jadehawke wrote:question: I just ordered the 7" iconia through best buy last night for $259 and now am wondering if i should cancel that for this. the 7" pales in comparison for Gb as it is only an 8g but I'm wondering about size. how portable is the 10? what's the comparison to, say, a book regarding portability? I'm not intending on buying another comp for a long time so I need this to be "it".

After looking at the various options, we bought two A500 tabs to use for development. Although one failed after a day the other is working fine. However, after using the 10", I will get a 7" for my personal use. The 10" is large enough that it is no more convenient than my Acer 11" notebook or Asus eee PC netbook. I couldn't find an A100 for a decent price, so now I'm waiting to see what the Asus Tegra 3 will be when it hits the street.

The 10" does give you more real estate, so it's really a personal choice. Like pizzas, 10" is a lot more than 7". I'd advise going to a local store and playing with the two different sizes if at all possible.

xxooss wrote:How does this compare to the Fujitsu K computer?

*chuckle*

erisen wrote:I have long waited for a tablet. I think I will go for this one.

I have questions though. Is there a list of video formats it supports?

Also, people are talking about rooting it. although I understand what root access is, I also know unix/linux etc... what is the reason I would want to root this tablet.

Thanks in adv.

I have the Thrive and have had this same question, The bottom line is that if it does everything you want/need it to do stock do not root it. Find out what new abilities you will have after rooting and see if any of them are a must have. Most of the time rooting only adds the ability to customize the way it looks or is layed out and allows some real tech stuff to happen. For instance if you NEED a VPN then you might want to root it. I have noticed more and more apps coming out that will do some of these things without having to root it...Bottom line again is to find out what rooting will add to your tablet...if it aint broke dont fix it.

jomion wrote:This is a Wi-Fi device. No cell phone plan necessary.

You can get apps from Android Market to tether to your cell phone, assuming that your cell has a data plan.

Thanks so much, think I'll go for it and if it isn't what I need, then hubby gets a new toy!

jomion wrote:*chuckle*

hehe i was hoping that would be your reaction.

jadehawke wrote:how long does shipping take?

Unfortunately, woot's shipping is very slow. It usually takes about 9-11 days for me to receive items (that's shipping from woot in Texas to me in Seattle).

xxooss wrote:I have the Thrive and have had this same question, The bottom line is that if it does everything you want/need it to do stock do not root it. Find out what new abilities you will have after rooting and see if any of them are a must have. Most of the time rooting only adds the ability to customize the way it looks or is layed out and allows some real tech stuff to happen. For instance if you NEED a VPN then you might want to root it. I have noticed more and more apps coming out that will do some of these things without having to root it...Bottom line again is to find out what rooting will add to your tablet...if it aint broke dont fix it.

Rooting is fun if you like to do more customizable stuff. So, yeah, if you have no interest in that kind of stuff, then don't root it. Read: rooting voids any warranty.

That said, it's a simple process and allows you to do cool stuff like overclock your processor, get apps that block all ads from all apps, and also lets you play around with either developing your own custom look and feel or using other folk's custom development. I'm in the latter category, I don't do dev work, but I love to see what other folks can do with Android's open source awesomeness.

If you're interested in rooting and custom ROMs, check out the XDA a500 dev forum . And here is an up to date list of available custom ROMs. There are also basic stock ROMs that have no dev changes except adding root access and superuser permissions. So you can use the tablet as designed, but have the option of doing more custom stuff later.

xtobiasx wrote:Can a tablet like this run Excel?

While there is no actual version of Microsoft Excel for Android OS, there are other options to read and write to excel and other Microsoft Office documents such as Quick Office Pro HD (my personal choice), OfficeSuite Pro, and DocumentsToGo (not the most tablet friendly solution but it does work).

If you just need a program for viewing Microsoft Office documents only, OfficeSuite Viewer 5 is free and ad-free from the Market.

Billebones wrote:Hows it match up with a laptop?
Is is good for college student's school work?

I do not think any tablet replaces a laptop that is used for work or school. It can replace one used for watching movies, browsing, playing games, custom development, etc. But I wouldn't recommend trying to write your thesis on one, even with a keyboard/other accessories. Just my 2 cents, but my tablet is a (powerful, awesome) toy, my computer is my computer.

meh3884 wrote:Unfortunately, woot's shipping is very slow. It usually takes about 9-11 days for me to receive items (that's shipping from woot in Texas to me in Seattle).

thanks for the heads up. the one from best buy will be a week, so really not a big difference...

got no problems, and mine was a refurb

aclonedsheep wrote:Good question. I'm wondering this myself or if it will just be a distraction. I think the main thing I'd use it for would be to keep powerpoint slides open on my own so I could reference older slides/diagrams at my own pace, and not need to carry around a laptop. Normally I'd just haul the extra few pounds but I have a chronic upper back/neck issue with headaches so I stopped bringing even my 13" lightweight laptop last semester and just minimal notebooks.

I suppose you'd want a bluetooth keyboard to actually take notes. What'd be really great if there was a good program to record notes with a stylus integrated with typed notes...that would seal the deal.

HTC View is best for this type of use.....

morriea wrote:HTC View is best for this type of use.....

Why the view specifically or do you just mean a 7" form factor?

Thanks

reg606 wrote:FYI- No Android tablet charges through USB. USB is only 5V. These tablets need 12V.

If it did charge via USB, the battery would be tiny and/or take forever to charge.

Not that it makes a difference for this tablet, but that is incorrect. The new Xoom2 / XYBoard apparently charges from the USB port. Personally I am fine e with my Xoom using the separate charger since it charges quickly that way.

This is about as cheap as you will find it for a 32gb tablet. Similar deal to the Thrive a few days ago. The Acer and the Thrive are pretty close as to connectivity (ports). eBayed my HP Touchpad because you could not add micro Sd card and didn't even have HDMI output.

The Acer and Thrive seem to have the most useable as to ports. Makes them a bit thick but for good reason.

I ended up wih a Lenovo K1. Prices for these are amazingly volitile. Regularly, the lowest price you can find is $400. But I was able to snag a new, pre-replenished stock unit on Amazon for $279. Does not have USB ports but has USB adapter and accepts mico SD cards. Worth the price trade-off for me.

Have had good luck with "refurbished" items from Woot and others. My Acer Aspire netbook is still going strong after years although I have upgraded to more RAM and a 500 gb hard drive.

dfpops4 wrote:Can you put Microsoft access on this tablet?

If you can get Microsoft to make a version of Access for Android, then the answer is yes.

Tablets are for email, the WEB, and generally entertaining yourself. THEY ARE NOT a computer that does heavy lifting. You don't edit monster spreadsheets, write term papers, use CAD, on a tablet. I would hope that someone who is a college student understands "that they should have a PC built for heavy lifting.

Yes you can run Excel.

Most tablets (Android OS - everything from 2.2-3.1 and upcoming) will have apps that can open and edit such files.

Most come with Documents to Go or Polaris Office trials. You can purchase such apps for 7.99-19.99 depending on what functionality you are after.

That is an upside to having an android OS - the apps and formats are more native to PC. Yes, iPADs work on PC's, but google and its code is native to PC.

PapaMidnight wrote:While there is no actual version of Microsoft Excel for Android OS, there are other options to read and write to excel and other Microsoft Office documents such as Quick Office Pro HD (my personal choice), OfficeSuite Pro, and DocumentsToGo (not the most tablet friendly solution but it does work).

If you just need a program for viewing Microsoft Office documents only, OfficeSuite Viewer 5 is free and ad-free from the Market.

Do these include print drivers? I'm wondering if we can print directly from this tablet.

ccurrier wrote:
That is an upside to having an android OS - the apps and formats are more native to PC. Yes, iPADs work on PC's, but google and its code is native to PC.

That is completely false, and I have no idea what "iPads work on PCs" could even mean. If anything, Android would be more closely related to OSX as they are both Unix derivatives, not that I would call them related.

And all those apps are also available on iOS, plus more of them.

editorkid wrote:

You should never buy a device based on what it might do in the future. If it doesn't work for you when you're looking at it, wait for something that does.

Good advice. That's why, even though not an Apple fanboy, I got an overpriced iPad2.

We have 2 older Macs at home and I plan on purchasing a Windows laptop for work use. Daughter is an aspiring artist. We are looking into getting a tablet (7" or 10") or two for road trips/surfing the net, etc.

Any recommendations on a inexpensive drawing tablet that would work on all three platforms? I assume that the only thing I need to worry about is getting the correct software for each platform. Correct? TIA.

Billebones wrote:Hows it match up with a laptop?
Is is good for college student's school work?

Tablets are more of a multimedia device. I use my tablets (currently own a Viewsonic G tablet, Samsung 7", Acer Iconia A100, & Samsung Galaxy S 5.0, I have a problem :-) ) to check email, surf the web, play videos, etc., but still use my laptop for my core computing needs. I download a lot of videos and large files and find it's much easier to do this on a laptop/computer. I use my tablets for the occasional memo, but still use my laptop for any heavy documents and computer work. As for the 10" vs 7" debate, I use the 10" mainly to watch videos on a stand. I can type with my thumbs on the 7" and like that I can toss it in my bag and hold it with one hand. The larger 10 in her does get heavy after a while.

jreddington wrote:This is about as cheap as you will find it for a 32gb tablet. Similar deal to the Thrive a few days ago. The Acer and the Thrive are pretty close as to connectivity (ports). eBayed my HP Touchpad because you could not add micro Sd card and didn't even have HDMI output.

The Acer and Thrive seem to have the most useable as to ports. Makes them a bit thick but for good reason.

I ended up wih a Lenovo K1. Prices for these are amazingly volitile. Regularly, the lowest price you can find is $400. But I was able to snag a new, pre-replenished stock unit on Amazon for $279. Does not have USB ports but has USB adapter and accepts mico SD cards. Worth the price trade-off for me.

Have had good luck with "refurbished" items from Woot and others. My Acer Aspire netbook is still going strong after years although I have upgraded to more RAM and a 500 gb hard drive.

The Lenovo k1 is 279.99 now...see

http://deals.woot.com/deals/details/792daecb-00d3-4678-bfb7-ac8ff19379cb/lenovo-ideapad-tablet-k1-32gb#1

I just bought this one... I have been "researching" the Android vs iPad2 for months. I have concluded that I like the Android/Google advantage and was looking at the Galaxy Zoom-II and others. This offer today moved me off of dead center.
I have bought many refurbs before and have not had problems. I am typing this in an Acer Laptop 10.1 with the Atom processor and 1gb of Ram. The ram sucks but travels like a dream. My HP DV9005 was a refurb... etc.
So I jumped at this Acer. I have two other Acer laptops. The problem I was having with all the other Android Tabs was the lack of the ability to put in an SD card to expand the memory. They took it away in the Zoom-II and Galaxy and other follow-on iterations of the Android Tablets.
I was also waiting for the release of Android 4.0... Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS).
I intend to dump my BlackBerry for the Verizon new 4.0 android phone the end of this month when I can upgrade. I should be able to upgrade this unit when 4.0 comes out for the Tablets. 4.0 is Android's way of bringing the operating system together going forward with the phones & Tabs.
I will update this post when I get it this week. Till then... Glad to be on Woot!!!

morriea wrote:The Lenovo k1 is 279.99 now...see

http://deals.woot.com/deals/details/792daecb-00d3-4678-bfb7-ac8ff19379cb/lenovo-ideapad-tablet-k1-32gb#1

(sold out) But good find nonetheless.

fishphotoguy wrote:Do these include print drivers? I'm wondering if we can print directly from this tablet.

Yes, well kind of. There is an app in the Amazon App Store, http://www.amazon.com/Dynamix-USA-LLC-PrinterShare-Mobile/dp/B0055S348W/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=mobile-apps&qid=1327264169&sr=1-5, that I use. You have to have a wifi-printer but its pretty easy to setup if you do. There are also a variety of printer options if you have google print or whatever the service is called.

aclonedsheep wrote:Why the view specifically or do you just mean a 7" form factor?

Thanks

No...The view has "magic pen"...there is an interface designed specifically for stylus input.

A cheaper alternative would be the Entourage Edge or Pocket Edge.

fishphotoguy wrote:Do these include print drivers? I'm wondering if we can print directly from this tablet.

If you look on the HP website (sorry no link) you will find printers that now work by emailing documents directly to them. So you can INDIRECTLY print.

I just priced this tablet on Acers website and you can get it new for 350, also I did some research and I could not find where to buy an extra or extended life battery for it, pass....

While there are excel apps, Don't count on easily editting them - or even viewing them if they are complex. Word and PowerPoint are easier to work with and do not present problems. Some slides do not display properly, and it is a bit too cumbersome to say, write and edit a paper, but viewing and note taking is not a big deal.

As a college student with a 10" Xoom, I can say that a tablet is much more handy around campus and in class than a laptop, but my class websites are not functional on it. If the student has easy access via a computer lab or PC in his room, a tablet is perfect. Otherwise, a laptop is more functional.

For the people saying this isn't good for college, I completely disagree. Someone said they want stylus notes, with typed notes, no problem, get the app Evernote. You can also insert images and a lot of other cool note type stuff. You need to print? get PrinterShare, instantly installs drivers for any major brand printer on your Network. You want to type? Personally with a portfolio case for any 10.1" tablet, the adjustable angle makes typing easy for me. However you can go with a case with a built in bluetooth or usb keyboard for the table. I own the Toshiba Thrive, and love it.

Slammermi wrote:I just priced this tablet on Acers website and you can get it new for 350, also I did some research and I could not find where to buy an extra or extended life battery for it, pass....

Most tablets do not offer extended or replacement batteries.

CasualSax wrote:Most tablets do not offer extended or replacement batteries.

the Thrive is one of the few. I would say only, but that may not be true.

mastrbob wrote:For the people saying this isn't good for college, I completely disagree. Someone said they want stylus notes, with typed notes, no problem, get the app Evernote. You can also insert images and a lot of other cool note type stuff.

Can you actually write with a stylus? Or by "notes" do you just mean typed notes? I'm an author, and now print out my manuscripts so I can read and make changes in the margins. I'd love to be able to do that on a tablet. (You know, save the rainforests and all.)

liztull wrote:Can you actually write with a stylus? Or by "notes" do you just mean typed notes? I'm an author, and now print out my manuscripts so I can read and make changes in the margins. I'd love to be able to do that on a tablet. (You know, save the rainforests and all.)

Excellent handwriting to text software has been around for awhile. IBM/Lenovo X41 Thinkpad running Windows XP was fantastic....writing, not typing.

morriea wrote:Excellent handwriting to text software has been around for awhile. IBM/Lenovo X41 Thinkpad running Windows XP was fantastic....writing, not typing.

Thank you morriea. So just to make sure I understand...I'd be able to upload my Word doc on the Iconia (don't care if it's in Word or pdf) then use a stylus to take notes? I was looking at the Nook color last year hoping it could help me with editing, but the handwriting functionality had lots of glitches, really slow and choppy, so I knew it wouldn't do what I needed. If this works well, it would be a dream come true for me.

liztull wrote:Thank you morriea. So just to make sure I understand...I'd be able to upload my Word doc on the Iconia (don't care if it's in Word or pdf) then use a stylus to take notes? I was looking at the Nook color last year hoping it could help me with editing, but the handwriting functionality had lots of glitches, really slow and choppy, so I knew it wouldn't do what I needed. If this works well, it would be a dream come true for me.

I CANNOT speak for this device in particular. I have used it on other tablets, but not this one. Hopefully someone that has used this one can answer for certain. i agree the Nook Color does a poor job with this type of task due to processor speed.

Ditto, I've got the 16Gb version and it has been a workhorse tablet, use it everyday for client technical support and connecting to our corporate network. And it seems go to forever on a charge. Can't say enough good things about this tablet.

Been looking online for an answer like this. But how does this measure up to fast typing in some type of word document creater. On a laptop, I'm about 70-80 wpm, would that be able to happen with a tablet? Also, the auto-formatting that Microsoft Word has to make it easy to take notes for class. Is there something for that?