Wednesday, February 8, 2012

I got a Tablet and I Like It

After a lot of thought (money is tight), borrowing iPads and tablets from friends for test drives and hunting for deals, I finally took the plunge.

In order of importance, my "needs" were: (i) everywhere access to an ever growing collecttion of technical reports/papers in PDF format; (ii) internet browsing with high portability; (iii) access to games/simms manuals while playing such games/sims and (iv) ebooks and other assorted niceties a tablet/iPad could offer.

The iPad is the undisputed darling of the market. Surprisingly, the android tablet I got outperforms it for reading the huge pdfs I use everyday. But that will not impress you, I reckon. The DCS A-10/Ka-50 flight Sims manuals (very large and graphics intensive) are rendered faster in my android tablet than in my neighbors iPad2. Also, the android tablet's storage can be expanded through a microSD card.

For internet browsing, I preferred the iPad. Its shape and weight are a work of art. My android tablet is a bit heavy to hold for long periods of time.

E-books are not a priority for me right now and you can read them with cheaper alternatives. A gadget that I will miss by not getting an Ipad is that wonderful app that connects to the DCS-A-10 ( http://www.ipadpit.nl/).

Anyway, the winner was the Acer Iconia A200 ( http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/series/iconia-tab-a/iconiataba200/), an entry level tablet powered by the Android Honeycomb OS. Got it at my local Microcenter at a nice discount ($300.00). Powerful, not too fancy and is helping me with work and leisure.

Cheers,

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