[JS_startup]

I'm in the market for a tablet right now and I wanted to choose the new iPad for its superior resolution, high quality app store and great pedigree.

But I can't. When I put aside any internal biases I realize that I want a tablet whose memory I can expand with SD cards. I want one that I can throw ripped movies onto without jailbreaking or going through time-consuming video conversions. I want one that lets me use it as a simple removable drive, free of the Apple ecosystem and its bloated iTunes client.

The iPad would be a great device for someone like my mom, but I can tell I'd forever regret its limitations and barriers.

[andrewljohnson]

I think you are imagining features you'll never need in practice, and passing on a great tablet with amazing software, in favor of something you'll find far less satisfying than your laptop, and probably never use.

[Archio]

That's my hunch as well. Of course, there are certainly situations in which those extra features might be necessary, but they are in .01% of the case situations that the average iPad user is going to need it for.

[JS_startup]

I'm open for suggestions as I would like to get the new iPad. The things holding me back are: the inability to expand the memory, the challenge of playing common video formats like AVI or WMV and being pushed into the iTunes ecosystem (I use an Android phone so theoretically I'll be repurchasing apps, movies, music, etc)

[halostatue]

If you mean memory as in storage, there are several ways around that for certain classes of data (mostly photos) through the camera connection kit. (I have a HDD photo tank that includes firmware capable of mounting a folder as if it were a camera card, fooling the iPad into mounting data from a hard drive.) On the other hand, with my 32GB iPad (2010), I don't think that I've hit a limit that I care about. (I don't typically care about movies on the iPad, and HandBrake works beautifully to convert DVDs for play on the iPad when I do care.)

For format issues, both AirVideo (http://www.inmethod.com/air-video/index.html) and ZumoCast (http://www.zumocast.com/) provide ways to stream data from your primary computer with 'live' transcoding of the data into formats that iOS devices can play without any additional codecs.

My suggestion is buy the new iPad. Play with it. You'll either realize that your concerns don't exist once you have the device, or they matter more than anything else. If the latter, wipe it and sell it. You'll get great resale value for it, even a year later. If the new iPad is as hard to get as the iPad 2 was when it first came out, you might even manage to break even.

[esusatyo]

You can use your music if it's in MP3 or AAC (which are pretty much the standard these days), you can play AVI and WMV. You will always have to repurchase your apps no matter which platform you jump to.

It sounds like such an old wife tale that people kept saying they can't play video formats. There are a number of ways of doing this. I have numerous friends who thinks this is the case, but it really is just a myth. There are even so many apps that pretends to be like a USB drive.

[batista]

FWIT, the "scene" decided to move to x264 for video encoding, so those AVIs will be less and less.

Also: WMV, seriously? Where you get those from?

[jsz0]

If you're curious though here's how I deal with your limitations & barriers. Not sure if it will work for you or not or if you want to change the way you do things.

I want one that I can throw ripped movies onto

Rip to H264. Even the piracy groups have switched to it. If you encode your ripped movies to H264 they will play on almost any device. Xbox, Playstation, Android, iOS, Windows Phone, etc. Even OS/2 Warp has support via VLC. (though good luck getting OS/2 installed on a machine with the guts to play H264 video) With all my files in H264 I don't have to worry about this at all.

I want a tablet whose memory I can expand with SD cards.

With cloud storage/services I feel like my iPad has unlimited storage. The one area I think this is an issue is transferring photos or videos from another camera into the iPad which is what the Camera Connection Kit handles for now. I suspect in the near future it will all be handled wirelessly. Looking back into history as soon as the local area network appeared people didn't really bother walking floppy disks around anymore. The same is going to happen with SD cards. I haven't owned an SD card in probably 6 or 7 years. I'm not really sure what I would do with one at this point.

I want one that lets me use it as a simple removable drive

There are a number of applications that just create a writable network share on the iPad. Seems easier to me than finding a cable and plugging it in. This also goes back to cloud storage/services that just sync the data for you automatically. I rarely find that I actually need to use these apps. I just put the file onto Dropbox and let it sync. Done.

bloated iTunes client.

I don't sync my iPhone or iPad to a computer anymore. Works fine without it.

[emehrkay]

This wont change your mind, but there are a few apps that you can throw any format video at. The downside is that you're limited to the internal storage and you have to manage it through iTunes (however, there is one that I have that will allow you to wirelessly manage your files).

[JS_startup]

I saw some of those and, while they would help, it's still a bitter pill to swallow.

I really just wish there was a tablet with the app quality and build quality of Apple devices but the openness and options of Android devices. Currently I'm forced to either work around Apple's simplicity/limitations or Android's mediocrity/obsolescence.

[gonehome]

Could you name the apps you use?

[emehrkay]

Sorry, I didnt have the ipad in front of me when I wrote the first post. The workhorse is AVPlayerHD, it can play just about anything we throw at it. I dont even bother with conversions. For car rides I just load up a bunch of movies that my son would watch and we're set. I only have the 16gb ipad 1, but opted for the 32 "the new ipad" for this reason alone.

[charlietran]

CineXPlayer is a good one: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cinexplayer-best-way-to-enjoy...

[jacktoole1]

It might still be worth a try. Specs and capabilities are easy to judge something by when you're looking to buy it (since they're all that you can really see without owning the device), but they sometimes matter less than the holistic experience once you actually own it. Basically: optimise for the common case. If 90% of the time you'll want to use your tablet as a tablet, not an SD card reader or portable drive, then it makes sense to pay more attention to the tablet experience than whether it can function as an SD reader or drive.

I'd recommend seeing if you can check out an iPad and whatever alternative you're looking into at a local store, and spend some time using them how you anticipate you would on a day to day basis. While I hear there are some good android tablets, some are laggy (Kindle Fire, I'm looking at you), which gets incredibly frustrating over time. There are also other potential limitations, such as the app store (not to say Android isn't doing well there, but a lot of mobile apps still seem to start with iOS first, although this could change).

Disclaimer: I own an iPad, and I like it. I also have friends with both Android tablets and iPads who love their choice. If you feel that the features lacked by the iPad are important, then go for it and get something else. Good luck in your search!

(Side note: I totally agree about iTunes, especially on Windows.)

[bchen]

To use SD cards, use Camera Connection kit. To play common video formats, use apps, such as AVPlayerHD. To use your iPad as a removable drive, use iExplorer (no jailbreaking required). If you don't want to use iTunes, you can completely avoid using it as well. The only thing that requires iTunes is to put your music on it. iTunes can be optional if you don't need to do this.

Regarding repurchasing apps, it may be a good thing. There are plenty of good iPad apps, which fully take advantage of the tablet form factor. Although I have not used many Android tablet apps to prove it, Tim Cook should have good reasons to criticize about tablet apps on Android.

[Archio]

Out of curiosity- is this wanting due to your need for expandable space, for example, or your desire to tinker with the device?

The iPad certainly isn't for everyone, just like most consumer technology products are for certain types of people. But I think Apple's hit the sweet spot where for 99% of their customers, 16, 32, or 64GB of space is plenty and customization isn't really needed.

[noisebleed]

Well, the SD card simply isn't going to happen on any Apple iOS device, but what are your objections to jailbreaking? It's easy and addresses all of your software concerns. Yes of course it would be great not to have to do it at all, but how is it different than the rooting process you have to go through with most Android devices?

[philwelch]

My simple removable drive is called Dropbox, and it's available at every computer, phone, or tablet I use.