Which Tablet to buy?

[Greengeek 10]

If you can stretch the budget a little bit, there are some cracking Windows tablets out there.

 

I've got a Dell XPS10 which runs RT. If you can use Windows, you can use this tablet. I've had an experiment at work where I use the tablet instead of my usual work laptop, and see how many times I had to go back to the laptop.

 

Answer? Twice. Once to build a VM image, and the second time to use Teamviewer as our licence was for a previous version.

 

Drawbacks though, the space is half taken up by the OS. If you buy a 32Gb one, you have about 16gb to spare. You can add an SD card to it, but you can't download from the store onto it.

Battery life is great, I also have the keyboard dock, which is an expensive addon but is worth it's weight in gold.

I've even burned a DVD from the tablet.

[tinfoilhat 11]

iPad is nice, got the retina and it's lovely. Decent choice of apps, which can go up to surprisingly high prices. Fantastic display, decent battery life. Used for work presentations mainly, a bit heavy and big for "settee" usage if I'm honest.

 

Down side. iTunes. It's the work of the devil. The first version I used when I first got my iPhone 4 was fine. This makes simple tasks of moving photographs about a real event and it doesn't have to be (sometimes it writes over, sometimes it doesn't) - I daren't try anything else.

 

My mate has a kindle fire hd and whilst not as instantly usable as the ipad it's not bad. You can put music and stuff on it really easily ( didn't ask about photos) and the main problem is a lack of sky go (an odd thing considering kindle fire hd sponsors got to dance on sky 1 !!). Size is better for home use. Id go with the nexus 7 or maybe a Samsung. Im unlikely to get another apple product until iTunes sorts itself out.

[alchresearch 214]

Another vote for the Nexus 7.

[EbonyBranch 10]

iPad is nice, got the retina and it's lovely. Decent choice of apps, which can go up to surprisingly high prices. Fantastic display, decent battery life. Used for work presentations mainly, a bit heavy and big for "settee" usage if I'm honest.

 

Down side. iTunes. It's the work of the devil. The first version I used when I first got my iPhone 4 was fine. This makes simple tasks of moving photographs about a real event and it doesn't have to be (sometimes it writes over, sometimes it doesn't) - I daren't try anything else.

 

My mate has a kindle fire hd and whilst not as instantly usable as the ipad it's not bad. You can put music and stuff on it really easily ( didn't ask about photos) and the main problem is a lack of sky go (an odd thing considering kindle fire hd sponsors got to dance on sky 1 !!). Size is better for home use. Id go with the nexus 7 or maybe a Samsung. Im unlikely to get another apple product until iTunes sorts itself out.

 

iTunes is one of the biggest drawbacks to using Apple hardware. I don't understand how IOS and OSX, etc. can be soooo good, but iTunes is sooo bad.

 

---------- Post added 08-03-2013 at 16:42 ----------

 

Nexus 7 wasn't shipped until July last year

 

Everything else you say about it is correct though - got mine in August and have used it daily since.

 

Really came into its own on holiday when it was my internet device / music centre / holiday books / road atlas/ games player etc - that fitted nicely in my shorts pocket.

 

7 inches is just about right for a portable tablet. I prefer the Samsung Tab range, as they have a microSD slot for memory expansion and a camera on the rear, while the Nexus has neither.

 

I was working abroad a couple of years ago; I picked up a second hand netbook from CEX and one of the original 7" Samsung Galaxy Tabs, which had just come out. The Tab lived in my trouser map-pocket for nearly half a year - I listened to music, watched films, read books, played games, drew sketches, wrote a diary, took pictures, etc. - the netbook mostly gathered dust under my bed. Both are still going strong, but the Tab is pretty much the family's favourite piece of communal IT (especially since our big old Win 7 laptop died over Christmas).

[SoundDept 10]

If you have budget of £300, Personally I would advise Ipad 2 (16GB) or the newest Ipad Mini.

 

I got an Ipad 2 for Christmas from my parents & I absolutely love it. One of the best things about it is Facetime & the messaging system.

[swarfendor437 14]

I recommend ibuprofen.

 

In the words of Dick Dastardly, "Drat, Drat, and triple Drat!" - you beat me to it!

[Sixpence 10]

Are there as many apps for Android as for Apple?

[stereolab 10]

Are there as many apps for Android as for Apple?

 

In terms of sheer numbers there are hundreds of thousands for both.

 

However, many premium games and apps are either iPad exclusive, or available for iPad long before Android.

 

Remember too that an iPad will hold its value much better than an Android tablet so when you want to upgrade in a couple of years you could get a couple of hundred quid back, instead of next to nothing for an old android.