What tablets are good?

JonathanRyan

JonathanRyan

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My Nexus 7 mk I has just died recently. It resists all attempts to revive it. So before I go out and just buy a new Nexus I thought I'd check what people are using.

My wife has a Kindle Fire which she likes but that seems to have an odd version of the app store.

What's good? What's bad? Who deserves my money?
 
iPad Mini.

I have a Kindle Fire HD. It links to Amazon's own app store, not Google Play.
 
I rate my nexus 7 highly. It's quick, easy to use, does all I want it to, and is still firing along after two years. An added bonus is, because it's a Google machine running Android, you always have the latest version automatically updated. I wouldn't hesitate in buying another.
 
No complaints with my Hudl, few features such as HDMI socket and micro SD slot that trumps the Nexus
Bit workmanlike, but tough as old boots and well worth sixty quid's worth of Tesco vouchers
 
Craig20264 said:
because it's a Google machine running Android, you always have the latest version automatically updated. I wouldn't hesitate in buying another.
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That's kind of my feeling. I just wondered if anybody had stepped up their game in the past 2 years.

Ricardodaforce said:
iPad Mini.
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I just checked and they are cheaper than I thought. Then I got baffled by the range (some seem to be £700). I remember when Apple was the easy choice..... I suppose if I were going back to iPhone then I'd buy an iPad. Hmm, this is harder than I thought.
 
If you don't need the sd card slot go for the nexus else Samsung galaxy one.

I have the old nexus 7 and am very happy with it.
 
Ipad mini. Ideal size as it is about the dimensions of a paper back book. Non retinas will be cheaper so worth having a look in the apple refurb store.
 
tijuana taxi said:
No complaints with my Hudl, few features such as HDMI socket and micro SD slot that trumps the Nexus
Bit workmanlike, but tough as old boots and well worth sixty quid's worth of Tesco vouchers
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Hmm, the Hudl looks good. I mean, it looks like it does everything I want at a bargain price. Bit ugly....... :)
 
sep9001 said:
If you don't need the sd card slot go for the nexus else Samsung galaxy one.

I have the old nexus 7 and am very happy with it.
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I tried the Samsung when I bought the Nexus (2ish years ago) the Samsung seemed a big sluggish by comparison.
 
In that case stick to Nexus. If you are thinking of going the ipad route wait and see what is announced on the Tuesday.
 
JonathanRyan said:
Hmm, the Hudl looks good. I mean, it looks like it does everything I want at a bargain price. Bit ugly....... :)
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The hudl wont upgrade the os. What you buy You're stuck with.
Your choice would also depend on what smartphone you use. Imho no point in having an android tablet and and i phone.
 
The other thing with the Hudl is you're stuck with Tesco bloatware, unless you're up for swapping the rom yourself you can't do anything about it. Stick with the newer N7.
 
Another vote for the new Nexus!

As other commenters have said - the Fire is a good tablet if you only want to browse the web. The restricted operating system/play store mean that if you want to do anything more than read/browse you'd become frustrated very quickly!
 
Love my Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1. Photos look better than on an iPad and I can tether it to my Samsung S4 mini to use anywhere I have a phone signal. Easy to put stuff from pc on too, just drag and drop.
 
Bloatware on the Hudl is not intrusive and you have to consider the cost when making comparisons
 
Depends what the symptoms of your existing Nexus problem are.

Mine had a connector loose, just prise the back off and push it back. Lots of info in Google land.
 
Been looking for a tablet recently,any of you guys tell me the difference between windows 8.1 and windows RT 8.1 please?
 
Co-codamol 32/500 rinsed down with a Laphroig... Slept like a baby...
 
fracster said:
Been looking for a tablet recently,any of you guys tell me the difference between windows 8.1 and windows RT 8.1 please?
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RT is a gimped version of windows, you can only install apps from the windows store, but are not able to install software off disk or USB.
8.1 on a tablet is actually pretty good, though you really do need a keyboard and mouse to get the best out of the power, you can install any software that will run on a desktop , ive got an Ipad, Samsung Tab and a Toshiba 11.6" win 8.1 tablet, so ive had good experience of all of them.
 
Thanks Matt, appreciate the info.
 
john-oh said:
Depends what the symptoms of your existing Nexus problem are.

Mine had a connector loose, just prise the back off and push it back. Lots of info in Google land.
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Yeah I've tried a bunch of stuff. It's basically bricked itself :(
 
I bought my wife the 10.1" Samsung Galaxy Tab2, almost 2 years ago, its proven very reliable, and she love it. Unlike the iPad the memory is expandable if needed.

My only complaint is that to me, the touch-screen is too sensitive, but that said, my iPhone is no better, so perhaps I don't have the 'gentle touch'. :)

Dave
 
DaveS2 said:
I bought my wife the 10.1" Samsung Galaxy Tab2, almost 2 years ago, its proven very reliable, and she love it. Unlike the iPad the memory is expandable if needed.

My only complaint is that to me, the touch-screen is too sensitive, but that said, my iPhone is no better, so perhaps I don't have the 'gentle touch'. :)

Dave
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iPad memory is expandable. You use the cloud. My music library is over 14000 songs. They are all available on my iPad and iPhone. The need for onboard memory is generally over stated.
 
Ricardodaforce said:
iPad memory is expandable. You use the cloud. My music library is over 14000 songs. They are all available on my iPad and iPhone. The need for onboard memory is generally over stated.
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Depending on your internet connection speed and only wanting to listen to music/watch videos when you have a network connection - personally the cloud doesn't suit my needs at all.
 
Personally I would avoid Samsung, too many issues with batteries capacity seemingly dropping. My nexus 10 is virtually unusable after just a year and my wife's S4 has started going the same way.

Not a fan of Apple myself so wouldn't go there.

Not sure what else is really available right now. I'm hoping htc come out with a high end tablet one day if their phones are anything to go by.

The nexus 7 is made by nexus is it not? That's probably the way I would go if I wanted a small tablet.

Or briefly seeing a Microsoft surface pro in use that looks good, do they do a mini?
 
TopBanana said:
Depending on your internet connection speed and only wanting to listen to music/watch videos when you have a network connection - personally the cloud doesn't suit my needs at all.
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Not quite. You can still play the music you have on your tablet without internet connection, and you don't need to have all the music on there, just download what you want for offline access.

And imho, ios is best for consuming media, which a tablet excels at. So an ipad is my recommendation.
 
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Rapscallion said:
Not quite. You can still play the music you have on your tablet without internet connection, and you don't need to have all the music on there, just download what you want for offline access.

And imho, ios is best for consuming media, which a tablet excels at. So an ipad is my recommendation.
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True, but the point that I was disputing was that icloud is a viable alternative to expandable storage, which for me it isn't. What you're describing with downloading for offline access is efectively the same as I do at the moment only I download it from my PC rather than icloud so is a much quicker process (due to download speed).
For consuming media I'd also agree that the ipad excels and that's what I very happily use - I couldn't use it for trying to work other than sending emails but I know that before I bought it.
 
bass_junkie83 said:
Personally I would avoid Samsung, too many issues with batteries capacity seemingly dropping. My nexus 10 is virtually unusable after just a year and my wife's S4 has started going the same way.

Not a fan of Apple myself so wouldn't go there.

Not sure what else is really available right now. I'm hoping htc come out with a high end tablet one day if their phones are anything to go by.

The nexus 7 is made by nexus is it not? That's probably the way I would go if I wanted a small tablet.

Or briefly seeing a Microsoft surface pro in use that looks good, do they do a mini?
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Nexus products have been made by various manufacturers.
 
I know that. That's why I wouldn't get another nexus 10 (Samsung) but would consider a nexus 7 (asus?).

Shame really as Lol other aspects of the nexus 10 is awesome. But having to turn it off and charge it for a few hours before you use it is a bit of a pain.
 
Using Android os you can view raw. Using iOs I think they use tiff.
I have samsung which has an additional sdcard slot and works well with dslr. I bought Photo Mate 2 for it
 
Surprised no one's mentioned Sony yet!

I have a Sony Experia Tablet (version 1) and its very good. Screen is very bright, battery lasts an age and it plays full HD movies etc. Oh and it's waterproof, kind of ;)
Came with Google Chrome as the default browser too. There are some Sony apps installed but they're not particularly intrusive, and if you have a PS3/4 integrate well I believe.
 
So........

1. If I have an iPhone, buy an iPad
2. If I have a PS4, get a Sony
3. If funds are limited, get a Hudl
4. Otherwise take my pick from Nexus/Samsung

Is that a fair summary?
 
Rapscallion said:
I would edit point 4 to take your pick from nexus / apple. No need to limit yourself to only buying an ipad only if you have an iphone.
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I'll look into that - but at the very least that would mean buying most apps twice :) That's before I wonder about syncing data across platforms (I bet I can, I'm syncing from a Mac to Android and that works fine)
 
well these Viagra are the business ...

joking aside I'm very happy with my hudl , my missus has an ipad mini which she is equally happy with (but my happiness cost 200 pounds less)
 
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