AsyncTaskLoader vs AsyncTask

You can have a look at the compatibility library's source code to get more info. What a FragmentActivity does is:

• keep a list of LoaderManager's
• make sure they don't get destroyed when you flip your phone (or another configuration change occurs) by saving instances using onRetainNonConfigurationInstance()
• kick the right loader when you call initLoader() in your Activity

You need to use the LoaderManager to interface with the loaders, and provide the needed callbacks to create your loader(s) and populate your views with the data they return.

Generally it should be easier than managing AsyncTask's yourself. However, AsyncTaskLoader is not exactly well documented, so you should study the example in the docs and/or model your code after CursorLoader.