Tablet Recommendation

pseacook · Mar 17, 2013

I will be traveling to Europe this summer and I have finally decided that it is time to purchase a tablet in order to review photos and have access to the internet (of course). I am looking for what y'all think is the best tablet for photography. I know, this is a loaded question but I can't decide between Android-based and Apple. For editing purposes I use LR 4.x/Photoshop CS6 on a Windows 7 laptop with an NEC monitor and an Epson R2880.

Thanks

Peter

cynicaster · Mar 17, 2013

I'd say go with a droid. Way less expensive, great app support, and they can be bought with SD card readers built in.

I'm actually typing this on an iPad, but after 2 years of ownership, I'm pretty fed up with the whole Apple/iTunes eco-system, so my next tablet will most definitely not be an iPad. I know you can buy an adapter to plug in an SD card, but the whole principle of the matter that my $600 device can't do that natively pisses me off.

cgipson1 · Mar 17, 2013

I have both the Google Nexus 7, and the Ipad (and my girlfriends Kindle Fire HD that I got her) . I have traveled with them, using them for image viewing, minor edits, and internet access. I prefer the droid based system since it is not so locked down as the apple.

The USB adapter is a must if you do go with the apple, and is still very limited. The droid will work with more USB devices right off the bat, and some will even work nicely with external drives and more (as will the Nexus 7 if rooted).

tirediron · Mar 17, 2013

I bought the iPad, only because of the quality of the display. For general use I would say Android-based every time!

pixmedic · Mar 17, 2013

We have a asus transformer with docking station and an ipad 2. Both work really well. The asus runs andriod 4 and recognizes even my 2 TB usb drive.

TATTRAT · Mar 17, 2013

I love both my Samsung Galaxy tab 7.2, and 10. Both are great, do what I need them to do, and I can use either one as a camera controller or for shooting tethered when need be. As for editing, I haven't ever edited any shots on the tablet so I am not sure how it goes. I would still highly recommend an android powered tab.

JClishe · Mar 18, 2013

Or go with a Windows 8 device and you have both a tablet and a laptop. I personally own a Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet 2. It's an Atom processor so I definitely need to be patient with Lightroom - but - the mere fact that a device that's thinner and lighter than an iPad can run Lightroom at all is impressive. And I get 9-10 hours of battery life. It has a micro SD slot and of course since it's a Windows 8 Pro device, all of my USB thumbdrives and external storage solutions can connect to it. Actually any USB device at all can connect to it, so you can print from it, connect directly to your camera, etc. And it has mini HDMI out so I connect to hotel TV's when I travel and watch movies, etc.

I'm seeing more and more positive comments about the Surface Pro as a photographers traveling companion as well. More powerful than my Lenovo but about half the battery life. Pretty interesting ongoing thread over at POTN: Got myself a Surface Pro for when I'm on the road - Canon Digital Photography Forums

Boney · Mar 18, 2013

This is a tough one to answer. I have an Android Thrive, which I bought because of the multiple I/O capabilities. USB standard and mini, HDMI output. SD Card reader built in. Screen display OK. Battery life OK, but one can change the battery and they aren't that expensive for spares. On the other hand I became very disappointed with the world of Android apps. They are scattered through out the internet, but not all android apps work on all devices.
So I moved to an Apple iPad, version 3, with the Retina display. This is an extremely sharp display. Note that the new mini iPad does not have a Retina display. In general the Apple apps are a little better but all come from one source, Apple via iTunes. There is not much one can do with the iPad other than run the Apple apps, mail, messaging and surfing the web. One cannot download anything other than pictures. I also have an iPhone and one can keep notes, calendar, contacts and mail synched via the iCloud. Even though both the iPhone and iPad are blue tooth capable they cannot communicate with each other. Something Apple does to prevent their usefulness.
Jailbreaking an Iphone can allow for more capability with the iPad, but I haven't tried this yet.
When Apple first came out with the iPod I received one as a gift and after learning how difficult it was to put music and pictures on it I put it in a drawer for several years. You can't even delete a song from an iPad without going back to iTunes and deleting from your playlists then perform another synch. Creative labs had devices much cheaper (Zen) that one could simply drag and drop movies, music and pictures with the same ease as using a desktop computer. The Zen devices also came with an FM radio, sound recorder and in general was a much superior product. Apparently the fact that Apple sells music through iTunes is a big plus for some people.
Someone suggested the new Microsoft hardware. It might be worth looking into.
I like my iPad but find it fairly useless for photography other than putting pictures on it through an SD card adapter. Some apps are OK. You can't even use it as a remote view screen without expensive third party hardware or a computer close by. This was something I really wanted to use it for since Nikon hasn't seen fit to put articulating viewing screens other than one model DSLR. Maybe the next generation D7200 will have one.

kathyt · Mar 18, 2013

My photos look great on my iPad, but everything else I own is PC. It is not very adaptable to anything not Apple related.

desmondlewissmith · Mar 19, 2013

kathythorson said:
My photos look great on my iPad, but everything else I own is PC. It is not very adaptable to anything not Apple related.

You can install dropbox on your apple iPad and you PC's and share files between all of the above. While I understand frustrations of iPad and Apple, I tip my hat to the fact that apple is good at what they do. CLOSED ARCHITECTURE. The reason Apple is around today is because they have control over their architecture and their market share. As for apps, there are more apps for the iPad than any tablet and they are stable. I know I'll catch flack for this post from the "anti apples", but I can't help but defend a platform I have adapted to easily. I'm an Engineer, I use my iPad for logging into my PC via log me in, video conferencing via Webex, I control my entire home and alarm system from my apple products. I control my stereo and all music (non of which came from iTunes. I can show clients low res photos from a photo shoot by simply copying those files to dropbox.

Ballistics · Mar 19, 2013

I'm PC everything, but I highly prefer the ipad over everything. I even have a Samsung Galaxy S3 droid phone and my kids have Droid tablets. There's 0 issue with integration with PC and there's other options besides iTunes. I hate iTunes.
Between the display, the speed, the user friendliness, the massive amount of apps and the stability, the iPad is kind of the undisputed tablet champion.

If you don't want to pay the premium for a retina iPad, buy an open box iPad 2 for $280 from best buy or refurbished iPad 2 for $320. Refurbished 3s are $380.

How much are droid tablets that are the same size?

JDFlood · Mar 22, 2013

While I have four PCs I would not consider anything but an iPad. I have a 3 and a mini. The wealth of software and inter connectivity with other devices, like phone, Apple TV is incredible. Studies show that Android devices are usually used only for a little surfing, but Apple are used for a wealth of different purposes. I left Android a couple years ago and will not be going back. Like I heard on a report... Android commercials are all about the hardware, fastest processor, or more memory, but Apple devices are all about what you can do with them. The only thing other devices might have in there favor is cheaper... I hardly ever... Well never use that function. iPad devices are life changing, Android are another piece of hardware. JD

Rwsphotos · Mar 22, 2013

As pixmedic stated Asus Transformer all the way. I HATE dealing with itunes and the apple apps that apeal to me are expensive or you need to jail break to use. I have my transformer set up to be able to teather to my D90. Also have apps to back up my sd cards, and sign contracts since I do Weddings. I don't have retina display like an ipad but I like the gorilla glass. Course I have a galaxy S3 phone which replaced my S2 sooooo.... lol. First you need to decide your tablet budget then see which devices fall in that price category then decide from there which fills yours needs. Kinda just like buying a camera lol.

Rwsphotos · Mar 22, 2013

JDFlood said:
While I have four PCs I would not consider anything but an iPad. I have a 3 and a mini. The wealth of software and inter connectivity with other devices, like phone, Apple TV is incredible. Studies show that Android devices are usually used only for a little surfing, but Apple are used for a wealth of different purposes. I left Android a couple years ago and will not be going back. Like I heard on a report... Android commercials are all about the hardware, fastest processor, or more memory, but Apple devices are all about what you can do with them. The only thing other devices might have in there favor is cheaper... I hardly ever... Well never use that function. iPad devices are life changing, Android are another piece of hardware. JD

That depends on what you expect your tablet to do. I have been able to do anything ive wanted on my asus just like an ipad. We own an IPad 2 for our son only because apple has better speech apps which are horribly expensive. Its more a preference of which you prefer and how it operates. Every one will have a diffrent opinion depending on their needs and possibly experience.

JDFlood · Mar 23, 2013

Rwsphotos said:
That depends on what you expect your tablet to do. I have been able to do anything ive wanted on my asus just like an ipad. We own an IPad 2 for our son only because apple has better speech apps which are horribly expensive. Its more a preference of which you prefer and how it operates. Every one will have a diffrent opinion depending on their needs and possibly experience.

Very true about what you expect a tablet to do. But one of the problems is, tablets are new for most folks... So if they try an match there requirements with function they will buy a pad with far more restricted abilities than they would if they were exposed to the possibilities. The Apple is so incredibly capable it allows for enormous worlds of discovery. Assuming someone in a photo forum is going to be a bit curious and a little more educated than joe six pack, the iPad will easily expose the user to worlds of information and connectivity not easily accessible through another device. Thousands of free university classes, seminars, move your.photos around different devices seemlessly, all media and knowledge at you fingertips. For 98 % of the people iPad ( assuming they can possibly afford it) is the right choice, and for 99% of those it nails the coffin to remain iPad. I have used a lot of different pads... I have better things to do that futz with my pad like I had to do with my PC for years. I just want to use it. JD