despotliz posted about Marvel Unlimited. And I'd happily pay $10/month for access to 13,000 comics - it seems like perfect way of consuming them actually - not having to worry about whether a particular comic is worth $x, but being able to try things out, read whole runs, etc. And not needing massive amounts of storage to keep them in.But...I'm not reading them on a latop/PC. Both of those have landscape screens, and the PC screen isn't going to sit comfortably in my lap. I want something tablet shaped.
But I don't want a 10" screen. I've read comics on a 10" screen, and you either read a bit of the page at a time (frustrating) or you read it at a size 10-20% smaller than print. Which makes it harder to enjoy the art, and harder to read the text. Frankly, I like the Absolute presentation for comic art - I want my comics blown up to a larger size, not shrunk down to a smaller one.
So I went looking for larger tablets. After all, you can buy phones in a variety of sizes - if I can buy a 5.3" phone, surely someone has made a tablet that's larger than 10"?
But so far I'm having no luck. There's _talk_ about 12" and 13" tablets. Toshiba seems to have had a lot of build up for an "Excite 13" - but there's no sign of it ever actually having been released in the US, let alone the UK. Archos _did_ release the FamilyPad, but apparently botched it with an incredibly slow processor and awful screen.
If anyone sees one, do let me know...
Original post on Dreamwidth - there are
2013-03-17 11:27 am (UTC)
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2013-03-17 11:34 am (UTC)
I'm wondering if they've actually gotten around to setting up a desktop app for it, as opposed to just running it badly within Flash in your browser.
2013-03-17 11:59 am (UTC)
Would a 10" tablet with amazing screen compensate for the smallness? I'm fine reading on my Android tablet, but I made the mistake of comparing it with a retina ipad, and it was significantly nicer.
2013-03-17 12:03 pm (UTC)
2013-03-17 11:33 am (UTC)
2013-03-17 11:37 am (UTC)
And also - I refer you to my point above about laptops being generally landscape rather than portrait, (and not doing rotation terribly well, in my experience).
2013-03-17 01:56 pm (UTC)
-- Steve quite enjoyed his 7" slates, but alas the temptation of carrying one everywhere put some undue wear-and-tear on them and they broke down after 5 and 3 years respectively.
PS: I'm sorely tempted to pick up a Microsoft Surface Pro or Razor Edge this summer; both are Win8 11" dockable slates, but be advised both are in the above price range.
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2013-03-17 04:05 pm (UTC)
2013-03-18 09:45 am (UTC)
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2013-03-17 02:36 pm (UTC)
And I could probably get hold of an Excite 13, if its on sale anywhere..
2013-03-18 09:45 am (UTC)
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2013-03-17 03:27 pm (UTC)
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2013-03-17 06:01 pm (UTC)
Battery life is gonna suck, though, also based on specs. It's heavy. It's thick. That's not much of a surprise, again, based on specs. I'd have to plump for a solid state hard drive to cut down on weight.
But none of this matters until the Android app is released. :(
2013-03-18 09:47 am (UTC)
2013-03-18 10:40 am (UTC)
2013-03-18 10:42 am (UTC)
If it wasn't trying to be a PC as well, then the cost would almost certainly drop a lot. And then I'd be tempted to at least try it out. But 18" is almost certainly too big to sit on my lap.
2013-03-18 10:54 am (UTC)
Yeah, $899 is what I'd expect an 18" Windows 8 tablet to cost. (I was a little surprised about how cheap it is, actually.) They are computers, and after all, an iPad with 1/4th the capacity runs at $799. We may see them get cheaper in a few iterations, though, if the Windows 8 tablet stuff succeeds.
It looks like Toshiba canceled the Excite 13, sadly. All the others I can find are convertible ultrabooks, which are more expensive (although, price excepted, the Lenovo Yoga 13 looks pretty sweet).
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2013-03-18 10:56 am (UTC)
Give me an Android tablet in that configuration and I'll be very happy!
2013-03-18 11:09 am (UTC)
2013-03-18 11:20 am (UTC)
You'd think there'd be _some_ market in a 13" screen. Or even a 15" one with optional keyboard - to replace 15" laptops!
2013-03-18 06:05 pm (UTC)
Patient answer: the flurry of form-factor experiments going on right now is one of the most important things going on in the whole area. What sorts of functionality* do you combine in a package? What size package?? How do you put 12 pounds into a 5 pound sack and still be able to find everything?
For myself, I have no problem with waiting a few years, and leapfrogging to just behind the bleeding edge. That's probably most cost-effective for me. (Cost in retraining as well as cash)
* I'm between cell contracts right now. I just renewed with my carrier for another two years, but I want a phone I own, and haven't bought it yet. (I will some time this week.) So at exactly 102 weeks old, the speaker on my phone came unconnected; I can talk to someone but can't hear them. I have never thought about the "Speaker" functionality -- my phone does conference call type sound. I hadn't really thought about the fact that there are (at least?) TWO speakers in my little phone.