{"id":35,"date":"2011-03-22T10:16:04","date_gmt":"2011-03-22T18:16:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kevware.com.php5-10.dfw1-1.websitetestlink.com\/blog\/wordpress\/?p=35"},"modified":"2011-03-25T22:57:32","modified_gmt":"2011-03-26T06:57:32","slug":"the-geek-returns-tablet-thoughts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kevware.com\/geek\/the-geek-returns-tablet-thoughts\/","title":{"rendered":"The geek returns: tablet thoughts!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"iPad<\/a>After a year of no updates, I have decided to finally get off my butt and post some thoughts on tablets as my return to the blogging realm.<\/p>\n

I’m a hardcore Android fan through and through, but was very tempted to get an iPad 2 when it came out.\u00a0 It looked very cool, and very stylish with some awesome accessories like it’s new magnetic smart cover.\u00a0 Check out the vid for this on youtube.\u00a0 That alone will make you want to buy one!<\/p>\n

But it always comes back to the “Walled Garden” concept for me.\u00a0 Apple always gives you a really cool gadget that you will like, but won’t be able to really tweak or pimp out the way you want, with software of your own choosing, or expandable as much as you want or need to expand.\u00a0 This works for most people, but not me.\u00a0 The lack of SD card support for more vid and music storage is also a huge stopping point for me (as I filled my 32gb iPod Touch in the blink of an eye).<\/p>\n

So I started looking at the Xoom tablet by Motorola.\u00a0 It’s the newest Android tablet that runs Honeycomb, the Google operating system optimized for tablets.\u00a0 The price point of 799 for an unsubsidized version was pretty steep initially, so I waited.\u00a0 Now they are going to offer the WiFi version unsubsidized for anywhere from 539 – 599.\u00a0 Much more doable.\u00a0 And as it offers sd card support, USB cable connectivity, and a better front and back camera than the iPad it seemed like my dream come true tablet device.\u00a0 That is, until I went to Best Buy and actually tried one out for awhile.<\/p>\n

So here are my thoughts on getting a tablet:\u00a0 unless you love all things Apple, WAIT and don’t get either!
\nThe iPad is a great product.\u00a0 It feels good in the hand, has great screen clarity, and seems to be an optimal size for comfortable use.\u00a0 The Xoom on the other hand is really heavy.\u00a0 And this is the impressions of a guy who has big strong hands.\u00a0 I can’t even imagine what someone with smaller hands would do to comfortably manage this device off of a tabletop.\u00a0 The interface leaves something to be desired too.\u00a0 Apple has really cornered the market on slick interfaces that animate nicely from screen to screen and app to app.\u00a0 Xoom runs Honeycomb, the tablet Android OS.\u00a0 And though I do love me some Android, the visual sense I got from using the device was clunky.\u00a0 Nothing was very smooth or enticing.\u00a0 The clarity of the screen is great.\u00a0 But if you have to use a wonky interface to get to reading something that will allow you to enjoy that clarity, it ain’t gonna happen.<\/p>\n

There’s also the issue of apps.\u00a0 It’s widely acknowledged that there are not many apps that have been optimized for
\nAndroid tablets.\u00a0 There are great apps for phones, like my Vibrant.\u00a0 But they don’t scale well at all.\u00a0 And with no immediate time line of when there might be a serviceable amount of offerings it makes the tablet a lot less usable for my tastes.<\/p>\n

So given the deficits of the Xoom, and the overall deficit of expandability (on all fronts) for the iPad 2, I’ll wait to see what happens with the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and 8.9.\u00a0 More to come on those shortly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After a year of no updates, I have decided to finally get off my butt and post some thoughts on tablets as my return to the blogging realm. I’m a hardcore Android fan through and through, but was very tempted to get an iPad 2 when it came out.\u00a0 It looked very cool, and very … [Read more…]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"entry","1":"post","2":"publish","3":"author-admin","4":"post-35","6":"format-standard","7":"category-android"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kevware.com\/geek\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kevware.com\/geek\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kevware.com\/geek\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kevware.com\/geek\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kevware.com\/geek\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.kevware.com\/geek\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66,"href":"https:\/\/www.kevware.com\/geek\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35\/revisions\/66"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kevware.com\/geek\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kevware.com\/geek\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kevware.com\/geek\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}