I got an Android tablet in late May (Asus Transformer) and have been using it a lot, so here are some of my initial experiences and observations. First, I was looking for a device that retains the laptop experience, so the transformer, with dock/keyboard, was the choice. That configuration also increases the battery life, since the dock has a built-in battery. Recent firmware upgrade diminished that value, because the dock refuses to deep sleep, so stays on and when not used. This is fixable, but regrettably demands return of the unit for repair. Leaving this “early-adopter” punishment aside for the time, what about the general tablet experience.
My goal is to replace a Windows laptop (Why? Because it is), so data productivity and data consumption need to be supported. Data consumption, such as email, surfing, internet apps work really well. From what I’ve seen, it is quite similar to the iPad, except that the app store for Android tablets is smaller. Note that android apps are plentiful, but tablet-based apps (using more screen real-estate) are limited. It seems that developers are taking a wait-and-see approach, perhaps until Android 4 appears late this year. This will quickly change, with more tablet models and manufacturers appearing every week and sales increasing. Several very good Android tablet optimized apps are available (like CNN), while other are strangely lacking (like New York Times). The browser is similar to the Chrome browser on the PC, with enhancements for touch interface. New browsers are appearing that offer additional touch functionality (like Dolphin). Flash is enabled, so essentially all websites works. Note that you can change the browser setting from tablet to desktop, which tells websites that they are dealing with a desktop browser, allowing more functionality. Make sure you change this setting.
Productivity is another matter. The tablet has great email functionality, including the ability to combine accounts (in my case, Outlook Exchange server and Gmail). The office suite experience is much less satisfying. My particular brand comes with Polaris suite, which is one of several Microsoft Office alternatives (such as Quickoffice, Docs to go). These programs allow you to open and edit MO files, but not save in the new format (with the added “x” in the extension). When opening these files in regular Office, they may contain alerts and have limited editing functionality. So, just fine for a basic document (word, excel, ppt), but no seamless operation between Windows machine(s) and Android tablet. Also frustrating is the synching of files. Google Docs allows cloud access to files and synching, but no local files. So, when you are not connected to WiFi, no access to files. Obviously this is not satisfactory, which even GDocs admits (later this year offline capability will seemingly be reintroduced). I use SugarSync for this purpose, allowing me to identify directories on my windows machine that are synched on the tablet. This works most of the time, but not as smooth as synching among Windows machines. SugarSync gives 5Gb free storage, so good for most purposes outside media files.
What about media? Good music player and nice podcasts apps (such as Listen) are available, so no issues here. I am using a free cover art downloader to spice-up the display. Video seems to work fine, although I have not done more than just testing HBOGO and some websites. Netflix streaming is still a no-go, but may be fixed with imminent Android 3.2 upgrade. Video output uses a mini-HDMI, which worked fine on my LG TV in 1080i mode. One also uses this port for powerpoint, but without a VGA-out connector this limits presentation use to newer projectors (with HDMI input).
A professional reason I am looking at tablets is their use as a field computing tool. I have been experimenting with tablets since they first appeared, including military grade Xplore with Windows XP. Predictably, Google Maps is well integrated into android tablets and the built-in GPS is excellent. I used it to track locations in US, Turkey and Italy this summer, without any problems. Because GM caches maps (allowing >100Mb), I simply view the area of interest at the desired zoom level in advance, which is preserved when I no longer have WiFi (such as driving around). A map cache mode (10mi radius) has just been introduced as well. Stand-alone GPS apps give location and tilt information without WiFi as well, so it is also a tilt compass (yes, dip and dip direction, for the geologists among us). Some apps offer additional mapping functionality, such a Locus, but no user data input layer (yet) and ArcMap for Android remains in development.
So, all in all, my Android tablet is a nice device that clearly illustrates the future of mobile computing. Growing pains are expected, and they are certainly there. So why not get an iPad2, which is more mature? I am not a fan of the Steve-knows-best culture, making decisions on functionality (add-ons) and connectivity (ports) that do not recognize user needs. I expect, much like smartphones, that the open Android system will become the leading tablet OS, because of greater functionality, interconnectivity, manufacturer choice and pricing. Let’s see how this plays out.
