Tablets, Tablets, Tablets

[egparadigm]

Hi,

I am looking to buy a tablet, rightly or wrongly, mainly for reading and light social media use. It would also come in useful in my job so I can consult documents on the move. I don't anticipate using many apps – camera apps are of interest to me, but since the cameras on tablets are not up to mobile phone standards, it's a bit of a non-issue.

I ideally want to get a tablet close to 10" rather than 7", for comfort of reading. The reason I'm buying a tablet and not an e-reader is that I am a photographer and this will be what I use it to look at a lot (black and white not so good!) I also would like one with solid battery life of 9/10 hours minimum screen time (or perhaps better put as at iPad equivalent).

In the higher reaches of tablet-dom I have identified:

iPad Air – best support for journals/newspapers and app diversity, good battery life, limited storage, v. expensive.
Nexus 10 – about to be replaced if news reports accurate, battery life OK, Android (which is v. good IMO), limited storage, less expensive.
Kindle 8.9 HDX – Amazing battery life, limited storage, cheaper than an iPad, possibly annoying OS.
Samsung Note 10.1 – great specs, higher price, annoying TouchWhiz bollocks.

What I'm wondering is: are there cheaper tablets, considering the use I intend? I'm not sure I need hefty specs for this use? I've tried to research this, but there are so many flipping tablets it's hard to get your head around sites like tabletRocket... I realise I could buy, say, an iPad 2, but for a new one it's not actually much of a saving over an Air version.

Also, is limited storage space an issue on tablets? The lower ends all start with 16GB and no option for SD card storage. I am not really expecting to watch lots of films on my tablet. Firstly because I am not commuting much and secondly because I prefer reading!

Has anyone tried Kindle for extended use – what do you make of their highly modified Android OS? And lack of Google Play Access?

I really am not sure how I will adapt to use of a tablet – it's really hard to know without trying one and I haven't access outside of crap, small stores like Currys. I wonder if the better screen technologies of the more expensive tablets may strain eyes less with extended use – this is probably superstitious nonsense on my part.

Many thanks!

[charlesr]

I'd get an Android tablet purely because of SwiftKey (a replacement keyboard app). It makes the iPad seem unsuable and I will always reach for the Nexus 7 if I'm intending to type anything more than a few words.

The New version of iOS is loads better than the last one overall, fixing many of my annoyances with iOS.
I have an iPad mini. It's a slightly different shape from the Nexus 7.
If you want to hold with one hand, the Nexus 7 is better (narrower).
The mini has a better screen shape for browsing the web.

I have an Android phone which probably also sways me because of the account links.

If you want a really cheap android tablet, look on www.dx.com (check the reviews before purchase - don't buy anything that doesn't have a review).

[EvilBoris]

If you want it for photos then either a retina equipped iPad or the Nexus 10 are your best bets, purely because the photos display much more detail.

I've just got an Air for work and the thinness and weight are a huge improvement making it light enough to comfortably hold one handed

[Brad]

The air is lovely but the screen feels cheap and plasticy I thought.

[egparadigm]

Thanks for your thoughts! Any responses to my questions in the OP, especially storage space? I also am not expecting to load music on there, which some fill their drives with. On my mobile I'm constantly running out of space in internal storage – which I finally worked out was junk log files at 1MB a piece (like a GB's worth!)

I use Swiftkey on my phone and it is amazing that the Apple keyboard doesn't even have word suggestions from what I've seen! I am beginning to lean towards an iPad, mainly because it is the lead platform for publications and other apps. Also, there's currently a deal to be had for ?369 at Tescos before Sunday. I'm sort of waiting to see if the Nexus 10 2 is announced as CES, otherwise I may bore of waiting for info.

[Brad]

If I could choose a tablet just for my own personal use I'd have the new (2014 edition) Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 probably. I like the multi-window features and the s-pen makes it much more useful. I already use a Note 2 as my phone. I've got an iPad 2 and that's pretty nice I suppose but I love the Note devices. Very high res on the new version too - 2,560 x 1,600

[CMcK]

The iPad Air is a good bet for several reasons. It's very fast, loads of optimised apps,colour calibrated screen, good battery life and free iWork and iLife apps.
Being based around the new 64 bit ARMv7 architecture is a real bonus for it being a long term ownership prospect. And Apple does tend to be more generous with major OS updates so you could expect at least three years support potentially up to iOS 10 (X?)

Storage wise I have a 64GB tablet and don't struggle for space. Even with loads of 0.5GB magazines.

My favourite thing about the iPad, even more than the calibrated screen, is that it naturally uses portrait orientation. Android tablets always seem to landscape oriented which is not as natural for reading IMHO.

[k0pp0]

My Dad brought a Samsung Galaxy 8 over xmas.. I'm seriously impressed with it - lovely screen, and nice and snappy with all the google store goodness. I've got an iPad, but it feels like a weighty tome compared to the 8.

I thought the iPad Air's screen looked.. odd? Might have had a protector on it in the store but I was a little underwhelmed.

[Brad]

I thought the iPad Air's screen looked.. odd? Might have had a protector on it in the store but I was a little underwhelmed.

It is odd. Feels like a DS screen in use in that you can feel it moving. Calibration and all other things aside the screens on previous iPads feel better in use and feel higher quality.

I agree with CMcK about the natural portrait orientation though. I like the iPad format over everything else.

[ItsThere]

iPad Mini with Retina screen has all the advantages of the internals of the Air but with a proper screen and a smaller (and better IMO) form factor.

[wakka]

Portrait usage is the iPad's killer app for me.

[Baseley09]

Honestly get an iPad, there is a serious lack of Android tablet specific apps - the phone apps don't look too bad on smaller models, but really, get iPad.

[VR46]

Son has an iPad Mini and as much as I hate Apple and iTunes etc, can't knock the build/screen quality etc. He only uses it for Youtube and web browsing 99% of the time. The Mini was so much lighter than the full sized iPad at this time last year hence us going for that one.
The Galaxy 8" tablet does look nice when seen it on demo in Tesco etc, not sure how great the resolution is though.

Wife was impressed with the Galaxy Tab 3 7" for ?79.99 at Xmas, luckily the fairer sex aren't too fussed about screen resolution, it's something by 600 pixels, ouch, I've got more pixels on my phone lol.

[Brad]

I never cared about the res of the iPad 2 until I wanted to read a PDF on there. Eugh!

[egparadigm]

Thanks again. I do wonder about screen resolution/pixel density. As a photographer I rarely use more than 96ppi – but I guess certain apps are optimised for the crazy ppi on tablets!?

Had a read around the cheap Air screen 'issue'. Going to go and have another look at one in a shop later.

The iPad Air is a good bet for several reasons. It's very fast, loads of optimised apps,colour calibrated screen...

What do you mean when you say the screen is calibrated? Monitors need to be calibrated every few weeks in order to maintain colour consistency.

Storage wise I have a 64GB tablet and don't struggle for space. Even with loads of 0.5GB magazines.

I however will only have 16GB. One thing I might put on there are the Retro Gamer PDFs – I've not managed to make much use of them on a computer. They're about 2.5GB per disc.

My favourite thing about the iPad, even more than the calibrated screen, is that it naturally uses portrait orientation. Android tablets always seem to landscape oriented which is not as natural for reading IMHO.

How is it that Android doesn't accommodate this? Is it to do with proper development of apps, etc, optimising for that orientation. The British Journal of Photography has an interesting app which requires you to rotate for best fit of images.