This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Do you know of any tablets that play Facebook games? I was told that the iPad 2 won't because it doesn't have Adobe [Flash]. I was told that the Samsung 10.1 does, but I am unable to confirm that. I would also like the tablet for keeping an address book, calendar, to-do list and reading books. I know most of them do the task but I really want one that will play the Facebook games. If there isn't one, I will probably just buy a Nook. Thanks for your help! — Jan Skuppin
Whatever you buy, that's going to be one mighty expensive game tablet!
But I do feel your pain, Jan. I'm hopelessly addicted to "Zombie Lane" on Google+, and I just wish there were a way to play it on my iPad or iPhone so I could harvest pumpkins and whack zombies with a shovel all day long.
But alas, many Facebook games are not playable on tablets in large part because they are based on Adobe's Flash animation player. Unfortunately for iPad owners, Apple's Steve Jobs has made it absolutely clear that he and his company will not support Flash for their mobile devices because they believe the player is a resource hog that also drains the battery.
Meanwhile, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 does in fact play Flash animation. But I still wouldn't recommend it for playing Facebook games.
Even though the Galaxy and other Android-based devices can play Flash, the video and animation are slow and choppy, and it does eat up a lot of computing resources. And yes, it is a big battery drain on the tablet.
While testing the Galaxy, I tried to play a couple of Facebook games but ultimately gave up because they would either not load or ran so sluggishly that they were unplayable. I also couldn't get a single game on the new Google+ to play on the Galaxy tablet.
But the creators of some of the most popular Facebook games, like "FarmVille" and "Mafia Wars," know that the tablet market is just too big to ignore. So for a lot of their biggest hits, they have made iPad and Android apps of those games that allow you to play them on the iPad or Android tablet without the need of a web browser or a Flash player.
But be aware that in most cases, the desktop version of the Facebook game is not connected to the mobile version. So if you're playing "CityVille" on your home computer, for example, you can't just pick up where you left off when you then play it on your tablet.
Finally, there is one more thing to consider: If you're hooked on Facebook games like millions of others and spend hours each day glued to your desktop computer, do you really want to take that addiction with you wherever you go?
Lord knows my wife will divorce me if I spend one more minute walloping zombies with my homemade slingshot — even if I am protecting the family from a zombie apocalypse.
If you have a tech question for Vince that needs answering, email it to him at ohmytech@sltrib.com, and he might answer it for you in a future column.