Is it worth buying a tablet ?

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akshay7g said:
Quick question- Can Ipads play mkv,mp4 HD videos? Also can it play FLACs? Can an android tab do anything that Ipads cannot?
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.mkv files stutters - at least the 720p ones do if tried on a 3rd party app. such as VLC owing to the high bitrate of the files. It also throws a warning prior to playing such files. .mp4 files can be dragged and dropped into iTunes directly and the built in video player plays it just fine. iPad doesn't support FLAC files by default. Several 3rd party apps. do however.

App Store - FLAC Player

App Store - Golden Ear

App Store - PlugPlayer

Haven't tried those so cannot comment more.
 
akshay7g said:
Quick question- Can Ipads play mkv,mp4 HD videos? Also can it play FLACs? Can an android tab do anything that Ipads cannot?
Click to expand...

There are many things that present day android tablets are capable of that Ipad cannot do (and probably will never do in future as well), but if you are asking with reference to media playback, then the foremost thing that comes to mind is that most Android devices show up as mass storage devices and you can copy media from any modern computer simply attaching it and copying in contrast to iPad's limitation of using iTunes to copy media. Other than that many Android tablets support a more wider variety of media formats out of the box and many have USB and memory card slots that allow to easily swap out media and not be limited to the on board storage space.

If you are asking in general, Android tablets tend to offer better web browsing experience due to their support of Flash (which is non-existent on iPad) and better HTMl5 support than iPads. Also as I mentioned earlier many android tablets have hardware flexibility that iPad's lack. Android tablets are also usually much more capable than iPad's out of the box which iPad's can match up to only after jail breaking. My idea of a tablet is that should be able to at least match a majority of the functionality that Netbooks or lower end notebooks offer in a way that you don't need to carry a netbook when you have a tablet. Android tablets barely come close and iPads come nowhere there.

Gannu said:
Discontinued by Adobe lol.
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Only development was discontinued. Its still there alive and kicking. Mozilla discontinued support for binary embedding of the Gecko engine. But it doesn't mean that it doesn't exist anymore, there are lots of software which still embed and continue to embed Gecko.
 
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I have one 15" laptop, going about business in an alright manner but one device often feels less according to the work load. So now I intend to get a Netbook & a Tablet too. Or maybe another low-budget Laptop.

Laptop is pretty inconvenient to use on couch/bed, even on lap the heating & weight issues don't help. Don't know how convenient would a Netbook or a Tablet would be! Usage is primarily Net browsing, forums, light games, multimedia, etc.

Still finding a good Tab, not too keen on the iPad due to iTunes. There are many in the market: HTC Flyer, Olive Pad, Samsung, Blackberry, etc. Not able to decide!
 
Even for light usage, driod tabs (iPad is a gimmick) are restricting.
Ideal tablet would be Win8 based. And with 28nm Ivy Bridge proccy promising lower TDP and HD4000 doubling current IGP performance, tablets are set to become more practical next year.
 
I had used a motorola tab and a samsung tab (don't remember the models), but the touch of motorola was far better than samsung.
 
You read a lot of books? You like to read comics? You like to watch videos on the go on a decent sized screen?

Get yourself a tablet.

Meh, I'm insanely happy with my 6k HP Touchpad running on Android. It's opened up a whole new world of potable possibilities for me. Depends on individuals, though!
 
Gannu said:
And what would be the advantage that HTML5 wouldn't offer over Flash?
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HTML5 is not a replacement for Flash and it was never intended to be, its the next iteration of HTML Web standard that happens to have some tags which along with the use JavaScript can replicate some of the functionality offered by Flash. Also HTML5 is just a standard, so it will have the same problems that previous versions of HTML had or even any other standard with multiple implementations have. HTML5 is a logical replacement for HTML4 and anyone who wants to adopt it as such would have a pleasant experience with all the new features. Anyone who tries to use HTML5 as a replacement for complex Flash content would soon find that they threw shit at the fan.

In any case, Android browsers seem to do HTML5 considerably better than iPad, so its not even a point in favor of iPad.
 
You did not seem to answer my query. All I asked was is there anything HTML5 does not do that Flash can. And your response seemed to say everything other than that.
 
^Flash reduces the battery life on most platforms. Its buggy, it lags often and requires a good set of HW to run on. HTML5 is more of a "lite" version of Flash. Easy to execute some of the more basic thing, but still if you want complex stuff, then its still Flash that you need.
 
Gannu said:
You did not seem to answer my query. All I asked was is there anything HTML5 does not do that Flash can. And your response seemed to say everything other than that.
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1. HTML5 cannot run without a browser engine like flash can with just its run time. A browser engine is much more complicated than a simple run time.

2. HTML5 does not have a standard and consistent run time implementation like flash does. Since it depends on the browser implementation, each implementation is completely different and developers would have to test and develop for each browser/platform and still not have hope for 100% consistent end product.

3. Nothing about HTML5 is standard at the moment and will stay so for the next 10 years. So anything you do now may not be valid a couple of years later.

4. Animations made with HTML5 & JS seem to perform worse than similar stuff in Flash (especially on mobile platforms)

5. No DRM support leading the developers to revert to hacky workarounds.

6. No mature support for devices like webcams, mics, etc.

7. HTML5 adds security concerns due to the nature of the features being supported often in a non sand boxed and vulnerable manner.

Lastly as I said, HTML5 is not a replacement for Flash and never intended to be. It is an enhancement of HTML and JS that allows certain things to be performed natively within the markup language and JS for which we had to build stop gap solutions in Flash or use some other non HTML solution earlier. Both have their own business cases and the usage of either depends on the business case. Anyone blindly trying to replace one with the other would only be exchanging one set of problems for another.

Its like saying C++ is redundant because of Java and C#. Java/C# allow a developer to do most of the things that can be done in C++ and in a easy to use manner. But there would still be a few things that C++ can do that Java/C# cant and there is a reason why there are still so many C++ developers/ Products in the world despite the popularity of Java/C#.
 
Target area for Tablets are

1) Gaming - one can hookup to HDTV also.. I also guess console gaming will become redundant in 2 to 3 yrs down the line..

2) Browsing on the go

3) eBook

4) Portability.. Would you open tablet or laptop in a train or flight if you have both ?

5) Audio & Video on the go..

If one wants all these then go an buy a tablet...
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>>>> 4) Portability.. Would you open tablet or laptop in a train or flight if you have both ?

There is no point to a tablet if you have to carry both a tablet and a laptop. I would prefer carrying only a laptop (or only a tablet) and using it compared to the prospect of carrying both.
 
Tablets can not replace laptops atleast until it is as handy to use usb peripherals over tablet.

what use is to replace a laptop with something that restricts you to using another computer for media transfer?

That's, is after leaving all other performance based criteria aside.

Laptops are replacement tools for desktop for many modern employees because it can work on similar OS and provide similar connectivity to peripheral devices; they do not have to learn to wipe the ass with another hand. Let us have complete usb based support including to connect a data card and maybe then they can start replacing laptops (for employees again).

30k tablet just for doing half of what your existing tool does is something only a 'Lifestyle' category of catalog can prefer ATM imo.
 
I am not fond of tablets RIGHT now . I think they are more of a luxury to me rather than a necessity right now . I really love the browsing experience that my laptop gives me when connected with a USB mouse which a tablet right now cannot give. Call me old fashioned but there is nothing that a tablets offers to me that my laptop cannot do . One the go my mobile is good enough and at home I prefer a laptop.

@#Lord Nemesis

I agree to the point that out of the box some android tablets play video better than Ipads but If a person properly starts configuring his Ipad then the Ipad is a way better device. Now , Dont get me wrong but I love the feature of having Itunes which can manage and have all things at one place. Probably I am among very few people who like things to be organised that way. Its just my opinion .

I still belive after using a couple of tablets that there is nothing better than the Ipad 2 right now in the market.
 
Why should we compare 30K tablets ?

Think about a fair priced tablet such as Ainol NOVO 7 advanced at 140 USD.

You for 7K, you can

1. read books

2. Browse

3. Watch movies on tab and on TV

4. Kids can play games

and so on.

So isn't it value for money ?
 
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