BK's Official "Tablet" Thread (IE iPad, Kindle, etc)

[Rauger]

I got a free iPad 2 for signing the lease at my apartment. Sold it.

[Don]

Ordered me one of these babies to watch some fights and Breaking Bad on the way to work...

Hyundai A7HD Android Ice Cream Sandwich 7"...

[Randjob]

Just bought a 16GB Nexus 7 for 100 bucks off some guy who steals shit while working stock at Walmart. Love it so far, runs android 4.1

[Crax]

My work gave me one as well. I've liked it so far. $100 is a good deal. Did you get the $25 google play credit with that too?

[Randjob]

Yea I get the credit too

[Doktor Sharpness]

I've got a GalaxyTab II that work gave me to try out, and they're giving me a an iPhone 4S and iPad 2 something or other, and all this other shit... I have a Droid X and a Kindle Fire that I use to keep reading when the battery dies on the other one.

Sorry, I still don't get it... it's just a big phone that you can't make (normal) calls on.

[DCBooks]

Originally Posted by Doktor Sharpness

I've got a GalaxyTab II that work gave me to try out, and they're giving me a an iPhone 4S and iPad 2 something or other, and all this other shit... I have a Droid X and a Kindle Fire that I use to keep reading when the battery dies on the other one.

Sorry, I still don't get it... it's just a big phone that you can't make (normal) calls on.

I'm responding from the toilet.


You read on your Droid? How big is the screen? I've got 10 gigs of comics on my iPad. Reading that on a kindle or smaller would suck.

[Doktor Sharpness]

Originally Posted by DCBooks

I'm responding from the toilet.


You read on your Droid? How big is the screen? I've got 10 gigs of comics on my iPad. Reading that on a kindle or smaller would suck.

I respond on the toilet with my phone, too.

Droid screen is 4x3, but you have to recall that I have 20x5 and 20x10 vision... And since I only read .cbr files, my laptop is the go to for that (haven't found an app for homemade scans. Is there one?); I'm reading novels on the phone and Kindle. The Kindle's 7" screen is plenty big, and the tabs 10.1" is nearly unwieldy... as someone that had an 8 gig Zune (with the 3x2 screen) and watched Dark Knight and Incredible Hulk a number of times on it happily while slugging, the Droid's screen is rather extravagant, but I still mainly either read books, surf the web, or, y'know, call people... if I'm home, I've for a 4' tv to watch shit on. The phone fits in my pocket, so I don't really carry any of the other tablets around with me, other than the Kindle on occasion because it fits in the small pouch on my bag.

My wife on the other hand loves the tablet and the blu tooth keyboard and all that, and if I didn't have a laptop, I'd definitely be all over that... but since I do, and it's easier to manage with a 2 year old running around than balancing the tablet on something while I sit the keyboard in my lap, there's really no point.

I can't give an unqualified feedback for the tablets... the best I can say for the best I've had experience with is "those are pretty great, for tablets"--they're just phones in old-people font sizes, and that makes them less portable, and therefor worthless in the long run.

[Doktor Sharpness]

Originally Posted by DCBooks

I've never used a webcam, and I think you can facebook perfectly well without one. On the other hand, your right, the iPad is just a big iphone, but that's the point. Most of the stuff you do on a smart phone is hampered by the size. It's too small to be a good reader, browser, player or play games. The ipad fixes that but doesn't do the phone stuff. (you can bluetooth a skype thing, but that seems like work)

I want droid to make a pad with built in phone. Then apple will have to compete. I'd love to drop my phone and just have a bluetooth to my pad, and it's gonna happen.

I want one portable device that does phone, entertainment and web. The ipad does 2 out of 3 well, so I still have to have a phone. A droid with built in phone will force apple's hand.

It's been two fucking years; why hasn't this happened yet? I was thinking about it again the other day; why doesn't the tab/pad/waste of fucking money have a blu tooth headset and a voice plan? None of this shit is a viable replacement for your phone until they make phonecalls, and with voice dial, you could have the tab in your bag or whatever, so you don't have to take out the big, gay, bulky phone like an 80s throwback to make a call.

[Crax]

You can use google voice on any of those tablets. As long as you have a decent wireless connection, it's pretty clear.

I don't have wireless service on any of my tablets as I don't want to pay for that stuff, but I know you can get them with it, or use an external wireless modem offered by like verizon etc.

[DCBooks]

Yeah, we use FaceTime around the house all the time like an intercom system.

We used it to call home from France while in the hotel wireless, but it was really choppy. (but free!)

Clearly Apple and other manufacturers don't want to compete with their own phone market, so screw what the consumer wants.

[Gabriel]

I've never considered tablets 'phone replacements', they're more casual use laptop/netbook replacements. Apples and oranges, it's kind of like bitching that your laptop doesn't have a built in phone. Completely different market.

[DCBooks]

Originally Posted by Gabriel

I've never considered tablets 'phone replacements', they're more casual use laptop/netbook replacements. Apples and oranges, it's kind of like bitching that your laptop doesn't have a built in phone. Completely different market.

I take my iPad with me all the time. It has 4g or whatever, but I can't call with it. I can video chat, stream a movie, but no Skype. Not bitching that it isn't a phone. It's much more, but they've intentionally crippled it to make me also have a phone. That's what I'm bitching about.

[Randjob]

Originally Posted by Doktor Sharpness

I've got a GalaxyTab II that work gave me to try out, and they're giving me a an iPhone 4S and iPad 2 something or other, and all this other shit... I have a Droid X and a Kindle Fire that I use to keep reading when the battery dies on the other one.

Sorry, I still don't get it... it's just a big phone that you can't make (normal) calls on.

I never intended on getting a tablet but when my laptop hard drive died I decided I wanted something more powerful without paying a fortune so I bought a custom desktop tower off ebay for 320 bucks and just hooked it to one of my TVs downstairs. Really great deal I think, AMD Quadcore 3.2 GHz Nvidia GT 240 8GB Ram and 500 GB hard drive.

But anyway, I still wanted something that I could browse the web with while in different parts of the house or laying in bed. So I got the nexus 7, and so far Im really happy with it as a laptop replacement. If I didn't also have the desktop I probably wouldn't like it as much, but as a secondary computer it's really nice. Sure, I could use my phone to do most of what I do on it, but it wouldn't be nearly as convenient or easy. Also if you've got a droid you can absolutely make calls with it using skype or google voice.

Originally Posted by DCBooks

I'm responding from the toilet.


You read on your Droid? How big is the screen? I've got 10 gigs of comics on my iPad. Reading that on a kindle or smaller would suck.

This is definitely one of the best things I like about the tablet so far. It's a great comic/magazine reader. I use the "perfect viewer" app and it'll read just about everything from cbr, rar, zip, pdf, bascically whatever you want. It's simple but effecient. Also I think I actually prefer the 7" screen of the nexus or kindle fire for viewing magazines and comics to the big 10" ipad screen. With the Ipad I feel like I have to hold it with two hands and its almost too big, the Nexus or Kindle is like holding a paperback book in your hand. It's really nice

[Doktor Sharpness]

Originally Posted by Gabriel

I've never considered tablets 'phone replacements', they're more casual use laptop/netbook replacements. Apples and oranges, it's kind of like bitching that your laptop doesn't have a built in phone. Completely different market.

As Jim said, it's less about "why can't I make a phone call?" than it is "why did they make this non-laptop, giant phone hybrid and NOT add this functionality? I would use it for this if they had..."

Also, it's nothing like bitching that my laptop doesn't have a built in phone--my laptop is a laptop, not a gigantic phone that doesn't make phonecalls.

[Gabriel]

Everythings Amazing & Nobodys Happy -...

[Doktor Sharpness]

Originally Posted by Gabriel

Everythings Amazing & Nobodys Happy - YouTube

These assholes are WORKING BACKWARDS... I can't get how this is so hard to grasp. "Let's make the phone BIGGER, and less PORTABLE... and then TAKE AWAY ITS ABILITY TO MAKE PHONECALLS!! If it doesn't work as a phone, it must be a laptop!! BRILLIANT!!"

That is fucking ridiculous, and proof positive of how fucking stupid we are becoming as a society. People are happily shelling out more money than they'd spend on a good laptop to buy a big, broken phone with half the functionality, and then mitigate that argument by gleefully espousing how much MORE MONEY it would cost to make the thing work like a budget-model laptop.

[Sid-art]

Happiness is a placebo effect.

[Gabriel]

Originally Posted by Doktor Sharpness

These assholes are WORKING BACKWARDS... I can't get how this is so hard to grasp. "Let's make the phone BIGGER, and less PORTABLE... and then TAKE AWAY ITS ABILITY TO MAKE PHONECALLS!! If it doesn't work as a phone, it must be a laptop!! BRILLIANT!!"

That is fucking ridiculous, and proof positive of how fucking stupid we are becoming as a society. People are happily shelling out more money than they'd spend on a good laptop to buy a big, broken phone with half the functionality, and then mitigate that argument by gleefully espousing how much MORE MONEY it would cost to make the thing work like a budget-model laptop.

And I think this is the point of divergence on our opinions. You have made a decision that, to you, a tablet is a big phone despite all the facts to the contrary (the fact that, you know, it's not actually a phone) where I consider them more as portable media/internet device or a stripped down notebook. I don't need my tablet to make phone calls anymore than I need my TV or microwave too, it's not it's function. For the record I get your argument, I just happen to not see it the same way at all.

[Sid-art]

Originally Posted by Doktor Sharpness

These assholes are WORKING BACKWARDS... I can't get how this is so hard to grasp. "Let's make the phone BIGGER, and less PORTABLE... and then TAKE AWAY ITS ABILITY TO MAKE PHONECALLS!! If it doesn't work as a phone, it must be a laptop!! BRILLIANT!!"

That is fucking ridiculous, and proof positive of how fucking stupid we are becoming as a society. People are happily shelling out more money than they'd spend on a good laptop to buy a big, broken phone with half the functionality, and then mitigate that argument by gleefully espousing how much MORE MONEY it would cost to make the thing work like a budget-model laptop.

Agreed. I personally believe that they buy it just because it looks cooler than a laptop.

[DCBooks]

Originally Posted by Doktor Sharpness

As Jim said, it's less about "why can't I make a phone call?" than it is "why did they make this non-laptop, giant phone hybrid and NOT add this functionality? I would use it for this if they had..."

Also, it's nothing like bitching that my laptop doesn't have a built in phone--my laptop is a laptop, not a gigantic phone that doesn't make phonecalls.

But why can't my laptop make a call? It's the same fucking cable out of my house as the phone line. I bitch about no phone on the pad, but I have the same issue with any device that has a speaker and a mic.

Skype is trying to circumvent the current phone paradigm but they being blocked.

As for the cockamamie tripe about a tablet is a big phone or a laptop without a keyboard, whatever. Tablets rule. Most nights I'm not on a laptop or desktop unless I've got job shit to deal with. For surfing, watching video, reading, it's the clear favorite.

[Doktor Sharpness]

Originally Posted by Gabriel

And I think this is the point of divergence on our opinions. You have made a decision that, to you, a tablet is a big phone despite all the facts to the contrary (the fact that, you know, it's not actually a phone) where I consider them more as portable media/internet device or a stripped down notebook. I don't need my tablet to make phone calls anymore than I need my TV or microwave too, it's not it's function. For the record I get your argument, I just happen to not see it the same way at all.

I know you understood, and that's definitely the divergence point... It IS just a big, broken phone, because it doesn't do anything more than my phone does, and my phone also makes calls and has voice search for files and shit. Tablets are pretty weak in comparison.

[Don]

To combine phone and tablet, I was going to get a Samsung Galaxy Note (phablet), but my boss gave me a Galaxy S3 and I already bought a tab recently....

The Nexus 7 is sweet.

[Doktor Sharpness]

Originally Posted by Don

To combine phone and tablet, I was going to get a Samsung Galaxy Note (phablet), but my boss gave me a Galaxy S3 and I already bought a tab recently....

The Nexus 7 is sweet.

We're apparently getting iPads AND Air Books at work, and I had to ask "why?" Neither is capable of supporting removable media, so far as I'm to understand, and why have both? If it's "well, the Air Book has a keyboard..." then why buy the tablets? If that doesn't matter, what benefit is there to having a tiny laptop that offers no amenities? The laptop will have superior processing power, so I can see that as a case to be made, but otherwise this is just fucking stupid.

[Don]

Removable media, conventional cables, AD integration and access to shares. Apparently we need to reduce security to network shares so nob-end Mac users can access them.... Forget that!

[Randjob]

I'll say this Jelly Bean is definitely the best OS I've ever used on any mobile device, and Chrome browser for Jelly Bean blows any other mobile web browser away. Love this Nexus 7

[Crax]

You can get chrome on other versions as well. As soon as I started using it on the nexus, I went and got it on my razr that's running ICS. Does the same zoom in stuff when you click more than one link at a time etc. That is my favorite feature as I don't have to zoom in all the time when viewing full pages and forums.

[Randjob]

I have it on ICS on y phone, but it doesn't run nearly as well for me there and I've had bugs such as the keyboard not showing up when typing on web pages

[Don]

Those are just software settings. Have a google...

[Randjob]

I tried googling it with no luck