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Revving Your Productivity with Android Tablets

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So far, most of the productivity tests on tablets have asked if the iPad can replace the notebooks, but not many have looked at Android Honeycomb tablets. Honeycomb tablets aren’t as popular as the iPad, and save the Transformer, don’t have awesome keyboard accessories that double as a case.

Now that I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 with Verizon 4G LTE I wanted to really see how productive I could be with an Android tablet. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that some of the issues I experienced with Honeycomb on the G-Slate are not an issue this time around, and I can get a decent amount of work done while on the Galaxy Tab 10.1, sometimes it is even better at multitasking than using a notebook.

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 shines where other tablets have failed and even bests the iPad in getting things done. Here’s why.

Multitasking Done Right

Bouncing between apps on the iPad is a chore, which limits the ability to get work done when I need to stay in touch with each rest of the team or when I need to look at content spread across multiple apps.

Android Multitasking Productivity

Android Tablets fit my work style great.

On the Galaxy Tab 10.1, it was much easier to get the laptop like experience than on the iPad. I could work on a post, jump into Google Chat, grab info from an email and communicate with the team incredibly easy.

The ability to multitask, and see notifications without leaving the app I am working in, has helped me stay on top of a busy week without the need to have a notebook with me wherever I am. The unobtrusive Google Chat notifications are much easier to keep an eye on than the annoying blinking notifications on my tab in Google Chrome. By comparison, I never use Google Chat on the iPad because I have to go check the tab for notifications, and always end up missing something important.

The snappy multitasking and ability to see what is going on without leaving my primary app  has helped me use the Tab as my primary device on several occasions. Once you embrace the switch between apps button, you can really get cooking. It doesn’t hurt that the Verizon connectivity means I can work from anywhere without using my MiFi.

 

I used to like solitary nature of iPad, but after using the Tab for just a few days, the switch between apps functionality on the iPad feels clunky and time-consuming. I’m still not ready to jump to Android full-time for other reasons, but the Galaxy Tab has made me a believer in Android tablets for productivity. Would I trade a notebook for an Android tablet full time? Not a chance, but I have been leaving my iPad at home more.

4 Comments

4 Comments

  1. Anonymous

    08/03/2011 at 11:30 pm

    Is this a personal unit or a review unit?
    What did you think of the accessories launched today, including the keyboard?

    I dislike the ipad approach samsung took with this unit.  Having to pay $40 per dongle for any standard port I want to make use of is something I just can’t get my head around.  Having to carry the dongles around with me just in case something comes up I might need them for is something else I can’t get my head around.
    The two ideas together make it a ‘not for me’ item.

    • Josh Smith

      08/04/2011 at 12:43 am

      This is a review unit. I haven’t had hands on time with the dongles yet. We are in the process of getting those. 

      I too wish it had the stuff you need to go right out of the box. 

  2. Paustin

    08/04/2011 at 4:35 pm

    One thing missing from the article is you say you wont switch from Apple for “other reasons” but you don’t list them.  It would be useful to know if you found failing with your device that were not applicable to the article, or if it was something more personal (like you have purchase $300 in apps that you don’t want to have to repurchase).

    I have the Asus Transformer, and I gotta tell you – love at first sight.  I’d been waiting for quite some time to jump in.  I am reluctant to spend money on a first-gen device that has such obvious faults, and the transformer simply doesn’t have any.  Tablet, netbook, with all the connections I would want.  HDMI, Blue, 2 USB ports (on the keyboard), a MicroSD on the tablet and an SD on the keyboard.  I’ve connected usb drives, thumb drives, and mice to it successfully.  It is excellent.  The *biggest* downside is that this is a personal unit, and when I am working on my company’s laptop, I find myself poking ineffectually at the screen.  -pete

  3. Carlos Ivanvazquez

    08/05/2011 at 11:57 pm

    Hello & good evening everybody in the gaget world and hello to , to all the android fan’s well
    I bought an ipad2 and before i bought it i went to the store and got me acers tablet and just couse i dint get it that had the
    3g i returned it, but then i porchised the ipad2 o.k. Thiswas what i really wanted but after having it for a couple of
    Day’s is not the tablet for me,it doesn’t do nothing the android honey comb does, and it doesn’t have no flash drive, at all
    So i been an android fannatic for a couple of year’s but i’m geting my android tablet back soon and!
    Then theres a varaity of so many i dont know wish one to porchised, and for my ipad2 is going in the closet,
    Well good night my face book friend’s ,,,,,

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