[kwlug-disc] Tablet shopping

[Chris Irwin]

On 09/27/2014 04:49 PM, William Park wrote:
> I have Nexus 7 (Asus/Google), and I can't do any work on it, especially
> email/web.
>
>      - I spend all my time adjusting zoom, scrolling, tap/hold,
>        tap/scroll, etc.  Things that I do with one key or one mouse click
>        on desktop, tablet requires multiple interactions.
I'll second this. I found the Nexus 7 to be too small, and I usually 
just used my phone for everything instead. If I'm going to squint and 
zoom on a small device, I might as well do it with the 5-inch device in 
my pocket, instead of going to the other room to get the 7-inch tablet.

I ended up selling it and buying a 10 inch Xperia Tablet Z -- Sony 
allows bootloader unlocking on this device, and puts all their kernel 
sources on github. It's pretty well supported by Cyanogenmod. That said, 
their stock rom was actually quite tolerable.

I found with the 10-inch screen, I don't need to zoom and pan nearly as 
often as with the 7-inch. Only real issues are some websites that render 
funky versions on mobile browsers -- I can't remember which, but there's 
a particular news site out there that will only put one word per line. 
Why they don't send their perfectly usable "desktop" site, I dunno.

>      - I had to get a case, screen protector, and stand.
I don't use cases or screen protectors on any of my devices. I did buy 
the curiously expensive charging dock, which is effectively a stand. 
Though I just wanted to charge the device without breaking open the 
water-resistant seals (eventually they'd break).

>      - If it accepts external USB keyboard/mouse, then I could probably
>        use it as 7" all-in-one.  But, it doesn't.  I thought about
>        getting bluetooth keyboard/mouse, then, I gave up.
>
> If laptop has a builtin stand, then that would be great.  I've seen Sony
> laptop with foldable stand at the back, but it was pricy.
I use my tablet purely as a consumption device: news, blogs, social 
media, youtube/netflix/chromecast, etc. I don't even try to do serious 
work on "mobile" devices, so I'm not bothering to look at keyboards or 
mice for them.

That said, I did recommend the Asus Transformer (the Android one, not 
the Windows 8 one) to my parents. They really just wanted a 90% 
consumption device (tablet), with the ability to type longer emails now 
and then, and more battery life when travelling.

-- 
Chris Irwin
e: <chris at chrisirwin.ca>
w: http://chrisirwin.ca