"Samsung, Apple dominate tablet market as shipments plunge" (Amazon rises)

[barryem]

I have a Lenovo 10" tablet with a full HD display that I like a lot. I don't care for a tablet as an ereader but it's a pretty nice tablet. It does have flakey Wifi. It works well occasionally but usually I have to play with it a bit to get it to work. It's always eventually worked.

Other than that It's an excellent tablet and the Wifi, in my situation, is a minor issue. It has an excellent screen.

I wasn't aware that Samsung had exploding washing machines. That seems rather strange. What makes a washing machine explode? Still, Samsung is a giant company that probably makes more different devices than almost anyone else so it's not too surprising they've had 2 problems over the years.

I've been shopping for a new phone and the Galaxy S7 is about as close as I can find to my needs. I've been hesitating to get it because I currently have a Nexus 5 that's totally Google's Android with no overlays and I'm spoiled. I've used Samsung devices in the past and I didn't really mind their heavy overlays but, again, I'm spoiled now. But my guess is I'll end up getting the S7. The problems with the Note 7 don't bother me. And I doubt I'll wash clothes with it so I'm probably safe there too.

I was Kind of hopeful about the 5" Pixel but it seems to be getting poor battery life which is the only reason I want to get rid of the Nexus. Other than that it's a fine phone.

These tech companies, all companies really, make a LOT of products and it's to be expected that now and then one will have a problem. But name brand products generally don't give us much to be afraid of. We're pretty safe choosing based on their benefits without digging too much into potential dangers.

Barry

[frahse]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

My understanding is that Lenovo acquired IBM's PC business at some point after 2001 (post-9/11), and that scoring the ThinkPad gave an intentional boost to Lenovo's already stellar rep.

It's certainly possible that after it acquired IBM's computing division, Lenovo kept many of the original offices and teams intact. The two companies are still inextricable.

I like a lot of what Lenovo makes, but in my experience, the ThinkPad's quality of old isn't there any more, especially where the keyboard is concerned. But perhaps I used a recent model with more compromises than the rest, or perhaps there's no market for the keyboards I once loved.

My beloved Dell "Typist" Keyboard originally bought for a Desktop in 1998 has died, and I have never found even an near equivalent in quality and feel.

The ThinkPad was very good, I admit. I remember them being around 5 or 6 thousand dollars when a buck was still close to being a buck and people gathering around in First Class to see the latest.

[frahse]

Here, think and dream of excellence past:

Thinkpad


.

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by barryem

I have a Lenovo 10" tablet with a full HD display that I like a lot. I don't care for a tablet as an ereader but it's a pretty nice tablet. It does have flakey Wifi. It works well occasionally but usually I have to play with it a bit to get it to work. It's always eventually worked.Barry

Other than that It's an excellent tablet and the Wifi, in my situation, is a minor issue. It has an excellent screen.Barry

My Lenovo tablet (an A10-70) has been rock solid no problems at all. I liked it so much when my wife decided she wanted an 8 inch tablet, I got her a Lenovo. To be honest, my experience with these two tablets, and my desktop has made me feel better about the Motorola purchase!

Originally Posted by barryem

I wasn't aware that Samsung had exploding washing machines. That seems rather strange. What makes a washing machine explode? Still, Samsung is a giant company that probably makes more different devices than almost anyone else so it's not too surprising they've had 2 problems over the years.
Barry

Well, technically, they don't explode, the top merely separates from the base. I assume it is a vibration issue. I used to sell major appliances at a Woolco back in the 1970's when I was in college. The cheapest washing machines had cement building blocks bolted into the body of the washer to act as a dampening device.

Some people chose to save the $10 set up and delivery fee and do that themselves, I don't know how many users actually removed those cement blocks (after we WARNED them!) and then called us when the washing machine either fell on its side or walked across their laundry room when they turned it on!

This probably has nothing to do with those high end Samsung washing machines, but you can't underestimate the sheer lunacy of a consumer too proud to listen to the sales person.

[barryem]

I hate to tell you this but I always ignore the sales people's suggestions. I've heard too much lunacy from them over the years. Once, between programming jobs, I worked for a couple months in a computer store. I was the only one in the entire store, from the manager on down, who knew how to use a word processor or format a floppy or copy a file. These guys were salesmen and they were trained to turn the computer on, demonstrate MS-DOS and loading programs, etc. None of them could use a single program. While I was there I did teach them all how to play Sopwith. None of them knew how to play any other game. Of course this was in the days before most people ever saw a computer.

While shopping in stores I've often overheard people asking sales clerks basic questions and getting inane answers. For example, I overheard a clerk telling a customer that the internet was unreliable because portions of the things that were sent over it kept getting lost. That just doesn't happen and never did. Error correction was always part of the internet. I interrupted and tried to explain to the customer. Both the customer and the clerk told me to mind my own business. So I did.

Sorry but clerks are notoriously unreliable. If you had sold me a washing machine and given me that advice I probably would have looked for confirmation. If I didn't find it I would have screwed it up. And you'd be at fault for being a clerk.

Barry

[Froide]

Originally Posted by barryem

I wasn't aware that Samsung had exploding washing machines. That seems rather strange. What makes a washing machine explode? Still, Samsung is a giant company that probably makes more different devices than almost anyone else so it's not too surprising they've had 2 problems over the years.

Barryem, Samsung has had far more than just "2 problems over the years". In addition to the issues mentioned by previous posters, a Samsung Galaxy J5 phone caught fire on November 6, 2016, in France, and multiple earlier Samsung smartphone models - or their batteries - have either caught fire over the past few years, or overheated and caused nearby flammable material to ignite (such as this SGS3 in June 2012, which at the time "[was]n't the first smartphone that caught on fire"). Sadly for Samsung, many of the news reports cautioning people not to sleep with their smartphones either plugged in or placed in, under, or near their beds (such as this report dated August 9, 2014) cite as cautionary examples mishaps with Samsung devices.

Originally Posted by barryem

I've been shopping for a new phone and the Galaxy S7 is about as close as I can find to my needs. I've been hesitating to get it because I currently have a Nexus 5 that's totally Google's Android with no overlays and I'm spoiled. I've used Samsung devices in the past and I didn't really mind their heavy overlays but, again, I'm spoiled now. But my guess is I'll end up getting the S7. The problems with the Note 7 don't bother me. And I doubt I'll wash clothes with it so I'm probably safe there too.

As previously stated, if you buy one, please protect yourself by erring on the side of caution: keep it away from your bed, and don't charge it unattended.

I have a SGS7. I upgraded to it at my local Best Buy this April by trading in my SGS4 and paying $1. Although I appreciate the new smartphone's bigger screen size and its roomier internal storage, I'd planned to trade it in for a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 until the incendiary news broke about those phablets AND their replacements.

Why the desire to defect? The SGS7 Edge and the SGS7 - mine included - notoriously drop Wi-Fi signals (see #6 on this list), and the native messaging app only selectively receives and transmits shortcodes, without rhyme or reason as to which shortcodes work or don't work. Neither Samsung nor Sprint PCS has been able to fix those annoying problems, which I never experienced with the SGS4.

[trocchietto]

Originally Posted by frahse

On a personal front, my wife uses a Amazon Fire for most of her digital reading. I think most of mine is on a 11.6" Chromebook because it is very handy and so I have updated my profile to reflect that. (I just don't seem to be able to stop using a mouse though I have now adopted a small "wireless" one.)

In general though,

"Samsung, Apple dominate tablet market as shipments plunge" (Amazon rises)

.

no mouse, better shortcuts on the keyboard, how much tension in in the middle of the back.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by barryem

I've been shopping for a new phone and the Galaxy S7 is about as close as I can find to my needs. I've been hesitating to get it because I currently have a Nexus 5 that's totally Google's Android with no overlays and I'm spoiled. I've used Samsung devices in the past and I didn't really mind their heavy overlays but, again, I'm spoiled now. But my guess is I'll end up getting the S7.

Barry, if you just want the larger screen, what about the Nexus 6, Nexus 6p or Pixel XL? I'm as spoiled by vanilla Android as you and couldn't see going back to Samsung for any reason, aside from their current risk to life and limb. (I haven't followed Pixel XL's battery life, but I would assume it has the same issues as the Pixel.)

I wonder how much of the battery issue is due to kinks in Nougat? I'm still rocking Marshmallow (thanks for nothing, Verizon!) and I don't have battery issues.

[Prestidigitweeze]

Originally Posted by barryem

But my guess is I'll end up getting the S7. The problems with the Note 7 don't bother me. And I doubt I'll wash clothes with it so I'm probably safe there too.

Personally, I'd choose the V20, but that's because of the audiophile upgrades, removable battery, uncrippled root path and solid frame.

I was stupid enough to buy two Note 7s during BestBuy's buy-one-get-one sale. (Early adoption? Never again.) Returning them twice was a month-long continually looping nightmare, esp. since I had to fly during the first recall and my girlfriend's Note 7 was stolen just before the second.

However, the eventual perks were so spectacular that I hesitate to list them on the internet for fear they'll be taken away. I've never reaped proportional benefits like that before in my life -- not for buying an electronic device, at least. They effectively reimbursed me for both phones after I consented to exchange the second round for S7 edges (the stolen phone was insured), gave me two 256GB cards and a GearFit2, and let me keep my original rebate for the second phone in the form of a prepaid credit card. And Verizon gave me a hundred-dollar credit on my bill for each separate phone.

Amazon, UAG and Spigen all credited the accessories I bought or replaced them with new ones that fit my S7s. Monetarily and medically, things could have gone far worse.

The Note 7 was rushed to market by someone who no longer works for Samsung. Mine was was a joy to use until I learned it was a pocket landmine. If the S7 Edge, which was brought out correctly, were likely to explode, we'd have seen cases of that in April. It's no more likely to combust than any other phone with a lithium battery (though all of them run that risk).

Still, I'd have exchanged my Notes for two V20s if they'd been available and the perks for the Edges hadn't been stupefyingly good.

[Fiat_Lux]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I'm kind of surprised shipping companies will even allow their products on board their ships any more!

If the goods are shipped in a container, the device can explode with no damage to the carrier. What happens to the other goods in the container is not the carrier's responsibility.

Amber

[Prestidigitweeze]

Originally Posted by Froide

The SGS7 Edge and the SGS7 - mine included - notoriously drop Wi-Fi signals (see #6 on this list), and the native messaging app only selectively receives and transmits shortcodes, without rhyme or reason as to which shortcodes work or don't work. Neither Samsung nor Sprint PCS has been able to fix those annoying problems, which I never experienced with the SGS4.

Thanks for all of the homework, descriptions and links. Much appreciated.

I've never used Samsung's messaging app in my life (I use Signal as my default) and haven't experienced any of the other issues on your list (such as WiFi) except one: the absurd autoreplace choices. Commas are nearly always displaced unless you add them by speaking. Then again, I've found my iPad Air's choices to be worse in many ways.

[Barty]

Samsung has a very dominant positron and they have a large lineup, so they'll be fine. If the top of the line HTC phone had exploded, they'd be toast.

I have a Samsung tablet. The hardware is fine, but I hate touchwiz. Luckily, there are other ROMs available although some hardware functions are not supported.

[Prestidigitweeze]

Originally Posted by Barty

The hardware is fine, but I hate touchwiz. Luckily, there are other ROMs available although some hardware functions are not supported.

And of course there are alternatives like Nova for people who don't root. Truthfully, I use Nova with ROMs as well.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

Personally, I'd choose the V20, but that's because of the audiophile upgrades, removable battery, uncrippled root path and solid frame.

Very interesting. I might be upgrading my phone after all. When the Note 7 (which I thought I wanted) was announced officially I was a little bit let down. There was absolutely nothing about the specs that made it any better than the S7 or S7Edge. Okay, the stick maybe . I think I am even getting tired of OLED - beautiful looking when new and with true blacks, but we are back to screen burn-in. On my Note4 I recently switched to the Samsung stock browser after using Chrome for way too long. Guess what? Now that browsing goes full screen I see a "bra-line" on the top of the screen. Perfect white where the status bar used to be with Chrome and yellowish brown tinted off white below.