I like these guys, and not just because they’ve got a load of cool tech to play with! Shanzai.com appear to have some good contacts in the trade and a lot of experience with the market over there in the East. I’m almost in agreement with them on the ideal tablet size too. You may have a different opinion but check their article and video below before you make a decision.
A Look at the Tablet Spectrum with Shanzai.com
Posted on 25 November 2010, Last updated on 25 November 2010 by Steve Paine
how well does Android & 3rd party apps handle 4:3?
Great video breaking down the different categories of tablets.
I had a play with an Ipad, and a Galaxy tab. The Ipad is wonderful to use as a web browser, using fingers to scroll, pan and zoom is fantastic after years of keyboards and mice. It is also really quite heavy, you wouldn’t want to hold it for too long in just your hands. If you were using it from your arm chair, pretty soon you would have to find a way to prop it up on something. Also, in portrait mode, the keyboard is at the bottom so if you try to hold it in two hands and type, the weight is massively offset above your hands. The Galaxy tab is suprisingly good, this tablet works well when held in landscape, which maximises the text font size and is still quite readable without zooming. It zooms in with finger pinching equally as fluid as the Ipad as far as I could tell. The fact that it is so easy to scroll up and down as well means you really don’t feel you are missing the top or bottom of the web page in what should be a significantly smaller view area. What put me off the Galaxy tab was the difficulty in entering and editing text. I just couldn’t find a way to delete text, the back key didn’t seem to work. Oh and I had to repeatedly reject an option box for the swype keyboard which was really annoying. Next time I am in the shop will try to get one of the ‘child’ floor walkers to see if they can operate it better otherwise the Galaxy is too fiddly for me. An 8″ screen on an Apple Ipad would be the best yet. Then just the small matter of the ridiculous price of either. Advent Vega anyone?.
I’ve tried both an iPad and the Galazy Tab. both are very well designed and built. the iPad gave me the impression of being a bit more polished with smoother UI but this device becomes difficult to hold in one’s hands for any length of time. I’d feel uneasy to bring it “naked” in the car. On the other hand, the Tab was easy to hold in one hand and was a whole lot easier to carry around; it fitted comfortably in the inside pocket of my windbreaker and it was barely heavy enough to remind me it was there. For my needs, the 7″ 16:9 aspect ratio of the Tab is the ideal size to carry around while providing enough of a screen area to be a decent ebook reader, browser and personal movie viewer – and I suspect would make a great GPS navigation unit and with its big battery, a nearly inexhaustible mp3 player.