The Tech & Musing Christmas Guide: Tablets

The second in the Tech & Musing Christmas Guide takes a look at the tablets on the market. Despite another year of iPad dominance in the tablet sector, the three recommendations below offer plenty of variety in the operating system stakes. See what you think:

Low range: Nexus 7

One of my favourite products from 2012 makes another appearance in the 2013 list. Given its price, and ability, I still believe it is the best choice for the everyday user wanting a tablet for the basics. It's direct competitor - the iPad Mini - has a poorer resolution, less power and a poorer battery life - all for a significant chunk more money. It's no contest. I maintain that if you're in the market for an iPad - just splash out a little more on the iPad 2 (below).
      Anyway, back to the Nexus 7. 2GB RAM, an HD screen and 9 hours of video playback, for that price, it's a no-brainer of a purchase. If you're looking for something a little cheaper, a little smaller - but even if you've got the scope to spend higher, don't ignore the Nexus 7, by any means. Oh - did I mention wireless charging? Yeh, it has that as it's cherry on top. 

Mid range: iPad 2

It was always going to be on my list, but the iPad is still the king of tablets. Android simply isn't offering the alternative challenge to the iPad, and if you want anything larger than a 7" tablet, the iPad is the best route to go. Now, with the huge number of iPad's available (and with barely discernible names), which should you buy?

     The one on your lips might be Apple's attempted Christmas smash - the iPad Air - but despite an inspiring ad, it's a thoroughly uninspiring product. Your money would be best-placed by spending it on the iPad 2. It's still a top-quality device and you save a significant amount by picking up a slightly older version.

Top range: Surface Pro 2

Perhaps a surprise addition on this list, the Surface Pro 2 is my 'money is no object' recommendation for a tablet this Christmas. At an eye-watering price of £800, it certainly won't be the tablet of choice for many, but it's the only competitive tablet on the market that can function as a laptop as well. The original Surface had its problems, but was an impressive device - the Surface Pro 2 rectifies those issues, and adds a whole lot more. Don't despair if you want a Surface but not at the Pro 2 price, you can pick up the original Surface, or Surface 2 for half the amount.

If you haven't tried a Surface, I would. It's a solid device, and one that is enjoyable and importantly, useful. If you want that tablet-laptop hybrid, the Surface 2 is your best option.

So, what do you think? Have I missed anything off the list? As always, if you're interested on other tablets, get in touch.
Keep an eye on the blog for the next in the Tech & Musing Christmas Guide - laptops.

The iPad Mini and Apple's other surprises

(Anyone think it looks a lot like the Galaxy Note? Also - these slogans are getting ridiculously bad)

A friend of mine (and big Apple fan) said - before the launch - that he believed the iPad Mini was pointless. I didn't agree. I believe a 7" tablet does hold a practical and financial benefit to a consumer and Apple offering a cheaper alternative to the iPad for consumers is the right move. If you've got an iPad you don't need the Mini but for many, the iPad Mini should be the affordable option. However - £269 at the cheapest end!? What were they thinking? Many consumers were waiting around for the iPad Mini before buying the Nexus 7 and I would assume that they had expected a more competitively priced option - perhaps up to £200. It smells of Apple just grinding out another £70 because of the label. In my opinion consumers willing to spend £269 should seriously consider go the whole way and just buy an old iPad 2/3. It seems the investors agree. Kevin Cook from Yahoo Finance summarised

"But when the slide of pricing schemes for the iPad Mini were shown, the stock dropped hard and fast, trading from above $629 down to $622 in only 3 minutes on over 800,000 shares."

What is good is that we now have a direct comparison and competition to the Nexus 7 which I said we needed before it could be judged properly.

(Source: http://ow.ly/eIR8d)

So the Google Nexus 7 has more power, an HD screen and a quad-core processor - all for cheaper. Okay, the iPad Mini has a bigger screen, offers more storage (at about £100 quid an upgrade) and is a bit lighter but still; is that worth the hike in cost? That's up to you to decide I guess.
     We all know it'll sell, and it'll sell well, but, in a straight up comparison with the Nexus 7 - it loses in my opinion.

Anyway what else did Apple announce? Controversially Apple have unveiled a new 4th gen. iPad which also ceases all production of 'the new iPad' which was just 6 months old. This has angered many consumers who, after investing a lot of money, have now seen a newer model soon after their purchase. Now with any other company this wouldn't necessarily be seen as controversial but because of Apple's 18 month 'cycle' this is peculiar. So what does the iPad 4 boast? Apple is shouting about the new iPad having retina display...even though the iPad 3 did as well... The processor is apparently twice as fast without affecting battery-life, 4G is now for everyone and the cameras have improved. All round, good improvements.

Apple also announced an impressive new 13" MacBook Pro (good specs but for a whopping price) and a beautiful new iMac (it really is beautiful):

Lots of excitement! Next up Microsoft take the stage on Friday....


As always, thoughts and criticisms encouraged! If you enjoyed my blog or want to follow for more debates, please do so! 

Microsoft Surface: How good can it be?

Microsoft have just released the pricing for their iPad competitor - 'Surface' and it makes good, but not great, reading for consumers. For around 399 quid users can pick up a keyboard-less Surface tablet (available for another 60-odd quid) which boasts a 32GB hard-drive, and 2GB memory - both are double that of the new iPad and for cheaper. A 64GB model is also available for another 60-70 quid.

But is it worth it? The tablet itself is powerful, durable and the OS will adapt well for use on a tablet. Microsoft have clearly looked at the tablet market and tried to place the Surface directly between a smartphone and a desktop - almost to the point of it functioning like a laptop. In fact, much of the Surface speaks 'a new laptop'. The screen is 10.6" corner to corner but the resolution is basic. The Surface has a USB port, can host external hard-drives and can charge your phone! It is also compatible with everyday-use items such as printers etc. The little built in kick-stand is a great, practical addition. In fact, much of the Microsoft Surface screams practicality.
      This brings me onto the cover - that doubles as a keyboard. Now I brought a foldable keyboard for my netbook a while back and it was just a nightmare to use but I will reserve judgement on the Surface keyboard-cover until I can have a go. If it can match the responsiveness of the keyboard on my Motorola Xoom then it should be pretty good!

(That is the head of Windows using the Surface RT as a skateboard... Yeh...pretty strong!)

Pre-orders in the US for the $499 model have sold out - but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. We need to wait until the launch of the Surface on the 26th October before we can see how the Surface is selling - and indeed how well it can be used on a day-to-day basis. What is important to note is that Microsoft are going for this. They are ambitious - apparently trying to build 5 million of the Surface before the end of the year... That is ambition, especially with Apple releasing the iPad Mini soon.

Simply, the success of Microsoft Surface rests largely on the consumer adoption of Windows 8. As I've blogged already - I think this will be a slow but steady process and it may surprise a few with adoption rates but it wont be overnight. If Microsoft can encourage more consumers to upgrade and test out Windows 8 then all devices running the similar operating systems will benefit because the familiarity with the OS will allow more consumers to take the plunge into Windows phones and, the Surface. 

     This is where I think Microsoft have done fairly well. I will certainly be upgrading my new Asus X501a (along with doubling the RAM to 8GB!! :) ) as soon as possible mostly for intrigue but this is helped because of the offer to upgrade new Windows 7 computers for £15 is too good to miss. However I would completely understand many with older Windows 7 cpus not bothering spending the 25 quid as Windows 7 is a very good OS anyway. I believe that £25 may be pushing it for many people who don't want to bother with the hassle. Anyone running anything older than Win7 should definitely look at upgrading, especially if you're running Vista. 

If Microsoft could have offered an even wider, cheaper upgrade to Windows 8 then, although they would take an initial hit, they, and the Windows 8 platform, would be benefiting in many other ways. Give everyone the option to upgrade for 10 quid and most would go with 'yeh, why not'. That would certainly rapidly help the much needed adoption of the Windows OS on mobile devices such as the Surface.

(The Surface advert - "The Surface Movement")

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