Anyone else dislikes tablets - all tablets?

[piperclassique]

I have a 2013 Google Nexus 7, and an iPad Retina Mini. I certainly don't find that Android has any particular advantage over iOS when it comes to software. What particular areas did you have in mind?

Don't know about the rest of you, but Swype has revolutionised typing for me. AFAIK it is only available for android, and it speeds up typing to the extent that I hardly ever use a standard keyboard. I touch type, not very fast, but although swype means I have to look at the keypad, it is still faster for me. Oh, that is on either the galaxy tab, or the note, where I do use a stylus.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

An earlier poster said that with the exception of a larger screen, he sees no benefit over Smartphones, but the larger screen is the key difference. I struggle to read on a phone screen; the larger screen of the tablet is what makes it feasible to read on.

For me it is the other way around. I struggle to read on a tablet since the convenient reading distance works bad both with glasses and without. The phone works perfectly holding it near the eyes and reading without glasses. So I can wait a while before getting special reading glasses :-)

[tubemonkey]

Smartphones have portability going for them, but tablets have much larger displays and are substantially cheaper for the same feature set.

[frahse]

I use a "regular" computer as much as possible. Desktop or laptop including reading or browsing.
Only when a "pc" is not available do I use an e-Reader, a tablet or a phone.

The big difference over what I do these days as compared to 10 or 15 years ago is to use a laser mouse. Don't have to do "mouse ball" maintenance anymore.

Also I use a separate mouse for my laptop.

With my "typist" keyboard, and my wireless mouse, I am a veritable "whiz."

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by frahse

I use a "regular" computer as much as possible. Desktop or laptop including reading or browsing.
Only when a "pc" is not available do I use an e-Reader, a tablet or a phone.

The big difference over what I do these days as compared to 10 or 15 years ago is to use a laser mouse. Don't have to do "mouse ball" maintenance anymore.

Also I use a separate mouse for my laptop.

With my "typist" keyboard, and my wireless mouse, I am a veritable "whiz."

I use a separate keyboard and mouse for my laptop...

But I really don't like to read books from my PC and my laptop is even way too heavy (3.5kg) to read comfortably on my lap.... Or even to use for some internet browsing... That's why I really prefer my tablet.

[DiapDealer]

I use my PC for document creation/editing and for programming/debugging. Pretty-much everything else is done on a tablet. I used to have a laptop, but I was just never comfortable with the whole 'lap' scenario. So I invariably had to get up and go to where my portable laptop was permanently set up. And since I do nothing typing-intensive away from home, the "laptop" became pretty pointless as a concept for me.

[AnotherCat]

Has anyone tried reading on one of the new Samsung small tablets that have just come on the market with emissive (AMOLED) screens (with tough gorilla glass too)?

I would be interested in any feedback on that (I have happily used AMOLED on phones for some years now)

Originally Posted by piperclassique

Don't know about the rest of you, but Swype has revolutionised typing for me. AFAIK it is only available for android...

I agree, Swype is worth giving a try.

Swype is also available for Nokia's Symbian (and their little used Meego too) and if I recall correctly Swype's first appearance was on Symbian. But, of course, that was limited to phones and Symbian is now recently discontinued. However, there are still tens (hundreds?) of millions of Symbian phones around (I still use one, mainly because it meets my personal preferences of having one of the best cameras on a phone available and its small form factor).

My own personal experience was that in earlier Symbian days I found Swype to be my preference, but as Symbian developed their keyboard and its associated software auto-prompting word completions the standard keyboard became easiest to use. But that just a personal preference and, as said, I would go along with the suggestion that Swype is worth trying.

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

I use a separate keyboard and mouse for my laptop...

But I really don't like to read books from my PC and my laptop is even way too heavy (3.5kg) to read comfortably on my lap.... Or even to use for some internet browsing... That's why I really prefer my tablet.

I use a separate keyboard and mouse as well. Can't live long without before irritability sets in.

Sometimes I read on my PC or laptop, although not on my lap. Non fiction I read on my laptop or desktop mainly, as I read much faster. When I lost my first ereader for a few days, I put my laptop on my nightstand and used an app that allowed me to page forward with the spacebar. Not as comfortable as reading in bed with my ereader, but for me better than paper or tablet.

Helen

[DMcCunney]

I recently got an Android tablet. Midwestern computer retailer MicroCenter is expanding, and they opened locations in Brooklyn and Queens in NYC. A grand opening promotional flyer turned up in my mailbox, with a coupon for a 7" Android tablet for $20. The Brooklyn location is a subway ride away for me.

The device is an Azpen A727, running Android 4.2 Jellybean. Azpen is Yet Another Chinese Consumer Electronics Manufacturer targeting the budget market, and MicroCenter is a channel partner. The specs are low end - 7" 800x480 screen, dual-core 1.5ghz ARM Cortex 7 CPU, 512MB RAM and 4GB internal flash storage, but for $20 it was a no brainer impulse purchase. I viewed it as a teaching device to learn more about Android, and be better positioned for the sort of unit I want down the road. I plugged in a 16GB microSD card (recently replaced by a 32GB card) and started fiddling

The primary use case was eBook viewer, and it's just dandy for that. I use the open source FBReaderJ program as the viewer. I use FBReader under Windows and Linux as an eBook viewer, because it handle ePub, Mobi, FB2, and (in a particular win for me) Plucker files, so I can read the thousands I accumulated on something other than my Palm PDA. The Android version is a port from C to Java. I doesn't handle Plucker files, but does do both ePub and Mobi, so I'm spared the need to do Calibre conversions to read stuff.

FBReaderJ offers considerable control over how things are displayed, with selectable fonts, font sizes, line spacing and margins, so getting a readable display was no problem. There's an image view mode activated by a long press on the image, that lets you view the image stand alone and expand, contract, and pan via gesture.

Books are selectable by author's name, title, tag, or series, with a user configurable Favorites list, and a Recently Viewed list. (My one wish is a Recently Added list.)

There are about 7GB worth of books on the SD, with MobileRead editions in abundance. :-) (I am extravagantly fond of the work pynch has been doing. The illustrated Shakespeare, Complete James Joyce and Complete Virginia Woolf collections are treasures.)

But since it is a general purpose tablet, I've been exploring what else it will do. I use Gmail as my primary email account, and am active on Google+, so the Google apps for Android got added. I'm also making increasing use of Google Docs and Sheets and keep an assortment of things on Google Drive, so the Drive, Docs and Sheets apps went on.

I wanted a text editor, and the open source a920 editor, with tabs and syntax highlighting fills the bill. I also wanted some form of office suite, and originally installed Quick Office. I knew of that from Palm OS, but hadn't known Google bought them and had a free Android version.

The big missing piece was a keyboard. The device FAQ says an external keyboard can't be used. I suspected that was a software restriction in the stock image, that would be lifted by rooting the device. I was correct. The tablet recognized a keyboard was connected, and a Logitech entry appeared in Settings with the option to select a keyboard layout.

They keyboard I'm using is a standard USB keyboard, and the tablet has a microUSB port, so I got a USB->microUSB adapter to let plug it in. After I confirmed the keyboard worked, I got curious. I have a miniature Belkin 4 port USB hub. So I plugged the hub into the adapter, ands plugged the keyboard and a USB mouse into the hub. The tablet saw the mouse, too, and the mouse could be used to do things instead of screen touches.

Firefox gets the nod as browser, with a beta Java version of the VLC media player I use on Windows and Linux for video and audio.

I've had to be fairly ruthless about what I install. while I have a 32GB expansion card, programs can't live there. Applications must be installed to internal storage, which is limited to 767MB. Some apps can be partially moved to an internal 1GB partition seen as SDCARD. Unfortunately, none of the Google apps can. Chrome got uninstalled because it was simply too big. Applications would fail to update because there was insufficient internal storage to do it. Google Earth went away to save space because I wasn't likely to really use it. Quick Office went away because it's now deprecated, and Google prefers you use their Docs and Sheets apps instead. I did for a while, but they've gone way too. I recently installed a free office suite called Kingston Office that seems toi have the basic features I need, and can load from and save to Dropbox and Google Drive. Files to be edited get stored as a local copy, which is good, as I'm not always connected.

Battery life is acceptable. The big drains are screen brightness and wifi, I find the screen perfectly readable with brightness dialed back to about 1/3 of full brightness, and I installed a widget to toggle wifi on and off with a touch, and keep it off unless I specifically need to connect.

What I want down the road is a larger unit with 10" screen, more RAM, and much more application storage space, but in the mean time, what I have has been quite useful, and is certainly worth what I paid for it.
______
Dennis

[Joykins]

I got my iPad for reading--which it's fine for, not as great as a dedicated reader, but perfectly adequate--but I find I really love playing game on it

[Ripplinger]

In the past I was wanting a tablet, only because it's a new toy that I don't have. I honestly can't think of anything I'd use it for. I prefer my desktop PCs for most everything having to do online. I will use my phone for that only when I'm out and really need some info. And I do all my reading on my ereaders since I like reading outdoors a lot, where tablets would be totally useless for me.

So I'm very happy I resisted the brief "gotta have the new toy" impulse buy, I have no interest in (or use for) tablets at all.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by crossi

I've played with iPads in stores and I actually bought a Fire. I find I really dislike the Fire for pretty much everything. The weight seems uncomfortably high for reading and web browsing is awful. Even browsing Amazon's books is bad. Each time I go to the next page of books I need to expand the page again to get the text the right size. I keep selecting a book or other link when all I wanted to to was expand it or scroll and selecting one of two closely spaced links if one is just below the other is frustrating. It took me five tries once to get the right one. I haven't tried an eink reader with a touch screen but if they are as difficult to control as tablets then I probably will avoid them if at all possible. I take the Fire to work occasionally to use during my break but after half an hour of frustration with nothing accomplished I give up and go looking for a free computer terminal. Sorry about the rant but I've about given up on tablets and touch screens and am about ready to toss it as wasted money.

I love them.
Else I wouldn't have bought a few dozen of them.
You're certainly right: Web browsing can be bothersome. Switching back and forth between mobile and PC version of a website. Scrolling endlessly on a small screen....

That's one of the reasons, why I've got more than a single unit.

In principle:

For pure reading, eINK imho can't be beat.
The readers (Kindle Paperwhite, Nook GlowLight, Kobo Aura to name a few) are extremely light. Way lighter than a tablet or even a paperback. Their battery lasts "forever", easily days of constant reading. The displays are fantastic, whether you're in the sun or a dimly lit room.
Personally, I can read fine on a tablet and do so often enough. But if possible, I always take a tablet plus a reader with me, even on a trip or on the train.

For web browsing, tablets are perfect. I clearly prefer them over my MacBook Air.
But the display of the tablet has to be big enough. My MacBook Air is 11". Of course a 6" or even an 8" tablet does have some disadvantages in comparison. But my 10.6" Surface Pro 2 for example blows my MacBook Air out off the water. I can use a mouse or a touchpad and all the tools we've gotten used to on PCs. But the touchscreen in addition simply is brillant.

And:
I'm traveling a lot.
In the past, some 10 years ago, this usually was pretty boring.
My only gadget back then: I've had iPods and the likes and connected them via SCART to the TV. So at least I was able to watch my own shows and movies in the hotel on a business trip or on vacation.
But now, with a single gadget (=tablet), I've got it all:
- Thousands of eBooks with me, all the time. And I even can buy other ones in an instant, Globally, wherever I am.
- Movies and TV shows. Of course I could watch them on my MacBook Air as well. But hooking a tablet via HDMI to the TV in a hotel is a different kind of beast. And again: I can download or stream movies and TV shows for a sheer endless supply.
- Playing games. I'm not into action games. But some brief session of Sudoku, KenKen and such is really great.
- Surfing the web. Agreed, some websites are frustrating, especially on small displays. But for the majority of my websites, there's an app anyway. I love to check new locations in Tripadvisor. Their app works great. I book my hotels in the HRS or booking.com app and so on.
- Last but not least: On most of my tablets, I've got 3G. With the smart tariffs from Telekom, I can surf in a foreign country for a few Euros per days. Some 5 years ago, I've paid more than € 400 in a single week on vacation in Italy. Of course, I can do the same with a surfstick on my MacBook Air. But it's more convenient on a tablet and a PC certainly at least doesn't have an advantage.

Meaning:
I can do all, I need to do to "survive" a week on vacation or a business trip, on a single unit. Some may be a bit of a compromise. But else I'd need 5 different pieces of hardware for at least 3 times the price and weight...

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

In the past I was wanting a tablet, only because it's a new toy that I don't have. I honestly can't think of anything I'd use it for. I prefer my desktop PCs for most everything having to do online. I will use my phone for that only when I'm out and really need some info. And I do all my reading on my ereaders since I like reading outdoors a lot, where tablets would be totally useless for me.

So I'm very happy I resisted the brief "gotta have the new toy" impulse buy, I have no interest in (or use for) tablets at all.

Are you traveling frequently?
I understand, if someone who mainly is at home, doesn't see big advantages in tablets.
Tablets shine as mobile devices. I wouldn't want to do without on a business trip or on vacation.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

...I've had to be fairly ruthless about what I install. while I have a 32GB expansion card, programs can't live there. Applications must be installed to internal storage, which is limited to 767MB. Some apps can be partially moved to an internal 1GB partition seen as SDCARD....Dennis

I understand, you've rooted your tablet?
If so, there are tools in Google Play, to move apps.
You even can delete from ROM and add other apps to ROM.
It's a bit tricky with the 2 kinds of internal storage. Some of those apps recognize the internal 1GB partition (often called "USB" in the settings) as the SD card and ignore the "real" SD card. But like Apple says: There's an app for that. And that's true for Android the same.

Just check for "root" in Google Play and you'll find a few dozen tools (some partially work for un-rooted devices, but rooting for such tasks always is a good choice).

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

Are you traveling frequently?
I understand, if someone who mainly is at home, doesn't see big advantages in tablets.
Tablets shine as mobile devices. I wouldn't want to do without on a business trip or on vacation.

Some folks may remember the "ultra-mobile PCs" that were out a while back.

They were the results of a collaboration between Intel and Microsoft, using Microsoft's Origami as a base. They were essentially tablets.

Intel and Microsoft were attempting to solve a problem: where would growth come from? The PC market was stagnating, and pretty much anyone who could use a PC had one, and new sales were few and far between. There was (and is) still a substantial market for replacements and upgrades, but not enough to generate the growth beloved of the financial markets and keep the stock price in the stratosphere.

Their solution was a whole new platform, which would use Intel chips and run Windows. They were issued by vendors not known for complete systems, like Samsung, Via Technologies, and Asus. They were not offered by people known for laptops like Dell and Toshiba, and had specs rather carefully crafted to make them unsuitable as laptop replacements. (Intel and MS didn't want competition for existing vendors at lower prices.)

The issue they encountered was "If you have a laptop, why would you buy a UMPC?" The answer was "You wouldn't", because they were poor laptop replacements, and Intel/MS didn't provide compelling use cases otherwise.

Apple rethought what a tablet ought to be, provided use cases, and the rest was history.

One of the efforts I'm engaged in is seeing whether a tablet can replace a laptop, with a much smaller and lighter device that is easier to use when traveling. The A727 isn't what I would prefer because of form factor, and for the same reason I have no interest in a smartphone. Too much of what I do simply needs a larger screen than a practical phone can have, and a 7" tablet, while better, is still too small for what I want. It can replace a laptop in a pinch, but requires uncomfortable compromises. My goal down the road is a 10" model with a bigger screen.

A friend bought an iPad, and correctly described it as a media consumption device, with an interface designed to let you select the media you wanted to consume. Tablets are by default essentially half-duplex, with the assumption that data will primarily flow to the device. If you need to create content, things become problematic. I do occasionally need to create content, so an external hardware keyboard is a necessity

I'm not interested in a dedicated reader with an eInk screen because too much of what I do requires color, and that includes eBooks. (For example, volumes on art with color reproductions of paintings don't translate acceptably to B&W.) Nor do I want a device that only views eBooks. I need a multi-function device, as there is a limit to what I'll carry around with me.

I'm finding uses for the tablet I have that more than justify having it, but I don't believe a "one-size-fits-all" device is really possible. The form factor that suits a hand-held reader is unsuitable for other things, and a form factor suitable for the other things climbs out of hand held range.
______
Dennis