8 ms·

It's $300 more than an iPad. Sticker shock? Really? It has USB ports. It runs Windows 7. For guys like me who are all Windows, this doesn't seem high price

by dpcan 16y ago

It's $300 more than an iPad. Sticker shock? Really? It has USB ports. It runs Windows 7. For guys like me who are all Windows, this doesn't seem high priced at all. Sure, it would be nice if it were $699, but it has Windows. For me, it's like having a tablet with all the comforts of home. All my programs (apps), all my browsers, all the control! (yay) It requires a stylus too - which some of us big fingered dudes really miss. EDIT: I've never touched the thing or seen it live, just checked out the tech specs. Maybe there's better / cheaper stuff out there.

ghshephard 16y ago
For those who are scratching their heads -please read the ParentPost in the manner that it was meant - carefully crafted and worded satire. Only on HN will it get the audience it deserves. Upvoted. "It requires a stylus too which some of us big fingered dudes really miss" :-)
- randallsquared 16y ago
  Er, the stylus thing is not entirely off the mark. My N900 has a stylus, and there are programs I cannot use without it (notably, the web browser is nigh useless without it, since text that's perfectly comfortable for reading means links that are way too small to hit reliably with a finger). So, a stylus actually can be a point in its favor.
  - roc 16y ago
    Another way to look at that state of affairs is: the required stylus is a point against the n900's browser. Styluses, particularly for navigation, have been rejected by the market. So relying upon them is simply a bad idea if you dare to dream of outperforming anything in the graveyard of Windows-Tablets-Past.
    - jsnell 16y ago
      I've got small hands, and really hated using the browser on an iPhone due to how easy it was to click the wrong link by mistake on any sites that don't have an separate version optimized for mobiles. Switching to a Nexus 1 from an iPhone 3G was worth it just for the trackball. Unfortunately the Nexus S removed the trackball, making it a downgrade over the N1 as a whole :-( It's a sad world when solving the problem counts as a black mark, while putting your hands over the ears and singing la-la-la-there is no problem counts as good user experience and paying attention to detail.
      - roc 16y ago
        > "really hated using the browser on an iPhone due to how easy it was to click the wrong link by mistake" You know you can zoom the page effortlessly and be sure the tap is properly placed amongst a group of links, right?
        bryanlarsen 16y ago
        Sure, I can zoom effortlessly, but it would be a lot easier if I didn't have to, since that also involves zooming back out and scrolling the page once you go back. 4 steps instead of 1. Except when you zoom way in and still miss, because what you're clicking on is a javascript implicit trigger right beside an explicit link, so the browser tries to be helpful and assumes you really wanted the explicit link. I used to browse on my N810 a lot, and now use a Nexus S or an iPhone. The switch to a capacitive screen had many benefits and was the right move, but I sometimes do miss the accuracy of the old resistive screens.
        roc 16y ago
        I used to browse on my n800 a lot. I now browse on my iPhone a lot more. Because the convenience, rendering, panning and zooming far, far outweigh the lost accuracy of the stylus.
        bryanlarsen 16y ago
        Sure, but a large part of that is because the current generation of browsers on current hardware is a LOT faster. On the n810 you had hardware buttons to zoom, so it's not as if that was less convenient interface wise, it was inconvenient because it was slow.
    - regularfry 16y ago
      Market be damned. I like it.
  - ugh 16y ago
    I think “requires” is the important word.
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
cosgroveb 16y ago
Finally a tablet that runs Outlook!
- dpcan 16y ago
  Never thought I'd hear anyone say that :)
rbanffy 16y ago
What establishes the value of something is not what it has inside it, but what the user wants to do with it. A $999 tablet with 64 meg SSD, USB ports, an x86 processor and an HDMI port is actually less useful than an ARM tablet because I do not intend to hook it up to an HDTV, plug USB devices or run Windows software. I prefer the longer battery life and silent operation. If I wanted desktop OS capabilities, I'd buy a netbook that comes free with a keyboard (which is how desktop OSs were supposed to be used). For the price of this thing I can get both a netbook and an Android tablet. Microsoft lives in the delusion that Windows is something super-cool everybody wants in every computing device they own. How seemingly smart people fall for this will be studied for generations.

by dpcan 16y ago

ghshephard 16y ago

For those who are scratching their heads -please read the ParentPost in the manner that it was meant - carefully crafted and worded satire. Only on HN will it get the audience it deserves. Upvoted. "It requires a stylus too which some of us big fingered dudes really miss" :-)

randallsquared 16y ago
Er, the stylus thing is not entirely off the mark. My N900 has a stylus, and there are programs I cannot use without it (notably, the web browser is nigh useless without it, since text that's perfectly comfortable for reading means links that are way too small to hit reliably with a finger). So, a stylus actually can be a point in its favor.
- roc 16y ago
  Another way to look at that state of affairs is: the required stylus is a point against the n900's browser. Styluses, particularly for navigation, have been rejected by the market. So relying upon them is simply a bad idea if you dare to dream of outperforming anything in the graveyard of Windows-Tablets-Past.
  - jsnell 16y ago
    I've got small hands, and really hated using the browser on an iPhone due to how easy it was to click the wrong link by mistake on any sites that don't have an separate version optimized for mobiles. Switching to a Nexus 1 from an iPhone 3G was worth it just for the trackball. Unfortunately the Nexus S removed the trackball, making it a downgrade over the N1 as a whole :-( It's a sad world when solving the problem counts as a black mark, while putting your hands over the ears and singing la-la-la-there is no problem counts as good user experience and paying attention to detail.
    - roc 16y ago
      > "really hated using the browser on an iPhone due to how easy it was to click the wrong link by mistake" You know you can zoom the page effortlessly and be sure the tap is properly placed amongst a group of links, right?
      - bryanlarsen 16y ago
        Sure, I can zoom effortlessly, but it would be a lot easier if I didn't have to, since that also involves zooming back out and scrolling the page once you go back. 4 steps instead of 1. Except when you zoom way in and still miss, because what you're clicking on is a javascript implicit trigger right beside an explicit link, so the browser tries to be helpful and assumes you really wanted the explicit link. I used to browse on my N810 a lot, and now use a Nexus S or an iPhone. The switch to a capacitive screen had many benefits and was the right move, but I sometimes do miss the accuracy of the old resistive screens.
        roc 16y ago
        I used to browse on my n800 a lot. I now browse on my iPhone a lot more. Because the convenience, rendering, panning and zooming far, far outweigh the lost accuracy of the stylus.
        bryanlarsen 16y ago
        Sure, but a large part of that is because the current generation of browsers on current hardware is a LOT faster. On the n810 you had hardware buttons to zoom, so it's not as if that was less convenient interface wise, it was inconvenient because it was slow.
  - regularfry 16y ago
    Market be damned. I like it.
- ugh 16y ago
  I think “requires” is the important word.

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

cosgroveb 16y ago

Finally a tablet that runs Outlook!

dpcan 16y ago
Never thought I'd hear anyone say that :)

rbanffy 16y ago

What establishes the value of something is not what it has inside it, but what the user wants to do with it. A $999 tablet with 64 meg SSD, USB ports, an x86 processor and an HDMI port is actually less useful than an ARM tablet because I do not intend to hook it up to an HDTV, plug USB devices or run Windows software. I prefer the longer battery life and silent operation. If I wanted desktop OS capabilities, I'd buy a netbook that comes free with a keyboard (which is how desktop OSs were supposed to be used). For the price of this thing I can get both a netbook and an Android tablet. Microsoft lives in the delusion that Windows is something super-cool everybody wants in every computing device they own. How seemingly smart people fall for this will be studied for generations.