But the 99p ones don't quite exquisitely stimulate your ear drums like the Apple ones do, Dave. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave B
Printable View
But the 99p ones don't quite exquisitely stimulate your ear drums like the Apple ones do, Dave. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave B
Apple iPad Mini 8in tablet review ? The Register Keep in mind that The Register is no fanboi site, they are usually pretty harsh on Apple.
Biggest hangup for all tablets for me is the lack of 'built in' or 'standard' external keyboard.
Trying to work on a citrix session is a nightmare!
I submit that no tablet is going to give you a good experience in that regard.
The Surface advert is awful!
It seems so : Surface disk space | Surface storage | Available disk space on Microsoft Surface
Disk space? Disk?
My iPhone is 32Gb and has 28Gb for storage, which isn't too bad.
I handled one today (set my colleague's language to Korean :andrea: )...
felt OK, but I haven't handled a Nexus yet :p
Prizefight: Apple iPad Mini vs. Google Nexus 7 | Prizefight - CNET
No surprises there with the Nexus 7 winning, especially considering how Cnet has been biased towards Apple in the past. :D
It's pretty equal in a lot of areas for the two tablets, but with the better OS, display and price point being the deciding factors in favor of the Nexus 7. Throw in an additional NFC bonus, and it's no longer a competition IMO, especially seeing how you can share data with other phones and tablets in a matter of seconds via NFC.
Still don't understand why Apple keeps holding back on such key features, and can still justify their ridiculous price premium. Most probably their marketing department is waiting to rename NFC for their next device. It's probably gonna be called "Apple file transfer revolution" or "iTouch me tender" or "iBackside transfer" or some crap like that.
Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD 'outperform' iPad Mini display | Apple - CNET News
Display comparo for the three major players in the 7 inch tablet market.
Also interesting is this bit from Techradar's largely favorable review of the iPad mini:
While for a lot of people $130 extra may not seem as much, and a lot will pay willingly, because hey, it's Apple after all, for a lot of other folks money does matter.Quote:
We disliked
The lack of a Retina display is so, so frustrating as that's the killer feature (along with, perhaps, a slightly faster processor) that would have meant we gave the iPad mini our first five star tablet review. It's that good. But the screen is too fuzzy at times compared to the likes of the new iPad or iPhone 5 to consider it a dazzling display, and that's a real shame.
The low-power GPU is also sadly lacking, even for the price point, and while we've long given up on looking for expandable storage or a removable battery on these devices, 16GB of storage isn't enough for the plethora of large apps and HD content we're interested in downloading onto this device.
I'm not in the market to buy a tablet, but if I really wanted to be lazy on the couch and browse through the exciting lives of show-offs on Facebook, any of the 7 inch tablets will do the job perfectly. I would probably add in $70 extra to the price of one iPad mini and get two Nexus 7s, one for my wife as well. ;)
Whether you like to believe so or not, products from rival companies will always be in competition with each other, full stop.Quote:
Originally Posted by henners88
So instead of being stupendously light its just very light...Quote:
Originally Posted by henners88
Still it doesn't seem to be the killer phone it was meant to be which is the disappointing bit, especially in view of the camera performance.
Apple cannot as a brand offer the same product for the same money as non-premium competitors. It HAS to charge more. Again this boils back down to maintaining premium brand status. Offering the product for the price its competitors charge would have long term negative implications for the Apple brand.Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainRaiden
This isn't about features anymore...
That's the strangest thing. A few years back Apple products were superior in almost every respect to their rivals and they could justify the premium price. Then a tiny handful of devices started to match them both for specs and overall experience, but Apple still had enough cachet to justify the difference.Quote:
Originally Posted by Malbec
But now? The Nexus massively undercuts the iPad, there are handsets for literally half the price of an iPhone which match it's performance (the Nexus 4 is a simply staggering price point), and consumers are quickly understanding that there's Apples are not the only fruit. I simply can't see Apple maintaining anything like their current market share without either a radical refresh of their hardware and OS, or an acceptance that they have to cut prices and margins.
Amazon and Google are moving towards the razorblade pricing structure: sell the devices at a tiny profit but make your money down the line on purchases and advertising. I'd be surprised if either of them make more than $10 on the sale of a Kindle or Nexus tablet, but they're capturing market share at a phenomenal rate.
It goes further than that IMO, you also got more for your money then. I bought a gen 2 iPod which came beautifully packed (so much so I felt almost guilty opening up the vacuum packed earplugs etc) with a case and a dock as part of the price. It felt you were buying something from NASA, not an MP3 player. Get one now and all thats included is a powerpack and earplugs, all cheaply packed. Everything else is of course extra.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave B
Apple don't need marketshare, they need profitability which they have in spades. I'd argue that losing significant marketshare for them has its plus sides as the brand then becomes less ubiquitous and therefore gains exclusivity.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave B
Everything you've said about Apple could be said about BMW offering a similar product to non-premium rivals at a significant premium at both initial purchase and servicing yet they get away with it. Once you get to become a premium brand market psychology changes completely, all in favour of the seller.
Of their rivals Amazon are the only ones who are emulating the same businessmodel and yet they can't charge a premium for their hardware for the reasons you described. Google don't make hardware and the phone manufacturers don't make money on the software or downloaded content. Only Apple and Amazon are involved at every step of the process to extract profit.
Unless Apple seriously mismanage their brand (like making a series of Maps-like failures) they'll find it very difficult to lose their premium status and thus their profitability if other consumer goods are a reliable indicator.
Can I say - again - that I hate Apple shops; sorry "Apple Retail Stores"
I was in buying a peripheral at the weekend. Now in a normal shop you'd go and pick an item off the shelf, take it to the checkout, maybe wait in a queue, then pay for your goods, they're bagged and you're away.
Not so in an Apple shop - there's no checkouts, only the blue shirts walking around with iPhones with credit card things on them. So you've got your peripheral you have to stop a blue shirt, you try catching their eye, nope, doesn't work. Then it's "Excuse me?!" "Sorry I'm with two other customers" .. "Excuse me?!" .. ignored. Until you eventually find someone who isn't endlessly explaining to an elderly couple why an iPad needs "wifi", who can actually take your money off you.
But a lot of them do, and the comparison link was for their benefit. If you're not interested in looking at comparisons or pros and cons of different products in competition, just ignore such posts in the future. Nobody is forcing you, personally, to buy a tablet you don't want, neither did I quote you specifically, so why take exception? This thread doesn't revolve around you, henners. :) It seems you can't stand Apple being criticized even in the slightest and jump to defend it hammer and tongs. There will always be criticisms of every product. Learn to let it go.Quote:
Originally Posted by henners88
Let me get this straight. Are you assuming that I don't buy products that I like, but rather products that fit my budget and get the biggest bang for buck? Are you somehow implying that I like Apple products, but since I can't afford them, choose to criticize them? If yes, that is a rather arrogant, simplistic and elitist point of view and you couldn't be more wrong. To be very clear, not one Apple product ever has interested me even one iota. I've had ample time to play with iMacs and Macbooks and iPhones, and never desired any one of them, not even the first ever iPhone. Not saying they are not good products, but for someone who knows what is under the hood of their electronic product, they don't appeal to me.Quote:
Originally Posted by henners88
When I was in the market to buy a laptop two years ago, I could have very well bought a Macbook, but instead bought a Dell laptop with superior hardware and a 42 inch LG TV with the same amount of money. Was the best purchase decision I ever made. So, no, I buy what I like. It just happens to be that what I like are non-Apple products. I don't care about aesthetics or "feel" or let simplistically dumb marketing ads sway my opinion. I care about performance and have even built gaming monster PCs for as much as $2000 in the past.
But, but, I am not trying to have you agree with me. I could actually give a flying rat's ass about what tablet you choose to buy. If you think the iOS is a better OS, then good for you, even if the actual tech experts globally think otherwise. Apple has dropped the ball with their maps, which is one of the most important features of a mobile device, and that has hurt the reputation of their OS quite a bit. At the same time it's been criticized for being an aging OS with limited features and having a walled garden feel. This is just not me talking, but it is the universal opinion of almost every tech expert. Sales growth of Android seems to support this fact. You seem to be quite adamant to not recognize this fact.Quote:
Originally Posted by henners88
If the Apple OS is better in your opinion, then good for you. You should be happy with your purchase and not try to defend it. What people say on message boards shouldn't affect how you feel about your purchase, and you shouldn't take Apple criticisms personally, as it seems every time somebody does so, you are quick to jump to try and defend them with the same repetitive rhetoric.
What the what...? :p
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d5xkULjc50
I wonder if that was the influence of the now departed idiot from Dixons who thought that shedding staff and paying lower wages would result in better service. Maybe now he's gone his changes can be reversed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark
I've only ever set foot in an Apple store once, to browse, and I found the experience quite good: polite attentive staff who introduced themselves but then left me alone when I said I was just looking. Normally I hear good things about their service.
Fair enough.Quote:
Originally Posted by henners88
Dell laptops seem to be producing such problems randomly. For example, my Dell hasn't sprung one single problem in the last two years. The battery also surprisingly lasts between 2 to 2.5 hours regularly. But my sister bought a Dell and had a battery problem within the first 21 days, which they replaced of course. Then again, a friend who bought a Macbook at the same time as I bought my Dell, has gone to the Apple store three times to get it repaired or replaced.Quote:
Originally Posted by henners88
What you are suggesting henners are workarounds. Workarounds for an epic fail product from a premium brand, which should not happen, especially if you're paying close to freaking $800 for their devices. It took Google 7 years of constant mule like work to perfect their Maps app. Can Apple perfect their product in half that time? I doubt it. Maybe it didn't affect you, but for a lot of daily commuters, it's a deal breaker. It's a hilarious failure, and such unfinished product by a premium brand like Apple is simply unacceptable, and you know that, henners. How can you justify this catastrophe by Apple is beyond me. I would be on Google's case pretty hard if they ever made any such blunder.Quote:
Originally Posted by henners88
While that may have been true in the past, not any more so, as I have proven with links from various tech magazines, Android trumps Apple's latest offering in every department. Plus, flagship smartphones from various manufacturers have piled up and have given their own little boost to Android. Of course, cheaper phones also helped. But the growth really has been on the top end. For example, the current market share for the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S3 is 56%-44%. And I expected the iPhone 5 to comfortably be ahead, and not by such a small margin.Quote:
Originally Posted by henners88
Sometimes it's like you're incapable of understanding or better yet, accepting the fact that there is a big percentage of users who dislike Apple products. You keep on repeating the same rhetoric like "People will buy what they like, Apple make premium products, the interface is smooth, I don't feel the hardware is inadequate", blah de blah, about a 1000 times already. Yes, in your opinion Apple is the best thing since sliced bread, but learn to accept others may not share the same opinion, as I have already proven with various different links. It's nauseating.Quote:
Originally Posted by henners88
Again, a simplistic way of looking at things. As a future, and I might add forced, customer of an Apple product, it pisses me off to no end that I would have to overpay for a product. Did I tell you that you made the wrong choice when you bought your iPhone 5? No, so then what's the reasoning behind your statement above, may I ask?Quote:
Originally Posted by henners88
Yes. To be fair the shop was rammed. I wanted to try out an iPad Mini. No chance; couldn't get anywhere near.
Apples answer is to use the Apple Store app to scan the item myself and then pay through my iTunes account. Which would have been fine if I could get a phone signal inside the shop ; I couldn't. So went through the process and it ended up hanging on 'processing' for 5 minutes before telling me to find a member of staff!
Yeah. It knows when you are near the shop and you do scan the barcode and pay for it through your phone. If you can then just walk out I have no idea I didn't get that far.
I dunno. I've used my clubcard on my iPhone before. I half expected the checkout man to be like 'ooh look at that' but he just scanned the screen. I suppose he sees dozens every day.
Remember having a mobile phone at all used to be seen as quite pretentious. Now it's entirely normal.
But you haven't bought the iPad mini. Why does its criticism bother you?Quote:
Originally Posted by henners88
You have criticized Samsung, Google and Microsoft (just recently), three companies that I am mildly fond of, but I've not gotten riled up over it. In fact I will post something genuinely funny anti-Samsung or anti-Microsoft if I come across it just as I do often for my friends on Facebook. I have read plenty of people criticizing the Galaxy S3 here and all over the internet without getting offended.
I don't really care about that TBH. People can talk about whatever they want here, I'm not stopping them. Neither do I nanny people around here telling them what they should be talking about or not, or to get off or change a topic.Quote:
Originally Posted by henners88
As you see fit. ;) I don't really care either way and will debate on points I'm interested in as long as there's something to talk about.Quote:
Originally Posted by henners88
I have bought the iPad Mini. Although I don't get to use it until Christmas.
Just wanted to post a quick review of a battery saving app for the Android users over here, before I hit the sack.
Link here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...VkZWZlbmRlciJd
I had my SGS3 pulling up emails from four company accounts (set to check every 10 minutes for quick correspondence), two yahoo and two Gmail accounts, that's 8 email accounts checked every few minutes. Coupled with some music, video playback and gaming, the phone was running out of battery from 100% to 0% in about 7 hours. It goes fine for 3 days if it's only one or two accounts, but 8 email accounts seem too heavy to handle. The phone would eat through its battery and be dead in the morning when I woke up if I hadn't kept it charging.
I don't like to use the phone's power saving feature, as it makes the interface quite choppy. So, I installed the juice defender app, and it's brilliant. It cuts off all radios and does some other energy saving stuff once the screen goes off and automatically connects to wi-fi or 3G data only every 20 minutes to check for email and then cuts it off again. Discharged only 70% in over 26 hours and there's no choppiness. It's perfect, so much so that I'm considering buying the full app.
Not sure what you mean as you can't buy iPad 3 any more. Or do you mean iPad 2. But then I'm still confused about 'stretch to iPad Mini' as this is the cheapest of the iPads.
Why not? Is it not available straightaway? I believe one of my friend's already got one through Amazon UK.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark
Because it's a Christmas present. :)
Henners. Fair enough if you can get a good deal then go for it!
Aaaaaaah. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Mark
The iPad mini should of course be viewed in such that its a racing certainty that it will have a 326ppi 'retina' display before the end of 2013.
Of course, as Apple would firstly address the biggest talking point of their current iPad mini with their next release.
Some speed test results are interesting:
http://regmedia.co.uk/2012/11/06/ipad4_8.png
I think the depressing thing is that we all know there'll be a retina version out within the next few months and a price reduction on the current mini - surely people know by now never to buy the first iteration of any Apple product.Quote:
Originally Posted by henners88
Oh I accept that's true of any technology, there's never a right time to buy as there'll always be something better/cheaper within months. Weeks, sometimes.Quote:
Originally Posted by henners88
That was true even when I were a lad. My Dad would say "Oh why not just wait as there will be something better out" - Well there will always be something better out soon; that's the nature of technology.
Having a good idea about product cycles does help however; to avoid buying an old product a week before the new one is released; but when making any purchase above a few hundred pounds you need to put in your research anyway, and in these days of that there internet, there's no excuse for not putting in the effort.
Another example - Last Christmas I bought a Blu-Ray player - partly because it had iPlayer, now about 10 months later I can get iPlayer on my Sky box thus rendering the Blu Ray a bit useless; but that's no problem I had 10 months use I wouldn't otherwise have done.
Here's a nifty little use for Android: a full HD media player with wi-fi and USB and SD slots, all built into a device the size of a memory stick, for £40.
UG802 Dual Core RK3066 Android 4.0 Mini PC Google TV Box Internet Wifi Player | eBay
My main telly is connected to a PC running XBMC, but for this price it's worth a punt for the kitchen TV.
The issue people have with Apple is planned obsolescence. It's not like there aren't screens in the size of the Apple Mini with the same DPI as a retina screen, it's just that Apple have made a conscious decision to launch the Mini with a screen which has a lower DPI than the normal iPad so that in the future they can launch practically the same thing with a better screen and call it the iPad Mini 2. The iPad Mini 2, now more magical than the crappy one Mark has :p Or at least will have at Christmas :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Mark
That said there is something to be said for buying things more or less as soon as they come out. Your product will current for longer.
I built my PC from bits which had only been out for about a week or so. If I'd waited months I could have gotten said bits cheaper, but then you just end up having to use your old "slow" computer for longer and you own the product for a shorter time before it's superceded.