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The Pixel Tablet is just a few spare parts in a half-empty body

arstechnica.com

51–60 of 85 posts

Re: The Pixel Tablet is just a few spare parts in a half-empty body

#51
post #9

Isn’t the reason for the empty space just because it’s a tablet — by which I mean that the dimensions are determined by a large screen? Phones are dense inside because they have to be small.

I mean, if you have space left over you could just pack it with more battery? For example if we look at the iPad [0], there is some empty space inside, but mostly it's all battery. [0] https://youtu.be/uCYUZQGjm8I?si=D-fpaRSSCkbOdReo&t=75

You could, but that adds weight and cost.

Re: The Pixel Tablet is just a few spare parts in a half-empty body

#52

I'm a bit puzzled by the tone of the piece in that the author frames it as a critique yet also points out how much easier it is to repair. I was anticipating some literal 2.5" SSD-like empty husk.

No need to actually read any Google articles by Ron Amadeo. They are all cut from the same smug, snarky dismissive cloth. Ars can and should try harder.

As soon as I started reading the article, I knew exactly who wrote it. The guy is a complete hack.

Re: The Pixel Tablet is just a few spare parts in a half-empty body

#53
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In most tablets the extra space is filled with more battery, better cooling, bigger speakers, SD card slot, more ports… lots of possibilities. Here’s what the inside of a 2020 iPad Air (10.9”) looks like for example. Still a little empty space, but much more full. https://i.ibb.co/hRKhPRP/IMG-2853.jpg

The OG IPad: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Image/meta/y5HAM4cflO64B3QH

And that was in 2010, before they knew if the product category was going to work or not, which is a better use case for tossing mismatched off the shelf parts into a chassis. After tablets proved themselves a viable market, iPad parts became more custom-designed and closely fit together.

Re: The Pixel Tablet is just a few spare parts in a half-empty body

#54
post #14
post #9

Isn’t the reason for the empty space just because it’s a tablet — by which I mean that the dimensions are determined by a large screen? Phones are dense inside because they have to be small.

That's not what the inside of a good tablet looks like though right?

I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic, but: I bought a Pixel Tablet. It is good. The speaker/charger thing actually pretty useful (I have it on my desk as another screen, sound is decent).

I've owned a few Android tablets. This has been the best. They never feel as good as an iPad, but that's normal; hard to beat Apple there. But I have no desire to get back into the Apple ecosystem, I now actively avoid it.

Re: The Pixel Tablet is just a few spare parts in a half-empty body

#55
post #2

I was strongly considering the Pixel Tablet to run it with grpahene os as a sort of secure terminal for banking, mail, some chat messengers. But the weird decision to include that useless speaker stand instead of a keyboard case and stylus and the price kept me off it. Seeing the insides shows that was a good decision. That is chinesium tablet level of design. I cannot fathom why Google is so unwilling to take the An…

You'll be better off with a galaxy s6 lite in this case. It's just a product for different categories of consumers

Re: The Pixel Tablet is just a few spare parts in a half-empty body

#56
post #6

Is the sparse interior really that strange, or just a result of components getting more compact and the screen remaining the same size?

Yeah, I thought the same thing without even reading the article: it has the same innards as a phone, with 3 times the screen size. Of course there's going to be some space. I imagine this gets more prominent as components get smaller.

Re: The Pixel Tablet is just a few spare parts in a half-empty body

#57

I'm a bit puzzled by the tone of the piece in that the author frames it as a critique yet also points out how much easier it is to repair. I was anticipating some literal 2.5" SSD-like empty husk.

It's really really bizarre when you look at a teardown of a competitor like the iPad Air and see a similar amount of empty space.

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPad+Air+(5th+Generation)+Te... looks full, area around the edge for thinness I suppose

Re: The Pixel Tablet is just a few spare parts in a half-empty body

#58
post #2

I was strongly considering the Pixel Tablet to run it with grpahene os as a sort of secure terminal for banking, mail, some chat messengers. But the weird decision to include that useless speaker stand instead of a keyboard case and stylus and the price kept me off it. Seeing the insides shows that was a good decision. That is chinesium tablet level of design. I cannot fathom why Google is so unwilling to take the An…

>But the weird decision to include that useless speaker stand instead of a keyboard case and stylus and the price kept me off it

I thought the same thing. I owned a Lenovo tablet with some gimmicky speaker that I never used.

However, I bought the Pixel tablet and I'm actually enjoying this speaker. It's useful as a desk stand, sounds alright, it's super easy to pop the tablet on there for charging, the transition between speaker to tablet sound when you grab it works flawlessly.

Sure, it's superlative for some people, but it's actually not a bad addition. I use it every day to watch YouTube or listen to music while I work.

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