Is ipad air the best tablet?

SapphireFlames

zarf2007 wrote: »

Another generalisation that is completely wrong. I have been in IT for over 20 years and use Unix/Linux heavily at work as well as windows. Linux, although it has greatly improved with Ubuntu etc is still no where near OSX as a desktop OS. Linux/Unix is a great stable server OS and is best used in that environment. OSX can be as advanced (with scripting etc) or easy as you want to make it. I know numerous people with similar experience who are dumping PC's for Macs because they want something reliable and usable without the headaches.

I use apple products including OSX for the chance to use a stable 99% virus free secure environment (ok nothing is 100% secure but its a hell of a lot better than windows).

You will find that while yes a lot of IT novices use apple products (as they do not care nor need to know about device drivers etc) a lot of skilled IT professionals use it because it just works without the hassle of endless tuning/patching etc that windows needs.

I think the more experienced you become with IT you will realise just how much better choosing apple/OSX is over other/windows technology.

oh and if you want to dabble with IOS devices just jailbreak them....you can always restore back to factory when you need to trade up and noone is the wiser.

and btw the virus comment was aimed more at windows users.....although they are still more common on android than ios devices.

the frustrating thing is hearing family/friends etc constantly moan about the latest issue with their windows system but because they are blinded by microsoft marketing they foolishly won't try anything else. The few that have, like me, would never go back.

I don't think it's likely that I'd ever get a Mac. It's just that I don't need one for what I do on my computer, and I couldn't justify spending all that money. I think Linux Mint is fine as a desktop OS and I can do pretty much everything I need.

I know someone at work who has a MacBook Pro, and he is fed up with it. He says you can't even open the box to add any additional RAM or to change the battery. They have no user-serviceable parts, and the only way to have anything fixed is to pay Apple to do so. From this, it sounds effectively like people can be held to ransom, as no other company is allowed to make Macs or sell computers with OSX. In this way, they effectively have a monopoly and can charge what they like. My colleague said he also doesn't like the planned obsolescence that Apple products seem to have.

I'm sorry but it really doesn't sound like it's for me. I don't want to be tied into a proprietary monopoly like that. Probably the only way I'd ever use a Mac is if I had a job which required me to use one.

DevCoder

captainhindsight wrote: »

The nexus android tablets are the best on the market by a long way (quality, spec and price) much better than any apple or windows tablet.

Seriously? I might agree on the spec and price but the build quality on the iPad is far superior to the Nexus.

Android has a much better ui which is intuitive, where as apples ui you have to learn.

As a developer of both iOS and Android operating systems I strongly disagree, what is intuitive on Android when there is no standard for what each button (capacitive or otherwise) or gesture actually achieves? As an Android developer I can choose to do whatever I want for the press of the home button for example, or the back button. This means that a lot of Android apps are disjointed in what button or gesture achieves what result.

In Apple development, you are forced to adopt the same result for a given button push or gesture. Each app looks the same and behaves the same so in my opinion is far more intuitive.

Actually, there is changes being made to the Android development and Google best practises which actually makes mention to the Apple philosophy regarding UI and feedback. Android SDK and best practises are being brought more in line with a standardised approach in the Apple vein.

You can do everything you want on both, it is just everything is easier to do on android.

Possible, both platforms have their apps best suited to them/

Many apps that you have to pay for on apple are free or much cheaper on android.

The main reason for this is because Apple impose a far stricter development and end product acceptance regime then Google. So the amount of development time (and redevelopment to meet Apples approval) is increased, thus the cost has to be re-couped. However the end product for an Apple app tends to be more refined and adhering to an "all apps behave the same" approach as mentioned above.

Little things will annoy you with apple products like the charger, if it breaks (which is will) you have to buy an expensive replacement. Whereas pretty much every other electrical product on the market used micro USB so you can by cheap good quality replacements.

I could counter that by saying the lightning connector SMD is far less prone to breaking compared to the micro USB SMD

The end of the day, both products will do what you want and have similar hardware spec. It is just the android version will be easier to use, cheaper to buy and to own and less annoying when and if things or accessories go wrong or break.

Both platforms will perform a purpose and there will tend to be two camps of people , for a lot of people an Android device is fine and for some an Android device is preferred (normally techie's or people requiring a lot of connectivity options).

Apple people are either those who want something to work out the box ( the slightly older generation , being politically correct I hope adapt to the iOS more than the Android OS), or those people who already have Apple devices where Apple cross device integration is second to none.

Im probably more in the Apple camp but as I develop for both platforms I see the pros and cons for both. Android certainly has its place, as does Apple. But to discount Apple with the reasons you've given goes against whats been studied and proven.

zarf2007

SapphireFlames wrote: »

I don't think it's likely that I'd ever get a Mac. It's just that I don't need one for what I do on my computer, and I couldn't justify spending all that money. I think Linux Mint is fine as a desktop OS and I can do pretty much everything I need.

I know someone at work who has a MacBook Pro, and he is fed up with it. He says you can't even open the box to add any additional RAM or to change the battery. They have no user-serviceable parts, and the only way to have anything fixed is to pay Apple to do so. From this, it sounds effectively like people can be held to ransom, as no other company is allowed to make Macs or sell computers with OSX. In this way, they effectively have a monopoly and can charge what they like. My colleague said he also doesn't like the planned obsolescence that Apple products seem to have.

I'm sorry but it really doesn't sound like it's for me. I don't want to be tied into a proprietary monopoly like that. Probably the only way I'd ever use a Mac is if I had a job which required me to use one.

Hmm that is despite me installing additional memory and an SSD drive in my MacBook Pro 13 in under 10 minutes...

The MacBook Air is more restricted with soldered memory due to its size however so perhaps he was referring to that?

As for only selling osx with apple computers the reason is that you can then practically guarantee things will work without the driver issues of windows. Of course if you don't like osx you can always use bootcamp or VMware/parallels/virtual box to run windows or linux or any os you like.

DevCoder

at the risk of sounding further like an Apple fan, I'd add two further points

1. Parallels/VMWare Fusion "Coherence" modes are perhaps the best VM transparent integration of another OS and it's apps that Ive seen, short of an ESXi server but then that doesn't really have a host OS thats usable so to speak.

2. As a developer, Apple's Xcode IDE is ,imo, 3 years ahead of what the Android platform has to offer. Xcode is unbelievably slick even compared to Visual Studio. Android's "studio" is a good start towards RAD but it has a lot to learn and is lacking in a lot of even the basics (automatic event creation being a fundamental)...

That said, on Android every API is exposed including those at device level. There is not such thing as real sandboxing which allows powerful apps but also allows (if I put my security hat on) easy exploits of that freedom.

prowla

krisdorey wrote: »

at the risk of sounding further like an Apple fan, I'd add two further points

1. Parallels/VMWare Fusion "Coherence" modes are perhaps the best VM transparent integration of another OS and it's apps that Ive seen, short of an ESXi server but then that doesn't really have a host OS thats usable so to speak.

2. As a developer, Apple's Xcode IDE is ,imo, 3 years ahead of what the Android platform has to offer. Xcode is unbelievably slick even compared to Visual Studio. Android's "studio" is a good start towards RAD but it has a lot to learn and is lacking in a lot of even the basics (automatic event creation being a fundamental)...

That said, on Android every API is exposed including those at device level. There is not such thing as real sandboxing which allows powerful apps but also allows (if I put my security hat on) easy exploits of that freedom.

I use VMware Fusion on Mac and VMware Player (free) on Windows and Linux; I can't say that Fusion is better than Player. I can run the same Windows/Linux/UNIX VMs on any host platform, which is great. It is a bit annoying though, that I bought Fusion 6 this year and now 7 is out and it's a chargeable upgrade.

InsideInsurance

SapphireFlames wrote: »

I know someone at work who has a MacBook Pro, and he is fed up with it. He says you can't even open the box to add any additional RAM or to change the battery. They have no user-serviceable parts, and the only way to have anything fixed is to pay Apple to do so. From this, it sounds effectively like people can be held to ransom, as no other company is allowed to make Macs or sell computers with OSX. In this way, they effectively have a monopoly and can charge what they like. My colleague said he also doesn't like the planned obsolescence that Apple products seem to have.

They arent designed to be user maintained but of cause it is possible to do some of the things you mention if you want and plenty of websites have tutorials on how to do it.

At the end of the day however, how many times a day do you want to add additional RAM or replace a knackered battery? Personally I buy it with what it needs and job done. My MBA is 3 years old and the battery still has 95% capacity and so isnt going to need replacing any time soon.

I am actually not that much of a fan of the OS X operating system, it has some benefits over Windows but some things I still dont get on with but I think things like that, which you use every single day is a much more critical issue to what laptop to buy rather than if you will be able to add some more RAM to it in 2 years time.

JS477

If you want a tablet you can just use straight out of the box then both iOS and Android allow this, however if you want to personalise and customise your tablet to the way you would like it to look and feel then Android rather than iOS is your best bet.

Also for iOS you need iTunes!!! :eek:

prowla

InsideInsurance wrote: »

They arent designed to be user maintained but of cause it is possible to do some of the things you mention if you want and plenty of websites have tutorials on how to do it.

At the end of the day however, how many times a day do you want to add additional RAM or replace a knackered battery? Personally I buy it with what it needs and job done. My MBA is 3 years old and the battery still has 95% capacity and so isnt going to need replacing any time soon.

I am actually not that much of a fan of the OS X operating system, it has some benefits over Windows but some things I still dont get on with but I think things like that, which you use every single day is a much more critical issue to what laptop to buy rather than if you will be able to add some more RAM to it in 2 years time.

It is not uncommon to buy a Mac with the minimal memory and use 3rd party upgrades. Now, I can understand the MacBook Air not being upgradeable, as everything has been done to reduce its size and weight. In buying that you buy into the associated compromise.

As far as OS X goes, it is supremely compatible. I flip between OS X, Windows 7 and Ubuntu systems, and the only thing which catches me out is Apple's use of the Command key rather than the Control key for Cut'n'Paste and so-on. Of the three, I think that OS X is the most pleasant to use desktop OS, though the jury is out on the latest Yosemite version from my perspective.

Back to the tablet thing, the iPad does what it says on the tin.

JS477 wrote: »

If you want a tablet you can just use straight out of the box then both iOS and Android allow this, however if you want to personalise and customise your tablet to the way you would like it to look and feel then Android rather than iOS is your best bet.

Also for iOS you need iTunes!!! :eek:

I don't think you need iTunes for IOS.

JS477

prowla wrote: »

I don't think you need iTunes for IOS.

How do you get music, videos, photos and apps etc onto your iPad without iTunes.

prowla

JS477 wrote: »

How do you get music, videos, photos and apps etc onto your iPad without iTunes.

Do you mean an iTunes account or a computer with iTunes on it?

You don't need a computer with iTunes to load content onto an iPad.