Device for reading Go World Magazine in Digital Form

[tchan001]

What it says to me is that the "deep discounts" are actually much smaller gross margins accepted by manufacturers who are selling almost direct and don't have to spend heavily on advertising to justify high gross margins. I'm actually debating whether to buy a Pipo M6 myself as the specs seem to be quite good for what I would get. I really don't want to root my Samsung and void my warranty, but with the Pipo M6, I am tempted

http://appleinsider.com/articles/12/11/ ... -for-apple

[Boidhre]

What it says to me is that the "deep discounts" are actually much smaller gross margins accepted by manufacturers who are selling almost direct and don't have to spend heavily on advertising to justify high gross margins. I'm actually debating whether to buy a Pipo M6 myself as the specs seem to be quite good for what I would get. I really don't want to root my Samsung and void my warranty, but with the Pipo M6, I am tempted

http://appleinsider.com/articles/12/11/ ... -for-apple

Other similar tablets to to Pipo have had users reporting problems with poor firmware and poor quality components which are "off the spec sheet," e.g. the headphone socket. There are compromises being made other than the margin, and remember it's not just advertising that margin is paying for with Apple but tech support and iOS development, Android tablet makers get the latter for free and the cheaper brands skimp heavily on the former.

They're cheap enough to take a gamble alright but I would hesitate before recommending one to someone as their only tablet. I'd go for a more proven brand in that instance.

[alejo]

Crisper text because of the greater resolution with the Retina display over the Galaxy Tab display.
The iOS App Store has exclusive go apps whereas Android doesn't have any that don't have equivalents on iOS.

Either of these might justify the much greater cost of the iPad for you or they may not

1. High end devices, such as Nexus 10, offer the same or even better resolution than the iPad.
2. While this used to be true, it's no more. One sample in Go is the KGS app, which doesn't exist in iPad. However, there are still some apps which exist in only one market and not the other, but this works both ways nowadays.

Lastly, and this is just my personal opinion, the only fact which currently justifies the greater cost of the iPad is the apple logo at the backside

1. We were talking about a specific model of Galaxy Tab. The Nexus 10's got better dpi but from reviews it's very hard to tell with them side by side unless you look at them from a couple of inches away. The colour is also more vibrant on the Nexus 10 which is either a plus or a minus depending on your tastes (personally I prefer less vibrant so I was very happy with my Galaxy SIII after the SII)

2. This isn't true. Sorry, I own devices with both operating systems and the Android app store is still poor in comparison. Apart from KGS, which is irrelevant with a HTML5 version coming, I don't see anything Android specific in go apps that iOS doesn't have an equivalent for. On the other hand there aren't Android equivalents to SmartGo Books, Easy Go, Go Eye etc. There are others like Tygem that only have their iOS version in English, though this may not matter to you.

1.After re-reading the original post, just to check I wasn't wrong, the author asks for any device. Not specifically Galaxy Tab X vs the latest ipad. And yes, any device with a dpi over 250 will fool us into looking at it at two inches of the screen. Otherwise, it's hardly possible to realise the difference.

2."Android market is poor in comparison"... and ipad users are rich, since they are willing to pay 11 euros for Easy Go + 5$ per book for SmartGo books. Moreover, more than half of the apps listed in SL for iphone related to Go aren't free. Well, that was a "cheap" joke

Though Android has KGS and some other options (like flash, for goproblems and such), I must confess I miss some of the ipad apps. Though I'm not a iphone/android GO developer, I wonder why certain apps are only on ipad since android owns a bigger market share in the US. And the difference in share in Korea or Japan are much larger in favor of Android.
Piracy is certainly not an issue here, since go-related piracy is scarce. How many people are actually using the KGS on android but not willing to pay for it? Little if any.
Even if some developers are switching more and more to android and leaving iphone as a second priority, this is not true in the go sphere.

In the end, I like more android over iphone/ipad BUT, if I was to recommend NOW a device ONLY for Go for someone rather wealthy, I would go for the ipad. However, if I had to do anything else with the device (read newspaper, weather, pdf...) I'd go for the android.

[Boidhre]

1.After re-reading the original post, just to check I wasn't wrong, the author asks for any device. Not specifically Galaxy Tab X vs the latest ipad. And yes, any device with a dpi over 250 will fool us into looking at it at two inches of the screen. Otherwise, it's hardly possible to realise the difference.

2."Android market is poor in comparison"... and ipad users are rich, since they are willing to pay 11 euros for Easy Go + 5$ per book for SmartGo books. Moreover, more than half of the apps listed in SL for iphone related to Go aren't free. Well, that was a "cheap" joke

Though Android has KGS and some other options (like flash, for goproblems and such), I must confess I miss some of the ipad apps. Though I'm not a iphone/android GO developer, I wonder why certain apps are only on ipad since android owns a bigger market share in the US. And the difference in share in Korea or Japan are much larger in favor of Android.
Piracy is certainly not an issue here, since go-related piracy is scarce. How many people are actually using the KGS on android but not willing to pay for it? Little if any.
Even if some developers are switching more and more to android and leaving iphone as a second priority, this is not true in the go sphere.

In the end, I like more android over iphone/ipad BUT, if I was to recommend NOW a device ONLY for Go for someone rather wealthy, I would go for the ipad. However, if I had to do anything else with the device (read newspaper, weather, pdf...) I'd go for the android.

1. As above, my post was in reply to tchan not a general post about Android tablets. I agree, like most things, once you go beyond a certain point the difference becomes hardly noticeable between devices. It's like trying to tell if it's a modern dual core or quad core chip in a PC just from running a web browser with a couple of tabs open. The technology has gone well beyond what's needed for everyday tasks excluding gaming.

2. I agree with you, the apps that iOS has that Android doesn't are not free normally. Usually they are quite expensive for apps. This would mainly be because pricey apps tend to sell better on iOS generally. I've seen studies looking at buying patterns and unsurprisingly if you compare high end smartphone owners (S4, HTC One, whatever) they spend as much on apps as iPhone users do. The issue is they only make up a relatively small portion of that install base, so while Android is on a lot more devices those devices aren't in enough hands that want to spend money on apps. If the Android tablet community were all Nexus 10 users I think you'd see a lot more interest in developers in putting out expensive apps on the platform generally (not that this doesn't happen now).

[imabuddha]

2."Android market is poor in comparison"... and ipad users are rich, since they are willing to pay 11 euros for Easy Go + 5$ per book for SmartGo books.

Do you mean to say that $5 for a go book is expensive?

[oren]

I did find that comment odd. I have an Android device and happily purchased all of John F's books for Kindle and would easily spend $5/book for SmartGo books if available.

[alejo]

Well, 5$ per book it's not actually expensive itself. It's the fact that there are very few apps for free. It does all depend on each one...
In fact, in Spain people tend to buy 500 € devices (on a disguised monthly fee) but are reluctant to pay 1€ yearly for Whatsapp. So when whatsapp asked for the first euro a few months ago, thousands of users switched to Line or Viber or other apps.
For me, it's nonsense, but that's how reality here works.
I'm among the Android users who either buy certain apps; or obtain piracy copies of others just to realise they're worth the money and end up paying; or just obtain piracy copies to confirm it's not worth it (15 minutes margin of google play isn't enough to judge certain apps). So, given the chance, I'd happily pay 5$ for certain books on SmartGo books for my tablet.

However, I find lots of apps on Android for free which aren't free for iphone. Lots of them. So, I guess that when someone buys an iphone/ipad he is willing to pay for them, which rises the already overpriced costs of the ipad a little bit further on. In the end, you must accept paying a little bit more on ipad or jailbreaking it, which voids your warranty and so on ...

[Boidhre]

I did find that comment odd. I have an Android device and happily purchased all of John F's books for Kindle and would easily spend $5/book for SmartGo books if available.

Are you the average person with an Android tablet though? In terms of income, propensity to spend money on digital goods etc.

[imabuddha]

In fact, in Spain people tend to buy 500 € devices (on a disguised monthly fee) but are reluctant to pay 1€ yearly for Whatsapp. So when whatsapp asked for the first euro a few months ago, thousands of users switched to Line or Viber or other apps.
For me, it's nonsense, but that's how reality here works.

{snip}

However, I find lots of apps on Android for free which aren't free for iphone. Lots of them. So, I guess that when someone buys an iphone/ipad he is willing to pay for them, which rises the already overpriced costs of the ipad a little bit further on.

That's true everywhere, not just Spain.

And this is the reason why developers favor iOS. They have to eat too.

There are many free apps on iOS too, but on both platforms (Android & iOS) free apps almost always cost users in other ways: advertising, personal info/privacy, or IAP.

Anyway, I didn't want to derail the thread. I agree with those who've suggested to the original poster either the 10" iPad or large screen Nexus tablet—both will work well for reading the Go World pdfs.

[wineandgolover]

I agree with those who've suggested to the original poster either the 10" iPad or large screen Nexus tablet—both will work well for reading the Go World pdfs.

But, but, but... what about my favorite platform? Surely it's better than the one I didn't spend money on! Because I am smart. And folks who bought the other are stupid.

Funny thread. Simple answer.

[tchan001]

But, but, but... what about my favorite platform? Surely it's better than the one I didn't spend money on! Because I am smart. And folks who bought the other are stupid.

Funny thread. Simple answer.

Sorry but your palmpilot is not going to make the grade.

[lobotommy]

Offtopic on

However, I find lots of apps on Android for free which aren't free for iphone. Lots of them.

Name them. A lot.
Proof otherwise it's just an illusion.

In the end, you must accept paying a little bit more on ipad or jailbreaking it, which voids your warranty and so on ...

You want to use pirated software? No jailbreak required. Google it.

Alejo, you seem to be a little naive in your believe in "Google's better world". It's just cheaper. Cheaper does not mean better in any language. Does it mean in Spanish?

Last time when I checked Go apps for android they were simply terrible on my phone. I tried a lot of them and they were a disaster. It was half a year ago, so maybe something has changed since then, but it's highly probably that nothing has changed at all.
It's really simple - because of high quality go apps there is no better option than iOS for Go player. Not because of some idiotic apple logo. Apps!

Let see where is better choice and more apps:
Tsumego/Yose/Joseki apps - iOS, general high quality Go apps - iOS, Go servers - iOS (android means waiting forever: Tetsuki showed up after 3 years, WBaduk after over two years, English Tygem client- not available yet, and yes I use KGS on iPad, so I have every go server available on iOS).
I would love to buy an android tablet for 99€/$/£ and get same apps as on iOS. But since iOS is a priority for go developers I will use iOS. Same thing with desktop - I like Linux, but because of crappy apps on it I don't use it, I must use Windows instead.
There is not any ideology or branding magic behind "superiority" of Apple products - just apps.

Offtopic off

[oren]

Are you the average person with an Android tablet though? In terms of income, propensity to spend money on digital goods etc.

I think so, but who knows.

[Boidhre]

Are you the average person with an Android tablet though? In terms of income, propensity to spend money on digital goods etc.

I think so, but who knows.

Take a look at buying pattern surveys.

[tchan001]

You want to use pirated software? No jailbreak required. Google it.

See my comment in your thread about Tsumego/Tesuji apps for iPad & iPhone
http://www.lifein19x19.com/forum/viewto ... 55#p142255