[Sir Barton]

Im on the market for an Android tablet, but having trouble finding something that fits my needs. Preferably, I want a 7" screen, but wont rule out a 10". Ive noticed that many Android tablets use a power brick or a proprietary USB interface for charging, are there any that use standard/mini/micro USB? GPS enabled would be nice as well. The 2 that have garnered the most attention from me are the Toshiba Thrive 7 and Acer Iconia A100. The problem with those 2 are the power brick on the Iconia and the proprietary USB connection on the Thrive. Will I have to bite the bullet and grab either of those 2, or is there a better option out there? Thanks!

[Cigarsmoker]

Yeah seems the trend with Android tables are power bricks or proprietary connectors. I just bought a Motorola Xoom from Costco for $300 Cdn. It comes with a power brick but there's a driver download from Motorola that will allow charging from USB. Have not tried this feature yet so can't tell you how well it works.

edit - I all other respects I'm loving the Xoom.

[Sir Barton]

Hmmmm. I think Im going to look into the Xoom as well. I totally forgot about that model. USB charging would be a big bonus as itll be easier to charge in my car.

[Cigarsmoker]

As I said, I'm really liking the Xoom. Have miniUSB and miniHDMI connectors. I really like the SD card slot. The 7-8 hours battery life under normal usage is nice. And most important to me, it's well support on xda's forum, meaning it's easy to root and customize.

[Mandrake4565]

I have a Samsung Galaxy 7" that my wife bought for me a year ago. I absolutely love it and have had no problems with it. For me the 7" is fine because of the portability of it. Though it does have a proprietary USB interface for charging.

[Cigarsmoker]

Just tossing this out there, but if you are interested in 7", the Blackberry playbooks have been discounted a great deal. They've not been selling well. Might be something worth looking at.

[Mandrake4565]

Read the reviews on the blackberry, from what I remember they aren't very good.

[Pinky]

In the 10" market the Asus Transformer is a solid device (especially the TF101 original model which can be found cheap now since the TF 2 was released). It does have a proprietary connector but additional connectors can be purchased online from several vendors. It trickle charges via USB, but runs off USB so at least it wouldn't drain the battery if powered by USB and charges when not in use. The power 'brick' is a really small AC adapter with the plug built in. Can find these online as well, had two of them when I had a TF (one for home, one for travel). Since the TF used USB 3, can use any standard USB 3 extension cable with it.

The TF is the best bang-for-buck 10" android tab available IMO. It's received the ICS update recently as well.

For everyday use I can't see using a 7" tab. The 7" screen is fine for casual media viewing but that's it.

[markp1989]

Asus were planning on releasing a 7" tablet called "MeMo" ..stupid name
http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/09/a...ormer-prime-t/

the Samsung galaxy 7.7 looks nice but its a bit on the pricy side
http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/07/s...ional-edition/

I have a Asus Transformer (original TF101 not the prime), I brought it last July for just over £400 with the keyboard dock. I am pleased with it I use it a lot around the house and at uni for note taking etc, my only complaint is that there isnt much productivity software available; I use quick office pro to view the odd MS Office file but I haven't made anything using it and the last time I looked there wasn't any IDE available to my programming work, which I don't expect will change anytime soon as there is only a handful of Android tablets with a keyboard.

Charging over usb is possible but in my experience it takes a VERY long time and if your using it whilst its plugged in to a usb port the battery will be getting used faster than its charging.

the AC charger for the TF101 isnt a standard usb port, its the same shape but when the transformer is connected to it, it switches from 5v output (usb standard) to 12v or 15v I cant remember the amount now, but generic usb mains chargers wont work.

I wouldn't mind getting a 7" tablet just to test out the form factor, but I already have a phone with a relatively large screen 4.3 inch screen SGS2, and two 10" tablets so I am not sure how much a 7" will benefit me maybe if i can pick up 1 cheap i would give it a go

[DBZ]

What do you plan to do with your tablet?

[Cigarsmoker]

OK I no longer recommend RIM's Playbook after this announcement yesterday.

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/RIM-Blac...ews-14737.html

BTW - any of you non-US Xoom owners who want to upgrade to ICS and GED (Google Experience Device, i.e. no bloatware), it's pretty easy to do this. Just did it the other day. Easy and loving it.

[Cigarsmoker]

I want one of these.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Ind...are,15273.html

[givmedew]

Hi yeh the RIM is a NO NO NO go for a lot of reasons. I work for VZW and this just isn't for anyone unless they are hardcore RIM users.

As far as my preferences go. I love the smaller Samsung tablets as well as the 10" I absolutely love the Motorola Xoom.

I also noticed someone recommended the ASUS Transformer I have to agree agree agree agree. It looks nice it performs well the battery is decent and the keyboard option is THE BEST and the price on the keyboard isn't too bad. They keyboard is overpriced but hey they nailed it.

Now one thing I would highly recommend to you though is that you make GPS a must not a I'd like feature but a MUST HAVE feature.

I am fairly certain that ANY Android Tablet that has cellular modem built into it will have GPS functionality even without a cellular plan. To top this it may even be assisted GPS which is better than normal GPS if it is used in conjunction with GPS not instead of. The reason why I say aGPS+GPS is better than just GPS is because it works without being able to see a satellite which means in the house in a tunnel in downtown Chicago etc.

Every cellular based tablet I have used has had functioning GPS even without a plan and I have used a ton I can NOT confirm whether or not that GPS function was w/ aGPS or was just with the normal GPS receiver that is in those models. What I can say is that every single one of those units did work in my house but it is possible with new technological advances that maybe they are capable of getting that signal in the house.

The units I have used with cellular modems, no plans, and used GPS software are: Original Samsung Galaxy Tab 7" from VZW, XOOM from VZW, iPad2 from VZW (use it EVERY SINGLE DAY FOR GPS), New Samsung Galaxy 10" and others.

I have not extensively used any of the Android devices for Nav software just made sure it worked and I always provided it with a internet connection from my portable WiFi hot spot (iPhone).

What I can confirm is that on the iPad2 VZW+ATT models if you use a Nav software that has the maps on the unit like TOM TOM you do NOT need an internet connection. However if you do have one it will give you better traffic information and let you search for a location on Google. But even without the internet connection TOM TOM has tons of POIs built in. The problem with Nav software like that is that they take up 1-2GB of storage on your device which for Apple devices BLOWS since the memory is not expandable.

Now if you are wondering why a ANTI Apple totally non fanboy PC overclocking person would choose iPad over any and I do mean ANY Android device is because once you jailbreak an iOS device they are just AMAZING the things you can do are endless. Also no matter how you put it you just can't overlook the fact that since developers make more money developing for iOS than for Android the better APPS are on iOS not Android. Now I say better I mean better developed but Apple is pretty restrictive to policy but thats what Cydia is for. Cydia is where you get all the awesome applications that do crazy things that apple doesn't want you to have!

Anyways I hope this helps. I do not mean to try to persuade you to go with Apple in fact I would say the opposite. Right now it may be months or maybe never before you can jailbreak a brand new iPad2 or iPad3 since the newest OS for the iPad2 isn't jailbroken and the iPad3 has not been jailbroken and a NON Jailbroken iOS device is just a paperweight with decent games.

EDIT*** Also the 7" Galaxy Tab will fit in a jacket coat pocket and even a suite jacket pocket. I am not sure if the new 7" will since i havn't tried but I owned the original 7 and it slid right into to my inside suite jacket pocket. A lot of business men care about this so if you where a suite jacket then the Galaxy might be the choice for you!