iPad Killer... or Kicker?
 

I'm curious what opinions are about this article. I am in the market for five tablets (family, business, and gift purposes alike), and want to be sure I make the right choice. I've definitely favored Android devices since v4.x came around, but I want to be sure I'm making a wise choice. I don't have a vested interest in the Apple ecosystem, price (more so, value) matters to me, and I like having choices and flexibility.

Like the other new Nexus devices and Chromebook, the Nexus 10 tablet is selling like hotcakes. With Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, and other special sales where low prices often take precedent, it is positioned to do extremely well because it is superior to the iPad 4 in most key hardware specs and has great navigation and the latest Android 4.2 OS to boot. Ever since the awesome iPads dominated the market a couple years ago, talk of an "iPad Killer" has come up repeatedly but never materialized. Market share numbers have dropped for the iPad in recent months and rumors are about that they will need to drop prices abound. Now, with the Kindle Fire, Microsoft Surface, Samsung Galaxy (heavily discounted this weekend), and now the Nexus 10 on the scene, are we looking at the beginning of the end of the iPad as the dominant tablet, or is this just a kick in its pants?

My Nexus 10 is on a truck for delivery today - I'll let you know more then :D

It all depends on the target audience. Give an iPad, and 100% of people will be happy. Give an Android tablet, and it'll only appeal to a certain market. IMHO, the Kindle Fire HD is the safest bet if you want to take the Android route.

Was the turn-around time 3-5 days, as stated on the site? Please do share - would be appreciated, as I haven't handled an N10 yet. I agree with your sentiment that no one will dislike an iPad, but I want to emphasize that my focus here is *value*. I'd prefer to go with a Kindle, Surface, N10, etc if for example the likability of one of them was an 8/10 but they cost 70% as much as an iPad with a likability of 9/10. A factor I want to dismiss in judging likability is the emotional/familiarity component (e.g., "I've heard of the iPad before - everyone likes these so I must too!") I want to focus on the actual quality/specs and functionality/flexibility. The Surface's ability to run native Office software, for example, is an objective advantage.

No need for personal attacks. I'm absolutely an Android fan, but I want to be sure I'm not overlooking anything with my choice considering I'm buying five devices. I haven't used an N10 (will soon, but others here will beat me to it) and, while I appreciate that you love your iPads, I'm looking specifically for input on the *value* comparison between them and the N10. Articles like the one I cited are suggesting that the specs of the N10 are clearly ahead of the iPad 4, so given that it is far cheaper, it seems like it's the more logical choice. But maybe there are some things I'm missing.

Having finally flashed my HP TouchPad to a stable ICS ROM, Mrs. Swede is very satisfied with it compared to WebOS. Mainly because of the instant access to countless more apps.

I think it will still take a few more years for Android to catch up with iOS on the tablet market. I have just switched from iPhone to Samsung Note II, and I love the Note II. However, I think most people would still prefer the iPhone. Here are a few things I noticed that iOS does better than Android.

Amount of Apps and Games: While Google Play has a good amount of selections, iTune still blows it out of the water. Good thing is that Google Play has most of the big apps, but there are still apps I am missing from the iPhone days.

Ready to Go OS interface: While Jelly Bean is useable out of the box, it is still not as useable as iOS. For example, if you come from iPhone, visual voicemail came with it from the very first iPhone 5+ years ago. Yet, you don't get it with Jelly Bean. I have to download an AT&T app to get the feature and it is not integrated into call pad app. Also the menu system is all over the place. Some setting you could set in the main Setting app. The rest you have to dig into different apps and different screens to get to them. It is okay for me, once I know where they are. My wife would never get used to it. She likes things simple and easy to use.

I think people who likes to mess around with their devices will like Android better than iOS, but for most people who just want to have a working device out of the box, iOS will still have an edge until Android improves a bit more... I will give it about 2 years.

article >> "Well, in many other vital areas, Nexus 10 is a right candidate to fight over iPad 4."

??

I think this is a Samsung overlay issue and the over-riding problem with Android about the different flavours. Myself, having used the Motorola and HTC overlays, most of it is crap. Samsung is probably the worst offender for going the farthest with their customizations.

I've also used the "virgin" Android OS and other than finding arcane permissions for screen setup and root-specific commands, most of the main settings that people use are in the first screen.

I don't know about quantity, since I only have about 20 apps. It is more about the choices and how they are presented. In iTunes, you could sort them in many different ways including ratings. In Google you cannot sort by number of reviews or ratings. It is almost like they don't want you to sort them. You can sort them by Relevance (no idea what it does) or Popularity. If you sort by Popularity, you probably ended up with a 3 1/2 star app with lots of people downloaded it. My point is that even iTunes maybe more bloated, I seem to be able to find things faster and with more accurate results.

You mean Google Voice Search? Except that it doesn't integrate very well with the phone. For example, when I do a "Dial *My Wife's Name*" on Siri, it will find it every time, because her name is very unique and is in the iPhone contact list. Now when I do a "Dial *My Wife's Name*" on Google Voice Search on the Samsung, it would say that her name was not found in Contact. The reason is that her name has some silence alphabets and Google Voice Search is not smart enough to find the closest contact matching the name.

I watched those youtube videos on Google Voice Search beating Siri in finding information too. But the the one thing that I really want it to do, it couldn't. And the reason I wanted it to voice dial my wife is because Samsung would not download the phone book to my car via bluetooth. It works with iPhone but not with the Samsung Note II. Also I read on my car's forum that the car's usb interface doesn't work with Android, only iPhone. My wife would kill me if I get her a phone that doesn't integrated with her car. :p She is not leaving Apple anytime soon.

The iPad just works. It does everything I need without any need to waste time learning things. That's the value for me. I have no desire to 'learn' anything at all. With an iPad, I don't have to. If it takes half an hour to set up a device, then I'm not buying it.

Tell me op, how much do you value your time at? And what do you want the. Device to do? That's the two questions to ask yourself and no-one else.

You'll notice a bunch of posts gone - and some of you are on the receiving end of a PM from me. Remember - the "report bad post" button is there for a reason.

How much do you want to spend?

If you're looking at the top end of iPad price range you can get some seriously capable stuff that goes beyond tablet level performance. Check out the Lenovo Ideapad Yoga and the Samsung Ativ Smart PC.

At the lower end, everyone is going to be happy with the tried and tested iPad, but truth be told its likely that they're on the decline due to the restrictive way they go about their business vs the freedom Android grants its developers/hardware manufacturers. Its already happened with the iPhone.

I had an iPad from work for a while but i sent it back recently as once the novelty had worn off i found myself doing everything on my Android powered Samsung phone instead. I just got sick of being told by the iPad i either wasnt allowed to do something or i had to pay for it.

That is the conventional thinking, but the latest iPads have required extra steps (for example, setting up third-party maps to work around the deficient native ones), while Android now "just works" without requiring any setup beyond signing in. Everything sets up and syncs automatically, but you have the option to customize (spend time) only if you want. I see the value in the consistency of iOS, but the restrictions seem to offset the benefit.


I agree, and that's a factor in Google trying to leverage carriers and manufacturers not to insist upon so much customization. I think they're making progress in areas such as simpler settings, as you noted, in the latest versions.


[QUOTE=Need;19725860]In Google you cannot sort by number of reviews or ratings. It is almost like they don't want you to sort them. You can sort them by Relevance (no idea what it does) or Popularity.

They made this change because it thwarts rating manipulation and improves the quality of the results. Systems that allow simple sorting by pure ratings typically get manipulated when money is at stake. Annoying, perhaps, but I've found the top results to be generally what I would have chosen had I carefully researched.


I was referring to Google Now, which is essentially search on steroids. It's accuracy and speed and capabilities (especially with the latest updates) is well beyond that of Siri, and because it can be operated purely by voice, it need not be integrated/compatible with in-car systems. I have a phone mount in my car that enables me to use my phone easily for in-car navigation, but also for music, voice searches, and as an automatic feed of other incoming information.


The spending isn't so critical as the value. I'm willing (as are my clients) to spend more if it gets more, but that's what I'm struggling with when it comes to Apple versus Google. It used to be easy to find advantages to the iPad, but now it seems that a few benefits are trumped by even more downsides, and yet there's still a 20%-50% premium to pay.

If cost isn't such an issue, then the issue stops being Apple vs Google in my opinion. That puts you into Windows 8 territory, which is a far more capable and powerful platform than any Android or iOS system will ever be. Not to mention much easier to integrate with the Windows PC your friends will likely be plugging these in to.

No offense if you read this publication on a regular basis, but they likely used that title to get more page views. If you're really interested in the nexus 10, I suggest you look at sites like endgadget, verve, arstechnica, etc.

Here are some things to consider when buying a tablet:
-Know what the person wants from their tablet. Do they want to play games, do word processing, read a book, need a portable computer replacement or something else? A lot of tablet returns are because people had no idea what they wanted to do with their device.
-7" or 10". If you want portability, there are android and ios options in 7". 10" is more suitable for at home use, but can still be portable.
-battery life. If you can get around 10 hours, you're pretty much covered for the day.
-If you go android, get a google branded tablet. You want to avoid the extra skins and other nonsense that the other manufacturers add.
-Apple is the gold standard for a reason. Not only did they introduce really good tablet apps, but other people make more tablet apps for them. Tablet apps aren't simply bigger phone apps either. It does matter if you have a tablet-specific app.
You do need to understand their tablet philosophy. They're in the computer business, so they're not going to make a computer replacement. You can do things like type out articles and office tasks like presentations and spreadsheets. You won't be able to use it as a portable hd or access the file system. If you want these things, you'll need to buy something else. (disclosure: I have an ipad)

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Nexus 10 thoughts - screen is amazing. Build quality so-so. The back flexes a little. Then there are the things we already knew - no MicroSD, limited storage. Since it is a Nexus device, pre-loaded software is quite limited, so it'll have a bit of a learning curve for people new to Android.

All in all IMHO the best tablet you can get at this price.