The first hit is free - or at least cheap

[johnpalmer]

So, I bought a tablet - the Samsung Galaxy 2 7.0. It was a low cost tablet, I figured I could drop that much on a toy even if I didn't end up using it a lot.

It's... interesting.

First: it's a very good Kindle replacement, with one huge, huge caveat - it's awful for late-night reading. Seriously: wake up, realize you're not going to sleep for a few minutes, and want to read something? You *do not* want a tablet. A book, or one of the old-style Kindles, or one of the Kindle paper-white models, would be better. A low power bedside light is much easier on the eyes than even the dimmest LED screen shining full in one's face. (At least, the dimmest setting I could set manually - maybe if it's set to auto-dim it's a bit better. But I get why they warn people not to use these right before bed.)

Second: it's a damn good reason not to get out of bed. The third best I've ever experienced. (The second best is warmth, on a cold morning in a somewhat chilly house. I don't have to mention the first, even by reference, do I?) Check e-mail, browse a few web pages (do lots of adjustment because they're so tiny on a seven inch screen!), decide to read a few more pages on the latest e-book... when I was visiting kightp, once I'd started coffee and become confident that the coffee maker wouldn't attack (it engages in guerrilla warfare, inflicting sabotage on counter tops and caffeine supplies if the carafe isn't positioned correctly) I was able to lie next to her for a good half hour without boredom.

(Why was that important? Well, waking up next to one's beloved for a quick cuddle, and an announcement that coffee is ready, is one of the best ways for most people to wake up.)

Third: It's addictive. I now want a bigger, faster tablet - and I'm still not really using the one I have! Well - part of the reason I'm not is that the one I have can't quite manage video as well as I'd like.

I'm also convinced that I'll never buy a Kindle, iPad, or a Nexus, unless they start to include an SD card slot. I have far too much music, and far too many videos, to allow myself to be trapped without WiFi and therefore separated from my entertainment. Maybe if I had a mobile data plan... but I'm too cheap to pay that much monthly, unless and until I kill my landline.

Comments

[droewyn.livejournal.com]

Nooks have had SD slots since launch. It was one of the deciding factors that convinced me to buy one.

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

Nod - that's a lot better than the Kindle. But I'm looking at the Asus Transformer 300 series. It's partly because of an irrational prejudice - I work with SQL Server a lot so I'm a "core whore" - I want a quad core processor. Which is probably silly for a tablet, but there you go.

[droewyn.livejournal.com]

I'd *like* a tablet, but I know I don't *need* one. But I am in the market for a new e-reader. Here's my research, in case it helps anyone. I was comparing the Nook Glow with the Kindle Paperwhite.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AsKm3wgQ6JAudGVCalA4T0hua2dHNU5oX3VxVjg5c0E#gid=0

[essaying.livejournal.com]

Note From Small Publisher: Amazon is doing its best to monopolize the ebook market, including some really scummy practices, and should not be encouraged in so doing. IMO, of course.

I try to rotate my ebook purchases between them, B&N, Kobo, Google, Diesel, Sony and a few others. I will not buy their e-reader because that just makes it all too easy.

[essaying.livejournal.com]

The things that help with bedtime reading are to set the screen to the "sienna" setting - ivory page, dark brown type - and to ABSURDLY HUGE font size. I mean, like a paragraph per page size. You get to where you can spool through it as quickly as you like to read, and you don't fry your eyes.

I think you can solve the "too much music" problem by getting G3 and using the cloud - or, as I do, using your iPad for your videos and your iPhone for your music. (There are still functional limitations on the videos, but they're large - I stored a whole season of Downton Abbey on the iPad without too much trouble.) I agree that the SD card would be nice, though. Maybe I'll set that as the trigger point for upgrading my iPad, which I otherwise love. That, or being able to play Flash.

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

I actually set it to white on black - I might try sienna.

(G3? Do you mean 3G wireless, or ??)

It's weird that I'm so backward on this, but I just now got a smart phone - I bought a prepaid one that has unlimited data for $35 a month ("only" 400 minutes - I don't think I use my *landline* that much!), and allows me to make it a hotspot for $15 a month as well. That's cheaper month-to-month than most 2 year plans I've heard advertised, though I had to pay $300 for the phone. But, most of my music will fit on a 32gig SD card, and probably all that I really *want* will.

And yeah, there's no real point to having music on a tablet if I have a smart phone with me. (Especially not when I usually have my Alienware laptop with me, as well, which has a charge-USB-from-Laptop-battery port. It can also (hypothetically) be tethered to the phone for wireless data access, and act as a hotspot. Not that I would *ever* risk violating my phone's contract by doing such a hideous thing! Why, using my laptop and my tablet from my phone, without paying the extra $15 a month would be appeal... er, *appalling*.)

[essaying.livejournal.com]

3G, G3 - that thing that works when there's no wifi. I have it on my phone but not on my iPad.