Help me buy a tablet

I'm looking to buy a tablet of some kind and was hoping you folks could help me. I mostly want it for some classes I'll be taking in the future as well as some comic apps. Seeing as I don't need the biggest size, I was hoping to keep the price below $300. Any suggestions?

Edit* I've got my tablet with some help from you wonderful people. Who else needs a tablet?

My wife has been happy with her iPad, and likes it much better then the 2 Kindle Fires she's had.

Yeah, honestly after 2 iPads and 2 Android tablets if you're wanting a simple appliance that does its job an iPad really is the way to go if it's in budget. The 16 Gig is already about $400 though and it is pretty limiting, especially if you're storing comics.

On the Droid side they are all pretty level at a given price. Lenovo are pretty well built and have less of the extraneous features that tend to slow down Samsungs and other well known brands.

I've tried several as well and I would go iPad.

What do you want to do with it for classes?

PaladinTom wrote:

I've tried several as well and I would go iPad.

What do you want to do with it for classes?

Have the reading material available without a backpack.

Grenn wrote:
PaladinTom wrote:

I've tried several as well and I would go iPad.

What do you want to do with it for classes?

Have the reading material available without a backpack.

*edit* Is the size diagonal?

*edit edit* Quote isn't edit.

If all you really need it for is reading and comics you can do with just about any tablet out there of the size you want.

I'd just go and check out as many as you could physically in stores and see what works.

Could end up saving you some money vs throwing $400 at an iPad.

If you can wait another month, typically the next round of Nexus devices will be announced. Which would mean discounted versions of the previous models, too.

I'm very happy with my Pixel C even though some reviews are lukewarm. I've owned the Nexus 9, and the Nexus 10, and the Pixel C is definitely the best built, fastest, and nicest of the three. I mean, it's also the newest, but hey.

Some of the features in the new Android release also seem like what the Pixel C was originally designed for (like splitscreen apps). It's not cheap... definitely over the $300 range even if you buy it used. But the quality is great and I'm very happy with mine.

One caveat is the metal design of the Pixel devices mean certain parts get a bit hot to the touch.

Plus, now that I've gotten used to always getting the latest version of Android with Nexus devices, I really can't imagine alternatives.

If you don't mind being a generation or so behind, the Nexus 9 is still excellent in my opinion. And you can get one refurbed on Amazon for about ~$300.

Yeah, shelling out Apple money wasn't really on the table for me. I'm looking at a Lenovo tab2 A10. Seems to be a decent size for an affordable rate. But I think I will stop in a Best Buy just to see the sizes.

Grenn wrote:

Yeah, shelling out Apple money wasn't really on the table for me. I'm looking at a Lenovo tab2 A10. Seems to be a decent size for an affordable rate. But I think I will stop in a Best Buy just to see the sizes.

I use those at work and they are quite nice. Not the fastest, but a good screen and microSD for all those comics. However, it comes with a weird Lenovo launcher that you should immediately replace with Google Now or Nova Launcher.

Edit: Also, beware of Android and app versions. Even though the tablets have KitKat, I couldn't download the Microsoft Office apps. Don't know whose fault that is. Thankfully the tablet comes with the very capable WPS Office app.

Just throwing this out there for anyone else: If you want to go Apple, I HIGHLY recommend buying refurbished iPads from Apple. You can get larger storage at a lower price, plus they all have new screens, new batteries, and come with a one year warranty. You can get nice discounts right after new models are announced.

I wanted a cheap tablet for light browsing, electronic versions of board games, comics, and other relative basics, and picked up a Samsung Galaxy Tab A. It's an 8" tablet and, while it's not glitzy, it's functional. Don't like Samsung's stupid interface they lay over the top of Android, but it does everything I need it to. Seems to have decent battery life and has an SD card slot.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Don't like Samsung's stupid interface they lay over the top of Android

Yeah I'm just not buying any more android devices that don't run stock android. Nothing but bad experiences with customized versions.

Grenn, alternatively, look at the Surface Pro. Notebook and tablet together. Great for student work.

Robear wrote:

Grenn, alternatively, look at the Surface Pro. Notebook and tablet together. Great for student work.

I mean yeah but...

Grenn wrote:

I was hoping to keep the price below $300.

A baseline Surface Pro with the Core M instead of one of the i5/i7 processors is still $700.

And then if you decide you want the type cover you're out another $115 or so.

We do a fair amount of development work for both Android and the iOS devices. If you do go the Android route, definitely touch one and use it for a bit before purchasing. They vary really widely in quality and on the less performing models the touch lag can be an annoying experience especially over time.

I'd hold off until Google shows their new ones. Sometime next month.

garion333 wrote:

I'd hold off until Google shows their new ones. Sometime next month.

This is not a bad plan if you can deal with the wait. As a person who's been looking for something myself... the current crop of devices is a mess of less than great tradeoffs and flawed devices.

The most well reviewed Android tablet I can find is still the NVIDIA Shield, and that thing might as well be made of gold as rare as it seems to be right now.

I almost sprung for a Pixel C but persistent reports of WiFi troubles and the lack of an SD card slot kept me away.

Yeah, my issue is the best Android tablets are either years old at this point or are impossible to find for a good price.

That Lenovo looks cool, but my fear is that it would crap out after a year. How else are they getting the price down so far? Cheap parts, gotta be.

Samsung has an interesting "tablet" that's a Windows 10 PC with an OLED screen. It's around $800 and I'm thinking to get one simply for streaming PC games and Xbox One titles.

garion333 wrote:

That Lenovo looks cool, but my fear is that it would crap out after a year. How else are they getting the price down so far? Cheap parts, gotta be.

My wife's Lenovo is pretty solidly built. You're probably not getting Gorilla glass at the price, she has cracked the screen but that's pretty standard practice, but it feels solid in the hand. Unlike the no-name Vodafone I got because it was essentially free with a contract extension. And it's running well after a year.

Quite good front mounted speakers on that particular one too.

Thin_J wrote:

I almost sprung for a Pixel C but persistent reports of WiFi troubles and the lack of an SD card slot kept me away.

I've had mine about three months and it's never given me trouble. What are the wifi issues?

It does get hot when gaming. Both the Pixel Chromebook and Pixel C aren't lap-friendly.

Lenovo tab2 A10 purchased. Thanks for the advice, guys and gals.

Grenn wrote:

Lenovo tab2 A10 purchased. Thanks for the advice, guys and gals.

Install Google Now or Nova Launcher immediately.

PaladinTom wrote:
Grenn wrote:

Lenovo tab2 A10 purchased. Thanks for the advice, guys and gals.

Install Google Now or Nova Launcher immediately.

Done.

garion333 wrote:

Yeah, my issue is the best Android tablets are either years old at this point or are impossible to find for a good price.

I know that feeling, my tablet (Asus TF300) was a perfectly serviceable tablet when I bought it....however that was several years ago.
Since then it has gone so far past end of life it is essentially unusable.

Unfortunatly I haven't found anything I've been happy with as a replacement. My options seem to be Samsung's offering (with all the implications on price they bring) or.....well thats about it that's readily available in the stores here or online. (An Idevice isn't being considered and a surface is far above my price range - especially as we are replacing my wife's laptop with a tablet for her as well.)

I'm really happy with the Samsung TabPro S it's a windows 10 laptop/tablet that comes with a keyboard cover for $750. It's only 128GB but even after Office 2016 and a bunch of Indie Steam games I've got 40GB free. It's pricey but it has an amazing OLED screen. I do wish it had a micro SD card slot to store movies on

Anyone have any thoughts on the Amazon Fire Tablets? They're pretty cheap today and wondering how they are as far as quality goes.

iPad Air2 is $274 at Best Buy online today. Hard to beat that price (same price at Target & Walmart but those are instore deals only).

billt721 wrote:

Anyone have any thoughts on the Amazon Fire Tablets? They're pretty cheap today and wondering how they are as far as quality goes.

I didn't buy one because I wasn't sure if my apps would run on it. If you are ok living in their walled garden I think it would be ok.

Baron Of Hell wrote:
billt721 wrote:

Anyone have any thoughts on the Amazon Fire Tablets? They're pretty cheap today and wondering how they are as far as quality goes.

I didn't buy one because I wasn't sure if my apps would run on it. If you are ok living in their walled garden I think it would be ok.

Yeah, I bought one. The primary use for me is reading kindle-format books and watching stuff via Netflix or Amazon Prime. That said, it doesn't appear to be too difficult to get the Google Play store on it for an expanded selection of apps, so I'll probably do that as well.

It's replacing a 1st generation iPad that had basically become a kindle over the years as stuff stopped working on it, so I imagine basically anything will feel like a massive upgrade.

Baron Of Hell wrote:
billt721 wrote:

Anyone have any thoughts on the Amazon Fire Tablets? They're pretty cheap today and wondering how they are as far as quality goes.

I didn't buy one because I wasn't sure if my apps would run on it. If you are ok living in their walled garden I think it would be ok.

It's actually trivial to install the Google Play Store and services onto them, no rooting required. Having Alexa and Google Play, a decent resolution on the 8", expandable storage, and a plastic body that I don't have to care about given the price, it was kind of a no brainer for me to get one.

It is pretty weird to long press on the home "button", see the Google "G" logo pop up, and then get a voice response from Alexa.