How many of you will consider an Android Tablet?

[Superbike81]

The Archos 101 might interest you. The only big negative that keeps me from buying it is the screen viewing angles are supposedly pretty bad.

The Notion Ink Adam is also a larger screen tablet that just went into pre-order status, and is supposed to start shipping sometime in January. It looks very promising, and starts a cheaper price than the iPad and has many more features.

For the future though, the next 6 months we are going to see Android 3.0 and several GOOD tablets coming out that run it.

 

[Itwasntme]

But as many will attest, it's going to be difficult to beat the silky smooth user interface of the iPad. Until that gets worked out (if ever) lets just assume you will be sacrificing some smoothness for added functionality.

The user friendliness of the iPad interface, the silky smooth responsiveness, and of course the massive app store, makes any current and future android tablet unappealing. Even after google upgrades the android os for their tablet, I can't see it being as smooth and responsive as the iPad.

As unhappy as I am with the limitations placed on the iPad, when it comes to ease of use, and smooth responsiveness, it just can't be beat.

I realize you said that this thread or poll isn't for other proprietary operating systems, but I still want to mention that I am looking forward to HP's WebOS based tablet. I really love the gestures and feel of that OS. I wouldn't replace my iPad with it, but I nonetheless would purchase it as a secondary system.

 

[Itwasntme]

Actually, yesterday we purchased a Velocity Micro Cruz Tablet for my wife.

Within 3 hours she was wanting me to return it, which I did.

The "app marketplace" is very restricted, the thing locked up on us, and it just gave the feeling that Android just isn't "there" yet when it comes to tablets.

We love our Android phones, though.

I picked up one of those for my wife as well. She didn't want me spending the extra cash on the iPad. Now she regrets that, and I regret getting it for her. The CRUZ is a one sorry excuse for a tablet.

 

[zorah]

Interesting point-I too am wondering what HP plans to do with the WebOS, although I wouldn't go as far as buying one, since the iPad takes the cake for me, (and cost plenty!) and I'm not going to walk around with anymore gadgets than I already own. But I am surprised HP doesn't have one out yet for the (Palm) WebOS. The Pre was touted as the next big thing.I will be much more interested to see if a tab in WebOS comes to fruition, just from a gadget freak type of interest standpoint.

 

[Superbike81]

But as many will attest, it's going to be difficult to beat the silky smooth user interface of the iPad. Until that gets worked out (if ever) lets just assume you will be sacrificing some smoothness for added functionality.

The user friendliness of the iPad interface, the silky smooth responsiveness, and of course the massive app store, makes any current and future android tablet unappealing. Even after google upgrades the android os for their tablet, I can't see it being as smooth and responsive as the iPad.

As unhappy as I am with the limitations placed on the iPad, when it comes to ease of use, and smooth responsiveness, it just can't be beat.

I realize you said that this thread or poll isn't for other proprietary operating systems, but I still want to mention that I am looking forward to HP's WebOS based tablet. I really love the gestures and feel of that OS. I wouldn't replace my iPad with it, but I nonetheless would purchase it as a secondary system.

I wouldn't go as far as saying that no future Android tablets will be as smooth as the iPad. My Samsung Galaxy S using a couple standard downloaded apps is already just as smooth and more functional than the iPhone 4. I'm running Android 2.2 as well, one of the big things about 2.3 is that it's going to be even smoother, and 3.0 is going to be even better than that. I would give it 12 months at most before most people (who aren't biased one way or the other) actually prefer the interface that Android OS offers over iOS.

Never say never.


The only problem I have with systems like WebOS is that it's ANOTHER operating system that people will have to develop for. The user base for Android and iOS are well established. Android will be used on hundreds of devices, making it worthwhile for developers to create apps for it. Something like WebOS that will have a limited user-base will also have limited apps available.

 

[xune]

"just as smooth and more functional" is not only speculatory, but based on the current generation iPad and current OS. Twelve months from now is unforeseeable for anyone.

Just twelve months ago, most people were already writing off the iPad(or iSlate at the time) a failure before it's release.

Never say never and never say just as smooth and more functional in future reference.

 

[Diane B]

By replacing the Ipad you must then consider replacing all your apps. That makes it even less of a reasonable thing to do. Besides that though I don't have any reason to replace my Ipad. Ite just improved with better apps and developers improving on their originals. The 4.2.1 upgrade also improved my experience and I'm planning to stick with an Ipad until I have a reason to consider another tablet.

Diane B

 

[Superbike81]

I'm saying that the current Android 2.3 user interface is just as smooth and more functional (with a few of the available enhancement apps) than the iPhone 4.

The people who say that ups is smoother than Android have not used the new generation phones and most recent Android update.

There is no reason not to assume that the newest version of Android released in a few months (3.0) won't match the smoothness of the newest iOS. It's also quite safe to assume that it will be more functional simply because of the closed nature of iOS.

For example using a custom keyboard called SwiftKey I can already type faster and more accurately on my 4" phone than I can on my 10" iPad. Just judging by the history of Apple in regards to iOS, they will never allow something like that without a jailbreak.

 

[xune]

I understand what you are saying, but like you said, I would never say never. Apple recently allowed a multitude of apps that many said would 'never' see the light of day in the app store; google voice to name one.

Apple's closed system is also the most open system amongst the big boys. Many may not realize that the walled garden is designed for a less problematic and more enriching experience, whilst still being compatible with more companies than companies are compatible with it. While each competing company manufactures their devices to be proprietary to there own OS, Apple has made strides over the years to be compatible with RIM, Microsoft, Adobe(yes, I know.. Adobe!), etc. in order to deliver a nice balance of compatibility without sacrificing security, speed, or battery life. In the end, this is one of the reasons why I chose to buy an iPad, when just months before doing so, I thought I might've actually gotten a Courier- that sadly turned out to be vaporware. Competition is good, and the end result is better products at competitive prices.

 

[Superbike81]

I do genuinely hope that they eventually allow more customization in the user interface. Widgets anyone? I LOVE widgets, but for some reason Apple seems to be completely against them with the iPad.

I am all for the success of the iPad, but I think for the people who like to customize the look and feel of their products a little more, Android devices are much better overall.

The thing is, as far as smoothness goes (swipes, gestures, pinch-zoom, etc) Apple really can't get any better, it's already perfect or very close to perfect. That is where most people say that Android feels sluggish and unresponsive, simply because Apple has perfected it already. Android's OS though is getting closer and closer with each update, and soon they will be equals. Have you watched the Motorola tablet demo video? The responsiveness and smoothness of Android 3.0 on that particular device looks just as good as the iOS interface, just with more customization available.

 

[Fotodirk]

Well a lot of people expect that Android will have the smooth and silk interface like iOS in one of the future versions. But why was iOS already this way from the first version? And why does Android need 4/5 iterations of the SW to get there?

Maybe it is all this customization that people think they need that is hampering the smoothness of the interface. Because the OS has to check so many options that people might have changed.

And that is normal in this world. You always have to choose, you cannot have it all.

Please note that the demo tablet from Motorola was still a demo. It might look so smooth because of that. Or maybe this is because the HW is 10x faster. But in the end that might have a compromise on battery, weight, cost...
We will have to wait for the whole picture to know.

 

[Superbike81]

The reason the iPad has such good battery life is not because of the hardware it utilizes, it's because it has a HUGE battery compared to the other tablets out there. It's ~60% bigger than the Galaxy Tab's battery (6600mAh vs 4000mAh) which is a big difference.

There is no way the Motorola Tablet is 10x faster than the iPad processor simply because the technology isn't cost efficient enough yet. It might be slightly faster, but from speculation we've heard about the new generation iPad, is the processor will likely stay the same, and it will only receive small tweaks.

Why was Apple able to perfect it's user interface the first time around? Because it's closed nature, they only had to design it to work on one hardware configuration. Android on the other hand is used on many different devices and has to account for many different possible combinations of hardware and software. So of course it's going to take longer to perfect it. I still say the user interface is better in Android OS vs iOS, it's just iOS the movements and swipes are *slightly* smoother. If you haven't used an Android 2.3 device yet, you really should, it's a big difference from even 2.1 and 2.2.

Also, most of the tweaks you download from the Android Marketplace actually improve on the user interface. The problem with many of the Android phones on the market is that the licensing companies like AT&T and other companies load them up with so much proprietary software that it slows them down. I mentioned that above....that if companies like AT&T, Verizon, etc would just leave the device alone and not add all the crap that they *think* we want (*cough*Apple*cough*) they would be MUCH smoother. This is one of the main reasons people "root" (jailbreak) their Android phones, to get rid of all the bloatware that slows it down.

 

[G.P]

Is it right to say that Apple 'perfected' the interface on Ipad the first time, because they've had 3 years to get it right via the Ipod touch? Really, is there a dramatic fundamental difference aside from size, between touch and ipad? Or is that too simplistic a view?

 

[Superbike81]

You are right, they have had quite a while with iOS. I never did use one of the original iPhone or iPod Touches, but I did have an iPhone 3G and even then, it was just as smooth as my iPad is now.

 

[Kezug]

Is it right to say that Apple 'perfected' the interface on Ipad the first time, because they've had 3 years to get it right via the Ipod touch? Really, is there a dramatic fundamental difference aside from size, between touch and ipad? Or is that too simplistic a view?

I am not a Microsoft Basher or Apple proponent ( I enjoy all technology), but I do like this comment and feel compelled to reply the following:

...and after all the years Microsoft has had with their OS's and still its quirky!