[Q] Is it time for me to buy a tablet?

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TLDR:
Buy now or wait since new stuff is coming out? I want the HTC Flyer stylus functionality, and the dockable keyboard functionality as well!

Hello All,
I'm a general tech junkie who loves to expensive toys and things to tinker with (so using anything Apple is pretty much out of the question). With that said, I'm generally not an early adopter. I hate the feeling of spending $500 on something then seeing something that makes me feel stupid for not waiting 3 - 6 months later.

With that said, I had been holding off on a tablet for a while. Initially I was not planning on purchasing a tablet (in it's current form) at all. When the iPad came out, I honestly thought it was a joke of 9 iPhones Gorilla Glued together and didn't see the point.

Honestly, I still don't see the point for anything else other than using on the couch for general use or using while traveling. Both my wife and I travel (normally not at the same time) with work and carrying 2 laptops can be a real hassle. A tablet (being much lighter) would be great. We could use something to video chat with, and not have restricted internet access (more of an issue with her since I can do anything except look at porn and other obvious "no-nos" at work). Additionally, I don't see the use for a 3G model since most of my use would be while in a hotel or at home, and anytime I need a wireless connection, I can just WiFi Hotspot my phone.

So now I see this model. It looks great. Does everything I'd want, and acts as a laptop when needed! The reviews are great, and this looks like THE tablet to buy... for now.

Today I saw a promo video for the HTC Flyer, and while I would not want to purchase a 7" tablet the integration into the calendar and Ever Note looks flawless (Yes, I am aware this is a promo video and that's what they're supposed to do!).

This promo got me thinking. This tablet with a keyboard accessory is what I was looking for, something with a keyboard that I could use when I wanted a keyboard, and when I just want to play Angry Birds birds on the couch on a bigger screen, or watch a movie on a plane, I can have just the tablet. No tethering required to a keyboard to type a long XDA-Forum post.

Unfortunately, not only do I want my cake, I want to eat it too. Being able to write notes, and potentially have them transcribed to text would be amazing for my line of work. Being able to write notes on documents would be amazing as well. I'm imagining that this isn't functionality that could come to the Transformer since styluses (styli?) don't work on any Android device I've used, so this either has to be hardware, or very custom software that I doubt they'd release.

So I'm a bit torn on what to do. Buy now, or wait for something with all the features I want. HTC does make a large variety of devices, so I have to wonder if they might eventually come out with their own Transformer.

What does everyone think? Buy now, or wait for the plethora of tablets to grow and the technology to normalize a bit before making the investment?

You should check out the new lenovo tablet coming out in june. It has both a stylus for writing and a detachable keyboard.



Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

One big caveat is that the Scribe doesn't transcribe anything. It's basically just screenshots that are taken of whatever screen the user wants to annotate, and then notes can be taken on that.

This is a far cry from what Microsoft's been providing with Windows-based Tablet PC's for years, which treats "ink" as an actual data type that can be manipulated, copy, pasted, transcribed, etc. OneNote remains the best app for taking handwritten notes, with full searching.

I'd be more interested in the Lenovo if it provides that level of functionality, but it would be much more complex than just using a capacitive stylus to draw on the screen. And speaking for myself here, I'm not at all willing to wait until the late summer for it.

So is this something that is hardware or software controlled? The lenovo one sounds very appealing. I'm willing to wait, I just don't want to buy now and feel I should have waited 2 months. If I bought a Xoom, I'd be fuming right now.

Where can I get some info on the Lenovo one?

As for the Scribe, I wouldn't actually buy one on the account of a 7" screen and Froyo. I would really want the stylus features it offers, but it would need to be data, not drawing pictures. Linking this stuff directly to the calendar and Ever Note as well is great as well.

Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

A couple of articles here about the Lenovo tablets here - http://thisismynext.com/ I'm a fan of the Thinkpad laptops so I'm looking forward to this although if I get the asus transformer I can't help but think I may then change it for the samsung tablet or this Lenovo one down the road.

(1) The thing about the samsung tablets (of any size) and the HTC is that (like the xoom) they're all laughingly overpriced.
The xoom is so overpriced that Motorola have sold so few that they have downgraded their economic forecast for the second quarter.

(2) Honeycomb transformer! someone offered me £430 for my used asus, i snatched out of their had so fast i might have broken their fingers
So i knowlonger have one! do i care? no!
If you like widgets wait two months for compatability to kick in.
I'm a huge user of rss news feeds and couldn't find one decent one that worked with honeycomb.
Also Dolphin HD web browser doesn't work, the standard browser is a crap one with tabs and a very very basic bookmarks feature.

I get another transformer when the keyboard is released and when i read of reviews of rss feeds and adw or vtl working properly.

Originally Posted by checkbox111

(1) The thing about the samsung tablets (of any size) and the HTC is that (like the xoom) they're all laughingly overpriced.
The xoom is so overpriced that Motorola have sold so few that they have downgraded their economic forecast for the second quarter.

(2) Honeycomb transformer! someone offered me £430 for my used asus, i snatched out of their had so fast i might have broken their fingers
So i knowlonger have one! do i care? no!
If you like widgets wait two months for compatability to kick in.
I'm a huge user of rss news feeds and couldn't find one decent one that worked with honeycomb.
Also Dolphin HD web browser doesn't work, the standard browser is a crap one with tabs and a very very basic bookmarks feature.

I get another transformer when the keyboard is released and when i read of reviews of rss feeds and adw or vtl working properly.

Yes, the Xoom is very overpriced. The guys in Best Buy were even saying that it's obsolete now because of the newer stuff coming out.

Motorola shot itself in the foot with that device. It's a great piece of hardware, but at $800, I'd rather buy 2 Transformers. Hopefully, the Transformer starts the beginning of a pricing war.

One thing that is important to me is Community Support.

I had a WinMo 6.1 Samsung phone a few years ago. It was an amazing piece of hardware. It had a dial pad on the front of the device, and a slide out keyboard. No other WinMo device had the dial pad on the front. The problem was that unlike the majority of HTC phones that were on multiple carriers, this one was a VZW exclusive, meaning this phone had 0 community support. I bought my Touch Pro 2 about a year or so later, and within a week had a MightyROM on it.

I don't want to buy this and be stuck running stock. I want to see if some of the "indy" devs will hop on and make some amazing ROMs that keep all functionality.

Lack of widgets right now doesn't bother me too much. I expect the amount of apps and widgets available to be smaller right now. The amount of growth Android as a platform has experienced since the OG Droid was launched has been nuts, so I have no doubt that widgets and apps will begin flooding in within 3 - 6 months.

EDIT:
Just checked that link on the Lenovo. I don't want to waste my time waiting for a 10" tablet either with stylus support. If it's not 10", I'm not interested (inb4 "That's what she said!" ).