Surface, new iPad or Android tablet?

True_Scotsman

True_Scotsman

True_Scotsman

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So now the price is known for the Surface RT tablets, whats going to be the best option for a tablet?

Looking to buy one soon and not sure on what to go for.
 
What to go for depends on what you want it do.
Make a list of everything you want to be able to do and then compare the 3 and see which tablet is closest to what you want...
 
As well as working out what's best based on what you want to do, it's also worthwhile considering if you're already tied into an ecosystem or starting from scratch. I.e. if you've paid for Apple or Android apps/content already and how well your existing devices play together i.e sharing files etc.
 
What's the Windows ecosystem like? That's one of the worries I have about going with the surface.

Can you run executable files on the surface?
 
arctine said:
What's the Windows ecosystem like? That's one of the worries I have about going with the surface.

Can you run executable files on the surface?
Click to expand...

x86 / x 64 will only run on a Surface Pro. All Windows 8 applications will run on Surface.
 
Yeah I've just been looking at some videos of it.

It's certainly very impressive! It's effectively a laptop with a nice touch UI, no?

I like the look of this!
 
arctine said:
What's the Windows ecosystem like? That's one of the worries I have about going with the surface.

Can you run executable files on the surface?
Click to expand...

It's new and unreleased, so not many of high quality just yet. I'd expect they'll be holding stuff back for the actual release next week though.

With Windows 8 apps, I think there'll be apps that cover off most day to day tasks very quickly, if not already - obviously some will be better than others.

I think the bespoke apps for say shops, newspapers, iplayer, SkyGo and that sort of thing might be much slower as they won't develop them until they know it's worthwhile and there's a demand for them.

If that's going to be a problem, then my gut feel is that it will be well into next year before we know if it's going to be supported in a big way.
 
I'll probably wait for some reviews on Surface first.

On the other hand, I heard the Android app player Bluestacks will have a version for Windows RT, allowing you to use Android apps. If this works pretty well then the Surface will look even more tempting.
 
If you can get an iPad then do it, I don't think anybody has ever been disappointed by one. Android applications and tablet user experience still lag a ways behind but it's not bad per se. I wouldn't waste a penny on a Surface personally, if W8 takes off it won't be for a year or more; it might be okay for business productivity from launch but it's not going to be much fun until it gains developers.
 
AbsenceJam said:
If you can get an iPad then do it, I don't think anybody has ever been disappointed by one. Android applications and tablet user experience still lag a ways behind but it's not bad per se. I wouldn't waste a penny on a Surface personally, if W8 takes off it won't be for a year or more; it might be okay for business productivity from launch but it's not going to be much fun until it gains developers.
Click to expand...

Depends on what he wants to do, if it is a media consumption device then it will be just as useful as an Ipad without locking him into the closed ecosystem...
Latest Jellybean UI is very nice and I don't miss the ipad at all.
 
edgedemon said:
Depends on what he wants to do, if it is a media consumption device then it will be just as useful as an Ipad without locking him into the closed ecosystem...
Latest Jellybean UI is very nice and I don't miss the ipad at all.
Click to expand...

What do you mean by "closed ecosystem?" It's the same as Android, or any other different platform.
 
AbsenceJam said:
What do you mean by "closed ecosystem?" It's the same as Android, or any other different platform.
Click to expand...

Well with media you have a lot more freedom with android, you can drag and drop, run a lot of codecs with 3rd party media players and so on. IF you like you can also still use iTunes/amazon with it if you please.

With iOS you forced to use iTunes for most things.
 
Never understood why Droid users seem to think the Droid Ecosystem locks you in any less than any other in existence.
Its the exact same thing.
 
cu3ed said:
Never understood why Droid users seem to think the Droid Ecosystem locks you in any less than any other in existence.
Its the exact same thing.
Click to expand...

In terms of Google products you are locked in, but for everything else you have much more freedom, with android you can pick a web browser, media player, and other things and make them the default. This removes the need for the 1st party apps, you can't really do this on other platforms.

E.G I love to use chrome and I use it on my desktop and such but if I want to use it as default on a iOS I can't, every time I want to open a link I need to copy it, open chrome, paste it.

This is what I think it means when its more open, I can really replace every 1st party app with things I like instead.
 
No, you are locked in that ecosystem.

What you are talking about is just what and how those ecosystems works, its doesn't make them any more "open" than the next, you can certainly talk about the differering way in which they do things, but that is within THAT ecosystem.

When you buy an Android device you are locked to the Android way of things and their market place.
On that device or only other Droid devices.
 
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