Hey guys!
Firstly, I would like to mention that I do not own any tablet, nor any laptop. Now from what I've seen, if I want to buy a tablet, transformer prime is the best out there both in terms of price and hardware.
But my question is, for that same price (500 - 600), could I get any laptop with that kind of size and weight, but have better performance? I absolutely love the android niche and community and the hardware of the device itself. But every now and then I would love to run some old or decent games (morrowind xD, or halo) or perhaps use photoshop etc.... Would such a laptop, light, compact and relatively more powerful, at that price range exist? What are the advantages of a tablet considering my concerns?
Thanks guys!
be nice on the no0b plz
I was in the same case as you are before i bought the original transformer. No laptop no tablet, but a smartphone (HTC Desire) and a powerfull desktop computer.
Here's the thing. At this price point, the laptop you would buy will most likely be very bad on a lot of point. Build weight heat screen battery raw power etc.
But with a tablet. At this price you'll have the best in class.
So Yeah you wont do the same thing on a tablet and on a laptop, but some thing are better on laptop (work, heavy gaming) some are better on tablet (web browsing reading light gaming watching vidéo etc.).
The catch is that your laptop, being a low cost product, wont do its things very well, but the tablet will do what it does perfectly.
I could have bought a cheap laptop and be able to work on my CGs project on the go or play Skyrim everywhere but seriously... who wants to play Skyrim on a ****ty laptop with awfull graphics ? Who wants to work on a tiny screen with a slow ass CPU ? Working is bad enough not to worsening it by doing it with bad tools. And who wants to do this thing for no more than 2 hours top because that's what happen when you do heavy task on battery?
If you Really want to work or play big games on a mobile device, buy a real laptop (1000$+).
If what s your looking for is a mobile entertainement device with internet and some cool creative tools go for a tablet (the Transformer Prime !).
Plus tablet are hype and fun, and the Transformer with dock provide its fair share of "Woa effect " each time I take the screen away of what seemed until now to be a cheap netbook.
First off, a tablet and a laptop aren't really comparable at this point. I would recommend you get a laptop first, because laptops are capable of doing the practical things like word processing and photoshop and the like that tablets can't do yet. Tablets are still primarily "fun" devices compared to laptops (though tablets certainly do have some practical uses).
Yes, any laptop you get in that range will have better specs. I have a laptop in that range, and no tablets have the sort of capabilities my laptop has. But like I said it isn't really comparable, because they are 2 completely different experiences. As far as games, I've only ever played 1 game on my laptop: Homeworld (a 1999 game lol, old game but best RTS ever). Despite how old the game is, it still pushed my laptop to its limit, and I have a i5 processor. The only laptops that can run games well are really expensive, and so in that sense, I actually think in the under $1k range tablets are better for gaming.
Overall, a laptop is a much more practical choice.
the advantages to a tablet at this price point are going to be battery life, weight and touch input.
the advantages to a laptop at this price point are going to be more storage, faster CPU, more versatility when it comes to software.
downside to tablet: limited software (when compared to windows), less raw power
downside to laptop: subjectively worse gaming (at this price point, the tegra3 or ipad2 seem to have more gaming potential for well designed games than a $600 thin and light (as thin and light as possible at the price point) laptop, less battery life, heavier, thicker, no touch input (but possibly better keyboard/touchpad responsiveness)
so in the end, it comes down to what you are going to use your laptop or tablet for, and what features are a priority to you.
i have a laptop that i do actual photoshop/office/illustrator work on, but when i just need to take notes or write emails and stuff (as in, not get actual work work done, but sidework) then the OG transformer and my galaxy tab have been more useful than a tablet because of the lightness and battery life. for me at least.
Laptop is much better. Unless you use it as a supplement to other tech (desktop computer, mobile phone, heavy duty laptop), it is better to have a laptop. While you lose out on battery, it is simply much more powerful and versatile.
Tablet like Prime is useful as a netbook replacement. Something you use during lectures for notes, reading, browsing or viewing videos while on the go (plane, bus, carpooling). It has a long battery life, but is less than adequate for gaming (you cannot play any modern games on it, nor games that were modern ten years ago, even if they look better). It also has barely adequate options for document creation and powerful photo, sound and video editing is nearly impossible. A laptop is also much, much better when multitasking.
But if you have a device for gaming and office work and consider tablet a supplement to those tools, then tablet is absolutely awesome. Tablet is also awesome for people who don't do anything with computers other than reading documents and books, viewing videos and browsing internet. It's also great for kids.
In all honesty though, for the latter category, iPad 2 is a much better option than Transformer Prime.
The best thing Transformer Prime is for, is being a replacement for your netbook and supplement to your laptop/desktop computer.
I already have an iphone 4 and in all honesty I couldn't get myself to buy an ipad knowing that its identical to the phone.
Ive decided to get the Prime instead of replacing my 4 year old laptop.
Wow! You guys are really helpful! I really appreciate thoughtful replies. I have some good insight now!
Thanks again guys!
If you currently own neither laptop nor tablet definitely get laptop. For ~$400 your best option is Lenovo AMD APU E-450 based netbook with better graphics performance/gaming/media decoding than comparable Intel Atom netbook. This will allow you to do everything that you can do on a tablet with the added benefit of access to wider range of software especially productivity and games. If budget allows you can go higher end with Intel i5/i7 CPU, discrete graphics, SSD, etc.
Asus Transformer Prime is a great upgrade for someone familiar with an Android phone ecosystem and is ready to move up in size and performance.
Another option is in lieu of a high end laptop you can buy both the AMD APU netbook and the Asus Transformer Prime. If I was in your position and don't do anything very compute intensive on the x86 side I would go with this option.
mi7chy said:
If you currently own neither laptop nor tablet definitely get laptop. For ~$400 your best option is Lenovo AMD APU E-450 based netbook with better graphics performance/gaming/media decoding than comparable Intel Atom netbook. This will allow you to do everything that you can do on a tablet with the added benefit of access to wider range of software especially productivity and games. If budget allows you can go higher end with Intel i5/i7 CPU, discrete graphics, SSD, etc.
Asus Transformer Prime is a great upgrade for someone familiar with an Android phone ecosystem and is ready to move up in size and performance.
Another option is in lieu of a high end laptop you can buy both the AMD APU netbook and the Asus Transformer Prime. If I was in your position and don't do anything very compute intensive on the x86 side I would go with this option.
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Can't say I agree. He has made due without a laptop so far so to assume he would now need that extra functionality over a tablet would be a big assumption.
I currently do not have a laptop or a tablet but am getting the prime. Reason is that while there are a few things the laptop would be better suited for (like better word processing and excel) the fact is I haven't needed a laptop previously for those tasks and do not need them now. The basic office functions on the tablet will work fine for me (can format things at home).
When it comes down to it you need to really think what your main uses will be. For me its portable media consumption (much better on tablet) and annotating pdfs for classes (much better on tablet), and then studying off them. Sure a bit more power would be nice, but a tablet doesn't have to only be a laptop supplement, but a main PC supplement (which could be a desktop)
Related
Hi all.I just bought an ipad and i would like to share some thoughts on how this two compares. I decide for first gen, because its was on sale, 32 GB 3g version for just 499€ (with some extra discount) and software wise its pretty much like his young brother.
Build quality is much better than folio, it dont even compares. It fell solid as hell.
The screen is very good, but just a bit smaller than the one on folio.
One thing it misses are the stereo speakers. I would say that folio had in fact better sound.
Speed wise folio is faster. Pages load a lot faster and apps too. Despite that ipad does still runs fine for most apps and games.
Apps in ipad are much richer and polished... And app store is clean and well organised than android market.
Of course ipad doesnt have flash support but this days some major sites are jumping into html5. Still folio is taking the lead here.
One other thing that can give the edge to ipad are accessories... Most are very expensive though There are lots and lots of staff to improve ipad usability. In other hand folio doesnt need to be connect to an pc to get started, and you can use sd cards for grabbing content. Ipad does need to connect to a pc or mac for kick start, and It doesnt sync over the air.
Costumization is very poor under iOS and android is more open in terms of its homescreen replacements.
Ipad keyboard is not as good as other android keyboards just like thumbs keyboard, but its definetly better tha stock android keyboard.
Ipad is very stable and clean... Folio have lots of bugs and it crashes a lot.
Office suite from apple is a must and surpasses android apps on this matter.
One thing Ipad misses is hdmi out, but even using standard AV adaptor output is quite good. It also doesnt do 1080p, but again video is still very good. Folio hdmi output take the lead here.
Apple support is great and you can get extend protection in top of that. Toshiba support is as bad as We all know. One other thing is that with ipad you are sure that you will get iOS updates.
I will say that ipad is a more solid and finished product. Folio was a good try but its not as good as specs suggests, mainly because software and hardware issues that toshiba doesnt wont to fix.
I also would like to refer that battery life on Ipad is quite good, not to say outstanding. Folio is on average but not as long...
bastospn said:
Hi all.I just bought an ipad and i would like to share some thoughts on how this two compares. I decide for first gen, because its was on sale, 32 GB 3g version for just 499€ (with some extra discount) and software wise its pretty much like his young brother.
Build quality is much better than folio, it dont even compares. It fell solid as hell.
The screen is very good, but just a bit smaller than the one on folio.
One thing it misses are the stereo speakers. I would say that folio had in fact better sound.
Speed wise folio is faster. Pages load a lot faster and apps too. Despite that ipad does still runs fine for most apps and games.
Apps in ipad are much richer and polished... And app store is clean and well organised than android market.
Of course ipad doesnt have flash support but this days some major sites are jumping into html5. Still folio is taking the lead here.
One other thing that can give the edge to ipad are accessories... Most are very expensive though There are lots and lots of staff to improve ipad usability. In other hand folio doesnt need to be connect to an pc to get started, and you can use sd cards for grabbing content. Ipad does need to connect to a pc or mac for kick start, and It doesnt sync over the air.
Costumization is very poor under iOS and android is more open in terms of its homescreen replacements.
Ipad keyboard is not as good as other android keyboards just like thumbs keyboard, but its definetly better tha stock android keyboard.
Ipad is very stable and clean... Folio have lots of bugs and it crashes a lot.
Office suite from apple is a must and surpasses android apps on this matter.
One thing Ipad misses is hdmi out, but even using standard AV adaptor output is quite good. It also doesnt do 1080p, but again video is still very good. Folio hdmi output take the lead here.
Apple support is great and you can get extend protection in top of that. Toshiba support is as bad as We all know. One other thing is that with ipad you are sure that you will get iOS updates.
I will say that ipad is a more solid and finished product. Folio was a good try but its not as good as specs suggests, mainly because software and hardware issues that toshiba doesnt wont to fix.
I also would like to refer that battery life on Ipad is quite good, not to say outstanding. Folio is on average but not as long...
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Couldn't agree more, that's exactly what I felt when using both as well.
In respect to graphics, tegra 2 as of course better potencial. But the shortage of tegra 2 optimized games is here to last...
How smooth is the folio with foliomod v1.4 compared to the iPad when using the Internet? I'm having a hard time convincing myself not to choose the iPad over the folio. But folio is so much cheaper and more fun loading new roms and home replacements and such....
I find the iPad (gen1) very slow for web browsing, plus you are much more restricted about the choice of browsers. There are some big differences between the two, which one is best will depend on where your priorities are. Not having to use itunes to manage my (legally paid for) music is a huge plus for the folio for me.
tshoulihane said:
I find the iPad (gen1) very slow for web browsing, plus you are much more restricted about the choice of browsers. There are some big differences between the two, which one is best will depend on where your priorities are. Not having to use itunes to manage my (legally paid for) music is a huge plus for the folio for me.
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Does the foliomod rom improve the internet experience? Is there a video somewhere? I´ve seen the video with foliomod 0.2, but is there any newer? perhaps with a comparison?
How does it handle flash, like HDmt.net for example? Would it be possible to run that and display it to a tv? Does the tv mirror what´s on your device or does the folio´s screen turn black?
Btw, I think itunes sync is a plus... (But a option would be great...)
tshoulihane said:
I find the iPad (gen1) very slow for web browsing, plus you are much more restricted about the choice of browsers. There are some big differences between the two, which one is best will depend on where your priorities are. Not having to use itunes to manage my (legally paid for) music is a huge plus for the folio for me.
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Browsing it's not terrible slow on Ipad, but sure is slower than Folio. I think the main problem here is the lack of RAM, this happens when you have lots of tabs open. You can use Life browser that is in my opinion works better than Ipad.
You have lots and lots of browser for iOS, but hardware limitations are of course still affecting performance.
I 100% agree that itunes is not the best tool in the world to organize you music, but I guess I can live with that.
The answer is a big YES. you will get awesome browsing experience with FolioMod.
Still in my opinion it isn't all that stable, maybe because of flash.
You can of course use hdmi out to get a mirror on your TV or LCD display monitor.
I want to buy my wife a 7" tablet for Christmas. Desired specs are: Android 2.2+, easily rooted and market install(I have rooted and installed market on a Pandigital Novel 7" table and a Viewsonic Gtab with a lot of help from members). She primarily uses it for crossword puzzles(shortz) and web surfing. I would like for it to be able to access a ad-hoc wifi, the Pandigital(hers) can not do this. I do not think she would need a lot of storage(memory?). Would 512mb of ram and 1ghz processor be over-kill? And it needs to be in the $150.00-$200.00 range. Could go slightly higher for an exceptional deal. Thanks
Amazon Fire easy. Dual-Core, best deal available, root should be available soon, maybe even a Honeycomb port!
Maybe look for a Dell Streak deal. Waaaay underrated. The resolution is criticized as being limited, but that's a little silly. It's a 7 inch screen so you can only REALLY use so much resolution before the letters get to small to read. The real problems with it are (I have one) poor battery life and poor viewing angles. Neither are big issues for many users. If you are sharing your 7 inch tablet with many viewers and have to watch from a wide angle, you may be unhappy if you are viewing from 50 degrees off-angle. In reality, it's never been a problem. Battery life really does suck...6-8 hours of "on time" and 4-5 or a little less with constant use. If that's not enough (it's not always for me), then just be aware. Ergonomically, it's among the best I've used. There's nothing on the market today in the 7 inch size compelling enough to make me change.
Sent from my Touchpad (with Android) using Tapatalk
I just bought a new TS Prime last week and have 30 days to return. I'm thinking of doing so in favor of the TS Infinity. I'm worried that if Asus is no longer shipping the prime due to "defects", that the development community on the Prime will be fade quickly and become very small. I'm curious to see if the new Transformers will be similar enough that roms for each will be easy to port over. Also a full HD screen would be nice but will I be sacrificing smoothness and a lot of battery life as a result?
I'm very torn. I have had no issues with the Prime I just got. Wifi is as good as my Nexus and my GPS locks on in less than 10 seconds every time (only tested indoors). A micro usb slot would be nice but it appears as if none of the new Transformers will have that either. So I'm just asking for some opinions on why I should keep my Prime or return it and wait for the Infinity. If I'm spending 500+ dollars on a device, I'd like it to be pretty future proof.
I don't know of any future proof devices for less than $500. I saw plans for a time machine on ebay but I don't know where to get the crystals.
Just keep the prime. It'll be fine. We already have great developement.
demandarin said:
Just keep the prime. It'll be fine. We already have great developement.
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While this is true ^ for people like me who mostly use their tabs for media, the 1200p screen is great.
Yeah but prime screen is just as good. No one will be able to tell the difference between a 1080P movie and a 720P HD movie on a 10.1 screen. Both will look great. The only difference is text will look a little sharper on infinity pad.
Not saying you, but people forgetting Prime was already crowned the best display out of any tablet before new Ipad arrived. So prime display is still great for watching media also.
Some people get stuck on the 1080P vs. 720P, too much, on a tablet if they want to use it for media. Human eye won't detect a difference in quality on a screen this size. On a big flat screen, yes. But even then its a slight increase in quality.
Now if you want it to read books and magazines then infinity display will be better for that and that's about it. Web pages and such still look very sharp and crisp on prime display. 1080P won't even be useful for gaming because there are no games running at that "true" resolution. THEN although tegra3 will handle it fine, if the exact same gpu or gpu clock speed is used, infinity pad will likely not perform as well as prime. Meaning prime will push faster FPS on games/movies..etc..
I keeping my prime till the new Asus Transformer pads with tegra4 release at end of year or Q1 of 2013. A prime to an infinity is not really much of an upgrade. Newer tegra4 transformer pads will likely have 1080p screen also. Then tegra4 will perform better than tegra3 at that same screen size resolution. Since tegra4 will be far more powerful than tegra3. IT HAS BEEN SAID Tegra4 will likely use same 4+1 core set except this time it'll be with Cortex [email protected] 28nm. Plus it's highly likely its gpu will be keplar based. Now that's something worth waiting for
Thanks, these replies have been quite helpful. Think I will stick with the Prime. I've kinda been falling in love with it. I guess there is always something new on the horizon. So the dockfor the prime won't be compatible with future models, correct?
One more thing, what is currently the best rom on prime. I'm new and just jumped on virtuous cause it seemed popular.
The only reason I'd think about upgrading is with regards to reading ebooks... Guess the better screen will shine on that area. But otherwise there is not much reason, wifi is good enough and couldn't care much less about GPS.
Apart from the screen there is not much reason to upgrade...
About roms, running WSG0.0.6 now which is one of my favourites although the Android Open Kang project rom from jermaine151 is very sweet as well.
>The only reason I'd think about upgrading is with regards to reading ebooks...
The higher res isn't needed for ebooks. If legibility is a problem, you'd just enlarge the fonts. Ebooks are mostly text-only, so content can be reflowed, and it will just fill more pages.
What higher res would be good for is documents with mixed (text+graphics) layouts, and not specifically designed for tablets, eg mags and scientific/academic/trade docs in PDF format. Because text can't be reflowed without messing up the layout, you may not be able to enlarge text font. Then, the higher res allows small text to be more legible. If these types of docs aren't on your menu, then "hi-res" confers no benefit in this area.
One can make the case that "hi-res" would benefit web pages with small text. That argument would work for small displays like smartphones and maybe 7" tabs, but a 10" with 1280x800 is already a larger display res than most web sites are designed for.
That iPad 3 has a "better" display than previous iPad is more due to its better color filters (which allows for richer colors) than its increased res. Hi-res is good to have as a spec, because a quad-XGA will always sound better than just XGA, and 1080p better than 720p. But by itself it's not good enough as an eyes-on benefit. Apple understood this, and also boosted the color rendition.
Has anyone had much success gaming on tablet devices? I am going to be traveling for 3 months and I know I can't bring my PC along, so I'm looking for alternative forms of entertainment. I dislike gaming on a laptop due to it just not feeling the same as a desktop machine. I'm hoping a tablet's touch interface makes for a better experience. Cell phone games have been entertaining, despite their short-lived style.
I dislike Apple's business practices and attempts to monopolize their products through the use of proprietary connectors and similar technologies. So, I'm looking at Android tablets. Specifically, I want the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity. I like how it is designed for docking with a keyboard and I think I need a Tegra 3 GPU if I want to do any gaming on a tablet. Does anyone recommend a different tablet?
Get the 700.
Hi everybody,
I am looking for a fairly cheap laptop, mainly for kids, like internet browsing, using, etc. Therefore, Chromebooks are most likely ideal.
I have considered choosing a price range chromebook ($ 250-300) which still has all the necessary functions for my little daughter. Basically, my priority is browsing the web rather quickly, I can say.
Therefore, I have compared some home improvement models around the price that I am considering. We have a lenovo, even though it was abandoned many times when our children were young, refused to die (even though the screen is currently suspended), so I would be attracted to such a lenovo.
What are everyone's thoughts? The reward of having a better machine (if indeed it would be much better even though the technology was out there) for the same attractive price, and perhaps a bit more flexibility. I have a macbook air as well as our main laptop, so, like above for kids and some navigation, mostly.
thanks in advance