1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

Apple Ipad 2 or Asus Epc (or Similar netbook)

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by slackda, 16 Aug 2011.

  1. adam_bagpuss

    adam_bagpuss Have you tried turning it off/on ?

    Joined:
    24 Apr 2009
    Posts:
    4,282
    Likes Received:
    159
    yeah i used to setup customer ipads with our surveillance app or sonos and i hated typing on it altohugh its better than a smart phone i still prefer a keyboard as i find it a chore to really type anything
     
  2. Jasio

    Jasio Made in Canada

    Joined:
    27 Jun 2008
    Posts:
    810
    Likes Received:
    13
    Asus Transformer > iPad 2 anyday.

    It's quite simple:
    16GB iPad 2 non-3G => $519.00
    16GB Asus Transfer WITH keyboard dock => $499.00

    1. Does the iPad 2 have a physical dockable keyboard?
    No.

    2. Can the iPad have a physical dockable keyboard?
    Yes, for $69. So the iPad 2 16GB with keyboard is now $590.00

    3. Does the iPad's keyboard have a built-in 8 hour battery to prolong your tablets life to 16 hours?
    No.

    4. Does the Asus Transformer have an extra 8 hour battery in its keyboard?
    Yes.

    5. Does the iPad 2 have 2 USB ports or an SD/microSD slot to plug in your camera/mouse/peripheral/memory?
    No. The camera connector kit is $40 and limited ONLY to cameras/SD card.

    Does the Asus Transformer have 2 USB ports?
    Yeap - and a full-size SD card slot, and a micro-SD slot.

    6. Does the iPad 2 have 720p/1080p output via a built-in HDMI output?
    No. Once again, lets go spend more money on useless accessories we have to carry around! :clap:

    7. Does the Asus have 720p/1080p output via HDMI?
    Yeap- standard non-proprietary miniHDMI port.

    8. Can I expand my iPad 2's storage?
    Nope. Dream on. But you can spend $720 on a 64GB model.

    9. Can I expand my Asus Transformers storage?
    Sure. I bought a 32GB microSD card for $30- that puts me at 48GB of storage.

    10. Do I have to carry around a lot of crap with my iPad 2?
    Yeap- apparently if you want to MATCH the functionality of an Asus Transformer you better bring a backpack- or put the money towards a laptop.

    11. Does the iPad have an offline GPS?
    Nope. The Asus has a GPS receiver and there are several free Android apps that extract/save Google/MapQuest maps and load them onto your internal memory for offline use. I believe there are Garmin and TomTom apps for Apple but they cost in-excessive of $50? More money spent once again.

    12. Does the iPad have Flash?
    Nah. But Android does! \o/

    Realistically the Asus is a better product/piece of hardware.

    From a software perspective? It really depends on what you are looking for. Android provides a more "desktop-like" feel and as a result I think its far superior to the overly basic interface Apple offers its users. I like the idea of moving my icons around, having a working mouse (trackpad) when I dock my keyboard and the entire package (keyboard/tablet) looks very sleek when combined. It weights 1.8lbs with the keyboard and is only about 24mm thick. It has all the expansion slots I want and the HDMI output is very useful for presentations and showing off pictures/videos on the go.

    Is the iPad 2 bad? No- it's a perfectly fine product for the right type of user. But lets not beat around the bush- it does not offer nearly as much flexibility because Apple wants you to buy their proprietary peripherals at any cost. When you start adding up all the extra things you want to buy then it doesn't make sense- get a laptop instead.

    If you want a straight forward portable netbook-like device that has a decent office suite, keyboard, long-lasting battery, lots of expansion/peripherals (for a device of its type) then the Asus is simply better than Apple. And cheaper too.

    My uncle is a huge Apple fan- he has 3 iPad's (1 x 1st Gen, 2 x 2nd Gen) while I have 2 Asus Transformers (2 x 16GB w/ keyboard). While from an aesthetic point of view the Apple is sleeker and thinner- he also went and spent $60 on accessories before his trip to Europe in order to backup/copy pictures from his camera to his iPad 2. He also went for the 64GB model (no 3G) and as a result spend $720 PLUS accessories. I spent $530 (including 32GB microSD). The numbers just don't add up with Apple.

    Apps? Well Apple has what.... 10 million? Of those a smaller fraction are "designed" for the iPad while others scale. Android has the same issue but I believe they have around 300,000 apps. But ask yourself this: Do you plan to install 300,000 let alone 10,000,000 apps on your device? No. You will install all the most common apps that both platforms equally offer just like 99% of tablet users.

    If you just want a small portable device to: Browse, read email, write email, Skype, type some short letters/documents- then get the Asus Transformer. If you plan to do more? Get a laptop.
     
  3. slackda

    slackda Is aiming for a Headshot!

    Joined:
    23 Aug 2010
    Posts:
    269
    Likes Received:
    3
    Well, Thanks for the input guys, i personally like the Transformer do they offer a 3g version??

    I guess having a play is the deal breaker.....grrr pc world it is.....

    Benefit of taking a Ipad i suppose is can get one on contract and end up paying £600 extra over its 2year life span.....looking at the resell values on the Ipad 1 at least its going to hold steady on its value over that time....

    oh and if money was no object it would be a mac book hands down....they are just gorgeous!
     
  4. wyx087

    wyx087 Homeworld 3 is happening!!

    Joined:
    15 Aug 2007
    Posts:
    11,987
    Likes Received:
    706
    i have bought: camera connection adaptor: £5, a stand: £2. Apple products have the fortune of getting cheap knock off accessories, good luck with less popular brand.

    there are over 100,000 apps designed for ipad. how many are there on android? where's android tablet version of Plants vs Zombies? where is android tablet version of tesco shopping? where's android tablet version of flipboard? here's a tip, don't compare app stores when it comes to trying to down play iOS devices. :nono:


    have a play is certainly the best option. even if you've used android phones, android tablet experience is completely different. so see which one you get on best.
     
  5. fdbh96

    fdbh96 What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    29 May 2011
    Posts:
    1,894
    Likes Received:
    33
    How come pretty much every review say that the iPad 2 is the best tablet out at the moment?
     
  6. samkiller42

    samkiller42 For i AM Cheesecake!!

    Joined:
    25 Apr 2006
    Posts:
    6,789
    Likes Received:
    518
    What's an Ipad? Never heard of one of those.

    I've owned the original iPad, it was great, for about 2 months, and the novelty wore off, If i was to buy another Tablet, it would probably be the Asus, Although, i'm waiting to see what HTC brings to the table with it's 10.1" offering.

    Sam
     
  7. Ph4ZeD

    Ph4ZeD What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    22 Jul 2009
    Posts:
    3,806
    Likes Received:
    143
    You can argue about tablets until the cows come home, but the fact is the iPad has a far far superior app store. Give it a year and Android tablets will be there.
     
  8. Durd

    Durd Minimodder

    Joined:
    16 Aug 2011
    Posts:
    149
    Likes Received:
    2
    Some people choose grammar over marketing...:rolleyes:
     
  9. fdbh96

    fdbh96 What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    29 May 2011
    Posts:
    1,894
    Likes Received:
    33
    I'm looking at buying a tablet and would you say it is better to invest in android now (asus) rather than get the better tablet atm (iPad 2)
     
  10. Ph4ZeD

    Ph4ZeD What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    22 Jul 2009
    Posts:
    3,806
    Likes Received:
    143
    I would say no. The reason is that tablets are advancing very quickly so theres no point in "investing" now. In a year, the playing field will be more level, tablets will be faster, more capable, and cheaper. There will be an iPad 3, next generation Samsung and other tablets.
     
  11. Cei

    Cei pew pew pew

    Joined:
    22 Mar 2008
    Posts:
    4,714
    Likes Received:
    122
    Eh? By all reports, the 11" actually has a better screen in terms of viewing angles and colour. The 11" also has 4GB of RAM on the upper model, and the same CPUs/SSDs.

    There's no need to sell me an MBA, I have one, but the 11" is a far more realistic comparison to a tablet, despite the advantages of the 13".
     
  12. telephonebox

    telephonebox What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    7 Aug 2011
    Posts:
    20
    Likes Received:
    0
  13. fdbh96

    fdbh96 What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    29 May 2011
    Posts:
    1,894
    Likes Received:
    33
  14. jrs77

    jrs77 Modder

    Joined:
    17 Feb 2006
    Posts:
    3,483
    Likes Received:
    103
    Viewing angles are of no interest with a netbook-size device. You'll allways look straight at the display and not from an angle.

    And the reports you're reading, well... I don't give a s* about reports, I'm heading to the Apple Store with a USB-stick with an array of testpages loaded -> http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/
    And seriously, you don't do print-proofing with a MacBookAir anyways, so the screen is decent enough and better then basically any other 11-13" notebook s currently available.

    Yes, you can upgrade the 11" MBA, but that makes it more expensive then the entry-level 13" version, and I'm much more in favour of the bigger screen in that case. Also batterylife of the 13" is 10-20% better then the 11".

    Sure it's down to personal preference, but I', using the MBA 13" as an replacement for my older 2008 15" MBP. I don't use it as a netbook but as a full notebook-replacement, now that it has enough horsepower to run most of my usual software (Adobe CS3 first and foremost).
     
  15. telephonebox

    telephonebox What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    7 Aug 2011
    Posts:
    20
    Likes Received:
    0
    i meant similar in the sense of the transition of iphone 4 to galaxy s 2 - Its all been resolved now the tabs are going on sale
     
  16. Jasio

    Jasio Made in Canada

    Joined:
    27 Jun 2008
    Posts:
    810
    Likes Received:
    13
    How come you cant' do half the things I can, without spending money on accessories?

    What I see here is:
    - You paid money for a camera connector. I didn't.
    - You have to pay for a keyboard. I don't.
    - You have to buy cheap knock-offs. I don't- Asus already included everything.
    - You have to keep spending money to catch up with what I can do out of the box.

    As for apps? Great- you have 100,000. I use 16. Your argument is now dead. Congrats. Why would I care about 100 different fart applications? Have you bothered to even check your amazing selection of 100,000 apps? Most of them are stupid. The same goes for Android, there's more crap on both stores.

    Playing down the App Store is easy. You're tied to iTunes; I'm not. That's enough reason for me to never touch the App Store. My music is in FLAC- iTunes won't support it. I can remotely install any application to my Android tablet or phone using a web browser- no cables, or software required- you can't. Apart from selection there is nothing good about iTunes. Oh right- your device is tied to one PC, mine isn't.

    If the App Store is all that Apple users have to defend their tablet then it's a losing battle.

    Oh- and with all the money I saved versus the iPad I went and bought some camera equipment I needed :thumb:
     
  17. fdbh96

    fdbh96 What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    29 May 2011
    Posts:
    1,894
    Likes Received:
    33
    They can't ALL be wrong!
     
  18. sandys

    sandys Multimodder

    Joined:
    26 Mar 2006
    Posts:
    4,919
    Likes Received:
    724
    Despite poor performance of Atom etc

    netbook > tablet

    Try explaining to your missus why certain clothes shops won't display properly because of unsupported plugins, they don't get it and it's your fault for making them buy a gadget you are interested in.

    Netbook will play all pages on the web, it will work much like her last machine so zero learning curve, a Llano, Atom or core i3 with cope with dozens of facebook pages, shopping pages, webmail pages without croaking much, tablet not so much.

    Speak from bitter experience, good for me, not for her.

    new macbook air would be tidy even the 11", bit much for me though, I bought a 11.6 core i3 netbook. £320, job done, though that Intel runs a bit warm could of saved some dough and got the e350 variant which runs cooler, don't really need that much grunt.
     
    Last edited: 16 Aug 2011
    slackda likes this.
  19. wyx087

    wyx087 Homeworld 3 is happening!!

    Joined:
    15 Aug 2007
    Posts:
    11,987
    Likes Received:
    706
    what can you do out of the box? anything it can do, ipad can do it better with more intuitive interface. go on, list anything ipad can't do.
    -photo transfer, check
    -stream to TV, wireless check
    -Flash, jailbreak tweak check (although apart from Zero Punctuation, all sites were able to play video i wanted)
    accessory is no different to charger or that keyboard dock of yours.

    have you looked at the app store lately? there are way more quality ipad apps than total number of android tablet compatible apps. fart apps were only a small blip in the overall impressive catalogue. there are over 100 apps on my ipad 2, and i try more every week. i'd have probably exhausted android tablet store within first month!

    have to admit, jailbreak is pretty much required on apple iOS. Cydia is the only reason i'd buy an apple iOS device to be honest.
    (second reason being natural smooth interface)

    open your eyes. stop criticising. learn the possibilities first. (same with those nay sayers for NAS boxes, but that's another thread)


    i played with Transformer, Xoom and a few other tablets before buying iPad 2. none of them feel as intuitive to use as iOS. back button doesn't always do the same, app switcher can't quit apps, whole interface feels clunky, more like windows 95 rather than windows 7. none of those tablet feel better to use than ipad 1, let alone the speedy 2.
     
  20. Blackmoon181

    Blackmoon181 Geography,Its not just colouring in

    Joined:
    23 Nov 2008
    Posts:
    154
    Likes Received:
    3
    are we perhaps missing the point here ?
     

Share This Page