tablets

Acer Iconia W4 [year]

Acer Iconia W4 2025

July 25, 2018 Richard Gomez 0

Windows 8 has an identity problem. The Modern UI, with its big, bright tiles and touch-friendly apps still isn't useful for anything more than the occasional game. Microsoft's most recent updates seem to have been designed to make life easier for non-touch laptop and desktop users, making the traditional Windows desktop more prominent and consigning the Start Screen to the background.
We like Windows 8.1 on desktops and laptops, and like many users, we have adjusted to the lack of a Start menu. Once we're in the desktop, there's almost no need to ever deal with the Modern UI, but we don't mind dipping into it occasionally. On most laptops and hybrid ultrabooks, we often forget that the screens are touch-capable, and frankly, that isn't a problem at all.
Perhaps that's why Windows-powered tablets have all but disappeared from the market. Sure, we've got plenty of ultrabooks and hybrids with keyboards that either detach or fold away – but pure tabl..

Microsoft Surface [year]

Microsoft Surface 2025

July 30, 2016 Richard Gomez 0

Microsoft seems to have gotten the design and form factor right with its new Surface tablet computer. But the user interface, not so much. That's an odd conclusion to make about a device from a software company that usually lets others do the manufacturing.
Still, that's how I felt after feeling the heft of the device, examining it from all sides and making a few swipes at the screen. The Surface has a touch keyboard cover that feels great and, to me, is a big step forward for tablets. The tablet's software interface, however, seems non-intuitive and sluggish.
Microsoft is clearly straddling the uncomfortable divide between the old world of mice and keyboards, where it dominates, and a future ruled by touch screens, where Apple and Android devices prevail.
Although the Surface won't go on sale until this fall, I had the chance to spend a few minutes with some devices in a group demonstration after Microsoft unveiled them in Los Angeles on Monday.
The removable cover..

Samsung Galaxy Note Pro [year] review

Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 2025 review

November 25, 2018 Richard Gomez 0

Is 12 inches too big for a tablet screen? We're about to find out. Samsung has decided that the world needs bigger tablets, and so we have not one but two 12.2-inch models from the Korean giant. As if their lineup wasn't expansive enough, these new models are the largest of a range of new Android tablets.
Samsung's lineup of tablets now extends from 7 inches to 12.2 inches. Factoring in the Galaxy Mega and Galaxy Note phones which have screens of up to 6.3 inches, Samsung really does seem to be trying every possible size.
The two biggest models, the Galaxy Tab Pro and Galaxy Note Pro, look identical and have nearly identical features, so it's easy to mix them up. The chief difference is the S-Pen, which has led to this confusing naming scheme. The S-Pen has been reserved for the Galaxy Note series of smartphones, so it probably seemed appropriate to name this tablet Note Pro.
Look and feel
There's no doubt about it; this thing is huge! It's also rather he..

Review: HP TouchPad makes a mediocre tablet

Review: HP TouchPad makes a mediocre tablet

March 9, 2016 Richard Gomez 0

A year after Hewlett-Packard Co. purchased flailing Palm, the technology behemoth is rolling out the first tablet that uses Palm's webOS operating system.
The July 1 release should be a triumph for HP, showcasing its ability to compete in the increasingly crowded tablet market. Yet while the TouchPad's software is beautiful and intuitive, overall the tablet is more of a “meh-sterpiece” than a masterpiece.
The TouchPad looks a lot like its peers: It's black and shiny with just a few buttons dotting its frame. The screen, 9.7 inches at the diagonal, is the same size and resolution as Apple's iPad.
At $500 for a model with 16 gigabytes of storage or $600 for one with 32 GB, the price is essentially the same, too. The device I tested used Wi-Fi to connect to the Internet; HP says a version will work on AT&T Inc.'s wireless network later this summer.
At 0.54 inches thick, the TouchPad is fatter than the iPad. It's heavier, too, at 1.6 pounds. With its rounded ..

Samsung Galaxy NotePRO 12.2: First impressions

Samsung Galaxy NotePRO 12.2: First impressions

February 23, 2018 Richard Gomez 0

Samsung's new Galaxy NotePRO 12.2 tablet blurs the distinction between a laptop and a tablet computer.
Its on-screen keyboard has capabilities that are more common with laptops, and its screen is larger than what many laptops have. People can run several apps side by side, and multiple users can share the device with separate profiles.
Samsung also tries to make the NotePRO something professionals can use on the road, while leaving the laptop behind. It's packed with business tools such as a WebEx virtual conferencing app, a one-year subscription to Bloomberg Businessweek's digital magazine and one year of Wi-Fi access on airplanes through Gogo.
It's an impressive lineup of features. Unfortunately, it also has a price tag that exceeds that of many laptops – $750 for the base model with 32 gigabytes of storage, and $850 for 64 gigabytes.
If your primary reason for owning a tablet is to consume content, such as video, music, books and magazines, the NotePRO isn't..

Review: HTC Flyer tablet mates with slippery pen

Review: HTC Flyer tablet mates with slippery pen

March 4, 2016 Richard Gomez 0

Is it better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all? That's the question posed by a new tablet computer that takes aim at one of the deficiencies of the iPad: that it's difficult to write on it with a stylus or pen.
The HTC Flyer is a $500 tablet with a 7-inch screen. At a glance, it's not much different from the other tablets that are scrambling to compete with Apple Inc.'s iPad.
The iPad and all its copycats are designed to sense the touch of a finger. The screen layer that does this looks for big, blunt, electrically conductive objects such as fingers. It doesn't sense small, sharp ones like pens.
That's why third-party styluses for the iPad are blunt rubbery sticks. They're essentially imitation fingers. They're not very good for drawing, but some people find them better than nothing.
The Flyer has the same finger-sensing screen layer. But it backs this up with a second one, which looks for the movement of a specially designe..

Dell Venue 7 and Dell Venue 8 - [year] review

Dell Venue 7 and Dell Venue 8 – 2025 review

November 9, 2017 Richard Gomez 0

It isn't surprising that Dell has jumped into the Android tablet fray – it's only surprising that it took them so long to get serious about it. The PC industry's decline is now well documented and every major player is looking to diversify into other areas. Dell first tried its hand at smartphones and tablets back in 2009, but none of its attempts since then including the original Venue, Venue Pro, XCD, Streak and Mini product lines ever amounted to much.
Now, after a few years of focusing on Windows-based Ultrabooks, hybrids, and all-in-one desktops, Dell is has decided to give Android another shot. The Venue brand has been resuscitated and is now being used across a line of new tablets. There are two Android-based Venues and two Windows-powered Venue Pros.
The two Android tablets are extremely similar, with the primary difference being the size of their screens. As their names suggest, the Dell Venue 7 has a 7-inch screen while the Venue 8 has an 8-inch screen. We hav..

Kobo Arc [year] review

Kobo Arc 2025 review

June 30, 2017 Richard Gomez 0

Canadian e-reader maker, Kobo, recently launched three of its e-readers (it calls them eReaders), and a 7-inch Android tablet, in the Indian market.
Tablets made by e-book reader companies are essentially multimedia capable devices made to please users who're looking to invest in e-books but don't want an e-ink display and want their device to do much more.
Kobo's Android tablet is called the Kobo Arc and competes with the likes of the Kindle Fire HD. As with the Kindle Fire tablet, Kobo's Arc tablet is deeply integrated with Kobo's 'eBooks'
ecosystem, which is also one of the USPs of the tablets. However, it also features the Google Play Store and Google's natives app, that are missing from Amazon's Kindle offering.
So, in a way it also competes with other 7-inch Android tablets like the Nexus 7 and Galaxy Tab 3. We try to find out if Kobo's been able to strike a balance between an e-reading device and a full-featured Android tablet,..

Samsung Galaxy Tab global 7 - [year] review

Samsung Galaxy Tab global 7 – 2025 review

April 10, 2018 Richard Gomez 0

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 was a success and proved that there was room in the Indian market for a hybrid device, which combined the best of both phones and tablets. The Galaxy Tab 3 series is hoped to mark a comeback for the company in the tablet segment, after quite some time.
The South Korean giant unveiled the Galaxy Tab 3 series with three new tablets for the Indian market, and rather than experimenting with an odd screen size, this time the company has gone back to its roots and come out with a 7-inch tablet and two 8-inch tablets. We got the chance to play with the new Galaxy Tab 3 211 (7-inch) tablet. Will the new Galaxy Tab 3 211 carve a niche for itself or further muddy the already distinctly murky 7-inch tablet segment? We try to find out in our review.
Design/ Build
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 211 is built along the lines of Samsung's high-end smartphones. Out-of-the-box, the tablet looks like a blown-up version of the Samsung Galaxy SIII or Galaxy Grand smartphones. But un..

Microsoft Surface 2 and Surface 2 Pro: First impressions

Microsoft Surface 2 and Surface 2 Pro: First impressions

October 22, 2017 Richard Gomez 0

Is Microsoft's Surface a tablet or a laptop?
I'm not quite sure, but it is a lot easier to type on than an iPad.
The software company unveiled updates to its Surface tablet computers Monday at an event in New York, where I had a short amount of time to try them out.
It almost seems unfair to categorize the new Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 as tablets. Although they have touch-screen keyboards like regular tablets, they work best when attached to an optional cover with a keyboard on the inside.
The better one I tried was the Type Cover 2. In addition to coming in four fun colors – pink, purple, blue and black – that cover has backlighting, silent keys and a typing feel similar to that of a laptop keyboard. At $130, it is just $10 more than a Touch Cover 2, which doesn't have movable keys like real keyboards.
The slick wireless mouse designed for the tablets is helpful, too, as is the docking station created to go with the Pro version of Surface.
The result is something that..