All About the JooJoo

I have, honestly, become slightly obsessed with the JooJoo lately. It seems like an extremely nice media-oriented tablet. In my previous post, I talked about alternatives for the iPad. Well, there aren't many, but the JooJoo seems to be something all it's own!

JooJoo Tech Specs:

Processor: 1.6 Ghz Intel Atom CPU
RAM: 1 GB
Storage: 4 GB SSD (Solid-State Drive)
GPU: nVidia Ion
Display: 12.1 Inches
Resolution: 1366 x 768
Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g
OS: Linux-based
Price: $499

Pros:

• Fast: Supposedly, this is the fastest of its kind. It boots fast, surfs fast, and plays video fa-... um... at regular speed (but with no stutter).
• Huge display: Great for viewing video and pictures.
• Capable: It has it all! It has flash, PDF and DOC readability, pretty much anything needed for the web and email.
• Webcam: 1.3 Megapixel. Nice touch.

Cons:

• Huge Overall: And in this corner, weighing in at a whopping 2.4 pounds, the JooJoo! Yes, it's heavy. It's pretty large too, but it is the product which is more web-based. You really need some size when surfing and watching.
• Touch Screen: Based on what I have seen, (only pre-market versions), it appears a bit unresponsive and awkward to use. I think they need to up the touch screen a little bit.
• Awkward OS: Also, if these guys want to fight a winning fight against Apple, they need to work a bit on their OS. It is a bit awkward when doing things like changing the orientation. It sort of flashes off and gets all pixelated before doing it. This doesn't really matter, but it looks terrible in the demo videos! They will likely (hopefully) fix this flaw.

I like it a lot for whatever reason. They just need to add some 3G and it will truly be the web, uncompromised, and anywhere!

Alternatives to the Apple iPad

There are a number of alternatives emerging at the much-anticipated release of the iPad. After searching some of these, I have come to realize that the (minimum) $500 to be paid for the iPad is not so bad. It is overpriced for the hardware you are receiving, but with the cheap 3G and the possible upgrades, I have seen the light. I also said that I did not see the point in a camera. Well, I stand by that, a webcam on the other hand could be nifty. I also said that it should be able to play HD video. Well, it does! So, that's pretty cool. So, while the price is not "unbelievable" in most cases, it is for Apple. They are, especially for the 3G, actually not grossly overpricing their product. A webcam would be nice, but I don't expect them to underprice it! After all, it's still Apple we're talking about.
So, I have decided to compare all of the alternatives to the iPad. Of course, starting with the iPad.

iPad:

Processor: 1 Ghz
RAM: ???
Screen Size: 9.7 inch diagonal
Resolution: 1024 x 768
Capacity: 16-64 GB Flash storage
GPU: ???
Wi-Fi: 802.11 a/b/g/n
OS: (iPad OS?) (UNIX?)
Price: $500-$830
3G Price: $30 per month for unlimited data

Pros: Tons of apps!, 3G at a great price, acclaimed OS, responsive touch screen (great for games/apps!)
Cons: Inability to multi-task, Lack of webcam, No Flash capability, No Skype yet
Overall: Best for app-use and games, great App Store. 4:3 Screen ratio.

JooJoo:

Processor: 1.6 Ghz
RAM: ???
Screen Size: 12.1 inch diagonal
Resolution: 1336 x 768
Capacity: 4 GB SSD (Solid-state drive)
GPU ??? (nVidia Ion?)
Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g
OS: ??? (Flash?)
Price:$500
3G Price: N/A

Pros: Fast! (supposedly), High resolution, Flash supported (HULU!)
Cons: No 3G (Yet), Very limited apps due to lack of storage and lack of store (for now), Poor multi-touch screen responsiveness
Overall: Best for media viewing and relaxed use. Plays Hulu well, even on 1080p! Cutbacks in touch-screen interface keep it from being the best all-around tablet.

Archos 7:

Processor: 600 Mhz, Additional: 430 Mhz
RAM: 128 MB
Screen Size: 7 inch diagonal
Resolution: 800 x 480
Capacity: 160-320 GB
Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g
OS: Linux (Android?)
Price: $350-$400
3G Price: N/A

Pros: Cheap, Common OS, Can hold and attain many apps
Cons: Slow, (I imagine due to HDD and lack of processor speed), Low resolution
Overall: A bare minimum device. 3G?

Archos 9:

Processor: 1.1 Ghz
RAM: 1 GB (expandable!)
Screen Size: 8.9 inch diagonal
Resolution: 1024 x 600
Capacity: 60 GB (Capacity for speed?)
Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g
OS: Windows 7(!) Starter Edition
Price: $550
3G Price: N/A

Pros: Great OS, Good amount of apps
Cons: Resolution just a little too small (for my taste, anyway)
Overall: A good replacement for the iPad for just a little more money. (?)

OpenTablet 7:

Processor: ??? Ghz (Intel Moorestown)
RAM: ???
Screen Size: 7 inch diagonal
Resolution: ???
Capacity:???
Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g/n
OS: Proprietary
Price: ???
3G Price: ???

Pros: Dual cameras, good connectivity, Flash capable and nice apps
Cons: No information I've received leads to any.
Overall: Depending on what unfolds, this could be the best alternative for the iPad. I don't expect the resolution to be impressive, but the hardware and the OS looks very promising.

Honestly, the iPad is very nice depending on what you'd like to do. As I said, more intensive and interactive browsing and apps are perfect. If the OpenTablet 7 turns out as nice as it seems, then it may be quite the contender, especially with those two cameras! If you want the cheap choice, go for the Archos 7, or even its predecessor, the Archos 5. The Archos 9 is practically an entire computer that boasts quite some portability. And even though the price is $550, the comparable iPad is, like, $700, so you are actually saving quite some money. Frankly, though, I like the JooJoo. Even though I do like games and my internet browsing usually is interactive, (such as writing this blog), I love the resolution, the Flash capability that the iPad lacks, and the look of it. It is a nice, substantial piece of technology and all they need to do is refine the touch screen and add some 3G, and its not like I use a ton of apps, so I would just go for this media machine. The best current match for the iPad for a better price, (depending on what iPad you choose, but the comparable one is more expensive), is the OpenTablet 9, which I would choose due to the ability to use Skype and similar apps. Plus there is some better hardware and good software. It seems like a better office or all-around device, whereas the iPad is more fun. I have a lot of faith in the OpenTablet 7, though.

If you have any more suggestions for devices or more specifications, leave a comment.

My choice: JooJoo
Likely most popular: iPad (of course)

iPad Boycott

No, I do not want this blog to cause some sort of uproar, and I do realize that I sound kind of Apple-opposing considering I have made a "hackintosh" blog in the past. Well, I assure you, I am not anti-Apple. In fact, I love Apple. I think they do the best job of combining form and function in the computer world, and lately, I have noticed something. They grossly overprice their products; especially their new one's. Well, this is just a suggestion, unless some activist would like to make it an entire movement. With the disgusting overpricing of their newer items, it would be smart to steer clear of Apple's newest gadget: the iPad, which is essentially a larger iPod Touch. It is a very nice idea and seems ideal to some people, (people like me), at least until we look at the pricetag, (which Apple has called "unbelievable". Yeah, right!)

This trend is not new. It happened with the iPod, iPod Touch, iPhone, and even with the Mac Mini, iMac, and the MacBook and MacBook Pro. With Apple, there is only one smart thing to do: wait. Wait until they make an improvement along with lowering the price. Then wait some more! (Remember the iPhone 3G? Of course you don't! There is the 3GS now!) All I am saying is that you should wait until it has everything that you want it to before you buy. This iPad may seem awesome as it is, but according to wired.com, its parts are worth around $220, and are being sold, currently, for $500. And the one that is most expensive ($830) is worth around $335! It may seem like a rip-off, (which it is), but of course they have to make a profit. (People have been asking for a camera. Um... Why?! I really don't see the point. It's essentially a portable, touch-screen web browser. A camera would be nice, but I would prefer viewing items with the iPad rather than creating them.) This is what I think would be awesome: Blu-Ray and HD capabilities! The screen might have to get a little bigger, but wouldn't that be sick! As of now, it can only do standard resolution. I think that they should just make the screen's resolution 1280 by 720 and make any HD video full-screen. Even if they didn't have Blu-Ray, 720p HD video would be a very nice touch.

Yeah, its pretty perfect as-is. That whole HD thing would be cool, but for what it does, I think it's just about perfect. It's good for decent web browsing anyway, which is what I do all of the time when I'm bored and have nothing to do, but on my phone's small screen, it's just a pain. Anyway, I think the lowest price should be about $350 and the full-on, maxed-out, tripping balls iPad should be $600 at most! I would pay between $400 and $450 just to make sure I got a good one. Just to clarify, $450 should get me at least a 16GB, 3G and HD, iPad. Bye, and thanks for reading.