Good Quality accessories, at very good prices - Touch HD Accessories

have used this company, for many years now, they are based on the between liverpool and southport.
They mainly specialise in Mail order, however on the rare occasion they will actually deal with you in person, as long as you arrange to collect, and not just turn up.
Their website is www.blueunplugged.com
And i would recommend them for equipment for all devices, i have always found them to be exceptional in their prices and delivery times.
Have a look and see, if you can find it cheaper, let me know - i've not found anything cheaper yet.
Happy shopping, and i hope you too have good experiences with them...
cheers
mark

Related

Second Edition: Why do we care?

Great article here:
http://www.brighthand.com/article/Windows_Mobile_SE_Upgrades_No_Big_Deal?site=PPC
But their point of view is based on just a regular Second Edition features. I think that for us, PE users the main concerns are:
1. Crappy BT stack implementation in the current version of WM
Absence of Hands Free profile, rudimental serial port utilization
2. Phone software limitations
No calling card support, no T9, flimsy controls in general
I wonder, if there is any previews of WM Second Edition PE. i was trying to find it with no apparent luck.
The gist of this article though is that it takes time and money even to produce previews etc. Think about it:
1. Manufacturer (eg HTC) has to produce a build that works for each customer
2. Customer (eg O2) has to ensure it's good enough for supply to end-developers
That takes TIME, MONEY and EFFORT.
In the greater scheme of life, PDA's are not as big as mobile phones, and last I looked operators sold more phones than pdas.
I can't see it happening....
I am looking forward to landscape mode support.
Southern_Man said:
The gist of this article though is that it takes time and money even to produce previews etc. Think about it:
1. Manufacturer (eg HTC) has to produce a build that works for each customer
2. Customer (eg O2) has to ensure it's good enough for supply to end-developers
That takes TIME, MONEY and EFFORT.
In the greater scheme of life, PDA's are not as big as mobile phones, and last I looked operators sold more phones than pdas.
I can't see it happening....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's IF they going to distribute this upgrade for free. I think, some people will pay for it reasonable price.
Just came across another thread on Club iMATE site. This is kind of official statement. Check it out:
http://www.clubimate.com/forums/printable.asp?m=2872&mpage=
It's true that some people would pay for an upgrade. However, some, including me, won't.
But if they don't release that update for free, they also won't sell any more units to me or my company. And I don't think they's like to lose customers, who would buy about 200 units.
Losing customers that aren't willing to pay for services rendered isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Johnny Cache said:
It's true that some people would pay for an upgrade. However, some, including me, won't.
But if they don't release that update for free, they also won't sell any more units to me or my company. And I don't think they's like to lose customers, who would buy about 200 units.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm.... they sold 100k units without offering an upgrade. I don't think 200 really makes that much different.
We expect the software to be perfect, and to be ready within weeks, and to be free. We complain when it isn't, yet we aren;t willing to pay for it.
Apple started charging for software upgrades, as do most other companies.
Perhaps this is why Dell and HP are saying get stuffed to upgrades - it just isn't worth it.
Even Nokia Service Centre charges £20 to flash up a mobile with the standard new code.
What's even worse is people who have the power to make a knee-jerk decision for their company, without looking at the total cost vs. total return on investment.
Anyway, as much as I like free stuff, I realize developers have to eat too. I don't mind paying for things of value, especially if it is a modest fee as others have charged in the past.
I really don't care about new features. All we need is a working BT stack... and that's something we should get for free. That's what we payed for already.
I mainly want the ability to use my device in landscape for Excel spreadsheets and surfing with PIE. Every application out there that does landscape forces a hard reset on my MDA II and none will work.
This and the hopefully improved Widcomm BT stack of the MDA III have be debating whether or not to upgrade.

Is ASUS Stupid?

Im buying the new transformer prime... but about 4 days ago i was heading out the door to buy an ipad 2 before a friend showed me this great device. So far in the last 4 days since i heard of this tablet ive told 20 different people about this and NO ONE knows about it, NO ONE!! not a soul, and who can blame them?
there's no commercials, there's almost no add campaign at all... there's not even a solid release date yet!!
im finding it hard to make an investment in this company.
I won't get into how much money Apple dunks into marketing their products. This all comes down to how much more they will gain by dumping millions on advertising it. Will they make 10x profit compared to the cost? If they can't get a good estimate, then most company chooses to just let online "press" and retailers advertise in their stead. See how it goes and promote it further. Most people learn about products on TV and the Internet, but what makes them want to buy a product is from knowing someone that owns it or have experienced it first hand. There's no reason for a corporation to invest in marketing a product if it is not a 100% sure hit. It has something to do with corporate decisions.
The EeePad Transformer was a pretty good device with AWESOME support. That is what Asus does. I can verify that is what Asus does best; slow at getting customers, but keeps them forever because they stay behind their products. If you ever purchase their video cards, or other hardware, you will find that Asus will treat you like family.
Apple may have good Customer Support but that lasts how long? 90 days without a warranty?
But also, this is a new product as its not just another Tablet. While current Transformer users love the product, it does seem a little unusual. The Transformer line-up will become a pretty big thing in the next few years I'm sure.
I was surprised that in a group of 20 people 2 recognised Asus Transformer for what it was and no one called it iPad. It was in Poland. I don't know if there were advertisements in TV for it or sth. It's in most big shops though, maybe people know it from their ad flyers (I don't know how it's called - ads for big stores that are left on your front door with information about new promotions).
Android tablets suffer from hardware-war. But the thing is that majority of consumers are mainly interested in CONTENT, not the device and its hardware. This is why Amazon Kindle jumped amazingly fast in sales even though their custom skin for Android and hardware of the device are relatively lacklustre.
Android makers mainly battle with their features and hardware. But that's not the way to make an impact.
I understand word of mouth is a great way to sell products, but since no one i know has ever heard of this thing, i got lucky that some random xbl friend happened to know about it. I find it hard to beleave that ASUS is a marketing geniuses that is using a unique marketing trick which is the opposite of what everyone else does.
Apple has everyone brain washed, including me a little while ago, and thats what ASUS should be striving for.. not hide in the shadows and let the fans do the selling.
blaziner18 said:
I understand word of mouth is a great way to sell products, but since no one i know has ever heard of this thing, i got lucky that some random xbl friend happened to know about it. I find it hard to beleave that ASUS is a marketing geniuses that is using a unique marketing trick which is the opposite of what everyone else does.
Apple has everyone brain washed, including me a little while ago, and thats what ASUS should be striving for.. not hide in the shadows and let the fans do the selling.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think anyone's trying to argue that Asus is a marketing genius. But they don't have anywhere close to Apple's financial resources. So instead of a billion dollar ad campaign, they spend that money on developing and continuously supporting their products. Apple may have people brainwashed, but Asus doesn't need to resort to that, as their products speak for themselves.
And if you look at the release of the Transformer 1, which sold much faster than it could be produced initially (and it looks like the same might be the case for the TF2), you can see they must be doing something right.
Thank god I won't have to see a billion other people holding the same device as me. I want to throw up when I see everyone on the bus using the same iPhone.
xTRICKYxx said:
Apple may have good Customer Support but that lasts how long? 90 days without a warranty?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just wanted to clarify that Apple products have a 1 year warranty included, and you can just drive to an Apple store to get it serviced, and not having to pay to RMA your products by mailing it and wait...
I've been thinking about this tablet, and it's release date wondering why it's not out yet.
All I can think of is
1) Want to get rid of inventory of TF101's
or
2) Really want to wait to get the ICS out with the tablet. Because it significantly increases the performance of the Tegra 3 quad core tablet. Maybe, if they release with Honeycomb, and the Quad core is slightly better performance than Dual core, they look overpriced, and low benchmarks get circulated around the web.
Both are pure speculation without but there has to be some reason it's not out yet.
farplaner said:
Just wanted to clarify that Apple products have a 1 year warranty included, and you can just drive to an Apple store to get it serviced, and not having to pay to RMA your products by mailing it and wait...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
..and have to deal with an Apple Store Genius. I've seen many smarmy Apple users, but these "Geniuses" take it to a new level... No thanks.
They remind me of the "Santa's helper Elves" in A Christmas Story (yeah, the one with Ralphie).
They re definitly waiting for ICS to launch the Prime. And they are right to do so. don't ship an unfinished product, especialy when hopes and demands are so high about it.
nook-color said:
I've been thinking about this tablet, and it's release date wondering why it's not out yet.
All I can think of is
1) Want to get rid of inventory of TF101's
or
2) Really want to wait to get the ICS out with the tablet. Because it significantly increases the performance of the Tegra 3 quad core tablet. Maybe, if they release with Honeycomb, and the Quad core is slightly better performance than Dual core, they look overpriced, and low benchmarks get circulated around the web.
Both are pure speculation without but there has to be some reason it's not out yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or they want to be sure they have plenty of stock, and that stock it where it's supposed to go, before releasing it. I imagine there's a lot of demand, and more places than ever wanting to sell it. Logistically, it's a lot of work.
Smyc151 said:
Or they want to be sure they have plenty of stock, and that stock it where it's supposed to go, before releasing it. I imagine there's a lot of demand, and more places than ever wanting to sell it. Logistically, it's a lot of work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is what I'm thinking is the case. The first time around, the TF101 was back-ordered for weeks and the dock didn't launch for a month after the tablet. This is not a fun situation to be in for the company or consumers. I'm sure that not being able to meet demand takes a toll on potential sales.
That said, it is also possible that they are wanting to deliver what had been rumored, since it was within their abilities to do. The tech blogs were making a lot of noise at the end of last month, beginning of this month about the Prime as being the first Tegra 3 and first ICS tablet to market. It does not seem out of the question that Asus would try to live up to the rumors if possible, especially while trying to justify a higher price-point than the original.
well this is making me feel better about ASUS, but my last argument is more of a nuh-uhh then anything else. I still say, even if they lack the resources there should be some small add campaign, a release date, internet adds. I was extremely lucky to find this product.
farplaner said:
Just wanted to clarify that Apple products have a 1 year warranty included, and you can just drive to an Apple store to get it serviced, and not having to pay to RMA your products by mailing it and wait...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be fair, Asus has service centers all over their home country Taiwan that are similar to Apple's genius bars.
I think it's just because Asus is based in Taiwan that we don't see much of their advertising and great service. They seem to focus most of their efforts in their home country. If you go look around there you'll see Asus ads everywhere.
Just because they don't advertise; makes it a bad product. Most people buy IOS devices because they simply aren't geekish and just want a device that works ,(Not counting the ever annoying and ignorant iSheep/iFanboys).
What i love about Asus, is that the products speak for themselves.
I remember when the HTC Evo 4G had been announced but not yet released... and everyone was clamoring and *****ing, wondering why HTC & Sprint didn't bother with any pre-release advertising and hype. And look, it went to become one of the more popular Android offerings in recent history.
Don't sweat it...
Guys here in the US the Prime is 100% sold out on Amazon, has been since 48 hours from being made available. Doesn't matter if it has commercials or not, it's already making money and isn't even on shelves.
kristovaher said:
Android tablets suffer from hardware-war. But the thing is that majority of consumers are mainly interested in CONTENT, not the device and its hardware. This is why Amazon Kindle jumped amazingly fast in sales even though their custom skin for Android and hardware of the device are relatively lacklustre.
Android makers mainly battle with their features and hardware. But that's not the way to make an impact.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tegra 3 is better than the A5 Chip.
The GPU in Tegra 3 is actually better than the SGX543, but its 2 GPU not one which is why its benchmark is higher, if you half the score in GLBenchmark for iPad 2 you see that Tegra 3 is btter. So hardware Android isnt far behind.

WSJ: Google to sell ASUS, Samsung tablets from its own online store

http://online.wsj.com/article_email...12043639469540-lMyQjAxMTAyMDIwOTEyNDkyWj.html
good find. I can only see this as being positive for Android. plus Google store will likely be stocked up. some tablets won't be hard to find anymore. I'm sure Google would keep their online supplies stocked up. then this will also tie into Google wallet accounts. purchases made easy on Google online store through Google wallet.
Assuming this comes true, it confirms the obvious, that the laissez faire vendor adoption method has failed. Google needed to be more hands-on. Hopefully it'll be the first step in a process, as by itself, it isn't enough to win market share.
Much as I would like to get a decent $199 tab, selling widgets at a loss (or break-even) is not a winning strategy. Goog will have to cook up some magic jelly beans, then grow a beanstalk and climb out of the low-rent district. Apple the Jolly Giant is waiting at the top.
Exciting times!
dec. esryse
Ya im not disappointed by this
e.mote said:
Much as I would like to get a decent $199 tab, selling widgets at a loss (or break-even) is not a winning strategy. Goog will have to cook up some magic jelly beans, then grow a beanstalk and climb out of the low-rent district. Apple the Jolly Giant is waiting at the top.
Exciting times!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How can you say it's not a winning strategy? Razor blade manufacturers have been doing it for years--sell the razor at a loss, make it back big-time with the razors. Amazon is doing it with the Kindle, and I think Google could benefit significantly from doing it as well. They want to sell ads on mobile devices, and I'm sure they recognize that Apple would like to take this business away from them on iOS devices. And that's not to mention selling content via Google Play.
I think a subsidized tablet could help kick-start the Android tablet market in general. At the very least, it could convince developers that they should be investing in tablet-optimized apps, which is the one thing that's missing from the equation.
While this is good news and all, Google REALLY need to start trying to get developers into making good Android Tablet apps, we are getting close to an even keel on phone apps, but Android Tablet apps lag so far behind iPad it isnt even funny!
e.mote said:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303404704577312043639469540.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google bought Motorola Mobility and would NEVER rely or use Asus to throw it's own name on their tablets. Google knows Asus tablets aren't up to par with quality and could never compete with Apple on quality. I'll buy a Google branded Moto tablet instantly cause it will be of high quality and defect free. I've used 3 ipad3's already and not one had ANY light bleed at all. Strangely every Asus tablet I've touched or used had some kind of light bleed. People do see the inferior products being used.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/29/nvidia-ceo-suggests-199-tegra-3-tablets-in-the-summer/
He's been saying that since last year... however, I also find it to be annoying.
Anyways, if Tegra 3 devices do hit $199 price, I can only imagine how crippled other aspects in the system specifications will look like.
Btw, this notion that if more "android tablets" are in the wild.. you will see more 3rd parties developing dedicated tablet apps due to the increased potential in profit/revenue.
However, if you look into smartphone market, it's not exactly true. You certainly see growth compared to when Android Market started, but if you compared to iOS app store... it's nothing to boast about considering that Android Smartphone (as a whole) leads the share in smartphone market over iPhone.
Simply put, Android users do not spend money on apps as much as iOS users. Until this TREND changes... you won't see 3rd parties developing unique tablets apps for Android. Btw, Google's approach with unified "app" between tablet & smartphone doesn't help either.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/android-vs-iphone-economics-apps-160608285.html
>How can you say it's not a winning strategy? Razor blade manufacturers have been doing it for years...Amazon is doing it with the Kindle, and I think Google could benefit significantly from doing it as well. They want to sell ads on mobile devices
It's not a winning strategy because the razor-blade model is not yet proven on tablets. I haven't seen Amazon break out the champagne for the loads of profit from selling things through the Fire. Amazon is in a much better position to monetize from its tablet because a) it has more stuff to sell, not just ads, and b) the Fire is intentionally limited to get all its contents exclusively from Amazon. A Goog tablet won't have the same luxury, not if it were to be "open" as prior Nexus devices.
Fundamentally, it's not a winning strategy because you can't base a platform around the idea of pushing ads/wares into the user's face. Amazon is selling a portable kiosk. Google is trying to sell an entire mobile platform, and the platform has to succeed on its own merit, ie have an intrinsic worth. The rumored $199 tablet can only be a barebone, stripped down unit. It cannot compete with the incumbent iPad, nor with the more functional Win8 tablets when those appear.
I'd agree that it's a necessary stop-gap action. Goog needs to get enough devices out there so devs would develop for it. It's the same as what RIM is doing with Playbook. A $199 tab is also needed not to compete with Amazon, but prevent it from hijacking the Android platform.
The only winning strategy has to be based on the user experience, which in turn depends on the OS. Simply put, HC wasn't good enough. Based on what I've seen here of the Prime's update travails, ICS is still a beta. Fully 5 months after launch, the main improvements in 4.0.4 changelog still have the words "faster" and "more stable" and "fixes" in them. Fine for enthusiasts, not so fine for Joe Blow.
You can make it good, or you can make it cheap. Android failed on the first, so it needed to resort to the second. But the long-term solution is still to make it good.
The more tablets they spew out, the more work it takes for devs to port/update apps for that specific tablet. When the TFP came out a bunch of games didn't work (Dead Space, Gameloft, etc) and they had to take time to port it. How big of the market share do you think the TFP represents 1%? Then tmw some ABCD tablet is gonna come out and they will have to port for that again. I read somewhere that interest for Android tab delopment is actually declining unlike the smartphone market. They better get their stuff together before W8 hits.
^^^
Same thing goes for accessories...
Modded by MBOK
What Google could hopefully do is to subsidize them a bit. While we pay our 400-700€ for a tablet most of the "normal" consumer won't and most people I also won't recommend such an expensive device for the few things they would do with it.
Tablet market in general is still very small and even Apple has just a little tiny piece of it. To get it attractive for the "normal" users they have to be around 200€/$ max and Google hopefully can do that.
MysteriousDiary said:
What Google could hopefully do is to subsidize them a bit. While we pay our 400-700€ for a tablet most of the "normal" consumer won't and most people I also won't recommend such an expensive device for the few things they would do with it.
Tablet market in general is still very small and even Apple has just a little tiny piece of it. To get it attractive for the "normal" users they have to be around 200€/$ max and Google hopefully can do that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont think pricing them cheaper is gonna do a whole lot anymore. You have the iPad 2 setting the upper bar at 400 and the iPad 3 setting the absolute highest at 500 then you have the Fire setting the low bar at 200. All other tablets are stuck in the 300 area or is forced to compete with the iPad head on. And you bet 99% of consumers are gonna ask why they would want to pay more for an Android tab when they can get an iPad for cheaper.
The problem is that they need more devs on Android. How many times do we have to wait for iOS apps to hopefully be ported over. When does it ever happen the other way around?
Well there are great Android Apps who are not available for iOS. I'm always wondering why people look at iOS apps and want the exact same instead of looking what Android has to get the same job done. It's about getting the things done people want to do on their tablet - doesn't matter if the app is called a or b. Especially since ICS more and more Apps also have a native Tablet UI - thanks to the fragments. On the other side iOS still is like a stretched phone OS with it's 4x4(5) grid - even on a big tablet.
The new iPad doesn't sell well too. The sells of it are much worser than Apple seems to have expected and the workers in Foxconn got already "just" 4 day weeks and holiday because of the reduced iPad production. They also switched some production lines to other products because of the less demand in new iPads. Even the chinese sellers in blackmarket are sitting on their new iPads and can barely sell them.
http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?cid=1102&MainCatID&id=20120328000090
And while maybe about 50% of people have a SmartPhone it's maybe less than 10% or 5% for tablets. We're still far away from a bit tablet boom. For most usecases the current ones were just too expensive - those are tablets for us...the geeks. Kindle Fire is just available in the US and not all want a tablet where you barely can see and feel the Android underneath it.
I still believe in a big success of a good 199$ Tablet from Google/ASUS. It's also the perfect price range for birthday gifts.
>http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?cid=1102&MainCatID&id=20120328000090
Good anecdotal piece. It's a bit too soon to determine iPad sales, but there are caution flags out (also anecdote-based).
http://blogs.barrons.com/techtrader...s-avoid-shares-till-fyq2-ipad-sales-play-out/
>I still believe in a big success of a good 199$ Tablet from Google/ASUS.
Assuming a bit better specs than Fire, it should be a best-seller. By itself, it may well jump-start Android tab adoption/development, especially as iPad & Win8 won't be in this price range. Then again, Apple may well release the rumored $300 miniPad in 2H to put a choke hold on Android.
In that same vein, Acer & Co, masters of the cheap netbooks, may want to repeat their fortune with cheap Win8 tabs. The sticking point here is Win8's 1366x768 min res, which would preclude Win8 from cheap 7" units.
Going down the line, I can't imagine Amazon will sit still for Google to eat its lunch. We may well see a $149 Fire yet.
How low can they go?
MysteriousDiary said:
Well there are great Android Apps who are not available for iOS. I'm always wondering why people look at iOS apps and want the exact same instead of looking what Android has to get the same job done. It's about getting the things done people want to do on their tablet - doesn't matter if the app is called a or b. Especially since ICS more and more Apps also have a native Tablet UI - thanks to the fragments. On the other side iOS still is like a stretched phone OS with it's 4x4(5) grid - even on a big tablet.
The new iPad doesn't sell well too. The sells of it are much worser than Apple seems to have expected and the workers in Foxconn got already "just" 4 day weeks and holiday because of the reduced iPad production. They also switched some production lines to other products because of the less demand in new iPads. Even the chinese sellers in blackmarket are sitting on their new iPads and can barely sell them.
http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?cid=1102&MainCatID&id=20120328000090
And while maybe about 50% of people have a SmartPhone it's maybe less than 10% or 5% for tablets. We're still far away from a bit tablet boom. For most usecases the current ones were just too expensive - those are tablets for us...the geeks. Kindle Fire is just available in the US and not all want a tablet where you barely can see and feel the Android underneath it.
I still believe in a big success of a good 199$ Tablet from Google/ASUS. It's also the perfect price range for birthday gifts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the shocking revelation, to me, on current Ipad sales. I love it..lol. seems like all the current issues with it and not really being an upgrade from ipad2 is hurting sales dramatically. Steve is rolling over in his grave over this latest Ipad. I hope this is the beginning of the downfall of apple. All that national
ITS LIKE THEY SAY, WHAT GOES UP, MUST COME DOWN. Apple has no where else to go but down. Seems like people realizing there are more choices in tablets other than Ipad.
MysteriousDiary said:
The new iPad doesn't sell well too. The sells of it are much worser than Apple seems to have expected and the workers in Foxconn got already "just" 4 day weeks and holiday because of the reduced iPad production. They also switched some production lines to other products because of the less demand in new iPads. Even the chinese sellers in blackmarket are sitting on their new iPads and can barely sell them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the iPad 3 isn't selling well then Android is selling at all. Because Apple sold 25% of the tablets Android ever sold in just 3 days. The lower workload and blackmarket sellers not being able to resell iPads could just be because Apple was better prepared compared to their iPad 2 launch (ie having preorders for the 3). Apple learned unlike ASUS did going from OG TF to the TFP.
You know news sites love to make controversies and because people will read anything related to Apple. Take the heat problem for example, there was all the controversy but then they found out that its not even that much hotter to other tablets.
xGary said:
If the iPad 3 isn't selling well then Android is selling at all. Because Apple sold 25% of the tablets Android ever sold in just 3 days. The lower workload and blackmarket sellers not being able to resell iPads could just be because Apple was better prepared compared to their iPad 2 launch (ie having preorders for the 3). Apple learned unlike ASUS did going from OG TF to the TFP.
You know news sites love to make controversies and because people will read anything related to Apple. Take the heat problem for example, there was all the controversy but then they found out that its not even that much hotter to other tablets.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so the tens of thousands of ipads throwing up Shutting down due to overheating is controversy? especially since its well documented on apple forums and ipadforums.net, which is the largest Ipad forums. it wasn't controversies, that's a real issue with the new Ipad which got national television coverage on it in less than a week of its launch. that's one of the main reasons Ipad sales have halted. along with ipad2 users seeing no real benefits into upgrading. everyone totes it not as a real upgrade. more comparable to b.s. iPhone in-between builds. next Ipad to release will be the true upgrade to ipad2. current latest release is more like the ipad2S.
demandarin said:
so the tens of thousands of ipads throwing up Shutting down due to overheating is controversy? especially since its well documented on apple forums and ipadforums.net, which is the largest Ipad forums. it wasn't controversies, that's a real issue with the new Ipad which got national television coverage on it in less than a week of its launch. that's one of the main reasons Ipad sales have halted. along with ipad2 users seeing no real benefits into upgrading. everyone totes it not as a real upgrade. more comparable to b.s. iPhone in-between builds. next Ipad to release will be the true upgrade to ipad2. current latest release is more like the ipad2S.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did not see where tens of thousands of iPads shutting down due to overheating happen. Look on the iPad 3 section on the iPadForums right now. How many threads do you see with people complaining about heat? I looked through 4 pages and the only thread I saw about heat was someone asking if there was indeed a heat problem and people replying that it does get a little warmer but nothing crazy. It is an electronic, it gets warm. My TFP got hot when I played an hour of Dungeon Defender. Does the iPad get hotter? Probably. Do I notice it? No.
And Apple is set to release once a year. It is their schedule that they will stick to. People can't expect Apple to make a major breakthrough like the iPhone and iPad every year. They will make huge breakthroughs but just not every year. A lot of Android devices get crappy upgrades between versions and no one cries about it. Maybe for once there could be a huge breakthrough from Android and Apple will follow that. Why must it always be the other way around?
Interesting article on Why the Google store selling tablets online would succeed.
http://www.extremetech.com/electron...iled&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews

What is Google thinking with these lazy product launches?

So I love my nexus ten, but I do not understand what google is trying to pull here. They make it almost impossible first to track down one of these things down. Then they do little to no advertising so the only ppl that really know about the nexus line are tech geeks while the average consumer is bombarded with iPad ads on every street corner. Then on top of that they release not even one official accessory for it!! No case, no smart cover, nothing OEM, pathetic! Go to an apple store and see all the junk you can get for it. Also look at the nexus 7 dock..... so they are going to release it a year after the product drops and is obsolete by then? Its like Google is just like OK lets make an awesome tablet for fun but screw anyone actually trying to live or own one!!!
waltthizzney said:
So I love my nexus ten, but I do not understand what google is trying to pull here. They make it almost impossible first to track down one of these things down. Then they do little to no advertising so the only ppl that really know about the nexus line are tech geeks while the average consumer is bombarded with iPad ads on every street corner. Then on top of that they release not even one official accessory for it!! No case, no smart cover, nothing OEM, pathetic! Go to an apple store and see all the junk you can get for it. Also look at the nexus 7 dock..... so they are going to release it a year after the product drops and is obsolete by then? Its like Google is just like OK lets make an awesome tablet for fun but screw anyone actually trying to live or own one!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know there are plenty of cases for it on Amazon and Ebay.
waltthizzney said:
So I love my nexus ten, but I do not understand what google is trying to pull here. They make it almost impossible first to track down one of these things down. Then they do little to no advertising so the only ppl that really know about the nexus line are tech geeks while the average consumer is bombarded with iPad ads on every street corner. Then on top of that they release not even one official accessory for it!! No case, no smart cover, nothing OEM, pathetic! Go to an apple store and see all the junk you can get for it. Also look at the nexus 7 dock..... so they are going to release it a year after the product drops and is obsolete by then? Its like Google is just like OK lets make an awesome tablet for fun but screw anyone actually trying to live or own one!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I completely agree. I absolutely love my Nexus 10 tablet, and the more I use it and the more reviews I read the more I'm assured that it's just as good as the iPad 4. Yet no one other than tech geeks have even heard of it. Google ONLY makes it available on the Playstore, gives ZERO indication of what retail stores will be carrying it and when, displays NO advertising on TV or otherwise, and releases no accessories.
It's really disappointing. It has the specs to succeed. It has the OS to succeed. It has the screen to succeed. It has the name brand to succeed. All it needs is some proper marketing and to provide some availability and it will be a huge success. Judging by the fact that it's sold out on the Play Store, and that every time a few show up at a Wal Mart they're immediately picked up tells me that there's a very high demand and that people want it. Maybe Google is laying a bit low right now because they can't come anywhere close to having enough stock if the demand went up considerably right now? I don't know.
Valid statement.
digitalrelic said:
I completely agree. I absolutely love my Nexus 10 tablet, and the more I use it and the more reviews I read the more I'm assured that it's just as good as the iPad 4. Yet no one other than tech geeks have even heard of it. Google ONLY makes it available on the Playstore, gives ZERO indication of what retail stores will be carrying it and when, displays NO advertising on TV or otherwise, and releases no accessories.
It's really disappointing. It has the specs to succeed. It has the OS to succeed. It has the screen to succeed. It has the name brand to succeed. All it needs is some proper marketing and to provide some availability and it will be a huge success. Judging by the fact that it's sold out on the Play Store, and that every time a few show up at a Wal Mart they're immediately picked up tells me that there's a very high demand and that people want it. Maybe Google is laying a bit low right now because they can't come anywhere close to having enough stock if the demand went up considerably right now? I don't know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think your final statement is quite valid. They needed to launch to take some attention from the launch of the ipad mini but weren't really in a position to do so, stock wise. I also wonder wether they are trying to avoid upsetting other OEM that use android that also want to sell tablets this christmas.
This is the first Nexus line that is actually this in demand and desirable to the masses. Previous Nexus launches has very little to offer to those wanting anything other than pure android experience. This time it is coming with top of the line spec and hardware and software to match that hardware and it exploded in the market.
Google didnt predict this, neither did lot of us. Lot of us did not expect that this product will be in such a demand that it will be hard to get one. Frankly the top of the line 32GB model has not been hard to get. I ordered 3 and got all 3 within a week of order even when they estimated anything from 2 to 4 weeks as waiting time.
Google will learn from this. And the success of this line actually gives google incentive to go all out on a big launch next time around. So overall, this is good for those who swear by nexus. Maybe it will be mainstream launch next time around thanks to the success of this lineup.
Funkym0nkey said:
This is the first Nexus line that is actually this in demand and desirable to the masses. Previous Nexus launches has very little to offer to those wanting anything other than pure android experience. This time it is coming with top of the line spec and hardware and software to match that hardware and it exploded in the market.
Google didnt predict this, neither did lot of us. Lot of us did not expect that this product will be in such a demand that it will be hard to get one. Frankly the top of the line 32GB model has not been hard to get. I ordered 3 and got all 3 within a week of order even when they estimated anything from 2 to 4 weeks as waiting time.
Google will learn from this. And the success of this line actually gives google incentive to go all out on a big launch next time around. So overall, this is good for those who swear by nexus. Maybe it will be mainstream launch next time around thanks to the success of this lineup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the main aim of the Nexus 10 was to get an excellent next-gen 10 inch tablet into the hands of developers to create and update apps. They didn't push hard on the marketing because many average customers might have been disappointed by the app selection (eg Facebook, Twitter and Spotify are all borked at the moment). Apparently Key Lime Pie is focussing heavily on tablets (with all kinds of rumours around multiple apps and Chrome OS integration flying round) and with its release Google might push the Nexus 10 harder. I think the Note 10.1 II, with a Nexus 10 screen + digitiser/s-pen + expandable storage will go gangbusters and the rest of the 10 Android market will follow.
I don't think Google intended for this to be anything more than a developer reference tablet and a toy for loyal Android geeks. They're trying to gently establish a new footing in the way of optimised apps for ten inch tablets. There are hardly any apps that have been optimised for the kind of screen resolution that Android tablets will need to veer towards in order to take on the iPad. There are hardly any 10 inch tablet UIs either. You can get away with normal Android apps on the Nexus 7 but not on a ten inch tablet. Google probably didn't think the Nexus 10 was ready for a mainstream heavily marketed push, but felt that the ground work needed to be initiated in this manner. We are the guinea pigs they needed!
Once that's been achieved, Google will probably push the next Nexus 10 like they pushed the Nexus 7.
Doesn't really explain then why they would choose to offer it at Walmart, king of the mass retail chains. I agree, this launch was half-assed.
aimfire72 said:
Doesn't really explain then why they would choose to offer it at Walmart, king of the mass retail chains. I agree, this launch was half-assed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because they decided they didn't want availability restricted to online stores?
Google have pumped money into marketing Gmail, Google+, Chrome, the Chromebook and the Nexus 7. If Google felt it was currently worthwhile to push the Nexus 10 to that extent, they would have done. Maybe when the Android platform has a more respectable 10 inch ecosystem their strategy will evolve.
One thing I've noticed about sites like XDA and Android fan sites is that these communities mistakenly think their interests represent anything more than the whispering voice of an extreme minority.
I mean, why sell a developer reference device at Walmart of all places, lol.. Frys or Microcenter would be a better choice for that. By selling at Walmart, they must be going for the general public, at least somewhat. I think they are still testing the waters in terms of how to market the device.
In my country (Germany) you can't even buy a N10, mo matter which size.
So if you have a N10, calm down, buy a non-OEM case and be happy
The launch, doesnt matter for developers or not, was a complete fail. You cant hype up and then release a batch of lets say 5000 devices in a 100 million population country. In Germany, the tablet was sold out in 15 minutes. I really wanted to order it, but all im getting is frustration and anger with the Play Store. Since i wanted to have a tablet for christmas, i guess ill settle with something else (maybe even the ipad, although im an android fan), what Google is doing is just a f-in miserable failure of marketing, sales and customer service.
This would be a dev device if it wouldve costed 600 bucks, promicing cheaper versions coming up in the next 2-3 months. But releasing such a device for 400 bucks and expecting very low interest is just idiotic... Im so disappointed with Google that i cant even describe it.
I agree, i wouldn't have known about the nexus 10 if my friend didn't tell me about it (he is very big into android) as to me, i'm really new to android and this will be the first android device i will own. I used iPhones, iPads but i got to bored with there interface. (you can only do so much even with a jailbroken device) I wanted to try something different and always wanted an android, so this tablet was a wake up call to switch over. Now im currently waiting the arrival of my nexus 10, I already love it from everything i read and cant wait to get it in my hands!!
Nexus isn't your typical retail ware. It's a collaboration between Google and the OEM, but because the pricing is lower than the OEM's own products, the OEM isn't pushing it. No promotion, and no accessories. It's up to Goog to do promotion and distribution, but Goog isn't putting much effort into either. I've seen ads for N7, but none for N10 or N4.
Distribution is mostly limited to Goog Play for N10. The handfuls of $499 SKU that make it into Walmart aren't competitive against iPads (Walmart is selling iPad3 for $399). In short, N10 and N4 are mainly reference devices, and for hardcore Android fans. They're not mass-market wares.
This may be intentional, since may be the intent is for OEMs to follow-up with comparable retail products, once they see how successful the reference devices are. N7 was a hit, and I'm pretty sure we'll see Asus & Co follow-up with similar 7" at similar pricing this year. Likewise, lower-tier vendors may see demand for N4 as a template to do similar handsets.
N10 (more generally, 10" tabs) will be a harder sell for OEMs to bite on. I doubt it will have any impact at all on overall Android tablet sales. It would've been better had Goog followed the KFHD/Nook model and came out with a $300 1080p tablet. On the bright side, at least it didn't bomb like the Nexus Q-ball.
iPad Mini will be the runaway hit this Christmas, eclipsing the iPad. It has the right blend of size, portability, and price. And it's perfect for kids and those with small hands. Its 4:3 screen allows for a much more usable display than the N7, which sucked for portrait. I'm hoping OEMs will pick up that cue as well and market some Mini-clone, at least in form factor.
The one good news for Android tablets is that Windows tablets/hybrids have bombed so spectacularly. Hopefully this will get major vendors to give Android tabs a second try, after the 2011 fiasco.
e.mote said:
Nexus isn't your typical retail ware. It's a collaboration between Google and the OEM, but because the pricing is lower than the OEM's own products, the OEM isn't pushing it. No promotion, and no accessories. It's up to Goog to do promotion and distribution, but Goog isn't putting much effort into either. I've seen ads for N7, but none for N10 or N4.
Distribution is mostly limited to Goog Play for N10. The handfuls of $499 SKU that make it into Walmart aren't competitive against iPads (Walmart is selling iPad3 for $399). In short, N10 and N4 are mainly reference devices, and for hardcore Android fans. They're not mass-market wares.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I finally saw a commerical ad for the N10 along with N4! It was about a week or so ago but that was it.
Edit: Here is the commercial I saw on TV. YouTube had it.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

When is the best time to buy computer parts?

Getting the right set of computer parts, whether for a brand new PC build or an upgrade, involves a good amount of research and most importantly, patience. It is wise to purchase individual PC parts over a period of time which can help you save some money. But as I mentioned, this requires a lot of patience especially if you have been planning to build a new PC for some time.
If I am being honest, there is never a good time to buy computer parts. You might get a new monitor today, but in a few years or even months, it will be replaced by a new model that will be brighter, sharper, have a higher resolution, or even a faster refresh rate.
Yearly sales
One can anticipate a potential drop in price during recurring yearly sales. Amazon hosts multiple sales throughout the year with the biggest one being Prime Day that is usually hosted in the month of June. Similarly, Newegg is also a good place to buy PC parts at discounted rates during their Supreme Tech, and clearance sales. Additionally, Newegg also has Shell Shocker exclusive deals where prices change every day on different types of products. There are also smaller sales on occasions like Valentine's Day, Labor Day, and of course right before the holiday season.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are your best bet if you are looking for the best deals on PC parts. These are the biggest electronic sales where you can expect discounts, deals and price drops on a large range of hardware, peripherals, and other small PC parts. Retailers and sellers often host pre-Black Friday sales for long periods and those are not to be missed.
Having said that, don’t expect price drops on every single component. A lot depends on what you want to buy especially if you are seeking a particular model or a brand. There is a good chance that some component is not even included in the sale or the discounted price is not marginally better than the original cost.
Amazon Prime Day - June 21-22, 2021
Black Friday - November 26, 2021
Cyber Monday - November 29, 2021
Generational upgrades
This can be very tricky for the layman. However, if you are a PC enthusiast you can potentially capitalize when a newer generation of product is released. For instance, the introduction of Intel’s new 11th-gen CPUs has led to a small drop in the price of the outgoing 10th-gen CPUs. So yeah, it is s good time to get your hands on Intel’s Comet Lake processors.
The most obvious thing to note here is that you are not getting the latest piece of hardware, potentially missing out on a new feature or two. But if you don’t mind using hardware that is only one generation old, then this is a good way to save some money.
This isn’t always the case though, as it was evident when NVIDIA introduced its new GeForce RTX 3000-series last year. The entire GPU market has fluctuated with older generation parts selling at a premium, almost double the cost of their original retail price.
Price trackers
A good way to stay updated with the changes in the pricing of PC parts is by visiting PCPartPicker if you live in the US and PriceSpy if you live in the UK. These websites offer a breakdown of prices for a particular product from a list of vendors. This helps in comparing components, especially older generation models where you can end up saving a significant amount.
There are various external factors that can affect the price of PC parts. The most recent one is the ongoing chipset crisis along with crypto mining that has lead to an increase in the prices of graphics cards all over the world. Today, getting a new graphics card has become next to impossible, let alone getting one at retail price.
With this general chip storage and mining requirements (RTX and hard drive), I would be glad to buy a piece of hardware at MSRP... Not many deals these days...
The best time to buy computer parts? When you can afford them.
There's a bad time?
Haha
After building many PC's over the years starting in the early '90's there is never a good time to buy PC parts. Every last one of them become obsolete before you drive home and start building. This is why I retired from build PC's as I was always in the hunt for the latest and greatest. I have a stack of MB, graphic cards, HDD's, sound cards etc. You can never keep up. The best advice I can give is to buy the most forward looking motherboard and hopefully you'll get a few years out of it.
The best time to buy anything is when you need it, or, when it's in season.
When it's in stock and on sale.
Depends You Planning To LULZ
I got lucky when I built my Mecha-Godzilla PC a year ago, especially for the video card. Turns out I didn't really need one after all but I thought I did at the time, and I feel lucky for paying less than $200 for an nVidia 1650 (overclocked). So video cards were already expensive but they jumped up even more right after that
kunalneo said:
Getting the right set of computer parts, whether for a brand new PC build or an upgrade, involves a good amount of research and most importantly, patience. It is wise to purchase individual PC parts over a period of time which can help you save some money. But as I mentioned, this requires a lot of patience especially if you have been planning to build a new PC for some time.
If I am being honest, there is never a good time to buy computer parts. You might get a new monitor today, but in a few years or even months, it will be replaced by a new model that will be brighter, sharper, have a higher resolution, or even a faster refresh rate.
Yearly sales
One can anticipate a potential drop in price during recurring yearly sales. Amazon hosts multiple sales throughout the year with the biggest one being Prime Day that is usually hosted in the month of June. Similarly, Newegg is also a good place to buy PC parts at discounted rates during their Supreme Tech, and clearance sales. Additionally, Newegg also has Shell Shocker exclusive deals where prices change every day on different types of products. There are also smaller sales on occasions like Valentine's Day, Labor Day, and of course right before the holiday season.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are your best bet if you are looking for the best deals on PC parts. These are the biggest electronic sales where you can expect discounts, deals and price drops on a large range of hardware, peripherals, and other small PC parts. Retailers and sellers often host pre-Black Friday sales for long periods and those are not to be missed.
Having said that, don’t expect price drops on every single component. A lot depends on what you want to buy especially if you are seeking a particular model or a brand. There is a good chance that some component is not even included in the sale or the discounted price is not marginally better than the original cost.
Amazon Prime Day - June 21-22, 2021
Black Friday - November 26, 2021
Cyber Monday - November 29, 2021
Generational upgrades
This can be very tricky for the layman. However, if you are a PC enthusiast you can potentially capitalize when a newer generation of product is released. For instance, the introduction of Intel’s new 11th-gen CPUs has led to a small drop in the price of the outgoing 10th-gen CPUs. So yeah, it is s good time to get your hands on Intel’s Comet Lake processors.
The most obvious thing to note here is that you are not getting the latest piece of hardware, potentially missing out on a new feature or two. But if you don’t mind using hardware that is only one generation old, then this is a good way to save some money.
This isn’t always the case though, as it was evident when NVIDIA introduced its new GeForce RTX 3000-series last year. The entire GPU market has fluctuated with older generation parts selling at a premium, almost double the cost of their original retail price.
Price trackers
A good way to stay updated with the changes in the pricing of PC parts is by visiting PCPartPicker if you live in the US and PriceSpy if you live in the UK. These websites offer a breakdown of prices for a particular product from a list of vendors. This helps in comparing components, especially older generation models where you can end up saving a significant amount.
There are various external factors that can affect the price of PC parts. The most recent one is the ongoing chipset crisis along with crypto mining that has lead to an increase in the prices of graphics cards all over the world. Today, getting a new graphics card has become next to impossible, let alone getting one at retail price.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just a small note for Canadian aligned part seekers, in relation to pcpartpicker.com - specify ca.pcpartpicker.com or you will at some point forget to make the adjustment and start getting all excited and giddy with the amazing prices that are happening at a time that does not coincide with cyber monday, black friday or the news that quantum computing just rendered all compy tech that is not included in the quantumyummygoodness effectively.. ineffective, the amazing prices are actually in USD and you didnt realize your cache refreshed or you're using a different browser or device - which you will then at least consider smashing a la "Hulk mad" mode. Yes of course it seems sensible at the time. So does fighting Thor. But its not his fault, its yours. You're welcome for the disaster aversion assistance, and apologies for the shattering of ignorance's "bliss", at least in this regard anyways.
roirraW edor ehT said:
I got lucky when I built my Mecha-Godzilla PC a year ago, especially for the video card. Turns out I didn't really need one after all but I thought I did at the time, and I feel lucky for paying less than $200 for an nVidia 1650 (overclocked). So video cards were already expensive but they jumped up even more right after that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
May all your future "rodes" be as bumpy as my life since my current upgrade which started on January 23rd, 2021 and ends at some point in the yet to be determined future, I friggen hope.
Why the glum chum?
Amazon. Amazon is the reason for my bumpiness. Due 3x bad MSI B550 Carbon Wifi motherboards, followed by 2x altogether WRONG Gigabyte Wifi Elite z390 INTEL boards which were supposed to be Gigabyte Aorus Master x570 AMD boards, since I already had a Ryzen 5 3600 cpu waiting, and had also paid for at more than double the cost of the wrongfully delivered board - and this is where the inexplicable and nasty starts - at which point I was told that they would offer no other replacements, my only ootion being that once I returned the 5th board <as if I didn't return the first 4 promptly or notify them when they sent me 2 of the same product and returned the extra insulated water bottle as im an honest.. idiot>, they would send the 2 refunds.
They eventually sent back the refund for the Aorus <I had double paid for the first MSI board, and then upgraded to the Aorus Master with my tax return, so at one point was out $700ish to this mess>, but the initial 285.88 that I paid for the MSI Carbon board in January, which bank account by then had been closed for months, <an account that had been closed 3 months without my knowledge - after the first mb purchase made on Jan 23rd > - and this was now August 16th.
Amazon claims CIBC accepted the refund, CIBC said they didn't recieve it, <and still could not locate the refund with transaction codes given to me to take in to the bank so they could track it down>.
Then Amazon made a promise to rectify the issue within 72 hours after making me wait 15 more business days, after which they said 'too bad, we arent going to do anything'.
Thats not even bringing up the fact that I had explained to them that I had JUST been illegally evicted <after 5 years of residence> by the new landlord who wanted to jack the rent way up, like everywhere else during covid, and that I was living in my car <a Coupe no less> with my cat and dog for 2 months and was out of money. I also had a storage unit full of my things, costing me monthly until I could find another apartment.
So, I've had a brand new Phanteks white case, with aio rgb addressable liquid cooling, a new cpu still in box, new white 850 watt platinum plus ps fully modular, killer addressable rail rgbs, 2 sticks of white Crucial Ballistix RGB 3600mhz cl15 ram, new white grouped cables with rgb combs, m.2 512mb nvme pcie 4, corsair dark core rgb mouse, all gathering dust, until it was stolen while someone "helped" me move. I did talk to a buddy of mine, who is the right guy to know, and got it all back, BUT STILL WITHOUT A MB AMAZON. I started a new job, but by the time I backpay covid debt, and save up, itll be obsolete again. oh and i saved up the parts to build it, and did get to use it for a glorious 2 weeks before MSI Carbon board number 2 took a dump. All 3 had flashback bios issues. I spent days and weeks on them trying to get them going again. Never had bios flashing issues that i couldnt recover before those. Im 43, been building my whole life.
Oh, right, my point.. sorry didnt expect all that despite leaving out all kinds of details - I had to stick with my pair of MSI 970 GTXs 4MB Gaming gpus, selling one along with my old rig to afford the new parts because i couldnt find ANY that were anywhere NEAR affordable.
Hence the bumpy rode wishes, but not really obv just jerking around bro, seriously. Glad you got yours before things went full retard.
1st total upgrade in abour 12 years, after mb mods kept my Asus Crosshair V Formula Z relevant, even now. I have pictures of my gloriously short run, during the two weeks, if anyone is interested pm me. Sorry to detract from thread. All 3 24" Samsung monitors, also collecting that figuratively tear stained dust.
What? Fine. Not ALL figurative tears. Stupid covid. Hulk sad.
When the college/university midterm ends as students sell their desktops looking for laptops.
Right before a new hardware release comes out and there is a large amount of supply

Categories

Resources