Tablets

[11gaz11]

I think it's about i treated myself to something. I haven't for a while and I've racked up a decent ammount of Moneybookers points now during their cashback promotion to cash in so i'm thinking about whether to purchase a tablet or not. I'm just after a some input on the various tablets that are out there. Do you guys have one and if so is it any good? How do they compare against others? I had my heart set on an Ipad 2 originally but i'm not sure in the grand scheme of things whether this would be the best tablet out there to cater for my needs. I want something that is very good for browsing the web, handy for ap'ing (not to replace my laptop/desktop as i don't think it ever could), decent camera, good for storing music etc.

Whats out there guys and what do you recommend? Whats the best tablet out thre for browsing the web (no flash on Ipad so i hear?)??? Should i go for the Ipad 2 or are thee better alternatives out there?

I would really appreciate any input and advice. I think there a few on here who have tablets as i have seen it mentioned plentyof times in the chat box.

[iwantmore]

I don't know a great deal about tablets but I have owned both android phones and iPhones which are basically the same as tablets but smaller.

I would definatly go for a tablet that runs on android instead of the iPad.

You can run the Betfair desktop side flawlessly which is obviously a Must for aping.

Ladbrokes mobile casino works fine

You can just drag and drop your documents over just as you would with a USB drive.

You can run flash too.

I had an iPhone for 2 years, now I have an android phone and it is so much better IMO.

People will probably disagree but that's what I think.

[lotte]

I would not get an ipad now. Rumours are ipad3 will be out in or around March. Most likely it will be announced at the end of feb, so if you really want an ipad I would hold off for a little longer.
Quick note on flash. Adobe are dropping support for flash for mobile devices. They are moving to html5. Flash is pretty much a lame duck out of water and does not have much of a future for mobile devices.
Flash to Focus on PC Browsing and Mobile Apps; Adobe to More Aggressively Contribute to HTML5 (Adobe Featured Blogs)

I don't have a tablet as I just don't have a need for one but I have played with them a lot and for ease of use ipad wins hands down. Bookie sites work on them perfectly well enough including betfair. In all honesty though if you have a smartphone there really is no need for a tablet for betting.

One other thing that may sway you towards an ipad is itunes match. You can store your music collection in the cloud and access from any ios device, meaning you don't need to physically store your music on your device any longer. If you have a good internet signal you can access your music from the cloud. Any music bought through itunes is free to store in icloud but if you have got your music from "other places" then the cost is £21.99 a year and you can store I think 25000 songs. Icloud scans your computer and matches what music you have on there. All this means that you can purchase the lowest memory ipad as you will not be using any space to store your tunes.
Apple (United Kingdom) - iTunes - Explore the new iTunes.

Hope that helps.

[TheJoker]

I would not get an ipad now. Rumours are ipad3 will be out in or around March. Most likely it will be announced at the end of feb, so if you really want an ipad I would hold off for a little longer.
Quick note on flash. Adobe are dropping support for flash for mobile devices. They are moving to html5. Flash is pretty much a lame duck out of water and does not have much of a future for mobile devices.
Flash to Focus on PC Browsing and Mobile Apps; Adobe to More Aggressively Contribute to HTML5 (Adobe Featured Blogs)

I don't have a tablet as I just don't have a need for one but I have played with them a lot and for ease of use ipad wins hands down. Bookie sites work on them perfectly well enough including betfair. In all honesty though if you have a smartphone there really is no need for a tablet for betting.

One other thing that may sway you towards an ipad is itunes match. You can store your music collection in the cloud and access from any ios device, meaning you don't need to physically store your music on your device any longer. If you have a good internet signal you can access your music from the cloud. Any music bought through itunes is free to store in icloud but if you have got your music from "other places" then the cost is £21.99 a year and you can store I think 25000 songs. Icloud scans your computer and matches what music you have on there. All this means that you can purchase the lowest memory ipad as you will not be using any space to store your tunes.
Apple (United Kingdom) - iTunes - Explore the new iTunes.

Hope that helps.

The cloud would be good if you could put movies on, but surely anyone with 25k songs, over whelming majority are pirated, do you really want to put all your pirated music on a system that has a vested interest in making pirates go bye bye?
f

I don't have a tablet either, never had a need for one beyond slight convenience laptop for watching stuff in bed.

[lotte]

The cloud would be good if you could put movies on, but surely anyone with 25k songs, over whelming majority are pirated, do you really want to put all your pirated music on a system that has a vested interest in making pirates go bye bye?
f

I don't have a tablet either, never had a need for one beyond slight convenience laptop for watching stuff in bed.

You don't actually upload your music to icloud. Your itunes library gets scanned and any music on there will be matched by Apples own collection and usually at a better quality. As far as Apple are concerned they don't give a rats arse where you get your music from. Just pay them there £20+ a year and they will provide you with unlimited streaming of your own collection to any ios device that you or your family may own. I think it is 10 devices that you can access your collection from.

[dreamylittledream]

Lotte is right in the sense that iPad3 is just around the corner now so holding off on an expensive purchase is probably wise - especially if they have managed to get the rumoured retina screen into the upcoming model.

But as far as tablets go to be honest the iPad remains in a different league to its 'Droid competitors. Android is ugly, fiddly when compared to iOS and to be honest you buy a tablet for the apps and the app store vs the Android equivilent is just a different league.

Probably worth considering what you want a tablet for however. Unless an offer specifically requires the use of a mobile device then a tablet is no substitute for any type of PC for AP (if you really need a mobile AP device get a netbook). If you want a device that plays your video, music, is the ultimate sofa or bed based browser, plays games and just feels 'nice' then its an iPad really - the only Android models that compare technically are similar in cost and offer a far weaker user experience. To my mind there is no comparison between iOS and Android - one just works and the other is an ugly fudge with a piss poor selection of apps. If you are after an e-reader just get a Kindle - all tablets are basically backlit LCD's a good luck doing some heavy duty reading with that in sunlight! On the other hand if you want to read comics - there is no better digital solution...

As far as flash goes, for most browsing now its a non issue. You Tube offer pretty much all their content in HTML5, there is a free iplayer app and as lotte pointed out even Adobe have given up on flash for mobile devices. The Pad has been successful enough to dictate that almost anything that needed flash for the web version has ended up with a HTML5 coded app for the device. Somewhere looking down on us all Steve Jobs is cackling at that one.

You can have a fully functional version of BF on the iPad if you want too - you just need to use a different browser other than Safari (icab is really good and will present itself as Firefox, Chrome or IE to a site to get you the full website and not the mobile version), in fact once you use icab you'll give up on Safari anyway as it offers true tabbed browing without that incredibly irritating reloading thing Safari insists on doing when you switch tabs. Although to be honest I prefer the BF touch interface to the normal site anyway - much cleaner and easier to use (not much good to trade with but if you are attempting to trade with a tablet you are probably certifiable anyway!).

So yes if you want a tablet get an iPad but wait for the next model given its now probably only about 8 weeks away from release...

And itunes match is nice - but watch the bandwidth use if you are on 3G with a download restriction. Also sadly streaming does depend on a steady connection which is a nightmare when you are in motion (train, walking etc etc). FWIW the limited amount of music I have on my pad (I have an iPhone full of music to be fair though) is stored locally.

[muntjack]

I have an Odys Xtreme, which I don't suppose any of you will even have heard of. It's an 8" tablet (yes, people on chat will remember me discussing what an ideal size 8" is - ) I do a LOT of MBing out on the road, and do find it easier than a phone for the following reasons

- less fiddly
- smarkets works better on it (smarks 'hangs' sometimes on my phone. I mean really hangs. We all know it hangs sometimes on computer, but some days I can't place a bet at all on the phone)
- I can access spreadsheets, and I'm busy designing a range for myself which work without macros. Things like laying at multiple odds, and basic 'if' ss.

My little tablet came from Ashenko, and was remarkably similar to this one Ashenko: Products - Android Tablet PC - 8 Inch Samsung Powered Tablet Android 2.3 - in fact, I'm sure it's the same tablet, although this one is unbranded. Two main things spring out of the page

- it costs peanuts
- it has flash (although it doesn't cope well with the complexities of the JPJ site)

I turn my phone into a wi fi spot, and can access tinternet on it anywhere I can get reception on my phone. Plus of course I can use wi fi anywhere that has it.

So, although I agree that a phone does lots of MBing things well, I think for the small amount this costs it's almost silly NOT to buy one! It's also compatible with Kindle, although I haven't worked out how to buy ebooks from Amazon or other suppliers yet (it comes with a library).

[munk]

See this thread:

Recommend me a laptop

it has a lot of useful discussion of tablets on it.

One other thing about Apple - they are rumoured to be releasing a 'mini' iPad at some point in 2012 and the price tag is supposed to be significantly lower than ipad as well to keep in line with the numerous price cuts in the tablet market that are going on at the moment. If you can handle something smaller than a full size 10" tablet then that might be worth waiting for (although apparently the Kindle Fire is supposed to be very good as well).

[DoctorGonzo]

I was chuffed when I won an ipad2 from some Betfair Copa America promo... but after a few weeks I realised I actually had no use for one. It's nice to do some general browsing on while you're watching the TV, but I'm not a sofa & TV person. And as an mb'ing tool I'd definitely stick to an Android device (yes, HTML5 is the future, but most bookies/casinos will be running flash-based apps for a good few years yet).

[sparkyjrox]

But as far as tablets go to be honest the iPad remains in a different league to its 'Droid competitors. Android is ugly, fiddly when compared to iOS and to be honest you buy a tablet for the apps and the app store vs the Android equivilent is just a different league.

That is so not true.