Choosing a tablet...

If you have an ipod, I would think you would be more inclined to get an ipad not less like you stated. There are so many universal programs, so that would be a huge plus and the apple appstore is so much better than googles.

Personally, would have to recommend the new ipad, but have to be the 32 gb version, the 16 gb version is way to small. So this would be 600 dollars so a little out of your price range. But well worth it, in my opinion.

I know a couple of people with android tablets, and no one seems happy. In fact they all like to play with my new ipad, and marvel at the games and retina graphics.

None of them ever buy any apps, which is a good indication of whether they are using their tablets, and don't seem to download free apps either. Both of these traits seem odd, because I thought a tablet was supposed to be a content consuming device.

Sounds like you don't want to wait, but I would say either buy a new ipad now, or wait for the microsoft surface and get the better of the systems by xmas.

Otherwise, you might regret your decision later.

 

I concur wholeheartedly with Connector. The fact that I've owned an iPod Touch since the 1st Gen was a HUGE factor in my decision to buy first an iPhone and then eventually an iPad. I already had a catalog of Apps and Games ready to use vs purchasing a competing device and having to find alternative Apps - I hated the thought of buying Bejeweled yet AGAIN for another platform.

I owned an HP Touchpad and a Kindle Fire briefly as well just to see the "other" side of the fence. Sold the Touchpad on CL and returned the KF...

 

If money was no object I'd get the Samsung Tab 7.7 but thats mainly because the size appeals to me and I like Super Amoled screens a lot, specs wise it's also pretty high end.

I think it's hard to choose between the two tablets you mentioned it depends on what you value more I think the Asus is a bit more powerful but the Samsung is lighter with a bit longer battery life.

 

Not for what he wants it for;

basic internet browsing, YouTube, and taking notes in class when school rolls around. Everything else is really a plus although speed and battery life are quite important

I second that, though I'd recommend 16GB

 

haha, sorry couldn't resist

 

I have to agree with Connector

I was looking for a tablet for kind of the same things, internet browsing and notes at meetings. I looked through the Galaxy Tab and Asus tabs but kept coming back to the iPad, for some of the reasons Connector mentions, so I ended up getting iPad 2 16gb..

16gigs isn't too small for browsing and stuff. Well, I haven't reached that point yet, atleast

Otherwise, I was kind of intrigued by the Galaxy Tab.

 

Anyone have anything good to say about the Nexus 7? I'm looking for a cheaper, low end tablet. I liked the sound of the Kindle Fire at first, mainly for its price tag, but after reading a few reviews I wasn't convinced about its performance.

 

It was just announced today, out in July. I don't think anyone has had hands on with it. I didn't see anything about a hands-on at Engadget.

 

I'd go against the idea buying an iPad personally the browsing experience is just a lot better on Android because of flash, swype and reflow in the browser. iPads also way to limited with the filesystem in my opinion.

I haven't seen the new nexus tablet yet but I know it's probably going to be similar to the kindle fire the one thing that would put me off buying one myself is the storage space unless it has microSD which I don't think it does it's useless to me.

 

I think the Nexus 7 is the tablet I've been waiting for. I'll likely get it the day it's released. It'll be a nice upgrade in a way for my iPod touch, which has been getting blown off more and more by Apple and the Apple community (reviewers, tech sites, etc), as if so-called highend devices like iPhone and iPad are all that matter. Whatevs... But yeah. I'm very excited about it.

 

A tablet has to be 7 inches to really be portable, in my opinion. But that just my opinion. I can place a 7 inch tablet into certain types of pockets. A 10 inch tablet, no chance. I would never take my iPad out of the house, to work or school or anywhere. It's not conveniently portable enough, but also its too expensive to feel safe carrying it around in public.

So there are advantages to a non-Apple tablet. I own an iPad, mind you. I bought a Amazon Fire, but it's a horrible piece of tech that I could not recommend to anyone. For some of the things I like to do with web browsing devices, a lack of Flash support is a huge turnoff. I probably would not buy a 10 inch Android tablet though.

Actually, I don't think a NetBook is a bad option over a 10 inch tablet. I bought a really nice NetBook for around $300. Dual Core Processor, 11.6 inch screen, Radeon HD graphics card, 4 GB of RAM, 250 GB HDD, 7-hour battery. In many ways, it's better than an iPad and half the price. Pretty much equally as portable too

 

If you can wait a bit, the Nexus 7. It's a Google product so it will receive the updates in time (as a former Android user, I was mad about the manufacturers' delay to update, like Samsung and Motorola). It's quad core and will cost USD 200.

The problem with Android tablets nowadays is the few tablet-optimized apps, maybe this will change. I love the 7' form size - I use my iPad for work daily and it gets tiresome, while I can use my work colleagues' 7-inchers Samsungs with 1 hand and it's much better to carry around (specifically, carrying it around with my hand since I have to walk a lot in my work). The thing I like about the 9.7 inch screen (besides gaming) is taking notes on my postgraduate classes (but I do use a stylus and Noteshelf, a very polished piece of software). When I use Pages (regular word processor), I guess a 7-incher would be okay for note taking too, since on portrait (when the keyboard gets smaller, I guess the size of a 7-inch in landscape) I can also type just fine on the iPad, but not as fast.

I also like the 9.7 screen for netflix, but for youtube 7 is good enough.

But the current 'best Android tablet' imo (the Samsung 7.7) is still on 3.2 and very expensive. The Kindle Fire uses a very modified version of the *cellphone* android version (2.3 I think), so if you can't wait and wanna go cheap, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (which comes with the more recent 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich) would be my choice for now. I'd wait for the Nexus tho.

 

I agree with you in most of what you said I prefer tablets about 7 inches or so myself but I just can't live with something as limited as 16gb so I don't even consider something without microSD (just to show my mindset I have a 32gb card even in my ereader and I'm considering a 64gb sdxc card for my phone).

I agree with the netbook thing as well I still use mine a lot and I'm pretty sure I would have broken a tablet long ago it's gets quite rough treatment and is still working like a champ.

 

Yeah, after Google did their release of this new 7" tablet, I thought, yeah this would be great for you, but just remember all of the rumours of a new ipad coming out this year with the same 7 inch size. But yikes the memory of only 8 and 16 gb, that is so sad. Hope they have an sd card interface for sure, but I wonder even if it did, could you install programs on it?

So who knows, everyday the market changes, but one thing that stays the same is that I have my new ipad retina now, and it is making me happy now.

But I hope google is successful and microsoft too. The more the merrier, so the next time I have to choose a tablet, I will be able to pick the best one.

 

I think weight and size is lot better for holding with 7" but it's definitely a personal thing.

I've also found typing is a whole lot easier using swype on Android it basicly lets you keep your finger on the screen and draw to the next letter all the time it's suggesting words you can pick, it's actually pretty amazing how much faster I can write now. So using swype I think the smaller the screen the faster you can actually write something.