is android usable these days or is it still "usable" in the way linux desktops are?
It is "usable" in the way that Windows desktops are.
Pixel Tablet
21–30 of 527 posts
Re: Pixel Tablet
#22Well, better late than never. Many, many years ago when Android 2 was all the rage, Motorola has shipped Xoom tablet with Android 3. That Android version turned out to be a dead end, and the whole line of tablets went nowhere. Next Google's attempt at tablets was Nexus 7 device, which was actually great, esp 2013 version that still lays around somewhere in my office and sees occasional use. But then, Google kind of f…
Uhm wasn't the Nexus 7 the tablet that literally bricked itself within a year by the storage degrading to floppy speed?
Re: Pixel Tablet
#23A Google Nest Hub Max is $229. This seems like the upgrade pick at $499, which lets you use it as a tablet, too.
My use case is video calls for an elderly relative. I wonder if it would work as simply (once set up), or whether it would complicate things.
Re: Pixel Tablet
#24Missed the mother's day window badly! I would have easily picked this up at Target for my wife. With the dock? No brainer, 100% cop.
People enjoy gifts outside of prescribed gift giving holidays!
Re: Pixel Tablet
#25Android tablets generally feel overpriced right now for what they offer compared to Apple's ecosystem. There's one exception: Lenovo's last gen pro tablet got a small refresh. It's the "Lenovo P11 Pro Gen 2" and it's absurdly affordable compared to the competition right now (~$270). It's got a 120hz OLED display, great general-purpose performance (my previous tablet experience was Samsung's budget S6 Lite, which was a little sluggish and had a worse display.). I'm super happy with my purchase so far.
Downside: the compatible pen Precision Pen 3 seems to be unavailable right now.
[edit: looks like the price has gone back up to $399 in most places. I'd still consider it a good alternative at that price, but if you can pick it up on sale at under $300 it's a no-brainer]
Re: Pixel Tablet
#26Well, better late than never. Many, many years ago when Android 2 was all the rage, Motorola has shipped Xoom tablet with Android 3. That Android version turned out to be a dead end, and the whole line of tablets went nowhere. Next Google's attempt at tablets was Nexus 7 device, which was actually great, esp 2013 version that still lays around somewhere in my office and sees occasional use. But then, Google kind of f…
Well, there was the Pixel C in 2015. It was Android based and went nowhere. Then there was the Pixel Slate in 2018. It was Chrome OS based, and also went nowhere. If you bought a Pixel Slate, a new Google tablet has been five years in the making. Except that the Pixel Tablet isn't really a replacement. It's back to Android, and this time, no keyboard or pen options in sight.
Google has no long-term strategy for tablets. Best I can tell, every few years some product owners get together to once again do Google's Big Push For Tablets For Real This Time We Swear and the initiative goes until they get their promotions and then it's forgotten until the next round a few years later.
If you buy this tablet and like it, don't expect a successor. They'll release something completely unrelated in a few years, it might be running Chrome OS, it might have a keyboard accessory, it might have a pen accessory, it might have absolutely abysmal performance[1]. It's a complete grab bag.
And this applies to basically all Google products and services.
Re: Pixel Tablet
#27I wish the price was slightly lower so this could be no-brainer, but I'm a fan. The speaker dock seems like a gimmick at a glance, but I think it's compelling. It gives the device a definitive home at rest, and bi-modal utility. This is the kind of thing that fits super nicely in the kitchen.
Re: Pixel Tablet
#28Well, better late than never. Many, many years ago when Android 2 was all the rage, Motorola has shipped Xoom tablet with Android 3. That Android version turned out to be a dead end, and the whole line of tablets went nowhere. Next Google's attempt at tablets was Nexus 7 device, which was actually great, esp 2013 version that still lays around somewhere in my office and sees occasional use. But then, Google kind of f…
Uhm wasn't the Nexus 7 the tablet that literally bricked itself within a year by the storage degrading to floppy speed?
The 1st gen Nexus 7, yes
https://www.anandtech.com/show/7185/android-43-update-brings...
Re: Pixel Tablet
#29As far as I'm concerned, the only real market for this is as an upgraded Nest Hub hardware. It's not really competitive as a tablet (go to Samsung or Apple for that), but it doesn't really do anything differentiated, either.
If it is indeed the next gen of what would have been the Nest Hub Max, then this is what the first gen of that product should have been. The detachable tablet is a great idea, as is building a speaker into the base. It would be compelling if the MSRP was $349 or so, but not $499. For that amount, I could just buy two Nest Hub Maxes, or a quite nice iPad (or nice Samsung Android tablet).
Re: Pixel Tablet
#30Well, better late than never. Many, many years ago when Android 2 was all the rage, Motorola has shipped Xoom tablet with Android 3. That Android version turned out to be a dead end, and the whole line of tablets went nowhere. Next Google's attempt at tablets was Nexus 7 device, which was actually great, esp 2013 version that still lays around somewhere in my office and sees occasional use. But then, Google kind of f…
Uhm wasn't the Nexus 7 the tablet that literally bricked itself within a year by the storage degrading to floppy speed?
That's the 2012 model. Easy mistake