Forget iPad, anyone with an Android Tablet?

[BigguyZ]

In the fall I'm going to be going back to school, starting with just one class. I'm thinking it may be useful to have a portable computer, but since I really prefer my desktop at home I'm not looking to convert to using a laptop primarily. So I think a tablet would be the best solution, and besides- they are pretty kick butt.

So I've been looking at the Android tablets. I have an Android phone and I'm a big fan.

So I'm wondering what your experiences have been. I know a lot of people say that tablets are more for content consumption, but with models like the Asus Transformer, where they have a keyboard dock- I think that it'd work to do the occasional paper write-up as well.

Thanks,
Travis

[dbhost]

I have a few colleagues that use them for tracking changes / tasks in meeting notes using Google Docs, and it's a LOT easier than my trying to chisel something out on the touch screen...

I wouldn't use a tablet for full blown video or photo editing, but I can see it has some usefulness even there, with apps like Adobe Photoshop Mobile and such... (And Adobe has been saying they can't port Photoshop to Linux!).

FWIW, I REALLY want a nice big Android Tablet with a keyboard / dock, some of the newer ones have multiple usb 2.0 ports and can take accessories like DVD drives and hard disks... Even mice and keyboards...

[jackellis]

I have an iPad and I can tell you tablets without keyboards are not very good for creating content. Even e-mails. If I need a device I can mostly read from, the iPad is fine. If I have to do any extensive editing or content creation, it's the laptop hands down.

I bought mine for aviation use so I can stop carrying around lots of paper. Any other uses are a bonus.

[LinuxRandal]

Like you said, tablets are more consumption devices. They pretty much require wireless access to do much of anything. I originally thought the Asus Transformer would be the way to go, but currently the Toshiba Thrive seems better to me, in part at least, for having a full size SD card (going to need that for storage of your projects). It has USB 2.0, so you could TRY a keyboard with it, and it has a USER replaceable battery. I haven't seen any onboard office type uses (Google docs with internet access).

Personally, I chose a netbook. Small, portable, decent battery life and replaceable batteries. Less expensive then a tablet, yet has a hard drive for storage, full sized SD card slot for more storage. Can be used with USB or Bluetooth (with a dongle or not, depends on model), so keyboards and mice shouldn't be issues. Has a monitor port, for an external (larger) monitor. Choice of OS'es (some even 64 bit) as well as office suites (Microsoft, LibreOffice, Open Office, etc). After my last hard drive crash (Linux server), I said I wasn't using a pc as much (websites such as this, Email, Ebay, Youtube, etc), so I picked up what was sold as a Notebook (netbook hybrid really). Now, almost the same thing is sold as a model of netbook (Asus 1015PN verse my older Asus N10J-A2). I've used it as my primary computer for the last two years. The last year, it has been sitting on a desk, with an external wireless keyboard and mouse as well as my older 19" flat panel (running dual screen). I recently (last week) picked up a new one (1015PEM, don't need the Ion platform), for a Linux only one (getting tired of dual boot). I only kept Windows on the one, for two pieces of software that I haven't found a replacement for with Linux (one being Cutlist, not enough Linux Woodworkers).

You really need to do a serious sit down and judge for yourself because right now there is a LOT of tablet hype. My b-i-l has a Ipad, my brother has an Android (2.2 originally 3.0 put on there as it is the same specs as those and he bought it off Woot for less), and neither is as capable for my needs, as my netbooks.
Just my experience.

[leehljp]

I finally figured out what a "netbook" advantage really is, at least PART of it is - VLWCCD: Very Light Weight Content Creation Device!

In the last year and a half, my 5+ year old mac laptop kept getting hotter and hotter and would shut down when I viewed sites with lots of flash. Two weeks ago, I bought the lightweight MacBook Air with Intel's i7. This is light weight, and PLENTY of power for content creation on a laptop/netbook. The Flash Memory SSD, beats a standard hard drive 10 to 1. I can boot into Windows XP in about 20 seconds! Photoshop takes about 12 - 15 seconds at the most!

Well, enough about that, but a netbook size computer/laptop is much more convenient than full size 5 - 7 pounders! My new one is not quite netbook size but for weight, it is not much more.

For content reading and wireless use, a tablet is fine, but beyond twitter size note taking, a keyboard sure makes a difference. Some people who don't mind carrying around extra add on peripherals, a tablet and add on keyboard and drive will be OK. But for those who like to keep it light AND want to do content creation on a regular basis, a netbook would make more sense.

[jwd12]

The I- pad is a great traveling companion. First of all it is light and adapts to new networks easily. Second eliminates carrying other reading material. Most of the other "advantages" are marketing hype. It in no way replaces a real computer.

[twistsol]

How about none of the above. If you are going back to school, take notes the old fashioned way with paper and pencil. Multiple studies have shown that handwriting notes significantly boosts retention vs typing them.

And as a former Apple Employee, it was really hard not to just type DEATH TO ANDROID over and over and leave it at that. JWD12 is right though, while tablets have certain uses, I just don't see the point of them ... yet.

[BigguyZ]

I think for note taking, I agree that pen and paper will be my thing.. I'm just talking about having some sort of mobile computing at hand in addition to that.

Also, I think people may have missed that the options I'm looking at have optional keyboard docks available. So for $550, I can get an Asus Transformer that is the tablet, and the keyboard dock. That way, I can use it as just a tablet at home and on short trips, and if need-be, I can dock it to the keyboard, in which case it looks and acts like a netbook.

Asus makes the same thing in a Windows 7 model, but I'm thinking the primary object will be as a tablet only. Since Android Honeycomb was made to be a tablet OS, it may be better suited.

But anyways, I guess I'm just curious how well the Android system works as a viable OS. If I wanted to have a MS Word-like option, does anyone know if there's a good alternative on Android? If not, then maybe I'll wait. No rush, but I really do like the idea of the teblets, and with the keyboard docks, I think they'd be had to tell apart from a netwook, save for a HDD, and the OS....

Thanks,
Travis

[SHADOWFOX]

It's been a year since I finished. If you have an Android phone, see if there is an app for a voice recording software and use that to record classes. You'll need to ask permission from your professor first though. I used an actual voice recorder made by Sony that came with Dragon naturally speaking and it help quite a bit.

Most campuses these days have computer labs that are available for students to use. I found myself using delicious.com a lot especially when researching for papers.

[LinuxRandal]

Here is something that in my mind, started in part the whole thing. It was supposed to be out in 2010, then never happened, then renamed (updated) in 2011 and headed to markets in China.

THIS is what we should have got, as it would solve BOTH your wants, IMHO (the only way we will end up getting something like this, is by telling them)
Tablet/subnotebook hybrid links:
Then
http://www.slashgear.com/lenovo-idea...ds-on-0567892/
Now
http://www.dailytech.com/Lenovo+LePa...ticle20562.htm

If it didn't have the functionality (word processing without connection) that you needed, you would just dock it.

Still PO'd that it never came out.

[gerti]

If a keyboard is the hangup with the iPad: it works with all bluetooth keyboards. Apple has a keyboard with iPad dock. And there are third-party iPad cases with built-in bluetooth keyboards that are barely bigger than regular cases.