8+ Readers in comparison

[HansTWN]

Actually, now I just got Splashtop HD for my Touchpad. That is available for all platforms. And I can say it really rocks, just for fun I made some comparisons watching internet video directly or when connecting to an older laptop (Sony Z series with Core Duo) over the internet, not the local network. And there was almost no difference, with the PC in a location with only 1MB upload speed.

So this really does give you access to all PC programs. Works so much better than I ever imagined it would.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

I wanted to have the 11" for its portability. Quite frankly, I'm not sure anymore whether 13" wouldn't have been the better choice. 11" is big enough, but for Numbers and other apps certainly the lowest limit.
Anyway...
The battery makes about 4 to 5 hours, the usual range for such compact notebooks. Coming from iPad's 10 hours, this seems low at the beginning but I got used to it rather quickly.

Thanks that is exactly why I asked, because I also bought a MBA 11 a few months ago. And a few months later, did exactly what PilotBob is thinking... bought a MacMini.

Are you getting 4 to 5 hours consistently? I need to measure that but I find the battery life being not so good. I was going to change or return or sell and get the bigger one, but really like the size. What kind of programs do you run to get the 4 or 5 hrs you said?

PilotBob, may I suggest buying the 2010 MacMini version? I really dislike the lack of optical drive on the new one. I don't find the differences in CPU a big deal for day to day tasks, like browsing or word processing, even virtual machines.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

Actually, now I just got Splashtop HD for my Touchpad. That is available for all platforms. And I can say it really rocks, just for fun I made some comparisons watching internet video directly or when connecting to an older laptop (Sony Z series with Core Duo) over the internet, not the local network. And there was almost no difference, with the PC in a location with only 1MB upload speed.

So this really does give you access to all PC programs. Works so much better than I ever imagined it would.

I use it on iPad. And LogMeIn Ignition. And Screens.
All work great (I like LogMeIn Ignition best for my needs).
But still I prefer having a keyboard. Tried the Apple bluetooth keyboard of course. But the tablet looses all portability then.
When using a keyboard anyway, MBA is way more convenient and still more portable of course.

BTW: Did you get Splashtop HD from the TouchPad appstore? Or some other source?

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by jocampo

Thanks that is exactly why I asked, because I also bought a MBA 11 a few months ago. And a few months later, did exactly what PilotBob is thinking... bought a MacMini.

Are you getting 4 to 5 hours consistently? I need to measure that but I find the battery life being not so good. I was going to change or return or sell and get the bigger one, but really like the size. What kind of programs do you run to get the 4 or 5 hrs you said?

PilotBob, may I suggest buying the 2010 MacMini version? I really dislike the lack of optical drive on the new one. I don't find the differences in CPU a big deal for day to day tasks, like browsing or word processing, even virtual machines.

As you got your MBA for a few months already, it probably is the predecessor of the most recent one. I've read somewhere, the newer one would have a 30% more powerful battery. This might explain some 2 hours of additional battery duration.

My battery duration on MBA is quite stable 4 hours plus.
I mainly use office apps (numbers and keynote) or surf the web via Safari or control my other systems remotely.
But I agree: Battery duration of MBA is far from perfect. I guess we're spoiled by the 10 hours most tablets do...

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

I use it on iPad. And LogMeIn Ignition. And Screens.
All work great (I like LogMeIn Ignition best for my needs).
But still I prefer having a keyboard. Tried the Apple bluetooth keyboard of course. But the tablet looses all portability then.
When using a keyboard anyway, MBA is way more convenient and still more portable of course.

BTW: Did you get Splashtop HD from the TouchPad appstore? Or some other source?

From the US app store.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

As you got your MBA for a few months already, it probably is the predecessor of the most recent one. I've read somewhere, the newer one would have a 30% more powerful battery. This might explain some 2 hours of additional battery duration.

My battery duration on MBA is quite stable 4 hours plus.
I mainly use office apps (numbers and keynote) or surf the web via Safari or control my other systems remotely.
But I agree: Battery duration of MBA is far from perfect. I guess we're spoiled by the 10 hours most tablets do...

Hmmm... not sure what you mean with the predecessor. Mine is the most recent one. In other words, the 2011 model. Maybe is because I'm comparing to my iPad 2, a psychological factor?

I will try to measure battery life in a more scientific way. But still I find the battery life not the greatest, in my humble opinion and especially based on the price tag

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by jocampo

Hmmm... not sure what you mean with the predecessor. Mine is the most recent one. In other words, the 2011 model. Maybe is because I'm comparing to my iPad 2, a psychological factor?

I will try to measure battery life in a more scientific way. But still I find the battery life not the greatest, in my humble opinion and especially based on the price tag

I don't know when the "new" one has been launched. I thought it's very recent, maybe 2 months.
If you've got the some model as me (got mine about 5 weeks ago), you easily should have 4 hours +.
That's far from perfect, especially compared to the 10 hours + of most recent tablets. But I guess it's absolutely okay for a notebook, especially considering its size and speed.
I'll try do do some measurements in the next 2 weeks.

[jocampo]

Thanks mg

I think I'm getting around 4 hrs but because I close it and open it during the day, difficult to measure or calculate if I'm not writing down the time while using it and adding it up. I will try though ...

[mgmueller]

Not reader related.
But I briefly wanted to share a spectacular experience:
I already knew, that Apple's iCloud allows for downloads of former purchases. Often you even can download items, which aren't available in the appstore anymore. Was able to restore 2 iBooks that way.
And I knew, that step by step Apple adds TV shows as well.

What I DID NOT know, until I yesterday found out by accident: You can stream your former purchases.
Meaning: I don't have to worry about my >10 external harddisks that much anymore. I either can share my content within my home-network. Or I simply can scroll my former purchases on Apple's servers and watch "on the fly", streaming without downloading.
Apple didn't allow to use my old account, which was cancelled by Apple because I had bought a stolen gift card via eBay. But I totally understand, streaming of course means enormous effort for Apple and only is allowed for "valid" purchases. No problem for me, 99% of my content still are freely accessible.
For now, only a small percentage of my purchases is already available. Most of the times, it's only the most recent season of TV shows, not the older ones.
But I guess, this is just a matter of time. And I guess, movies will be available soon as well.
Absolutely great! Very positive surprise. And for me, this definitely is the end of all physical media: No more paper books, DVDs, Blue-Rays, ...

[rhari79]

According to the Blackberry DevCon, major improvements coming to the Playbook.
I just placed an order for one in ebay. Hope i can get it, safe and in one piece!!

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by rhari79

According to the Blackberry DevCon, major improvements coming to the Playbook.
I just placed an order for one in ebay. Hope i can get it, safe and in one piece!!

I'm looking forward to this.
Maybe PlayBook then gets the attention it deserves. And I really hope, it never will take the ugly end of HP TouchPad.
But personally, I don't even need those updates that urgently. I already love my PlayBook and still have it on every business trip. I'd love for more apps, but even as a sole reader (99% of the time I only use the Kobo app on it) it's good enough...

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

I'm looking forward to this.
Maybe PlayBook then gets the attention it deserves. And I really hope, it never will take the ugly end of HP TouchPad.
But personally, I don't even need those updates that urgently. I already love my PlayBook and still have it on every business trip. I'd love for more apps, but even as a sole reader (99% of the time I only use the Kobo app on it) it's good enough...

People sometimes get fixed on the "newest and shiniest", that they don't appreciate what they already have. It's the same with the Flyer. Everybody is complaining it doesn't have Honeycomb, but "only" 2.3.4. But they ignore that fact that it is working perfectly on the 2.3.4. (the only reason why I want Honeycomb is because the pen will work on any application, and not just on a few).

[mgmueller]

Just saw the Sony and Toshiba tablets in Media Markt and Saturn, 2 of the bigger German electronic retailers.
Hmmmmm....
The Toshiba is somewhat similar to Motorola Xoom. It's okay, but I would have bought maybe a year ago. Now it seems somewhat dated. Just checked the web: This really was the Thrive. Wow. Would have expected more from Toshiba.
The Sony certainly has an interesting form factor. But I found it unsatisfyingly cheap. Actually, with only € 450 to € 500 it IS cheap. For the price it may be okay, but I easily could resist. In my opinion, the price directly is reflected in the "touch and feel" = "plasticky".
I saw the Samsung 8.9" as well. Nice. Very well built. But I don't like the form factor. For smaller tablets, I clearly prefer 16:9 over 4:3.
And I saw the LG tablet. Wow. This one I liked. But it was € 850, whereas I can have it for € 550 to € 650 via Amazon. The form factor, 16:9 I guess, is extremely appealing to me. And it's extremely well built, almost iPad quality I'd say. I don't like the 3D nonsense, though. So I'm not quite sure yet, whether I'll go for it.

If I check out all the tablets in Media Markt (about 10 different ones I guess), it becomes pretty obvious: Majority of the manufacturers aims for a price point in the range of € 400 for a 10" tablet with 32GB.
Personally, I don't like this development. Yes, it may increase the number of tablets and this possibly may influence the number of apps. But I'd really wish for more quality. After all, most of us will use their tablet for 2 or maybe 3 years. Over a usage period of, let's say, 3000 hours: Do € 100 price difference really matter?
I understand: A lot of people may say, € 100 makes the difference, whether they actually can afford it. Granted. There obviously is a demand for some entry models.
But still: Personally, I'm absolutely willing to pay, let's say, € 200 more (that's still way below € 1000, that I've paid for my PDAs about 9 years ago) for a quality product. Instead, I only bought a Pizza today. € 9 well spent.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

Instead, I only bought a Pizza today. € 9 well spent.

Ah, but that pizza won't last you 2 to 3 years either!


I can see your point, but, at this time and age, people need to find out first if they really need/want a tablet. You can have some perfectly made tablets, that are also expensive, that nobody will want to buy because they won't know if the device is worth the price. I think once the market stabilizes, you'll get more variety in quality (and thus price). The cheaper tablets for the occasional user and the more expensive tablets for the heavy users.

You can also see this in the laptop business. There was a time when laptops were generally at least twice as expensive as PC's, then the price dropped to about half the price of a PC and now you have cheap, lowly-specced laptops that are almost given away and expensive, high-end laptops that are mostly used in business settings (such as the laptop I'm working on right now...)

As long as the majority of the target-group is the average consumer, the quality won't be the highest but the price will also be not a jackpot...

[johndoesecond]

Ho mgmueller,

Did you have a chance to have a look at Galaxy note?

I remember you liked Streak. This one seems to be a better and faster machine with more or less similar form factor.