In a world peppered with Ultrabooks, convertibles, and tablets, it's more difficult to pick a favorite form factor than it is to find a favorite device. We have notebooks laying around that date back several generations. And while some of us appreciate the potency of a mobile workstation, most would rather go thin and light, and then get back to home base as soon as possible for any gaming we might be missing out on.
If a tablet makes it into our bags, that's because, much of the time, we don't want to wait for a laptop to boot up, we don't want it resting on our legs, and we have no desire to do battle with a touchpad. Historically, based on what was available, we usually ended up toting a ~10" tablet.
Now, I know it's not selling particularly well, but Microsoft's Surface is the first device we've had in the lab encouraging multiple people to drop the whole laptop/tablet tag team and use one device that can live between both worlds. Suddenly, the allure of a big, dumb $500 consumption-oriented device is a lot less pronounced.

At $600 with a Touch Cover, the Surface isn't for everyone either, though. And that's where the 7-8" tablets come into play. Form factor-wise, you have a smaller, lighter, easier to carry device with just as much functionality as the larger models. Only, in the case of Google's Nexus 7, you can get it for as little as $199. Pshya. That makes sense. No wonder we gave it an award.
Then there's Apple's iPad mini. It's thin. It's light. It's all of the things we like about smaller tablets. We're not big fans of buying new Lightning connector-compatible accessories, and the mini could certainly benefit from a higher-resolution, higher-quality LCD. But it feels good in our hands. We get why folks would spend as much (or even a little more) on this thing as they would a Nexus 7.
But Apple doesn't ask you to pay a little more. The iPad mini starts at $329 and can quickly shoot up as high as $659 for the 64 GB cellular-equipped version. That's insane. As we transition into 2013, we'll be heading out to Las Vegas for CES with Microsoft's Surface. If a tablet makes it into our bags as well, it'll be the Nexus 7. There are just so many other things to do with $130 out there that we simply couldn't recommend spending the difference on an iPad mini.
...And the price. I'm not going to give a second thought when I see a $200 tablet with removable storage versus $330 for 16GB of internal storage and no expansion options.
If the device was closer to say $260 for the 32GB version, or just included an option for removable storage... Then I would certainly see the iPad mini as being a viable option even for someone used to Android.
The main factors (in my opinion) for a great device are,
1: A good quality screen, it needs to have vibrant, accurate colours.
2: Even if during benchmarks the device is slow, if it FEELS snappy and quick, that's all that counts.
3: Removable storage for god sake, I know by practice apple enjoys their closed system, but COME ON!
4: It doesn't need to have some amazing 15 hour battery life, but I certainly don't want it to die on a full charge after a movie and a few youtube videos.
...And the price. I'm not going to give a second thought when I see a $200 tablet with removable storage versus $330 for 16GB of internal storage and no expansion options.
If the device was closer to say $260 for the 32GB version, or just included an option for removable storage... Then I would certainly see the iPad mini as being a viable option even for someone used to Android.
The main factors (in my opinion) for a great device are,
1: A good quality screen, it needs to have vibrant, accurate colours.
2: Even if during benchmarks the device is slow, if it FEELS snappy and quick, that's all that counts.
3: Removable storage for god sake, I know by practice apple enjoys their closed system, but COME ON!
4: It doesn't need to have some amazing 15 hour battery life, but I certainly don't want it to die on a full charge after a movie and a few youtube videos.
you're right
I'm glad that i bought the Nexus7. 16GB is enough, and rootet i can plug in external device. And as for all my techy stuff, i doubt i've to send it in before the 2y warranty expires
You mean, the Galaxy Tab 7.7. But yes, they should sue Apple fir design infringement.
The apps are phenomenal and far more abundant than any competitor as well.
But as I've said, the problems are:
1) Price is way to high
2) Screen quality (Would NOT be an issue if the price wasn't stupidly high. If we're paying $130 more for a tablet, we atl east want retinta.)
3) No storage expansion. I understand that storage is being used to "tier" these things like consoles are doing, but its pretty silly not to all for a simple SD expansion.
Unlike a lot of younger techies, I don't feel that the closed environment or the lack of "customization" is really a flaw. Most individuals don't want to spend a lot of time tinkering around with their tablet. They just want to use it or accomplish a task with it. To most adults, its more of a tool to get a job done that a toy to be tinkered with constantly. I'm ok with leaving the device alone and simply reading, listening to music or watching movies on a plane.
its got almost the same specs as the kindle, an sd card slot, and a better screen(1440x900). similar price too.