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gdourado

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 22, 2010
468
66
Hello,

How are you?
I decided I'd share my story and give my insights about the Nexis 10 vs Ipad 4.
I have been an OSX user for some years. From Macbook, to Macbook Pro, to iMac, I have long ditched windows for my personal computing needs.

In the gadget front, I have always been an android user. Dispite having thought about getting an iPad on some ocasions, or even an iPhone, I never actually pulled the trigger.

Since my first smartphone, I have always used android phones, from 2.1, to froyo, to Ginger Bread, ICS and now Jelly bean.

After having several phones I settled for the galaxy nexus. I really like Google Web Services and the way they all just work with android and sync flawlessly.
I also love the Nexus pure android and timely updates.

Because I was so happy with my phone, when the nexus 7 came out, I bought a 16gb wifi unit. It was not my first android tablet. About a year ago I bought an HTC Flyer that a few months later I gave to my wife. At the time I had a Galaxy note and didn't use the tablet that much... But anyway...

I liked the Nexus 7. It is fast, good size, good portability. The device is not ideal for web browsing, but because of it's screen size, it is great to use phone apps to do things, like ebay app, paypal app, tapatalk, and such...

Then, after the confusion of the 13 November nexys 4 and nexus 10 launches, I ended up not getting any. Last week, I was finally able to order a Nexus 10 from the playstore and it was delivered this monday morning...

Unboxed it:

Q2jd3.jpg


D2grp.jpg


W5u1U.jpg


Z8Pby.jpg


in8tq.jpg


Beautiful device. Great specs. It was light, well built and with a good feel.
Loved the screen... Beautifull piece of kit.
The front facing speakers were great...
It ran fast as hell... Synced everything with my nexus 7 and galaxy nexus beautifully!
It was a dream of a device... Until I actually started using it...

There were not too many apps for the bigger and higher res screen...
But that is ok. It is not like I use apps for facebook, ebay or forums on my laptop or desktop... I just use the web browser...

So, went and used it on the nexus 10... And that was the disappointment...
The 16:10 screen which becomes 16:9 when in use thanks to the soft buttons is horrible.

Text is crisp as hell, and I see no pixels, but I also see no content...
The tablet is just to short in height to use in landscape mode. I have to scroll and scroll and scroll to use any site... The way the sites scale on chrome, even fully zoomed out, just don't allow enough content on screen...

So, portrait, no problem...
Well, terrible...
It felt like holding a wooden board... The tablet is just too long and becomes too top heavy to use confortably in portrait... Also, because the screen is narrow, the web sites don't look natural...

After trying to like the Nexus 10, I just couldn't...
Ended up sellig it yesterday. Thanks to the high demand and low supply, I still made a tiny profit with it.
And today I ordered an Ipad 4.

I just realised that at the end of the day, it is not specs, or GPU or CPU or Ram or PPI that make a device...
When a company thinks about usability and ergonomics of a device, that just shows in the way it becomes natural and confortable to use said device.

I just didn0t find the Nexus 10 confortable or natural for what I wanted to use it for, and that was web browsing mainly.

So, this is my experience. I judt thought I'd share.

Best regards.
 
Last edited:

hyteckit

Guest
Jul 29, 2007
889
1
The only 10" Android tablet I'm interested in is the Galaxy Note because of the stylus.

I think the problem with 10" Android tablet is the lack of Android tablet apps. Most apps are just blown up Android phone apps and those apps don't look very nice on a 10" screen..

I think an Android 7" is fine and doesn't look as awkward with blown up apps. Although I just recently sold my 7" Android tablet for a Galaxy Note 2 that's 5.5".

The problem I have with my 7" Android tablet is the aspect ratio as well which is 16:9 or 16:10. Pretty poor for reading and viewing webpages in landscape mode.

I just got an iPad mini and I like the size and aspect ratio as well. Great in both portrait and landscape mode.
 

smwatson

macrumors 6502a
Sep 30, 2005
961
6
London, England
Fair points all round. It's a bit of a disaster that Chrome doesn't have a full screen mode, and they insist on having black bars at both the top and bottom of the screen at all times.
 

ReanimationN

macrumors 6502a
Sep 7, 2011
724
0
Australia
A lot of apps don't look very good even on the Nexus 7, it was inevitable that the Nexus 10 was going to suffer from the same problem, only worse. I don't blame you for selling it.
 

AppleRobert

macrumors 603
Nov 12, 2012
5,726
1,132
I have the Nexus 7. I did not even think twice about getting the N10. I went with the iPad 4 at Black Friday price.

Enjoy!
 

cnguyen0320

macrumors regular
Aug 14, 2012
177
0
Agree very much. The lack of 16:9 aspect ratio on the iPad is over-exaggerated. Okay so you don't get full screen videos, but everything else is perfect and better. It's sized like a notebook which people actually hold not a 16:9 monitor...

Anyway, I wish Apple used widgets since it works so well with a tablet. Android is the best OS for tablets but the hardware and apps don't cooperate with it well enough.
 

mentaluproar

macrumors 68000
May 25, 2010
1,759
209
Ohio, USA
Agree very much. The lack of 16:9 aspect ratio on the iPad is over-exaggerated. Okay so you don't get full screen videos, but everything else is perfect and better. It's sized like a notebook which people actually hold not a 16:9 monitor...

Anyway, I wish Apple used widgets since it works so well with a tablet. Android is the best OS for tablets but the hardware and apps don't cooperate with it well enough.

Lets see what Ive has planned.
 

blackhand1001

macrumors 68030
Jan 6, 2009
2,599
33
I really wish Google would put the old tablet combined bar back and ship these things with the old aosp browser. You can get it back by using paranoid android though. Its still a dumb decision of Google to switch it.
 

cnguyen0320

macrumors regular
Aug 14, 2012
177
0
Lets see what Ive has planned.

Thats what I'm saying but I don't think anything drastic is going to happen. Ive is in charge of design not features so I'm not holding my breath on widgets or anything of the like anytime soon. I wish they would though.
 

zhenya

macrumors 604
Jan 6, 2005
6,929
3,677
Your experience directly mirrors my own with other 16:9 or 16:10 tablets. In order to make content large enough to interact with, you get too little content in landscape and they are terrible to hold in portrait. The retina screen on the ipad makes text so clear in portrait mode that I hardly ever use it the other way. Most websites are now designed so that they show perfectly in the 768 point portrait width of the iPad with no wasted space along the edges.

I wonder if the competition will hold out indefinitely against 4:3 or if they'll eventually back down and admit they have been getting it wrong.
 

kiltedthrower

macrumors regular
Aug 24, 2012
144
0
A lot of apps don't look very good even on the Nexus 7, it was inevitable that the Nexus 10 was going to suffer from the same problem, only worse. I don't blame you for selling it.

I'll have to disagree here. I have yet to notice an app that didn't lool aa good on my nexus 7 as it does on my Note or Inspire.
 

ReanimationN

macrumors 6502a
Sep 7, 2011
724
0
Australia
I'll have to disagree here. I have yet to notice an app that didn't lool aa good on my nexus 7 as it does on my Note or Inspire.

I posted a few examples in a thread a while back of apps that were suffering from stretched/blurry assets on my Nexus 7 when compared to my iPhone, or iPads I've used (there's more if you scroll up). You may not be affected, but I definitely was.
 

kiltedthrower

macrumors regular
Aug 24, 2012
144
0
I posted a few examples in a thread a while back of apps that were suffering from stretched/blurry assets on my Nexus 7 when compared to my iPhone, or iPads I've used (there's more if you scroll up). You may not be affected, but I definitely was.

I remember. And I didn't think there was that huge of a difference. I guess I look at it like comparing my HD tv to my nonHD tv. Sure one looks better but watching movies and shows on the nonHD tv is just fine.
 

blackhand1001

macrumors 68030
Jan 6, 2009
2,599
33
Will say one thing, the exynos 5250 in this thing absolutely screams. Scored 2888 on geekbench. The a6x scores 1700. I can't wait to see this chip in a phone. Its a much smaller die size than the a6x as well so power consumption in a phone will be reasonable. The previous generation quad exynos in the note gets amazing battery so I have no doubts this one will do even better.
 

cynics

macrumors G4
Jan 8, 2012
11,959
2,154
Fair points all round. It's a bit of a disaster that Chrome doesn't have a full screen mode, and they insist on having black bars at both the top and bottom of the screen at all times.

Not at all times. When using the native video player or players designed tablet specific they will move off the screen. I believe HBO Go can do that. Other players and pic viewers turn them into 3 small white dots.

----------

I really wish Google would put the old tablet combined bar back and ship these things with the old aosp browser. You can get it back by using paranoid android though. Its still a dumb decision of Google to switch it.

I agree 100%

----------

Your experience directly mirrors my own with other 16:9 or 16:10 tablets. In order to make content large enough to interact with, you get too little content in landscape and they are terrible to hold in portrait. The retina screen on the ipad makes text so clear in portrait mode that I hardly ever use it the other way. Most websites are now designed so that they show perfectly in the 768 point portrait width of the iPad with no wasted space along the edges.

I wonder if the competition will hold out indefinitely against 4:3 or if they'll eventually back down and admit they have been getting it wrong.

I doubt it. A tablet being a consumption device videos look every bit as good as they did on my iPad 3 except they fit the screen better. I ONLY use my N10 in portrait, this is how Google meant it to be used with that aspect ratio.

I argued with many about how the iPhone would move more toward a video content aspect ratio and people called BS. Enter the iPhone 5...
 

Sensamic

macrumors 68030
Mar 26, 2010
2,993
627
Sorry but no, no, no, no, no, no...

Last week I sold my iPad 1 after I got my nexus 10. This thing is just the best tablet I've ever had.

The thing is... the iPad is a toy. You can't do serious stuff on it. It's got tons and tons of beautiful apps... see I say beautiful and not useful...

Because apps like Dropbox are not useful as you cannot upload or download any file, just pictures or videos. The android Dropbox app allows me to upload and download mp3, rar, zip, srt, avi, etc.

I wanted a tablet that could have some of the usability of a laptop. If all you want is surf the web and send emails then the iPad is perfect for you.

But in time you will get tired, just like me, because you want and need to do more. I don't want to buy a laptop, since its not nice to use it on bed to read or watch movies. Besides, I prefer having a tactile screen.

I insist. The iPad is a toy tablet. You can't even send files between ios devices. A complete joke. I can send files between my nexus 10 and SGS3 using NFC, Bluetooth, Dropbox, etc.

All apps are more useful on android, but they don't look nice.

I agree that it's not a very nice tablet to use in portrait, but guess what? Every product has problems, so to speak. What's the iPads problem? That it's a toy tablet.

So what do I prefer? A tablet that looks nice or a tablet that can do more?

The screen is better than the iPad 3/4.

All you people that prefer the iPad is because you don't do work on your tablet. All you want is a easy consumption device.

The nexus 10 is a better tablet, but it's just not what most of you need. I even prefer the build quality of the nexus. It's so much better to hold it than the cold aluminum of the iPad.
 

SnowLeopard2008

macrumors 604
Jul 4, 2008
6,772
17
Silicon Valley
Sorry but no, no, no, no, no, no...

Last week I sold my iPad 1 after I got my nexus 10. This thing is just the best tablet I've ever had.

The thing is... the iPad is a toy. You can't do serious stuff on it. It's got tons and tons of beautiful apps... see I say beautiful and not useful...

Because apps like Dropbox are not useful as you cannot upload or download any file, just pictures or videos. The android Dropbox app allows me to upload and download mp3, rar, zip, srt, avi, etc.

I wanted a tablet that could have some of the usability of a laptop. If all you want is surf the web and send emails then the iPad is perfect for you.

But in time you will get tired, just like me, because you want and need to do more. I don't want to buy a laptop, since its not nice to use it on bed to read or watch movies. Besides, I prefer having a tactile screen.

I insist. The iPad is a toy tablet. You can't even send files between ios devices. A complete joke. I can send files between my nexus 10 and SGS3 using NFC, Bluetooth, Dropbox, etc.

All apps are more useful on android, but they don't look nice.

I agree that it's not a very nice tablet to use in portrait, but guess what? Every product has problems, so to speak. What's the iPads problem? That it's a toy tablet.

So what do I prefer? A tablet that looks nice or a tablet that can do more?

The screen is better than the iPad 3/4.

All you people that prefer the iPad is because you don't do work on your tablet. All you want is a easy consumption device.

The nexus 10 is a better tablet, but it's just not what most of you need. I even prefer the build quality of the nexus. It's so much better to hold it than the cold aluminum of the iPad.

Sorry, but the part I highlighted in red is just a big lie. I upload and download files all the time on my iPad. You can also send files between iOS devices but not through NFC because no iOS device has NFC. So you're basically telling me it's not possible to use a feature that doesn't exist which doesn't mean anything at all. Furthermore, usefulness is not determined only by the ability to upload/download files.

I'm sure the various apps called malware are very useful on Android and of which are virtually nonexistent on iOS. Your point about selling your iPad 1 after you got your Nexus 10 is completely irrelevant. One device is about 3 years old and the other is brand new. It's unfair to compare that way. Would you prefer me comparing Android 1.0 to iOS 6? Are you really telling me that is a fair comparison? Absolutely not.

The part I highlighted in green is a logical fallacy. If we need/want the iPad, that makes the iPad the better tablet in our respective opinions. So it's a matter of perspective and logic, the latter of which you don't have. At all.
 

Sensamic

macrumors 68030
Mar 26, 2010
2,993
627
I'm sure the various apps called malware are very useful on Android and of which are virtually nonexistent on iOS. Your point about selling your iPad 1 after you got your Nexus 10 is completely irrelevant. One device is about 3 years old and the other is brand new. It's unfair to compare that way. Would you prefer me comparing Android 1.0 to iOS 6? Are you really telling me that is a fair comparison? Absolutely not.

Actually... IPad 1 has ios 5, so its not too old and ios 6 doesnt bring anything new productivity wise, so my comparison stays fair and logic. Does ios 6 bring a swype keyboard? Does it bring a user accesible file explorer? Does it allow you to share files between any app or service apart from twitter and facebook? Does it include settings toggles in the notification area? I can go on and on and on...

And guess what? Before I went Android I had an ipod touch, iPhone 4 and ipad for over two years, so Im perfectly logical and unbiased.

And I was comparing the nexus 10 to the iPad 4, which a family member has, not to my iPad 1. Read my post again...

Oh... And you think Im not being logical because I think the iPad is a toy tablet? Seriously? So anyone who thinks the same as me is illogical too? I must say that is not logical at all...

I can dislike the ipad aaaaaaaallll I want. It doesnt make me illogical by any means.

And again... between iPad 1 and iPad 4 the only real difference lies in the hardware. What new software features do you get that are actually useful? Facetime? Apple Maps? Facebook integration? Passbook?

Are you being serious???? Do you think those are real productivity enhancements?

I think YOU are the one being illogical and YOU just dont get it.

All my previous post stands the same. You havent proved me wrong by any means. Ios is still a toy mobile OS which is clearly designed for the masses.

On the other hand, I love Mac OS and my imac, so I give credit when credit is due.

Lets see what new stuff you come with un your next post. I would like you to explain everyone why ios is a better productivity os than android. Oh, but wait... You dont even have a file explorer...

You know whats the stupidiest part of ios? Try opening a video file you just downloaded from the web with one app and try choosing "open in" in another app. It can take aaaaaaages!!! Its not instant. And then said file is copied TWICE!!! And you need to go back to the previous app to delete the file..............

This is so ********* stupid that it proves my point that ios is a toy OS. On android I dont need to copy a video file or PDF file over and over again for me to open it in different apps. I just click the file and choose which app I want to open it with. No need to copy the file to several directories... Its just plain stupid!!! So dont tell me its a better productivity OS than android.

You're not judgmental or stereotypical at all. Good thing you're an all-knowing being that is constantly aware of how I use my electronics.

My opinion is my opinion. Doesnt make me all being. Its so childish. You dont agree with me? Then its okay. Its that simple. If my opinion is what you quoted then what? Its just an opinion dude!!
 
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throAU

macrumors G3
Feb 13, 2012
8,772
6,935
Perth, Western Australia
I just realised that at the end of the day, it is not specs, or GPU or CPU or Ram or PPI that make a device...
When a company thinks about usability and ergonomics of a device, that just shows in the way it becomes natural and confortable to use said device.
.

QFT

And this is why apple is so defensive of their "look and feel" stuff.

A lot of it is not obvious. I'm sure it would have been way cheaper for them to put out a 16x9 tablet for example as that's the most common screen form factor these days. But as you've discovered, 16x9 sucks...

IMHO, 16x9 sucks even on a laptop or desktop monitor too - which is why I have such a dislike for the MBA 11". The 13" is 16x10, as are all the MBPs... which is a rarity these days for portable machines.
 

blackhand1001

macrumors 68030
Jan 6, 2009
2,599
33
QFT

And this is why apple is so defensive of their "look and feel" stuff.

A lot of it is not obvious. I'm sure it would have been way cheaper for them to put out a 16x9 tablet for example as that's the most common screen form factor these days. But as you've discovered, 16x9 sucks...

IMHO, 16x9 sucks even on a laptop or desktop monitor too - which is why I have such a dislike for the MBA 11". The 13" is 16x10, as are all the MBPs... which is a rarity these days for portable machines.

You do realize that the nexus 10 is a 16x10 tablet right?
 

throAU

macrumors G3
Feb 13, 2012
8,772
6,935
Perth, Western Australia
You do realize that the nexus 10 is a 16x10 tablet right?

Yes.

3 things:

- as per the OP, it is effectively 16x9 when the soft buttons are displayed
- i didn't claim 16x10 is a good tablet form factor. it is OK on the desktop/laptop because your only other choices are 16x9, which SUCK MORE. Also, wider screen is more useful when multitasking as you can stack things side by side. Most tablet apps are full screen.
- on a tiny screen, having a slightly more square aspect gives you a lot more screen area - which isn't so much of a problem on say, a 27" monitor or 15" or larger laptop screen.
 
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Random 995K

macrumors 6502
Nov 3, 2012
295
0
Will say one thing, the exynos 5250 in this thing absolutely screams. Scored 2888 on geekbench. The a6x scores 1700. I can't wait to see this chip in a phone. Its a much smaller die size than the a6x as well so power consumption in a phone will be reasonable. The previous generation quad exynos in the note gets amazing battery so I have no doubts this one will do even better.

And still irl tests show the ipad to blitz it. App performance, powering on speed, battery life, opening apps speed, FPS, rendering movies etc. Check out some videos or i can link you. Specs mean nothing if they don't hold true in actual use.
 

TheHateMachine

macrumors 6502a
Sep 18, 2012
846
1,354
Yes.

3 things:

- as per the OP, it is effectively 16x9 when the soft buttons are displayed
- i didn't claim 16x10 is a good tablet form factor. it is OK on the desktop/laptop because your only other choices are 16x9, which SUCK MORE. Also, wider screen is more useful when multitasking as you can stack things side by side. Most tablet apps are full screen.
- on a tiny screen, having a slightly more square aspect gives you a lot more screen area - which isn't so much of a problem on say, a 27" monitor or 15" or larger laptop screen.

Why do you feel that 16:X is bad and 4:3 is so much better?
 
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