[H.P.]

Hi Mike,Re: Ease-of-use - Suggest you write separate pieces for A2.1 and A2.2's EoU, and link to those as needed. These are baselines, and if the pad uses a proprietary UI, then note any difference from the baseline UI.Re: Battery life - Suggest you do full run-down test and not rely on battery indicators as those are notoriously unreliable. Tests should be automated and standardized to minimize variance. The one use w/o requiring wifi is e-reading, so a no-wifi test, if done, should concentrate on that.One consideration often ignored is support. It's important considering that many of these things will come out of the oven not fully baked. Support here doesn't mean customer support in the traditional sense, but things such as online support availability, and the responsiveness of peers or staff to resolve issues.There's a need for a point system, simply because it's a good shortcut on the assessed quality. But because many of the categories you cite have no quantifiable metric (eg quality, value), I'd suggest keeping it simple and have one score for the whole thing. Let's face it, other than the quantifiable stuff, scoring is all a fudge anyway. KISS.Lastly, consider your audience. If you are US-based, stick to tablets available to US users (read: skip the offshore stuff). Ditto if you're EU or AU-based. Other regions will have their own coverage. Don't try to be everything to everybody.Good luck.HP

 

[H.P.]

By minimizing variance, I meant the usage pattern tested, not the Android versions. It's completely fair to compare 2.2 against 2.1, if that's what comes on a tablet at that time.If your goal is to establish your blog ahead of the pack, then waiting for big brands like HP to put out their tablets is probably not the way to go. Firstly, some will stick with their own OS, i.e. HP with WebOS, Blackberry with its eponymous OS. Secondly, "lower tier" or rebranded Shanzhai-made tablets will be here in volume, eg the Augen pad, and that's what the public will have their first experience with, if only because of the low impulse-buy price and the convenience.As you noted on your blog, BestBuy will have its own house-brand tablet line, which will be rebranded Chinese products. From the buzz the Augen pad created, I've no doubt other big-box retailers--Sears, Walmart, CostCo--will follow suit. Kmart itself has stated on its blog that it will expand its tablet offerings. "No-name" tablets will be widespread. These are worth covering, and all the established blogs will cover it with reviews, etc. As a startup, you'll have to do a better job than them to get noticed. I'm assuming that's your goal.Unlike what another said, I'd stay away from the tech esoterica like testing different H.264 profiles or levels. Of course, it depends on your intended audience. Are you writing for techies or Joe Blow consumer?Really, I think you're dwelling too much on the minutiae rather than focusing on the end goal. The only questions worth asking are "what is the takeaway I want to convey," and "how can I do a better job than the next guy"? There's no shortage of Android blogs now, and all of them will have reviews. What's your angle?BTW, You missed the point on support.Anyway, good luck.