Tablet help

**Rakoua** · November 28, 2012, 03:23 PM

Alright, I know nothing about tablets, mostly because they're so expensive here that I never considered one. However, my laptop is slowly dying (the battery is worn out) and I don't need something for school. Now, I don't care much for playing games, but I need something with the following characteristics:
-can take a picture of a page in my textbooks so I don't have to carry them all to school, but the text has to be at least legible
-have enough space (16 GB would be fine, 32 better, but I guess I can use clouds for storage)
-can play 720p video without a hitch
-can be used for web browsing without any slowdowns
-has a decent resolution, but nothing much. 720p would be fine IMHO. Also, 9-10"
-preferably has a decent build quality

What would be the cheapest tablets that fit those criteria? The selection here is limited, but I'd probably buy it in Germany or somewhere. My budget is rather limited and I'm ready to compromise if it'd mean a much lower price.

**Adreno** · November 29, 2012, 04:58 AM

the asus ones are pretty nice..

**karamazovmm** · November 29, 2012, 06:33 AM

I have found that most of the android tablets are great way of a miserable user experience, Im looking forward to get a ipad mini, with sincerely no hopes of improvement.

**Pielstick** · November 29, 2012, 06:57 AM

I was looking for a tablet in the summer and after playing around with the various ones on offer I settled on a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1

Android is, in my opinion far more useful than iOS - and I've rooted my Galaxy Tab and installed Jelly Bean which is great. Yes the Google Store doesn't have as many apps as the Apple Store, but then again 95% of apps in both stores are worthless, and the popular (i.e. useful) ones are available on both platforms. What's more I was able to purchase a 16GB Galaxy Tab 2 for £299 and put a £25 32GB MicroSD card in it to expand the memory to 48GB - and the whole lot came in at £150 cheaper than a 32GB iPad 3. Now in my opinion the Retina display is not worth the extra £150.

I also looked at getting an Asus Transformer, but the price was similar to an iPad 3 and I thought to myself if I'm going to use the attached keyboard I may as well be using a proper laptop!

My wife has taken a liking to my Galaxy Tab so I will probably give it to her early next year and get myself a Nexus 10.

**Bolkonsky** · November 30, 2012, 07:22 AM

Originally Posted by Karamazovmm

I have found that most of the android tablets are great way of a miserable user experience, Im looking forward to get a ipad mini, with sincerely no hopes of improvement.

You've got to do a little bit of work on your end. 4.1 and 4.2 are just phenomenal updates. If you're looking for a 10" you can get an Acer Iconia 500 with tons of input/output options (usb host, hdmi, bluetooth, gps, etc) for ~$250-$300. It ships with 3.xx but you can put Cyanogenmod 10.1 on it for the Jelly Bean update (it's pretty simple and CM 10 adds lots of new options.)

Then there's the Kindle Fire and Nexus 7. The old Fire can be had refurb for around $100. Put Jelly Bean on there (I've done it, it's easy) and for the price you cannot go wrong. It doesn't have the most options but unlike most cheap tablets, everything that they did put in works well. The lack of a volume rocker and bluetooth, camera, hdmi and usb are really a turn-off though.

Which leaves the king of the 7" market, the Nexus 7. This thing is just a dream, with 4.2 and all the bells and whistles you want at a great price. 4.1 and 4.2 are just lightyears ahead of all the other Android versions, especially when paired with Cyanogenmod. Performance and stability have improved vastly, touch input is now sharp and fast, and every single option is customizable, from the notifications bar to the look and feel of the menu UI. 4.0 was a bloated mess, 4.1 and 4.2 are just a dream come true.

That said, I still prefer my phone over any tablet.

**karamazovmm** · November 30, 2012, 08:23 AM

Originally Posted by Bolkonsky

You've got to do a little bit of work on your end. 4.1 and 4.2 are just phenomenal updates. If you're looking for a 10" you can get an Acer Iconia 500 with tons of input/output options (usb host, hdmi, bluetooth, gps, etc) for ~$250-$300. It ships with 3.xx but you can put Cyanogenmod 10.1 on it for the Jelly Bean update (it's pretty simple and CM 10 adds lots of new options.)

Then there's the Kindle Fire and Nexus 7. The old Fire can be had refurb for around $100. Put Jelly Bean on there (I've done it, it's easy) and for the price you cannot go wrong. It doesn't have the most options but unlike most cheap tablets, everything that they did put in works well. The lack of a volume rocker and bluetooth, camera, hdmi and usb are really a turn-off though.

Which leaves the king of the 7" market, the Nexus 7. This thing is just a dream, with 4.2 and all the bells and whistles you want at a great price. 4.1 and 4.2 are just lightyears ahead of all the other Android versions, especially when paired with Cyanogenmod. Performance and stability have improved vastly, touch input is now sharp and fast, and every single option is customizable, from the notifications bar to the look and feel of the menu UI. 4.0 was a bloated mess, 4.1 and 4.2 are just a dream come true.

That said, I still prefer my phone over any tablet.

I have used tablets with 2.2, 4 and 4.1, horrible experiences in all of them. They jusst dont cut it. Its not a matter that I can fiddle with the way of the UI, its that its horrible in its own right. I was looking again at tablets because i want something to read my books on. A dedicated reader seems a waste of money, thus I looked again at tablets. Will see how the ipad mini fares, not confident at all.

**Rakoua** · November 29, 2012, 07:36 AM

I'm afraid the Galaxy Tab 20.1 is a bit out of my price range. I know I'm not giving you much to work with in terms of money, but everything's very expensive around here... Ideally I would be getting a W8 tablet, but they're much more expensive...
And Apple is out of the question, for many reasons, including the fact that I have a strong dislike for Apple products in general.
I've been leaning towards the IdeaPad A2019A, for 300 euros. Would this be good for the things I described above?

**Rakoua** · November 30, 2012, 11:10 AM

I'm afraid I'm not overly concerned with comparing iOS and Android; I've used a bit of Android and I love it. The question is mostly about hardware.

How much can I get done on the Nexus 7? It's cheap (250 euros, much cheaper than the closest alternative), but would it handle what I would use it for (list is in OP). Also, is 7" too small for viewing video?

**Bolkonsky** · November 30, 2012, 04:31 PM

I watch video fine on my 7", and the Nexus 7 can do just about everything that your everyday tablet can. It's got a front facing camera, a 1280x800 IPS screen, bluetooth, GPS, the whole works. No rear facing camera so you can't use it like a camera, the front one is only for video chat and stuff, and it's got no HDMI out so you can't plug it into your TV. That said, it's 4.2 and only $200 for the 16gb. If you're gonna pay 250 euros, make sure you're getting the 32G gb or you're getting ripped off.

**mrmouth** · December 01, 2012, 11:13 PM

The sweet spot in terms of price is the 7" range. In my experience 10" actually gets a bit old. Even if they are lightweight they just seem cumbersome.

And in that price range you are going to find good options at under $150 that will do much of what the $200-300 tablets can do. So the only real differences are very small. And in some cases the only actual difference might be the version of Android. Some of the budget tablets are essentially the same as something like the Nexus when it comes to user experience, but still run Android 2.2 - which in my mind is still more than enough for what 99% of people use their tablets for.

If you can find something like the 7" Blackberry Playbook for around $125 (which is what they can be found for at times), then that is a steal.