PDA

View Full Version : Apple iPad or Android Tablet



Russ in Vancouver
10-24-2012, 03:58 PM
Hello all,

I am in the market to purchase a tablet this Black Friday.

I am leaning heavily towards an Android tablet, specifically this one. asustablets.us (http://promos.asus.com/US/EeePadTransformerPrime/)

I have only had iPhone and older iPad, never had an Android yet.

Wanting to sync contacts, calendar with my PC, have visual and audio presentations, live webchats etc.

Liking file management and flash with Android.

Are there any Android cons that any of you have experienced?

Photography
WTB a decent SLR camera that is less than $600 regular price as well on Black Friday. Hoping to get lucky and find one for 50% off. I want to take photos of my never sit still in one place puppy and kids, black and white scenery, architecture and close up macro shots of products for websites.

Thanks for any help and advice you can suggest!!

Gabe
10-24-2012, 09:40 PM
I have a Samsung Galaxy tab that I originally bought for my wife and I like it. If I had an iPhone I'd go with an iPad, but since I have an Android phone I went with an Android tablet. Aside from the fanboys, there really isn't much difference unless there are certain apps you want. They both do essentially the same thing. This stuff changes so fast it's not really worth putting so much time into it.

My recommendation: If you have an Apple computer/phone, go with iPad for synergy. If not, go with Android. With DropBox these days sharing between computers is pretty easy either way.

On a personal note, I'll probably get an iPad next because I'd like to try the new iPhone and MacBook Air.

Freelancier
10-24-2012, 11:06 PM
We're in the same situation. Lots of toys coming up this Christmas for me and the missus :)

Look into Jelly Bean (Android OS 4.1). Supposed to have a lot of tuning for speed and battery life, but not all devices will get it, especially devices more than a year old. I'm turned off by the iPad pricing (and locked-down environment), but want to get something comparable and my phones are Android, so I don't have problems with that.

As for camera, look at the Sony NEX line. We got one last year and are thrilled with it (and yes we have the puppies and kids and it produces awesome pics with no shutter lag at all).

Harold Mansfield
10-25-2012, 01:39 AM
I have a Motorola Photon and Motorola XYBoard Tablet that I received as a gift, and I love them both. Absolutely no complaints. Even better, once I installed this home screen UI app for Android tablets: Chameleon | Your new Android Home Screen. Always Relevant. Immediately Valuable. - Teknision Inc. (http://www.chameleonlauncher.com/). Changed my whole experience so that my Tablet isn't just a recreation of my phone, just bigger.

It does everything I need it to do and stuff I didn't know it did. Contact sync is painless...Had all of my phone, Facebook and Linked In Contacts synced up in about 10 minutes. Live web chats are only going to be as good as your wireless connection, but plenty of apps for that from Skype, Go To Meeting, Polycom, Fuse, whatever you want to use.

I thought about an iPad, but I'm really not that committed to Apple products. I use Google products quite a bit, and doubt that I will ever get into Apple TV or anything else, so I wanted to stay with Google.

I love iTunes and have an iPod, but I can transfer music to my phone and tablet just fine.

I like the new iPods, but the iPad mini looks good. Instead of a new iPod I may as well just get the iPad mini for the extra $30 and get the best of both worlds.

I don't think you are going to be disappointed either way. Asus makes a nice tablet and has been getting great reviews. iPad is obviously the Tablet to beat, but as far as Android has come, for my money, there isn't a $200 difference anymore to justify the price of the iPad. That's just my opinion.

Freelancier
10-25-2012, 06:59 AM
Instead of a new iPod I may as well just get the iPad mini for the extra $30 and get the best of both worlds.

The reviews of the mini were not that good, compared to others in the market. The price was about $100 higher than it should have been for the features.

Harold Mansfield
10-25-2012, 11:27 AM
The reviews of the mini were not that good, compared to others in the market. The price was about $100 higher than it should have been for the features.
Yeah. but I just want to use it as a iPod. I've been using the remote app to play music in the living room. That seems like it will be much more enjoyable with a bigger screen.

But I agree. If the mini was in the price range of the other 7" tablets, that would have been huge. But Apple is not known for being price competitive.

Freelancier
10-25-2012, 11:54 AM
but I just want to use it as a iPod. I've been using the remote app to play music in the living room.

I know there's a way to do the same thing with an Android. One evening, I was playing with my Droid phone and got it to play music over the house network to my TV. Had to download a Windows Media Server-type app and I have a Samsung TV that supports that. Not sure what you have, but you might want to check around to see if there's a way to do it via Android apps.

Harold Mansfield
10-25-2012, 12:23 PM
I know there's a way to do the same thing with an Android. One evening, I was playing with my Droid phone and got it to play music over the house network to my TV. Had to download a Windows Media Server-type app and I have a Samsung TV that supports that. Not sure what you have, but you might want to check around to see if there's a way to do it via Android apps.

I know you can do it with music in general. But I like using iTunes and iTunes radio. It's the one Apple product/service that I swear by. If I wasn't able to transfer my iTunes music to Android it would have definitely influenced my decision.

But even still, I still use my iPod and iTunes for music. The main reason being, I listen to a lot of House and Dance music and outside of specialty retailers like Beatport and Tracksource, iTunes has every other music service beat in that area hands down. Spotify, Pandora, The Play Store... you name it, they all suck when it comes to Dance Music and Dance Music radio stations around the world. They're horrible actually.

Russ in Vancouver
10-28-2012, 10:56 PM
Thanks for the replies!!

Freelancier
10-29-2012, 07:03 AM
On my Xmas list (http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/26/google-nexus-10-leaks-android-tablet/) <- This is what I'm waiting for... maybe.

Freelancier
10-29-2012, 02:20 PM
The Nexus 10 tablet with 16 gigabytes of storage will sell for $399. That's $100 less than the comparable version of the latest iPad, though the older iPad 2 is still available at that price. The Nexus goes on sale in Google's online store Nov. 13.

https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=nexus_10_16gb

Woo-hoo!

ozetel
10-29-2012, 10:26 PM
Yep syncing will be the key, depending on whether you have existing products i guess. I have friends who swear by Android and others that just won't go past Apple (I am an Apple convert too).