Well, my husband and I have been keeping an eye on the savings account, and we’ve managed to accrue a little extra. So, we’ve decided to reward ourselves with a new toy.
My husband wants an iPad. I’m not sold. He makes a few good arguments - the Netflix app is great, and considering that I watch somewhere in the neighborhood of five movies a week over streaming, that’s a pretty solid argument. Secondly, while I can’t say much due to NDAs, we both work in tech support, and more than passing familiarity with Apple products would help us greatly at our jobs.
My argument is that, one, the iPad is freekin’ expensive! Two, I don’t like how closed the Apple platform is. I want the option to be there for watching .divx files, or flash videos.
When I compare the iPhone to, say, the HTC Droid Eris (the two smart phones I have the most familiarity with), I’m a lot happier with the Eris. Sure, there’s a lot more apps in the Apple app store, but… .Divx!
The big problem with my fairly inarticulate arguments is that there’s no real “iPad killer” tablet out yet, and I’m terrible at searching out the tech rumor-mill. Should I give in and let my husband get an iPad? Or should I hold out for a Droid-based tablet?
If you can live with the limitations of what the iPad offers, get your husband an iPad. One reason is because it’s what he wants… no matter how soon the first Android-based tablet’s introduced, your husband will have always wanted an iPad. Second, if you’re going to get him on, get it before June 7 because after that the unlimited 3G service from AT&T will no longer apply to iPads.
If you do hold out and wait for an Android-based tablet, don’t fret, whatever app you enjoy using with the iPhone/iPad, someone will develop app for Android.
I should clarify - we would be interested in the Wi-fi only model. We plan on largely using it around the house, and are not interested in getting in bed with AT&T, so the data plan isn’t part of our consideration.
<nitpick> It’s Android, not Droid. Android is the OS, Droid is just a name used for a few Android phones exclusive to Verizon</nitpick>
Now, I love Android. I got myself a Nexus One, which is basically the flagship phone for Android. But I’m not holding my breath for an Android iPad killer. There’s a couple small Android tablets out there, that are more like the iPod Touch than the iPad. It’s really an untested OS when I comes to big tablets, and there’s no release dates for a big tablet from a major manufacturer as far as I know.
Now, I’m not saying to buy an iPad, because I have no plans to ever get an iPad. But it might be a long wait for a great Android tablet.
Get an iPad. Take good care of it. Sell it when the first reputable Android tablet comes out.
Or get an Xbox 360/PS3 for Netflix streaming and have money left over for an Android tablet later on.
What were his other arguments for an iPad? If movie-watching is what you primarily do, wouldn’t a bigger screen that sits on the ground and doesn’t require you to hold it and/or sit really close be better? Maybe even consider waiting for a Google TV powered by Android?
What is the cost of the contract requirement for the Android phone? A WiFi iPad will have no monthly commitment.
We have both a Vz Droid and an iPad and closed or not, the selection of apps is much greater and useful on the iPad. Video (aside from Flash - which is not available on the Droid either), can be transcoded with Handbrake.
(As an aside, I just don’t get the ‘closed’ argument - why don’t people complain as vehemently about the closed nature of xBox, PS3 and Wii?)
As for the cost issue, I don’t think we know yet how much any Android-based tablets are going to cost. My guess is that they’re also going to be $500 plus.
A WiFi Android tablet also may or may not have a monthly charge. A more direct comparison would be with the iPhone, which even subsidized is more expensive than many low-cost Android phones.
There are indeed more apps on the iPad. But IMO Android has other benefits, at least on a phone. Not sure how it’ll perform on a tablet.
Flash is available on Android through the 3rd-party Skyfire browser which transcodes on the fly. And Flash is included in the next update, Android 2.2.
Xbox, PS3 and Wii are mainly for gaming, and even they have some degree of Flash support. People use their phones for more than just games. And Android has proven that the alternative – more openness – can work. (On the down side, many of the apps I’ve tried were unstable and buggy).
You can get an Android tablet now. The Archos-7 Home Tablet, for example. (Although personally, after the experience I had with their MP3 player, I vowed never to buy their product again. From what I’ve read on user reviews on Amazon etc., the quality of their software and firmware haven’t improved one bit.) And the enTourage eDGe, though that’s more an e-book reader than a tablet.
But not all Android devices are equal. IIRC, the Android Marketplace itself is only available on Android phones, and not WIFI-only tablet devices.
Personally, I’m very impressed with the hardware and user interface of my iPad 3G. The screen is fantastic, very bright and with excellent view angle. The screen is responsive, with very smooth scrolling and pinch-to-zoom in all applications.
But I haven’t found much use for my iPad. I could use it for reading documents for work, but I can’t annotate it with a stylus so it’s really annoying. For book reading, I prefer my Kindle-2 because it’s significantly lighter. For watching video (movies, netflix, etc), if I’m home I’d rather use my 32" TV (my blu-ray player has Netflix streaming capability), and if I’m traveling, my iPod Touch is perfectly adequate and less awkward to use (esp. on the cramped economy-class airline seats). For some reason mine doesn’t do YouTube videos very well, it takes forever to load and stutters all the time even when at home and using my home WiFi - maybe this is the WiFi “problem” that was talked about initially and then strangely forgotten by everyone. For e-mail and web browsing, I’m constantly being frustrated by the on-screen keyboard (which is straight out of the iPhone and doesn’t take advantage of the large screen). I’m inclined to return or sell it and spending the money on upgrading my phone (currently have the TMobile G1, want something with a larger and better screen - maybe the Dell Streak 5-inch smartphone/tablet.)
Thanks for all the thoughts, everyone. There’s a lot, so I’m not going to respond to everything individually, but we’ve decided to hold off on things for now.