Android tablets?
Dec. 15th, 2010 10:25 amWelcome to the latest installment of "Marcus wants a supercomputer in his pocket for 50p..."
Currently I own two Windows CE PDAs which for one reason or another I'm not making much use of:
An HP Jornada 728 - nice pocket PC with a good keyboard but not a lot of software, and the weird screen resolution (640 x 240) means that that you can't see a lot of text while typing / reading. It's OK for notes but I'm not really using it seriously. WiFi but seriously unreliable, especially when connecting to new networks.
A no-name 5" tablet - works, but I seem to be using it more to play games than anything else. Wifi works much better but a low-res screen makes for eye strain. It's seriously difficult to install software because of weird design decisions, and bottom line, I simply don't like it much.
So I'm thinking in terms of selling both of them and going for something like a 7" Android tablet - yes, I know certain people think a 7" iPad is on the way, but I probably wouldn't be able to afford it.
So - bearing in mind that I probably don't want to use this as a phone, much more as a WiFi web browser / notepad / ebook reader, is this a good idea or is android more trouble than its worth.
What I definitely need
Any thoughts?
Currently I own two Windows CE PDAs which for one reason or another I'm not making much use of:
An HP Jornada 728 - nice pocket PC with a good keyboard but not a lot of software, and the weird screen resolution (640 x 240) means that that you can't see a lot of text while typing / reading. It's OK for notes but I'm not really using it seriously. WiFi but seriously unreliable, especially when connecting to new networks.
A no-name 5" tablet - works, but I seem to be using it more to play games than anything else. Wifi works much better but a low-res screen makes for eye strain. It's seriously difficult to install software because of weird design decisions, and bottom line, I simply don't like it much.
So I'm thinking in terms of selling both of them and going for something like a 7" Android tablet - yes, I know certain people think a 7" iPad is on the way, but I probably wouldn't be able to afford it.
So - bearing in mind that I probably don't want to use this as a phone, much more as a WiFi web browser / notepad / ebook reader, is this a good idea or is android more trouble than its worth.
What I definitely need
- WiFi
- good web browser, preferably with ability to show YouTube etc.
- ebook reader with multiple formats including mobi, pdf, etc.
- word processor with some ability to save files locally (I don't trust clouds)
- A GOOD onscreen keyboard, plus the ability to use a real keyboard.
- Ability to use USB memory sticks
- Reasonable battery life
- A few good games e.g. sudoku, bejewelled, spider solitaire
Any thoughts?