2012: Year of the [insert tablet here]?!?

NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
I'm surprised they still produce the iPod Touch. It's just a stripped iPhone essentially. Should have gotten rid of the Touch and priced the iPad mini at $250, compelling iPod users to take the next leap forward. At $300++ for the iPad mini that's a mistake. They could have down rezz'd the screen and shaved $100 off the price since it would have been great for the general reader/kiddie market.

I've tried my best to follow the two rules of Apple product purchases ever since Soylent Red got her MacMini in January and saw it refreshed and upgraded in March.

1) Never buy Apple products until 6 months have passed since release.
2) See rule 1.

There's a great wailing and gnashing of teeth out in the fanboy universe about how the iPad 3 buyers got screwed now that the iPad 4 is released Sheesh... you'd think they were only purchased for the value they added to your hipster credence. These products still work well don't they?

I'm convinced the entire lineup of Apple products is now being powered by Steve Jobs spinning at high velocity in his grave. 
 
Checked out Surface and the Asus WinRT tablet at the MS Store at SCP yesterday.

Very nice... but I'm waiting for the full Win8 version so that you can run legacy apps.
 
So who is getting the Mini?

I am interested in a 7"ish tablet but still am not sure which one to get. I read CNET's article "iPad Mini vs. Google Nexus 7 vs. Amazon Kindle Fire HD," but that didn't seem to help me decide.
(http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-31747_7-57537541-243/ipad-mini-vs-google-nexus-7-vs-amazon-kindle-fire-hd/)

I am leaning toward a Fire HD since I am a Prime member and would like to utilize the Kindle lending library. My concerns re the very limited app store and Amazon's clunky custom Android OS.

I also own multiple Apple products and have invested a fair amount of money into my itunes music collection, so a Mini sounds appealing. My concern here is the price and lower screen resolution. I just heard Amazon released its instant video app for the device.

Nexus 7 looks interesting as well. I use many Google apps/products but am concerned about not being able to bring my itunes music with me and lack of Amazon instant video app.
 
I agree that the resolution is a downer for the Mini... but if you considered that the iPad and the iPad 2 were also 1024x768... the Mini actually has higher resolution per inch because of the smaller form factor. They really couldn't make it with any other resolution without scaling issues for all the other iPad apps. And before the Nexus 7, the Android tablets in that size were only 1024x600 resolution.

The other thing that stops me is the price... if it was $249 or even $279... I would  consider it... but at $329, you can almost get two discounted Galaxy Tab 2.0 7s for that amount.

I think the Fire HD and even the Nook HD are good tablets at the sub $200 range. The Nook (and even the Galaxy Tab 2) are still better for the lone feature of having an SD card. If you're going to have something that's not Apple, external storage is a HUGE plus.

In the end, we may end up getting a Mini but all of our accessories are the old 30-pin connector so eventually we'll have to move all our devices to Lightning port. I've tried to convince the Mrs. to sell her iPad 2 and get the Mini (will probably cost us close to nothing as we can probably get $300 for it) but she doesn't think it's worth the hassle... and she would rather have a Win8 tablet.
 
So I've been playing with the Mini more... and I'm convinced that it will probably become one of Apple's best selling iPads because of the form factor and the price.

You really have to hold one without the anti-theft stuff (like at BestBuy) to appreciate how light and thin it is. And because it is smaller, it works better for kids (and you can buy two 16giggers for the price of one 32gb iPad 4th gen).

I like the Nook HD too, esp because of the SD card... but I'm still confused why B&N doesn't put a cheap camera in their Nooks. They claim it's to keep it thin and lower priced and that most people will have phones with better cameras... but... most people would probably rather Skype with their tablet and not their phone.

I think a big untapped market (and maybe someone like Asus or Acer can see this), is a smaller form Win8/RT tablet. All the Win8/RT tablets are 10" or bigger... why not a 7-incher? Since both Asus and Acer already make 7" form factors for Android, it shouldn't take much re-spec'ing to move their production resources to create 7" Windows tablets.

For my "tablet", I think I'm going to settle for the Galaxy Note II. I wanted something more portable, has 3G/4G connectivity and an added bonus of pen input... so this fits the bill. I'm also amazed by its processing power, this video shows someone using a Note II as a PC:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nh2NSLgaII[/youtube]
 
I carry two phones so it will be my 2nd device.

Our "home" tablet will be the iPad mini only because my kids are used to iOS. I'm looking into the Archos GamePad for my boy because he loves video games and he can play old school emulators with Android... but it keeps getting delayed. Almost got him the PSP Vita during the Black 4-day sales but Vita games are still pretty costly.
 
this will be the future. the smart phone will be powerful enough to replace PCs for regular tasks. when people get home, they will plug in their smart phone into the work station with bigger monitor, keyboard and mouse. The phone will be charged wirelessly, and connection to monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers will also be wireless.
 
iacrenter said:
irvinehomeowner said:
Speaking of tablets... did anyone pre-order a Microsoft Surface? That's the Windows 8 tablet.
Click to expand...

I might be interested in the Surface Pro version--best of both worlds: tablet ultra portability and backward compatible with Windows productivity software. This might be pretty expensive--saw online ? $800-1000.
Click to expand...

Yup, the rumors were true. Pricing for the new Surface Pro-- $899 for 64 Gig, $999 for 128 Gigs.
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33642_7-57556219-292/surface-pro-price-tag-$899/

I will wait for the reviews. The battery life doesn't sound too good @ 4-5 hours but you get a great screen, powerful processor, and full Windows 7 legacy software compatibility.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57556339-75/microsoft-surface-pro-is-more-ultrabook-than-tablet/
 
Even the RT only has 8 hours claimed life... which is ridiculous compared to iPad and Android 14hr+ life.

I think that's the thing that's so bad about Windows hardware... terrible battery life... at least minimum, the Pro should have 8 hours.
 
So it looks like Acer is trying to beat Google/Asus to the bottom with a $99 Android tablet:
http://bgr.com/2012/12/20/acer-iconia-b1-leak-7-inch-android-4-1-99-tablet-261289/

I saw some $85 tablets last weekend at Fry's (Coby, Visual Land)... they look okay. The $100 price point is interesting... almost making them disposable. Too bad these won't show up until after Christmas... my kids might like them (they are asking for laptops for Chriskwanzukah).
 
irvinehomeowner said:
So it looks like Acer is trying to beat Google/Asus to the bottom with a $99 Android tablet:
http://bgr.com/2012/12/20/acer-iconia-b1-leak-7-inch-android-4-1-99-tablet-261289/

I saw some $85 tablets last weekend at Fry's (Coby, Visual Land)... they look okay. The $100 price point is interesting... almost making them disposable. Too bad these won't show up until after Christmas... my kids might like them (they are asking for laptops for Chriskwanzukah).
Click to expand...

Google isn't far behind--there are rumors of a $99-150 Nexus 7 in 2013.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57560175-94/google-planning-cheaper-nexus-7-report-claims/
 
ps9 said:
Whats the opinion on the Sony tablet?  Might be nice to play some old school PSOne games.
Click to expand...

We just got the Sony Xperia S Tablet. Its amazing!

And..beautiful. The built quality is just perfect, sports a zippy Android OS, has the IR remote function that other tablets don't --- this is AMAZING. No more multiple remotes, everything syncs so well with our Sony bravia tv. It also has a set of real useful accessories like their tablet stands which are so well designed, is semi waterproof good for the kitchen, has a full SD slot expandable to 128GB (buy the 16GB version and just pop in an SD card), and the list goes on.

Cannot recommend it enough.
The size is perfect too, and its is light to boot!
 
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