the tablet war is heating up

[IronWolf]

Are you ready for this folks!

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. is blaming the Ipad for unemployment.

Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. calls out iPad as a job-killer

Uh. Wow!

 

[Janx]

Yes, I understand, but (a) thought folks might be interested in Textastic, depending on their notetaking needs (programmers take notes, too), and (b) I use PlainText for meeting notes all the time, and am switching to Nebulous Notes due to the extra keys and Markdown previews.

I've tried Awesome Note and it's totally not for me -- it feels full of, well, crap. I've come to love the clean, simple aesthetic of most iOS apps.

For client meetings I want to be able to type simple text with super-fast formatting (as with Markdown) and have it available on all of my other platforms instantly, without ever having to consider syncing.

As a programmer, the kind of notes I tend to take are jotting down primary keys, sketching out ERDs, drawing a screen layout.

 

[Fast Learner]

As a programmer, the kind of notes I tend to take are jotting down primary keys, sketching out ERDs, drawing a screen layout.

As a programmer, me too. I also often pull up code to examine and discuss when meeting with other programmers, where code highlighting (and the ability to make a quick change) comes in quite handy.

 

[John Crichton]

Competition is good! Heck I was hoping the Android tablets would come in at a nice low price with lots of features. Seems Apple, despite their reputation for overpriced products came in at a pretty fair price for their iPad. Enough so, that after waiting a good amount of time I finally chose the iPad, albeit a G1, for my tablet. So far I have been quite happy with it!

Same here, although I went with the iPad 2 because I don't think we'll get a comparable unit until later in '11 for Droid. When something does hit I'll pick it up and either sell the one I don't want or give it to my wife if she wants it. Secondary market appears to be very solid right now for tablets.

As a programmer, the kind of notes I tend to take are jotting down primary keys, sketching out ERDs, drawing a screen layout.

I was just asking for a comparison for paid apps. Didn't know I should have been more specific.

 

[IronWolf]

Same here, although I went with the iPad 2 because I don't think we'll get a comparable unit until later in '11 for Droid. When something does hit I'll pick it up and either sell the one I don't want or give it to my wife if she wants it. Secondary market appears to be very solid right now for tablets.

I considered the iPad 2, but got a reasonable price on a new 32GB WiFi only Gen 1. I felt I needed to justify the usefulness of such a device before bumping up into the next cost tier (subjectively formed by me... ).

So far I am quite happy with the purchase and found the device quite useful. I am sure the supposed extra speed of a iPad 2 would be nice, but I don't feel too constrained at the moment.

 

[John Crichton]

I considered the iPad 2, but got a reasonable price on a new 32GB WiFi only Gen 1. I felt I needed to justify the usefulness of such a device before bumping up into the next cost tier (subjectively formed by me... ).

So far I am quite happy with the purchase and found the device quite useful. I am sure the supposed extra speed of a iPad 2 would be nice, but I don't feel too constrained at the moment.

I hear ya on the price, for sure. I nearly went for a cheaper Gen 1 but figure I waited this long, why not have a little treat.

 

[IronWolf]

I hear ya on the price, for sure. I nearly went for a cheaper Gen 1 but figure I waited this long, why not have a little treat.

A good move. Hindsight being 20/20 I know now that I would not have regretted buying a Gen 2 myself. But that's okay - when the time comes to justify an upgrade I am sure Ms. IronWolf or one of the IronPups can get lots of use out of my hand-me-down!

 

[John Crichton]

A good move. Hindsight being 20/20 I know now that I would not have regretted buying a Gen 2 myself. But that's okay - when the time comes to justify an upgrade I am sure Ms. IronWolf or one of the IronPups can get lots of use out of my hand-me-down!

Boo-ya.

I knew that once my wife was mesmerized by the iPad in an Apple Store last year that she'd take one off my hands at some point. It's still possible that she'll claim this one.

Eek!

 

[Banshee16]

What do you like about it compared to other note taking apps?

To be clear.....I'm not qualified to say it's *better*. Just that I have it, and I like it.

I tend to try free versions of stuff, and if I like it enough, I then buy. I use my phone as a personal organizer. What I like about Awesome Note is that I can easily add notes, or use it to add tasks. I can set timelines, reminders, look at a schedule showing relative due dates, assign levels of importance so certain tasks have priorities over other ones, etc. I can set alarms, look at stuff to be done today, tomorrow, this week, etc. Or repeat a task.

Within notes and tasks, I can embed file attachments (ie. if I am working on a proposal, I can embed the related PDF RFP document), as well as images, set backgrounds/wallpapers, etc.

Overall, it does pretty much everything I want. The only thing it *doesn't* do is show me a calendar view similar to a Gant Chart (I think that's what it's called)....ie if a task starts Monday, and is due Thursday, on the weekly calendar, it shows the task as a bar running from Monday through Thursday. That's one thing I wish it would do that it doesn't seem to.

Banshee

 

[Banshee16]

I have one. It's a pretty good tablet. I just personally wish that the android store had a better way of organizing apps so you know which ones are tablet apps. (Only seeing a list of about 50 really bites).

I'm still pretty sure it doesn't have micro SD reader support yet (because Sanjay Jha is the worse CEO ever). But since I haven't filled my original 32gigs yet and tend to use could services (when near wifi) I haven't needed the expansion yet.

That's good to know. I know the iPad 2 had a brighter, more vibrant screen than the Xoom appeared to have...however, that's with the caveat that the demo iPad 2's screen background was a very bright image, whereas the Xoom had a black screen with glowy blue interface......so I can't say it's a fair comparison, without looking at the two devices side by side looking at the same image.

I'm not entirely keen on the iPad 2, which is why the Xoom interested me. I suppose if I was enthralled with my iPhone 4, it would be a foregone conclusion....but I'm not. I went from a Bold 9700 to the iPhone 4, and personally feel that, as a phone and a messaging device (I do *alot* of e-mail for work) I've taken a step down. I don't find it nearly as powerful that way. However, I do find the iPhone 4 to be a superior portable computer.

I get very frustrated every time I find something else I can't do with the device. So, that makes me hesitant to get the iPad2, because I'm concerned I'll spend *more* money, and be just as frustrated.

With the app store, I've read there aren't many apps yet....but that Honeycomb is just getting started. Further, I've read on Amazon and other places, in the reviews, that just because there are only 50 Honeycomb/Xoom apps doesn't mean there are only 50 apps you can put on the device. What I've read is that apps built for the other Android devices work as well.....they're just not optimized.

The iTunes store has a tonne.....but honestly, I might have 50 or so, and I rarely go much over that. There's a *tonne* of duplication.....like a bunch of fart apps, a bunch of apps to stream radio stations, etc. The choice is nice, but I think I have almost everything I could need at this point.

Does typing on tablets ever get easier? At the store, I tried touch typing, and had errors galore, from my fingers accidentally brushing the screen etc.

Banshee