General Tablet News - AAPL, GOOG, MSFT, and AMZN

[value-is-what-you-get]

Spent a good hour or so at Best Buy today playing around with the many tablets they have available.

 

Thank-you for the review.  You just saved me an hour or so at Best Buy playing around with the many tablets they have available! ;D

[DCG]

Android Jelly Bean at least seems to be a significant improvement over ice cream sandwich.

 

[DCG]

I was looking for a smaller tablet to primarily use for reading (and because my wife & daughter often hijack the iPad), and picked up a Nexus 7. Figured I'd post a short review for anyone that's interested.

 

Pros:

 

-The 7" form factor is really good for reading, which is what I primarily got it for. I can hold it comfortably in 1 hand.The faux-leather backing is also comfortable to hold.

 

-Android Jelly Bean is a big improvement over ice cream sandwich.  I had owned an android phone for a couple years, but it's been a year or 2 since I've used it, and they've made some improvements. Ironically, I feel like they improved it by making it even more like iOS. There are some key differences, as Android has widgets, and has different ways of doing some things. While I guess a couple widgets are useful, for the most part, I don't really see the need for them. I tend to just go into apps instead of viewing widgets. Closing open apps is easy, and faster than iOS.

 

-The Google apps are well designed. Google Now is well done.

 

-The screen. While the screen is not on par with Apple's retina screen, it is still very nice, and better of most of the other non-retina screen tablets currently out there.

 

-Google Play. Being able to stream music from Google play is nice to have.

 

-Price. This thing is a real good tablet for the price.

 

-It's a Nexus/Google tablet, so you'll receive some future OS updates. I don't trust any non-nexus Android devices, as most hardware manufactures just abandon releasing updates for most of their products.

 

Cons:

 

-Apps. I knew this was going to be an issue ahead of time, but it's a bit more an an issue than I expected. First the amount of quality apps available for Android, is really not close to the apps available for iOS. A majority of the top news apps, guitar/music apps, and apps my daughter uses are just non-existent on Android. Some popular apps seem to just be behind iOS. For example, the Facebook app is pretty much the app that was on iOS about a year ago. The biggest problem is that very few Android apps seem to be optimized for tablets yet. They're mainly phone-apps blown up to fit a larger screen. Being that I mainly got this for reading (and chose it over a Kindle Fire because I do want additional functionality), I'm not overly concerned with this, but this could be an issue for other people.

 

-Swiping is not as smooth as I'm used to on the iPad. Swiping from side-to-side simply isn't very responsive. I'm not sure whether this is a function of the device, Android, or both.

 

-Android Jelly bean is very good, but does not have the same attention to detail as iOS. I've noticed a bunch of small things...such as background images that come with Android not even filling the full screen; I've gotten an 'applauncher' error message a couple times already; and there are some other things they just don't work as well as they should in some cases (ie, moving the curser in Chrome).

 

-Web Browsing. Web browsing can be a bit cumbersome due to the 7" size. Unlike on a phone which loads mobile versions of many sites, and large screen tablets which load fill sites, this loads full desktop sites, but the screen size can make sites it a little tough to navigation without zooming in and out.

 

-The Google Play store. While Google has made some good improvements with Google Play, the Apple App Store is simply much easier to use and find apps.

 

Overall, its a great tablet for the price. I like the 7" size for portability, and for reading for long periods of time. Android is still not as refined as iOS in my opinion, but it's getting there. I don't see this really replacing my iPad in terms of overall use, but as I said I wanted something smaller for reading, and my wife/toddler are constantly hijacking the iPad.

[VAL9000]

Thanks for the review.  I've also been looking at picking up a Nexus 7 to supplement my iPad.  Apparently my wife doesn't approve of the iPad as a bathroom reader.

[DCG]

Some quick follow up to my last post after using the Nexus 7 for over a month:

 

The more I use Android, the more I dislike it. iOS is such a more polished experience, IMO. I mainly use the device as a reader, and it's fine for that, but even the Kindle app for Android is pretty weak. Ive been surprised how far behind many Android apps are. From apps like Kindle, to Facebook, WSJ, and many others, the android apps are pretty much at the same point as they were for iOS several years ago. It just seems like many app developers port over iOS apps and then just abandon them.

 

Android, at least on the Nexus 7, lags when scrolling pretty much constantly. The web browsing experience can be pretty frustrating because of this. I had heard Google fixed this issue with their 'project butter', but they still have a long way to go.

 

I also have issues with the device having a hard time keeping and remembering WIFI connections. I use my iPhone and iPad with the same routers and have no issues.

[Guest valueInv]

Some quick follow up to my last post after using the Nexus 7 for over a month:

 

The more I use Android, the more I dislike it. iOS is such a more polished experience, IMO. I mainly use the device as a reader, and it's fine for that, but even the Kindle app for Android is pretty weak. Ive been surprised how far behind many Android apps are. From apps like Kindle, to Facebook, WSJ, and many others, the android apps are pretty much at the same point as they were for iOS several years ago. It just seems like many app developers port over iOS apps and then just abandon them.

 

Android, at least on the Nexus 7, lags when scrolling pretty much constantly. The web browsing experience can be pretty frustrating because of this. I had heard Google fixed this issue with their 'project butter', but they still have a long way to go.

 

I also have issues with the device having a hard time keeping and remembering WIFI connections. I use my iPhone and iPad with the same routers and have no issues.

 

That has been my experience also. On the surface, both products look similar but once you start using it, you start noticing a lot of dirt swept under the shiny new carpet. For user experience, the devil is in the details.

 

I've started using a Kindle Paperwhite - a product Apple fanbois usually rave about - and I'm amazed at how bad the usability is.

[Phaceliacapital]

Is the paperwhite that bad?

 

I have been thinking of buying one just for the e-ink technology to spare my eyes a little bit.

 

What bothers you?

 

Is it the reading experience , or more the menu's and stuff?

[Guest valueInv]

Is the paperwhite that bad?

 

I have been thinking of buying one just for the e-ink technology to spare my eyes a little bit.

 

What bothers you?

 

Is it the reading experience , or more the menu's and stuff?

 

The screen is good but the 6" form factor is quite limiting. Their UI (menus, responsiveness,etc) is terrible.

It's like they've paid no attention to it at all.

[txlaw]

Is the paperwhite that bad?

 

I have been thinking of buying one just for the e-ink technology to spare my eyes a little bit.

 

What bothers you?

 

Is it the reading experience , or more the menu's and stuff?

 

It's not that bad at all.  Actually, I have one, and I really like it.

 

It's a good size for book reading, although it could be a bit bigger.  The total UX is actually just fine for what you're intended to do with it -- that is, read books.  I don't particularly care about the menus and responsiveness of the touch screen, given the price for the device, the screen quality, and the intended use case. 

 

It's not that Amazon didn't pay attention to the UI.  It's that they were constrained by the technology and the costs of production. 

[Phaceliacapital]

Okay that is what I am aiming for, just something that allows me to go on holiday without 1/3 of luggage being bags.

 

What is the quality of newspapers on the device?

[Guest wellmont]

apple is losing lots of share in tablets. could be their high prices vs the completion, with little perceived added value. this might be a factor why aapl stock is getting crushed and goog stock is at all time highs.

 

lets think logically. the nexus 7 is way cheaper than apple tablets. why would you expect the qualitative experience to be comparable, even though for most people, the nexus 7 is just fine? why would you expect a ford fusion to drive as nicely as a rolls royce? appl has to have some advantage for their higher prices don't they? I mean if they can't have maintain a perceived qualitative advantage (everybody uses the same parts) then their margins are coming down.

[txlaw]

Okay that is what I am aiming for, just something that allows me to go on holiday without 1/3 of luggage being bags.

 

What is the quality of newspapers on the device?

 

Not sure.  I tend to read newspapers and magazines on my laptop or iPad.

[DCG]

apple is losing lots of share in tablets. could be their high prices vs the completion, with little perceived added value. this might be a factor why aapl stock is getting crushed and goog stock is at all time highs.

 

lets think logically. the nexus 7 is way cheaper than apple tablets. why would you expect the qualitative experience to be comparable, even though for most people, the nexus 7 is just fine? why would you expect a ford fusion to drive as nicely as a rolls royce? appl has to have some advantage for their higher prices don't they? I mean if they can't have maintain a perceived qualitative advantage (everybody uses the same parts) then their margins are coming down.

 

I understand that people buy Android tablets/devices because they're cheaper. People also argue that Android is ahead of and better than iOS/iPads/iPhones. That is what I strongly disagree with (with the current state of both operating systems and devices available). 

[Guest valueInv]

apple is losing lots of share in tablets. could be their high prices vs the completion, with little perceived added value. this might be a factor why aapl stock is getting crushed and goog stock is at all time highs.

 

lets think logically. the nexus 7 is way cheaper than apple tablets. why would you expect the qualitative experience to be comparable, even though for most people, the nexus 7 is just fine? why would you expect a ford fusion to drive as nicely as a rolls royce? appl has to have some advantage for their higher prices don't they? I mean if they can't have maintain a perceived qualitative advantage (everybody uses the same parts) then their margins are coming down.

 

Or it could be that Apple doesn't target price segments that other companies do, so they have a free reign on those segments.

[Guest wellmont]

apple is losing lots of share in tablets. could be their high prices vs the completion, with little perceived added value. this might be a factor why aapl stock is getting crushed and goog stock is at all time highs.

 

lets think logically. the nexus 7 is way cheaper than apple tablets. why would you expect the qualitative experience to be comparable, even though for most people, the nexus 7 is just fine? why would you expect a ford fusion to drive as nicely as a rolls royce? appl has to have some advantage for their higher prices don't they? I mean if they can't have maintain a perceived qualitative advantage (everybody uses the same parts) then their margins are coming down.

 

Or it could be that Apple doesn't target price segments that other companies do, so they have a free reign on those segments.

 

that's true. but then they lose market share and become a product for the 1%. :)

[rkbabang]

apple is losing lots of share in tablets. could be their high prices vs the completion, with little perceived added value. this might be a factor why aapl stock is getting crushed and goog stock is at all time highs.

 

lets think logically. the nexus 7 is way cheaper than apple tablets. why would you expect the qualitative experience to be comparable, even though for most people, the nexus 7 is just fine? why would you expect a ford fusion to drive as nicely as a rolls royce? appl has to have some advantage for their higher prices don't they? I mean if they can't have maintain a perceived qualitative advantage (everybody uses the same parts) then their margins are coming down.

 

Or it could be that Apple doesn't target price segments that other companies do, so they have a free reign on those segments.

 

that's true. but then they lose market share and become a product for the 1%. :)

 

I think Apple does target upper income consumers, but it isn't just the 1%, it is more like the 25%.

[bargainman]

My wife has the older Amazon eink Kindle and it's fine. The screen is great for reading, even more so than the Kindle Fire HD which has a much higher DPI.  It's not a tablet for anything like web browsing or apps, it's just for reading.  For that it works great.  Apparently the paperwhite has an even better screen.

 

Well Apple is apparently supply constrained, at least for the iPad mini, so that would imply that they couldn't even sell more even if they wanted to right!?  Which would imply that their pricing, even though it's still premium, is not too low..

[Guest valueInv]

apple is losing lots of share in tablets. could be their high prices vs the completion, with little perceived added value. this might be a factor why aapl stock is getting crushed and goog stock is at all time highs.

 

lets think logically. the nexus 7 is way cheaper than apple tablets. why would you expect the qualitative experience to be comparable, even though for most people, the nexus 7 is just fine? why would you expect a ford fusion to drive as nicely as a rolls royce? appl has to have some advantage for their higher prices don't they? I mean if they can't have maintain a perceived qualitative advantage (everybody uses the same parts) then their margins are coming down.

 

Or it could be that Apple doesn't target price segments that other companies do, so they have a free reign on those segments.

 

that's true. but then they lose market share and become a product for the 1%. :)

And they still keep 70% of the profits while their competitors lose money. I'm fine with that.

[DCG]

Amazon just updated their Kindle app for Android, and I have to say that I think it's probably now better than the iPad version. It's basically the Books part of the Kindle Fire OS. I think Apple not allowing in-app purchases does hurt the user experience, and I wonder if Apple's policy is preventing Amazon from making these same changes (such as adding recommendations) to the iPad app.

[VAL9000]

Nexus 7 v2 now available for pre-order:

 

http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/24/4551878/new-nexus-7-best-buy-pre-order-details-specs-price

 

$230 - 7" 1920 x 1200 display, 2 GB RAM, 16 GB Storage

 

[Palantir]

This makes me curious, does anybody have any thoughts on which products work on top of the OS layer? I keep thinking of the idea that the future great product is going to be the one that commoditizes it's complements (JoelOnSoftware), the only one I can think of is Google's search engine and Fbook...

[rkbabang]

There's google docs, google maps, gmail, etc.  All work very well inside a browser without an app.  Google's Chrome browser for iOS now has a full screen feature which makes using it almost as good as using an dedicated app for most things on the iPad.  There are many cases where I like a web interface better than the dedicated app.  There are some exceptions, such as the gmail app, which I find the app better.  Although I don't see why google couldn't make its gmail web interface more like the app.