Tablets: What Should I Look For? (Help Please)

[bcrdukes]

Hello RS,

To keep a long story short, I was laughed at and ridiculed by a 57 year old business man on a recent business flight: He scoffed at me for flopping my out-of-control bulky copy of The Globe And Mail while he sported the latest iPad reading the same exact thing, but digital.

This lead me to think: Am I out of touch? Am I falling behind? Am I being green? (j/k fuck that, I don't give a shit.)

He suggested I get a tablet instead which makes for reading the paper a lot more easier than heaving a huge newspaper on-board a flight. I travel a lot for work and personal reasons so I need to ask: Which tablet should I get?

As you can see, I have one primary motive and purpose: To read the paper (online editions.) The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Globe and Mail - you name it. Each paper has their own app, but PressDisplay also has a subscription based service that offers somewhat of an "all you can read" service which includes the papers I listed prior.

1. The iPad is expensive. I won't lie - it's more than what I want to spend and I don't want to get roped into the whole "Apple" non-sense. This will not be an option.

2. Microsoft and Android tablets - I'm open to suggestions.

Some of my criteria:

A. Lightweight and portable - I travel a lot so I don't want something heavy and bulky
B. Good size for reading. I don't need a honkin' 14" tablet (do they even exist?)
C. Would prefer to have a brand/make/model with good reviews and support/warranty with good product lifecycle (or am I out to lunch?)
D. Ideally, I want to spend between $150 - $250 (pre-tax/shipping etc.)

Thank you in advance!

[Hehe]

Second-hand iPad Air or wait when they go on sale.

I have seen them in the 200s on CL.

Why iPad Air?
iPad gives you a relatively more consistent user experience. Sure you could go with Nexus or other Android tablets, but as both an iOS and Android user myself (I have iPhone, Nexus 5, iPad Air and Nexus 7), I think I prefer Android on phone, and iOS for tablet.

Android is good for configuring everything to suit the user. But I find that very useful for phones since its size requires that. Not so much on 10" tablet though.

[dyan]

Imo.. Android just turns to shit after a few years.. Starts to lag so bad. You pay for what you get.

I have a nexus 7 and the lag is so bad, while on the other hand my first gen ipad is still holding up.

[twitchyzero]

^ f2fs file system will rejuvenate it if you're technically inclined.

I'm also curious what makes a tablet screen suitable for reading. Anything would decent viewing angle and great brightness range with dim/night mode seems to fit the bill. Contrast, pixel count, color reproduction all seems moot in this regard unless you'r talking about the $50 Chinese tabs.

[bcrdukes]

^
Ditto.

I'm hoping someone can chime in from either personal experience and/or reviews they know of in which a particular tablet is suitable for reading. It'd be nice to have something like a Kindle, but it's eBooks only and (I think?) chained down to Amazon only.

[Gucci Mane]

just keep reading the paper.


FUCK THE HATERS.



in all honesty though, hehe is right. you wont find a more polished experience for a tablet then the ipad. theres a reason everyone has one and its not because they're "sheeple".

[asian_XL]

yeah, fuck the haters, I read newspaper every morning. My iPAD stays in the toilet and will always.

[GLOW]

what a sad sad day when an old man laughs and teaches dukes how to be hipster...

and ya, i still read the newspaper...b/c it's not mainstream


+1 with used ipad if cost is an issue for you. older ones seem more reasonably priced.

your price range seems to point to samsung tablets like a tab 4 or tab A 9"?
people complain they're junk etc but for that price they seem to do the job for me. slight lag if you're casting to a TV though other than that...i got my family a 10" tab 4 last xmas and it seems good, kind of bulky/heavy though so maybe 8" is a good size

[Alby]

i suggest you walk into an electronic store/dept and check out the demos they have displayed so you can play around with them. then base your decision off that.

[Lomac]

Originally Posted by Alby

i suggest you walk into an electronic store/dept and check out the demos they have displayed so you can play around with them. then base your decision off that.

This.

I still use an e-reader for when I want to do a bout of serious reading. The e-ink can't be beat when it comes to ease on the eyes for a good hour or two of staring at a screen.

As a proper business solution, a Surface would be your best option. However, it's a bit bigger and heavier than most others out there, and even the newest base 3 model is outside your price range.

My mom bought a Tab 4 for her four month trip through the South of Europe, mainly because she didn't want to haul a laptop around and it was cheap enough that if it got lost or broke, it didn't matter. It's a decent machine, but I found that it seems to lag just ever so slightly... even after I optimized it. The Tab A is the newest Samsung model out in Canada and, for a base model, it seems to do the trick quite well.

However, and as much as I don't like admitting it, the iPad is still probably the best overall solution for a tablet. While the Air 2 doesn't have the best screen or fastest chips, it has that premium feel and a better app solution than Android. The Mini 2 and Air 1 are still sold at some stores and often go on sale for relatively cheap. The Tab S and Tab Pro may have the best screens on the market (personal opinion, at least), but the Retina screens do still give them a run for their money and make reading much easier.

[bcrdukes]

Problem solved: Going to use my Blackberry Playbook that I forgot about.

/thread

[Razor Ramon HG]

Unexpected end of thread

[Gucci Mane]

playbook is such a horrible tablet. lol. so glad i unloaded mine while it was still worth something.

[bcrdukes]

I just tried it out and downloaded the Globe And Mail app.

It works. It does the job. And did I mention that it works? I stopped by Best Buy to take a look at some of the Samsung tablets and iPads and felt that my head was going to explode. I still use a Nokia 8390, okay?

Sorry for the unexpected and anti-climatic ending. I seriously forgot I even had the thing. It saves me agony of buying something I may likely regret.

[TOS'd]

Trolled.

[Spoon]

Or you can open a TD account and get it for free. Switch and Get a Free Tablet | Chequing Accounts | TD Canada Trust

[GLOW]

hey don't knock the playbook. still use mine daily. sturdy as hell. the kids have dropped it more than once and still good. downside is zero apps but you seem to have the app you want so bonus. if could only run android apps more smoothly then it would last even longer. i'm thinking maybe a tab a with a stylus perhaps near the end of this year. currently just used as a browser now that the youtube app seems to be broken.

[bcrdukes]

+1

The Playbook has yet to fail me.

I'm not a huge app user on any device and so far, all I've used it for is for PDFs/presentations, some very light browsing/IM, and now reading the paper.

[Mr.HappySilp]

Get the Ipad Air either on CL, or you can even buy mine =D

Anyways I used both Ipads and a Samsung note 8. After a while just seems the NOte8 lags here and there so I sold it.

Got my Ipad Air when it first came out (roughly 3 years ago I think) still runs very smooth. Size is good but for me I rather use the ipad mini2 since is smaller and easier to carry around. Just came back from China and I got an ipad mini2 for my gf and I have to say it is a lot easier to carry around than my ipad air.

Is your price range you will only be able to get a shitty Android tablets which will lag or the screen will be really bad. Trust me on this. Co worker got some cheap ass Asus tablet and when opening the same games, apps my ipad air beats it every single time. Even playing clash of clans I notice that his tablet lags and it is not an intense graphic game.

[bcrdukes]

Update:

So I ended up borrowing a friend's iPad (1st Generation) and this thing is pretty heavy. Upon her request, she suggested that I do not update the software on the device so now I can't download The Globe and Mail, New York Times, and LA Times. Good grief.

As for the Playbook - it's doing the job, but the reflection is insane. That and there is no native app for The LA Times, only The Globe and Mail. Will give it a few more days before I decide on what the next move is but I'm feeling that a physical paper is still best.

[Gucci Mane]

Originally Posted by bcrdukes

Update:

So I ended up borrowing a friend's iPad (1st Generation) and this thing is pretty heavy. Upon her request, she suggested that I do not update the software on the device so now I can't download The Globe and Mail, New York Times, and LA Times. Good grief.

As for the Playbook - it's doing the job, but the reflection is insane. That and there is no native app for The LA Times, only The Globe and Mail. Will give it a few more days before I decide on what the next move is but I'm feeling that a physical paper is still best.

what kind credit card do you use? i used my visa avion points to buy my ipad mini 2. its the same as as the ipad 3 minus fingerprint sensor. perfect size for a tablet IMO.

[bcrdukes]

Please, I just cash and Bitcoins only!

Just kidding.

I really don't want to go the iPad route but if/when push comes to shove, I may have to oblige. I'm going to see if any friends can loan me an iPad Mini for a day or two and see how things go.

[GLOW]

Originally Posted by bcrdukes

Update:

So I ended up borrowing a friend's iPad (1st Generation) and this thing is pretty heavy. Upon her request, she suggested that I do not update the software on the device so now I can't download The Globe and Mail, New York Times, and LA Times. Good grief.

As for the Playbook - it's doing the job, but the reflection is insane. That and there is no native app for The LA Times, only The Globe and Mail. Will give it a few more days before I decide on what the next move is but I'm feeling that a physical paper is still best.

if reflection is an issue for your PB, try a matte glossy screen protector. IMO has less glare and the colours of the screen look better to me. probably could get one for like $4 or less online at like DX or monoprice.

so since PB isn't cool and totally retro...are you being uber hipster by going back to it?

regarding ipad weight, that's why i suggested the 8" tablet in terms of weight without sacrificing too much on screen size.

[bcrdukes]

Originally Posted by GLOW

if reflection is an issue for your PB, try a matte glossy screen protector. IMO has less glare and the colours of the screen look better to me. probably could get one for like $4 or less online at like DX or monoprice.

so since PB isn't cool and totally retro...are you being uber hipster by going back to it?

regarding ipad weight, that's why i suggested the 8" tablet in terms of weight without sacrificing too much on screen size.

I'll try the matte screen protector first on the Blackberry Playbook. I'll probably get laughed at on my next flight by a 74 year old grandma.

Lenovo has this: Lenovo TAB S8 Tablet | Wideview 8" Android Entertainment | Lenovo CA

8" tablet on Android though. Worth looking into or pass?

[herman]

Nexus 7 - cheap(ish), does the job, good compromise between portability and screen size, and no lag to report.

That said, I like the tactile feel of a newspapers / magazines. Go old school and keep print alive.