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Overall Summary: The overall goal for a tablet is to be an on the go mobile computing option. Strengths that all tablets seem to have over laptops are: -Portability -Battery Life (compared to most laptops) -Specific app optimization -On the go notifications Downsides: -Specific productivity is still hit or miss. Whether making a powerpoint or editing a word doc works for you on a tab will really come down to what uses you specifically need -Multi tasking is getting there, but overall tabs are still made to do one app at a time -File management: I would still say if you need to either manage files or have a lot of storage in the traditional sense, that laptops still have the edge ***Depending on what you need, a laptop might be the better answer*** What's out there: Apple iPad: Versions and Pricing: Updated as of 03/22/16. iPad Pro 9.7" launching late march, see link below for preview      Applecare:  Review: iPad Pro: http://www.anandtech.com/show/9766/the-apple-ipad-pro-review Coming Soon: iPad Pro 9.7" Synopsis: http://www.macrumors.com/roundup/ipad-pro/ iPad Air 2 http://www.anandtech.com/show/8666/the-apple-ipad-air-2-review iPad Mini 4: http://www.anandtech.com/show/9724/the-apple-ipad-mini-4-review No budget? The iPad Air and Mini 2 are recommended if you need to save money and don't need the latest hardware. Check the refurbished Apple store link below. Differences: the Air and Mini 2 won't be as fast, won't have touch ID, and they will not be able to do multi-view (two apps at once) like the newer devices do. If you find the iPad Mini 3 on promo, it is the exact same specs as the Mini 2, just with Touch ID. On a budget? Apple offers refurbished options with the same one year warranty. Avoid old iPad models like the iPad 2, 3 or iPad with Retina (4th Gen). http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/ipad Android Tab of Choice: Nvidia Shield  Quick Specs/Summary: http://www.anandtech.com/show/9795/nvidia-relaunches-the-shield-tablet-as-the-shield-tablet-k1 Quick Review: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/11/nvidia-shield-tablet-k1-mini-review-still-the-best-small-android-tablet-around/ Samsung Galaxy S2 : The Tab 2S is Samsung's top line, Tab E is cheaper line. If you want to buy a Samsung product, never buy the cheap one. Pricing and Specs:  Review: http://www.anandtech.com/show/9709/samsung-galaxy-tab-s2-review Amazon Kindle Fire: Amazon uses it's own app store. Most of the time the recommendation is something with Google Play store, even if its a little more its worth it for the difference.  Review: Fire 8 http://www.cnet.com/products/amazon-fire-hd-8/ Fire 10: http://www.cnet.com/products/amazon-fire-hd-10/ Barnes and Noble Nook: you can do better than the Nook Windows: Surface Pro 4: Specs:   Reviews: http://www.anandtech.com/show/9727/the-microsoft-surface-pro-4-review-raising-the-bar FAQs: Q. Is <insert random never heard of brand> a good device to buy? A. If you haven't heard of the company, it probably is not a good buy. Q. What is the best tab for kids? A. Assuming age range 3-8, something in an otter box or similarly durable case. iPad Minis are popular with the best app support, but if you just need basic apps the Nexus '13 and Kindles both function. Q. Why does everyone always recommend a higher storage space than 16GB for iPads (either 32 or 64)? A. Shumagorath posted:32GB is recommended because space is given without accounting for the size of the OS. On PCs that has almost never mattered but on iDevices it's a significant fraction. I was using ~10GB on the 16GB iPad Mini 2 before I returned it and I'd installed maybe a handful of social networking apps and downloaded a month worth of e-mail. Duckman2008 fucked around with this message at 20:04 on Mar 22, 2016 |
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Nov 21, 2013 13:23
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Reserved. Any thoughts or additions are welcomed. I will be updating this over the next month
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Nov 21, 2013 13:24
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Tablets are better geared towards media and internet consumption. If you want to take school notes, write a paper, edit PDFs, do basic web development, or edit videos, get a proper laptop. All iOS and Android tablets with keyboards are compromises in some form or another, and comparably sized laptops are more powerful with comparable or better battery life. Windows 8.1 touchscreen laptops/tablet hybrids, like the Surface, are better if you INSIST on a tablet form factor.
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Nov 21, 2013 14:22
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Duckman2008 posted:Microsoft: That isn't true. Every tablet in that thread is running full Windows 8.1 not RT. RT is basically dead at this point. Everything besides the Surface Pro or the higher levels of Dell Venue 11 Pro are the next generation of netbooks with the keyboard cut off and a copy of Office included. It works well enough on all the basic stuff on the go and you can connect it to an external monitor for the full PC experience. Wouldn't call it a cluster gently caress but the lack of apps does gimp it compared to other tablets. It's probably best for students or people who travel alot. (Here's a really extreme example of some guy connecting a Venue 8 Pro to four external monitors https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPPY4m8iY0k) Call Me Charlie fucked around with this message at 14:54 on Nov 21, 2013 |
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Nov 21, 2013 14:49
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Still no word on the new Nexus 10, right?
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Nov 21, 2013 14:51
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DACK FAYDEN posted:Still no word on the new Nexus 10, right? There's whispers of a release Nov 22 (tomorrow), and a mistakenly revealed and then removed Google Play page with that date, but nothing confirmed.
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Nov 21, 2013 15:23
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Call Me Charlie posted:That isn't true. Every tablet in that thread is running full Windows 8.1 not RT. RT is basically dead at this point. I'll make it less biased.
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Nov 21, 2013 15:39
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Jerk McJerkface posted:There's whispers of a release Nov 22 (tomorrow), and a mistakenly revealed and then removed Google Play page with that date, but nothing confirmed. Given how they released the Nexus 5, it wouldn't be impossible for them to release tomorrow. Although with the Nexus 5, I think a few tech sites had said a day or two before, "it will be coming out on [day], guaranteed," and I don't know if that's happened with the Nexus 10.
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Nov 22, 2013 01:19
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I want to give my parents an iPad Air to replace their aging iMac since 99% of their use is Facebook, iPhoto, and Skype. The only problem I see so far is trying to work out how to get their iPhoto library onto the iPad. Will Photostream and a beefier iCloud account work okay for this and will this provide a full resolution backup of the photos? They only have lovely P&S cameras so I'm not worried about running out of storage. And will there be any way of importing camera photos directly onto the iPad with some kind of adapter or card reader?
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Nov 24, 2013 07:07
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1st AD posted:I want to give my parents an iPad Air to replace their aging iMac since 99% of their use is Facebook, iPhoto, and Skype. The only problem I see so far is trying to work out how to get their iPhoto library onto the iPad. Will Photostream and a beefier iCloud account work okay for this and will this provide a full resolution backup of the photos? They only have lovely P&S cameras so I'm not worried about running out of storage. And will there be any way of importing camera photos directly onto the iPad with some kind of adapter or card reader? Yes to everything.
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Nov 24, 2013 16:55
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So, how about Android tablets that aren't from the Nexus series? I can't imagine that there isn't a single other decent tablet in the same price class. I've looked at the Nexuses and they've got great specs, but I really want something that accepts microSD cards so I can stuff all my textbooks and music on the thing at once instead of having to rotate.
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Nov 25, 2013 21:11
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If you absolutely have to hoard media on your tablet, you can get a cheap USB OTG cable to attach to a Nexus tablet. I guess Samsung's offerings aren't completely horrible.
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Nov 25, 2013 21:37
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Endless Mike posted:If you absolutely have to hoard media on your tablet, you can get a cheap USB OTG cable to attach to a Nexus tablet. I guess Samsung's offerings aren't completely horrible.
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Nov 25, 2013 21:41
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Sony Xperia Z? I would just buy as 32GB tablet and call it done.
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Nov 25, 2013 21:42
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What about the Asus TF701? I know little about it but I think that is the newest of their "premium android" tahblets
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Nov 25, 2013 21:57
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gariig posted:Sony Xperia Z? I would just buy as 32GB tablet and call it done. A friend of mine has one of those and a really sleek looking red cover. We benched it versus a bunch of other tablets and it was steadily beaten by the N7 2013 pretty frequently (by small margins) but at half the cost. If you need a "water resistant" tablet its a good buy, and the screen looks great.
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Nov 26, 2013 00:17
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Foil posted:A friend of mine has one of those and a really sleek looking red cover. We benched it versus a bunch of other tablets and it was steadily beaten by the N7 2013 pretty frequently (by small margins) but at half the cost. If you need a "water resistant" tablet its a good buy, and the screen looks great. The 2013 Nexus 10 is running out of time to show up.
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Nov 26, 2013 00:24
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Doctor rear end in a top hat posted:The Xperia Tablet Z has the same SoC and resolution as the 2013 Nexus 7 so they should perform about the same. The Z gets you Micro SD, waterproofing and 3 extra inches for double the price. The n7 2013 benches better, and this may be why. Wikipedia posted:The Nexus 7 (ASUS-1A008A) is both thinner and lighter than its predecessor. It is manufactured by Asus, and comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064–1AA SoC, (1.5 GHz quad-core Krait 300 and an Adreno 320 GPU). The new Nexus 7's SoC is believed to be a variation of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 600 processor (Branded as "S4 Pro") underclocked to 1.5 GHz. Its a good tablet if you need water resistance, but if you are going for speed its not the fastest horse on the track. EDIT: If you want a 10 inch wait on the N10 2013 and see how it holds up.
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Nov 26, 2013 00:43
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If you need a bigger tablet buy an iPad. Seriously, there are hardly any tablet optimized apps for Android.
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Nov 26, 2013 00:46
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Also as evidenced by this discussion the hardware in 10" Android tablets is just not up to snuff. Maybe a new N10 will be nice but there's really no telling what it will have or when it will come out.
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Nov 26, 2013 00:59
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Sorta related, are there any 10" Android tablets with 4:3 screen ratio, or am I stuck with Apple? I played around with a (very terrible) cheap Chinese android tablet, and the widescreen format just felt really weird. I imagine widescreen is nicer for watching video, but I don't that that's going to be my primary usage.
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Nov 26, 2013 21:14
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NFX posted:Sorta related, are there any 10" Android tablets with 4:3 screen ratio, or am I stuck with Apple? I played around with a (very terrible) cheap Chinese android tablet, and the widescreen format just felt really weird.
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Nov 26, 2013 21:26
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Price, mostly. I'm not against the idea of an iPad, but if there's a high end android tablet for half the price, well...
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Nov 26, 2013 23:12
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Get the new iPad Air. I just got one for my mom and it's just a lot nicer than the Nexus 10, and the 4:3 ratio makes PDF and ebook reading really nice.
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Nov 26, 2013 23:28
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Nice new OP Duckman. Seriously, for anyone considering a 10" that isn't ideologically married to Android, go to a store and pick up an iPad Air. It's insanely thin, light, and fast as gently caress at everything. For 7" I'd still lean iPad mini because of the apps but at least the (new 2013) Nexus 7 isn't complete garbage like most other Android tablets. If money is super tight look for refurb or used iPad 3 or 4's (or even Airs coming soon I'm sure). Apple refurbs are as good as new, and used ones will be fine for years assuming no cracked screen or dents or whatever. Or just save up a little and get something you won't regret. All ~$100-150 Chinese tablets suck donkey rear end and you'll regret getting one. We've seen it time and time again in this thread. Especially don't give a shittablet as a gift. Don't be that guy. A good tablet is a joy to have; a poo poo tablet is an exercise in frustration and resentment showered with tears of regret.
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Nov 27, 2013 23:57
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randyest posted:Nice new OP Duckman. Thanks. I'll be adding to it and then probably do a new recommend phone thread (a bit more work for that one), the holiday hours are what will happen my time frame on it.
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Nov 28, 2013 06:47
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My phone isn't able to handle much outside of being a just a phone anymore, so I'm looking to get a tablet to replace the browsing and reading pdfs on the go stuff that I used to do with it. I am torn between a new 32GB Nexus 7 with LTE and a used 2012 64GB iPad mini with cellular (not a refurb). The screen resolution on .pdfs isn't going to kill me, I've been reading them on a tiny HTC desire screen for the past three years when not on my laptop. I'm comfortable with both in terms of OS/apps, I'm just looking for some little detail to help sway my decision so I can finally make a purchase. Is the RAM difference between the two a huge factor? or is the additional storage on the mini worth it over the nexus? BrixE fucked around with this message at 01:54 on Dec 1, 2013 |
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Dec 1, 2013 01:46
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Any reason you're in need of all that space? I'd go with the retina iPad mini in any case, it's a nicer device than the new Nexus 7 and the screen is better suited to reading books and documents.
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Dec 1, 2013 08:29
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1st AD posted:Any reason you're in need of all that space? I'd go with the retina iPad mini in any case, it's a nicer device than the new Nexus 7 and the screen is better suited to reading books and documents.
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Dec 1, 2013 19:01
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Eh, I think the Mini does a better job for PDF's, it's a wash on books. I mean it's not so much better that I'd chuck my Nexus 7, but if I were purchasing a new device I'd go for the Mini.
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Dec 1, 2013 19:09
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So it doesn't seem that the Kindle is getting much attention. Is it pretty much 3rd in line after the iPad and Nexus? Is there anything it can't/won't do, besides the limited App Store? It seems like a good value given the low price point, so I'm just trying to figure out if it's worth the extra $200-$300 for the other tablets.
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Dec 2, 2013 06:40
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AzCoug posted:So it doesn't seem that the Kindle is getting much attention. Is it pretty much 3rd in line after the iPad and Nexus? Is there anything it can't/won't do, besides the limited App Store? I'd place even the Samsung Note/Tab line before the Kindle.
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Dec 2, 2013 13:24
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Doctor rear end in a top hat posted:The 7's screen is also brighter,
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Dec 2, 2013 15:59
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Endless Mike posted:The other things are important, but is this? I don't have any devices I keep at max brightness (or even close to it), since it tends to be eye-searing in anything but the brightest light, and reading long-form material on an LCD outdoors is not going to be the best experience in the best of circumstances.
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Dec 2, 2013 16:06
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Can't decide between a Nexus 7 and a Kindle, price being a nice feature and the Special Offers of the Kindle being another nicety. Are there any Nexus 7 Cyber Monday deals going on anyones aware of to push me more towards the nexus? Or any other reason not stated in the OP? For what it's worth this will be a family tablet (mostly for my wife and toddler apps). I do like the idea of going with Nexus for the android synergy.
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Dec 2, 2013 18:28
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The Amazon app market kind of sucks and apps tend to be behind their Google Play counterparts since they all have to be vetted by Amazon before an update is released. Staples has Nexus 7's on sale for $30 off right now.
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Dec 2, 2013 18:50
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I'd like a Nexus and seeing them for £169 at Ebuyer has almost driven me to take the plunge... but I'm concerned about the storage. Do people really feel the pinch on 16GB devices with no microSD?
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Dec 2, 2013 19:45
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Enallyniv posted:I'd like a Nexus and seeing them for £169 at Ebuyer has almost driven me to take the plunge... but I'm concerned about the storage. Do people really feel the pinch on 16GB devices with no microSD? Personally $50 for the 32GB isn't bad and a good idea as a one time buy, but I honestly haven't had a need for the extra storage on my N7 (I do have the 32GB). It depends on what you do, I stream all my music and video and don't play many games, so it works for me, but I do have the storage for when I travel and may be away from the network. If you want to store some music I would def say get 32.
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Dec 2, 2013 20:28
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So I see that the first gen iPad mini is actually explicitly not recommended - is it really that bad/outdated? Basically I am looking to upgrade from my old sony e-reader, although I will likely do more than just read books (definitely need to be able to access epubs) though I don't know how heavy I will get with media/games. As such, I don't really want to sink a ton into a tablet, I have an iPhone 5 and two computers that cover most of what I do. I don't want to waste that money either, though. I can get a first gen iPad mini for $250 or a kindle fire for just shy of $200 (because ads are crap), but I really don't know which way to go. Good info in the OP and good advice so far, thanks for that.
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Dec 3, 2013 02:22
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The resolution on the OG iPad mini kind of stinks. Underpowered device too. For $250 you should get a 2013 Nexus 7 (which is actually $229 but w/e)
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Dec 3, 2013 02:47
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