Will the wifi tab kill the market for the NC?

[A.Nonymous]

I'm curious what people think the effect of the Galaxy Tab wifi version is going to have on the Nook Color. It's selling for $350 and seems to have better hardware. At $500, it's not worth paying twice the price and the Nook kicks it's ass just because it's a better value for your money. However at just $100 more you get working BT out of the box, GPS, Touchwiz (boo hiss!!) and a camera (front and rear). That's a difficult price to pass on unless you just don't need any of those things (and I can 100% see why you wouldn't).

Do you think this will have any effect on the NC's little niche market that it's got carved out for it?

 

[PSkeptic]

Yeah, the NC is a lot sleeker... And, with it's complete integration with the B&N Nook book store, it does have some advantages.

I'm not sure I'd need BT on a tablet. I don't think I've ever used it on mine. GPS might be nice, especially in a 7" tab.

The front camera is the most important on a tablet... I'm not sure why tab OEM's are worrying about a rear camera at all.

 

[DoAndroidDream?]

$100 for GPS and a camera.

*shrug*

Personally I do not want either of those things on a tablet. I guess it will come down to personal preference.

 

[colchiro]

GPS, yes.
Camera, no.

 

[Casemantwo]

I just bought a nook yesterday. I was going to root it today but now I am thinking about taking it back and buying the tab. Someone stop me!

 

[colchiro]

stop, Stop, STOP!

Too late....

 

[Casemantwo]

The main thing keeping me to the nook is the extra warranty that I bought.

And that I can't seem to find a local store for the galaxy tab. Let alone warranty.

 

[nj02vette]

There is no perfect "thing", only what may be best for your needs.

What's the perfect car? Is it a high milage econobox or a F350 turbo diesel? How about supercharged 660hp Corvette?

The NC is a great device when ROM'd. It offers many features that competing 7" tablets don't have, most notably a very high quality and high resolution screen. It also lacks some like dedicated menu and back buttons, cameras, gps, or multiple input/output jacks (USB, HDMI).

The Galaxy tab has come down in price, but low res screen kept me away. I am very happy with my NC, but also picked up a Moto Xoom which is also a great device out of the box.

If you want a camera and more connectivity options, then the Samsung may be the better choice. Barring that, then the NC is probably the best overall hardware, hacker friendly, budget option available.

 

[A.Nonymous]

Well, I picked up the Tab yesterday because I wanted the front facing camera. I like my NC better in a lot of ways. The screen is about an inch taller on the NC and the icons on the Tab look very cartoonish. You have to hack the LCD density just to make it look decently and TouchWiz sucks monkey balls IMO. Other launchers are blocked on it so you've got to side load them.

It's a shame that there's no Android tablet that I've seen that can compete with the iPad right out of the box. The Tab just looks cartoonish due to the ridiculous screen density and TouchWiz interface. The NC has it's draw backs due to it not really being intended to be a tablet in the first place. The Xoom is sleek, but still kind of half baked IMO.

Still, overall, once I figure out how to restore all the market links or do it the hard way, I'm sticking with the Tab I think and selling my NC. I need the front facing camera.

 

[maverick777]

Well, I picked up the Tab yesterday because I wanted the front facing camera. I like my NC better in a lot of ways. The screen is about an inch taller on the NC and the icons on the Tab look very cartoonish. You have to hack the LCD density just to make it look decently and TouchWiz sucks monkey balls IMO. Other launchers are blocked on it so you've got to side load them.

It's a shame that there's no Android tablet that I've seen that can compete with the iPad right out of the box. The Tab just looks cartoonish due to the ridiculous screen density and TouchWiz interface. The NC has it's draw backs due to it not really being intended to be a tablet in the first place. The Xoom is sleek, but still kind of half baked IMO.

Still, overall, once I figure out how to restore all the market links or do it the hard way, I'm sticking with the Tab I think and selling my NC. I need the front facing camera.

I'm keeping my NC. I'll get either the Asus Transformer or wait until Tegra 3 tablets come out. I think the Asus transformer coming out makes the Wifi tab obsolete. The only thing the Tab has is price ($50 cheaper), and a more portable size. But I'd rather have Tegra 2, honeycomb, and the optional keyboard/dock. If not, the Galaxy Tab 8.9 is just around the corner.

If the Wifi tab had come out 2 or 3 months ago, it would be relevant, but I think it's a little late at this point.

 

[A.Nonymous]

You can buy a keyboard/dock for the Tab if you wish. Personally, I like the smaller size better.

 

[nj02vette]

Well, I picked up the Tab yesterday because I wanted the front facing camera. I like my NC better in a lot of ways. The screen is about an inch taller on the NC and the icons on the Tab look very cartoonish. You have to hack the LCD density just to make it look decently and TouchWiz sucks monkey balls IMO. Other launchers are blocked on it so you've got to side load them.

It's a shame that there's no Android tablet that I've seen that can compete with the iPad right out of the box. The Tab just looks cartoonish due to the ridiculous screen density and TouchWiz interface. The NC has it's draw backs due to it not really being intended to be a tablet in the first place. The Xoom is sleek, but still kind of half baked IMO.

Still, overall, once I figure out how to restore all the market links or do it the hard way, I'm sticking with the Tab I think and selling my NC. I need the front facing camera.

Ahem.
Xoom is better than the iPad in almost every hardware metric. Better than iPad 2 in most areas as well except for weight and thickness. Half baked? Honeycomb has a few quirks, but blame Google for that, not Moto. Software is getting updated quickly that fixes a few of the issues I've had. Overall, very happy with it.

Why you want to compare $200-300 items to a $500-600 items and complain they're not as good is beyond me.

 

[A.Nonymous]

Ahem.
Xoom is better than the iPad in almost every hardware metric. Better than iPad 2 in most areas as well except for weight and thickness. Half baked? Honeycomb has a few quirks, but blame Google for that, not Moto. Software is getting updated quickly that fixes a few of the issues I've had. Overall, very happy with it.

Why you want to compare $200-300 items to a $500-600 items and complain they're not as good is beyond me.

Hardware wise, you are 100% correct. Still it's got some half-bakedness to it's hardware like the non-working SD slot. WTF is that about? Regardless of the blame for the quirks of Honeycomb, it doesn't get around the fact that it's not up to par with the iPad at the moment.

The NC obviously is not an iPad killer, but that's to be expected since it's not really designed to be a tablet. The Tab has sold for $500 since it came out. At that price it doesn't come close to competing with the iPad. I'm a nerd. I hack build.prop files to make things work right and call it fun. The average user doesn't though. They expect to take something out of the box and have it work.

 

[nj02vette]

Hardware wise, you are 100% correct. Still it's got some half-bakedness to it's hardware like the non-working SD slot. WTF is that about? Regardless of the blame for the quirks of Honeycomb, it doesn't get around the fact that it's not up to par with the iPad at the moment.

The NC obviously is not an iPad killer, but that's to be expected since it's not really designed to be a tablet. The Tab has sold for $500 since it came out. At that price it doesn't come close to competing with the iPad. I'm a nerd. I hack build.prop files to make things work right and call it fun. The average user doesn't though. They expect to take something out of the box and have it work.

I understand that we're not average users and tinker with the OS.

But to say that Android doesn't measure up to iOS isn't fair. iOS is definately more polished, but I haven't had that many issues with Honeycomb. The unactivated SD card is a non issue since i devices don't even have a SD card to compare. Very soon it will be activated and that will be one more feature that iPads don't have. Not that long ago, iOS didn't have cut and paste, MMS messaging or multitasking. Even now, it doesn't have true multitasking.

 

[euph_22]

I understand that we're not average users and tinker with the OS.

But to say that Android doesn't measure up to iOS isn't fair. iOS is definately more polished, but I haven't had that many issues with Honeycomb. The unactivated SD card is a non issue since i devices don't even have a SD card to compare. Very soon it will be activated and that will be one more feature that iPads don't have. Not that long ago, iOS didn't have cut and paste, MMS messaging or multitasking. Even now, it doesn't have true multitasking.

Agreed. iOS may be more polished, but it's less functional.

 

[nj02vette]

Agreed. iOS may be more polished, but it's less functional.

I'm not going to rag on iOS, as it is very polished and what's there generally works very well.

But I do get a little defensive whenever I hear someone make the comment that "if it's not an iPad then it doesn't measure up". If you want an iPad, then go get one. Take all the good and bad that comes with it. If not, then live with all the good and bad that Android tablets have to offer. As of right now, I've not found anything that an iPad2 can do that the Xoom can't, aside from a few tablet specific apps (which will change as Android tablets increase marketshare).

 

[A.Nonymous]

Agreed. iOS may be more polished, but it's less functional.

To be fair, that's really all about how you define functional. If you mean the ability to do pretty much whatever you want, then Android wins that hands down. If you mean, taking it out of the box and having it just work, then iOS is the clear winner.

 

[Spacekungfuman]

I think the Tab is useless for reading (just like the ipad and xoom) because of the high gloss screen. I often sit on the train next to people with tablets, and my nook's screen is so much more readable in daylight that there is just no comparison.

 

[bloodylipp]

if i were to get something now it would be the transformer. $400 for 10in and dual core. mmm. but i bought the nook before i knew it was announced.

 

[DoAndroidDream?]

At this point the Nook does everything I want it too. I can't imagine getting something else unless they start making a bunch of tablet only apps that won't run on it for some reason.