Is the Samsung Galaxy an worthy opponent of the ipad?

[pallentx]

I agree about the app store vs Android. There are some great apps out for iOS, but there is a LOT of junk. Android has a lot of great apps too with fewer barriers getting them to market and fewer restrictions placed on what they can do.

 

[gentlefury]

My understanding is that the tablet will not have an amoled screen. And to me, the 7" is really an odd, in between size. The Android tablets will improve, but they need to get their apps better at the same time. The hardware is only as good as the software.

And no, I'm not Apple partial. I have a Droid Incredible for my phone and love that. Really is a great piece of equipment, especially rooted, but the apps just don't stack up to what is available to Apple yet.

That being said, I hope it keeps getting better. Competition is what we need to keep everyone honest.

I heard about the app store alot and when I got my ipad that was the 1st thing I did was log in to check it out and honestly don't see what is so great...I'm able to get more usefull apps off the android market...please point out the apps to get aside from the news apps ...I can't find any system tools or anything.

Don't get me wrong I like my ipad and find things I like about both...I don't plan on getting rid of my ipad..it's sexy and built solid.

So you guys don't think i'm fan boy and xame to start crap...

For system tools you have to jailbreak and go to cydia. iPad is made to avoid user interaction with the core file system.

You will find everything else you could ever need tho in the app store.

 

[gentlefury]

I agree about the app store vs Android. There are some great apps out for iOS, but there is a LOT of junk. Android has a lot of great apps too with fewer barriers getting them to market and fewer restrictions placed on what they can do.

Are you serious. Android apps are aweful!! Most of them don't work or break within an update. And there are a handful of useful apps and the rest are spam and scams.

 

[pallentx]

Well, I don't personally have a lot of experience with Android, so you may be right, but several guys I work with love it. They seem to have a lot of great apps running on their phones - very similar to the apps available for iOS - and they dont complain about them breaking.

At the same time, I have had apps break after an update on the iPad and seen many such comments in the app store of problems introduced with updates. There's a lot of buggy junk in the App store. In both OSes, the user community is where you sort out what works well for people vs what is buggy and useless.

 

[Alanfujii]

Here's another issue that I'm confident I have the background to weigh on. I'm not familiar with Android but I am familiar with "open" and "closed" systems. There is a argument for both sides. Apple has always been a closed system where they have more control over the content that goes on their devices. That has been part of their success and part of their problem. The benefits of a closed system is that things that are approved work better together. This is the path Apple chose long ago and to some extent has contributed to their longevity. The opposing view to that is the open system where there are more contributions from various outside companies that usually push the growth of the system. In this environment a person having a unique special need would have more chance of finding a solution. The downside is there will probably be programs/hardware that will clash.

Prior to the iPhone/iPad I have gone through numerous Windows/Palm phones. I love gadgets so whenever I got a new phone I would go online and buy tons of programs. Now I will admit I probably never used more to 20% of them frequently enough to justify their purchase but it's fun. Where it wasn't fun was when one program would cause the phone to crash. I can't tell you the amount of times I re-format the phone and loaded one program at a time to make sure everything was fine. This is where I love the iPhone/Ipad. I've had zero problems with crashing and I've bought a ton of apps.

 

[muyoso]

Here's another issue that I'm confident I have the background to weigh on. I'm not familiar with Android but I am familiar with "open" and "closed" systems. There is a argument for both sides. Apple has always been a closed system where they have more control over the content that goes on their devices. That has been part of their success and part of their problem. The benefits of a closed system is that things that are approved work better together. This is the path Apple chose long ago and to some extent has contributed to their longevity. The opposing view to that is the open system where there are more contributions from various outside companies that usually push the growth of the system. In this environment a person having a unique special need would have more chance of finding a solution. The downside is there will probably be programs/hardware that will clash.

Prior to the iPhone/iPad I have gone through numerous Windows/Palm phones. I love gadgets so whenever I got a new phone I would go online and buy tons of programs. Now I will admit I probably never used more to 20% of them frequently enough to justify their purchase but it's fun. Where it wasn't fun was when one program would cause the phone to crash. I can't tell you the amount of times I re-format the phone and loaded one program at a time to make sure everything was fine. This is where I love the iPhone/Ipad. I've had zero problems with crashing and I've bought a ton of apps.

That is a great feature of iOS, however, apps still crash, ESPECIALLY if you are jailbroken and dare to run backgrounder with more than one app running. Also, iOS being closed source, they are WAAAAY behind Android featurewise. Seriously, speech to text throughout the entire OS is a killer feature on Android that iOS has absolutely no answer for, and never will. With iOS, each individual program has to innovate, and there is no real features to the OS that carry over between all programs. I hate that about the iPad.

 

[pallentx]

I reboot my iPad more often than my windows desktop. I have been ready to buy numerous apps and stopped after reading comments complaining of bugginess and crashes.

There are a lot of great ios apps out there, and I'm very pleased with the iPad, but IMO the app store and Apple's "walled garden" philosophy does not live up to the hype of impeccable stability everyone claims. I had less variety, but just as good luck with windows mobile.

 

[Seadog]

Stability is relative. A controlled environment will always be more stable. Windows XP systems are more stable when they are in a controlled environment. What makes the iPad unique is the large number of 'experts' who have found the iPad to be a lot more functionable than they expected. A major writer for a PC magazine did a 100 days test with his staff. He and his son found they were using the iPad a lot more than expected, and it had become a valuable tool. Two female staff members started with the attitude that it would be worthless for them. While they all found some issues with the iPad, the overall effect was that they would not relinquish it without a fight. The iPad will continue to change to meet public expectations, but for a first year introduction, it has totally dazzled the public. They will add memory, cameras, and other features, but the big selling point has already been made.

 

[jkhonea]

I reboot my iPad more often than my windows desktop. I have been ready to buy numerous apps and stopped after reading comments complaining of bugginess and crashes.

There are a lot of great ios apps out there, and I'm very pleased with the iPad, but IMO the app store and Apple's "walled garden" philosophy does not live up to the hype of impeccable stability everyone claims. I had less variety, but just as good luck with windows mobile.

Have you jailbroken your iPad? I have had it for months and I don't know that I can recall one time that I had to reboot it.

Ironically, my Droid Incredible has been running MUCH better since rooting it. Funny how it works.

 

[STi]

Looks like the amoled displays will end up on the tabs....

AMOLED Display the Future for the Galaxy Tab? | Android Phone Fans

 

[broganmc]

Stability is relative. A controlled environment will always be more stable. Windows XP systems are more stable when they are in a controlled environment. What makes the iPad unique is the large number of 'experts' who have found the iPad to be a lot more functionable than they expected. A major writer for a PC magazine did a 100 days test with his staff. He and his son found they were using the iPad a lot more than expected, and it had become a valuable tool. Two female staff members started with the attitude that it would be worthless for them. While they all found some issues with the iPad, the overall effect was that they would not relinquish it without a fight. The iPad will continue to change to meet public expectations, but for a first year introduction, it has totally dazzled the public. They will add memory, cameras, and other features, but the big selling point has already been made.

Good point. I'm one of those Windows ladies who refused anything Apple. But a summer visiting the local Apple store and trying out this new-fangled iPad device and I got hooked. Sure I'd like an SD slot and a camera for video conferencing, not to mention the multitasking and wireless printing, but as a consumption device I love it.

I was excited about the Galaxy Tab until I read rumors of its carrier-lock deal. $200-300 if I sign up for a limited and expensive 2 yr plan or $1000 without a plan. $1000?! My $600 32GB WiFi iPad is looking pretty darn good for that. Heck a $700 3G version looks good.

 

[iVan]

There's no way the Tab can beat the iPad at that price. They will never sell as many.
But that depends on the definition of beating does it?

Even the iPad is pricey for it to be affordable to the masses. To put an iPad in every home its price would have to be below 100$ and then...

 

[feyv]

My plan was to get an Android tablet. I have been very happy with a Droid and now a Droid 2. My plan was to get a tablet, since I was familiar and happy overall. Advantages--don't have to rely on Itunes to transfer files (just simple folders), good voice commands, GPS with voice, widgets, live wallpapers, a working Google Voice app, Flash video, etc.
A work laptop broke down earlier than I expected. I decided not to hold out and instead go for the Ipad. I believe that Android tablets will definitely be opponents of the Ipad. There will be more options, they will be cheaper, and they will have some advantages (some of which I mentioned above). I think the Android tablets will be behind the curve a bit and will have already lost much of the market to Apple.
I think a lot of people with the Android phones (who are happy with them) will migrate toward the android tablets once they are out.

 

[pallentx]

Have you jailbroken your iPad? I have had it for months and I don't know that I can recall one time that I had to reboot it.

Ironically, my Droid Incredible has been running MUCH better since rooting it. Funny how it works.

Nope, no jailbreak here. yet. I didnt reboot much either at first. I'm sure its an issue with one or more of the apps I have installed, but that's the point. Like every other phone platform out there, apps can decrease performance and stability of they arent coded right. The app store and approval standards help some, but they are far from a guarantee that everything will "just work".

I also only get 6-7 hrs battery life now. This is still completely acceptable for my usage, but I'm tempted to start removing apps one by one to see what the problem is.

 

[muyoso]

Have you jailbroken your iPad? I have had it for months and I don't know that I can recall one time that I had to reboot it.

Ironically, my Droid Incredible has been running MUCH better since rooting it. Funny how it works.

Nope, no jailbreak here. yet. I didnt reboot much either at first. I'm sure its an issue with one or more of the apps I have installed, but that's the point. Like every other phone platform out there, apps can decrease performance and stability of they arent coded right. The app store and approval standards help some, but they are far from a guarantee that everything will "just work".

I also only get 6-7 hrs battery life now. This is still completely acceptable for my usage, but I'm tempted to start removing apps one by one to see what the problem is.

For the first time today I was within half a second of throwing the iPad across the room. Atomic Browser crashed on me 3 times in a row. It is BEYOND annoying. I open up a couple of tabs and let them load, then the instant I try and scroll or if I try to play an embedded video, black screen then the stupid home screen. SOOOO annoying. And its not all Atomic browsers fault, because if I try loading the same tabs in Safari, it crashes the exact same. And its not the websites I am visiting either, these are simple news sites. I had to put down the iPad and walk away before I did something I would regret.