8+ Readers in comparison

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

You mean the physical keyboard (type cover, for example), not the onscreen keyboard?

Yes, I meant the physical keyboard. I know I could use a larger Bluetooth keyboard, but that then rather defeats the idea of a small, highly-portable device.

[grndslm]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Yes, I meant the physical keyboard. I know I could use a larger Bluetooth keyboard, but that then rather defeats the idea of a small, highly-portable device.

There are a ton of covers with built-in builtooth keyboard no. So it's still portable. A keyboard does not need to be as thick as a laptop. It needs to be as thick as a cover.

A cover/case dealy with keyboard is still portable and provides REAL input capabilities, so the tablet is not "just a consumption device".

And I'll agree with mgmueller that the 8" range of tablets are PERFECT. 7" is hardly any bigger than a phone. The Samsung Mega looks nearly the same as all the 7" tablets I've seen. And the 10" tablets are *way* too big, heavy, awkward. Not sure about 9", but I really don't think it can get much better than 8" for me. Now.... how would a cover/case with built-in keyboard work on an 8" tablet? I have no idea, but I'm sure I could manage.

I will disagree with mgmueller that Windows 8 Surface tablets would provide a better experience than the Samsung Note 8.0, however. And I do think it'd be worth his time to try one out. But ya know... to each his own. He said he uses the Surface tablet for mostly the same thing he uses on his Android tablets. But he wants an 8" tablet with a wacom pen? Umm... that's the Note 8.0, but with a legitimate operating system and app ecosystem that's been designed around finger presses for, oh, quite a few more years than Microsoft has.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by grndslm

Umm... that's the Note 8.0, but with a legitimate operating system and app ecosystem that's been designed around finger presses for, oh, quite a few more years than Microsoft has.

I'm not sure that really means anything. If you don't like Windows 8, that's fine... but the fact that it is newer doesn't mean it's not as good. In many cases it means that they had more hind sight to design something without the baggage.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by grndslm

...with a legitimate operating system and app ecosystem that's been designed around finger presses for, oh, quite a few more years than Microsoft has.

You're kidding, right?
Without wanting to defend Microsoft: Windows XP did have touch support and outstanding handwriting recognition more than 8 years ago already.
I've had an excellent touchscreen tablet from Fujitsu in 2006. It simply didn't become an immediate success because of lack of games and other consumption products. But as a tablet it was outstanding.
But then again, this never was relevant for the success of a platform.
BlackBerry PlayBook and HP TouchPad both did have superior OSs. Superior to iOS - and Android as well. Both disappeared from the market rather quickly. Simple explanation: Majority of (potential) buyers wants their Angry Birds and the likes.
The success of a platform doesn't depend on the quality of the OS, but number of apps available. "Apps" unfortunately mainly being games and other none-prefessional stuff.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by grndslm

...He said he uses the Surface tablet for mostly the same thing he uses on his Android tablets. But he wants an 8" tablet with a wacom pen? Umm... that's the Note 8.0, but with a legitimate operating system and app ecosystem that's been designed around finger presses for, oh, quite a few more years than Microsoft has.

No. Exactly the opposite!
I said, I'd use an 8" Surface tablet the same way as I use Android or iOS today: 8" is too small to be really productive (as per my definition). So I use those small units merely for fun - as pure gadgets.
I'd always use my 10" Surface Pro or MacBook Air 11" for the more serious kinds of tasks.
But I'd like to have an 8" Surface Pro tablet (or a similar 8" Windows tablet) for my secondary device as a consumption unit. I'd certainly write some emails on it or other simple stuff like that. But I wouldn't put 2 Windows next to each other for multitasking.
Even my MacBook Air 11" for some tasks was too small in the past and I've used my iMac then.
This doesn't happen too often, so 10" for the main device/tablet to me is okay.
But the 8" version only would be an addition, never the main tool.

What I want/need to do, I can't do sufficiently on Android.
I only do simple tasks on my tablet. But very often, for example, I have to refer to some documents I keep open in the side-bared Window.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by grndslm

...Samsung Note 8.0, however. And I do think it'd be worth his time to try one out....

Won't happen.
I barely have touched the last 6 or 8 Android tablets I had bought.
Granted, most have been Kindle Fire HD and similar "stripped down" Android units.
But same was true for Nexus 7 (2013) or my iPad mini.
I did like the touch and feel of iPad mini, whereas I'm not a fan of the bigger iPads. I prefer the design of iPad 1 very much over iPads 2 to 4.
In the very beginning, maybe May 2010 to end of 2011, I very much enjoyed playing around with every new tablet. At some stage, I had about 11.000 apps in iTunes.
But after some time, it simply became repetitive. It's not much fun to me anymore, to toy around with a new tablet. After owning more than 40 of these, there's simply not much new to discover.
And I found, that I barely use 95% of my apps anyway.
And I found the update processes n most tablets bothersome. Waiting for Android 4.4 on some units, when Google had introduced it for 2 months already.
So, when buying Android, I mainly will go for an original one from Google directly.

As for Samsung specifically:
I did like the Note 1.
I checked out Notes 2 and 3, but didn't like their form factor.
And most of the time, each device from Samsung has some minor detail that bothers me. They use too much plastic and their devices to me never look the same league as Apple for example.

But for now I don't bother about Android anyway.
It did have some advantages over iOS for me. But those advantages are gone, Windows 8 has way more to offer in that area.
Most likely, at least for 2014, I'll keep checking out iOS. I don't like the looks of iOS7, but at some stage I'll probably buy another iPad again. I simply have too much apps for iOS, to forget about it forever.
I'll stick to my NVIDIA Shield, so most of my gaming takes place on Android.
But my main focus for now definitely is on Windows 8.
The Microsoft market still is rather limited. But on the desktop I can solve whatever problem occurs. It might be a bit less shiny and polished, but it's way more productive for me. And the possibilities of toying around are sheer endless...

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by grndslm

There are a ton of covers with built-in builtooth keyboard no....

I never understood, why Apple was offering a kickstand keyboard using the dock connector, but all other keyboards using Bluetooth.

Personally, I hate Bluetooth.
I don't want to connect/disconnect. And it definitely drains the battery.
I've only used a Bluetooth keyboard for iPhone, where battery even without Bluetooth already had been an issue...

And I agree with HarryT: It's certainly less mobile.
A friend of mine is using the Logitech cover/keyboard for his iPad.
It's more bulky then than my MacBook Air 11". And my MacBook Air definitely is way more versatile and productive.
Of course, Surface Pro even without cover already is bulky. But then the comparison would be: If I take Surface Pro with me anyway, the cover doesn't make much of a difference.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

With Wacom stylus!
http://www.newgadgets.de/63574/asus-...blet-geleaked/

Well, we do have till the end of February.... But this one does sound good!

[Sweetpea]

It has finally been officially announced... And I think it might be the one I'll be getting (especially considering the Dell 8" one won't ever be released in the Netherlands...)

http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/06/asus-vivotab-note-8/

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

It has finally been officially announced... And I think it might be the one I'll be getting (especially considering the Dell 8" one won't ever be released in the Netherlands...)

http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/06/asus-vivotab-note-8/

Given the WACOM pen and the slightly faster processor, it seems the better choice than the Dell Venue 8 Pro.
But "end of Q1 or early Q2" - then a Surface Pro mini might be on the horizon already. And this probably will be my personal favorite.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

Given the WACOM pen and the slightly faster processor, it seems the better choice than the Dell Venue 8 Pro.
But "end of Q1 or early Q2" - then a Surface Pro mini might be on the horizon already. And this probably will be my personal favorite.

There will always be something "on the horizon"... I've heard about the Mini for a year now, and still not a word about it. So, I doubt it will arrive before the winter of 2014. And my Flyer is acting up lately....

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

There will always be something "on the horizon"... I've heard about the Mini for a year now, and still not a word about it. So, I doubt it will arrive before the winter of 2014. And my Flyer is acting up lately....

I'll probably do the same as you:
I won't buy the Dell Venue 8 Pro because of the negative reviews about the pen.
(At least I won't order it without having seen it. Maybe if I can check it out first in Saturn Markt...).
I'll check out the Asus VivoTab Note 8. My Asus VivoTab Smart, given the low price, is perfectly fine, so I'm feeling quite comfortable with Asus re. "budget units".
And I'll only wait for a Surface Pro mini, if there's some substance to the rumors.

I find 8" more and more compelling. I like my Kindle Fire HD 8.9 for example, but I simply can't do much with it (except of toying around)...

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

I'll probably do the same as you:
I won't buy the Dell Venue 8 Pro because of the negative reviews about the pen.
(At least I won't order it without having seen it. Maybe if I can check it out first in Saturn Markt...).
I'll check out the Asus VivoTab Note 8. My Asus VivoTab Smart, given the low price, is perfectly fine, so I'm feeling quite comfortable with Asus re. "budget units".
And I'll only wait for a Surface Pro mini, if there's some substance to the rumors.

I heard that the Dell won't even ever be sold here, so that's a decision made for me...

I just wish there would be more than just rumours and "soon to come" devices here...

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

I heard that the Dell won't even ever be sold here, ...

"Here" being the Netherlands? It's available in Germany already. Strange though: You only can order the 32GB version for now. 32GB for a secondary device might be okay, but for a "working machine" it's definitely way too limited. Sometimes (often) I really don't understand the product policy of some manufacturers...

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

"Here" being the Netherlands? It's available in Germany already. Strange though: You only can order the 32GB version for now. 32GB for a secondary device might be okay, but for a "working machine" it's definitely way too limited. Sometimes (often) I really don't understand the product policy of some manufacturers...

Yes, here is the Netherlands. There was somebody who asked the question at Dell: when will it be available (it was to be available at the end of last year). But he noticed it had completely gone from the website. And then a sales representative told him that it would never be for sale in the Netherlands because they were sold out...

Sadly, most companies seem to see the Dutch market as a "oh, they might also want some devices, let's give them the ones nobody else want anymore and if it's too wanted, well, too bad for them" kind of market...