If you were going to buy a 10" tablet, which would you get?

ExtremeRyno

Member
Jan 16, 2011
179
10
According to Digitimes (Taiwanese tech site), Amazon is poised to launch its tablet August-September timeframe and they are calling 4 million units by end of 2011 - to put this in perspective, Apple shipped 7 million iPad units in Q4 last year

I've heard the August/September rumor as well, but I can't imagine it coming so early in the year as we've had zero confirmation or news from Amazon itself. They need to create at least a little hype (although the rumors were enough to get me to collect my monies). I'm planning to get mine first, and later go in on one for my dad for Christmas if it lives up to my expectations. He's been hinting for a few weeks that he wants an iPad, but he really just wants a ten inch reader and an iPad would be overkill for him. I'll probably end up going in on a Kindle DX for him.

My wife is now looking forward to the Amazon tablet, too, because she is ready to take my NookColor away.
 

tenderidol

Member
Feb 14, 2011
96
4
I was initially considering Asus Transformer, but Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 looks really good. My only concern is the lack of SD/uSD port. I am less worried about running out of space and more worried about not being able to root this... I haven't looked into this, but, is there a way to put a customized ROM onto a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1? I am aware of the external dongle that enables one to use USB devices, memory cards, etc; can that be used to root this in the future?

Thanks!
 

jinnijinn

Member
Jan 31, 2011
140
2
With the Kindle 3, Amazon kept mum until a month before its release, so August/September fits with that. In fact, the tablet rumors have seemed very 'leaky' for Amazon. I hope they're true; I love my Kindle and am inclined to take a very close look at an Amazon -branded tablet. I hope it's closer to a 10 inch form factor--I like my NC but in general am not very interested in another 7-inch device.
 

AnimaTechnica

Senior Member
Nov 4, 2010
789
63
i have the google IO 10.1 tab which is essentially the same as the samsung galaxy 10.1 - and yes my first reaction was 'WTF no SD card?' - but having used it for over a month now, i find that really i don't need an SD card - i can move files back n forth using Dropbox, a rooting solution is already available although i have not used it yet -

now i believe the kernel is out so likely work is going on for a custom ROM - how to install it remains to be seen

I was initially considering Asus Transformer, but Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 looks really good. My only concern is the lack of SD/uSD port. I am less worried about running out of space and more worried about not being able to root this... I haven't looked into this, but, is there a way to put a customized ROM onto a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1? I am aware of the external dongle that enables one to use USB devices, memory cards, etc; can that be used to root this in the future?

Thanks!
 

rokky

Member
Oct 22, 2010
141
3
Considering the practical issues of handling a 10-inch tablet, I just don't get the attraction. The ones I have checked out in the stores, iPad (1 and 2), Xoom, Playbook, Iconia, Archos 101, all make me very uncomfortable about holding onto them without accidentally touching "active" areas (another reason I hate capacitive screens - too "twitchy")/buttons, so I always felt that they were off balance, and I was in danger of dropping them. I actually held a Xoom up against a netbook right next to it at BestBuy, then "handled" them a bit separately, and the netbook was much less awkward for me.

Given that physical advantage (for me), and the much greater freedom of setting up a netbook any way I want without all this rooting hassle (I always partition the HD right away, and install Linux for my main OS), the 10-inch form factor just does not "fit" for me.

I like Android on 5-7 inch devices (the Archos 5 being my ideal size albeit getting long in the tooth with Android 1.6 - thinking about a Dell Streak 5 as a possible replacement if/when the battery melts down).

To each their own, but I strongly urge a "handling" session for anyone wanting to make the move to a 10-inch tablet to check the physical reality - bigger is not necessarily better.

YMMV
 
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Tom T

Senior Member
Feb 18, 2011
1,632
191
For me the 10" form factor is a little large, I have a 5IT and although it has ben a great tablet the screen is just a little too small for the document editing I often use a tablet for, so the 7" form factor is about right for me. I need to see how Honeycomb feels on the 7"screen before I buy one though. If it isn't a good experience I will probably buy a 10"tablet even with my reservations. I'm really pretty excited about the soon to be released Toshiba Thrive, and I could keep my Galaxy Tab active and synced for those times the 10" tablet would be too cumbersome.
One thing I'm sure of is there are a lot of quality choices out there, and tablet shopping is getting more exciting all the time.
Sent from my GT-P1010 using Android Tablet Forum
 

jinnijinn

Member
Jan 31, 2011
140
2
I'm going to look at the galaxy tab 8.9 inch when it's released...it might be just the right compromise in size.
 

rokky

Member
Oct 22, 2010
141
3
My vote goes to Asus Transformer tab, the worthy alternative to both a netbook and a tablet. Check out my experiential review. Music.Photo.Life.: ASUS Transformer TF101: Experiential Review

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Android Tablet Forum

Nice review- very informative. I wondered about your description of it as "huge", so I tracked down the dimensions and weight for the tablet/keyboard dock combo (funny how all sites I found for the tablet itself echoed the Asus metric specs - EXCEPT the screen size, which is specified in inches - and which I had to convert to english to get a "feel" from my perspective). I got a hit on the dock specs fairly quickly using good ol' english specs.

I have to agree with the "huge" adjective when comparing to my netbook-ish Fujitsu P1610 (convertible tablet, 1.2Ghz Core Solo, 2GB RAM, 30 GB HD, WIfi, BT, SD and PC Card slots, 2 USB). The P1610 is smaller in length (9.13 in vs 10.7), but slightly "wider" (7.32 with extended battery vs 6.9. otherwise a bit smaller with standard battery at 6.57) and thicker at 1.36-1.46 (taper) vs 1.11 inches. This gives a slight "volume advantage" to the Asus of 82.03 cubic inches vs 87.58 for the P1610 (to cast the comparison in a more comparable way).

Also, the Asus combo is slightly heavier at 2.87 pounds vs 2.5 (with extended 6-cell battery, 2.2 with "standard" 3-cell battery) for the P1610, but that does have the offset of much longer battery life for the Asus.

All in all, though, considering a comparable P1610 (aside from my $100 RAM upgrade from 1GB to 2GB) can be found on eBay for about $200 (or less frequently), and that it has a trackpoint instead of a "twitchy" touchpad (also lets the keys be a bit bigger), and a resistive touch screen (1280x768, 8.9 inches, so slightly smaller overall) that is sunlight viewable, and on which I can run both Windoze and Linux, I would much rather tote that around than the Asus (if I am toting anything instead of an Archos 5 or Nokia N810 on my belt like an extra phone).

I guess it depends on how much you want that bigger screen with quicker start, longer battery life, less heat (not a trivial consideration this summer), capacitive screen (not so important with keyboard/touchpad?), and Android-specific apps. For me though, as close as the specs above turned out, there is certainly no "totability" advantage as compared to something like my netbook-ish P1610 and its X86 OS/App options/maturity at far lower cost (granted that is for used P1610's, but new netbooks are easily had for less then $300, even if they do not have touch screens - or trackpoints any more ;) ). I also prefer the option of multiple windows with Linux or Windoze instead of only task switching between full-screen mode apps, even if they are running in the background vs iOS (when the resolution is beyond 800x480).

Still, I would like to see/touch the Asus Slider to see if it falls somewhere in between the Transformer-with-keydock and a "bare" 10-inch tablet. What's happened with their release I wonder?

YMMV
 
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