# Which is the new tablet you crave?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-new-tablet-you-crave/567141
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [January 10, 2011, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-new-tablet-you-crave/567141 "2011-01-10T21:42:25Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2011, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-new-tablet-you-crave/567141/1 "2011-01-10T21:42:25Z")
So, the iPad is king, with the iPad 2 rumored to be announced shortly. The 2011 Consumer Electronics Show just ended, and a multitude of new tablets were announced. The Motorola Xoom seems to have gotten universal praise, with the Android 3 (Honeycomb) OS and 4G capabilities. RIM’s (Blackberry) Playbook is also hotly anticipated. There are Windows 7 options coming, and many other competitors. So… if you are thinking about getting yourself one of these devices in the next few months, which are you coveting?
Personally, I’m torn. I’m sure the iPad 2 will have some great new features, and they have the best apps by far at this point. I’d like to see a USB port and Flash support (yes, I DO need it…)
My phone is a Blackberry, so the Playbook is intriguing with its pairing ability and hardware specs.
I was pretty impressed with the Xoom, but would only be interested if it doesn’t require a carrier contract.
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### Author:  [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2011, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-new-tablet-you-crave/567141/2 "2011-01-10T22:39:02Z")
Frankly I don’t understand why people want them. It’s like having a huge smart phone without the phone. I can see how a touch screen would be nice but you are giving up a keyboard. How many people don’t use ANY apps that have keyboard input?
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### Author:  [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2011, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-new-tablet-you-crave/567141/3 "2011-01-10T22:53:41Z")
> [@ratatoskK](#):
>
> Frankly I don’t understand why people want them. It’s like having a huge smart phone without the phone. I can see how a touch screen would be nice but you are giving up a keyboard. How many people don’t use ANY apps that have keyboard input?
If you’ve never used a touch pad for keyboard input except on a smart phone you’re not making a fair comparison. I have been using a Samsung Galaxy Tab for about a week. I bought it purely for development… i want to port something we sell to Android. But since I have it, I’ve been using it, and I have to admit I Really like it.
I was IMing with somebody for about 2 hours while relaxing in a hotel Saturday night with the TV on. The lack of tactile response did get a bit annoying, but I didn’t have any problem tapping the wrong key, like I do on my iphone.
It’s quick and responsive and lightweight and great for relaxing and doing the sorts of things I like to do when not working on a computer - browse, watch video, chat.
To be fair, I would never ever buy it for myself, nor would I buy it for work were I able to expense it. The only reason I bought it is because I think I can make a lot of money if I open up the whole Android market for my company.
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### Author:  [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-new-tablet-you-crave/567141/4 "2011-01-10T22:54:21Z")
Adam Tablet. (but only after Android 3 comes out)
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### Author:  [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2011, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-new-tablet-you-crave/567141/5 "2011-01-10T22:56:52Z")
> [@Southern\_Yankee](#):
>
> RIM’s (Blackberry) Playbook is also hotly anticipated.
The biggest problem I have with this is that it is nigh useless unless you already own a Blackberry phone with the accompanying BB data plan (which I believe is still mandatory on most carriers and not part of the regular data plan? Or has that changed?)
If you don’t have a BB phone to use with it, you have no email or calendar app, among other things.
> [@ratatoskK](#):
>
> Frankly I don’t understand why people want them. It’s like having a huge smart phone without the phone. I can see how a touch screen would be nice but you are giving up a keyboard. How many people don’t use ANY apps that have keyboard input?
But most tablets use apps that are designed around a touch-screen. Obviously the Windows 7 tablets are the “odd man out,” since they are ones that will rely more on having a real keyboard and mouse. But all tablets have a software keyboard that pops up so you can type, and tapping on things is akin to a mouse click.
And I don’t know about you, but I love my smartphone and all its apps, and that’s what prompted me to get a tablet (Nook color that I rooted and turned into a full-fledged Android OS tablet.)
What I love about it is ease of use. On my lunch breaks from work, I use it to browse the web or use an app. To do that with a laptop I have to drag it with me (less than a pound vs a couple pounds even for a netbook, which I don’t own, so more like 5 pounds for my 17" laptop.) And then you have to have more space to use it, open it up, etc…I can easily hold my 7" tablet in one hand, and even a 10" one like an iPad is still loads easier to hold and use than even a netbook. Especially if you’re someplace without any kind of table or counter to rest it on. Despite the name, laptops are _horrible_ when used in one’s lap and not a table.
Edit:
> [@Rumor\_Watkins](#):
>
> Adam Tablet. (but only after Android 3 comes out)
Yeah, that thing looks sexy as _fuck._ But rather than wait and pay more $$, I decided to go the cheap route and get the Nook.
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### Author:  [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2011, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-new-tablet-you-crave/567141/6 "2011-01-10T22:58:56Z")
I want Notion Ink’s Adam that will be coming out soon. It will be a while before we can get one though.
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### Author:  [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2011, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-new-tablet-you-crave/567141/7 "2011-01-10T23:02:05Z")
> [@bouv](#):
>
> And I don’t know about you, but I love my smartphone and all its apps, and that’s what prompted me to get a tablet (Nook color that I rooted and turned into a full-fledged Android OS tablet.)
As a counter point, I _don’t_ like my iPhone or any of its apps much. I can appreciate it as a really marvelous piece of engineering and technology but I find using it tedious and annoying. The Galaxy Tab I’ve been using for a week is big enough that I find it usable.
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### Author:  [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2011, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-new-tablet-you-crave/567141/8 "2011-01-10T23:22:57Z")
There were 80 announced at CES. I suspect my criteria will be: one that’s capabile of running Gingerbread, well, for $70 on [Woot.com](http://Woot.com)
Cuz sooner or later, that’s where 20 of them will show up. 😉
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-new-tablet-you-crave/567141/9 "2011-01-10T23:23:46Z")
> [@dangermom](#):
>
> I want Notion Ink’s Adam that will be coming out soon. It will be a while before we can get one though.
That thing looks cool. It’s interesting too, because I think it’s the first hardware product from an Indian startup. (So far, Indian IT businesses have mostly been outsourcing outfits.)
Also announced at CES is a [seven-inch tablet system from Dell](http://www.dell.com/us/p/mobile-streak-7/pd).
I received an iPad for Christmas and I really like it a lot. I really hope that some of these other products succeed. It’s really annoying that everyone else seems to play catch-up to Apple, but they really do make nice products.
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### Author:  [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2011, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-new-tablet-you-crave/567141/10 "2011-01-10T23:44:41Z")
> [@ratatoskK](#):
>
> Frankly I don’t understand why people want them. It’s like having a huge smart phone without the phone. I can see how a touch screen would be nice but you are giving up a keyboard. How many people don’t use ANY apps that have keyboard input?
One of the big features I like about the iPad is that it’s almost “instant on.” With a netbook I have to either wait for Windows to boot or keep it in sleep mode. Sure, that’s a small thing, but it makes a difference. Also, as far as the keyboard goes, the on screen keyboard works fine for me.
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### Author:  [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2011, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-new-tablet-you-crave/567141/11 "2011-01-10T23:47:02Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> That thing looks cool. It’s interesting too, because I think it’s the first hardware product from an Indian startup. (So far, Indian IT businesses have mostly been outsourcing outfits.)
That one had not been on my radar. It does look sleek, but their website kinda sucks, which makes me a little concerned about their product.
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### Author:  [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2011, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-new-tablet-you-crave/567141/12 "2011-01-10T23:57:23Z")
Tablet’s _don’t have_ to have a reason. They’re **THE FUCHER** incarnate.
They’re light, they’re _flat_ and they do all that crap in Star Trek that you wished you had…you know, you folded a sheet of graph paper in 1/4ths and drew a screen and a keyboard…you didn’t? I did. In 5th grade. I would have KILLED for a tablet in 1992 while going to college.
It’s the absolute smallest thinnnest thing you can physically have to access all the information that’s out there.
Well, until they beam it directly into your brain. Then THAT will **really** be the future.
I just can’t believe my phone makes the Tri-Corder and Communicator from TOS look old and busted.
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### Author:  [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2011, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-new-tablet-you-crave/567141/13 "2011-01-11T15:44:09Z")
Vicodin
Ooops, did I misunderstand the question???
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### Author:  [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-new-tablet-you-crave/567141/14 "2011-01-11T17:58:55Z")
none of them. They don’t offer me $500 worth of utility over what I already have.
> [@](#):
>
> Tablet’s don’t have to have a reason.
uh, for $500 they damn well _better_ have a reason. It amazes me that in the middle of a deep recession there are enough people who will _wait in line_ to spend $500-900 on a _toy._
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### Author:  [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-new-tablet-you-crave/567141/15 "2011-01-11T18:08:07Z")
Because everyone is in the exact same financial situation. :rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-new-tablet-you-crave/567141/16 "2011-01-11T18:18:45Z")
I kinda want the [Asus EP121](http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/04/asus-eee-slate-ep121-officially-unveiled-ips-display-core-i5-a/). A tablet that also functions as a Wacom drawing tablet? Yes, please.
It could sure use some more battery life, but this seems to be a truism for all laptops.
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### Author:  [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-new-tablet-you-crave/567141/17 "2011-01-11T18:50:09Z")
> [@jz78817](#):
>
> none of them. They don’t offer me $500 worth of utility over what I already have.
What about $250 worth? That’s how much I spent on mine, and it does everything I want, and more.
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### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2011, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-new-tablet-you-crave/567141/18 "2011-01-11T19:10:56Z")
I’m upgrading the pen on my existing tablet. Wacom 6D Art Pen, here I come!
What?
[sub]Oh, okay. I’m watching to see what the next iPad looks like.[/sub]
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### Author:  [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-new-tablet-you-crave/567141/19 "2011-01-11T19:21:11Z")
The amazing thing about tablets (iPad) is that on the surface they really don’t seem all that useful. I totally get all the “I don’t need one” comments. I felt the same way too when the iPad first came out. My sister has one, and I covet it. It’s so much fun, and useful! She brought it on vacation this summer and everyone wanted to use it. Touch-screen games are fantastic. We uploaded pictures onto it so my Mom could see the photos right away… on a decent screen.
Tablets (iPad) are that rare device that are _more useful_ than they seem. Usually one encounters the opposite where something seems useful but really isn’t. Not so fantastic from a marketing point of view, but a wonderful surprise for the consumer.
I’m waiting for iPad2.
Remember when the iPad first came out? Everyone was making fun of the name. No so much of that anymore.
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### Author:  [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-new-tablet-you-crave/567141/20 "2011-01-11T19:38:09Z")
> [@ratatoskK](#):
>
> Frankly I don’t understand why people want them. It’s like having a huge smart phone without the phone. I can see how a touch screen would be nice but you are giving up a keyboard. How many people don’t use ANY apps that have keyboard input?
I have no use for the phone part of a smart phone. I use my cell maybe twice a month, on a heavy use month. I could probably use the “smart” part of a smart phone much more frequently, but I’ve been reluctant to sign up for a 300-minutes/month plan when I’m not going to use anywhere near that much phone time.
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