Right, I know the arguments about what size screen is a proper tablet size. Certainly 10 inches is a tablet. 2.8 inches not so much. I get all that.
People are fairly uniform is their assessment of the Motorola Xoom as being clearly better than the iPad. That isn’t out yet, it won best of show at CES.
Most who are aware of the Herotab MID816 believe that it is better than the ipad.
Faster processor - 1.2G. The OS is on a removable internal flash card. Up to 64 gigs total storage (apart from any external drive you may have hooked up to. And less than half the price - under $250. Faster, does more, half the price.
Here are some links on this product.
http://www.slatedroid.com/herotab-m816/ - this one is a section of a droid message board all about this particular product. They all think they’ve got a better product than the ipad at half the price. The only problem they’re having is buying one. They’re selling fast, and they’re generic.
That Samsung Arm A8 chip at 1.2 ghz is clearly faster than the ipod, and provides better performance.
Here’s a link to prices of products, mostly tablets, with the Samsung S5PV210 chip -
http://www.dhgate.com/wholesale/S5PV210.html#search
And the Herotab runs Flash great, and the Ipad doesn’t run it at all.
In absolute terms I do realize some of the new tablets have better specs than an iPad, and also have high prices too. But do realize you're comparing them to a product that is almost a year old, an eternity in this market.
That Samsung Arm A8 chip at 1.2 ghz is clearly faster than the ipod, and provides better performance.
Try to avoid thinking in pure GHz. Especially in portable applications, that's not always a good thing. A 1 GHz processor handles normal uses quite well, although dual-core could make things more fluid without hurting battery life so much. More important would be the other items on the silicon to hardware-accelerate graphics and video. That Samsung Hummingbird is a good example, with PowerVR 540 graphics, quite a bit more powerful than Apple's A4, although the A4 does have a dedicated video decoder, which means it can play HD video while using very little battery.
Nobody's sure what's coming in the next iPad, but all the cameras and stuff are a given, plus a new SoC with a dual-core processor and a much more capable GPU. It looks like most high-end phones this year will get dual-core processors. So what's interesting to me is that the likely GPU can be programmed just like a desktop GPU. Given that OS X has such functionality built-in, it's likely iOS also does/will. So even if the CPU isn't ultra-high GHz, developers could have the option to leverage the GPU to vastly speed up various code -- on a phone! Sweeet.
Also, for performance, Android itself is a choke point. For now at least, it composites the interface in software, very slow. This probably so that older devices without GPUs can run it, but for some strange reason, compositing in hardware with elegant fallback wasn't implemented. Some Android implementations may have gotten around this, but it's pretty hard for a consumer to know which ones, and most won't even know to ask about it. Apple does have the advantage here in that they know exactly what hardware their OS will be running on, and they can optimize the OS for it.
Most who are aware of the Herotab MID816 believe that it is better than the ipad.
It saves on price by having a far inferior screen, resistive instead of capacitive, and smaller at that. Plus you get to buy expanded memory, it only comes with 4 GB.
Faster processor - 1.2G. The OS is on a removable internal flash card.
Interesting about this Samsung S5PC210 processor in it. I've never heard of it. Do you have a source for specs on this specific SoC? Also expect lower battery life with this processor. I see 6 hours listed, probably the usual wishful thinking best-case at that.
And the Herotab runs Flash great, and the Ipad doesn’t run it at all.
That's hard to believe. I haven't seen one positive review of Flash on Android, glitches, battery hogging and incompatibility abound. The problem with Flash is that it is not made for mobile, touch devices. It's a desktop technology that's trying to be squeezed into handhelds. The saddest part I've seen is a call for Flash developers to re-tool their works to be friendly to touch and mobile. But if we're going to do that, might as well move off of Flash altogether.
Uh, no... the specs say: "512MB DDR2 Ram, 4GB Nandflash built in Extend Memory up to 32GB via micro sd card" and that is $229 with an OS that the OS publisher says in inappropriate for a tablet... how can you say it's better?
Does more? Funny... only in your mind. I can find NO reviews that say that. Can you help us with these reviews that say that?
Here's what one of the reviewers has to say about your vaunted "does more" HeroTab from your own link:
"The device was heavier than I expected, but i think that is part of why it feels very solid/well made.
The biggest nit-pick I have for it is the power/back button.
- it can get caught/stuck when pressed down and to the side.
- it is not a real big concern, just minor annoyance.
Live wallpapers work great!Apps that are not working at this time:
- YouTube (viewable in the forums/embedded)
- (Can be FIXED go here: Link: Herotab MID816 - Programs - Apps - Installations - Root)
, - Gmail (viewable online or with email app)The speaker still plays even when headphones are plugged in.
In screen tests, the "shake" appears minimal. Roughly "o" or less in size.- I have had no issues moving/holding on to icons
Video playback appears to be software based at this time. (no issues/lag though)
The G-Sensor covers 270 degrees.
- 2 Portrait
- 1 Landscape
Right... works better...
Motorola Xoom... Can you provide the hands on reviews that prove that? Fact is, nobody has even TOUCHED one except mock-ups, because there are no production models available yet, and only seen video's of one in action act CES... so how do you know it is better? The word of Motorola?
Cnet said this in their "review" from CES:
"Jha showed some videos of the tablet in action but told reporters it was still under development and would not be available for hands-on demonstrations today."
Hardly definitive that it's better... only specs available and a video prepared by hype artists.
Your link on the Samsung tablets is to a wholesaler who sells in LOT quantities to get those prices... as if an individual is going to buy five at a time... try to be real, Truth.
One thing that many keep ignoring... Android-based tablets and phones have little to no “control” over what is developed for them. While this is good in many ways, it also falls into the same part of the computer OS debate of the more open vs. more closed environment. Android OS must be generic enough that it will run on a huge smorgasbord of devices from little phones, to tablets, with a wide variety of hardware components. Add to that the applications that have no oversight or controls = and you have a recipe for conflicts and stability issues.
Or you can sacrifice a portion of the bigger picture of flexibility by using a device that runs an OS that is specifically tailored for a relatively small menu of devices - with a comparably smaller pool of hardware component parts. Those devices then run apps that have at least gone through a screening process that includes a check for stability-damaging properties. Of course, with such review, you get some editorial largess... but again - what is stability and usability worth?
And lets not forget - Google “gives away” Android for a reason - they benefit directly. Google is all about data mining. Running an Android-based device gives Google access to every single bit of information on that device,including how it is used. At least Apple devices/iOS is suppose to give warning when an app is using your information, with an opt-out ability.
I don’t begrudge anyone who chooses an Android-based device. I just expect them to hold the same level of respect for my choice to use an iOS device. And if I run into frustrations - they don’t have to be sympathetic towards me - and the same is true with their issues.