Though you still have to laugh at how no one seems to be able to come up with anything other than a thick black bezel with rounded corners.
I saw it last night at the HP webOS developer event. It's very nice and the UI makes the iOS UI look kind of stale. Unfortunately it will not be available until summer 2011 (which could be June or September). By then the upcoming iPad 2 will have been in the market for several months and several Honeycomb tablets will surely be out, too. That worries me more than the unannounced price (HP knows how to make hardware for a competitive price). Also (from a developer perspective) it's worrisome that the new ENYO development framework will only be available for WebOS 3, which will debut on the TouchPad. The Veer and Pre3 smart phones will debut with webOS 2.x (x likely 2) and only receive 3.0 later in the year. And the existing Pres and Pixies will not receive it at all (other than the Pre 2 phone, which is just coming out on VZ).
I have been using an iPad off and on since the introduction and I do plan to try others shortly. My feeling about the iPad really boils down to specific apps. I like reading the WSJ because the app designers did a great job (I like it a lot better than the paper version and also than the browser version); however, the NY Times is a poor reading experience and shows how two large news organizations with similar goals can end up with products that vary greatly in quality.
I agree with your assessment of the WSJ and NY Times. Also when your brain is completely fried at the end of a day you can check out the USA Toady-Today In Pictures Section. For what USA Today is, they've put together a decent app.
I have never used the WSJ app, primarily because I don't want to subscribe (they might have a free trial, so I should probably give it a shot). But I do use the iPad-specific NYT app quite a bit and like it a lot. Note that this isn't the same app that was available when the iPad original came out, which just gave you a small selection of the articles. While I could certainly imagine/suggest some improvements for the NYT iPad app, I am generally happy with it, especially at the current cost ($0). In your experience, what's better about the WSJ app?
I also prefer the apple products solely because of the Apps available. I find some of them to be invaluable and to have no substitutes for other other leading Mobile Operating Systems.
The HP one does look nice, it will be hard to justify the cost to Mrs Chimpy. Perhaps I will buy it for her birthday and just use it myself .
I like the idea of the Notion Ink Adam tablet: http://www.notionink.com/features.php It has 1 screen that has 2 modes. One is a normal LED type of display. The other is a 'transflective' Pixel Qi display which is similar to what you get in a Kindle. Battery life is said to be excellent. I will just have to see what it's like when reviews start to come in.
I think the Samsung Tab 2 or whatever it'll be called looks nice. Of course, it's essentially the same as the Xoom and a myriad number of tablets, but I'm waiting for pricing and firm release information.
I bought the iPad 3G when it came out (though I only activated 3G service for one month) and the bluetooth keyboard. I hoped to use it as a laptop replacement on certain trips (like bike and/or beer tours) and it was able to do all I needed (remote desktop to clients computers, email, etc.) though about 25% was really, really painful. Just after I can back from a 3 week iPad only European trip Apple announced the 11" MacBookAir and that is my new traveling computer. Not a whole lot heaver than iPad+keyboard but a real computer. I do love my iPad. I use it as a book reader daily. I've also built a nice PDF reference library and it works great for that. When traveling, I load it up with all the TV shows I don't have to time to watch and it keeps me entertained in my long TATL trips in coach. When it comes time to replace it, I may go for a 7" tablet -- a client has a Samsung Galaxy Tab and it looks to be a nice size for what I use a table for these days. By the time I break/drop/wear out my iPad I'm sure there'll be an updated version or something similar from a competitor. That being said, the Xoom looks very interesting and if I didn't have an iPad I would be looking closely at the Xoom.
Unfortunately I am one of those who likes the keyboard, so I'll probably stick with netbook/ultraports. Though the Xoom does look very nice with Honeycomb. I don't think I'll ever buy into the Apple walled garden system, especially with the recent changes...
Other things I've occasionally missed: the ability to print boarding passes, tickets, etc. and uploading photos, both of which have reasonable workarounds.[/quote] With Qantas in Australia, I just check in online and select my seat. When I get to the airport the Qantas kiosk there will print your pass if you have already checked in.
I bought an Augen Gentouch for $129, just for fun. It's actually no bad, though it only runs 'droid 2.1. It will, however, play movies, so I'll try it out on my next long haul (probably LAX/SFO/PEK). The screen isn't high enough res to read, so I'll also carry my Sony eReader (which I really like). Of course, I'll still need my laptop on the ground -- rats, now I'm up to three computers in my carry on!
The keyboard is, well, key. I still can't figure out a single advantage of a tablet vs. a notebook computer other than the ability to read things in portrait mode. Wow. That's worth $600.
IMHO... much more convenient to consume information (text, video) while sitting on the couch or in bed. I am typing this on my laptop will sitting in my lazyboy chair, but most of my MP surfing and replying happens on the iPad. My ThinkPad convertible tablet has portrait mode, but it never worked for me as a tablet. Wrong OS. iOS (and other touch-oriented OSes like Android, WebOS) are just much more effective for that purpose. I am curious -- when you say that you can't figure out a single advantage, have you actually tried an iPad or other tablet for a bit? Four or five years ago I thought the Lenovo would be awesome for what I now do with the iPad, until I actually tried it... and found I was wrong. Sometimes trying something is the only way of finding out what works and what doesn't (reminds me of Jeff Hawkins carrying around a block of wood shaped like the original Palm to try out how it would work for him). Fortunately for me the Lenovo was also a great lightweight laptop, so while I overpaid for the tablet features I never ended up using, I still got lots of use out of it.
I am not quoting you all the time just so you will "like" me My previous traveling computer (before the original MacBook Air) was an HP (nee Compaq) TC-1100 tablet. Like you I had hight expectations but never really used it as a tablet, just a light weight laptop. I did occasionally surf the web in portrait tablet mode (the keyboard was detachable) but it was just too heavy and you had to use a special stylus. It worked -- just well enough to know I needed something like the iPad
Well of course not, silly - that would mean actually buying it, which I'm not gonna do. Nor have I ever "tried" jumping off a hundred-foot cliff. Yet I know there is no single advantage in me doing that, either.
Maybe someone will let you borrow their iPad. When my wife asked if she could have mine for a seven day solo trip, I bought her her own
I have been waiting for the iPad2. But have to admit the Galaxy has my attention. If anyone has any recent experiences with them, I'd really like to hear the pros and cons.
I am waiting until the iPad2 comes out, at which time Motorola will re-evaluate their silly initial price for the Xoom and reduce it to something more competitive/reasonable Then it will be compare and contrast time!
