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bjarvisI've been looking to give myself a little present by way of self-congratulations for my raise last month. Initially, I was looking to upgrade my mobile phone to a Samsung Galaxy S4, but Verizon Wireless' less-than-desirable behavior has soured me on that project for a while. Instead, I turned my eye to...
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7" version).
I've had an Android-based tablet for a couple of years now. I use it periodically for Twitter and minor web browsing but mostly it's an ebook reader. Alas, the ViewSonic gTablet (10" model) is kinda hefty in the hands if one is reading in bed. The camera --back-facing only-- no longer worked and it lacked GPS, Bluetooth and sound, among other things.
The newer beast has all the improvements one would expect from an extra 2-3 years of technical progress. It's a smaller screen but a higher resolution and is still perfectly easy to read my ebooks. The wifi is more sensitive than the old beast so I have longer range around the house. It has front- & back-facing cameras so I can use it for work-related videoconferencing when desired. The extra RAM and storage are good things too. The newer version of Android (4.1.1) is slick, the audio is great (I'll probaby just use that for audio books), it has Bluetooth if I wish to pair it with either my earpiece or my car stereo and a number of other bells & whistles. And it's light. Lordy, it's light.
And it cost me only $135, "previously loved" from eBay. Brian is a happy nerd.
I'll probably still proceed with the mobile phone upgrade but my desire for a new toy has been satisfied for a while.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7" version).
I've had an Android-based tablet for a couple of years now. I use it periodically for Twitter and minor web browsing but mostly it's an ebook reader. Alas, the ViewSonic gTablet (10" model) is kinda hefty in the hands if one is reading in bed. The camera --back-facing only-- no longer worked and it lacked GPS, Bluetooth and sound, among other things.
The newer beast has all the improvements one would expect from an extra 2-3 years of technical progress. It's a smaller screen but a higher resolution and is still perfectly easy to read my ebooks. The wifi is more sensitive than the old beast so I have longer range around the house. It has front- & back-facing cameras so I can use it for work-related videoconferencing when desired. The extra RAM and storage are good things too. The newer version of Android (4.1.1) is slick, the audio is great (I'll probaby just use that for audio books), it has Bluetooth if I wish to pair it with either my earpiece or my car stereo and a number of other bells & whistles. And it's light. Lordy, it's light.
And it cost me only $135, "previously loved" from eBay. Brian is a happy nerd.
I'll probably still proceed with the mobile phone upgrade but my desire for a new toy has been satisfied for a while.
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Date: 2013-06-03 10:34 pm (UTC)