Diversity on Android? Not anymore...

[mgmueller]

Some (especially Apple fanboys) may have considered it a weakness.
But I always found the diversity of Android units a huge advantage.
HTC Flyer for example has enormous differences to Samsung Galaxy Tab 7".
But this seems to have ended with Honeycomb.
Motorola Xoom and Acer Iconia for example are extremely similar.
I find the display of Xoom slightly better. And of course there are some minor differences, like placement of the volume buttons and such.
But basically, they're pretty much the same.
Meaning: It doesn't make too much sense, buying 3 different 10" Honeycomb tablets for example. May not be important for many, most probably go for a single unit and the similarities might make the choice even easier.
But I find it disappointing. I really was looking forward to the new Samsung Galaxy Tabs (8.9" and 10.1"). But now I don't even know whether I want it anymore.
Well, at least the HP touchpad is entirely different...

[RockdaMan]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

Motorola Xoom and Acer Iconia for example are extremely similar.

Oh no.

if you had never seen another Android tablet, the A500 looks pretty decent. But put next to the Xoom, Transformer, and especially the Galaxy Tab 10.1, the Iconia looks cheaply designed and even more cheaply made. Which is fine, actually - I feel that way about most Acer laptops, but the problem here then becomes price. At $379, it’s fantastic. $399 is a very fair price for it. At $449, it’s a less enthusing proposition.

$50 more gets you a Galaxy Tab 10.1, a smaller and much thinner device that has significantly better hardware design, gets better battery life, and has a similarly good screen. The Samsung is probably the only tablet that on a design level can match up to the iPad 2, so in my mind it’s worth the extra $50 for the hardware alone.

And on the lower end, there’s the $399 Eee Transformer. The Transformer is solid, you get the same specs and better battery life, along with an IPS display for less money. You lose the aluminum chassis, but the plastic-bodied ASUS still feels more solid than the Iconia. In addition, you get the option of the laptop-style keyboard dock, which adds some versatility to the platform.

MacMall’s $379 sale for the Iconia was a great price, and I think if Acer were to cut $50 off the Iconia’s MSRP, it’d be very competitive.

Wait. Who had it on sale?

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4454/a...nia-tab-a500/9

[ac9ts]

The Flyer and Galaxy Tab only looked different due to the launcher that each company put over the top of the Android OS (Sense vs. TouchWiz). Underneath, the OS was the same. It's the same with Honeycomb. Honeycomb is Honeycomb just like iOS is iOS. The core OS is the same and each vendor may (or may not) add a launcher. The bigger differences will be with the hardware connectivity. The new tablets offer various ports (or none) to fit individual user needs. An iPad is an iPad.

[=X=]

I'm just not settings it while tables aren't radically different, they are quite different. The xoom, galaxy, transformer, thrive all have different features that will attract different users. Then you also have SONY who has yet to release the S1 and S2.

On the smaller tablets 7"/8" you have the Ausus, Flyer, Vizo, Galaxy , that all will have different form factors.


The only commonality is that skin are not happening, but I think that is a good thing.

Ironically you mention the HP but according to several reviewers it look a lot like iPad. I'm thinking you might want to wait for a Windows tablet if you want a different form factor.

[Marseille]

I agree with the OP that diversity is good. One size fits none. Not sure I agree that diversity is disappearing.

Transformer especially doesn't feel homogeneous. The Atrix isn't honeycomb, but I hear there's a similar concept in the oven. I look forward to seeing what differentiation Amazon has planned as well.

Originally Posted by =X=

The only commonality is that skin are not happening, but I think that is a good thing.

I don't think skinning was ever a problem, just baking new UI's into the OS created issues. Running them on top, like SPB Mobileshell is an option I'd like to have.

[AnemicOak]

I think as things go on we'll see more and more differences in the various tablets brought out. While I do see differences in Xoom, Iconia, etc. I can also see what you mean about similarities (as far as someone buying more than one of the current Honeycomb tabs) and I think some of that has to do with companies trying to get something out fairly quickly. This usually happens a lot during the first generation and things get more diverse in future generations.