I had my dad by my mom an ipad a few months ago. I don't have to do any tech support. It just works. She can great amount of apps, surf the web, etc. You can pretty much do the same on the sanding galaxy tab. But I suspect I'd be doing more tech support. Just my feelings.
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What made you chose the iPad2 over the Galaxy Tab 10.1 ?
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If you just do those few things why would you need a beast like the Prime? If I could get anymore tablets I'd probably get it. But for someone who is retired as the OP said, & does light surfing a Prime is not worth it. The tight integration of hardware & software of the ipad is another plus.
Because I know my device will get updates...and is much more widely supported by developers.
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I never considered the Galaxy Tab (or any other tablet) when I bought my iPad 2. Why? I wanted an iPad, not a tablet. It's proven, I know it will sync seamlessly with my Mac, and it has the most and (imo) best apps. I also have an iPhone, so I knew iOS and it saved me needing to learn a new mobile operating system.
I cannot think of a compelling reason to buy an Android tablet over an iPad, unless it's substantially cheaper, or you just want something other than Apple/iOS.
Now, if I were shopping for a tablet today, the $200 BlackBerry PlayBook and Kindle Fire would be very tempting... For your uses, I think either might suffice.
Have you considered them?
I cannot think of a compelling reason to buy an Android tablet over an iPad, unless it's substantially cheaper, or you just want something other than Apple/iOS.
Now, if I were shopping for a tablet today, the $200 BlackBerry PlayBook and Kindle Fire would be very tempting... For your uses, I think either might suffice.
Have you considered them?
The SGX543MP2 GPU in the iPad 2's A5 SoC is considered of the same generation as the GeForce ULP in the Tegra 2 and as such both are not exactly in EOL yet.
Tegra 3 is still a few months off as is the SGX554 (PowerVR's next gen - rumored to be included on the A6). However, I wouldn't worry as I'm sure the next generation of each product will include both. Needless to say the current GT 10.1 is by no means an 'old' device but one of the current kings of the hill, a position it shares with the iPad 2.
Well you're in luck as Apple products continue to enjoy great resale value - something that can not be said about Android products only one generation old.
You would most likely be able to sell your iPad 2, return a good portion of its value, purchase a slightly-used Android tablet you seem to espouse so much and STILL have enough for a sushi dinner.
So, you do not need 'a bazillion apps' however you need one very specific, very (let's be honest) narrowed market app. Do you think the developer would have any impetus to create something so remote (again, be honest) but functional to a certain group of people, had it not be for the massive ecosystem in place to support these 'bazillion apps'?
Isn't the point of having a 'bazillion apps' is so there is something for everyone?
Have you even USED the web browser, media player, or even the PIM apps on an Android tablet in a daily function?
I'd bet no.
Why would you pick a device that you say "falls flat on it's ass" when there's clearly other devices to waste your money on, get frustrated, and resell for less than half its value?
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Cannot say much on this, except that I know that Tegra 2 been on the market for a while. The SGX in iPad 2 was introduced on iPad 2 in 2011. They could be same gen, but I am not sure
Transformer Prime, using Tegra 3, will be shipping in a week or 2. Promised up to 5x performance of Tegra 2. There are some early benchmarks, but I want to see real world performance.
Planning to do just that when ForeFlight comes out for Android. Or keep iPad 2 around for that.
ForeFlight been around for quite some time. Before Honeycomb was even announced. So, iPad was the only game in town. Now things are changing.
Actually, I did. I am not sure why people say that scrolling, zooming in and out is very choppy. Sure, it's not 30fps, more like 23. Difference can be detected, but does not impact performance in a slightest way. Kind of reminds me of iPad 1 that I have to deal with for my boss. Demos from ICS and Tegra 3 show no lag at all. Too early to tell again, but I believe it's there.
Besides, plenty of browsers to choose from if stock feels soft. And you do not have to stick to a same rendering engine. Google Music player is great. There are tons of 3rd party music players. They can go out, grab lyrics, post the obnoxious "I am listening to ****** Track 2" on facebook, find you music videos, etc. There's no "duplicates another app's functionality" restriction.
Re-read the post. I bought my iPad 2 at launch day. Xoom was way overpriced and buggy. But then gain, iOS had launch issues at start (no apps, very basic functionality). Android as a software, and hardware certainly grew. Galaxy Nexus is reviewed as the best phone you can get right now. Tablet makers got their designs properly done (Galaxy Tab, Transformer Prime).
I recognize people's desire to have iPad and nothing else. It could be from good reasons (Specific app requirements, investment in apps, or being used to the OS), to plain idiotic (If apple takes a ****, packages it in a box, I will buy it!). I simply prefer to have more choices. I am willing to give up and re-buy about $200 worth of apps that I bought and actually used to switch.
Considered same generation, however the important fact you missed out on is that the 543MP2 is about 4x faster:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5133/galaxy-nexus-ice-cream-sandwich-initial-performance
Leaked benchmarks of an overclocked Tegra 3 device shows that it still does not match the SGX543MP2 is the ipad2 in terms of 3D graphics performance
http://www.nordichardware.se/nyhete...ingen-match-foer-apple-a5-i-grafiktester.html
If 3D graphics performance is a priority, then the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is a very poor choice.
Objectively better? No, no one said that. They simply said it's the best tablet out there.
iOS was limited at the beginning but it was unique as the first truly finger friendly mobile device with usable web browsing experience and delightful UI. Android on a tablet doesn't offer any unique proposition like that.
To Android to compete, it has to better iOS in a significant way in apps, browsing or gaming, but it fails to do that in any of the categories, in fact iOS betters Android in most aspects in those categories.For the few who value "choice" and "openness" it might be worthwhile, especially those who value file system access and the ability to change the launchers but unlike in the smartphone market i just don't see the mass appeal of Android tablets as $400+ device at this point.
Who the hell down ranked this post? Honestly, I wish Macrumors would get rid of this system. At least without it stupidity and bias was somewhat masked. Now it's clear for all to see.
Some interesting points were brought up in this post, and all of them relevant to OPs decision. Down ranking based on nothing more than a difference of opinion is just immature, and reflects very poorly on the site.
In the interests of full disclosure, I'm posting this from an iPad!
Easy answer: The apps. I like Android, I even have a Galaxy S2. If you compare the OSs, Android has some nice touches with widgets. So does WebOS with its multitasking with cards. But when it comes to actually using the device on a daily basis, you need apps if you plan to do more than just basic email and browsing.
If I only had to use email and browsing, I would choose WebOS over IOS. If I had to use a tablet for only business, I would chooise Android because of it's flexibility and access to the file system.
But for most other media consumption and access to thousands of apps, the Ipad2 wins every time.
Let's see if ICS on a Galaxy Tab with real tablet apps will make a difference next year. ICS seems to have some nice WebOS-like tweaks and the new Tegra3 hardware will be impressive.
If I only had to use email and browsing, I would choose WebOS over IOS. If I had to use a tablet for only business, I would chooise Android because of it's flexibility and access to the file system.
But for most other media consumption and access to thousands of apps, the Ipad2 wins every time.
Let's see if ICS on a Galaxy Tab with real tablet apps will make a difference next year. ICS seems to have some nice WebOS-like tweaks and the new Tegra3 hardware will be impressive.
Benchmarks of the Tegra 3 has been posted now on the Transformer Prime:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5163/asus-eee-pad-transformer-prime-nvidia-tegra-3-review/3
Nothing special in terms on GPU - still lagging well behind the ipad2.
CPU wise, it is marginally faster, however, some of those benchmarks test might not have taken full advantage of the 4 cores.
Battery life isn't great either.
I knew what I wanted my tablet for - reading books, newspapers, watching videos, movies and listening to music. And games.
The iPad is better in almost all of those respects. You can buy movies, music, books, apps all from one store and there's a huge selection!
Plus iCloud.
Edit:
By the way I have an android smartphone so I'm well aware the android market offers all of those things too, but music isn't available in my country yet and the android market isn't as mature. It has a smaller selection of stuff.
The iPad is better in almost all of those respects. You can buy movies, music, books, apps all from one store and there's a huge selection!
Plus iCloud.
Edit:
By the way I have an android smartphone so I'm well aware the android market offers all of those things too, but music isn't available in my country yet and the android market isn't as mature. It has a smaller selection of stuff.
"It just works.." The iPad 2 that is...GT is nice, but the iPad is just more polished and has a better selection of apps.. Plus it works with my TiVo, again, back to app availability.
But, as with all premium products, they demand premium prices. While there are many free apps for the iPad, some of the popular/good apps may not be free. Whereas, the Google Market has just about every type of app for free.
I also have an Android tablet, but personally still prefer the iPad due to battery life (Yes, it really is around 10 hours..), apps, user experience, etc. I'm not opposed to paying more for simple and useful, but still like to tinker, so hence I have have both type of tablets.
Hope this helps.
Don't forget, it was benchmarked on OS that does not "see" all cores. This means that graphic performance, and battery life SHOULD be significantly improved. Nobody knows still, considering how ICS is not released. But if you look at Galaxy Nexus benchmarks, it outperforms iPhone 4S (Same SoC as iPad 2), on a fairly underpowered SoC.
http://www.appleinsider.com/article...outpace_iphone_4s_as_woz_picks_up_early_copy/
Keep in mind, Galaxy Nexus has almost tablet resolution (in fact, higher than ipad). 921,600 pixels on Nexus vs 786,432 on iPad, vs 614,400 on iPhone 4. And remember, Galaxy Nexus running on dual core CPU, and a fairly weak SGX540 GPU.
Now, if you compare this to 4 (techincally 5) core CPU, once software supports it, numbers should change. A lot.
To me it seems like an odd question. I never even considered anything besides the iPad. The iPad is in a class by itself. The depth of performance, reliability, software, battery life and support is so good with the iPad why would you consider anything else?
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I don't think many people are going to recommend the GT 10.1 considering we're on MacRumors. but I reckon the iPad coz it's just much simpler and more apps to choose from and you don't have to press the screen 3 times before an app comes up.
I don't think many people are going to recommend the GT 10.1 considering we're on MacRumors. but I reckon the iPad coz it's just much simpler and more apps to choose from
and you don't have to press the screen 3 times before an app comes up.
The Galaxy Tab was never in contention.
The choice was to either keep my original iPad, or get the iPad 2.
The choice was to either keep my original iPad, or get the iPad 2.
Patently false. Honeycomb sees 4 cores just fine. How do you think Nvidia showed off their glowball demo with a 4 cores being utilized?
Graphics performance is mostly dependant on the GPU, so "seeing" 4 or 2 cores makes only neglible difference for most games even if honeycomb couldn't see all cores (which is false anyway). If you compare the Galaxy Nexus benchmarks with iPad2, you will see that ipad2 outperforms the Nexus in all benchmarks. This is since the iphone4S is underclocked compared to ipad2.
For those GPU benchmarks, the resolution that the device runs on is irrelevant. They are all tested offscreen at 1280x720. As for the Nexus running a weak GPU. Yes, that is correct. It gets trounced by >2.5x in by the iphone4S in the GPU benchmarks. The other observation is that the iphone4S still outperforms the Tegra 3 in GPU despite being underclocked compared to the ipad2.
If the application supports it (note that I did not say (OS), then it will see increases in CPU performance only (not GPU). There are currently hardly any application that supports it currently.