The screen on my 1 year 4 months iPad 2 went kaput over the weekend. Initially I was just astonished. Weren’t Apple products commanding premiums because their products do not compromise on quality? But here’s the funniest thing. After Ling found out that the tablet’s screen was failing, she said meekly that she’d accidentally step on them not once but twice a month ago while reaching out to close the curtains in our room.
Sigh. I went about looking for a replacement tablet, doing up the usual comparison tables and the like – and listed down about a dozen Android tablets alongside the new iPad Retina models to decide which one to pick up. The iPad Retina’s screen is amazing, but at about SGD800 for a suitable 3G model with the lowest memory capacity, it was just too much to pay for a replacement. The new Galaxy tablets – Note 10.1 and Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 – were great and loaded up with a reasonably current version of the Android OS, but were also priced around SGD750. A real contender was the Galaxy Tab 7.7 with its amazing Amoled screen can be had for about SGD560, but I eventually went with one of the cheapest 3G models I could find that had the least design issues according to reviews; the Motorola Xoom 2 3G 32 GB – which I picked up at Challenger for SGD499.
After a day of configuring the tablet and loading it up with productivity applications, my overall impression of the tablet is mostly good, moreso considering the bargain bin price I paid for it; the tablet cost twice as much just 8 months ago. The strengths of the unit include its build quality – it feels more premium than the Galaxy 10.1 inch tablets – respectable battery life, and that Motorola has just rolled out Android 4.0 for it. That’s not mentioning that while the Google Play Store isn’t as slick as iOS’s equivalent nor are many of its applications on it optimized for tablets, the customizability of Android for me still far outweighs that. The above picture is a skinned theme with GO Launcher HD – something I could never achieved with the iPad unless I jailbroke it.
As for the problems with the hardware itself; well – the screen simply isn’t as nice as Samsung’s Amoled screens especially in color contrasts. It’s bright at least though. And the design and placement of the on/off and volume buttons are awkward – insufficient travel and too closely situated to each other.
Oh well. Can’t complain since I got the tablet for very cheap. And apparently the tablet is rapidly running out of stock island wide, what with the amazing price that Challenger has put onto this.:)
I feel pretty satisfied with my iPad, though I hate feeling as if I have to treat it like ancient dining ware. I can’t help but feel I paid too much, but then again, I’m pretty used to that feeling by now. Now that Amazon is releasing a back-lit Kindle e-reader, I expect my iPad will see even less usage in the months to come.
Are you going to pursue having your iPad’s screen fixed?
I’m uncertain, bud. There’s a shop here that repairs specifically Apple devices but it’s in a pretty inconvenient location (in Geylang… of all places LOL). I might go by there to see how much it’d cost to fix the screen, and if not, how much they’d pay for me to dump the broked tablet on them.