Tablets, Tablets, Tablets

[Lebowski]

I've got a Ipad 2 and a Tegra Note 7 the Ipad is still great despite being years old now, apple are great at keeping there software up to date, as despite them being up to Ipad version 5. faster processors and better screen resolution haven't really troubled me as so far I've not found anything that i want that wont run on my aging ipad and ios7 runs great on it.

The Tegra note 7 was an impulse purchase i was looking at budget android tabs as my new TV has a screen sharing option, via dlna which my ipad doesn't support.

There where various deals about on the Samsung tab 3 but the reviews stated it runs like a dog it would seem. The Tegra note is amazingly fast currently, thrashing the 2013 nexus on performance and keeping up with Sony's top of the range tabs and the Galaxy Note 10.1 in bench tests. the snob in me almost didn't get one as its Advent Vega branded tablet in the UK (a family member has had an advent tab before and it was garbage) but its advent in badge alone and actually made by Nvidia.

It could be picked up for under ?100 before christmas its gone back up to ?130 now which is still cheap for such a fast bit of kit.

bench test results

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-tegra-note-7-evga-tablet-review,3668-8.html

and a Review

http://www.pocket-lint.com/review/125032-advent-vega-tegra-note-7-review

[egparadigm]

Thanks for all the replies, guys – some really useful info. Lebowski, that tablet looks very interesting! If I was after a 7" tablet I probably would pick one up.

I've now gone ahead and bought an iPad. ?369 from John Lewis in Bristol, inc. 3 year warranty, after they generously price matched Tescos. Link for more info: http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/ipad...direct-1779919

I was also tempted by the Nexus 10 for ?285, but chose battery life over storage space: http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/goog...pansys-1786456

[EvilBoris]

Thanks for all the info, Boris. Is it possible, then, to use mass storage to back up files? I mean, can you use USB sticks as well as connecting a phone? Didn't know this was any kind of option. Do you have to copy files to the iPad before you can use them?

I'd imagine so, I think the iPad will pick up photos from any attached mass storage device as long as the photos are within the DCIM folder.

You have to use the import dialogue to copy the files in order to do anything with them though.

[charlesr]

You can import films to the ipad as photos too if they are in the correct folder on the SD card (google?). Just need to rename them with 8chars and .mov Then browse them in the imported photos folder

[EvilBoris]

I didn't know that!

[charlesr]

http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57401068-285/secrets-of-the-ipad-camera-connection-kit/

It might be .m4v not .mov I can't remember.

[nonny]

I hadn't bought a tablet for this entire time after almost hitting the purchase button but here is my findings.

First off I bought a surface 2 RT but in some amazing mix up is got the Surface PRO 2 model. Long story short, great for me and even after gout took me to contact the online retailer they said they'd sold out of the RT and just to keep it. So my budget for a tablet increased dramatically in a few days.

So surface. Actually good, really good... But not perfect. What hurts it is app support but everything else is solid. Loved it but it had to go.

I then got a week playing on a Nexus 7 2013 version and whilst I loved its screen and size the OS just didn't gel with me. Partly because I've had an iphone for years so I'm used to iOS but even without that initial stumbling and re-learning I just don't like Android as much. It's good but it's missing something I cannot put my finger on.

So I bought a 64Gb IPad Air. All I will say is it's the best full size iPad out there. Really it has a lot going for it. I didn't think the screen was plasticky but I know what they're trying to explain. The screen is so big in such a small bevel edge the centre feels like it bends but I don't think it actually does?? So love the Air. That screen is great and even more the battery life is hands down amazing.

After a couple of weeks though. I had buyers remorse and I've eventually grabbed a 128Gb IPad Mini. Why? Well it's absolutely the Air in smaller size. Aside from a slightly weaker CPU which is negligible it's the Air in miniature. That for me is the best of both world. I can one hand this sucker and I prefer the 4:3 ratio for its versatility. Plus the battery life is still as amazing. It's the best apple device out there IMO.

For photos though. Get the Air.

As for movies in iPad. Get AirVideo HD app and never look back. It will allow you to download any video from shared folders on your PC or MAC over wifi and it transcodes the suckers in the process. It also streams and does so in such perfect fashion it's an absolute winner. My wife now uses her iPad to watch TV instead of switch in the TV on in the bedroom. Just because she's now used to this app.

[nonny]

Also you can get some HDD storage devices the have their own wifi for iOS. I think seagate do one and buffalo do another but there are more versions coming out. They range from 320Gb to 1TB.

[VR46]

Anyone have any experience of the cheapish 8" Windows tablets or a Surface Pro?

Deals like this are tempting

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/upgrage-from-xp-surface-pro-64gb-bundle-inc-touch-keyboard-10-microsoft-store-voucher-1874097

[gunrock]

David, I don't have a Surface Pro but I do have one of these (it's identical specification as the Surface PRO):

http://www.samsung.com/uk/consumer/pc-peripherals/tablet-pc/tablet-pc/XE700T1C-A05UK

It's a great machine and I've had it for about a year so can talk about t with some level of user ownership. The biggest let downs for me is the disk size. After Windows 8 is installed and recovery partitions full of Samsung ****ty software, that's 17gb left for you! I immediately bought a 256gb ssd and replaced it before I even booted it for the first time (nerve wracking) and also added a 64gb microsd. The other is that the memory is single channel which hamstrings the great processor and it's not user upgradeable. This is not a problem for day to day use, browsing etc., but for gaming it's a let down. As I only play old games it's absolutely fine, I have played and completed Half-Life 2 and Portal with absolutely little to no lag and it looked great (using in-built cpu's Intel HD4000 gpu). I have played Portal 2 and that works great as well.

The only other minor problems are Windows crappy handling of high resolutions, 1080p at 11.1 inches of screen is a bit hard to read and if you up your font sizes, apps like Flixster refuse to run! I'm no mac fan, but Apple have that problem licked (probably from years of being the print publishing darling - print is much higher resolution than even 4k TV). Battery life is about 6 hours doing all the usual browsing, youtubing etc, I was spoilt coming from a Lenovo with 9 hour battery life.

Otherwise it's great. Powerful enough to mostly replace my desktop, light enough to not need a separate other tablet. The Widnows 8 PDF reader is now really quite good and annotating with the pen works pretty well and reading PDFs for my Open university courses in portrait mode works really well. HD4000 gpu and VLC work really well with video content.

If you hate Windows 8 metro then you'll hate the machine, but despite a few annoyances, I have made my peace with it as the touchscreen is really good and works well with the interface.

I would get this over one of the cheaper Celeron or Atom based windows tablets as I think you need the i5 power to make Windows perform, anything less and you might as well have bought an armed based tablet like the Tegra Note.

[VR46]

Thanks for the impressions gunrock, that's quite a step up price wise though.

Your link doesn't work for some reason, same product at Misco

http://www.misco.co.uk/product/198945/Samsung-Slate-XE700T1C-A01-Tablet-PC-WiFi-Intel-i5-3317U-11-6inch-4GB-64GB-Windows-8-1-Year-Warranty

[gunrock]

I don't think you get me David, the Samsung I have is the exact same spec (based around the same Intel base design I believe) as the Surface Pro. The only differences are some aesthetics and physical keyboard design (and Samsung pen stuff employs Wacom digitiser I think), if you check out the benchmarks they're nigh on identical.

TL;DR buy the Surface Pro for that price if you want a Windows 8 tablet/convertible, it's a steal.

[charlesr]

I tried a Surface - no idea which one but top spec I was told.
It was amazing. So fast. The keyboard was great. Screen was great.
That's all I can contribute from 30 mins usage will a bit tipsy on a skiing holiday though.

[Asura]

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.

I dislike the Minis, simply because they're just that bit too small. If you open Wikipedia in Safari, I feel I need to zoom on the Mini, whereas I can just read the native size on the iPad 2/Air.

[Nu-Eclipse]

I dislike the Minis, simply because they're just that bit too small. If you open Wikipedia in Safari, I feel I need to zoom on the Mini, whereas I can just read the native size on the iPad 2/Air.

Can't say I've had that problem when accessing Wikipedia on my Mini via Safari, tbh.

But then, you really ought to be using a Wikipedia app like the official one or Wikipanion - if you have either installed the internet wiki page gives you the option to switch to the same page in the app.