Posted: 9/6/2012 4:48:56 PM EDT
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I have been an IT guy for 20+ years (currently a network admin), but I have very little knowledge about tablets. On the side I gig a solo acoustic deal (playing along with my own backing tracks) and have been using my HP netbook (250GB HDD) for the past six months to play the backing tracks, as well as break music. Works GREAT! But I think a tablet PC would be less hassle, and handier (not to mention less conspicuous). Also, I play in a new metal band and this would be handy for break music for that gig as well.
I'm thinking that the smaller, the better. So a 7" screen would probably be the way to go. Would have a smaller footprint that way. I don't plan to play games or video, so screen size is of little concern to me. In fact, my Samsung Charge smartphone is my backup and works fine. But I'd still rather have something bigger as my primary. I would like to maximize the memory, so I can fit plenty of my own backing tracks as well as break music by many artists in many genres. I have like 75GB of different music on my netbook. I don't want to spend a fortune, so I'm thinking that for the tablet I'd try to get by with 16GB of space. I'm sure that'd be more than enough if I narrow down what I have on there. One last thing... I do NOT want an iPad. I'm sure it's an awesome tablet, but I have NO interest in dealing with iTunes or the way Apple does things. I also don't want to have to root the damn thing to do things my way. And I don't want to pay what iPads go for, as my netbook works great. I'd just like something that I don't have to flip open to use and has a smaller footprint than my netbook. So I'm stuck with the Andriod OS right? Or are there Windows OS tablets? I'm fine with Driods as that's what my phone is. |
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I have been an IT guy for 20+ years (currently a network admin), but I have very little knowledge about tablets. On the side I gig a solo acoustic deal (playing along with my own backing tracks) and have been using my HP netbook (250GB HDD) for the past six months to play the backing tracks, as well as break music. Works GREAT! But I think a tablet PC would be less hassle, and handier (not to mention less conspicuous). Also, I play in a new metal band and this would be handy for break music for that gig as well. I'm thinking that the smaller, the better. So a 7" screen would probably be the way to go. Would have a smaller footprint that way. I don't plan to play games or video, so screen size is of little concern to me. In fact, my Samsung Charge smartphone is my backup and works fine. But I'd still rather have something bigger as my primary. I would like to maximize the memory, so I can fit plenty of my own backing tracks as well as break music by many artists in many genres. I have like 75GB of different music on my netbook. I don't want to spend a fortune, so I'm thinking that for the tablet I'd try to get by with 16GB of space. I'm sure that'd be more than enough if I narrow down what I have on there. One last thing... I do NOT want an iPad. I'm sure it's an awesome tablet, but I have NO interest in dealing with iTunes or the way Apple does things. I also don't want to have to root the damn thing to do things my way. And I don't want to pay what iPads go for, as my netbook works great. I'd just like something that I don't have to flip open to use and has a smaller footprint than my netbook. So I'm stuck with the Andriod OS right? Or are there Windows OS tablets? I'm fine with Driods as that's what my phone is. Wait for Oct. 26 |
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For a 7 inch android tablet, you can't beat the Asus Nexus 7.
$250 for a 16GB version and you get $25 in Google Player credit. (App store) Quad core tegra 1gb ram 16gb storage I just bought one and I love it. As far as windows goes... Microsoft Surface It's supposed to come out next month. I want one, bad. |
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Windows 8 launches at the end of Oct, by November you'll have a ton of form factor options to choose from. There will be two versions, full Win8 on a full PC or WinRT which will be on an ARM architecture but locked down.
I'm going to go for one of the 12" touchscreen Ultrabook versions, it will be the best of all options in one package |
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iPads don't require iTunes. I use mine for 95% of all my computing needs. It totally replaced a Dell laptop. There is no need to root it. It really works well. This. I am not am apple guy at all. In Fact i went from Blackberry to Droid phones. I have an IPad and wont replace it at all. |
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Good stuff guys!
Just went to BestBuy and the Lenovo IdeaPad A1 (7" screen, 16GB) for $199 looked to be the way to go if I was to buy locally today. Didn't do it because I want to take a bit of time and do this right. I'm curious now about Windows 8 and a few other things mentioned here. In regards to not having to use iTunes or root an iPad... what's the story on that? My kids all have iPods and I HATE them with a passion because of the iTunes deal and not being able to drag and drop files ala Windows. Can I do such regular Explorer type file copies on an iPad? No doubt an iPad will play MP3s and WAVs, but does it play WMA files as well (natively... without buying an app for that)? |
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Good stuff guys! Just went to BestBuy and the Lenovo IdeaPad A1 (7" screen, 16GB) for $199 looked to be the way to go if I was to buy locally today. Didn't do it because I want to take a bit of time and do this right. I'm curious now about Windows 8 and a few other things mentioned here. In regards to not having to use iTunes or root an iPad... what's the story on that? My kids all have iPods and I HATE them with a passion because of the iTunes deal and not being able to drag and drop files ala Windows. Can I do such regular Explorer type file copies on an iPad? No doubt an iPad will play MP3s and WAVs, but does it play WMA files as well (natively... without buying an app for that)? Skip the IdeaPad, it's not a good value. The Asus Nexus 7 is the best buy in the 7 inch tablet range, period. Walmart sells them, btw. The iPad... You can't drag and drop files to it without using clunky third party software. You can use Senuti on Mac or SharePod on Windows. (There are others as well) iPad will not play wma files, there is no official app for that. You may be able to jailbreak and download something... VLC might play it, but Apple pulled the app from their store. iPad will only play a few different video formats. (mp4, .mov) |
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Bunch of horse-hockey in here. Drag your file to iTunes. Sync. It's on your iPad. So easy, even you cavemen can do it.  Why do you all make easy things so difficult? I drag music, video, PDFs, all to iTunes and they sync up and work just fine on the iPad. You can also drag & drop from iTunes to your OS. It's been that way for years.
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If you need to hold 75 gig worth of music you definitely want something with an SD slot. Most of the devices people have mentioned don't have external slots. For the money you'll drop on an iPad you can get a damn nice Android tablet and a bunch of SD cards.
If you check sites like Woot you can find refurb tablets for under 200. I'm typing this on an old Viewsonic tablet that's been rooted and had a bunch of different Roms on it, allowing me to extend its usefulness. There's a huge development community that will allow you to keep upgrading the android tablets long after the manufacturer abandons them, which seems to be a common problem. |
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Good stuff guys! Just went to BestBuy and the Lenovo IdeaPad A1 (7" screen, 16GB) for $199 looked to be the way to go if I was to buy locally today. Didn't do it because I want to take a bit of time and do this right. I'm curious now about Windows 8 and a few other things mentioned here. In regards to not having to use iTunes or root an iPad... what's the story on that? My kids all have iPods and I HATE them with a passion because of the iTunes deal and not being able to drag and drop files ala Windows. Can I do such regular Explorer type file copies on an iPad? No doubt an iPad will play MP3s and WAVs, but does it play WMA files as well (natively... without buying an app for that)? I'm waiting for a Windows 8 Tablet!! |
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Quoted: For a 7 inch android tablet, you can't beat the Asus Nexus 7. $250 for a 16GB version and you get $25 in Google Player credit. (App store) Quad core tegra 1gb ram 16gb storage I just bought one and I love it. As far as windows goes... Microsoft Surface It's supposed to come out next month. I want one, bad. I'm waiting on the Surface to surface  |
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stay the fuck away from windows 8 tablets. I've been using them for almost a year and windows 8 on a tablet sucks dog balls. I'm betting you are using the Samsung series 7 slate PC? It didn't receive stellar reviews. Tablet PC's that were designed with W8 in mind will be out in a couple of months and will be much improved from previous efforts. |
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stay the fuck away from windows 8 tablets. I've been using them for almost a year and windows 8 on a tablet sucks dog balls. I'm betting you are using the Samsung series 7 slate PC? It didn't receive stellar reviews. Tablet PC's that were designed with W8 in mind will be out in a couple of months and will be much improved from previous efforts. Incorrect. You keep thinking that. |
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stay the fuck away from windows 8 tablets. I've been using them for almost a year and windows 8 on a tablet sucks dog balls. I'm betting you are using the Samsung series 7 slate PC? It didn't receive stellar reviews. Tablet PC's that were designed with W8 in mind will be out in a couple of months and will be much improved from previous efforts. Incorrect. You keep thinking that. OK whatever. Hmm, MS makes an OS that is controversial on desktops, but is designed to take advantage to touchscreens. Yet you say it sucks on tablets, I (and a lot of other people, including tech journalists) think not. |
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I fiddled with a coworkers ASUS transformer and I think they are worth looking into.
Very light and rigid with SD card slots, hdmi socket, built in stand alone GPS that works without WiFi, sharp and clear hi res screen display had the techy types at work ooh-ing and ah-ing including the I pad guys. The detachable conversion keyboard that converts them to a note book has a bunch of ports and slots and big ass battery in it for even more run time. The transformer owner loves the ice cream OS that it runs. I think the other guys who have it on their tablets like it. |
| We don't do iPad either....we purchased two Toshiba Thrives last year and I love them. I rarely even turn on my $2500 desktop PC any more and never use my $1700 laptop. Both the PC and laptop were almost completely replaced with my tablet, my Thrive is awesome but it can't do everything. |
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Quoted: We don't do iPad either....we purchased two Toshiba Thrives last year and I love them. I rarely even turn on my $2500 desktop PC any more and never use my $1700 laptop. Both the PC and laptop were almost completely replaced with my tablet, my Thrive is awesome but it can't do everything. This has been my experience with the Thrive as well. I believe the only thing the Thrive has over the Asus Transformer is a user replaceable battery like most laptops. I have also been able to run my 120GB 2.5" HDD straight off the full size USB using the Thrive's battery. I also think it will recognize up to a 2TB partition. Considering I bought mine 6 months ago refurbed for $250, it's probably less now and a heck of a steal. |
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Everyone says they don't want an iPad. I tried to make an hp touchpad work for me. Piece of shit, even with android on it, a smaller iPad is coming out soon. Check it out, if subnet can be converted, so can you! i love my HP touchpad running ICS. i carry it to work every shift. now, once i go back on day shift full time it may become a PITA to carry so i am looking for a smaller tablet but i will still use my HP at home. |