iPad, or Android tablet?

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

I want to get a tablet. Love the iPad, but I know there are a lot of nice Android tablets coming out this year.

Android apps are not optimized for tablets (yet), but there are several iPad apps that are. I know the iPad doesn't run flash. How important is that?

[LMITOUT]

The Android tablet market is exploding and I'd bet that the lack of apps won't be a concern for very long. I've been keeping an eye on the new tablets coming out and there are quite a few to choose from, all with different features including the OS that they are shipping with which is important.

Personally I'd wait a bit as they get things sorted out, plus I'd hope the prices stabilize a bit. They are a little ridiculous right now, IMO. It just seems like the manufacturers are pushing out these tablets in hopes of getting their foot in the door and that makes me a bit nervous about the quality.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Yeah, but I bet a guy could be an iPad and still resell it for big bucks when the others finally settle in. Apple fans are very loyal so it should be not problem selling it. I just might do that.

[polarsusd81]

Typing this from an iPad. The flash issue is bothersome, but you learn to deal with it.

[LMITOUT]

The Motorola XOOM looks like the best of the field so far and is the one that has my eye, but an $800 price tag ($600 for wi-fi only) is a little over the edge. HTC debuted a new model last week as well and Blackberry has their Playbook coming in the next couple of months too. All of the competition should only help with pricing and features.

I still can't decide what size of tablet to get if I were to buy one.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

I've heard the G-Slate is going to be pretty sweet too.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

I just read that the Xoom won't have flash until later in the spring. Sounds like Microsoft all over again, releasing stuff that doesn't work as expected. I suppose the glue will be drying on them during shipment too.

[LMITOUT]

I see that too. A few weeks ago I read that supposedly the SD card drive won't be operable until later either. What's up with that???

It just feel its too early to be jumping into the tablet market, at least for me anyway. I'd rather let someone else be the guinea pig for the kind of dollars we're talking here. Heck, Samsung is coming out with the second version of their Tab already and it seems like just days ago the first version came out.

There are some rumblings of an iPad 2 that might be appearing sooner than later....this might hurt the resale value of the original model if you decide to go that route.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Yeah, I'm cooling my jets for a while too.

[Bigbartguy]

I have to say that I think theyre very handy devices for sitting on couch and fooling around. I personally like the bigger screen on the Ipad vs other tabs.

I'm a HUGE fan of the Iphone and I'm NOT an Apple fanboy by any means. It's just a great phone. and the Ipad is just an Iphone on steroids.

but as much as I'd like an Ipad - I agree - I'd wait until the dust settles a bit. I cant help but wonder if next Christmas you will actually see 'good' knock-off alternatives selling for $200 or so.

[delcecchi]

I have to say that I think theyre very handy devices for sitting on couch and fooling around. I personally like the bigger screen on the Ipad vs other tabs.

I'm a HUGE fan of the Iphone and I'm NOT an Apple fanboy by any means. It's just a great phone. and the Ipad is just an Iphone on steroids.

but as much as I'd like an Ipad - I agree - I'd wait until the dust settles a bit. I cant help but wonder if next Christmas you will actually see 'good' knock-off alternatives selling for $200 or so.

Wait for rumored ipad2 to be announced and pick up ipad1 on any large auction site. Or even the online classifieds of your choice

[Central Bassman]

I agree!!! With the new Ipad2 scheduled to be release in a few mouths you are going to be able to find some good deals on the original Ipads. I wouldn't buy anything that isn't a Mac

[CJH]

iPad 2 debuts shortly, however here is a pretty good review of the XOOM on G4. The only real knock is the price.

http://www.g4tv.com/videos/51517/Motorola-XOOM-Tablet-Review/?quality=hd

[LMITOUT]

Fondled an iPad2 tonight. Don't know what to say except that I like it. Probably lucky that they were sold out or I may have walked out with one on an impulse buy. Gotta do more research first.....

[SledNeck]

They said the ipad2 camera was supposed to be junk. It seemed okay to me when I was messing with one.

[Central Bassman]

They said the ipad2 camera was supposed to be junk. It seemed okay to me when I was messing with one.

Junk how??

[LMITOUT]

I've seen that mentioned in quite a few reports as well, but you don't buy an iPad or any other tablet to take pictures...or expect decent ones for that matter.

[CJH]

I've seen that mentioned in quite a few reports as well, but you don't buy an iPad or any other tablet to take pictures...or expect decent ones for that matter.

The camera quality is said to be less than what is in the phones. That being said, Limit got it right, you don't buy a tablet to take pictures. I'd rather they improve the front facing one as video-chat takes off.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Fondled an iPad2 tonight. Don't know what to say except that I like it. Probably lucky that they were sold out or I may have walked out with one on an impulse buy. Gotta do more research first.....

Dang! That thing is sweet! Saw it today at MOA and I agree, I would have been in trouble if they had them in stock.

BTW, you need the 3g version to get true GPS.

[LMITOUT]

Well I snagged an iPad2 at Target yesterday and have been putting it through the paces. I'm typing this post with it right now and can zip along pretty good with the virtual keyboard. HSO loads up very nicely and much more user friendly than a cell phone browser. Size does matter when it come to sites not formatted for mobile devices.

The device itself is typical Apple....very polished and user friendly. Easy to do when your OS is only used in-house and not across various manufacturer's devices. I opted for a wifi only model and it loads webpages very quickly.

The elephant in the room, however, is the lack of flash. This is something I knew going in but thought it wouldn't be a big deal, but one area where this really shows is weather websites and animated radar loops. As a weather freak this is somewhat bothersome but learning to work around it. One of my favorite radar maps is Wondermap from Weather Underground and although it doesn't work when accessing it from the WU HSOforum, there is a Wondermap app.

Other than that it allowed me set up my Gmail email account, import my Gmail contacts, and my Gmail calendar. I think the Android app store is better, mostly because there are more free apps, but the apps in the apple store are very nice. There is a NCAA app that allows you to watch every tourney game live, so that's pretty sweet too!

A lot to learn yet but so far so good. If it doesn't work out I have a feeling that I can sell it without losing too much. Until the Android tablets sort themselves out I think I'll stick with this guy for a while. Tomorrow I root my EVO to give me a wifi hotspot.

[LMITOUT]

Oh, the other thing that doesn't work is opening wmv files. Obviously a windows based file format, but come on. The inability to do that along with lack of flash is why I question Stevie Jobs' supposed genius. I understand that you want to be "different", but let's be realistic and get with the rest of the computer-using world.

[deadeye]

Glad to see that for the most part you like your iPad2. I was in the verizon store this evening getting a new phone and saw them there. They look pretty darn nice and that display is pretty amazing.

[LMITOUT]

Yeah, I think that but for a few items it's pretty slick. I'm sure the Android tablets will be competitive in time as well.

What really sold me was the size. I had never handled an original iPad and from pics and video thought that a 10" tablet was just too big until I got this one in my hands. Although it has the same size screen it is thinner and weighs a tad less and it didn't feel too big at all. Now I'm thinking that a 7" tablet would be a bit on the small side.

My next task is to find an app that will work with MS Office files and a decent case to carry it in. There are a couple of apps that will work but have to figure out which one is better.

Ive noticed that since using it I've had a headache and I rarely get headaches. Not sure why. Maybe it's the steve jobs mind control app running in the background.

[SanJoaquin]

Another Steve Jobs zombie eh?

Remember?

Wife and I each have one of the 2's

Paid our nephews to stand in line for them.

Neither of us are impressed.

[LMITOUT]

Nope, no zombie here. I only buy on merit, not on what logo is on the box unlike most Apple worshipers.

That also leads into the fact that I didn't stand in line or bribe someone to buy one when they went up for sale. Walked in, purchased, and was on my way in a matter of minutes six days after they were initially available....... and not having one in my hands the moment the registers opened didn't bother me one bit.