Tablet advice

I want to buy a tablet for my wife. She has never owned a tablet, and already owns a laptop. The main uses for the tablet will be so she can display sheet music and look at cooking recipes while cooking. As such, that means the performance doesn't need to be all that good, but on the other hand, I see no reason to limit her.

I am willing to spend up to $800 or so, bear in mind I am in Canada.

I have looked at this page, and I think the Asus transformer book sounds like a good choice.

I am strongly against anything from Apple, so is my wife.

Does anyone have any advice or recommendations about this?

I love my transformer prime. It has served me well since they came out. The only reason my wife doesn't use it more is that she hates the mobile sites that it defaults to.

I have been eyeing a windows tablet, but I haven't had a chance to play with one and I don't know if any have dropped into your range.

Thanks Manta173. I know very little about tablet processors how does the Prime compare to the Book, any idea?

Dakuna wrote:

Thanks Manta173. I know very little about tablet processors how does the Prime compare to the Book, any idea?

No idea other than the prime is a few years old. Basically my opinion is get the newest version that fits in your price range (assuming the verge or engadget doesn't have a bad review for it.)

Preference on screen size?

Android seems to fit the 7-8" size well, and there aren't as many larger screen focused apps as Apple. I'd recommend the Nexus 7 if you don't need a bigger screen.

I think a bigger screen is necessary for sheet music She wants to prop it up on her electronic keyboard and use it to learn to play piano.

I would first look into what apps there are for sheet music or cooking. For better or worse the marketplace on Apple is more robust. So before ruling it out entirely I would at least give it a look.

With an $800 budget there have been several deals on the Microsoft Surface Pro for almost half that from Best Buy and the Microsoft store.
Kickstand.
High Resolution.
Runs everything the laptop does.
Can view webpages in Desktop mode without rejiggering.
Stylus for accuracy.
*shrug*

DSGamer wrote:

I would first look into what apps there are for sheet music or cooking. For better or worse the marketplace on Apple is more robust. So before ruling it out entirely I would at least give it a look.

That is good advice, I will look at the app options for sure.

The Apple tablets are really the best in my opinion but I understand the desire to not be a part of that

If I bought an Android tablet tomorrow it would either be a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 or a Sony XPERIA Z

I have a 7'' Galaxy and love it. I also currently own an XPERIA phone and love it so I think I'd put my money on those two.

Sony has really cool hardware design and is just fine under the hood whereas the Samsung, while maybe just an iPad lookalike, is quite powerful and covers all the base. It's also compatible with your Samsung stuff if you have any so I guess that's a bonus.

Everything else Android I wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole but that's just me

note: I currently own an iPad 2, iPad mini Retina, a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7'' and my phone is an XPERIA ZL

She has a Samsung Galaxy S4, and I have the Galaxy Note 2, so the Galaxy Tab 3 is certainly going to be considered.

Dakuna wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

I would first look into what apps there are for sheet music or cooking. For better or worse the marketplace on Apple is more robust. So before ruling it out entirely I would at least give it a look.

That is good advice, I will look at the app options for sure.

It depends on how many apps you want to use for the kitchen, and how robust you want those apps to be. I downloaded tons of cooking/recipe apps when I first got my iPad a few years ago. Although pretty, I never really used them more than once or twice. Also, I hated the idea of using several different apps or entering recipe data into one app and having it live just there.

I finally settled on a really simple solution. From my desktop I put all of my recipes in Word docs (using this amazing device called the keyboard!), and use SkyDrive to make them available everywhere. I have a nice little speaker dock for my iPad in the kitchen where I view my recipes while I rock out to Pandora. You can use any universal app like SimpleNote, Evernote, Google Docs, etc based on your platform of choice.

If you're definitely down on Apple (Don't knock 'em till you tried 'em; I was that guy once upon a time...) I would second Rezzy's recommendation of a Surface.

I will admit that I am totally clueless on how to view sheet music on a computer. Is it pdf files or images? Are there programs to write music on?

Asus Transformers running Windows 8.1, which I believe they do, would clearly have more sheet music capability than even an iPad as you aren't tied solely to the Windows Store, but to anything that works on a regular pc.

garion333 wrote:

Asus Transformers running Windows 8.1, which I believe they do, would clearly have more sheet music capability than even an iPad as you aren't tied solely to the Windows Store, but to anything that works on a regular pc.

True. I think if I cared about sheet music on a device (I used to play piano) I would care about the size of the display, readability, the ease of turning pages compatibility / availability of sheet music. Being the noob I am I would also care about possible interactivity (maybe a timer that follows as the notes *should* be played). That's me, the newbie who would be getting back into playing the piano.

DSGamer wrote:
garion333 wrote:

Asus Transformers running Windows 8.1, which I believe they do, would clearly have more sheet music capability than even an iPad as you aren't tied solely to the Windows Store, but to anything that works on a regular pc.

True. I think if I cared about sheet music on a device (I used to play piano) I would care about the size of the display, readability, the ease of turning pages compatibility / availability of sheet music. Being the noob I am I would also care about possible interactivity (maybe a timer that follows as the notes *should* be played). That's me, the newbie who would be getting back into playing the piano.

That's an interesting thought I hadn't considered.

Yup, the comments being posted regarding app functionality are being considered, thanks for the tips for sure.

The Surface is currently winning, FYI.

@ PaladinTom - yes, the main thing for recipes will be viewing them, not managing them so much with the tablet. Although that would be easy with a Surface I'm sure.

Dakuna wrote:

She has a Samsung Galaxy S4, and I have the Galaxy Note 2, so the Galaxy Tab 3 is certainly going to be considered.

I have the Galaxy Note 10.1 and 10.1 2014 Edition as well as a Note 3. They all are phenomenal. From a performance perspective and configurability perspective they blow everything else I have used away to include the iPad (All versions except latest Air) and Surface (original). Samsung is releasing a Galaxy Note and Tab 12.2" edition in a few weeks. I plan on getting the Note version. If you need windows I think the Asus Transformers are good, but if OS isnt a driver Im not sure you can go wrong with one of Samsung products.

I was thinking about getting a tablet for the family to use, most like it will be for the kids to play/watch on, and was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on memory size. Do I want to grab something with the most memory available or is 16GB considered enough, and how important would you say having expandable memory is?

Depends on how you use it. If you download a lot of apps/movies/music, then 16gb might be tight. I have a 16gb ipad2. It's fine most of the time, but I run right up against the memory limit, and wanting to add a new app means I have to clear something else out. This probably means I hoard too many games on it. It also means that if I want to put any movies on for plane trips, it's kind of a pain.

If you're mostly streaming movies and don't mind juggling apps, then 16gb is probably fine, especially if you're considering an ipad, where going to 32gb is an extra hundred bucks. I do have probably 50 apps or so on mine, so it's not like I'm really that limited.

Chaz makes good points, but I think bigger is always better when it comes to default storage. Expandable is great, but then you always have the possibility of the expansion card kakking out on you. It's another variable to worry about.

Dakuna wrote:

Chaz makes good points, but I think bigger is always better when it comes to default storage. Expandable is great, but then you always have the possibility of the expansion card kakking out on you. It's another variable to worry about.

Bigger's definitely better. I just always gag on the absolutely bonkers $100 premium Apple charges for each doubling of memory. The android devices are usually more reasonable for memory increases.

Chaz wrote:

Bigger's definitely better. I just always gag on the absolutely bonkers $100 premium Apple charges for each doubling of memory. The android devices are usually more reasonable for memory increases.

Yeah

that 100$ extra for going from 16gb to 32gb is especially rotten

I had a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7'' and got it a 64gb microSD card for less than that

In case anyone was wondering, we settled on a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1"

Good choice. It's a nice machine.

Dakuna wrote:

In case anyone was wondering, we settled on a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1" :)

I just pulled the trigger on this too. I bought the 3 year protection.... I have a 7 year old, an 18 month old and another due in a few weeks.... I have a feeling that tablet's going to see some rough handling.

Hopefully it will keep my SO occupied during the whole waiting to have a baby waiting game here the next few weeks.

New question: Recommend me a case for said Galaxy

I have kids ranging from 7 years to -2 weeks. So I expect there to be some rough handling etc. Preventing the inevitable spilled liquid is a huge plus. Making it easier for said children to not drop it also would be a good thing.

Any favorites other than the Otterbox line (which is what I'm currently leaning towards, but I see a bunch of other ones too)

http://www.otterbox.com/Galaxy-Note-...

Okay, no, I don't have another suggestion

Nosferatu wrote:

New question: Recommend me a case for said Galaxy

I have kids ranging from 7 years to -2 weeks. So I expect there to be some rough handling etc. Preventing the inevitable spilled liquid is a huge plus. Making it easier for said children to not drop it also would be a good thing.

Any favorites other than the Otterbox line (which is what I'm currently leaning towards, but I see a bunch of other ones too)

My son has owned a kindle fire for two years. Without his Otterbox Defender, it wouldn't have lasted him two days.

Lifeproof also makes waterproof and shock-resistant cases.

I just noticed that it isn't compatible with the one I ordered... so no otterbox for now.

I need an Otterbox for my boys' Chromebook.

So, so sticky...I had to wash my hands with kerosene.