Last time on Gadget Wisdom, we were asking the question of whether a tablet can be your primary computer.
After we wrote this, we headed off on a long weekend with only an Asus Transformer. This is the original Asus Transformer TF101, not the newer Transformer Prime, but the concept is basically the same. If you want the benefits of a tablet, with the option to produce longer form content as needed, this is a perfect choice.
The tablet is wonderful for consumption of content. There are not enough tablet apps for Android, but there are enough to make us optimistic for the future.
Let’s go over a few of the apps we’ve started to use…
 News Reading
- Reader HD (Free Version, Ad Free Version) – The best Google Reader app for Android tablets, in our opinion. The developer is very responsive with bug and feature requestss
There are a variety of magazine style news readers that draw from a variety of sources. Even Reader HD offers a magazine mode. We hope the promised version of ReadItLater Pro for tablets arrives soon, but the current version is adequate.
Word Processing/Document Creation
We have yet to find the best document suite for Android tablets. The Transformer comes with Polaris Office, which is not offered in the market. We also have copies of QuickOffice HD and DocumentsToGO.
We’ve actually been using a simple text editor, DB Text Editor, which is built into the Dropbox Android client.
We blog, and use WordPress, and WordPress for Android (Market Link) was recently updated and now supports tablets. It is still, like many things, not perfect. Nor is using WordPress in the browsers, but these things continue to get better..
Browsers
There is a build-target for a full build of Chrome for Android, but so far, there isn’t a full browser for Android. But the choice of browsers is not bad. While there is a tablet version of the popular Dolphin Browser, it is still in beta and has not been updated in a while. The HD version works fine for now, as does the Android version of Firefox. We hope to see more in this category in the future.
Gmail is an example of what a good tablet app can be. It works nicely, efficiently, and it is a reference for many other apps.
Finance
Mint’s Android app(Market Link) just updated this week to support tablets. It shows that any app can become an indispensable part of one’s productivity if properly designed.
In the end, the market for tablet apps on Android is expanding. There are many good apps so far, including many we haven’t mentioned. There will be more, and the ones we have will only continue to improve. So, what is the conclusion?
An Android tablet is one of the best options out there for content consumption and simple productivity. For word processing, with the addition of the Transformer’s keyboard dock, it means you can handle your on-the-go and travel word processing. We wouldn’t use it as our primary computer, but having it around means you can use your primary computer less and be more mobile around your house.
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