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

[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)

.

[tubemonkey]

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)

.

My preference for a tablet is Amazon's cheapest tablet. I don't need full Android because my tab is mostly used for streaming videos. For full Android, I get a cheap no contract phone. I no longer get premium devices now that quality tablets and phones can be had for well under $50. My 5th gen Fire 7" only set me back $30 and my 2nd gen Moto E was a mere $10.

BTW, I always use a mouse with my laptop. I can't stand trackpads.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

My preference for a tablet is Amazon's cheapest tablet. I don't need full Android because my tab is mostly used for streaming videos.

Too bad Amazon still (as far as I know) doesn't offer YouTube.

I picked up a cheapo Fire last year when they were on sale for $35. It's not a bad device for the price.

My primary use for a tablet is reading digital comics, so I wanted a nice screen. Lenovo seems to have figured out that some people want a cheap tablet, but still want a quality screen. I bought the Tab2 A10 for $150 and it was a huge step up in visual quality (I also appreciated that they didn't meddle with vanilla Android too much).

[dwig]

Today's "super phones" seem to be replacing tablets for many people.

Personally, I don't follow "the road most taken". I cringe at the restrictions imposed by iOS and Android so I use an 8" full Windows 10 tablet. I can run the real Calibre (and Ps, Lr, ...) and have my complete library on the tablet. When needed, I connect a BT mouse and/or keyboard though often the TouchMousePointer utility and the onscreen keyboard are adequate.

Samsung needs to do well in some market, what with the Galaxy Note7 fiasco and now the recalling of 2.8 million washing machines because they can explode. I'm kind of surprised shipping companies will even allow their products on board their ships any more!

And put me down for using a mouse with a laptop. I use a mouse with my Macbook Pro, but I even use one with my Win 10 Lenovo Yoga II that has a touch screen. The touch interface in Windows still sucks, and pretty much all track pads suck regardless of the manufacturer or OS. I seriously doubt I will ever be able to do much writing or even editing on any tablet whether iOS or Android or whatever. Touch just isn't that good for those tasks, and it is even worse for image editing. Maybe if I win the lottery I'll get a iPad Pro with pen, but isn't that similar to using a mouse with a tablet or laptop? After all it is an add-on extra device, though a useful one.

[barryem]

Samsung has had a good safety record for years. They screwed up one model. That's not going to scare many people away from their other models.

I also use a mouse with my laptop. I have no problem with using a touchpad for moving the cursor around. I find it fairly efficient. The problem is it's location which I can't seem to stop touching while typing, so since I type a lot I have to leave the touchpad turned off.

I prefer the way the mouse works but the touchpad is good enough that I'd probably use it if it didn't interfere with typing.

Barry

[Apache]

The top blowing off of your washing machine might discourage people from buying one.
Apache

[frahse]

Originally Posted by barryem

Samsung has had a good safety record for years. They screwed up one model. That's not going to scare many people away from their other models.

I also use a mouse with my laptop. I have no problem with using a touchpad for moving the cursor around. I find it fairly efficient. The problem is it's location which I can't seem to stop touching while typing, so since I type a lot I have to leave the touchpad turned off.

I prefer the way the mouse works but the touchpad is good enough that I'd probably use it if it didn't interfere with typing.

Barry

I type a lot too, and I have found the best thing to do about the touch-pad is to tape several index cards, cut to size, over the touch pad.

[frahse]

Originally Posted by barryem

Samsung has had a good safety record for years. They screwed up one model. That's not going to scare many people away from their other models.

I also use a mouse with my laptop. I have no problem with using a touchpad for moving the cursor around. I find it fairly efficient. The problem is it's location which I can't seem to stop touching while typing, so since I type a lot I have to leave the touchpad turned off.

I prefer the way the mouse works but the touchpad is good enough that I'd probably use it if it didn't interfere with typing.

Barry

I just read this.

Samsung is playing hardball to get back the remaining 15% of Note 7s

.
I am surprised they can't fix the phones, but then how do you tell which ones are safe?

[GlenBarrington]

I've been very happy with my 10 inch generic Lenovo Tablet as an ereader. I use both the Kindle reader and the Moon Reader Pro on it. I hold it in landscape mode and read in a 2 column format.

It connects almost seamlessly to my Lenovo Desktop (something I never really had with my Kindle Fire tablet 1st gen, it didn't like Calibre AT ALL). There's a lot to be said about single vendor integration.

My Samsung Galaxy S5 is used as a camera and a navigation device, the way God intended. I'm nervous about Samsung, not because of reliability issues, but their seeming desire to move away from Android to Tizen (an Android clone). It's fine that they want more control over their destiny, but I'm too vested in the Google online experience.

[Phogg]

How is Lenovo ever "generic" ?
Lenovo is IBM's old Personal Computer division.

Originally Posted by Phogg

How is Lenovo ever "generic" ?
Lenovo is IBM's old Personal Computer division.

I've got a 2014 Lenovo Yoga 2 11, which is a rather versatile 11.6" touchscreen laptop that can convert to a rather heavy tablet. The keyboard stays attached but folds all the way back around the backside of the screen. I never use it for reading as the resolution is fairly low by today's standards. It now runs Windows 10 but came with that horrible 8.1 installed. As far as comparing to a generic, Lenovo, like all manufacturers, tend to load up their computers with junk software. As far as the touchscreen goes, I'm not fond of it at all. The screen itself is fine, but the MS Windows 10 interface is not that great in tablet mode. Otherwise, the Lenovo looks pretty much like a lot of other laptops from 2014 that could convert to a tablet. Several manufacturers had very similar models.

Originally Posted by barryem

Samsung has had a good safety record for years. They screwed up one model. That's not going to scare many people away from their other models.

I also use a mouse with my laptop. I have no problem with using a touchpad for moving the cursor around. I find it fairly efficient. The problem is it's location which I can't seem to stop touching while typing, so since I type a lot I have to leave the touchpad turned off.

I prefer the way the mouse works but the touchpad is good enough that I'd probably use it if it didn't interfere with typing.

Barry

Try two models screwed up: They have a phone that bursts into flames, so much so that the FAA banned them from commercial airflights. And they have a washing machine that can explode. I remember my first exposure to a Samsung product was a 386 computer they made back in the 1990s. I was working for Computer Associates at the time, and they bought several of these desktop computers for the development staff. Every one of the Samsung computers went belly up within a month. The motherboards all fried.

[Prestidigitweeze]

Originally Posted by Phogg

How is Lenovo ever "generic" ?
Lenovo is IBM's old Personal Computer division.

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.

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by Phogg

How is Lenovo ever "generic" ?
Lenovo is IBM's old Personal Computer division.

They not only produce the Yoga in both Windows and Android versions, but they also produce some well designed but very plain conventional tablets in 8 and 10 inch versions. They are a bit more expensive than the nonames, but the build quality is pretty high. However without looking at the logo, few people would identify them as a Lenovo tablet.

It is these that I refer to as 'generic'.

(Also, any resemblance to the old IBM PCs and modern desktops are slim and getting slimmer!)