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Aug 17 2011   12:44PM GMT

The Best Tablet Not Always the iPad



Posted by: Jamison Cush
apple ipad, apple ipad 2, honeycomb, ipad, ipad 2, tablet, toshiba thrive

What tablet should I buy? It’s a question I get asked an awful lot by friends, family and readers. The answer always depends on the user’s needs. Do you want something portable? Try a seven-inch tablet. Do they want to take notes on it? Make sure the tablet supports pen input. Is price an issue? Check out some older models, or maybe the ASUS Transformer or HP TouchPad.

Of course, after all the quizzing and conversing, they usually go out and buy an iPad. And while Apple’s tablet is a fine device, it’s not always the best tablet for any given user.

I made that point last week by claiming the iPad is not the best business tablet on the market, despite being the most popular. According to a study by Good Technology, which manages mobile devices for approximately half of the Fortune 100, Apple iPad activations for its customers actually surpassed Android smartphone activations in Q2 2011.

That’s astounding to me, especially considering how little you can do on an iPad out of the box. Without expensive accessories, you can’t load files from a thumbdrive or SD card. The iPad battery is not user replaceable. And the iPad, while well built, is not especially suited for the daily rigors of business use and travel.

Yes, the iPad reinvented the tablet market, and as the most popular device, it continues to define the market. But just because the iPad does, doesn’t mean it does it the best. Ask any artist with experience using a Wacom-powered slate just how “great” the iPad is for his or her needs.

And just because the iPad doesn’t do something, doesn’t mean other tablets don’t either. Take a look at the Thrive and its replaceable battery and full-sized SD and USB inputs.

What kind of tablet should you buy? Again, it depends on your needs. Chances are, there is a tablet out there, iPad or not, that will address them completely.

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Marcelbrown  |   Jan 17, 2012  11:54 PM (GMT)

You base your argument that the iPad is not the best tablet primarily upon the article that you link to. That article states, “As we detailed in our Thrive review, the full-sized USB port, HDMI port, and SD card make it a more productive tablet than the iPad.” They, and by extension you, have a pretty specific definition of “productive”, being that you can plug various other technology into a device without “expensive accessories”.

And thus, we quickly see why so many “techies” have a hard time figuring out why the general public loves their iOS devices: techies think that in order for a device to be “productive”, the device must have specific technology features. The general public knows that being productive means that the device works reliably, is easy to use, and does what they want it to do. Most people could care less about ports. They have found that they don’t have the need to physically connect other things as much as some lead them to believe. If you don’t believe me, the numbers you claim to be astounded by should be the proof. If the general public had such a great need to have ports, then the iPad would not be selling so well, and continue to sell so well, especially to business users.

You state that you are astounded the iPad is selling so well, “considering how little you can do on an iPad out of the box”. I would find your opinion astounding, except for the fact that I have had many conversations like this with techie-types since the iPhone first came out. It simply comes down to the different ways of thinking that the “Old World of Technology” has as compared to the “New World of Technology”. Again, you believe the iPad is limited because you can’t plug things into it right out of the box. Most other people believe the iPad is limitless out of the box because you can so quickly and easily get it working. Right away they are on the App Store downloading from an incredible selection of software that will make them productive without the need for a USB device, an SD card, or an HDMI cable. No other company can match the ease-of-use and user experience that Apple has provided for the iPad (and all iOS devices). This is the secret to Apple’s success and everyone else is struggling to simply copy Apple’s hardware – and still missing the point entirely!. The hardware is not so important when compared to the entire user experience.

And if we want to throw down when it comes to technology features, I could argue that technologies like AirPlay make physical connectivity a thing of the past. Why bother with USB and HDMI when you can wirelessly stream your media? Especially when you can still have that connectivity IF you need it with OPTIONAL accessories (and I don’t agree that a $29 adapter is expensive). No other tablet has a feature that even comes close to the reliability, ease-of-use, and acceptance of AirPlay, so if we want to play the geek card I think Apple still has ‘em beat!