Be Excellent To Each Other

Sounds optimal.

The HP SlateBook X2 does have an SD card slot in the keyboard section, but apparently it doesn't fit an SD card in totally flush, so you can't really leave it in there. It does support up to 64gb cards though. MicroSD card slot in the Tablet section too, which also supports up to 64gb.

Doesn't a Chromebook more or less require internet connectivity to be useful? That sounds like the worst idea if you're backpacking around the place and can't be guaranteed to be near an internet connection at any point. Even a straight Android table would be better surely?

That HP thing does look quite nice and it's the sort of thing I might've went for when getting my tablet if it had been available because it would've made for a more straight replacement for my laptop. As long as you can plug a USB stick into it then read and write from the tablet which is a limitation of my Nexus that fucking boggles my mind. I'm not convinced that these things are necessarily cheaper than a laptop though as you can get 11 inch HP Windows laptop for around the £350 mark already.

Regarding internet connection, the only work I'll be doing is running SavyGamer, so I'll need an internet connection no matter what. From what I can tell, most places have some kind of WiFi availability or 3g coverage, I won't need high speeds.

You're right about the availability of cheaper laptops, but they're generally not very nice, and if I was going for windows, I'd want something that would be decent for gaming at least, which would put the price up. I have a fairly rubbish old netbook which would do the job, but it is slow and heavy.

Fair enough, I was thinking of things like writing docs offline and stuff but if it's only for tasks for which you would need to be online anyway then yeah, it makes no odds as you say.

Personally I'd still be a iffy about this because not being able to do something trivial like create a new doc and start typing into it just because I didn't have a net connection is bullshit to my mind (and it's even worse if you're far from home) but if you're sure that's not an issue for you then fair enough.



As soon as you start talking about gaming laptops you're comparing apples with oranges though which doesn't make any sense. Your Chromebook isn't going to be any cop for gaming either so why does the Windows laptop at the same price lose points for being equally (i.e. not very) good at the same task?

Also, I've got one of the 11 inch HP laptops I was talking about and it's not a netbook; it's a proper small laptop. Obviously it won't win any speed records but it's got an HD screen, 4GB RAM, dual core CPU, proper nice chiclet keyboard, etc. As a rough guide things like Limbo and the original Portal were perfectly playable on it. I could probably even stick an SSD in there if I cared to drop the weight and up the speed. I mean I like my new Nexus tablet for my main home use case (reading comics) but there's no denying that the laptop is more useful for general stuff and if I was going travelling I don't think I'd leave it behind. It is heavier no doubt so tablets win on that front, but it's a tiny wee thing so we're not talking about a lot of weight even at that. Also the weight differential would be less with a chromebook because it's got a keyboard that my tablet doesn't.

4.3 update has come through for the Nexus. It finally does the name search when you dial a number!

Ooh, and Google Keep! Finally a built-in note taking app, synched to your Google account.

Aye, i've been using it for while, it has replaced Evernote for me.

No iOS app though, which is mildly annoying, but you can use it through the browser.

What I want is a 17in, 1080p tablet that lasts an hour or two, for super-lightness. I want a removable keyboard/stand attachment with secondary battery that can fold around out of the way. I want a pillow for wireless charging, so I can leave it next to the sofa and throw the tablet (and/or keyboard) at it whenever i put it down or it needs charging.

I am a small niche though, and even if I wasn't, I'd.want it for £59 less than they could charge.

Into The Dead is a simple little "avoid the zombies" game that had me going "wargh!" at various points. It's free, too.

I had a shot on that a while ago but didn't really enjoy it; it felt a bit 'woolly' when it came to avoiding the zombies which ruined it for me. This could be another case of me being out of sync with everyone else though because I've seen positive mentions of it all over the place.

I felt similarly.

4.2.2 has finally come through for the One X, mine has just updated itself.

Although it's changed my home screen and I can't work out how to change it fucking back.

Android KitKat. What the fuck?

http://www.android.com/kitkat/

Alphabetical, innit.

It's most odd.

Right, and KitKat was the only confectionery beginning with K. That totally explains it.

Nestle's video response is quite amusing mind:

Go on then, give us a better one

Krispy Kreme was the only other one that came to mind.

Kola Kube

Key Lime Pie

All three should really be 'c', anyway

Cey Cime Cie

Cream Pie

There's the originally heavily rumoured key lime pie; which is certainly no worse than froyo or honeycomb and comes with the bonus of not being some horrible PR cross-pollination jizzparty. I now eagerly await the successor to Windows 8: Windows Big Mac®. Which the Apple folks can be smug about while typing on their freshly minted OS Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappucino®.

They shouldn't be changing the name anyway. We've been on version 4 for ages.

Apple already had a Lion.

Possible Nexus 5 stuff here. The guy in the picture’s holding a Nexus phone that definitely isn’t the 4 and it looks pretty damn big by comparison.

Also this is very intriguing. Alcatel, of all people, releasing a new 6” phone with all the usual gubbins; but also with a set of pretty bonkers sounding covers:

• One that allows wireless charging
• One that’s got a load of LEDs on the front for cool looking notifications
• Another one that’s got a full e-Ink screen on it for reading books and getting basic info without having to turn the main screen on

Plus a pack-in stylus and optional pico-projector for the thing. It’s like they’ve just grabbed all the slightly odd ideas all the other manufacturers have had then thrown some of their own in for good measure. The e-Ink screen is genuinely a good idea mind if you read books on your phone and it’s actually a really nice looking bit of kit.

They’re all determined to make my next upgrade choice a nightmare. HTC, Samsung and Sony have already thrown their hats in the ring with their jumbo phones and now Alcatel are having a go with Google possibly getting in the fight as well. Cuh!

Kipper

A screen on the case? I'd need a case for my case. What if it had a screen on? Etc.

You could just put a screen protector on the screen on your case.

I like the idea of an e-ink screen for reading on. If nothing else, it would free up space in my work bag.

As long as they make sure it displays the Kindle app properly it could be a winner. It'd be pretty pointless otherwise though so presumably they've got that sorted.

I've actually found that the Nexus 4 screen is excellent for reading e-books, and I already own a Kindle.

I've always been happy to read books on my phone screen and Mrs B reads shitloads on her Galaxy Note. That said, an eInk screen would beat the phone screen for reading on two levels: for one it would take up very little battery power at all and the arguably more compelling argument is that you'd be able to easily read in bright light (I'm thinking specifically of being on holiday here).

Blimey I don't know what they've done to power management in 4.2.2 but my One X is surviving massively better since the update.

So the new Galaxy Note was detailed this evening at IFA. It's got a slightly bigger, slightly higher res screen but is actually smaller than the previous handset which is some good engineering. Obviously as well it's got a better camera and hilariously powerful processor in it because what else do you do with a flagship phone these days? Last year's model was hilariously over-powered as well mind so it doesn't make any real difference day-to-day and the screen size change is very small so I'm not too fussed. I'm definitely holding on now to see what HTC's One Max comes out with; if it's got a six inch screen they probably win my money this year with an outsider bet on that bonkers Alcatel One Touch Hero thing (which I'm already trying to sell Mrs B on anyway).

The only other thing of note was Samsung's smart watch the Galaxy Gear. I'm not uninterested in the idea of smart watch but this one loses instantly because it's only compatible with one phone on the planet: the Galaxy Note 3. Presumably they'll roll compatibility back to the Galaxy S IV pretty quickly but still; the very idea of spending a couple of hundred quid on a smart watch that instantly locks you into a single manufacturers Android handsets is just such bullshit. They could've probably sold some amount of these if they'd made them compatible with any Android phone (as Sony wisely decided with theirs) but I reckon they'll lose this gamble on user loyalty.

Hurrah, 4.3 just arrived for my S4. I can finally turn off that annoying 'wifi disabled because internet connection is slow' setting.

Or not. Not 4.3, just an update to 4.2.2 - weird.

I have 4.3 (cyanogenmod 10.2) on my SG2. It's very similar.

If the new iPhone is as uninspiring as the 4S and the 5, I'm gonna go Android.

Want the HTC One. Will it obsolesce instantly, or will it be free from flagship sequels for a while?

I have read about the One Max, but I care not for massive phones.

HTC themselves aren't likely to bring out a new flagship for a good while and the other top tier Android manufacturers have only recently brought out their flagships (the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the Sony Xperia Z1) so if you're not interested in the >5" category then you're fine to pick up whatever you want right now.

Also all the phone manufacturers are struggling to find new stuff to do so even phones that are a year old are still more than acceptable; there's arguably a lot less risk in buying a phone than in previous years now everyone's hit a bit of a wall in terms of power and features.

Hmmm, actually I hadn't realised how long the One had been around for compared to the other flagships as it was announced in February. So, if they kept to a yearly release, which they might not, you could see another one announced in about six months; depends whether that bothers you or not. Having played around with my mate's One I honestly don't think you'd be disappointed though.

My One X is still the dog's bollocks as far as I'm concerned, especially since HTC finally graced the thing with 4.2.2

I'm at the point now whereby when my contract is up in May (at which point it'll be two years old), I may well just go onto a PAYG plan 'cause I basically do fuck all voice, a few texts, and mostly data.

Yeah the screen may 'only' be 720p and the quad-core processor in it may be getting on a bit and it may 'only' have 1GB of RAM, but as Bamba already said, you get to the point when it's like - seriously, how much power do you need in a fucking phone?

Hmm, the One X is as expensive as the One on Amazon. Am I missing something? I thought the X was a marginally inferior predecessor.

What happened to your Nexus?

The One X is inferior to the One in every way, yes. Not sure why the prices are so weird on Amazon to be honest.

What happened to your Nexus?

What happened to your Nexus?

Also: cheers for the info, Bamba.