Android Looking for a tablet.

[Rydian]

I'm looking to spend about $450 max, and I have my eye on the thrive, mainly for it's range of ports (USB-mini, USB-A, HDMI).

However I'm a little concerned about some things.

1 - The thrive's battery life is said to be lower than other tablets, I looked up various reviews and they said it's about 6 hours of video usage (while the company says 11 hours max). How much of a gain can I expect from such things as disabling background tasks and doing other minor tweaks?

Or does anybody know of a decent android tablet that has a lot of ports like the thrive, but with better battery life?

2 - I don't own any mobile devices, so while I've used android I'm not sure on some of the technical issues with upgrading it. From what I've read I'm either stuck with whatever upgrades I may get officially from toshiba, or I can try a custom ROM to upgrade on down the line. Is it reasonable to expect upgrades from Toshiba on this tablet, and if I do go the custom ROM route, would higher versions of android run on this?

3 - Some reviews of the thrive mention a lot of apps not working on it. Is that just a standard thing for tablets, the whole "it -just- came out, give it a few weeks for things to update" thing, or is this abnormal and I should look for another tablet?

 

[Xuphor]

The Acer Iconia A500 (http://www.amazon.co...m/dp/B004XZL980) is easily the cheapest priced 10.1" tablet that has the most power/port options. I did this thing about 2 months ago, looking through literally every possible resource for the best tablet with the most power and ports for the lowest price, the Iconia series wins on both accounts. A500 is MSRB $400 and 10.1", or the A100 (http://www.amazon.com/Acer-Iconia-A100-07U08U-7-Inch-Tablet/dp/B00548QAPC/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1322631485&sr=1-1) is the same power, but $330 MSRB and 7", fittable in larger pockets. Also different HDD sizes, but both take USB Flash drives and MicroSD cards.

I got the A100, and have not regretted it once.

 

[Originality]

I would go for the ASUS Transformer, or if you can stretch another $50 (or find a discount somehow) the Transformer Prime when it comes out. The USB port is on the keyboard base, not the tablet itself (still has HDMI on the tablet) but otherwise I think it's one of the better designed android tablets.

 

[Jakob95]

The Asus Transformer was rated the best tablet of 2011 because of its ports and performance. Personally my cousin has the Acer Iconia A500 and it runs good and all, but its a bit bulky. I have the Iconia A100 and I love it. They all use the same operating system and have the same processor so get whatever is cheaper. Acer also announced that the A100/A500 will be getting ICS in January of 2012.

 

[Luigi2012SM64DS]

i rather get an android phone

 

[Jakob95]

Actually if you have the money I think you should just get the iPad 2. iPad 2 is just much better for a tablet then any Android tablet, because of the bigger community it has. Most apps aren't optimized for Android tablets in the Market, while on the iPad 2 they are. iPad 2 also has more games, better processor for emulators, and more apps then the Android tablets. If you just want to customize, browse the web, flash player, watch movies(note Tegra 2 sucks at decoding AVI), cheaper price, more functionality in the OS then get an Android tablet. If you want the best Android Tablet then get the Asus Transformer Prime, want something cheap then I recommend getting the Acer A500.

NOTE: DO NOT GET THAT TOSHIBA. Toshiba has horrible customer service, I recently sent my laptop for repairs as I had some problems with the speakers on my laptop, I had to pay for shipping $24 and then they sent it back to me and they didn't fix it because they claimed it was my fault for damaging it.

 

[Dangy]

Actually if you have the money I think you should just get the iPad 2. iPad 2 is just much better for a tablet then any Android tablet, because of the bigger community it has. Most apps aren't optimized for Android tablets in the Market, while on the iPad 2 they are. iPad 2 also has more games, better processor for emulators, and more apps then the Android tablets. If you just want to customize, browse the web, flash player, watch movies(note Tegra 2 sucks at decoding AVI), cheaper price, more functionality in the OS then get an Android tablet. If you want the best Android Tablet then get the Asus Transformer Prime, want something cheap then I recommend getting the Acer A500.

NOTE: DO NOT GET THAT TOSHIBA. Toshiba has horrible customer service, I recently sent my laptop for repairs as I had some problems with the speakers on my laptop, I had to pay for shipping $24 and then they sent it back to me and they didn't fix it because they claimed it was my fault for damaging it.

I've had nothing but good from Toshiba...

I'd go with the Thrive, my roommate has one, and it's tough as hell. Plus the ports are awesome. He can take his external HDD and transfer whatever he wants from that to his tablet.

 

[funem]

I have a transformer, it has a lot of ports and can read a NTFS hard disk via the USB's in the dock and has an HDMI out. The screen is great and the speed is very good. There is a lot more flexibility that than the ipad. The transformer decodes avi's fine I have had no issues, I use MX Video Player Pro and it works great. I have used my Android phone (Samsung Galaxy S2) and the Transformer with emulators and have no issues speed wise. You can even output the screen to your TV and play them on there. I am happy to answer any questions on the Transformer that you may want to ask. The Prime is coming out shortly and that will drive the price of the Transformer down so you could get either depending on the Primes price point. I got mine with the keyboard for £349. I added two 32gb memory cards (Class 10), one in the tablet and one in the keyboard which gives me 32+32+16gb the cards were about £35 each. That makes the Tablet, with keyboard and 80gb of available memory (more if I connect a HD) for just over £400, a lot cheaper than the ipdad and the keyboard has an extra battery that doubles the battery life of the whole unit.

 

[Rydian]

Processing speed for emulators isn't a main concern of mine as running emulators with a lack of physical controls is a no-go for me (and I have my PSP for that). Mainly if it's good enough to browse the web fluidly (like the ipad one can) it's good enough in my eyes (seeing how many sites are loaded down with JS and such nowadays it's a heftier task than might be thought).

An iOS device isn't in the books for me, I wouldn't have nearly as much fun with it, even jailbroken.

As far as video format/support, I'm no stranger to conversion programs, as long as something supports a couple common format combinations I'll be fine.

An issue I have with the transformer is the keyboard/dock. It's out of stock and deactivated on newegg, how much is it? And from reviews it seems like it wouldn't stand up like a laptop would, given that the tablet is heavier than the dock... and it runs into the typing issues of a netbook, given the size. I'd rather just go for a standard tablet, and it looks like the transformer's battery life isn't the best without the dock.

 

[Deleted-236924]

Get an iPad, because Apple Store has Ace Attorney.

 

[Deleted member 199854]

I say wait until the TF Prime comes out. No iPad/Android tablet will match the specs for a little while on that beast, so you're almost guaranteed to have it at least a couple years. Thanks to the android community as well, customization will not be a problem. Make it as simple or complex as you want. The only thing I'm not sure of though, is battery life.

 

[funem]

Processing speed for emulators isn't a main concern of mine as running emulators with a lack of physical controls is a no-go for me (and I have my PSP for that). Mainly if it's good enough to browse the web fluidly (like the ipad one can) it's good enough in my eyes (seeing how many sites are loaded down with JS and such nowadays it's a heftier task than might be thought).

An iOS device isn't in the books for me, I wouldn't have nearly as much fun with it, even jailbroken.

As far as video format/support, I'm no stranger to conversion programs, as long as something supports a couple common format combinations I'll be fine.

An issue I have with the transformer is the keyboard/dock. It's out of stock and deactivated on newegg, how much is it? And from reviews it seems like it wouldn't stand up like a laptop would, given that the tablet is heavier than the dock... and it runs into the typing issues of a netbook, given the size. I'd rather just go for a standard tablet, and it looks like the transformer's battery life isn't the best without the dock.

I use the tablet to browse the web, buy stuff, read news all using the desktop version of the website not the mobile versions, and havent any issues to report, its very readable and very fast.

I havent decoded/re-encoded a single media file I have played on either my phone or the tablet. Any I have downloaded have played first time without issue

The keys on the dock are fine if you want to use them, they are not cramped as they are on a netbook. the whole thing when docked stands up like a laptop, mine has not fallen backwards even with the unit opened fully which is about 135 degrees.

The only issue I have with the dock is the touchpad is very sensitive and its to easy to move the screen pointer when you are typing and your hand moves over the top of it. There is however a key on the keyboard to turn the touchpad on and off which I use when typing a lot of information. I have used the pad for a working day with the wifi on and it has never dropped below 25%.

I can only quote the prices I gave you fror the UK I dont know how much they are in the US, normally though the US prices reflect the UK ones. Mine was £350 so expect to pay $350-$400 for tablet and dock.

Edit - Media players for Andriod one free one a couple of pounds
http://www.moboplayer.com/plugin/page/index_en - Free
https://sites.google.com/site/mxvpen/




Hope this helps

 

[Haloman800]

Sorry, in a hurry, just thought I'd post: http://www.amazon.com/ViewSonic-gTablet-Multi-Touch-Screen-Android/dp/B004EPV7TK

I've seen it new as low as $200, it has a dual core processor, 10.1 inch screen, etc. & if you root it, you can get Honeycomb (3.0) on it, & I heard they're porting ICS (4.0) to it.

Good luck!

 

[funem]

Sorry, in a hurry, just thought I'd post: http://www.amazon.co...d/dp/B004EPV7TK

I've seen it new as low as $200, it has a dual core processor, 10.1 inch screen, etc. & if you root it, you can get Honeycomb (3.0) on it, & I heard they're porting ICS (4.0) to it.

Good luck!

Rooted and a different version of Android it would be fine because the installed version of Android brings the performance of the system down. The resolution is 1024x600 where as the Transformer is 1280x800 which can make a difference when browsing the web.

As you are in the US have you looked into the Kindle Fire ?

 

[Rydian]

A main concern of mine is that with the transformer, without the dock I lose ports I'd have on the thrive.

I haven't checked out the kindle fire, what's the deal with it?

 

[Terminator02]

The Kindle Fire won't have any of the ports you want, it doesn't even have a SD card slot.

Edit: Also, you can get video players that do software decoding, so even if the hardware doesn't support a format type it can be done through the software. The best video player I've used is MX Video Player