Tablets Tablets Tablets!

[Roland55]

Full disclosure: I have an Android smartphone, an Apple iPod Touch, and an iPad2...and I really dislike the way my smartphone handles certain tasks.

That said, I'm pro-tablet in nearly any form. The size of the screen makes for easy websurfing and reading of PDFs, etc. There are plenty of gaming-specific apps for both Androids and Apple devices, but I generally find my Notes app up to the task of handling my campaign notes and character sheets.

But then again, I'm used to doing all that on a 8'x11.5" notepad, too.

While I have much love for the iPad way, I also have much respect for the Samsung tablets, and acknowledge that they can do some things the iPads cannot do.

One thing I did NOT spend money on with my iPad was having built-in wi-fi. I got a hotspot instead. It's faster than most mobile devices' onboard wi-fi, and I can use it to support multiple devices simultaneously...for only little more than a dataplan for a single device. Plus, once 4G becomes obsolete, all I will need to do is replace the hotspot...

Bottom line: find one with as much memory and speed as you can afford and with a display size and resolution you like.

Well, after thinking for five minutes ... I've really nothing to add.

In addition to the above, I have the iPad 3 -- the screen's resolution is extremely nice.

But ... I really think Danny has said it all. Memory, speed ... 10 inch screen! ... all good.

 

[Umbran]

An interesting and relevant development - Barnes and Noble has just announced a partnership that will allow Nook HD and HD+ (their current line of tablets) access to the Google Play collection of apps. I can understand the desire for a curated collection, but going from 10,000 to 700,000 apps is just too solid a move to pass up, I expect. If this doesn't mean a rise in price for the Nook HD line, this puts them in some pretty solid contention for "best tablet bang for the buck".

 

[sabrinathecat]

I have to use a iPad at work for some things. Hate it.
Absolutely hate it.
Counter-intuitive as hell.
Droid is OK, but honestly, I think they whole micro-computer/super-portable computer thing is highly over-rated.

 

[Radiating Gnome]

I've got a few articles in my Gamehackery column that you might find interesting -- a few about apps, one trying to do a comparison of tablets (ipad/android/windows/amazon), etc.

The samsung tablets are rated very good. IMO the only disadvantage they have at this point is still the problem of having good apps. While it's growning, the android app market is stil primarily focused on phone apps and not tablet apps, and the selection of good gaming apps is better on an ipad for some games (4e D&D especially).

http://www.enworld.org/forum/content.php?772-Geekhackery-Tablet-Specs

http://www.enworld.org/forum/conten...agazines-Apps-and-Getting-Your-Gaming-Content

-rg

 

[Alan Shutko]

I have to use a iPad at work for some things. Hate it.
Absolutely hate it.
Counter-intuitive as hell.

Out of curiosity, what did you find counter-intuitive? I'm a mobile developer, so I'm always interested in people's experiences.

 

[Mallus]

These days, I run both my campaigns --AD&D, Pathfinder-- off of a 3rd generation iPad (32GB), plus a yellow legal pad to jot things down. Works wonderfully. My go-to apps are Goodreader, Evernote, and Dropbox (and a free dice roller called Feudz Dice on my phone).

A tablet is much lighter than a satchel full of hardback books and/or my laptop.

 

[Tharian]

I'm a little late to this party, but to follow up on what [MENTION=177]Umbran[/MENTION] said above about the exansion to the Google Play network for the Nook HD and the Nook HD+, they also just finished up a sale on those devices at B&N that took $90 off the original price. This dropped the 16GB HD+ to under $200. That was too good an offer for me to pass up. I picked one up on Sunday and plan to use the device in much the same way that the OP had described.

I think if I were going for something that had to do a lot mroe, then I would have held out for some beefier hardware, but given what I plan to do with this device (mostly PDF reading that the Nook Gen 1 can't handle cleanly), this will work fantastically. I already have my fiancee using it too.

 

[Garick83]

Anyone gotten a chance to check out the Samsung ATIV, in the 500t or 700t? Windows 8 tablets, with WACOM technology. From my uses, they are amazing, and would be perfect for the light load DM. Check them out and tell me what you think.

 

[sabrinathecat]

Out of curiosity, what did you find counter-intuitive? I'm a mobile developer, so I'm always interested in people's experiences.

A large portion of it is the fact that the touch screen is hyper-sensitive, and there is little to no fine control.
Then, to add an attachment to an email, you have to touch and hold down, hoping that you are in the right place, and then the pop-up shows up, and maybe you hit the correct sub-menu button. Is having a paper-clip icon so difficult?
Then there are all the "helpful" assistants that keep distorting my work.
Oh, and when it thinks I know what I want, and is correct, how do I get the damn thing to actually insert the word it is suggesting? Don't know. Tried everything logical (like tapping on the pop-up), but all it does is move the cursor to the now-wrong place.
New message is a pop-up submenu instead of just a button?
How about labeling buttons and icons so that their function is obvious and/or clear? That also seems to be a problem.
It seems like the system is trying to do too much, without remembering to let the user just work.

And some of the functions... it's like the old joke-of-an-interface about throwing the disk icon into the trash in order to eject it. Who thought that was a good idea?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Oh, and when it thinks I know what I want, and is correct, how do I get the damn thing to actually insert the word it is suggesting? Don't know. Tried everything logical (like tapping on the pop-up), but all it does is move the cursor to the now-wrong place.

Just hit "return". "Spacebar" works, too.