Recommendations for Android wifi tablet?

[Christopher Browne]

On Thu, Aug 11, 2011 at 10:31 AM, D. Hugh Redelmeier <hugh-pmF8o41NoarQT0dZR+AlfA at public.gmane.org> wrote:
> | * Motorola Xoom looks best so far, but I don't know them all
> |
> |   Anything else to look for?
>
> Funny as it sounds, I think size should be your first decision.
>
> A 10" tablet is probably way more useful than a 7" one.
> A 7" tablet is way more portable than a 10" one.

That's definitely a good way to start the thinking process, and in
informing your preferences.  For sure, 7" is "way more portable," and
10" is "way more useful," and represents a trade-off that deserves
some thought.

> BTW, I haven't rooted our iPad, Transformer, or Android phone.  I
> haven't learned of a reason why it would be worth my bother.  I have
> hacked other things, so it isn't that I'm incapable.

The "latest & greatest" Android tablets aren't as interesting to
highly customize at this point, as the "Android 3" stuff hasn't been
released as source (AFAIK), so people aren't doing highly customized
builds of such; they are only doing "shallow" customizations.

Root access has a few notable benefits:

1.  Ability to do a *total* backup of *right well everything*.
http://www.appbrain.com/app/titanium-backup-%E2%98%85-root/com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup

2.  Accessing *everything*, so you can trim out those images /
ringtones / ... that the vendor forced onto the device that you don't
want cluttering up storage space.

3.  There are some other apps that need root; less obviously useful :-(.
http://www.androidpolice.com/2010/04/15/rooting-explained-top-5-benefits-of-rooting-your-android-phone/

It meant that I could put CM7 onto my Viewsonic gTablet, which is
generally Android 2.3 + some stuff, a lot better than what came from
the vendor.

The "custom" Android replacements are all based on version 2.3 of the
platform, which is missing the spectrum of 3.0 enhancements.

There's a pretty compelling argument to be made that Android 3 isn't
"open source," and hence is something we probably ought to feel at
least a little bit uncomfortable about.

I'm definitely not thrilled about the notion that the only place I can
get *real* upgrades for an ASUS Transformer is ASUS.  That seems not
terribly different from buying an iPad, with the difference that I
tend to think Apple's got a more competent set of developers than ASUS
has.
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