Consolidated Tablet Thread

[island911]

Originally Posted by red-beard

Android suffers from that as well. ..

That was my first thought too. ..but then I edited out the 'coughAndroidcough' part, as I vaguely remembered that android had some cursor support.

here's an example.



and ..



kind of funny really . .Oh a mouse cursor! ...what next? Cut & Paste?

[jyl]

I really hope HPQ succeeds with webOS. It is a really nice O/S. It is incredible that HPQ bought PALM and then let the Pre line languish for a year without a new model. Criminal stupidity. A year in phone/tablet land is like a decade in other industries. Another company guilty of criminal incompetence is NOK. How can the #1 handset maker have allowed itself to become all but irrelevant in smartphones and zero in tablets? Every single executive should have been fired a long time ago. It is very possible that, in 5-10 years, there will be no more Nokia phones. It almost happened to Motorola, actually that jury is still out.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by jyl

I really hope HPQ succeeds with webOS. It is a really nice O/S. It is incredible that HPQ bought PALM and then let the Pre line languish for a year without a new model. Criminal stupidity. A year in phone/tablet land is like a decade in other industries. Another company guilty of criminal incompetence is NOK. How can the #1 handset maker have allowed itself to become all but irrelevant in smartphones and zero in tablets? Every single executive should have been fired a long time ago. It is very possible that, in 5-10 years, there will be no more Nokia phones. It almost happened to Motorola, actually that jury is still out.

I was a serious PalmOS guy. Palm ran the same OS for 3 years, and then never released a new OS. In that time I ended up switching to Windows Mobile which was pretty well supported at the time.

WebOS is a day late and a dollar short. It is a captive OS, only for HP devices. This is the strength of Android, in that anyone can build an Android phone.

It is also a problem for Android, since there are so many hardware variations. But I see this as better, since you get to choose what you want.

[red-beard]

Intersting review of the different tabs

http://www.foxnews.com/slideshow/scitech/2011/05/19/2011-tablet-roundup/?test=faces#slide=13

[gprsh924]

Island, you realize that different people use products in different ways and capacities, yes? Not everyone needs nor wants all of the things you bring up in every post.

Even with my personal laptop, I rarely do anything more than surf the web, watch video, and listen to music. At this point, I do at least 50% of my web surfing from my iPhone. I will get a tablet within the next 18 months (probably an iPad) and it will relegate my laptop to occaisonal use only.

FWIW I rarely have issues with my "fat fingers" being able to hit the correct buttons on the screen. Even in portrait.

All of this (and in fact the majority of my posts to pelican these days) typed from my iPhone.

[RWebb]

once the others start to take a bite out of Apple, they will just release an iPad 3...

I think Apple has a big lead in these things. AND, they can command the best prices from component makers, too...

[red-beard]

Ipad plant blows up

Explosion Kills 2 at Foxconn Plant - WSJ.com

Explosion Kills 2 at Foxconn Plant

By JAMES T. AREDDY And YUKARI IWATANI KANE

SHANGHAI—A large explosion ripped through a Foxconn high-tech plant in southwestern China Friday night, killing at least two people and suspending production at the facility.

Foxconn said the situation had been brought under control by the fire fighters and the "cause of the explosion is being investigated by local police." The company said it was cooperating with police and production at the site was suspended until the investigation was completed.

The facility, near Chengdu, is a manufacturing location for Apple Inc. and local media say it produces iPad tablets.

"We are deeply saddened by the tragedy at Foxconn's plant in Chengdu and our hearts go out to the victims and their families," an Apple spokesman said.

A statement from the Chengdu Municipal government said two people were confirmed dead and 16 injured, including three seriously. The government appeared to rule out foul play, saying the explosion didn't have a human factor.

While it's too early to tell the exact impact of the explosion, it comes at an inopportune time for Apple, which launched its second-generation iPad 2 in March, and is still struggling to meet demand for the tablet device. Analysts following its supply chain said iPad production, though improving, had already been constrained before the incident. On Friday, Apple's website was still showing a shipping delay of one to two weeks.

"Anytime you have an explosion of this nature, you've got to assume that there's some impact on the production line," said Rhoda Alexander, an analyst for IHS iSuppli, though she stressed any impact was likely to be short-term because of the efforts that Foxconn will likely make to quickly resolve the problem.

The Chengdu Municipal government said the explosion occurred in Foxconn's "polishing plant" at around 7 p.m. Experts say it is likely a cleaning stage at the end of the production process after devices are assembled.

Shaw Wu, an analyst with financial service firm Sterne Agee, said he wasn't too concerned because Foxconn has dozens of production lines for the iPad spread across different buildings and sites.

"It seems like it should be easy to maneuver around," he said. Shares of Apple fell 1.6% to $335.22 at 4 p.m. Friday.

Wall Street currently expects Apple to sell about 32 million iPads in the current year, more than double a year ago.

Details of the explosion are sketchy but video posted to the Internet and broadcast by China Central Television showed black billowing smoke from the massive facility.

A person speaking from a hospital near the plant said injured were being transferred to Chengdu, the nearest big city, as well as facilities in two other places.

"We are working with medical officials to provide treatment to the injured employees and we are working with government and law enforcement officials to contact the families of all employees affected by this tragedy," Foxconn said in its statement, confirming the two fatalities and 16 injuries.

The Foxconn plant is located in a large high-technology zone west of Chengdu. Foxconn is the trade name of Taiwan-headquarted Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the world's largest contract manufacturer of electronics.

A spate of suicides at Foxconn's mega-plants in China last year generated intense scrutiny about its employment practices, and prompted efforts by Foxconn and Apple to ensure workers are treated well.

—Yang Jie and Bai Lin in Shanghai contributed to this article.

[Hugh R]

I'm in a Marriott right now. No wifi, only Ethernet cable. If I hadn't jail broke my iPhone and used it as a wifi hotspot I'd be SOL unless I signed up for ATT service on my iPad. I'm seriously thinking I'll bring the wife's mini laptop on the next trip, half the price, Ethernet and wifi, can directly copy pics from a camera, can directly upload pic to PP, can read and edit Word and Excel documents, can use a mouse.

In retrospect, I don't think I'd have bought an iPad. Nice toy, but limited for my uses.

[RWebb]

maybe the that Lenovo tablet/laptop is worth a look

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by Hugh R

I'm in a Marriott right now. No wifi, only Ethernet cable. If I hadn't jail broke my iPhone and used it as a wifi hotspot I'd be SOL unless I signed up for ATT service on my iPad. I'm seriously thinking I'll bring the wife's mini laptop on the next trip, half the price, Ethernet and wifi, can directly copy pics from a camera, can directly upload pic to PP, can read and edit Word and Excel documents, can use a mouse.

In retrospect, I don't think I'd have bought an iPad. Nice toy, but limited for my uses.

Hugh, a small Wifi router is smaller and easier than a laptop.

Amazon.com: Cisco-Linksys WTR54GS Wireless G Travel Router with Speedbooster: Electronics

[red-beard]

Here is the Slate being used as a mini laptop:

Front with Keyboard and Mouse:



From the side



The Slate in its portable case, ready to go:



I expect that my Slate and the Galaxay Tab are going to be good friends.

[porsche4life]

Originally Posted by red-beard

Hugh, a small Wifi router is smaller and easier than a laptop.

Amazon.com: Cisco-Linksys WTR54GS Wireless G Travel Router with Speedbooster: Electronics

Apple airport express works well for that as well. It can also be used to stream music, and/or as a print server...

[jyl]

What is the battery life of the Slate?

[red-beard]

6+ hours.

[jyl]

Have you checked out the windows tablets coming from Acer Lenovo Asus etc? What do you think? How about the convertibles, e.g. Lenovo X series?

[red-beard]

The Iconia W looks pretty good, but it has only a 32GB hard drive and it weighs a little more. It states it has HDMI and 4 USB slots, but it isn't clear if that is an interface or built in. It does have an SD card slot, so you will be able to expand the storage. It doesn't say if it is SDHC (32GB) or SDXC (64GB).

Asus E-Slate:
Better processor (i5, dual core)
Weighs a little more
Shorter battery life 4.5 hours
SDXC interface
2 USB and 1 HDMI
Also has precision pointer
Win 7 Home Premium

Lenovo X220
12" screen, so really a small laptop
Battery life 4.5-18 hours, depending on the batteries
I do not understand the usefullness of it converting to a tablet. To me the usefullness of the tablet is that it is small and has no keyboard and it light. With the spin top, you still have all of the weight, and just have a touch screen.


Lenovo - Laptops - ThinkPad - X Series Tablets - X220 Tablet

[jyl]

I find it hard to do serious Office-type work without a keyboard and pointing device. So I would be carrying a keyboard anyway. Ideally it would be available at all times, hence my interest in a convertible. The keyboard shouldn't add hardly any weight and not much thickness, see the MacAir and other superthin laptops.

I liked my X41 Tablet, but Windows Tablet wasn't impressive at that time.

[RWebb]

spin tops get the keyboard out of your way while walking around & doing inventory or something

that's all...

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by jyl

I find it hard to do serious Office-type work without a keyboard and pointing device. So I would be carrying a keyboard anyway. Ideally it would be available at all times, hence my interest in a convertible. The keyboard shouldn't add hardly any weight and not much thickness, see the MacAir and other superthin laptops.

I liked my X41 Tablet, but Windows Tablet wasn't impressive at that time.

That is the problem with the convertable. It adds a lot of weight to it. My SLATE is 1.86 lbs and the keyboard is maybe .75. Mouse is a few oz. Total is under 3 lbs. And when you don't need the keyboard and mouse, you only have 1.86 lbs.

With the convertable, it is going to weigh 6+ no matter what you do. What do you see as the advantage to flipping the screen over for the convertable? Under what circumstance would you do that?

[jyl]

I mean that, they could make a convertible that is no thicker or heavier than a Mac Air. They don't, yet, AFAIK.