iPad Mini Could Retail For $250, Delete iPad 2 211
Nerval's Lobster writes "If the Apple rumor mill proves correct, the unveiling of the iPad Mini this week could mean sayonara for the iPad 2. At least, that's the prediction of Evercore Partners analyst Rob Cihra, who wrote in a recent note to investors that he believes Apple will remove the iPad 2 from its lineup to make room for a smaller tablet. Apple insider excerpted parts of Cihra's note Oct. 19. Of course, that's just one analyst speculating about the future plans of a company known for playing things close to the proverbial vest: Apple's Oct. 23 event in California could feature all sorts of surprises. So what do we know about the iPad Mini? First, that it might not be called the iPad Mini — that's a moniker dreamed up by the press. Second, a cheaper and smaller iPad could impact the market for e-readers and 'price-sensitive users,' according to J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz, which in turn could mean a challenging future for Amazon, Google, and other IT vendors marketing cheaper tablets. Third, the media—driven by unnamed sources and blurry spy photos—seems to have collectively settled on a 7.85-inch screen without a high-resolution Retina Display."
Macrumors shows $329 as the base price. (Score:5, Informative)
$250 would be nice but it's probably $329.
http://www.macrumors.com/2012/10/20/ipad-mini-pricing-to-begin-at-approximately-329/
Re:Macrumors shows $329 as the base price. (Score:5, Informative)
One of the blogs with an inside source and a proven track record for nailing what is to come in recent Apple announcements, 9 to 5 Mac, has also come out and said the starting price will be $329.
Read for yourself. [9to5mac.com]
Sadly, a $250 price point seems to be wishful thinking. Apple isn't going to pull a Google and sell things anywhere near break even.
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$329 translated into GBP (+20% VAT) = ~£250. For the 8GB wifi model.
The upgraded Nexus 7 32GB wifi model will soon be sold at £200. For the equivalent iPad mini (32GB wifi) you'll be paying ~£330 (and more likely £350). And that seems about right for the premium Apple like to charge for its products.
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Are you joking? $329 will be £329 most likely.
On what evidence? The base retina iPad is $499 in the US and £399 in the UK. Why would that be different for the iPad mini?
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From the source of that post [9to5mac.com]: "We created the likely pricing matrix for the smaller iPad shown above."
In other words, it's just a wild guess by a blogger to attract page views for his site. Everyone keeps repeating it as if it's an official document.
A quick glance at Apple's pricing shows that they strongly prefer prices that end in 49 or 99 for the iPod and iPad lines (the cellular equipped iPad is an exception). I'd expect to see an 8GB iPad Mini at $249 or $299, but it won't be a bi
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If it's $329, I don't see who their target audience is. People who specifically want an iPad already have one; this isn't much of a price drop compared to the iPad 2. People who want a 7-inch tablet can get the Nexus 7 for much cheaper, and unlike the first generation of Android tablets, that device has actually received good reviews and works well for most people.
Selling the iPad Mini at $329 would basically be bringing back the old Apple price premium. Due to good supply chain management, that had been pr
What about iPod touch (Score:5, Interesting)
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It seems strange to pay less for a 7" iPad mini than a 3" iPod touch.
a 4th gen iPod is $199; 5th gen is $299. Slotting a tablet between those two makes sense, especially considering that they serve different purposes and speak to different consumers.
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Since this website has an excellent track record for nailing Apple's upcoming announcements, their pricing is likely much more accurate.
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I've always suspected that if companies stoped playing such stupid games, and just made pricing rational, they'd probably do just as well if not better in the long run, than annoying people with shenanigans like this.
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The iPod Touch isn't an MP3 player, it's a non-cellular iPhone equivalent for using iPhone apps on that also happens to play mp3s. If you JUST wanted an mp3 player, you'd get an iPod Nano.
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Nexi (Score:5, Interesting)
It looks like Google will be adding some models next week - Nexus 10, with an extremely high resolution screen for less than $300. And a Nexus 7 32G with the price of the original Nexus 7 dropping to about $160.
Some new Nexus phones too.
I have a Nexus Galaxy phone that I bought from Google and use on a prepaid plan. It's a nice unlocked choice without the junk the phone company loads on your phone, and the prepaid aspect gives me a lot of flexibility.
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It looks like Google will be adding some models next week - Nexus 10, with an extremely high resolution screen for less than $300
The current word is that the Google/Samsung joint venture tablet will have a 2560x1600 screen resolution. Awesome if true, but I can't imagine them getting that out at a $300 price point. More likely it will be the same price as the iPad 3 (starting at $499). Even so, it will probably restore competitiveness at the high end of the tablet market, which is a good thing.
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. More likely it will be the same price as the iPad 3 (starting at $499)
Why would you think that they wouldn't price the device cheaper than the iPad. I can only imagine the Google pricing for a market share grab. Its what they did for the NEXUS 7 why would they change strategies from a successful one to an unsuccessful one.
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Why would I think? It's not my personal opinion, just rumors.
Smashing if true. I have been thinking about a Nexus 7, but for $300 or even $400 a Nexus 10 would be a great buy.
Above that and I'll probably go with the Nexus 7.
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Because it would complete with Samsung's own tablets that sell for $599.
Which Samsung tablet starts at $599? The Galaxy Note 10.1, currently Samsung's premium tablet product, has a base price of $499. Of course extra flash memory and a cellular modem will cost more... we were talking about base prices.
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I didn't say he was off topic. I was wondering where he was going with his statements, other than "don't forget about Google" which inevitably appears in the comments of any article mentioning Apple. Just like we have "don't forget about Apple" posts in anything related to Android.
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They all copy. Here's a good read for you: The Tweaker [newyorker.com].
Price sensitive users huh (Score:2)
Re:Price sensitive users huh (Score:4, Insightful)
> why anyone would get an ipad for ebook reading
How about not having your content deleted and your reader bricked at the whim of your corporate owner?
http://www.bekkelund.net/2012/10/22/outlawed-by-amazon-drm/ [bekkelund.net]
Was just watching this (Score:2)
Mad Tv - IPad - YouTube [youtube.com].
Never for the long haul (Score:2)
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The iPad 10" is great for carrying around the house, but I feel like I need a bag, or a shoulder strap to carry it outside. I'd love something that I can put in a jacket pocket. I tried the iPhone, at the store-- it feels cramped.
Doubt it (Score:2)
iPodTouch/iPhone = small screen
iPad mini = medium screen
iPad = large screen
Each has a market. Having them all lets Apple get more market penetration. In fact, many people, like us, buy multiples. I don't want to carry even an iPad mini around in my pocket by an iPodTouch is just right. Goldilocks was onto something.
If anything, I would expect Apple to bring out an iPad MAXi with a bigger screen. Then you've got the iTV for the really big version.
Next make them all run MacOS and Windows (all Macs can do both
The king is dead. Long live the king! (Score:2)
I'm the first to mention this, but there there are solid rumors of the "New iPad" getting a revamp with a move to the new lightning connector. The latest iPod touch has the new lightning connector and the iPad mini will have it too. Apple is not shy about ditching technology so it would make sense to ditch the iPad 2 to ensure that all of its mobile lineup carries the lightning connector
$250? Apple doesn't do non-profit products. (Score:2)
All the people thinking Apple has to compete with Nexus/Fire are forgetting something. Those products have essentially no profit margin, they are non-profit products.
Apple doesn't work that way. Apple makes its money with nice healthy profit margins, of which there would be zero in an 8" 4:3 iPad. That is another thing, did everyone forget how rounding works. The iPad Mini rumors state the display is 7.85". If you going to round off to the nearest inch, that is 8" not 7" like everyone keeps stating.
Basica
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This has been inferred for last 4 years or so, but somehow it never seems to come to pass [ycharts.com]. First it was the newer SanDisk mp3 players going to eat into the iPod margins, then the new Android phones would eat into the iPod margins, then the new Amazon Fires would eat into the iPads.
Somehow through all of the competition their margins just keep getting better.
Oh, come on! (Score:5, Insightful)
The event is freaking TOMORROW. What's the point in posting an article today that speculates what the price of the iPad Mini might be? We'll actually know tomorrow - no speculation involved!
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The event is freaking TOMORROW. What's the point in posting an article today that speculates what the price of the iPad Mini might be? We'll actually know tomorrow - no speculation involved!
Because its really interesting, The IPad Mini price point is interesting because this quarter is incredibly exciting, with Apple forced to bring out a Tweener tablet that will cannibalise its both high margin iPad and iPod touch, at the same time trying to stave of competition from Androids successful 7" ranges from Amazon and Google. That is ignoring the other side of the equation where a successful launch of Nexus 10 or Surface or both could put a real dent in Apple High end High Margin profit.
We know tha
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Clicks? They got you, didn't they?
Nope - see my sig.
(Okay, it's not always true - but it was in this case)
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Better to talk about the weather than the debate. Or sports, computers, music, TV, or....hell anything is better than talking about the debate.
So what do we know about the iPad Mini? (Score:3)
So what do we know about the iPad Mini?
Absolutely nothing - the iPad mini (and it's specs and costs) are complete fabrications by "journalists" and "analysts" who have to churn out so many words per day to justify their existence.
It's been a cyclic fad. (Score:5, Insightful)
Tablet fads have come and gone... the iPad has actually done really well this time around, but I remember how the 486 tablets (that did all the same stuff at much lower resolution) were going to make PCs obsolete... sure they did.
Due to e-readers, I think this time around tablets might actually settle into a durable niche of their own. But a lot of people (such as myself) will never really have a use for one.
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Uhh, *you* may not be able to type on a tablet quickly, but I can bust out some verbage with decent speed. Certainly well enough that I don't feel the need to go hunting for a 'physical' keyboard.
I doubt seriously this is a 'cyclic fad', they may not replace Desktop computers in whole, but there is a market and its not going away anytime soon.
Re:It's been a cyclic fad. (Score:5, Informative)
Uhh, *you* may not be able to type on a tablet quickly, but I can bust out some verbage with decent speed. Certainly well enough that I don't feel the need to go hunting for a 'physical' keyboard.
For a very arbitrary definition of "decent". The fact remains that you will never be able to match the typing speed achieved on a keyboard, even with limited travel, when typing on a tablet's screen.
Not to mention that, when typing on a screen, you must keep your eyes on that "keyboard" like a fucking moron. I haven't looked at my keyboard in decades, because I clearly feel where the keys are.
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As with anything if you do it enough you'll get a 'feel' for where everything is. I don't look at the keyboard intently when typing, though it is difficult not to see it at all because oddly enough it is right there on the screen.
The fact remains that, moderate typing speed discrepancy aside, they are not a fad and they're not going away anytime soon. The fact that PC speeds haven't dramatically increased in the past couple of years leads me to believe that companies will want to pour more R&D into area
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It may have been a fad in the past, but these days the tablet is making headway and I seriously doubt the PC community will pull together anything that could compete with the tablet.
I'm not interested in the "tablets are a fad" discussion. I've not mentioned it in my post on purpose.
But just a quick remark: there is no "PC community".
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The PC community needs a killer app-- something that needs the brawn of a full scale CPU and graphics card, yet is so sensitive to latency that the thin client server model can't work. I Know! Gaming! Zynga should talk to Crytek about making a killer farming game [steampowered.com]
Re:It's been a cyclic fad. (Score:4, Insightful)
The fact remains that, moderate typing speed discrepancy aside...
Sorry, no, it's not a moderate typing speed discrepancy, it's a massive discrepancy, a factor of 3 at best and more like 10 in practice. Plus, typing on a touchscreen is an ergonomic horror. If you do it hours over a long period of time, bad things are going to happen to your eyes, hands and skeleton.
The only possible way a tablet can displace a PC for typing intensive applications is with an actual keyboard.
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Not to mention that, when typing on a screen, you must keep your eyes on that "keyboard" like a fucking moron. I haven't looked at my keyboard in decades, because I clearly feel where the keys are.
How does that even work? My hands are on the keyboard when I type on my tablet, I can't type and look at the keyboard at the same time. Usually I just stare off into space focusing on what I want to sound while tapping away.
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I bet you can't type on a Blackberry keyboard as fast as a desktop computer keyboard either.
So what? Different interfaces have different "limitations", if you want to call it that. I suspect most people aren't typing so much at one time that they need to be able to type entire novels quickly. (Of course they al
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You don't need to be able to touch-type because you're looking at the keyboard anyway!
Which means you can not be tracking your input in real time, or observing whatever it is you are typing about, etc.
If looking at the keyboard while typing was desirable, touch typing would never have become the standard of competent keyboard input.
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Sorry, you're wrong. Old tablets sucked, hard. Current tablets (of both kinds) do 95% of what everyone wants to do everywhere but work, and they do it well.
Netbooks fell out of favor because a better device came along that did what they do, far better. No such option exists to replace tablets. They're not going anywhere, any time soon.
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I'm just curious regarding your opinion of netbooks. You say that a better device came along. What device would that be? I'm very happy with my netbook less as a portable media machine and more as an ultralight writing desk. It is a handy platform for keeping all of my writing in one place: essays, speeches for my Toastmasters club, short stories, and my unfinished NaNoWriMo attempts.
I suspect that the better device[s] to which you're referring are the tablets that followed the netbooks. They're super
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I think he's referring to Ultrabooks, which are just as light, but vastly more powerful.
Re:It's been a cyclic fad. (Score:5, Insightful)
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Ahh. I must concede those two points. Not that I meant for my anecdote to serve as an irrefutable counterargument, of course. Just adding my perspective to the conversation. On that subject, though, I like to think that one of the ways in which geeks can serve their communities is by promoting geek-like enthusiasm for creativity and exploration in the people around them. Too often, we lament how unimaginative our neighbours are. I believe that it's worthwhile to encourage them, though.
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Old tablets did not suck. it was the craptastic OS and apps that sucked.
Honestly Windows Tablet editions all have been utter crap even to this day.
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This. Here.
Microsoft did a great job of making tablets suck. So much so a market never developed. Apple came along and made a bigger more computing useful iphone and it took off. Android works well enough that I've seen many businesses use it in applications that a tablet is useful. Microsoft is still trying to jam Windows on a tablet and wondering why it fails.
Re:It's been a cyclic fad. (Score:5, Insightful)
For the foregoing reasons, I don't see tablets as a fad anymore. They died before for technological reasons such as insufficient computational power, insufficient battery, terrible low resolution restive touch screens, and insane prices. This time around all the sweet spots seem to be met. For a long time tablets have been about consuming media, but I think as the touch interfaces mature we'll see the use cases expand. Just because they don't fit into your life doesn't mean they don't fit into anyone else's.
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Most of the people I know who have a tablet, use it primarily for media consumption and typing speed is not really of much importance. Having said that, I can tap out emails and the like at a reasonable rate - I'd estimate something like 50ish words per minute. That's using the replacement Android keyboard, Hackers Keyboard, which I thoroughly recommend for most power users (gives you a normal qwerty layout with shift, ctrl, etc., buttons where you'd expect them to be).
If you think we're on the tail end of
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I can tap out emails and the like at a reasonable rate - I'd estimate something like 50ish words per minute.
Wow, that's amazing, incredible. Could you please prove it by posting a video on Youtube?
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I agree, my speed of typing is lower on a tablet than on a real keyboard. The level of noise from typing on a tablet is much less though. Instead of needing to taking notes on pen & paper during conference calls (because a real keyboard would be too noisy) and having somebody do data entry from my notes, now I can take my notes during the call directly on a tablet (that can run throughout a workday on its internal battery easily) and they are ready to be sent directly from the tablet as the call conclu
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Chiclet. It's a brand of gum, so if you're going to use it as a generic name, you should probably spell it right.
Re:It's been a cyclic fad. (Score:5, Informative)
Tablet fads have come and gone... the iPad has actually done really well this time around, but I remember how the 486 tablets (that did all the same stuff at much lower resolution) were going to make PCs obsolete... sure they did.
It's not for people like you and me. It's for people like my wife. She enjoys sitting in her chair and knitting while watching TV. Now she doesn't need to bump me off of the main computer in order to look up a pattern, she can pull it up while sitting in her chair, and she doesn't have to print it either. She also uses it for a camera. This weekend, an owl landed on the neighbor's porch, she was able to snap a photo and e-mail it, all without having to touch the computer. Perfect for her, and works well for me too.
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That's likely because you use a computer to create some sort of content outside of work. I'd say the majority of people no longer fall under this category - most are almost purely content consumers, with the occasional email or facebook update. For them, the tablet is perfect - easy to use and carry around.
The 486 tablets came at a time when most folks using a computer outside of work were creating content, gaming, etc. The market simply wasn't there.
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Tablet fads have come and gone... the iPad has actually done really well this time around, but I remember how the 486 tablets (that did all the same stuff at much lower resolution) were going to make PCs obsolete... sure they did.
Due to e-readers, I think this time around tablets might actually settle into a durable niche of their own. But a lot of people (such as myself) will never really have a use for one.
Capacitive (and multi-touch) screens completely change the way that tablets are used. No tablet in the past is worth comparing to something that you can comfortably (as long as you know where your fingers are) type a document up *with the screen*. This was really the turning point for tablets, before that they were a cool thing you could maybe use as an E-reader (but battery life tended to be pathetic) or a VERY clumsy virtual clipboard/sketchpad.
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No tablet in the past is worth comparing to something that you can comfortably (as long as you know where your fingers are) type a document up *with the screen*.
Nor is any current tablet, unless your definition includes typing five words a minute with one hand while holding it in the other. Even typing a URL is painful on my Android tablet and from my experience with iPods I can't imagine the iPad is much better.
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Fir the medical field and the insurance field? they did. But 486 was the 3rd generation. I had a 386sx Dauphin DTR1 tablet that was used heavily by the FBI and law enforcement in the early 90's.
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My own personal experience is that the iPad is a reasonably portable version of the web. Yes, it can do other things
It's is great for reading scientific papers in pdf form
the kindle app is pretty good if you don't want e-ink
And, of course, there's internet videos, except from the wankers who believe that "mobile video" should be subject to it's own special set of restrictions
But Safari is excellent. If the iPad didn't have an internet browser (and couldn't run an internet browser) it wouldn't be useful.
Thes
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Skype on iPad or Android and you have it. FaceTime and Messages work great too.
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Maybe you just don't have a use for one. A lot of people don't. Nothing wrong with that.
For me, it's a laptop replacement. Since I have a desktop and don't have a laptop, I just got an iPad instead. All I wanted was something I could read on that's portable, and it does a great job at that. Plays games, has my music (and an occasional movie), does browsing and email really well, has my ebooks, etc.
Battery life lasts far longer then a laptop does and it's more portable. Since I don't do real "work" with it,
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An ipod touch, yes...http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_ipod/family/ipod_touch
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So after all the "bigger screen, MOAR PIXELZ!!!!1!!!" ad campaign for the new iPhone, they made this one lower res and smaller and rebooted old technology. I didn't know Apple customers' top 3 wanted features were decrementing the version number, less pixels, and a smaller viewing area.
It's clearly a stopgap measure. Apple needs to get a "Goldilocks" product to keep someone else from owning that size profile and eroding their market share in smaller and larger formats.
The best engineering will be in both the iPad and the iPhone: best battery life, best display, etc. This mid-size is a compromise of the two, and won't really excel at anything in particular. If it ever does, it will be because of functionality that will be held back from being released on other sizes. Maybe external storage
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Too much attention, methinks.
Exactly. When your competition is making zero or even negative profits on each unit, just stay away from the whole damn thing unless you think you can command a big premium. Or unless you want in on their business model, which I think Apple would do poorly in.
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They've done really well with their previous strategy, but no strategy wins forever in a competitive environment. While I think it would be a shame to see them go to a 100% reactionary strategy, trolling Slashdot and other sites for suggestions for new features to release and/or making Samsungian copi
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Since when did Apple care about the low-profit end of the market? They don't do any cheap products, they are a premium only brand. And before you say it even the products that are relatively cheap, like the smaller iPods, are not cheap in their class.
If Apple do release an iPad Mini at this price point it would be a major change of direction for them.
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That fruity logo is no guarantee that you won't get a total piece of garbage.
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7 inches fits in a cargo pocket (Score:2)
but a 10" doesn't. Also, what do you mean by "too small"? The number of pixels on a Nexus 7 matches a lot of the larger tablets, so as long as you can read the smaller font size you're golden. Lastly, 7" is small and light enough to easily hold it in one hand. 10" is borderline too bulky.
I say all the above as the owner of a firesale Touchpad. I use it a lot (alternate between WebOS/CM9 as needed), but I'd probably really like a Nexus 7.
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The iPad Retina display makes things prettier, and possibly easier to read. It's nice enough that the iPad 2 looks crude by comparison. But my 1080*1920 22" display is far more useful than my ipad's 10 inch display-- because I can display multiple windows, and (with a mouse) interact with hundreds of very small widgets. The ipad's useful resolution is determined by the size of my fingers.
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Blowing mod points...
First device in that space for this season is Sony's Tap 20:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2011644/sony-tap-20-review-a-windows-8-all-in-one-thats-also-a-humongous-tablet.html [pcworld.com]
20" 1600 x 900 pixel display.
William
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MSRP on those is $999. Who knows what it will actually sell for. Also, it's a Sony, made by the devil, in hell.
It's 'dollars', Biff. (Score:3, Informative)
Are you Biff from Back To The Future?
It's 'dollars', you idiot. The expression is "more dollars than sense."
It's a pun.
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I know I see a lot of people in cafe's and diners using them. I went by Barnes&Nobles just last week and 3 people were sitting there surfing on iPads. I have no real use for something that large but I do have a Galaxy Player 5" tablet that I love. I use the thing everywhere mostly to read on but also occasionaly to watch a show or something and then I surf on it quite a bit also. I think a 5" device is perfect for me, big enough to see but small enough to fit in a pocket.
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Lots of ipads can be seen on Metrorail/Metrobus (Washington DC area)
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