What to look for in a tablet

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Picky1

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I have been traveling a lot for work lately and needless to say have had countless delays, also we have an upcoming family trip so I am considering getting a tablet to be able to check emails, surf the web, play games, watch movies, and read books. Yes, I have a smart phone but the small screen gets old quick on a long plane flight.

Any suggestions as to what features/specs to look for? and pros & cons of 10.1 vs. 7/8 inch screen? any brands better than another? where can one find the best deals? I keep seeing on Woot refurbished Samsungs Galaxy 3's...are these any good?
 
I have a Sony Xperia Z, the new Xperia2 Z has LTE.

It's water proof, blah blah. The only thing I HATE about it, and most tablets is the TINY speakers with TINY sound! and the flaps you have to remove to access ports.

Otherwise it's a perfect tablet. Thin, LIGHTWEIGHT, decent battery.

The speakers are the deal killer, don't recommend it for movies without headphones.
 
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Don't know about the Samsung but I purchased an Apple at a pawn shop for $100.00 that does everything you mention.

Oh, that buy was about a month ago.
 
Think about what you will be doing with it. I like my iPad for web & email, but prefer my iPad Mini for reading. My daughter was thinking about trading her ipad for an iPad Mini, but then thought about the two kids who frequently watch movies on the regular one, and the movies would be smaller on the mini.

I use the regular iPad in my garage with the Haynes car manuals and others.

I use either, or my iPhone, for music to a wi-fi or bluetooth speaker.

Since they are all connected to the cloud, everything is available to all (plus my MacBook)
 
Whatever brand you get, I'd recommend the full-size form factor. We have both and I prefer the larger one by far. There's really nothing the smaller one excels at. It's too large to be one-handed anyway, so I feel that you gain nothing with the 2" smaller footprint. If I had gorilla paws and could one-hand a smaller tablet, that might be something...

A 10" tablet is far smaller than most laptop/ultrabook computers, and it slides right next to one in a carry bag. And I don't carry a purse, so a small footprint for portability isn't a big deal. What IS a big deal, though, is the larger screen for watching movies, surfing the web, etc. Smaller screens work, but then you're that much closer to just watching it on your phone.
 
I agree about the larger screen. If I were to have a 7/8" tablet it would be in addition to my 10" tablet, not a replacement.

Or you could go full bore and get a Galaxy Pro 12" that could be a little too big for traveling.
 
Pick your OS/ecosystem first. Apple, Android, or Amazon?

Then pick screen size.

If you want to play the latest fancy games, you'll need some of the faster machines. If you won't be playing the latest fancy games, a "plain" tablet will do.

If you're a big time book reader, spend the extra coin and get a dedicated Kindle Paperwhite. They're much easier on the eyes.
 
Originally Posted By: racer12306
What kind of smart phone do you have?


I use my work issued phone, currently I have a Blackberry Bold, but I just got a Iphone 5s.

I was planning on going the android route for a tablet, but now that I got the Iphone for work perhaps I should reconsider the Ipads....the only issue is that they are twice as much money as all of the android tablets and I am not sure if it worth the extra money for a toy to keep me busy when traveling.
 
Originally Posted By: Picky1
I was planning on going the android route for a tablet, but now that I got the Iphone for work perhaps I should reconsider the Ipads....the only issue is that they are twice as much money as all of the android tablets and I am not sure if it worth the extra money for a toy to keep me busy when traveling.


The iPads are twice as much money as some of the Android tablets. Quite honestly, the Android tablets that compare favorably with the iPad, like the new Samsung Galaxy Tab S, sell for similar money. Android has a real advantage here if you are a "value" shopper. You can spend as little as 100 bucks on an Android tablet. Of course, you'll only be getting a $100 tablet, but still...

The plethora of apps available for the iOS, and the number of excellent kid-friendly apps, is one of the big reasons we chose an iPad. We bought an iPad 4th generation about a year-and-a-half ago. The kids use it a lot, and I must confess to using it "regularly" for playing Real Racing 3 and Infinite Flight.
 
Yes, the refurbished Apple stuff is first class. I buy everything that way. Full warranty, etc.
 
If you like the iOS ecosystem, then go for the iPad. Whether Android or iOS is better is a personal decision. I have an regularly use both. I prefer Android for the flexibility, but there is something to be said for an iOS device just plain working.

I don't know if the iPad will give you any flexibility in video content or if it restricts you to MP4 files. With Android, with the right player, you can view any video format. That's one of the single biggest differences between iOS and Android. iOS gives you a feature and that's what it is and it generally works great. Android give you a feature that may or may not be good, but there are a plethora of options in the Play store if you don't like the built in feature.

And a third plus for Apple refurbished items. Their iPads have new cases, new batteries and come with a warranty for a nice discount. My wife's iPad 4 was a refurb and it's been flawless. When we buy our daughters iPads they will be refurbs.
 
My wife and I looked at the samsung side by side with the ipad.

The screen quality is better on samsung by far, also you can run two users at once on samsung.

We bought samsung.
 
How recent was this? The iPad Air and iPad with Retina is a really nice screen.

Which Samsung? I have the Note 10.1 (2014) and it does have a pretty nice screen.
 
+1 for not buying cheap Android tablets. Rubbish.

The Google Nexus 7" (2nd Gen) has been my goto tablet since last October. It does many things right, apps are good, etc.

Always buy more onboard storage than you think you need...over time, you will fill it with photos, games, videos, etc.

I have the 16GB version of this, wish I had the 32GB version!
 
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Don't buy those cheap Android tablets, they're garbage. My sister has had a couple of them and they just randomly quit working.

Spend the extra $$ and buy an iPad, it's what I use.

The refurbished iPads are just as good as new, and it's only $309 with a warranty.

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/ipad/ipad2/wi_fi



I couldn't disagree more. I've had my Sero 7 now for 6 months and it's been great. For the $$$ it even rocks the lauded Nexus. It's received great reviews also. I can't complain for $135. http://www.tabletpcreview.com/tabletreview/hisense-sero-7-pro-review-130-gets-a-good-tablet/
 
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