[LG Revolution] majorpay:
It's good to hear that the Xoom worked out well for you. As far as the browser is concerned, aren't there better alternatives than stock for the iPad 2?

I like my phone because it has 4G and Wireless tether that I don't pay Verizon for. I also like the fact that the phone works, and I like the build. Past that, meh... Then again, I've found using the Nook as a tablet tethered to my phone offers me a much greater experience than a phone ever could. Gaming, browsing, etc, doesn't really cut it, regardless of how large your phone's screen is. Once you've been spoiled by 7", you really can't look at your smartphone as much more than a messaging, navigation, music, and tethering device for extreme on the go situations (like in the car). My Nook follows me around like my security blanket. Yeah, it pissed me off from time to time, but once I found the right combination of crap that worked, it became invaluable.

Ever tried remote desktopping or TeamViewer on a tablet? Pretty sweet if you get the resolution settings tweaked just right... Or sitting on the couch with a little 7" device surfing the internet? The browser is still more limited than it should be, but as long as your not on an intense site, it's pretty nice.

So I guess what it really comes down to is I like my phones/tablets/computers to give me everything the OS has to offer. I want to make use of my GPU, I want the availability of every app, I want my device to run smoothly.

Think in the PC world - you can choose Mac, you can choose Linux, or you can choose PC. I choose PC because there is nothing that I can't run or use on my PC. High end games? Check. Office productivity with any office suite I choose? Check. Full featured development environment with any graphic suite on the market? Full compatibility with 99.99% of the world? You see where I'm going here. If I chose Mac, I'd have a nice interface, but I'd have to relinquish the high end gaming capability. If I chose Linux, I'd have free stuff, but I'd be missing out on compatible formats as well as a full range gaming environment.

This is how I look at Android: It has created several different devices, and every one of their devices is lacking something another has (and we're just talking about in their own ecosystem!). They have fragmented it so that one device can download Netflix, while another is deemed incompatible. One device can run a certain game manufacturer, while another cannot. Basically take any Android device on the market, and you will be missing at least some portion of the ecosystem.

So the manufacturers and software developers are at fault for this? Sort of, but in a sense, Google fostered this ecosystem and made it what it is today. There are high end software development companies saying that Android will just have to take a back seat indefinitely because they are tired of dealing with the fractured ecosystems.

I like to tweak myself (hence why I have always lived in Android land), BUT I like to tweak to make things better, not to tweak myself into a locked down environment.

Hey, that's my rant, take it for what it's worth. I HATE (and I mean DESPISE) Apple as a company, and for me to even consider one of their products makes me a little ill, but here we are. I probably still won't consider a phone from them in the near or distant future.