What do you think about this tablet?

Archos FamilyPad 2



To be honest, although the write-ups were terrific, it got bad reviews from users in general on the Net. Then again, who believes anything on the Internet!

It’s heavy, but that 13 inch screen (vs. the 10.1) is appetizing, and the price.....not much more than a bag of White Castle hamburgers and a 6 pack of beer!

I was only looking to load in my “music sheet” PDF’s for reference when I need to look up a song. Maybe read a book here and there. If that doesn’t work for me, I could always convert it to a pin ball machine!

But really, for the price and if that’s all I’m going to use it for..........

I'm not keen on buying a notebook. Any comments about using this mostly to view music PDF's?

If it has enough onboard memory, and/or a memory card slot, it should work great for what you want.
I still use a small laptop, but I have tried my Motorola Xoom Android tablet too, and it works fine. Laptop is easier to sort and search for stuff though.

I have been following info on larger tablets for some time as the 9.7" ipad or 10.1 androids don't cut it with me. I am spoiled with an old 14.1" pre-wide screen laptop on its side which works great.

Regarding the Archos here's some correspondence I've had with someone on another forum that bought one to use for reading music:

"I bought the Archos with the hope of using it for viewing sheet music. Here are the problems I'm having:

1. It does not support Bluetooth so I cannot turn pages with a foot pedal
2. It is extremely underpowered, so the performance is very slow
3. The resolution is very low so it is not feasible to mark on a piece of sheet music

The Archos can be used for viewing sheet music but it is far from ideal and very disappointing." End quote.

So I would drop any thought of getting the Archos, however the Hannspree T7 available at Best buy for only $230 with bluetooth seems like a possibility.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/hannspree-t7...4b-00006ac8d9a4

The Kocaso also has Bluetooth for under $300

http://www.amazon.com/Kocaso-M1400-13-Inch-8GB-Tablet/dp/B00BQO9M1M

It sounds like there will be a 12.9" and/or 13.3" put out by Apple in 2014. Word has it that the 12.9 will be out this spring and the 13.3 will be out in October. They are or will be tested at schools and are aimed at the educational market.

Samsung is also supposed to have a 13.3 coming out this spring.

Sony has a very light and thin ereader coming out also. Do not know the measurements yet but it looks quite large. They will not be available in the US.

The Samsung, Apple and Sony would all also cost a bunch.

If I were to try it at this time I would test out a Hannspree T7 as it has Bluetooth, has a quad-core processor, is less money and also because I would feel a lot more comfortable buying something like this from Best Buy rather than Amazon.

The actual viewing area of the Archos is 7" x 11.25" I imagine the viewing area of the other two would be about the same.

This is a good topic at this time for people who have a Music Pad Pro as Microsoft stops support for Windows XP now.

Scott L

Nothing beats a good laptop on stage imo

Thanks, Scott.....that (the resolution) was the common denominator in most of the reviews I read too.



I never stopped to think about actual "viewing areas." Thanks for the 'heads-up" on this.

I'll wait a few more months to see what comes out though my understanding is that anything beyond 10.1 won't withstand pressure applied to the screen. I'm sure they'll get around that eventually.

Mark

Hi Mark

I'm wondering where you got this info. I'd think you'd really have to be hammering the screen to create a problem.

Scott

The 13 inch tablet/laptop that I have seems to be strong enough to handle all but excessive impacts. The owners manual does suggest caution about too much screen pressure. I have been using it for about six months with no issues. I think it is as sturdy as the iPad. It is a Sony model SVD13223CXB with 1920X1080 resolution which gives a beautiful display for my sheets. It is a little "pricey" though. It's a shame that Sony decided to close its PC business.

Hi - I've written in other threads about this, but the Dell XPS-18 is an 18" tablet ... a friend of mine has one; it does well at very large music (if used "tall") or even two-page-at-a-time viewing (if used "portrait").

Links here ... (I hope I do the links OK; I don't do this often!) On his piano, and on my (old) Tyros:

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn83/jimlaing/XPS-18-and-iPad-on-Tyros.jpg

Link 2:
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn83/jimlaing/XPS-18-and-iPad-on-Piano.jpg