Sony SGPT111US/S Wi-Fi Tablet (16GB)
by Sony
Sony Brings it's Classy Design Experience to the Tablet, September 28, 2011
By Martin "apartoflife" (Tucson, AZ) -
This review is from: Sony SGPT112US/S Wi-Fi Tablet (32GB) (Personal Computers)
I pre-ordered my Tablet through the Sony website and have had the tablet for nearly two weeks. I have to say... Sony was way behind on the tablet market but it was worth the wait. I'll break down my review in catergories.... Looks/functionality ,Performance, Software, Features and Value. Each Break Down will be valued in Five Stars.
Looks/ functionality- 5/5 This tablet like everything Sony makes is Classy looking and unique. Initially prior to getting my hands on it and looking at pics, the wedge shape rubbed me the wrong way but once you see it in person it does ad to the class and uniqueness. But the wedge shape is not for looks alone, it is truly is functional. My brother owns both Ipads and I have to say after playing with both this is the most comfortable tablet out there thanks to the wedge shape. It ads perfect balance to when you are holding it with one hand or if it's on your lap, it has a perfect angle. Some people say it's a gimick but I am here to say, it is truly comfortable to hold this light tablet. Also, it was a bit smaller than what I imagined when I finally got this in my hands. For some reason pics made it look bigger than it really is. Thankfully this includes the wedge part which is not as thick as it looks in the pics. As a matter of fact, trying get to the SD slot located on the wedge is a bit of a pain. Thankfully they added the most common and cheapest form of memory the standard SD card which allows you to expand memory. My Tablet is the 32 gb version so I don't need much but it's nice to have my video and music on the SD card. The Tablet allows you to play video and music from the SD card which is awesome. This tablet comes with limited physical buttons. Just the power and volume rockers. The speakers sound great dispite some reviews I have heard, if you are an audiophile simply put on the ear phones!
The Screen is amazing. Though not gorilla glass it has higher resolution than the Ipad and with the slightly smaller screen, resolution pops and is crisp. The tru black on the screen makes for a wonderful viewing screen. can't stop staring at the home wall paper it came with! The back has a grip like plastic which helps imensely when holding it but does have a bit of a plasticky feel. The IPAD has a more solid heavy feel to it but that's not necessarily a good thing when you are holding it for long periods of time. This Tablet is the hands down the most Unique out there and managed to keep a very classy look while making it functional at the same time. Awesome design and look!
Performance- 5/5 This tablet comes with the top of the line nvidia dual core tegra processor and it shows when I'm flying through web pages. It can even handle viewing streaming HD movies through the Amazon website! In order to do this I have to start and pause the movie and wait. After five minutes it streams perfectly! That says a lot about the processor. The touch screen is also very responsive and programs pop up extremley quick. Every program runs smooth and quickly, no complaints in this department.
Software- 4/5 This was a hard to rate. I will start with the good... Sony is notorious for adding bloatware but this time every app and program that came with tablet was useful and they did not overload it with programs. I love the remote sensor which works awesome though I do own all Sony TV's in the house so it was seemless. The only thing I wish I could do is control my PS3 with the RM sensor but I would think that is because it doesn't have one. DNLA has been glitchy, sometimes it detects my sony tv's and pc's but sometimes it doesnt. I wont rate that since I have not messed around with it too much yet. The Music and Media gallery apps are truly spectacular and beautiful looking. Thankfully, the Music app also comes with equalizer. The music app has a great graphical interface where you can play with your music as if it is all in the floor in your bedroom. You can toggle the animations off too. The main reason I had to give this a 4 is not because of Sony's software but because of lack of Tablet optimized apps out there. A market for tablet apps is virtually non existent. Nothing but about 20 goofy games a sprinkle of regular apps. This is where the ipad shines... they rule the tablet app market right now and everyone is falling over themeselves making apps for the ipad but ignoring android. Hopefully this will be rectified with ICE CREAM which is supposed to optomise all apps for use in both phones and tablets. Until then, the web browser on this tablet totally saves it. Speaking of the web browser... it is super fast! as I said before... I was able to run an HD movie without glitches from the browser! I suppose one can say who needs apps! The Browser has the ability to run all wesbites in full desktop mode and thanks to flash, there is virtually no difference between this tablet and a pc other than lack of keyboard. I surf exclusively on my tablet now and only use my PC for word processing, heavy photo editing, and gaming.
Features 5/5- Probably one of my favorite things about this is the inclusion of the IR RM sensor allowing me to control all of my tv. I even hooked up my entertainment system to it and found it much easier to navigate on the tablet. Very simple addition to a tablet but funny how important it is once you have it. The addition of the front and back facing cameras was also thoughtful and ahead of Ipad. The camera quality is nothing to write home about but it does the job for skyping. As I said before, the wedge was suprisingly useful and I would also call it a feature by making this the most comfortable tablet I have ever held. The playstation certification is a big plus but the gaming center as well as the unlimited music and video service are not running yet but the potential is great.
Value 4/5- Though this tablet is expensive, I don't find the price too outrageous given how great this tablet is. Where they really screw you is the accessories. I ended up getting every accessory sony offered which I still recommend but the cost ends up being too high. If you do get any accessory, I would recommend the Dock. Super easy to slip on and holds the tablet in all it's beauty.
This all being said, this a five star tablet. Highly recommended if you have the money. You won't be sorry... truly happy with my new Tablet :) I would dare say despite the lack of tablet apps, this is better than the Ipad 2. I have no doubt the 3rd incarnation will beat this when it comes out but till then, this is the best out there right now in my opinion.
PS- On a side note, a lot of talk about the lack of 3g connectivity. This will happen in the coming months with the release of 3g enabled tablets and unfortunately, AT&T is once gain the provider. Given that I already have an Android phone which I tether to my tablet on rare ocassions when no wifi is available, I see no reason to get the 3g version and pay even more. In my situation, I happen to have an unlocked version of android which I tether to my tablet for no charge! This is not commmon, normally you have to pay extra for the ability to tether on AT &T. That makes no sense at all and is a total rip-off but even if I would have to pay extra I would do it rather than having a seperate extra bill. Just thought I would put that out there.
by Sony
 |
| Sony SGPT111US/S Wi-Fi Tablet (16GB) |
By Martin "apartoflife" (Tucson, AZ) -
This review is from: Sony SGPT112US/S Wi-Fi Tablet (32GB) (Personal Computers)
Looks/ functionality- 5/5 This tablet like everything Sony makes is Classy looking and unique. Initially prior to getting my hands on it and looking at pics, the wedge shape rubbed me the wrong way but once you see it in person it does ad to the class and uniqueness. But the wedge shape is not for looks alone, it is truly is functional. My brother owns both Ipads and I have to say after playing with both this is the most comfortable tablet out there thanks to the wedge shape. It ads perfect balance to when you are holding it with one hand or if it's on your lap, it has a perfect angle. Some people say it's a gimick but I am here to say, it is truly comfortable to hold this light tablet. Also, it was a bit smaller than what I imagined when I finally got this in my hands. For some reason pics made it look bigger than it really is. Thankfully this includes the wedge part which is not as thick as it looks in the pics. As a matter of fact, trying get to the SD slot located on the wedge is a bit of a pain. Thankfully they added the most common and cheapest form of memory the standard SD card which allows you to expand memory. My Tablet is the 32 gb version so I don't need much but it's nice to have my video and music on the SD card. The Tablet allows you to play video and music from the SD card which is awesome. This tablet comes with limited physical buttons. Just the power and volume rockers. The speakers sound great dispite some reviews I have heard, if you are an audiophile simply put on the ear phones!
The Screen is amazing. Though not gorilla glass it has higher resolution than the Ipad and with the slightly smaller screen, resolution pops and is crisp. The tru black on the screen makes for a wonderful viewing screen. can't stop staring at the home wall paper it came with! The back has a grip like plastic which helps imensely when holding it but does have a bit of a plasticky feel. The IPAD has a more solid heavy feel to it but that's not necessarily a good thing when you are holding it for long periods of time. This Tablet is the hands down the most Unique out there and managed to keep a very classy look while making it functional at the same time. Awesome design and look!
Performance- 5/5 This tablet comes with the top of the line nvidia dual core tegra processor and it shows when I'm flying through web pages. It can even handle viewing streaming HD movies through the Amazon website! In order to do this I have to start and pause the movie and wait. After five minutes it streams perfectly! That says a lot about the processor. The touch screen is also very responsive and programs pop up extremley quick. Every program runs smooth and quickly, no complaints in this department.
Software- 4/5 This was a hard to rate. I will start with the good... Sony is notorious for adding bloatware but this time every app and program that came with tablet was useful and they did not overload it with programs. I love the remote sensor which works awesome though I do own all Sony TV's in the house so it was seemless. The only thing I wish I could do is control my PS3 with the RM sensor but I would think that is because it doesn't have one. DNLA has been glitchy, sometimes it detects my sony tv's and pc's but sometimes it doesnt. I wont rate that since I have not messed around with it too much yet. The Music and Media gallery apps are truly spectacular and beautiful looking. Thankfully, the Music app also comes with equalizer. The music app has a great graphical interface where you can play with your music as if it is all in the floor in your bedroom. You can toggle the animations off too. The main reason I had to give this a 4 is not because of Sony's software but because of lack of Tablet optimized apps out there. A market for tablet apps is virtually non existent. Nothing but about 20 goofy games a sprinkle of regular apps. This is where the ipad shines... they rule the tablet app market right now and everyone is falling over themeselves making apps for the ipad but ignoring android. Hopefully this will be rectified with ICE CREAM which is supposed to optomise all apps for use in both phones and tablets. Until then, the web browser on this tablet totally saves it. Speaking of the web browser... it is super fast! as I said before... I was able to run an HD movie without glitches from the browser! I suppose one can say who needs apps! The Browser has the ability to run all wesbites in full desktop mode and thanks to flash, there is virtually no difference between this tablet and a pc other than lack of keyboard. I surf exclusively on my tablet now and only use my PC for word processing, heavy photo editing, and gaming. Features 5/5- Probably one of my favorite things about this is the inclusion of the IR RM sensor allowing me to control all of my tv. I even hooked up my entertainment system to it and found it much easier to navigate on the tablet. Very simple addition to a tablet but funny how important it is once you have it. The addition of the front and back facing cameras was also thoughtful and ahead of Ipad. The camera quality is nothing to write home about but it does the job for skyping. As I said before, the wedge was suprisingly useful and I would also call it a feature by making this the most comfortable tablet I have ever held. The playstation certification is a big plus but the gaming center as well as the unlimited music and video service are not running yet but the potential is great.
Value 4/5- Though this tablet is expensive, I don't find the price too outrageous given how great this tablet is. Where they really screw you is the accessories. I ended up getting every accessory sony offered which I still recommend but the cost ends up being too high. If you do get any accessory, I would recommend the Dock. Super easy to slip on and holds the tablet in all it's beauty. This all being said, this a five star tablet. Highly recommended if you have the money. You won't be sorry... truly happy with my new Tablet :) I would dare say despite the lack of tablet apps, this is better than the Ipad 2. I have no doubt the 3rd incarnation will beat this when it comes out but till then, this is the best out there right now in my opinion.
PS- On a side note, a lot of talk about the lack of 3g connectivity. This will happen in the coming months with the release of 3g enabled tablets and unfortunately, AT&T is once gain the provider. Given that I already have an Android phone which I tether to my tablet on rare ocassions when no wifi is available, I see no reason to get the 3g version and pay even more. In my situation, I happen to have an unlocked version of android which I tether to my tablet for no charge! This is not commmon, normally you have to pay extra for the ability to tether on AT &T. That makes no sense at all and is a total rip-off but even if I would have to pay extra I would do it rather than having a seperate extra bill. Just thought I would put that out there.
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