Does anyone has any experience with tablet PC's?

[coldvvvave]

Does anyone have any experience with tablet PC's?

Lately I had some thoughts about buying a Tablet PC. After reading some internets on a subject I still have no clue what to buy. There are THOUSANDS of those Tablets and reports/reviews/user reviews are incredibly conflicting. So, I'm asking for help.

What I need:

0. Something that is Not Apple
1. 300 - 700$ price range
2. 3G included
3. screen about 10"
4. Android 3.x OS or something else as long as it's compatible with RDP client or it's analogue for remote PC access
5. OPTIONAL: quality sound in headphones.

I managed to narrow my list down to:

1. ASUS Eee Pad Transformer TF101G
2. Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
3. Sony Tablet S

I have no idea how to choose now. Help, please.

[Kamikaze-X]

I've been rocking a HTC flyer since christmas when I got it for a steal @ £200.

Its a great little tablet, but just wish it was faster, and I really had my heart set on the Transformer. Of all the tablets out there it really is the best, and Asus give grat customer service. The Dock is also a great addition. I would love to get myself a TF-Prime, but alas, its a bit out of my price range.

Regarding sound quality with headphones, as long as you have a decent set of cans, and use something like PlayerPro with the added DSP pack, then most tablets will sound great, if not amazing. I'm using my Denons into my Galaxy S2 with the above, and with flac files the audio quality is fantastic, to the point that I prefer listening to music on my phone than with speakers.

[Lazy Writer]

Samsung has slowly profiled themselves as the number one "not an apple" company in tablets as well as Android smartphones. I've been using their Tab 10.1 model myself since it was released in Europe and I'm content.
Accessories are readily available, such as the bluetooth keyboard case and hdmi adapter, it supports DLNA if you're interested in that and, what is the most important for me, the battery lasts a lot longer than in competitors' tablets. They're also being updated with the Android 4.0 - slowly. So that's good.

If you're not in a hurry I'd advise you to wait for a bit for the next generation Samsung Tab 2; it comes with microSD option (32GB max) which the current generation devices lack (bad Samsung, very bad!), voice-call functionality as well as GLONASS tracking. Oh, and they're Android 4.0 straight out of box.

As Kamikaze-X said, most smartphones and tablets are capable of playing high fidelity audio. The problem is hooking them into a suitable pair of cans and the like.

[Bhazor]

What are you going to be using it for? It might help to sort by priority.

What it's most important function (typing, games, Skyping)?
What it's secondary function?
What won't you be using for?

[baboonanza]

I have an original spec TF101 now updated to run Ice Cream Sandwich and it's a nice device. I would personally say don't get anything without ICS (so android 4+) as it's a major improvement both in performance and stability. I found the browser in 3.2 to be hugely unstable whereas now it's almost perfect.

You mention RDP. I have tried RDPing with a tablet and it's a major pain in the arse because interfaces designed with a mouse in mind just have too small hit-detection areas, plus you have problems like double-clicking and right-clicking. If that is your main usage then you want a device with either a trackpad or a mouse. Even a stylus would be better.

[alms]

Hmmm I think some tablets allow you to plug in USB devices like mice and keyoard though, right? Not exactly the end-all be-all solution to remote controlling devices but better than nothing.

[Kamikaze-X]

ICS natively supports mice and keyboards.

[alms]

Looks like price wars might begin eventually. Looking forward to the cheap Tegra 3 tablets that have been promised by Asus.

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/...gressively.ars

[coldvvvave]

Thank you guys. In the end, I bought Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 p7500 and I'm pretty happy with it.

Lo
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/...gressively.ars

Both tablets are WiFi-only

What? Why?

[alms]

Probably to keep costs down. Oh BTW the new Asus Pad 300 (tegra 3) has appeared on Amazon.

[Neil]

I've currently got the Asus Transformer Prime with the keyboard dock. It so handy have the keyboard and it has a usb and sd card slot. The battery life is great too, the keyboard battery charges the tablet when it starts to drop. Good for browsing etc when you don't want to power up your desktop beast.

[roryok]

I'm saving for an ideapad yoga - its a laptop with a screen that hinges through 360 degrees to turn it into a tablet. It's also a great spec machine. Core i5 /i7 and 8GB RAM, running Windows 8

[verticuous]

If you're looking for Windows, there's the Samsung Series 7 Slate 700T that Microsoft used to demonstrate Windows 8 with (and sent off to developers as well).

I don't personally have that but my friend does and it seems fine, and it looks like it'll be compatible with Windows 8 if you're into that.