Sony Tablet S vs PS Vita vs iPad 3

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nitehawk October 20, 2011

Sony Tablet S vs PS Vita vs iPad 3

As much as I would love to have a tablet, I think they are overpriced. I don't know much about the Kindle Fire, but it doesn't really seem to spark my interest, even at the price point. I am much more interested in the Sony tablet and the iPad 3, but curious if the PS Vita is actually the better play because of its raw power. I don't want the iPad 2 because Apple will simply release another one in March/April next year, not reduce the price on the current model more than $100 and the next iteration will be much more powerful and have a higher res screen.

From everything I have read, the PS Vita will be more powerful than 4 iPhone 4s, so if the same chip from the iPad 2 is put in the iPhone 4S and makes it twice as powerful, the PS Vita will still be twice as powerful as the iPhone 4S and the iPad 2. Yet it is half the price of the yet to be announced iPad 3, but likely similar processor speed. It also looks more mobile, but obviously won't have to wealth of apps that the Apple ecosystem supplies.

The Sony S sparks my interest because of its looks and I am hopeful that I will be able to create a system with my PS3, Sony surround system and Tablet S, though that remains to be seen. I think this because the tablet S is supposed to be a very good remote control.

The other thing that's attractive about Sony is that they constantly overproduce and their price actually goes down very quickly on products that don't sell right away. Apple doesn't do this so you will likely never be able to buy an iPad for less than $200 new. Though I see Sony trying to push the tablet S and trying to undercut Apple, Amazon, etc and push out their inventory.

I would like to get your thoughts on these three products and what are the strengths/weaknesses of each.

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frankspin 1 year ago

To start you're comparing products that are not on the same playing field and are geared towards different markets.

The iPad2 and Tablet S are directed towards more general consumer use where someone is looking for a device they can watch videos on, listen to music, browse the internet and occasionally load up a game. While the hardware is very nice and impressive, as it stands now the device is still a very basic form of mobile gaming

The Vita is just the opposite and is more on par with the 3DS where Sony created it to be a true mobile gaming experience. Go back and watch the E3 event where they showed Uncharted on the Vita, it was stunning.

If I was big into mobile gaming I'd be looking at the Vita or 3DS.

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nitehawk 2011-10-20 16:49:59

Thanks for the imput, but this really doesn't help. The PS3 is so good at doing so many different things and the PS Vita looks to be so powerful in the same way so my hope is that it would be a good way to consume media at home other than connected to the tv.

Tablets are just too expensive right now, in the same way that paying $400 for an iPod back in 2003 was ridiculous. I'm not saying that tablets aren't great products and superuseful, I'm saying that the market price is still inflated with the "Wow" factor so much that until the price comes down to $200-$300 none are reasonable compared to other products that do similar things like iPhones, laptops, gaming devices, etc.

PS Vita is a 4 core monster. There's no way any game on a 5" screen will be able to utilize all that power for at least a year. I realize Uncharted will make be a great experience, but that's not what I am saying. I'm saying that I see Vita being able to be a couch companion to surf, play videos and game because the price and power are so attractive. Sony made the PS3 so versatile and though they've lost a lot of money over time on it and are finally making money with the console, I hope that Vita has similar functionality. Of course I realize it won't be optimized for viewing webpages, but how bad can it be? There will have to be a way to download Chrome and access Gmail on it and use it the same way as a tablet, right? The $250 price point and small form factor are just so appealing. (I'm likely still planning on holding out for the 2nd iteration Vita so they get better battery life.)