable laptop, but the disadvantages (lack of keyboard, plus I don't see how I'm meant to hold it for prolonged periods, e.g. for watching a movie, the keyboard on a netbook functions as a stand to hold it upright on my lap) are off-putting. The gadget fan in me can see the attraction of a killer interface for controlling technology in the home, but since most of my technology can't talk to one device right now, and the devices in question are a little pricey to use as fancy remote controls, I do have issues seeing how I can possibly justify one of these right now.
    • by gmuslera ( 3436 )
      2011 should be the year of the Netvertible. There are several already, but if they get thinner, lighter, and with better battery life could be a good middle ground between netbooks and tablets.
    • I'd love one, but there's a bit of work to do to get close enough to "instant-on" while still having a great battery life. I think some of the Asus 1000 series are getting pretty good battery life these days (8-10 hours) full-on. This is at least in the ballpark, I think.
    • Probably (I don't know much about "nerd" culture), I'm a geek and I'm loving my iPad... I only got it because there was no Android devices on the market at the time that were even worth looking at. Still a little way off there, gotta get that build quality up and ensure all devices are current releases (not 6-12 month old releases of Android).

      I don't want to have to root a device just to get the latest OS.

    • True netbooks are starting to become rare. The $100 to $200 price range ones are getting to be a rarity and increasingly the choice involves Windows and higher specs than a netbook really needs. Which is really unfortunate, because while I like my Asus eeepc, it does have that battery life problem where the USB ports are constantly powered up. It looks to me like the manufacturers have really lost touch with the point of a netbook. It's supposed to be inexpensive and relatively spartan to make it mobile whi
    • I agree with you and that's why I think the Always Innovating Touchbook is about the sweetest thing possible. It's an ARM-based touchscreen tablet with a detachable keyboard. Unfortunately it's being brought to market by a small company and just like the Open Pandora, they have been having trouble with filling orders and continuously lengthening deadlines. It was supposed to come out in 2007 and finally came out in 2009 and now they are sold out. Always Innovating is promising that the new version will be c
    • Is it just because I'm a nerd that I think a thin netbook with a proper keyboard would be more useful and just as portable?

      Even running WIndows (and then it's not thin) you simply don't have the range of usable applications for a netbook that you do for an iPad. Don't forget that every single iPad application is written to perform well on it, and be usable for the input choices you have. You can't say the same for running most applications on a Netbook except for some writing tools.

      • Don't forget that every single iPad application is written to perform well on it, and be usable for the input choices you have.

        While this is the idea behind Apple's walled garden approach, it's not universally true. Some applications just don't perform that well, for example, Netflix's app is basically just a web view, and isn't optimized at all for the iPad. Also, MLB at bat can be pretty sluggish sometimes.

        Other apps are fundamentally flawed because of the input choices. I'm thinking specifically of apps like Penultimate, where I wish I had an actual pen to jot notes with. I've tried the chunky capacitive pens, and they're just n

    • I guess I'm not as much of a nerd as I thought I was. I had to get an Ipad to support one of my bigger clients (work paid for it). I figured I would spend a few days learning the ropes (documents to go, pages, email setup, etc) then it would go on the shelf or more likely craigslist. Instead, my notebook is now collecting dust. I thought I would need my usb slots, full os, flash, etc...but so far I haven't really run into anything I couldn't do with it. I have had a few occasions where i had to think an

    • by jo42 ( 227475 )

      I sold both of my netbooks last month because I got tired of the asinine keyboard layouts, the silly little trackpads and tiny, squinty screens.

      Back to a real notebook and the large iDevice that all /. gnerds love to group hate for me.

  • That pretty much kills the device right there(at least for a lot of uses). If you are going to have a tablet with a software keyboard you are going to have to make it easy to type on, 7" just won't do it. Phones aren't that much smaller but are infinitely more portable. Looks like Samsung just figured they could split the difference between a phone and iPad and the product would be great, without actually realizing why each device has the form factor it does.
    • I would guess that the performance not being sluggish under Windows 7 with that processor they've used is related to it not running any anti-virus as well. I think we know how that ends for most people. It may not be sluggish now, but it soon will be.
    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      Although this ignores the fact the Tab comes preloaded with Swype as its keyboard. Most who have tried it view Swype's mechanic as the future of touchscreen text input (and it will no doubt migrate in some for to the iPhone at some point). However it would actually be worse suited to a larger screen because the swiping motions would need to be significantly longer/larger to reach across a larger keyboard.

      Given the chosen input method, the 7" form factor appears to be a better decision, not a worse one.

      • by kumanopuusan ( 698669 ) <goughnourc@gma[ ]com ['il.' in gap]> on Monday September 06, 2010 @11:28AM (#33488770)
        brain@kumanopuusan ~ % parse-english < "Most who have tried it view Swype's mechanic as the future of touchscreen text input (and it will no doubt migrate in some for to the iPhone at some point)."
        SYNTAX ERROR: PREPOSITION OBJECT NOT FOUND AT LINE 1, COLUMN 116:
        (A)bort, (R)etry, (I)gnore?
        >R
        SYNTAX ERROR: PREPOSITION OBJECT NOT FOUND AT LINE 1, COLUMN 116:
        (A)bort, (R)etry, (I)gnore?
        >I
        SYNTAX ERROR: PREPOSITION OBJECT NOT FOUND AT LINE 1, COLUMN 124:
        (A)bort, (R)etry, (I)gnore?
        >I
        SYNTAX ERROR: PREPOSITION OBJECT NOT FOUND AT LINE 1, COLUMN 128:
        (A)bort, (R)etry, (I)gnore?
        >I
        FATAL ERROR: CEREBRAL ANEURYSM DETECTED
        • This sure was a lot lamer, and a lot more work, than one of those annoying "FTFY" posts. Surely a Ralph Wiggam "Me fail English? That's unpossible" would have sufficed.
          • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

            It was while trying to read your informative, insightful (and on-topic!) post that I stumbled over your minor typo.
            I apologize for lowering the S/N ratio. I'll try to keep my humorless musings to myself (starting right after this post, evidently).

    • I have no problem typing on my cell phone's 3 inch screen, I doubt people will have much problems with a 7" screen either. It's nowhere near as good as an actual keyboard, but this isn't a PC or laptop replacement we're talking about. The iPad isn't much better.

    • It might fit into a pocket so you don't have to carry a bag. 7" is probably the absolute max you don't need a bag for.
  • Looks nice (Score:4, Interesting)

    by webheaded ( 997188 ) on Monday September 06, 2010 @09:48AM (#33488156) Homepage
    I'd be more interested in that 10" Viewsonic...the only really annoying thing I got while reading about it was the fact that you can't run Android 2.2 on it yet. That's kind of disappointing. This is definitely something I could pick up and play with though.

    On the other hand, I think I'm interested more in color e-ink over this flurry of tablet PCs. Every time I see one, all I really think of is reading stuff. Like say...a comic book or even a normal book. I'm sure they're fine little PCs but I already have a netbook with an actual keyboard. The allure of a tablet is so-so.
    • by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

      I thought eInk was a great idea. Then I went and tried an eInk reader. I don't know if its actually necessary, but the flashing they do when you turn pages completely ruins it. The contrast is kind of crappy too.

  • by walterbyrd ( 182728 ) on Monday September 06, 2010 @09:49AM (#33488160)

    Especially if I can buy one for a reasonable price. As I understand it, the Samsung will cost about $1000. In any case, I'm tired of the constant announcements, and no actual products.

    • by symbolic ( 11752 )

      Everything I've seen about the Galaxy suggests that it will retail stateside for between 200 - 400 Euro. (max $519). If they somehow manage to bring it in at $400 (or even a little more), I'm pretty much there. I'd love a great competitor to Apple's iStuff.

  • by frdmfghtr ( 603968 ) on Monday September 06, 2010 @09:55AM (#33488204)

    I find it interesting that these after-the-fact products use Apple's offerings (iPhone and now the iPad) as the benchmark product. This tells me that other manufacturers see that Apple got it right, whether it's due to marketing or technology,
    By comparing themselves to Apple's products, other manufacturers have made them the gold standard.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Nerdfest ( 867930 )
      They definitely got some things right. Personally, I think the forced "walled garden" is wrong, but obviously I'm not their target market. I don't think the price is right for what it is either. The devices shown here also seem a bit expensive but are a bit closer to general purpose computers.
      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by wvmarle ( 1070040 )

        I actually think that this are two points where Apple got it right. At least the market at large thinks so.

        Price: the iPad not really expensive. Price of an iPad is not far from a netbook.

        It's not a general purpose computer. That may be a weak point, may also be a strong point. The weak point being that it has limited functionality; the strong point being that it can focus on being really good at the functions it can do. Sounds a bit like the Unix philosophy of having many bits and pieces of software that

        • I bought my last netbook from Dell for $219 over the summer. My iPad cost $499, plus I needed a $30 display adapter for it. So if by "Price of an iPad is not far from a netbook." you mean "Price of an iPad is over twice that of a netbook" I'd agree with you.
          • Then you had a great offer, or a less-specced device. I just did a quick google search on 10" netbooks (the iPad is 9.7") and prices were $290-$420 depending on specs. I'm sure you can find cheaper and more expensive models too.

            • Dell routinely offers 10% - 20% off coupons.
            • My netbook was only £180 (About $270 I believe), and is remarkably similarly spec'd to the iPad.

              It isn't touchscreen (obviously) and the processor is an Atom, but other than that it is similar weight, similar size (when closed), same RAM, similar HDD, plus all the joys you'd expect from a standard computer (physical keyboard, multiple USBs, ethernet, SD card, choice of OSs, etc.).

              I digress a bit, but basically- it was cheaper than an iPad for a similar piece of kit.

    • by wvmarle ( 1070040 ) on Monday September 06, 2010 @10:10AM (#33488288)

      I agree.

      Not so long ago in a /. discussion I got the complaint "how could you have missed the article about smartphone xyz?!". The replier even gave a link to said article. The headline was " releases iPhone competitor". No "new Android-based smartphone", no, an "iPhone competitor".

      It's been like that since the iPhone resp. iPad were released. Not just on /., but all over the media. Also in my local daily.

      Since the iPad was released I have been receiving spam from Chinese manufacturers offering '7" iPad' tablets - usually running Andriod, offered at prices of US$50-80 each. Called iPad in the subject of the e-mail, for the rest they are no-brand as usual.

      I've seen the iPhone, and it looks great. I've played a bit with it, it's really easy. I've talked to people who own an iPad, all positive. I have seen a link claiming some 90% satisfaction ratio with the iPhone - very high. So yes Apple is doing something right, because with just marketing they can't do this. Microsoft can't outmarket them in this respect, and MS's marketing team is very good at their job, yet MS's products are not a golden standard.

      Still it's getting irritating. iPad competitor. iPhone alternative. iPod killer. The actual brand or manufacturer the story is about is not mentioned; Apple's product however IS mentioned, giving it free marketing, effectively promoting it. After all who wants to buy an "alternative" that has not yet been released, when you can get the "real thing" now?

      • by oblivionboy ( 181090 ) on Monday September 06, 2010 @01:47PM (#33489948)

        Dude! Have you TRIED an iPad? Its really the thing.

        Listen, I'm not an Apple fanboy by anymeans, however I'll tell you what I was a fanboy of for years: tablets. I bought lots from ebay, from the venerable IBM Thinkpad730T, various Fujitsu tablets, and even pretty much every MessagePad that came out. The MessagePads were the coolest, and there's alot from there that is missing from the iPad. That said though, all the "PC" style tablets were horrible, and they have become oddities in my closet. Why? The user experience.

        The user experience was terrible, because they were tied to Windows. And Windows has never been a tablet OS, no matter what "Edition" you get it in. Its a desktop OS, at least in its consumer form, and so was "adapted" rather than designed from the beginning to work well with a tablet. Don't mention Linux, its got the same problem. Unless of course you redesigned Linux's interface from scratch for a tablet interface, you won't get anywhere with it. Oh wait, gee Google did that with Android. And I hear its pretty successful.

        But Apple kick started the whole thing off with the iPhone, at least in the popular mind set, and its a pretty neat device as things go. But, looking at the iPad, you start to think that maybe this is where they wanted to go all along. In fact I can't actually imagine anyone designing the iOS interface for the small size of the iPhone. Im sure what happened was that they had this tablet program, and they realized that for reason x, y and z (processing power, memory, battery life, whatever), what they wanted to offer wasn't feasable, but was a few years off. So they scaled it down screen wise and put it on the iPhone. But make no mistake, as soon as you play with the iPad more than casually (ie: daily use, integrated into your life), the iPhone seems kind of like a toy by comparison. And the iPad has done what no other tablet has done that I'm aware of (except maybe the original MessagePads, and the new Android based ones coming up), which is start from the ground up with an OS designed for tablets, and create a great tablet experience.

        So right now iPad competitor is a pretty good term. It might not be three years out, but today, everyone that has tried in the past has more or less failed. The recent announcement was that they sold 3.5 million iPads? I think Fujitsu would cream there pants to have that much success in their portable computing division.

        Anyways try it before you judge. You might be surprised. I would give the same advice to the Android tablets, or any new kind of tablet OS that is designed properly for the format.

        • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

          Sorry, but I just don't see why. A few months ago I found a 16GB 3g iPod laying in the middle of the street. I turned it on, but the only identification the owner had put on it was simply the name, "William." So I took it home and booted to Windows, and installed iTunes so I could interface with the damn thing. It was then I learned that just about *anything* you want to do, you have to go through Apple to do. Apple has your nuts in a vise in ways Micro$oft never dreamed of if you own one of these. Over t
    • by Posting=!Working ( 197779 ) on Monday September 06, 2010 @10:13AM (#33488300)

      Since Apple sold more iPad's in 80 days than all other manufacturers combined probably sold in a year, yeah, they're the gold standard.

      I say probably because I couldn't find many tablet sales number past 2005. There were a total of 1 million tablets sold that year, Apple sold 3 million iPad in the first 80 days. I don't think the market got better for tablets after 2005.

      I could be wrong, but I've wasted more time researching this than I wanted to.

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by frdmfghtr ( 603968 )

        I say probably because I couldn't find many tablet sales number past 2005. There were a total of 1 million tablets sold that year, Apple sold 3 million iPad in the first 80 days. I don't think the market got better for tablets after 2005.

        If there was a market, none of the product offerings met the needs of that market. I looked at tablets back in the early 2000s. The tablets at the time weren't much more than half-assed attempts using a laptop form factor with a touch-sensitive pivoting screen that looke

    • by fermion ( 181285 ) on Monday September 06, 2010 @10:59AM (#33488568) Homepage Journal
      There is an article in the nyt on the AppleTV [nytimes.com]. It is interesting that they do a bit of revisionist history, claiming that the iPod was a superior device. In fact it had many of the limitation people complain of the iPad. I did not allow wireless connection for data. It did not have a memory slot. It was firewire only.

      It was not superior, but it was effective for a Mac owner. There was enough memory to hold many songs. The firewire interface was necessary because mostly computers still ran USB 1.1. The problem with my nomad, for instance, was that transferring songs was dead slow. It was also rugged, unlike the nomad.

      What we will likely see on other devices is feature bloat. They will be able to do some whiz bang thing, but the overall machine will have never been thought out from the user point of view. It is like the android commercials. In the commercials, the human become a slave to the machine, the body turning into the machine to serve it. This to me is unacceptable industrial design.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Karlt1 ( 231423 )

        In fact it had many of the limitation people complain of the iPad. I did not allow wireless connection for data. It did not have a memory slot. It was firewire only.

        Which MP3 player in 2001 did have wireless? And do you remember the size and prices of memory cards in 2001?

        The iPod also didn't use a delicate huge ass 3.5" hard drive and a slow serial port connection or USB 1.

      • It is interesting that they do a bit of revisionist history, claiming that the iPod was a superior device. In fact it had many of the limitation people complain of the iPad. I did not allow wireless connection for data. It did not have a memory slot. It was firewire only.

        I think that sometimes product reviewers put too much emphasis on the number of features on a product's spec sheet, and equate "superior" to "more features than anybody else." Unless a feature is well-implemented and actually used by the m

      • It was superior to many people simply because it got basic details right, such as remembering where you last were when going back to browse albums etc. That's more useful than wireless, to me.

    • by hitmark ( 640295 )

      Not sure if it is the companies or the press that is making the ipad/iphone comparisons.

    • By comparing themselves to Apple's products, other manufacturers have made them the gold standard.

      Apple is the gold standard because the iPad has made them more gold per unit sold than anyone else's attempts to sell a tablet.

  • by hsmith ( 818216 ) on Monday September 06, 2010 @10:09AM (#33488282)
    I have an iPad and will get an android tablet whenever one comes out.

    But Samsung has decided to fail before they even get out of the gate. $900 for their tablet? Are you flipping serious? 7'' instead of 10'', 4GB of memory instead of 64.

    I can see it now, in the board of directors meeting

    "Apple is printing money with these at $500, I bet if we double the price, we can make twice as much money!!!"

    If they want to go after the iPad, which they do, they need to create a comparable product at the same price point.
    • $900 for their tablet? Are you flipping serious?

      This surprised me as well, because I thought Samsung would be aiming for an equal price point, trimming features as needed to make it happen.

      The thing is, Apple has a tremendous advantage now in terms of volume. They know they can sell millions of iPads so they buy all parts in huge quantities. Who else can go into that market assuming the same? All other competitors have to either cost more, or be of much shoddier quality for the same price - except for la

      • Oddly enough, people were suggesting that the price for the iPad would be $800 or $900 or so, and yet it came out at $500 or $600. Samsung hasn't officially announced their price yet. Speculation is that it will be high, but it might not be.

        • Oddly enough, people were suggesting that the price for the iPad would be $800 or $900

          They were all saying $1k (my guess was $500 because it had to be $500 to sell).

          But all those estimates were pure speculation, just based on what it might do and how much parts would cost - no-one had any idea if it would be running iOS or OS X, for example.

          In the case of Samsung we know way more. We don't have price speculation, but instead a lot of pricing numbers from places like Amazon in various countries. Samsung i

    • I wonder what their reasoning for a 7" screen was. Not as good as a large screen yet still too big to fit in a pocket. Then it seems like ViewSonic had no clue as to what size a tablet should be so they decided to make both sizes and see what works.

  • I'll stick to my Nokia N900.

    "But that's a phone and not a tablet", you might say. Nokia disagrees: "Such devices should be seen more as portable computers with phone functionality rather than traditional mobile phones mainly capable making a phone call. N900 belongs to this category of mobile computers." (http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=57214)

    You might argue that tablets can do all sorts of whiz-bang things my phone can't. I don't know what they are, exactly. Play music? No, my N900 does that.

    • by nomadic ( 141991 )
      Okay, so you're not going to watch a movie on a 3.5 inch screen (a 3.5 _foot_ screen would be more like it), but you're not going to watch movies on a 7 inch screen either, are you?

      Uhhh..maybe? A 7 inch screen is 4 times the size of a 3.5 one. And about the minimum size where watching anything longer than 20 minutes becomes realistic.
    • if you're going to go somewhere and you're going to carry a bag with you (I suspect you don't have 7-to-10 inch pockets), why not carry a computer with a decent-sized keyboard?

      Because I don't *want that*. I want a thin, light-weight device with a large screen I can pull out and pop up google maps to quickly look something up, or to browse my email or the web, or to watch a movie or read a book. Fundamentally, it comes down to the display: yeah, I could squint at a tiny little device, but if I can get a ta

    • Tablets are for couch surfing at home and for meeting rooms in the office.

  • Was there any product other than the german Wetab (of which... we hear less and less...) that would feature an open architecture?
    FWIW, and with all my wishes: http://wetab.mobi/en [wetab.mobi]

  • I want one with just Android installed. I don't want any permanent third party apps or extra UI layers. I'm kicking myself for not buying a Nexus One when I had the chance because it is the only phone to offer a pure Android experience. There are other nice phones out there, but they do stupid things like add Nascar apps that can't be removed or have a different UI.

    • You still have the chance, google is selling it over its developers shop worldwide.
      One of the many reasons why I did not go for an Android Tablet yet, the Google reference device is still missing.

    • If you have it rooted, you can use Titanium Backup (in the market) to clear off the cruft. Your point stands about the shovelware of course.

      I wish Sprint would knock it off, but the HTC Evo is still the hottest thing available for any carrier, possibly to be supplanted by the Samsung Epic.

  • Went for the iPad (Score:3, Interesting)

    by MemoryDragon ( 544441 ) on Monday September 06, 2010 @11:37AM (#33488822)

    To sum things up, I tried to avoid it, but so far I am not going for an Android Tablet. To sum things up
    Archos: Cheap but Archos sucks
    Toshiba: Nice Tablet comes close to what I want but the build quality sucks
    Samsung: Too small for my needs, and costs a whopping 700 Euros for half the screen estate of the ipad, they outpriced it for me, but the screen size also is too small.

    Only the Samsung one allows access to the Android market directly, the others need hacks to open the access.

    In other words I finally gave in and ordered an ipad... Sorry Android but this year you only have made it to my mobile phone!

  • I'm impressed that they can do Full-HD on a screen with a resolution of 1024x600.

  • If they are flops, that means the iPad really is just coasting on the Apple name and fad-status for sales and probably doesn't represent the shape of the future. If they succeed, then I guess people really do want giant phones that are too big to stick in your pocket.

    • by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

      Uh, I think you might have overlooked a possibility or two.

      • Not really, though I am making a few very reasonable assumptions. Not really, we have comparable hardware, comparable software, and comparable price points with a bit of variation. The usage case scenarios are basically the same. Either this is a form factor people truly want, or it's currently being buoyed by people's desire for all things Apple and its status as a fad item.

        You may see other possibilities in there, but they are not reasonable ones. You would have to assume that iPad alternatives will l

    • the Apple name and fad-status

      I wouldn't think this would hold much value anymore, i mean anyone who wants say an iphone can get one. Here in australia they are dirt cheap, you get them for free on a $59 cap, they are accessible to anyone. In my household we have 1x3G, 2x3GSs and 1x4, the only one actually being used is the iphone4 and it's not worth getting rid of the others since they are so cheap to get brand new from the carrier anyway.

  • the device is capable of Full HD playback

    They must mean to an EXTERNAL display, because the display on the device is only capable of 600 pixels vertically, which is pretty far from 720p, much less the 1080p of 'full HD'.

  • I don't know what planet you live on that you can display 1080 full resolution dots using 600 pixels, or 1920 full resolutions dots using 1024 pixels, but given that the Samsung Galaxy Pad (10 inch version) has 1024x600 pixels, it's complete marketing BS to claim it can play "Full HD". It can't even do 720i/720p, let alone 1080. This is akin to the "1080p" stickers on every TV at the TV store, when all those LCD panels are 1366x768 at the absolutely biggest (and most are less than that). Yes, you can dec
    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by exomondo ( 1725132 )

      But "Full HD"?? Time for a class action lawsuit, is what I say.

      Being able to decode 'Full HD' is exactly what they are saying, claiming that it can play it isn't marketing BS at all. Are they saying it has a 'Full HD' display? I don't think so. I know that my XBox and PS3 can decode and play 'Full HD', of course i need to connect them to a 'Full HD' capable display to view it, much like with the galaxy tablet.

BLISS is ignorance.

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