Review: LG G Pad 8.3

Gizmag reviews the LG G Pad 8.3, one of the most comfortable tablets we've held
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When you talk about tablets, it's easy to think of the iPads, Galaxy tablets, and Kindle Fires of the world. But what about LG? Though the company's mobile devices may not be household names, we've seen some top-notch hardware from the South Korean electronics giant. Is the LG G Pad 8.3 part of that club? Read on, as we review LG's answer to the iPad mini.

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Hardware

The G Pad 8.3 has, as you might guess, an 8.3-in screen. It's right in that not-too-big, not-too-small sweet spot that many tablet-makers have been gunning for of late. Need a point of reference? Well, if you've used an iPad mini, then the G Pad 8.3 gives you five percent more screen area. Some of that is cancelled out by the G Pad's onscreen navigation buttons (which the iPad mini doesn't need), but the G Pad's usable area should still be a little bigger.
Physically, I think the G Pad 8.3 is one of the most well-designed tablets I've used. It sports an aluminum finish (with some plastic accents around the edges) and is contoured just right for the human hand. In terms of using it comfortably with one hand, I think the G Pad is right on the money.
You can chalk part of that up to the fact that it's also very light, weighing just 338 g (two percent heavier than the iPad mini with Retina Display). It's also pretty thin, at 8.3 mm (0.33-in), though I do think razor-thin builds may be a bit overrated in tablets. The G Pad's 11 percent thicker build is a big part of why I prefer holding it over the Retina iPad mini: it rests a bit more naturally in the gap between my thumb and index finger.

Wheeling back around to that display, it's not just a great size, but it's also very sharp. At 273 pixels per inch, text and images are all crisp and clear. There are sharper tablets out there, but I don't think the G Pad gives you any worries whatsoever in that department.
The G Pad's screen doesn't, however, have the best brightness or color accuracy. I usually have to set it to 90 percent or higher brightness for it to look light enough during the daytime. And if you place it next to an iPad Air or a Nexus 5 smartphone, you'll see a slight yellowish tone to the G Pad's screen. It probably isn't something that will be noticeable or bothersome in regular use, but it is a minor downside to what's otherwise a very good display.

The G Pad 8.3 gives you good – but not amazing – battery life. In our standard test, where we stream video over Wi-Fi, the G Pad lasted six hours and 40 minutes. The iPad Air and Retina iPad mini chugged along for over nine and ten hours, respectively, in the same test, so the G Pad is a ways behind their record-setting paces. Still, with standard use, you should usually get a full day out of it.
In other miscellaneous hardware areas, sound from the G Pad's speakers is serviceable, but pretty underwhelming. Its 5-megapixel rear camera is about all you need from a tablet camera (solid enough, but nothing more). One nice touch with the G Pad is that it has a vibration motor, which I'd like to see more of in tablets. I find that haptic feedback makes touch typing much easier, as it helps to simulate physical keys.

Stock LG vs. Google Play Edition

We handled the LG retail version of the G Pad 8.3, which runs Android 4.2 skinned with LG's custom UI. Despite having a very fast processor under the hood (Qualcomm's quad core Snapdragon 600), I ran into some occasional performance lag and hiccups. Things like pages not turning instantly in Flipboard, jittery scrolling, and a general feeling that something was bogging the UI down a little bit.
I chalk this up to LG's bloated software skin. It gives you some nifty features, like Knock-On (which lets you turn your display on or off by tapping twice on it). But, much like Samsung's TouchWiz, LG's UI looks like it's trying way too hard to differentiate itself from other Android devices. It puts a lot of unnecessary features in between you and your content.
LG's UI gives you not just one, but two extraneous takes on multitasking (Slide Aside and QSlide), in addition to Android's already rock-solid version. You have LG features for capturing screenshots of entire webpages, jotting memos, copying and pasting multiple items into a slide-up clipboard, and even an LG Siri knockoff. You may find some of these features handy (or not), but my problem is that they simply get in the way. They clutter and overcomplicate the UI, and bog down what should be buttery-smooth performance.

Fortunately there are a couple of alternatives. Google now sells a Google Play Edition of the G Pad 8.3, available exclusively from the Play Store. Ringing up for the same US$350 as the standard LG version, it basically turns the G Pad into a Nexus device, running the latest version of stock Android (4.4 KitKat). We didn't handle the Google Play Edition long enough to consider this an official review of it, but we can tell you that it's the one we recommend buying. Its software is leaner and more focused, and its performance is right where you'd expect a Snapdragon 600-running tablet to be: fast, smooth, and without hiccups.
Another alternative is to buy the standard LG version (currently on sale for $300 at Best Buy in the US), root it, and install stock Android-based firmware on it – more or less creating your own Google Play Edition on the cheap. Rooting and flashing ROMs isn't for the faint of heart, and unless you're already familiar with such tinkering, you're better off buying the official version from Google. But once I installed a nightly build of Cyanogenmod 11 on this puppy, a device that had been handicapped by a bloated and laggy UI transformed into one of the better tablets I've used.

I understand why Android hardware manufacturers are determined to skin Google's software with their own custom UIs. They want to differentiate their hardware through software, so they can market long lists of features that are "exclusive" to their line of devices. I also suspect that no-name white-box Android devices, which are very popular in Asia, are another big factor. Sold for dirt-cheap, they typically run stock Android – sometimes even with unlicensed Google apps and services thrown in. It makes perfect sense that huge companies like LG and Samsung would want to give their Asian customers perceived value that these generic phones and tablets can't match.
But in my experience, the resulting custom UIs rarely add anything but bloat. The G Pad 8.3 is a prime example. Once you put stock Android on it, it's faster, leaner, and much more of an all-around pleasure to use. I'd love to see Android OEMs cut the bloat and move in that direction – at least in the West, where those generic white-box devices don't pose much of a threat.

Worth the investment?

So should you buy the LG G Pad 8.3? Well, let's start by looking at your best alternatives. You have Apple's Retina iPad mini, which gives you a similar build and screen size. It has a bigger and better tablet app selection, but it also costs $50 extra. Your decision here may come down to whether you're already invested in either the iOS or Android ecosystem.
Until Samsung releases its slick Galaxy TabPRO 8.4, the G Pad's biggest rival on the Android side of the aisle might be the 2013 Nexus 7. It costs $120 less, but it also only gives you 71 percent as much screen real estate as the G Pad. For my money, 7-inch slates like the Nexus 7 are a bit too small, while 8-inchers like the G Pad and iPad mini are just about ideal.
So we'd say the Google Play Edition of the G Pad 8.3 is easily worth putting on your short list. It gives you an outstanding build with a sharp screen that hits a really sweet spot for size. It delivers smooth performance with Google's latest and greatest software. At $350, it might not be an amazing value, but that's still a very reasonable price for what might be the best Android tablet around.
As for the standard LG edition? Well, unless you're going to root it and replace its firmware, it's more likely to be a "pass." Even if you snag it for a discounted $300, it places too many unnecessary obstacles between you and a seamless experience. Sure, you get a few "exclusive features," but most of those can be approximated with third-party Play Store apps anyway.
Both versions of the LG G Pad 8.3 are available now, for a suggested $350. You can read more at either of the two product pages below.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 Release Date and Price

Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 Release Date and Price

We've got the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and 10.1 , but there's a smaller sized tablet missing in this line up enter the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0.

Apparently developed under the codename "Kona", the Galaxy Note 8.0 seems set to be the name the tablet will go to market with . 

Although not yet officially confirmed there's an awful lot of talk on the web that Samsung is readying a new, S-Pen wielding slate to slip between the two devices currently making up the Note family.

In fact Samsung's Head of Mobile, JK Shin has apparently confirmed that the Galaxy Note 8.0 will indeed arrive at MWC 2013 in Barcelona.

Although Samsung already has Galaxy Tab 7.0 and Galaxy Tab 7.7 on the market, it may be that the company sees the Galaxy Note 8.0 as it's best chance of directly competing against Apple's 7.9 inch ipad mini, given it's unique styus-based spin.

Galaxy Note 8.0

Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0  release date.

Everything seems to point to an MWC 2013 unveiling for the  Galaxy Note 8.0  with Samsung's Head of Mobile even reportedly confirming a Barcelona launch.

MWC 2013 kicks off during the last week of February, but don't go thinking you'll be able to your hands on the Galaxy Note 8.0  anytime soon as it will probably take a month or two to reach stores.

that means we'll probably see the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 release date set for around April- watch this space.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0  Price.

We'd expect to see the Galaxy Note 8.0 carry a healthy price tag as it will be competing more with the ipad mini than the likes of the budget focussed  Nexus 7 and kindle fire HD.

The ipad mini starts at $329/AU$369, so in true Samsung fashion the Galaxy Note 8.0 will probably look to undercut its Cupertion-based rival in an attempt to pull customers away from Apple.

WHY THE iPAD IS GREAT FOR CONTENT CREATION

WHY THE iPAD IS GREAT FOR CONTENT CREATION

The 'iPad isn't for content creation' card has started rearing its ugly head again, this time prompted in part by the appearance of more Google android tablets kike the more Google Android tablets. 

The Nexus 7 (I've got one so you don't have to) is very much not a content creation device: Google's announcement focused on how it integrated with its play store for content like books, games, films and TV shows, with ne'er a mention of actually doing anything creative. 

The iPad, on the other hand, is much more capable of creativity than the Nexus 7, largely because of its big screen. This isn't simply about the size of the keyboard-focusing on the keyboard as the only route to creativity is as silly as insisting you can't paint with your fingers. 

Instead, the larger screen (yes, aside form the iPad mini) enables developers to create richer apps that give you more creative options available at any one time. It's all about what the large screen opens up to developers, not just users. 

Focusing on consumption

I don't think there's anything wrong with devices that focus on content consumption, though. If you take a look at what you do with desktop computers most of the time, it's more consumption than creation. sure, you might write a little, do a bit of photo-editing. But I spend most of my time on my Mac listening to music (consumption), using social media (mostly consumption) and pootling around on the internet. 

Being what is politely termed a 'veteran' computer user (and impolitely termed 'an old git with ever-more grey hair') something has been nagging at the back of my head about all this debate. It seemed so familiar, somehow.

And then it hit me: it's basically the same arguments that were made when the first mac was launched. I remember being told how the Mac was 'great for graphics, but you can't do proper computing with it' by wispily bearded computer science undergrads who viewed anything that didn't involve baroque keyboard shortcuts as trivial. 

Unix windowing systems were all right, because they let you run more terminals at the same time-but no way could you do real, productive work with a graphical user interface. You just didn't get 'close enough to the code'. 

Can you get more done with a mouse?

This kind of thing happens every time the paradigm of computing shifts. The old guard, reared on 'how we do things', simply can't stop trying to impose the way they work on to the devices that meet the needs of other people. The Mac was useless because the mouse 'got in the way' of doing 'proper' computer stuff on a command line. 

And today, it's all about the iPad, and how it 'isn't for creation'. However, what they really mean is that the iPad 'isn't for creation-because some tech people just can't imagine that you can get more done faster with touch interfaces than you can with a mouse.'

When these kinds of tech people talk about 'creation', what they mean is programming , because  that's the only kind of creation that really counts for them, and they're not able to conceive of the new ways that new interfaces let you create things. 

All the other hundreds of kinds of creativity, from playing around with photos, writing words, to manipulating data with your fingertips-all these kinds of creativity don't really count, because they're not complex commands. 

With the iPad you get to create with the most intimate and effective tools you have, honed by millions of years of evolution: your fingertips. 

EVERYTHING ELSE

EVERYTHING ELSE

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Amazon are having quite a lot of success with their Kindle Fire line, so expect the 3rd generation Fire to launch sometime next year, ready to go head-to-head with the new Nexus. 

There is likely to be an increasing number of low-cost, high-spec tablets available form other manufacturers too. 

Asus are rumored to be working on a low-cost 7-inch slate and other companies will probably look to release budget devices of their own in order to stay competitive.

With BlackBerry 10 launching in January there's  every chance that RIM will make another play for the tablet market too. Whether they'll have any more success than with the ill-fated BlackBerry playbook remains to be seen.

With all this, and probably a few surprises besides, it looks set to be one of the biggest years yet for tablets, and we'll bring you coverage of it all as it happens.

WINDOWS TABLETS

WINDOWS TABLETS

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Having ignored it for a long lime, Microsoft is finally making a big play for the tablet market. They've launched not one, but two tablet-friendly operating systems in the form of Windows 8 and Windows RT, and Microsoft's own Surface tablet has already launched. 

Next year should see a host of new Windows tablets from other manufacturers. We already know about a bunch of them, from the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2, to the Acer Lconia W700. 

But that's just the beginning. 

CES 2013 is just around the corner and it's not unlikely that manufacturers will use the opportunity to announce new Windows tablets. 

Just don't expect a keynote from Microsoft-2012 was its last. Any big news from Microsoft themselves is unlikely to come before its 'Build' event towards the end of the year.

iPAD MINI 2

iPAD MINI 2

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Apple isn't likely to forget about the iPad's little brother either and it's a pretty safe bet that we'll see the next iPad mini launched in 2013.

In fact, the first one might have only just been released but there are already rumors about the iPad mini 2.

It should come as absolutely no surprise that the biggest addition is likely to be a retina display or something similar, bringing the display up to a rumored 324 pixels pre nch.

After all, just about every other Apple product has a Retina display and the screen on the iPad mini was one of the few bad things about it.

There's no release date yet but expect it sometime in the latter half of 2013.

There's a good chance Apple will roll out iOS 7 to go with their shiny new tablets, and while literally nothing is yet known about that, you could always check out the 12 things we want to see. 

iPAD 5

iPAD 5

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This one's a given-Apple release a new iPad every year-and in fact last year they released two! Three if you count the iPad mini.

Despite the iPad 4 only just having launched, the wait for a new iPad might not be long, as it's rumored that the iPad 5 might even appear early in the year and display a slimmer, lighter form factor, more in line with the iPad mini.

APPLE RELEASES iPAD MINI 2 WITH RETINA DISPLAY 2013

Apple releases iPad mini 2 with Retina Display

Why: 

It's the one weakness in Apple's otherwise-excellent little, and of Apple can do it in Phones, iPod touches, iPads and MacBookes, then it can cram one into the iPad mini too.

Why Not:

Retina Displays are more complicated and need more power than non-Retina ones, and that means heavier, more expensive devices. Hands up who thinks the iPad mini needs a price hike?

The Odds:

2/1. We know it's going to happen, and we don't want to pay out too much when it does.