Which Tablet?

[IndigoPrime]

You're going to discover a lot more things like that, and I imagine you're going to find a surprising amount of utility in the iPad. I've used mine for a chunk of writing and music sketches, and I know people using theirs for programming, office work and illustration. MacUser last issue even had one of their regulars showing how they created a vector logo in an app that costs a few quid (Inkpad, IIRC).

I also find there's something great about direct interaction that beats using a pointer (and unlike with the new Windows kit, all iOS apps are of course designed first and foremost for touch, hence the form-like inputs in spreadsheet app Numbers and similar UI niceties).

[pauljholden]

I plumped for a Applydea Maglus - seems to be the best-reviewed stylus around. I'll let you know how it is.

Pro Create is unbelievable - my jaw was on the floor as I started playing around with it.

Procreate is great, isn't it. Can't wait for the new version (suspect it'll be year end and be a free upgrade)

If it could handle a3 sized images I'd never to back to my desktop computer/photoshop...

-PJ

[JTurner]

Just bought myself a stylus for the Nexus7 I'm getting for Christmas.

I almost considered going for a Kindlefire HD and wiping it to put on a proper Android OS instead of the Amazon OS but couldn't be bothered in the end.

Definitely give the Fire a miss if you want flexibility beyond an Amazon marketing tool. I also really don't think apple is worth the designer gear price you pay.

[Teivion]

Can I ask a favour -

Anyone with a tablet to check if BBC iplayer and ITV player plays subtitles on their setup, most shops I have been into dont have a decent connection to try, or its not installed , the fact that iplayer etc will run on the tablet isnt really what I mean btw, its if you can turn subtitling on via the streaming while its on the tablet ?



And anyone tried to plug theirs into a TV ?

Thanks, it would be greatly appreciated.

[SmallBlueThing]

Yarvik 9.7" tablet  running android 4. £130 in HMV. If i bought this would i be able to download and read comics on it? I also have a number of digital comics on cd that are played through a little program whose icon is a speech bubble. Would i be able to copy the cd to a micro sd card and view on the tablet? Would i be able to take out a digital sub to 2000AD?

Im not interested in playing any games at all on it- not even free ones- and would ideally be using it entirely as a comic and book reader.

Also: we dont have a landline, and currently access the web via a dongle (and our phones). How would tablet access the web? Would we need to have a landline installed?

Cheers!

SBT

[SmallBlueThing]

Note: please dont say "spend more, get ipad" or similar. Financial matters are foremost and i can only barely afford this.

SBT

[Professor Bear]

If all you want to do is read comics, that's far too much to spend on a machine to do so, as 7 inch tablets (perfectly good for US format comics) start around the 40-50 pounds mark.  Having said that, a 9.7 inch screen would be good for 2000ad format pages - obviously the bigger the screen, the easier it'll be for you to read on it, so if you can afford it, go for it.  With comics, stability, memory use and even touchscreen sensitivity are low priority because you're just looking at a static page, so it's really hard to go wrong if you're buying a tablet for comics alone.

The little speech bubble icon you mention is a .cbr or .cbz file, which is basically a zipped file with a different file extension so that comics reading programmes like CBReader will open it by default when you double click on it.  If you fancy skipping out the whole "faffing about with apps to find one that works on my device to a satisfactory degree" stage of tablet ownership, open the file on your pc as a zipped file by right-clicking and choosing "open with (Winrar or whatever you open zipped files with on your pc)", then extract the contents as a regular folder of .jpegs - you don't need any kind of software or app to view a jpeg in a tablet, just use one of the tablet's image viewers, and tablet image viewers let you drag to change images, so essentially it's like turning a page in a comic-reading app anyway.

[IndigoPrime]

Anyone with a tablet to check if BBC iplayer and ITV player plays subtitles on their setup

iPlayer has built-in subs on iOS. No idea bout ITV Player, but I'll try later today and also streaming them to the TV (via an Apple TV). I know SRT files work in Air Video on iOS though.

[SmallBlueThing]

Having fiddled with seven inches, i cant imagine getting what i want out of it and so will definitely want the nine incher.

And ive got a big cock!

What about the connection question?

SBT

[Professor Bear]

Most tablets are wireless and have their own internal modem.  Set yours to auto-detect wifi and there's a good chance you can glom off a neighbor's unsecured hub, though be sure to disable the modem when you aren't using it as they usually draw a lot of power from the battery.
Otherwise, web connectivity would depend on the individual models and whether or not they allow you to use a dongle, but if you have the exact model you're planning on buying, do a search for it on Amazon and there's more than likely a discussion/bitching match going on about internet speeds in the reviews and/or comments sections.

[IndigoPrime]

@Teivion: on iOS, it looks like ITV Player has no subtitles. iPlayer does, but only on the device—they don't stream via AirPlay. (No idea about over HDMI—I don't have the relevant cable.)

[Teivion]

Thanks I.P !

Looks like a race between a Blackberry Tablet on offer and a Nexus for me ( I dont feel happy paying Apple prices knowing the chances are half of it won't be supported in a year etc etc)

sbt- Some reviews Ive read mention the ability to piggy back an internet connection off your mobile device as well as using what ever is or isnt built into the tablet

[Jim_Campbell]

Looks like a race between a Blackberry Tablet on offer and a Nexus for me ( I dont feel happy paying Apple prices knowing the chances are half of it won't be supported in a year etc etc)

Eh? That makes no sense whatsoever! RIM is a company with a VERY uncertain future, so support for Blackberry products is dependent on them a) not going bust or b) not getting bought out the moment their share value falls below the book value of their assets and strip-mined by an investment company.

Android, meanwhile, continues to fork and fragment in ways baffling to the everyday consumer and Google has shown itself capable of being every bit as capricious as Apple.

That said, Apple have been pretty solid about supporting older versions of iOS devices and obsolescence is generally a function of hardware advances rather than some mercurial decree from on high. Or would you rather Apple gimped the features in the current software/hardware spec to ensure back compatibility to its oldest devices?

Plenty of reasons not to like Apple, but this one seems illogical.

Cheers

Jim

[radiator]

To be fair, that isn't really the point he is making - he's saying, i think, that if he buys a cheaper tablet and it isn't supported, no great loss compared to the relative cost/risk of buying an Apple device.

[Teivion]

"That said, Apple have been pretty solid about supporting older versions of iOS devices and obsolescence is generally a function of hardware advances"

Yeh,
Basically I have an Iphone 3gs which 90% of the Apps - such as Dredd v ZOmbies- doesnt allow to download on to, and I cant update the OS anymore. Its not like its THAT old. I also spent about 3 months unable to access any apps as the download function was disabled after an 'update'. This was later rectified, I believe through a load of complaints.


I am all for pushing new advances- we'd still be driving Model T Fords in Black otherwise, but I think Apples marketing strategy seems pointed toward those that can afford to be fashionable.
A friend recently said he had a load of monitors returned to apple because the cable to run the new monitor to his earlier specc'd Apples wasnt even available yet.
Perfectly decent Macs at an old work place were no longer 'usable' as they ran an older OS system.

I guess I think Apple develop stuff SO quickly, you have to play catch up, a game Im not interested in for the most part. If I spent 400 quid on something, Id like more than a season of use before its made to feel like its a poor relative of the latest.