Tablets

[TheFlyingGerbil]

Does anyone have one or want one? What size do you think is good? Or do you just think they are a waste of time?

 

Had one of those fire sale touchpads slip through my fingers due to my own stupidity, and ever since then my wallet's been whispering to me.

 

I'm thinking of getting a motorola xoom as they've just dropped in price and are being updated to ice cream sandwich. Any others I should be considering (not an iPad)?

[deanb]

Tablets fill a niche I have no need for. I've got my phone for extreme portability and apps n shit, my netbook for when I want to be portable and more productive than a phone allows and a desktop for everything else. A tablet would fill in the same space as a netbook, but with apps instead of programs, no keyboard and around the same price (if not frequently higher).

[TheFlyingGerbil]

I have a WP7 phone so want something androidy for apps n shit (they're limited and expensive on WP7), but obviously not just another phone. I don't see the point of netbooks as they are just reduced functionality notebooks and apart from playing with apps I'd be using it for media, so don't plan to be that productive with it.

 

I'm not going to pretend I need one, I just want one. I'm a gadget whore.

[deanb]

I'm a poor gadget whore, so while if I was to find a tablet suddenly in my possession I would certainly make use of it, as it stands I'm a bit more practical in what I'd need and not need.

[fuchikoma]

I got hooked on the iPod Touch and then later the iPhone because it was most of the functionality of a laptop, but in my pocket.

When the iPad came out, I was just confused - because it's the footprint of a netbook/laptop, but no USB ports, no memory card slots, super simplified, locked-down OS... It's like, the size of a laptop, and indeed, quick sleep/wake time, but so many drawbacks that I'd happily ignore in a pocket device.

 

Having said that, despite the security issues that turn up, I could see someone getting one for secure computing - knowing there's very little chance there's a trojan or keylogger etc on there, you could do banking and write private messages, etc. If it was a 'Droid, you'd just have to stay strict about what goes on there, not go grabbing sketchy looking apps, and make sure your firmware doesn't have Carrier IQ baked in.

[Faiblesse Des Sens]

...you do know that the government has picked Android at least 2 times (from articles I've seen on Giz on whatnot) because of its security, right? You can lock down your phone/tablet the same way if you wanted to. That's the beauty of it.

[Strangelove]

Im not going to lie...I still dont get the point of tablets. The only thing I can think of is for going on the toilet or at Starbucks.

[MasterDex]

I think I'm in the same camp as Dean as far as Tablets go. If I had one, I'd make use of it but I don't have any real desire to get one.

[fuchikoma]

Being picked by a government doesn't make something secure. You'd assume it would mean it's had adequate testing, but exploit knowledge changes over time. Also, they may likely be adopting policies like I mentioned about only using certain apps.

 

http://searchsecurity.techtarget.in/news/1280089718/New-Android-privilege-escalation-bugs-discovered-by-researchers

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-16/android-security-threats-surge-with-infected-angry-birds-tech.html

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/09/20/google_android_vulnerability_patching/

 

It CAN be secure, but if you let your users install applications, it can also be made insecure very quickly.

[madbassman39]

I think I'm in the same camp as Dean as far as Tablets go. If I had one, I'd make use of it but I don't have any real desire to get one.

 

My girlfriend left her iPad with me for about a month and I used it a lot, but I realized that it was no easier than a laptop, and since I have a laptop I had no desire to get one....

 

Then the Kindle Fire was priced. I want that thing so bad. I love my Kindle, and the fire looks great for comics and magazines and netflix! something to do when I go to a hotel or something. I can't justify purchasing one at any price, but I want it at that price.

[deanb]

From what I've heard of the Kindle Fire, wait for V2. It's a great price, and Amazon have the CDN to back it up, but its not so hot on the hardware side (and not just in lower end CPU stuff)

 

@Fuchikoma: The bonus of Android is that it's FOSS, so the MOD n such can edit it to their whim, unlike propriety OSes like iOS where they'd have to wait for Apple to apply bug fixes (which first means convincing Apple there is a problem with their software). It's also fairly simple to lock down so only certain Apps can run, and iirc they already have their own military App store.

[Thorgi Duke of Frisbee]

I have an iPad. It's pretty great. I use it for textbooks, notetaking, reading, playing games, and by far my favorite feature, reading. Not just books; reading sites feels so much more comfortable when you simplify it with an app like Instapaper, or Flipboard.