Tablet Talk

[undercoverbrother]

I am on the hunt for a tablet for my wife. Most of her time on line is banking, email, news, FB, some hockey/tow volunteer work.


I would love to here thoughts/preferences on the different types of tablets on the market. Both the pros and cons the different products.


Often you see the iPad as the default for tablets but I have to believe there are alternatives to Apple, or maybe not.

I have no particular brand loyalty.

[Caged Great]

You definitely do not need an Ipad. I have a playbook and it works great for what I need. There really isn't much of a difference between most of the tablets on the market.

The main thing I would look at is how fast is the processor and how much memory it has. You can get tablets for as low as $50 depending where you shop, but they are slow/little memory.

EDIT: Just letting you know that I loathe Apple and Apple products and have never used anything of theirs, so I am ignorant of their good aspects.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Mostly for tablets for me it's about size and form factor. I really don't like the bigger tablets I much prefer the 7 inch. I'd start with an iPad mini and a Nexus 7. If you have an iPhone it would be a good idea to spend a little more and go with the iPad mini since all your apps will stay with you and if you want to stay in that ecosystem it makes sense.

If you don't care about that I'd go with the Nexus 7. I haven't played with this years model but I'm hearing rave reviews about the screen quality.

Of course a new iPad mini will be released soon so it all depends on when you buy or what you care about.

[MRCboicgy]

I borrowed my friend's new Nexus 7(Gen2) for a recent trip I took, and I'm seriously considering getting one. Apparently they have released a few updates that are taking care of some of the touch issues. I loved the size, the screen and the speed, plus he got an $9 case off Amazon that works great. I think at $239 or whatever they go for, that it's a great deal.

[photon]

I've got an iPad mini, iPad, and a Nexus 7.

For what you are describing any would probably work well, the Nexus 7 is smaller an more portable which I like when I travel, but for home use I prefer the one with a bigger screen, more information is visible.

The other significant difference between the Nexus 7 and the iPads is standby battery time. I find the Nexus 7 has to be charged very often even if it isn't being used, whereas both iPads seem to go forever between charges. Part of that I'm sure is the Nexus 7's battery is physically smaller, the Nexus 10 would I'm sure have a longer standby time, but the iPad mini also lasts a lot longer on standby than my Nexus 7. This may be different with the newest Nexus 7 model.

And that's a pretty significant thing IMO, having to plan ahead or keep track of charge on a device is annoying to me.

But I don't think you could go wrong with either a Nexus tablet or an iPad, have her go into a store to try out the smaller and bigger to figure out what size works better.

[keratosis]

Still using my Galaxy tab 10.2.
Does the job for me. Internet, email and movies in bed

[RedMileDJ]

My cousin is looking for suggestions for a 7 inch (under 10 inch) tablet for her 6 year old daughter. She wants her to be able to play games, read and also use NetFlix on it.

I have no idea what to suggest...since I don't use any of my tablets for these reasons.

Can anyone suggest something for her kid? I keep on coming back to the Nexus 7 (2013), only because of the price point and beautiful screen. She said she was looking at the Kobo Arc 7...but that just doesn't seem to be a wise choice for games and NetFlix.

[Anduril]

Honestly anything would work for a 6 year old IMO. If she wants to save a bit, there's the Asus MeMo pad for $160 and Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 at $200. Neither are overly compelling for any reason as they'll handle games and Netflix perfectly fine. Even the 1st Gen Nexus 7 wouldn't be a bad idea either on the cheap.

The MeMo has the advantage of choices in color (lol?) and the Tab 3 has brand power. Really the only ones I can suggest.

The Lenovo/HP models that are even cheaper, I have no idea how they would handle but that might be too much of a budget cut. The Acer models aren't bad... They also aren't good.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Futurshop actually has the Kobo Arc (32GB) on sale for 129 right now, almost half off. Usually I'd lean towards the Nexus 7, rather easily actually... but for a 6 year old and only spending 130 I might go with this Kobo just in this instance.

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/produ.../10173253.aspx

[Jbo]

Probably overkill for what you need, but I love my iPad air. Feels great in the hands, is very light and a charge last forever. It also insanely fast and has the apple App Store.

Price is high though.

[RedMileDJ]

Originally Posted by Anduril

Honestly anything would work for a 6 year old IMO. If she wants to save a bit, there's the Asus MeMo pad for $160 and Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 at $200. Neither are overly compelling for any reason as they'll handle games and Netflix perfectly fine. Even the 1st Gen Nexus 7 wouldn't be a bad idea either on the cheap.

The MeMo has the advantage of choices in color (lol?) and the Tab 3 has brand power. Really the only ones I can suggest.

The Lenovo/HP models that are even cheaper, I have no idea how they would handle but that might be too much of a budget cut. The Acer models aren't bad... They also aren't good.

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Futurshop actually has the Kobo Arc (32GB) on sale for 129 right now, almost half off. Usually I'd lean towards the Nexus 7, rather easily actually... but for a 6 year old and only spending 130 I might go with this Kobo just in this instance.

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/produ.../10173253.aspx

Originally Posted by J-bo09

Probably overkill for what you need, but I love my iPad air. Feels great in the hands, is very light and a charge last forever. It also insanely fast and has the apple App Store.

Price is high though.

Thanks guys. I think she's leaning towards the Kobo Arc 7. I've forwarded her your suggestions and info.

Much appreciated!

[photon]

One other factor might be app availability, we have both Android tablets and iPads and once you get past the really popular stuff, app availability trails off for Android, so if things like having the same apps as friends to play with them, or educational apps that the school recommends are a factor then the iPad mini might be better. But compared to $130 for the Arc that's a lot extra to pay for that.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Normally I would recommend checking out one of the Windows 8 tablets, but I've been having nothing but problems with mine since the 8.1 update so I'd stay away from them at least for the time being

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by Anduril

Honestly anything would work for a 6 year old IMO. If she wants to save a bit, there's the Asus MeMo pad for $160 and Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 at $200. Neither are overly compelling for any reason as they'll handle games and Netflix perfectly fine. Even the 1st Gen Nexus 7 wouldn't be a bad idea either on the cheap.

The MeMo has the advantage of choices in color (lol?) and the Tab 3 has brand power. Really the only ones I can suggest.

The Lenovo/HP models that are even cheaper, I have no idea how they would handle but that might be too much of a budget cut. The Acer models aren't bad... They also aren't good.

That seems to always be a common sense answer, but as a parent of a 5 and 7 year old, I would guess that 90% of 6 year old's push their tablets a lot harder than 90% of adults, seeing as games are the most resource intensive apps out there. You're kid will get frustrated if they can't play the latest games smoothly. Now, whether you want to spend a bunch of money on a tablet for a 6 year old is another question, especially since the odds of it meeting a pre-mature death are pretty high.

[photon]

Get a robust case like an Otterbox and that helps, my kid's iPad mini has seen some pretty significant abuse and it's still perfect.

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by photon

Get a robust case like an Otterbox and that helps, my kid's iPad mini has seen some pretty significant abuse and it's still perfect.

Yeah, I always feel like it is just a matter of time before my kids break their's. But their Kindle fire's have been going on a year and a half with no significant damage. Meanwhile, I believe their mom has smashed 2 iPhones and an iPad during that same time frame!

[photon]

Well breaking it IS a good way to have an excuse to get a new one!

[rubecube]

Ended up getting a Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition for Christmas and it is absolutely gorgeous. It's pricey but I'm excited to use it for school and whatnot.