Woot sold a Dell Inspiron Duo for the same price a few months back (IIRC, it was Woot). Bought it. 10" screen, 130GB HD, WIndows 7 (not dual-boot, but I can fix that, so IDC). Plus, it had a keyboard (undersized & weird, but qwerty).
Most of the half a million redundant apps run on the iPod Touch as well. An iPod Touch can also send pictures and print via third party apps.
I for one, will never understand the appeal of iPads or any other tablets beyond the “cool” factor. Can’t fit em in your pocket like a phone and they have weaker hardware than similarly priced netbooks.
Why is that? It’s actually a older 2006 Dell XPS. If you think I am computer literate at your level, no. I have my BS and MS in computer science and know what I am talking about. Just because you hate Apple…
In case anybody’s wondering, the screen resolution on this tablet won’t fully support Windows 8. It’ll run, but you won’t be able to use any of the tablet-friendly Metro apps, so it won’t actually be significantly different from Windows 7.
Radio Shack is still in business? I figured when Shaq was doing adds for them they were on their last leg. I remember when you could go into one and actually sift thru components to actually build/repair things. I guess you can still order them but it is not the same. This rant has nothing to do with the tablet so I will hop off my high horse now.
I’ve found the Thrive to be a little heavier than the iPad, but not so much as I care. It’s rugged enough I can carry it on the floor of the manufacturing company I manage without having to have a protective security detail making sure it doesn’t get damaged.
I throw it on the seat of my truck every night after work and it has fallen to the floor when slamming on the brakes to avoid a deer or fallen tree and still it works fine.
The battery life, while it said 10 hours, lasted only about nine one day, but I was using it extensively…what with searching the internet, playing on facebook, other things executives do while the minions work.
The apps are ok, there are plenty free ones and a few I needed that cost money worked pretty much as they should.
The wi-fi connected up easy both at home and at work and to the FBI Surveillance van.
Out of a possible 100 points, I’d give it a solid 92. Not perfect because of the placement of the second camera on the back and the volume controls on top.
There’s something to be said for real estate on those screens. That being said, Apple missed the boat when Jobs said there would never be a 7-inch iPad. I need to be able to securely hold a tablet in one hand while using it. The 7-inch Android tablets are easily one-hand-holdable.
I’ve owned several Windows tablets. I’ve got one now. I also own an ipad. I use them for separate purposes. I use the ipad about 60% of the time and the Windows tablet about 40% of the time.
My advice? If you want to buy this, instead of investing in an iPad, it might not meet your requirements. But, if you’re buying this to replace or supplement a Windows laptop or desktop, then it just might be what you need.
I own an ipad, thanks. It’s a gigantic IPod Touch with a couple more features. Given, I don’t spend as much time with it, sequestering myself away in my favorite Starbucks cloister, as the average IPad owner no doubt does