Android + iOS

It depends what you plan on using a tablet for. I personally believe that Android would be more useful on a phone compared to a tablet (at least right now), so if you wanna get some Android thing, then get an Android phone and go with an iPad.

 

Android 2.0 for smartphones is an incredibly well matured OS. It is much better than iOS in so many aspects. On the other hand, Android 3.0 Honeycomb is a new OS, although it is very promising. Remember what iOS looked like in 2007. No MMS, no copy-paste, even no App Store. But an Android tablet would be a safe buy too considering Android's extreme growth rate.

So, I would currently get an Android phone if you want to experience Android awesomeness. To be more specific Galaxy S II because there is no better option at the moment.

 

it offers more customization than iOS, and maybe can "do more" than iOS, but all of those categories are subjective. Of the actual performance stats, iOS wins pretty much every time (on equivalent hardware): battery life, smoothness of scrolling, game performance, etc.

I've never much cared for android, not because of the options and features (i agree they're awesome) but because it is so poorly optimized and gets bogged down easily. They've had nearly 4 years to polish that out, and Microsoft just proved that you can get it right on your first release (in terms of smoothness of scrolling, transitions, etc, OS speed, keyboard, etc)...so what is Androids excuse?

 

I agree somewhat and I'll expand. I currently have a droid and I really like the OS (2.1) for its notification system and certain aspects of customization...however it is just slow and it freezes and this is even after multiple reinstalls, and even a replacement phone. Also its the original verizon droid so its internal memory is small and in fact there is something wrong with my internal memory preventing me from getting text messages. My camera still takes like 15 seconds to open from day one even though they promised to fix this in an update, iphones is instant. The onscreen keyboard's suck, I've downloaded the iPhone style one but its still meh at best. Additionally android phones are starting to seam more about quantity than quality and quality is something apple just does not mess up and if they do its usually minor. So its almost like switching from a PC to a Mac...I'm just tired lugging this thing around...also anyone think android phones come of as not as professional as an iPhone or blackberry? Just curious

 

It can depend on the device. An original Droid is pretty old now. Heck, for that matter, my older iOS devices lag and their apps abort for no reason. Perhaps I use them too much

For my personal phone, I've had a Droid Incredible for the past year, and havent had any problems with it. It's fast, smooth and reliable. If you check out forums for it, you'll find that most owners see no reason to get anything else yet.

In any case, I agree with the responses about getting an Android phone and an iPad, as the best mixture.

 

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Might be worth waiting to see what is announced at I/O next week if you were close to a purchase but tablet wise the iPad is a lot more mature compared to the honeycomb tablets out there now.

In the phone side of things, Android is very mature.

 

Exactly. Go to Verizon and try Incredible 2 or Thunderbolt. They are really nice phones. As for the tablet go with iPad 2.

 

To this I would suggest that you try out a more "official" Google reference designed Android phone like one of the Nexus series (Nexus One, Nexus S). These are phones in which Google dictates the hardware that the companies (first HTC, then Samsung) use with the operating system, so the hardware/software design is a lot more intertwined, much like the way Apple does it (designs software for a specific set of hardware). These Androids (Nexus developer series) run the smoothest of any Androids, and show no lag at all. And stay updated with the current version of Android as well. This is how Google should have handled all manufacturers from the start (dictate the hardware more). My Nexus One running Gingerbread is as fast at all tasks/apps as my iPhone 4, and the N1 came out before the iP4. No lag at all, and data speeds and latency is better as well.

 

We just got a transformer for home use (sold the ipad!). The reasons we changed were primarily because of flash support. A lot of the sites the kids visited (moshi monsters etc) required flash as did a lot of the news/video sites that my wife and I use and the ipad just didn't cut it. Yes we could probably jailbreak and get something to work but we just weren't interested in going that route.

Now considering that my wife and daughter both have iphones and are appleholics this was a big risk I was taking. However the transformer is more that up to the job. Its a great tablet and I can't wait to get the keyboard (next week I think) to complete it. Honeycomb is lovely to use and the gmail client is just gorgeous. Browsing is fast and fluid.

Can't recommend it highly enough. I think if you're a real apple fan go with the iphone and ipad (and put up with some "limitations" on the ipad). The iphone and transformer combo is also a great match and works very well.

 

Personally, I'd go with an Android phone with an iPad, that's what I'm planning on doing soon, only with a WP7 device instead of Android. Right now at least, the iPad is by far the best tablet on the market considering the problems Android seems to be having.

 

In my experience Android (with similar hardware) runs pretty much everything faster. In terms of animation smoothness, iPhone might win in most cases. But in terms of speed, Android wins hands down.
A lot of people go to carrier stores and play with some display Android phones, then declare that Android OS is full of crapware and slow and laggy and blah blah blah. Keep in mind that Android is highly customizable, so most display phones are going to have millions of widgets and icons and a live wallpaper in the back.

 

I would make the opposite recommendation.

If you are using a tablet for web browsing, then you're going to want the desktop version (and hence, flash) for a lot of websites.

Few things are more frustrating than getting kicked to the mobile version of a website on a 10" screen.

 

decide what apps are critical to you and and see if they are on android and available if not then stay iphone and get the transformer or xoom.

the one reason i recommend an android tablet opposed to the ipad is you can access files making it a more viable laptop replacement.

the ipad's only strengths are heavy integration with osx if you use osx, and the large amount of tablet apps.

android tablets are finally becoming popular and with honeycomb now they have a great os so you will see more tablet based apps coming but there are not many right now.

decide what you like/dislike about iOS and android so you can see how your needs are best met. File access is important and something apple needs to fix like yesterday, but if you will only use this sometimes then go for the android tablet. as your phone will likely be with you 24/7 and the tablet will not be with you as often so just make sure you pick a phone with the features you need.

Android phones i recommendin the US i dont know where you are.)
VZW: Charge(when released), Incredible 2, Bionic (when released)
Sprint: Nexus S 4g
Tmobile: G2X, Nexus S
At&T: Atrix, Infuse(out on the 15)

 

If you want to get an Android fix, go to the Verizon or AT&T store and play around on their demo phones they have set up. Give it some time and see how you like/dislike it compared to your iPhone.

I actually downgraded from my Droid to my original LG enV, simply because the OS was so choppy and slow. Granted, they have made a lot of improvements since two years ago.

Either way, iOS is still a beautiful OS. I'd give it some serious thought before you get locked in to an Android ***** phone for the next two years.

 

Granted it's an older phone, but I had the Verizon HTC Eris when it first came out. Had the latest version of Android running, that supported it [2.1.x?], and I have to say it was horrible. I've messed around with newer phones recently, the Incredible and the Inspire, and I have to admit the phones are okay, but I'm still less than impressed with Android. Like the look of it, and all, but performance wise, and use I think it's fair at best [IMHO].

I think all these kinds of threads are subjective. For every person that thinks Android is great, 2 others hate it, and vice-versa with iOS. It's like the argument of "I use Windows, because I do real work" thing. Those that are techy [or think they are, but really aren't], say Android because "It's open and customizable". Yet, I've found so few people that actually "root" their phone, and do these things. Kind of like Jailbreaking. Take 100 people of each variety, and less than 5% of those actually do this. Most take the stock device, and just use it as is...

As for Tablets; sorry but until the other devices reach the mass that the iPad has, they'll always be playing catch up. Like my statement above, most people get a tablet for ease of use for email, some web, watching a video, and reading. I guess I rarely visit sites with Flash, because I've yet to find one that I can't view on my iPhone, iPad, or desktop without a problem. One of my co-workers has the Galaxy tablet. I messed around with it for a bit, and like the phones, I think the OS is okay, but not "OMG! That's awesome!". Nothing I'd replace my current iPad 2 with...

Anywho...good luck with your search...

 

Recently just changed from a IP4 + iPad 1 combo to Samsung Galaxy S2 + iPad 1 combo.

Loving it at the mo. Get my fix of both OS's.