Top 5 Tablet PCs: Compare and Contrast
Top 5 Tablets to consider
It was only last April that Apple's iPad exploded onto the scene, igniting the market for tablet devices almost instantly as iPads sold in their millions upon millions. Since then other manufacturers have been scrambling to bring out credible products to compete in the tablet space, and 2011 promises to be a bumper year for new devices.
Which begs the question: which ones should you consider? If you are thinking of buying a tablet this year, here, in no particular order, are the top 5 devices to check out:
1 Samsung Galaxy Tab
Front and rear cameras, Adobe Flash for online videos, $250 with a 3G contract, and available now: Samsung's Galaxy Tab Android tablet has a lot going for it, and has been well received as a credible alternative to the iPad.
But Samsung doesn't hold all the cards: the mobile device's screen resolution is lower than the iPad's, the screen is dimmer, and let's not forget that with a 7" display the Galaxy Tab's screen real estate is considerably smaller. It's also worth mentioning that - for the moment, at least - the Galaxy Tab runs Android 2.2 Froyo, rather than the more tablet-oriented and recently released Android 3.0 Honeycomb that many of the latest tablets are expected to run.
2 Motorola Xoom
It's not available yet, but the Xoom tablet has already caused quite a stir, winning Best In Show at this year's CES in Las Vegas. It sports a bigger, higher resolution screen than the iPad, a grunty Nvidia Tegra 2 dual core processor, and the 3G version will be upgradeable to 4G in the near future. It's also got two well specced cameras - front and rear - and 32Gb storage capacity which should be expandable via inexpensive flash memory cards. The Xoom is also the first tablet to run Google's tablet-oriented Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system.
Among its arsenal of sensors the Xoom sports a barometer, unique among all the tablets announced so far. But beyond weather apps it's not quite clear yet what a barometer will be useful for.
3. Research In Motion Blackberry Playbook
RIM looks to have covered everything with its Blackberry Playbook tablet which is due any day now. The device will be fully multitasking thanks to its powerful TI dual core chip and its brand new Blackberry Tablet OS which is based on the QNX kernel. The mobile device may have a relatively small (7") display, but it does have the capability to run Flash 10.1 videos, and as a bonus it will also work as a large screen viewer when connected to one of RIM's Blackberry smartphones.
On the downside it's not clear how many mobile apps will be available to run on the Playbook, although recent reports http://www.bgr.com/2011/01/26/exclusive-blackberry-playbook-and-smartphones-to-run-android-apps/ suggest that it may be able to run most Android mobile apps. Whether this is technically possible though remains to be seen.
4. iPad
The device which got the tablet revolution rolling, the iPad sis till the one to beat thanks to a vibrant developer community, the hugely successful App Store, and the general air of Apple magic that accompanies it. And that's not even mentioning the high resolution 9.7" screen, beautiful user interface and multi-tasking (sort of, anyway) iOS 4
Of course choosing an iPad means saying goodbye to Adobe Flash (unless you want to use a workaround provided by the Skyfire browser, which transcodes Flash video remotely and streams it as HTML5 to the device) and agreeing to whatever restriction Apple decides to place on the tablet and the apps it can run. Unless you are prepared to jailbreak it, of course.
5. iPad 2
Apple will raise the bar to new entrants into the tablet market some time in 2011 - probably Q2 - with the introduction of a successor to the iPad.
Not much is known about the highly anticipated iPad 2, but it is expected to be powered by a beefed-up dual core A9 processor, offer an even higher screen resolution, and include front and rear cameras - similar to the iPod Touch and iPhone and most other tablets - for applications like video-conferencing and FaceTime or Skype video calling. CDMA compatibility is also expected, with a possible capacity increase to 128Gb also on the cards.
|
Samsung Galaxy Tab |
Motorola Xoom |
Blackberry Playbook |
Apple iPad |
Apple iPad 2 |
OS |
Android 2.2 Froyo |
Android 3.0 Honeycomb |
Blackberry Tablet OS, based on QNX |
iOS |
iOS |
Processor |
Hummingbird 1GHz or 1.2GHz |
Nvidia Tegra 2 1GHz dual core |
TI OMAP 4430 1GHz dual core |
Apple A4 1GHz |
Arm Cortex 1.2GHz A9 dual core |
Screen size |
7" 1024x600 resolution |
10.1" 1280x800 resolution |
7" 1024x600 resolution |
9.7" 1024x768 resolution |
9.7" 2048 x 1536 |
Display type |
Capacitive multitouch |
Capacitive multitouch |
Capacitive multitouch |
Capacitive multitouch |
Capacitive multitouch |
Connectivity |
Wi-Fi (a/b/g/n), 3G HSPA, Bluetooth 3.0
WiFi only version will also be available |
Wi-Fi b/g/n Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR +HID 3G, 4G upgradeable
WiFi only version expected |
4G( 3G expected) WiFi a/b/g/n Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR
WiFi only version will also be available |
Wi-Fi a/b/g/n Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR 3G UMTS/HSDPA GSM/EDGE
WiFi only version also available |
Wi-Fi a/b/g/n Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR
GSM and CDMA chipset |
Sensors |
Geo-magnetic sensor Ambient light sensor Accelerometer Gyroscope
|
Gyroscope, Barometer, Accelerometer Ambient light sensor |
3-axis accelerometer |
Accelerometer, Ambient light sensor |
? |
Storage |
16GB or 32GB, with expansion via microSD |
32Gb, SD card support after software update |
8GB, 16GB, and 32GB |
16Gb, 32GB or 64Gb flash drive |
16Gb, 32GB 64Gb or 128Mb flash drive |
Camera |
3MP or 5MP rear facing with auto-focus, LED flash 1.3MP front facing |
5MP rear facing with dual LED flash and 720P video capture 2MP front facing |
5MP rear facing 3MP front facing
|
None |
1Mp rear and 0.3Mp front facing cameras |
Carriers |
AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, US Cellular |
Verizon |
Sprint (4G version) AT&T (3G, expected) |
AT&T (3G version) |
? |
Price |
$500 or $600 (no contract) $250 (with contract)
WiFi only $450 (expected)
|
$700 (expected) |
8GB $399
|
WiFi only 16GB $499 32GB $599 64GB $699
WiFi+3G 16GB $629 32Gb $729 64Gb $829 plus data plan |
? |
Availability |
3G: available now WiFi only: Q1 2011 |
3G: Feb 17th 2011 (rumor) WiFi only: April 2011 |
4G version: Q1 2011 WiFi only version: Q1 2011 3G version: Q1 or Q2 2011 |
All versions available now |
Q2 2011 |