Tablets My $0.02: Had a Nexus 10, sold it, ordered Ipad 4.

[throAU]

Why do you feel that 16:X is bad and 4:3 is so much better?

go use 2 different tablets, one of each form factor but same "size" and tell me which one gives you more content on screen.

due to the way screens are measured (diagonally), 10" is not the same amount of usable screen area between different aspect ratios. a 10" screen in 4:3 shows a lot more content than a 10" screen in 16x9.

if you're running 2 windows side by side, 16x10 isn't so bad. But the iPad doesn't do that, not sure about the others. And trying to multitask in general on a 10" screen would suck anyway. the screen just isn't big enough.

 

[Technarchy]

Why do you feel that 16:X is bad and 4:3 is so much better?

Use both for awhile and the differences stand out clearly.

4:3 is more like holding a text book

16:9 is like holding a small TV

4:3 not only feels better but it works nicer with more types of content, 16:9 is best for movies, which for me is a secondary concern.

 

[TheHateMachine]

go use 2 different tablets, one of each form factor but same "size" and tell me which one gives you more content on screen.

due to the way screens are measured (diagonally), 10" is not the same amount of usable screen area between different aspect ratios. a 10" screen in 4:3 shows a lot more content than a 10" screen in 16x9.

if you're running 2 windows side by side, 16x10 isn't so bad. But the iPad doesn't do that, not sure about the others. And trying to multitask in general on a 10" screen would suck anyway. the screen just isn't big enough.

Comparing my iPad 3 to my Surface RT to my Nexus 10 they all have very minimal differences in the amount of content that can be displayed. Some display certain content in better orientations than others.

As for the multitasking bit. You can say the same thing about the Note 2 but people like the multiview mode. I personally use the pop out video feature on my Galaxy S3 all the time. I also use snap and windows documents while reading another or a website on the desktop mode of my Surface RT.

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4:3 not only feels better but it works nicer with more types of content, 16:9 is best for movies, which for me is a secondary concern.

Feels better for you but not everyone.

 

[zhenya]

Why do you feel that 16:X is bad and 4:3 is so much better?

The closer to 1:1 the more pixels there are for a given size.

16:9 works ok for TV's because that is the standard HD broadcast format, and closer to how films are shot. A tablet, however, is a very flexible device that in my opinion, should be comfortable to use in any orientation. 16:9 lends itself to landscape orientation, which again, is great for films and some games, but not so good for reading. The vast majority of what I use a tablet for is reading and web browsing, for which the 4:3 format is much more natural and displays much more content than a 16:9 device in landscape orientation. Since most modern websites are also designed to fit perfectly in 768 points of width, almost every site perfectly fills the width of the iPad with no wasted space.

 

[cynics]

Sorry, but the part I highlighted in red is just a big lie. I upload and download files all the time on my iPad. You can also send files between iOS devices but not through NFC because no iOS device has NFC. So you're basically telling me it's not possible to use a feature that doesn't exist which doesn't mean anything at all. Furthermore, usefulness is not determined only by the ability to upload/download files.

I'm sure the various apps called malware are very useful on Android and of which are virtually nonexistent on iOS. Your point about selling your iPad 1 after you got your Nexus 10 is completely irrelevant. One device is about 3 years old and the other is brand new. It's unfair to compare that way. Would you prefer me comparing Android 1.0 to iOS 6? Are you really telling me that is a fair comparison? Absolutely not.

The part I highlighted in green is a logical fallacy. If we need/want the iPad, that makes the iPad the better tablet in our respective opinions. So it's a matter of perspective and logic, the latter of which you don't have. At all.

If he's lying about not being able to send files like zip and rar or any file for that matter using drop box on iOS can you please tell me how to do it?

That's something I'd find very useful at work. I have a feeling you are the one that is incorrect though...

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The closer to 1:1 the more pixels there are for a given size.

16:9 works ok for TV's because that is the standard HD broadcast format, and closer to how films are shot. A tablet, however, is a very flexible device that in my opinion, should be comfortable to use in any orientation. 16:9 lends itself to landscape orientation, which again, is great for films and some games, but not so good for reading. The vast majority of what I use a tablet for is reading and web browsing, for which the 4:3 format is much more natural and displays much more content than a 16:9 device in landscape orientation. Since most modern websites are also designed to fit perfectly in 768 points of width, almost every site perfectly fills the width of the iPad with no wasted space.

So let me get this straight. You think 16:9 and 16:10 are bad for computing and webpage viewing? Are we supposed to assume iMac's and MBP's are not 16:9 and 16:10 or are we supposed to assume webpages look bad on them and they are bad for computing? Maybe you somehow turn them to portrait mode?

 

[zhenya]

So let me get this straight. You think 16:9 and 16:10 are bad for computing and webpage viewing? Are we supposed to assume iMac's and MBP's are not 16:9 and 16:10 or are we supposed to assume webpages look bad on them and they are bad for computing? Maybe you somehow turn them to portrait mode?

When panels started going from 4:3 to 16:10 and then to 16:9 yes, many people complained because they were not better for work than the old style monitors in similar resolutions. They have less pixels than their 4:3 equivalents. 16:9 has been adopted a) because it's cheap as it's the most common size available and b) because it looks 'modern'.

Furthermore, the iPad is only 1024x768 points of resolution, while most desktop monitors are at least 1600x1050. If you have used a computer recently with 700-800 pixels of vertical height, you'd probably agree that it's not optimized for reading vertical content; it's a very narrow window through which to peer. The iPad, in portrait orientation, has much the same vertical height as a full desktop monitor, while not losing anything in the width, as it can only run 1 app at a time, and again, most sites are optimized for a width of 768 points. (Hence why most websites appear as a narrow bar in the center of the screen if you maximize your browser window on a high resolution screen).

A modern screen of 1920x1080 has more height than an ipad, while also offering enough space to place multiple windows side-by side. It's a worthy tradeoff, although the 4:3 equivalent of 1920x1440 would be better yet.

 

[wol]

Thanks to the thread starter for the detailed summary on the Nexus 10!!!

When the Nexus was announced, I was impressed by the specs, and tried to order one on release day, but it was already sold out. A couple of days later, I got a 4th generation iPad in a local store instead. For my primary usage case (reading and commenting PDF documents, webmail, as well as interactive queries to an online database) the screen 4:3 format of the iPad used in portrait mode is perfect. The Nexus 10 screen in portrait is about 15mm taller, but also 15mm narrower, thus less optimal for reading PDF documents (with their fixed linebreaks).

The Nexus 10 16:10 screen ratio, though, seems to be better adapted for viewing widescreen movies. Still, with the iPad I could simply do a restore from the iPhone backup, and had all my frequently used Apps and settings readily available (of course, in the meantime I have replaced some of the non-universal Apps by their iPad equivalent). I'm also quite impressed by the screen quality, handling, battery life, overall design and speed of the 4th gen iPad. The only things missing in the iPad Wifi is GPS, and an easy way for wireless transfer any kind of file or document with any other mobile device (it would be nice if one could amend the bluetooth stack of iOS devices).

 

[cynics]

When panels started going from 4:3 to 16:10 and then to 16:9 yes, many people complained because they were not better for work than the old style monitors in similar resolutions. They have less pixels than their 4:3 equivalents. 16:9 has been adopted a) because it's cheap as it's the most common size available and b) because it looks 'modern'.

Furthermore, the iPad is only 1024x768 points of resolution, while most desktop monitors are at least 1600x1050. If you have used a computer recently with 700-800 pixels of vertical height, you'd probably agree that it's not optimized for reading vertical content; it's a very narrow window through which to peer. The iPad, in portrait orientation, has much the same vertical height as a full desktop monitor, while not losing anything in the width, as it can only run 1 app at a time, and again, most sites are optimized for a width of 768 points. (Hence why most websites appear as a narrow bar in the center of the screen if you maximize your browser window on a high resolution screen).

A modern screen of 1920x1080 has more height than an ipad, while also offering enough space to place multiple windows side-by side. It's a worthy tradeoff, although the 4:3 equivalent of 1920x1440 would be better yet.

I won't lie there are certain things I like about the iPads aspect ratio not so much web pages because I feel they look great on a nexus 10. PDF's on the other hand, especially if I'm trying to study it if its filled with wiring schematics or something.

Really aside from that I much prefer 16:9/10 over 4:3 especially at the nexus 10's resolution.

Keeping in mind an iPad was designed for portrait (apple logo and home button) while a n10 was designed to be used in landscape (nexus logo and stereo speakers right and left of the screen). I think a lot of iPad owners pic up an android tablet in portrait and are like wtf!

Videos look amazing on the N10. Like I mentioned when using the native player and youtube and some other 3rd party players the status bar and on screen buttons move completely off screen. The iPad isn't that great by comparison. While I don't watch a lot of movies on my n10 I think it's save to say most of us mess with YouTube quite often.

Obviously this comes down to personal preference and if you prefer 4:3 that great. I prefer 16:9/10 for more things then I do 4:3.

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

If he's lying about not being able to send files like zip and rar or any file for that matter using drop box on iOS can you please tell me how to do it?

That's something I'd find very useful at work. I have a feeling you are the one that is incorrect though...

You can instruct Dropbox to auto upload any new photos and videos you take. You can download any file through the app itself by opening the file and tapping the star icon on the bottom. This makes that file a favorite which allows you to view it offline. You can also use the "Open in..." menu and send that file to an app like GoodReader (or any app that supports the "Open in..." feature and associated file type). If you still don't believe me, just say so and I can upload a video of me doing everything I have just described and claimed on my personal iPhone.

Btw, his claim was not only about uploading zip/rar/etc. files. His claim was that Dropbox lacks the ability to download AND upload ANY TYPE of file. While you can't upload zip/rar, you can upload photos/videos and you can download almost any file you have on Dropbox AND save it in either Dropbox itself or another app (I use GoodReader personally).

 

[cynics]

You can instruct Dropbox to auto upload any new photos and videos you take. You can download any file through the app itself by opening the file and tapping the star icon on the bottom. This makes that file a favorite which allows you to view it offline. You can also use the "Open in..." menu and send that file to an app like GoodReader (or any app that supports the "Open in..." feature and associated file type). If you still don't believe me, just say so and I can upload a video of me doing everything I have just described and claimed on my personal iPhone.

Btw, his claim was not only about uploading zip/rar/etc. files. His claim was that Dropbox lacks the ability to download AND upload ANY TYPE of file. While you can't upload zip/rar, you can upload photos/videos and you can download almost any file you have on Dropbox AND save it in either Dropbox itself or another app (I use GoodReader personally).

His claim was that the iPad was a toy (his claim not mine) one of the reasons was because the iPad can't handle ANY (every) type of file through drop box. Example being you can't download a zip file from the web and throw it in drop box with an iPad. He said more then just the part you highlighted. Me uploading and downloading ANY FILE TYPE is very easy on android....

Auto upload is busch league on iOS. To "auto" upload you need to open the drop box app. On Android you can set it to actually do it automatically. Take a picture and it uploads to drop box in the background, you don't have to do anything for it to "automatically" do it...

My main and only phone is an iPhone 4S so I'm very well versed in what it can and can't do....BTW its my phone of choice currently so its not like I hate iOS I just prefer Android on a tablet because I use it for work to do things my iPhone can't.

 

[cynics]

More on Dropbox.

I use it between iOS and Android and on android it's MUCH better.

1. Photo uploads can be 100% automatic if you want.

2. Any type of file is supported, this is more of an android function then Dropbox.

3. From the photo gallery you can upload to drop box. You can do this from messages in iOS but not the camera roll....why?!?

4. Easy sharing to Dropbox. Here's an example. Take a screen shot and have the ability to share from the notification center.

Sharing requires a lot of hoop jumping on iOS. I rarely actually open the Dropbox app on android. But hey it looks a bit nicer on iOS.

Edit : notice the tab busche league? I forgot the spelling...lol

 

[mattopotamus]

no doubt that sharing on android is much better. Anyone saying anything else is denying the obvious.

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

His claim was that the iPad was a toy (his claim not mine) one of the reasons was because the iPad can't handle ANY (every) type of file through drop box. Example being you can't download a zip file from the web and throw it in drop box with an iPad. He said more then just the part you highlighted. Me uploading and downloading ANY FILE TYPE is very easy on android....

Auto upload is busch league on iOS. To "auto" upload you need to open the drop box app. On Android you can set it to actually do it automatically. Take a picture and it uploads to drop box in the background, you don't have to do anything for it to "automatically" do it...

My main and only phone is an iPhone 4S so I'm very well versed in what it can and can't do....BTW its my phone of choice currently so its not like I hate iOS I just prefer Android on a tablet because I use it for work to do things my iPhone can't.

So if Dropbox can't "handle ANY (every) type file of file" how come I just uploaded some photos and videos to it through my iPad and downloaded 5 PDFs and 1 Word doc and saved it to GoodReader? His claim was that Dropbox on iOS can't upload or download ANY kind of file in ANY means or method. While I agree, you can't upload a zip/rar or to a OS-wide file system, you CAN upload photos and videos from the Camera Roll (and Photo Stream). You CAN download files through the "Favorites" option and you CAN send said file to another app. Forget his BS claims, just tell me whether my examples are valid examples in the definition scope of "upload" and "download".

 

[TheHateMachine]

So if Dropbox can't "handle ANY (every) type file of file" how come I just uploaded some photos and videos to it through my iPad and downloaded 5 PDFs and 1 Word doc and saved it to GoodReader? His claim was that Dropbox on iOS can't upload or download ANY kind of file in ANY means or method. While I agree, you can't upload a zip/rar or to a OS-wide file system, you CAN upload photos and videos from the Camera Roll (and Photo Stream). You CAN download files through the "Favorites" option and you CAN send said file to another app. Forget his BS claims, just tell me whether my examples are valid examples in the definition scope of "upload" and "download".

His statement was that Dropbox was unable to upload any files with the exception of pictures and video. Granted it was worded rather poorly and he excluded documents but you seem to agree with his assessment by including compressed libraries as an example. So why exactly are his claims BS when what he said in regards to compressed libraries true? The iOS version has file type restrictions while the Android version has none.

"Because apps like Dropbox are not useful as you cannot upload or download any file, just pictures or videos. The android Dropbox app allows me to upload and download mp3, rar, zip, srt, avi, etc."

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

His statement was that Dropbox was unable to upload any files with the exception of pictures and video. Granted it was worded rather poorly and he excluded documents but you seem to agree with his assessment by including compressed libraries as an example. So why exactly are his claims BS when what he said in regards to compressed libraries true? The iOS version has file type restrictions while the Android version has none.

"Because apps like Dropbox are not useful as you cannot upload or download any file, just pictures or videos. The android Dropbox app allows me to upload and download mp3, rar, zip, srt, avi, etc."

Here's his quote:

Because apps like Dropbox are not useful as you cannot upload or download any file, just pictures or videos. The android Dropbox app allows me to upload and download mp3, rar, zip, srt, avi, etc.

I'm disputing the part I highlighted in red. You can download any file. Period.

 

[cynics]

Here's his quote:



I'm disputing the part I highlighted in red. You can download any file. Period.

Dude you are editing his post. His post is what the IPAD CANT DO with drop box not what drop box can or can't do.....we all know you can put anything on drop box his point is that the iPad can't...

I'm at then point where I think you are being sarcastic....

 

[Sensamic]

No point in wasting more time...

Everyone except him seems to have perfectly understood what I meant...

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

Dude you are editing his post. His post is what the IPAD CANT DO with drop box not what drop box can or can't do.....we all know you can put anything on drop box his point is that the iPad can't...

I'm at then point where I think you are being sarcastic....

Would you like me to not delete the parts above and below it? I didn't modify any of his words, just got rid of the parts above and below it. But make no mistake, that quote is exactly as it appeared in the original.

No point in wasting more time...

Everyone except him seems to have perfectly understood what I meant...

Yea, it was a mistake to try and add some intelligence to what would otherwise be an ignorant post. Everyone seems to have said 1) you worded it poorly 2) Dropbox on iOS does have the ability to upload/download files (but not EVERY/ANY type of file) 3) taken literally, your post is wrong 4) taken less literally, your post is about right.