Furunculus
10-15-2011, 19:13
Hey ho,
Mrs F is not naturally a tech-geek like myself, but i have converted her into a smart-phone owner and steam user.
She likes using her android phone (motorolla Defy) as an ebook reader via the kobo app, which i recommended as the best smartphone available on a £10 contract.
She like casual games like Defence Grid, PvZ, Edge, Cogs, etc, and is frequently glued to her Steam account.
I have talked her into the idea of a tablet, told her i'll buy her one, and she is happy to be talked into it, the question is which.
She really wants portability so a 7" tablet is a must.
It must have access to an ebook app/service, and preferably kobo (as she likes it already, and I can tolerate its DRM policy).
A billion apps really aren't a necessity; provided it has a good web-browser, an ebook app/service, and some limited multimedia/games capability she will be happy.
She isn't a geek, so it must just work, first time, every time, i.e. the apple experience rather than those shoddy £180 android abortions one can find on amazon.
It must have a quality LCD screen for reading.
------------------------------
Initially i was going to suggest the new Lenovo A1 tablet, as it uses Gingerbread and is thus familiar to an android smartphone user, it is made by Lenovo and will therefore be a quality piece of hardware/software, and it comes with a quality 7" screen.
However, a trip to carphone warehouse later and it turns out that my non-geek girlfriend took to the easy multi-tasking of the blackberry playbook like a duck to water, and conversely found the various android tablets to be sluggish, unintuitive, and generally less pleasant to use. I was surprised that she didn't find android more natural as an android user, although not surprised that she found the user experience was inferior.
Now, i approve for various reasons some of which are more subjective than objective:
1. android is rubbish - sorry, never approved of the poor performance of non-native apps
2. android is rubbish - never rated android as a real multi-tasking OS - i am a n900 user
3. android is rubbish - even lenovo can't make a silk-purse out of a sows ear (read: Omap3 is inadequate)
4. The Playbooks QNX is a top-class linux based multi-tasking OS, the geek in me approves
5. The Playbooks hardware is TI Omap4 based which is much better than even expensive android tablets
6. The Playbooks UI is genuinely awesome, having played with it only once I really like it.
------------------------------
So the choice would appear simple; buy a Playbook, however I do have some reservations:
a) Mrs F is not a blackberry user and the Playbook is currently very oriented to tethering - there are rumours of a massive update that will add native functions but will it be enough?
b) at £275 it is quite expensive compared to the ~£200 Lenovo A1 - there are rumours of a price cut soon but will this bridge the gap?
The price isn't really a worry, it is just a function of how quickly I decide to drop some bills on a tablet for the Mrs, what i really want advice on is whether the Playbook really makes sense for a non-blackberry user bearing in mind the massive update due in the next month?
-----------------------------------------
Speaking for myself, I am not a tablet owner although work does have an Asus eepad transformer that I use for sales trips, which i think is pretty rubbish, and I will be an owner of a Nokia meego/harmattan N9 very shortly.
I personally like the seven inch form factor, although i did try to buy a firesale HP toucpad for £89.................... just because. ;)
Many thanks.
Mrs F is not naturally a tech-geek like myself, but i have converted her into a smart-phone owner and steam user.
She likes using her android phone (motorolla Defy) as an ebook reader via the kobo app, which i recommended as the best smartphone available on a £10 contract.
She like casual games like Defence Grid, PvZ, Edge, Cogs, etc, and is frequently glued to her Steam account.
I have talked her into the idea of a tablet, told her i'll buy her one, and she is happy to be talked into it, the question is which.
She really wants portability so a 7" tablet is a must.
It must have access to an ebook app/service, and preferably kobo (as she likes it already, and I can tolerate its DRM policy).
A billion apps really aren't a necessity; provided it has a good web-browser, an ebook app/service, and some limited multimedia/games capability she will be happy.
She isn't a geek, so it must just work, first time, every time, i.e. the apple experience rather than those shoddy £180 android abortions one can find on amazon.
It must have a quality LCD screen for reading.
------------------------------
Initially i was going to suggest the new Lenovo A1 tablet, as it uses Gingerbread and is thus familiar to an android smartphone user, it is made by Lenovo and will therefore be a quality piece of hardware/software, and it comes with a quality 7" screen.
However, a trip to carphone warehouse later and it turns out that my non-geek girlfriend took to the easy multi-tasking of the blackberry playbook like a duck to water, and conversely found the various android tablets to be sluggish, unintuitive, and generally less pleasant to use. I was surprised that she didn't find android more natural as an android user, although not surprised that she found the user experience was inferior.
Now, i approve for various reasons some of which are more subjective than objective:
1. android is rubbish - sorry, never approved of the poor performance of non-native apps
2. android is rubbish - never rated android as a real multi-tasking OS - i am a n900 user
3. android is rubbish - even lenovo can't make a silk-purse out of a sows ear (read: Omap3 is inadequate)
4. The Playbooks QNX is a top-class linux based multi-tasking OS, the geek in me approves
5. The Playbooks hardware is TI Omap4 based which is much better than even expensive android tablets
6. The Playbooks UI is genuinely awesome, having played with it only once I really like it.
------------------------------
So the choice would appear simple; buy a Playbook, however I do have some reservations:
a) Mrs F is not a blackberry user and the Playbook is currently very oriented to tethering - there are rumours of a massive update that will add native functions but will it be enough?
b) at £275 it is quite expensive compared to the ~£200 Lenovo A1 - there are rumours of a price cut soon but will this bridge the gap?
The price isn't really a worry, it is just a function of how quickly I decide to drop some bills on a tablet for the Mrs, what i really want advice on is whether the Playbook really makes sense for a non-blackberry user bearing in mind the massive update due in the next month?
-----------------------------------------
Speaking for myself, I am not a tablet owner although work does have an Asus eepad transformer that I use for sales trips, which i think is pretty rubbish, and I will be an owner of a Nokia meego/harmattan N9 very shortly.
I personally like the seven inch form factor, although i did try to buy a firesale HP toucpad for £89.................... just because. ;)
Many thanks.