Apple iPad vs. Dell Mini 5 / Streak... fight! (Bonus: smartphone pile-on!)
By Richard Lai 
posted April 12th 2010 12:18PM
posted April 12th 2010 12:18PM
As a bonus, we also threw in various phones -- HTC HD mini, Nexus One, Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, and HTC HD2 -- to pile on top of Apple's latest toy, just to kill the Sunday afternoon. No magical and revolutionary devices were harmed in the making of this article.
[Thanks for the toys, Chris and Andy]
@therodt
Am I the only who actually cared to respond to the articleinstead of making a witty comment in hopes to get "upranked?"
Unoriginal comment on how engadget loves apple.
Please uprank me! Oh god oh god oh god!
"but there is this common misconception of the iPad being just "a bigger iPhone""
It's not a misconception
@Extinction So if you have a dell mini 5, where is the review?
We all know that the iPad is like 6 times the size. Who cares. Tell us about the streak.
@tmarks11 We reviewed it back in February! http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/19/dell-mini-5-prototype-impressions/
@uck
Construct additional Pylons
@stridermt2k hey nice venture industries logo btw.
@Richard Lai
now just do an actual comparison of ipad versus streak :P
i want camera comparisons, sounds when your calling, everything! :P
im loving the look of the streak btw :D
@Extinction It's not a misconception? Really? So how exactly would the iPad need to be different than it is in order to NOT be "just a bigger iPhone/iPod touch?" Different internal hardware? Oh, it has that. Higher resolution screen? Has that too. New software? Yup has that as well. My guess it that the only reason anyone is saying it's simple a larger iPhone/iPod touch is because it shares the iPhone OS. Which, by the way, also shares parts of the Mac OS. Which ALSO uses a UNIX kernel. What exactly do you tards want it to be? Another windowed OS? Yeah great okay. Cram all those god damn windows into a 9.7 inch screen. Yeah that sounds GREAT! Oh you want a bunch of random old-ass connector ports? A physical keyboard? You want it to let software run any random process in the background? Guess what kids! We had those already! They're Windows Tablets! Oh but for some reason no one really enjoyed using those. Maybe it had something to do with all the stupid useless crap you tards demand things to be covered with!? If you don't like minimalist, refined, focused, purpose-built technology, DO NOT LOOK TO APPLE FOR YOUR NEEDS. Look elsewhere for your confused, half-baked, clunky, measure-bator pleasing, tard-tech.
@franktinsley "@Extinction It's not a misconception?"
"Really? So how exactly would the iPad need to be different than it is in order to NOT be "just a bigger iPhone/iPod touch?" Different internal hardware? Oh, it has that."
- Actually no, it runs a Samsung ARM Cortex-A8 SoC (S5L8930) just like the iPhone 3GS (with an S5PC100). Difference is primarily that it runs at 1 GHz instead of 600 MHz.
"Higher resolution screen? Has that too."
- Higher resolution screen? Yes and no. Sure, it's a bigger screen so it can run higher image resolutions. It's kinda the defining factor in what is, essentially, a giant iPhone. However, the display resolution itself (PPI) is lower than the iPhone.
"New software? Yup has that as well."
- If you're talking about the OS, it's a modified iTouch OS. Not "new". If you're talking about apps, if you mean App market apps that run on a bigger screen, you're really not discrediting the "it's a big iPhone" arguement...
"My guess it that the only reason anyone is saying it's simple a larger iPhone/iPod touch is because it shares the iPhone OS. Which, by the way, also shares parts of the Mac OS."
- Wrong, has nothing to do with the Mac OS. They share virtually nothing. Google's Android shares more in common with the iTouch OS than OSX does.
"Which ALSO uses a UNIX kernel."
- UNIX is not Linux. It uses a Linux kernel, not a UNIX kernel. And besides, virtually any ARM-based OS uses a Linux kernel.
"What exactly do you tards want it to be? Another windowed OS? Yeah great okay. Cram all those god damn windows into a 9.7 inch screen. Yeah that sounds GREAT! Oh you want a bunch of random old-ass connector ports?"
-Yes, please. And judging by the millions of Windows netbooks that have sold, I'd say that the public doesn't have any problem with the way it runs on a 10 inch screen. As for adapters, all we ask for is a USB port, FFS. Beats that god-awful spaghetti of adapter dongles.
"A physical keyboard?"
-No, 'cuz then it's called an ARM netbook. They've been done, and they're not too popular.
"You want it to let software run any random process in the background? Guess what kids! We had those already! They're Windows Tablets! Oh but for some reason no one really enjoyed using those."
-Until recently, ARM hardware didn't have the power to run tablets efficiently. They were slow, and unwieldy, and Windows was never really designed to run on a tablet anyhow.
"Maybe it had something to do with all the stupid useless crap you tards demand things to be covered with!? If you don't like minimalist, refined, focused, purpose-built technology, DO NOT LOOK TO APPLE FOR YOUR NEEDS. Look elsewhere for your confused, half-baked, clunky, measure-bator pleasing, tard-tech."
- ...lol! If you want to be told what you want and how you can have it, Apple will be happy to fill your needs. Nothing pleases me like listening to the self-righteous rage of a fanboi who feels threatened. Okay, I take that back. Nothing *amuses* me like listening to the self righteous rage of a fanboi who really has no clue what he's talking about!
@franktinsley
oh...a little Apple fanboy feel uneasy and threatened with his IPAD being so under-spec when compared to DELL-Streak..that's sweet, all that loyalty is just so sweet. Although a little blind, un-objective, and bias.
The fact is: Its a larger Iphone that doesn't make calls, and hogging 4-times your bag-real estate, also running hot easily when even running 'single app'. and apple omitted the ports for a good purpose, to rob his fanboy blind! Getting his loyal fanboy to pay for the ports is just another great post-sales revenue source!!
@Extinction It's what I believe common sense and obvservation.
Appreciate the comparison, but how does it clear it up if they are "very likely non-Engadget readers"?
@nik That's where you guys come in -- spread the love to non-Engadget readers, get them to read us! :)
@nik because if they are Engadget readers they must have been blind and deaf and (may be mindless) to be able to escape onslaught of Ipad articles :)
@Richard Lai Dude, seriously, how could you not include 3GS in the comparison shots?! Was shocked to see other phones but not the iPhone!
Anyway, if Dell were serious about delaying the Streak's launch by 3~6 months from now, you should stop writing articles which include them. It hurts to read about a non-existent device (in the market) and 6 months can be light years in today's tech world!
@nik
They did this just because they're slowly running out of things to write about for the iPad. Next week it'll be "Other Things That Aren't An iPad: A rock....my shoes.....a closet....."
@iLikeMyiPhone We had the iPhone-iPad comparison before, plus none of us had an iPhone so that's that. As much as you like your iPhone.
@Richard Lai Really? None of you have the iPhone? I would love to see some actual speed tests on both iPhone and Dell Streak...
@iLikeMyiPhone The Streak's software isn't final, so it wouldn't be fair. Patience, my friend.
@Richard Lai As you say Rich! You are the only person I know of who actually used the Dell Streak. Looks like you really like it, hope we all get to see it soon, double hope we can buy it too without AT&T's crapware!
HD mini in this competition looks really mini. :)
@Consigliere11
and damn the X10 is fat. Look how much thicker it is than the nexus one and HD2. Its even thicker than the Mini 5 and iPad
@ramifications
no duh.. the streak is 9 mm thick...
The shot of all of them lined up from smallest to largest reminded me of those lame AT&T 'more bars in more places' commercials.
> but there is this common misconception of the iPad being just "a bigger iPhone"
That's so wrong, it's actually a bigger iPod.
@Steve Mobs
If an ipad can make phone call, then it is a big iphone. Otherwise, it is a big ipod with hand recognition.
@Steve Mobs
Bigger iPhone fits pretty well. Both overpriced, and It's not like either of them can make calls.
@Steve Mobs Well, wouldn't the misconception be right if what was stated in the quotes was wrong?
Good way to kill time...wish I had so mqny 'toys' to play with :P
@viditbhargava
Seriously, yo Engadget, want to hire me?
@viditbhargava
I want to steal everything off that desk.
Might as well do toaster vs hair straighter.
@Nitesh
toaster wins, hands down
@Plazmic Flame
No man, a hair straighter can replace a toaster, but the reverse is not true.
@Plazmic Flame
and the toaster fanboyen emerge...
LOL I'm just kiddin. TOAST RULES
@stridermt2k
the once it has become toast you can never go back to being bread again
@Nitesh Yeah right. I want to see a straighener do my toaster strudel justice. Not going to happen!
@Vesper
Got me, but a toaster ain't going to do my hair justice, 'neither.
@Plazmic Flame
Toaster>Hair Straighter LOL
Now, ive used both but i really prefer the toaster. i mean come on! it has ports, its expandable (mine has FOUR bread slots), and totally adjustable. youd have to pay WAY more to get a hair straighter with those kind of features. youre not locked down with the straighteners interface either. you can even toast more than one product at at time with a toaster! take that straightener. and everyone knows youre paying for the name LOL!!oneone
Seriously though, toaster FTW :-)
@Nitesh I'm going to wait til the next gen toasters and straighteners, i still havent found one i can keep in my pocket without it getting uncomfortably warm.
@Entropic Decay Agreed, have you ever tried to toast anything on a hair straightener? It's a complete mess! It's like they didn't even bother to design it. And plus there were those hamfisted remarks from the CEO about "You have the freedom to not toast things"...I'm sorry, but anyone who would choose a hair straightener is an idiot.
(Posted from my Sunbeam toaster)
agreed id take the dell mini over the ipad any day... to be fair id take pretty much anything over that thing
Well, IMO -- it's a nice post.
@Palpatine
I don't think they expected this to be more than a fun piece, hence the "just to kill the Sunday afternoon" comment.
ipad is huge! o_o
@mocax, and heavy. Yep.
@mocax
that's what HE said
What happen to Ipad match up with stone slate. Defiantly should be re looked at since ipad is out now.
another slow news day? how about the pictures for htc 4G from sprint I received from sprint spam? I remember in the last report the picture was missing.
Wow. Seeing how much significantly bigger the Dell Mini 5 is than the HTC HD2, just inspired me not to buy it. The HD2 stretched pocketability to its limits.