I own two Android tablets, and have owned two in the past - the total has been much less than a iPad. My next tablet which I will probably buy before too long will also be an Android one.
You can call me an Apple hater. I've never owned an Apple device. When the iPods were the hype i used a Walkman MP3 and a Cowon MP3. I'm not saying they are bad products because IMO they are one of the best built devices but they are not for me. Bwahahaha
I have a lot of friends and people I know who use tablets. On the market now the majority of tablets come with Android OS. The other altertive is iPad (Apple). I had 2 high class tablets - one ASUS and one Acer - I had them free for testing for 2 weeks and they were useless without Internet connection. So, if you need to have a tablet or some portable device - it should be running other OS. Then I bought a Windows tablet that was made to run Windows 7 - it was like a netbook computer with different shape and touchscreen. The machine could not run Windows 8 Pro' Metro apps due to the display resolition. And I sold it. So, currently, I find the tablets just useful toys (except those running full Windows 8 or Windows 8 RT) due to the negatives of their operating systems - Surface, Surface Pro, Samsung aTiv tab, etc...
How are tablets other than Windows 8 useless without Internet connection? Do you not know of offline apps, games, and utilities?
Yes, they are all/most games and toys. With full OS like Windows one can do whatever they usually do with or without net
So Office, Books/Multimedia, Camera, Calculator, System Utilities, Date/Timekeeping, Sensors, GPS Maps, Personal Organizers, etc. are all games and toys huh.
Office requires Internet to share documents you write. Books/Multimedia requires Internet to download and save. Camera is something you can get on other gadgets - or real camera. Calculators and Timekeeping are everywhere on many other devices. The Calendar/Organizer apps also requires Internet to share and sync with other devices. GPS requires Internet to update itself, some location programs require Internet. I mean most apps are not fully independent.
You should not need an internet connection to run apps you have installed - just for installing new apps.
Not yet, but I'm seriously considering an iPad Mini - do you iPad users think I should wait for the Mini 2 or go for the current one? ...I need to keep it under $500.
You don't need to share. Plus there's a USB. USB or microSD transfer. Why pay for more when you already have a decent camera? What if you don't have those other devices in hand? Why carry more than you need? You don't need to share and sync. Plus there's the USB once again. GPS doesn't require the Internet as long as you've downloaded the map data. Google Maps provides it via menu key > make available offline. So what if they aren't? You expect Windows to be any different on those points you made? The key is usability, and Internet isn't required. Oh and no comment on Sensors and System Utilities? Not even going to acknowledge their existence? Edit: I forgot to mention the (FM) Radio in Multimedia. Need I say more?
Just my 2 cents, but have you considered the forthcoming Galaxy Note 8.0? Have a look here. In particular, have a look at the video near the bottom of the page. It really has some impressive features - unlike the iPad.
Not an iPad owner, but I follow Apple and Apple news closely. And yes you should wait, it's very likely that the iPad mini will get it's display upgrade to Retina resolution. But there's also a chance it will be two models, they keep the current one but will upgrade it too of course, but also introduce a new iPad mini with higher resolution.
Roger, it has to be an iPad or IPad Mini (I prefer the latter) as I have a $500 Apple gift-card. Wendi
But how likely is it to be released in March/April? I'm leaving on a trip in early May and would like to have it beforehand. Wendi
No. And I don't plan to buy such a device during my lifetime. - I not only don't need or want a tablet (I love only desktop computers and that won't ever change!), no I very much hate dumbed-down touch devices since they are the main reason why MS destroyed the successor of the desktop OS I love: Win7. Tablets are just over-hyped additional devices to me and cannot ever replace real computer systems for many, many reasons regardless what greedy marketing divisions want to tell us. They can keep their closed-system-toys for finger poking dummies, I want the real thing (maintainable stationary miditower machine with a real non-touchy OS!), a chair in front of it and a real keyboard not attached to any monitor and for sure not something called tablet. Sorry, but I really do hate what tablets have done so far. Every imbecile and his granny can now use a tablet like a remote control of a TV and "power users" are soon a completely forgotten and abandoned group. Or so MS seems to believe in their total lunacy.
i have samsung galaxy tab 10.1. it's convenient when traveling for internet, email, skype, messaging, movies, games, ebooks, audiobooks, radio/podcasts, directions, etc. sometime i also use it as a hotspot for my laptop. you can do those things on a smartphone too, but a larger screen is nicer for some functions, including emailing and texting because the fastest way to type for me is two thumb swyping = keymonk. my smartphone's screen is a little too small for me to swype on with more than one finger (ymmv). in terms of daily use, i normally record my workouts on an excel sheet i have on the tablet, and i watch videos on it when doing cardio. when running errands i sometimes take it with me in case i need the internet or navigation, although a smartphone is normally enough for any of that.
I love tablets n smart phones. Bought an iPad for my wife and I hate iOS( because of the closed nature of iOS as compared to OSX). I think the best tablet to buy are Asus Transformer( it,s a tablet as well as a laptop due to a keyboard dock), Nexus7 and Nexus 10 if you want to buy an android tablet( but personally I feel that a big screened android smartphone is more better for casual use). I plan to buy a windows 8 tablet, by Gods will. However I will wait for Atom Baytrail Processor( Haswell architecture). I have kept an eye on this one. http://usa.asus.com/Tablet/VivoTab/ASUS_VivoTab_Smart/#overview Price for this is good and it,s thin n light with long battery life as compared to MS Surface Pro. Sure Asus will update it to BayTrail once it,s released and I hope until that time they will also improve its screen resolution( and may be add a Stylus as well). And I will wish to install Ubuntu Touch on it.
