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

arstechnica.com

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

#61

Post by 37521804 »

itsoktocry wrote: post #51
Etheryte wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

The basic iPad costs $449 and the Pixel Tablet costs $499. The iPad weighs less than the Pixel tablet, 477g to 493g. The iPad battery is 28.6Wh and the Pixel Tablet has a 27Wh battery. I don't particularly care that the insides are 'emptier' in the Pixel Tablet, but to say they didn't do something because of weight or cost doesn't really appear to have any bearing considering it's the heavier, more expensive tablet.

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

#62

Post by jwells89 »

itsoktocry wrote: post #54
drcongo wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

The frustrating thing is that Google has made a tablet that had iPad-level or very close fit and finish, and that was the Pixel C. I had one. It felt nice to use. The problem with that tablet is that the software was awful, causing issues with accidental touch rejection, WiFi flakiness, somewhat frequent hard crashing, etc.

They had the hardware, all they had to do was fix the software. Instead they quit making Android tablets until the subject of this article was released.

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

#64

Post by drcongo »

pohl wrote: post #29
drcongo wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Well, no, but how would a good tablet bring them a large enough increase in ad revenue to make it worth the investment? That’s what the difference in business models naturally leads to, right? There’s no indication that Google is trying to change what kind of company they are, is there?

Exactly.

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

#65

Post by ithkuil »

ithkuil wrote: post #27
Etheryte wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

the amount of stuff you cram in also affects the weight (as well as the price)

^^^ I don't understand how's that sentence controversial or rude

I mean, what's the difference of how you distribute empty space in a product, either having a few high density components and empty space visible by naked eye, or using less dense material where empty space is between molecules

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

#66

Post by ClumsyPilot »

itsoktocry wrote: post #51
Etheryte wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

And what am I paying for, an empty shell?

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

#67

Post by ClumsyPilot »

ithkuil wrote: post #65
ithkuil wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the amount of stuff you cram in also affects the weight (as well as the price)

^^^ I don't understand how's that sentence controversial or rude I mean, what's the difference of how you distribute empty space in a product, either having a few high density components and empty space visible by naked eye, or using less dense material where empty space is between molecules

what is 'less dense' component, is the battery full of air?

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

#68

Post by ClumsyPilot »

kibwen wrote: post #30
drcongo wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

This question strikes me as bizarre. What is the causal relationship between the goodness of a tablet and what its inside looks like?

imagine someone wrote something this silly abour a car - "what is the casual relatio ship between how the performance of the car and what it looks lile under the whood? So what if the engine is a mess, surely thst does not affect how it drives"?

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

#69

Post by ithkuil »

ClumsyPilot wrote: post #67
ithkuil wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

^^^ I don't understand how's that sentence controversial or rude I mean, what's the difference of how you distribute empty space in a product, either having a few high density components and empty space visible by naked eye, or using less dense material where empty space is between molecules

what is 'less dense' component, is the battery full of air?

No, my point is that the battery has the density it has.

I mean, you have a weigh budget, you have cost budget, you have a width/height budget, you also have a thickness budget chosen for many reason including the material the case is made of (which is determined by your cost budget); you take all those things into account and if it turns out your component have the density they have, it may just happen that you have some free space in the box.

The fact that a competitor's product doesn't have as much empty space in the case must come down to them having a different tradeoff in some of those design dimensions.

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

#70

Post by ClumsyPilot »

Steltek wrote: post #17
tyingq wrote: 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 never viewed this as a "flagship device". Everything you could stuff into those voids is a choice with poor tradeoffs. - Bigger battery: More cost, more weight. And who has battery issues with a tablet anyway? Mine lasts forever. - Performance: More cost and doesn't actually require much more volume - Storage, RAM: Much more cost and not really how Pixels operate, sadly. - Better camera: Who does this on a ta…

> who has battery issues with a tablet anyway?...Better camera: Who does this on a tablet? Really?

I do need both of those things.

If you don't need any functionality of a tablet, maybe you dont need a tablet at all??

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