Back last Spring, Apple shook the world of personal computing by introducing a device that would have only been seen in Star Trek ten years earlier. The iPad changed the game. Well, it changed the game for a lot of people. While a lot of my tech buddies jumped, I looked before I leapt.
Well, maybe I was just broke, and I told myself that to keep from feeling bad.
In any case, I’m just now entering the world of tablet. After two computers died in our house within one week (not blaming anyone…), I managed to convince my wife to go along with my plan to purchase a tab. Instead of opting for an iPad, though, I went the Android route. My new toy? The Acer Iconia A500.
Now I’m not just writing this blog to tell you about my latest tech purchase. I did wait a few weeks to spill the beans about it on the blog. Why? Well I know of more than a few preachers out there who jumped onto the iPad wagon last Spring who are now disillusioned with their tablet experience. I wanted to make sure it wouldn’t be a flash in the pan for me, too. I had that whole “should I or should I not” conversation with myself at least a dozen times, and talked myself out of it eleven of those. I’m very cautious when it comes to new technology.
The following are my initial impressions from the first few weeks I’ve had the thing.
Things I Like
• Portability: I think this is one of the tablet’s major selling points. Actually, it’s so portable and easy to use that I use it on the couch, a little in my office, and of course on trips. I even use it just to get out of the office during the week. Battery life on my tab is great, at about 10 hours with average use.
• Google: Well, it’s not that I like Google, but they do have some useful products. One of the advantages of Android is that my login to my Google account (Gmail, Calendar, etc.) is what’s tied to my Market account. There were several purchased apps for my phone which automatically showed up in the Market on my tablet as purchased and ready for download when I signed in on the tab. SO, I can share apps I bought for my Droid X phone with the tablet without re-purchasing them. Love that.
• Flash: It’s bigger than you think. I’m waiting for Prezi to get on the ball with an Android app.
• Power: The newest version of Honeycomb (Android OS version 3.1) has REAL multitasking power. That’s a must for me when writing a lesson or article. Now admittedly, the ability to switch between apps on my phone is lacking. But I can run several apps simultaneously on the tablet, and switching between them is as simple as touching a tab at the bottom of the screen. A popup appears on the left side of the screen that I can scroll through to find the app I want to switch to. Very handy!
• Peripherals: I have a full sized USB port on the side of this tablet, as well as a mini HDMI port. The USB port works as a “host,” which simply means I can plug other devices into it! The list includes thumb drives, hard drives, and even USB keyboards and mice. This was one of the features that sold me, for obvious reasons.
• Hand Held: Let me explain why this is a big deal. I loved having my Kindle to read from. It’s much more ergonomic to read a Kindle with one hand than it is to read a paper book. Of course you can’t get any other work done on a Kindle besides reading. But the tablet takes that same feel, and lets me get work done. For example, in my personal Bible study, I like to make notes. But, I do a lot of my personal study at night in bed before I go to sleep, or in the early hours of the morning. It’s not practical for me to pull out my wide margin Bible, Pigma pens, and a notebook, and lay in bed with those. I have to take notes, though. It’s situations like those where the tablet shines. I do it all in one device. I will mention specific apps for that at a later date.
• Media: This thing is a media machine! I have a 5-megapixel camera on the back, and a 2-megapixel camera on the front. The video from the back camera is actually not that bad. Add in the Honeycomb update, which includes Android Movie Studio, and you have a web content creating machine!
Things I Don’t Like
Every rose has its thorn. In the interest of fairness, let me share a couple with you:
• PowerPoint: I have a few different Office suites that I downloaded to try to find a workable solution for PowerPoint. There isn’t one. The most I can do with a presentation for the moment is flick through it. I can create new presentations, but I’m limited to mere text entry. That’s not how I do PowerPoint. Android simply doesn’t render slides well, and doesn’t support transitions or animations. Maybe someone will fix that in the future. For the present, there are workarounds that I’ll bring up later.
• Lack of Tablet Specific Apps: The Android Market is still a little behind in this regard. This one seems to be improving, though.
How Have I Already Used it?
• Study: Whether the bed, couch, office, back seat of the Jeep, or even the coffee shop, this device makes it easier to get serious work done without hauling around a laptop.
• Preaching: Electronic dependence scares me, so I still take paper into the pulpit just in case. But having this to preach from has been a joy for the past couple weeks.
• Writing: A couple weeks ago I wrote my bulletin article for the week while in the back seat of our Jeep, traveling down the interstate. I used my phone as a mobile hotspot to send the file to the member who does the bulletin. I have written all of my latest blog posts on the tablet, including this one. It’s easier to fit work on this device into my life right now than it is to fit work on a laptop.
• Sharing: Jenaleigh looks even cuter in pictures when you see them on a tablet.
What Plans Do I Have for the Future
• Media Content Creation: With HD video and basic editing capabilities, I plan on trying it out at our next church get-together. I also may do some Tech Tip Tuesdays from this device as well. When you don’t have to transfer footage to edit, and can also post from the same device it saves time. In theory, I could even edit “on the fly.” We’ll see how that goes.
• Teleprompter: I’ve been working on some TV spots with GBN, but I always have to work from memory. Believe it or not, I don’t always get it on the first take. I’m hoping this device can save me some time there, too.
• Evangelism: Think Jule Miller with this one. When I get some of that up and going, I’ll let you know.
I hope the previous has given you a little insight into the whole tablet thing, at least from my perspective. Over the next few weeks, I’ll probably share a few more things about it with you in the way of apps, uses, problems, solutions, and the like.
~Daniel Howell