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I need a tablet. Suggestions?

Sensamic

Sensamic

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Mar 26, 2010
3,145
779
So last week I returned my fourth (yes, fourth, you read that right) Nexus 7. So many problems. All four units had the multitouch issue (by now I just assume all units have it), some dust under the screen (terrible quality control by Asus), others bad hardware buttons, etc.

I prefer Android much more than iOS, but at this point Im even considering the iPad Mini 2, but this one has its problems too: bad color gamut, 64bit chip consumes a lot of RAM, etc. The biggest selling point for me on the Mini is gaming. I do watch a LOT of video, so the 4:3 aspect ratio wont be great.

So what other alternatives do I have? I can't wait much longer.
 
I often wonder if it's the tablet/phone or the user. I can understand 1 maybe 2 but after that I'm willing to bet you're either overly anal about things or you just shouldn't be using technology.
 
I did the opposite - I returned 2 iPad Minis with Retina display and keeping my Nexus 7 2013.

The Nexus 7 I got is 'almost' perfect out of the box - no touch issues nor dust under the screen. My only complains are the slight uneven lighting at the top of the screen noticeable when the screen is displaying something white at the top, and hiss in the speakers at low volumes.

However the problems I have with the iPad Mini seemed greater and more unacceptable in comparison. Firstly it was the washed out display. I tried to overlook the fact, however the colours looked so different when viewed next to the iPhone 5. Photos also looked pale on the mini display.

The other issue that made me return the iPad was the weak wifi as compared to the Nexus 7. My iPhone 5 always have issues getting a signal from my room, however my MacBook Air and Nexus 7 have no issues at all. Unfortunately the iPad Mini also have the same problems as my iPhone 5, which makes it almost unusable in my room. It is not a manufacturing issue as I have tested with 2 iPad Minis and both of them have the washed out displays and weak wifi (despite having MIMO technology as Apple claims).

I would have loved the iPad Mini to work out because I really appreciate the larger screen, especially for viewing PDFs. Thankfully most of the books I read are from Kindle or in the epub format, so they work perfectly fine on the Nexus 7. After using the Nexus 7, I also appreciate the openness of the Android OS more as it is so much easier to share data between applications. And you get true stereo sound when viewing videos in the landscape mode, which is absolutely delightful compared to the iPad where sound only comes out from one end of the device.

That being said, if Apple improves their display next year, upgrade the RAM to 2GB minimum, and incorporate TouchID, I will definitely consider switching back as my tablet of choice. For now I will stick with my Nexus 7 until Google releases a Nexus 8 in the 4:3 form factor, or Apple releases improved iPad Mini, whichever comes first :)
 
I recently picked up a Dell Venue 8 Pro and it's awesome. I also went through 3 Nexus 7s before and needless to say I'm never buying an Asus product again.
 
Sensamic said:
So last week I returned my fourth (yes, fourth, you read that right) Nexus 7. So many problems. All four units had the multitouch issue (by now I just assume all units have it), some dust under the screen (terrible quality control by Asus), others bad hardware buttons, etc.

I prefer Android much more than iOS, but at this point Im even considering the iPad Mini 2, but this one has its problems too: bad color gamut, 64bit chip consumes a lot of RAM, etc. The biggest selling point for me on the Mini is gaming. I do watch a LOT of video, so the 4:3 aspect ratio wont be great.

So what other alternatives do I have? I can't wait much longer.
Click to expand...

There are some good options for a tablet that's mainly used for Media Consumption.

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Surface-Refurbished/productID.275706600 If you'd like a 10"
http://www.dell.com/us/p/dell-venue-8-pro/pd for an 8"
http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/galaxy-tab/SM-T3100ZWYXAR If you like Android
 
Sensamic said:
So last week I returned my fourth (yes, fourth, you read that right) Nexus 7. So many problems. All four units had the multitouch issue (by now I just assume all units have it), some dust under the screen (terrible quality control by Asus), others bad hardware buttons, etc.

I prefer Android much more than iOS, but at this point Im even considering the iPad Mini 2, but this one has its problems too: bad color gamut, 64bit chip consumes a lot of RAM, etc. The biggest selling point for me on the Mini is gaming. I do watch a LOT of video, so the 4:3 aspect ratio wont be great.

So what other alternatives do I have? I can't wait much longer.
Click to expand...

Have you tried the touch firmware fix on xda. It fixed the issues on mine completely.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2428133

If you are completely soured by the nexus 7 theres always the soon to be release nexus 10.
 
Sensamic said:
So last week I returned my fourth (yes, fourth, you read that right) Nexus 7. So many problems. All four units had the multitouch issue (by now I just assume all units have it), some dust under the screen (terrible quality control by Asus), others bad hardware buttons, etc.

I prefer Android much more than iOS, but at this point Im even considering the iPad Mini 2, but this one has its problems too: bad color gamut, 64bit chip consumes a lot of RAM, etc. The biggest selling point for me on the Mini is gaming. I do watch a LOT of video, so the 4:3 aspect ratio wont be great.

So what other alternatives do I have? I can't wait much longer.
Click to expand...

How about a LG G Pad 8.3?

Pros:
- 8.3" display at 1080p
- expandable memory
- Snapdragon 600
- good materials

Cons: (at least as I see them)
- LG skin
- uncertain updates
- only 16GB onboard storage

I personally would love this size for the Nexus. I didn't consider it because 1) I already had a Nexus 7 outside of my return window, and 2) Really not a fan of big bloated OEM skins like those from Samsung and LG. Only skin I don't mind is Sense 5.X.
 
Been using a friend's iPad for a couple of days and it's great for games, but everything else is notoriously worse than android.

Ios has some great games, but I find apps worse (IMDB, Tapatalk, YouTube, Gmail, Dropbox, Pulse, etc).

The iPad is really uncomfortable to hold, and battery life is not as great as I remembered.

So I have to choose between a great tablet for games but terrible for everything else (gave up trying to write on it after two times... it's Swype or nothing) or an android tablet, which is great for everything except games (mainly because there are not so many quality titles and no iTunes backup to save progress).

Watching videos on the iPad is terrible. Video players apps are not as good as MxPlayer. VLC shows all your files mixed. There's no folders or different types of views (like list view). Oplayer doesn't play AC3 audio because of copyright issues. The letterbox bars are annoying.

So many stupid issues. There's even no good way to download YouTube videos for offline playback. On android is so simple.
 
linux2001 said:
The other issue that made me return the iPad was the weak wifi as compared to the Nexus 7. My iPhone 5 always have issues getting a signal from my room, however my MacBook Air and Nexus 7 have no issues at all. Unfortunately the iPad Mini also have the same problems as my iPhone 5, which makes it almost unusable in my room. It is not a manufacturing issue as I have tested with 2 iPad Minis and both of them have the washed out displays and weak wifi (despite having MIMO technology as Apple claims).
Click to expand...

You're right. My Nexus 7.2 also has significantly more sensitive Wi-Fi than my iPhone 5 / iPads.

----------
Sensamic said:
Watching videos on the iPad is terrible. Video players apps are not as good as MxPlayer. VLC shows all your files mixed. There's no folders or different types of views (like list view). Oplayer doesn't play AC3 audio because of copyright issues. The letterbox bars are annoying.
Click to expand...

Use nPlayer. It supports folders and AC3.

(Also see my posts in the iPad Apps forum here, where I regualrly post multimedia-specific articles.)
 
Since you mentioned that you preferred Android over iOS, by far (by my standards and by others) the best Android tablet is the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition. I'm not sure how you fell about Touch-Wiz, but overall the note 10.1 2014 is amazing. For starters what you would find on the Galaxy Note III is what you would find on the 10.1 with the exception of screen size and cell service. Internally the Note 10.1 comes with a screen resolution of 2880x1800 with 226PPi, a Quad-Core 1.9 GHz CPU (the 4G LTE version comes with the Snapdragon 800 Quad-Core 2.3 GHz), 3GB of RAM, 8MP back camera capable of full HD video recording, 2MP camera on the front. The Note 10.1 and the iPad (all versions) have the highest battery capacity to date. the iPad is powered by an 11,560 mAh while the Note 10.1 has an 8,220 mAh battery. You also mentioned that you love watching videos. the amazing 2880x1800 allows you to watch videos in amazing crisp quality even if the video is 1920x1080. if your a fan of the Galaxy Note III, then this is the product for you. Everything found on the Note III including the S-pen can be found on the Note 10.1 2014. I have not tested games, even though i have the 32GB model. I have casual games such as fruit ninja, candy crush and clash of clans. Games such as Modern Combat 5, Asphalt 8...etc i'm sure look amazing but i wouldn't now. Now Don't get me wrong the iPad Air is also a great product with the same internals as the iPhone 5S, but as far as productivity and functionality it fails. The iPad Air is too much similar to the iPhone 5S, while the Note 10.1 2014 has some differences with the Note III counterpart. Games on the iPad I will say are better as the App store is in general better then the google play store. Game developers prefer Apple's codes then Android. The only thing I will say that Apple's iPad Air has over all tablets is iCloud. While many will look down on iCloud, I do not have to waste time putting my information on a new device when I can simply sign into iCloud and then all my info is back. All purchased made on iTunes are stored on the cloud, so i can stream my songs, movies, TV shows without even downloading them on my device. I have the 16GB iPad 3rd Generation and I have no music downloaded, no Movies or even TV shows. I can simply go to the movies app, find any movie that i have purchased and press play without even downloading it.
 
hovscorpion12 said:
Since you mentioned that you preferred Android over iOS, by far (by my standards and by others) the best Android tablet is the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition. I'm not sure how you fell about Touch-Wiz, but overall the note 10.1 2014 is amazing. For starters what you would find on the Galaxy Note III is what you would find on the 10.1 with the exception of screen size and cell service. Internally the Note 10.1 comes with a screen resolution of 2880x1800 with 226PPi, a Quad-Core 1.9 GHz CPU (the 4G LTE version comes with the Snapdragon 800 Quad-Core 2.3 GHz), 3GB of RAM, 8MP back camera capable of full HD video recording, 2MP camera on the front. The Note 10.1 and the iPad (all versions) have the highest battery capacity to date. the iPad is powered by an 11,560 mAh while the Note 10.1 has an 8,220 mAh battery. You also mentioned that you love watching videos. the amazing 2880x1800 allows you to watch videos in amazing crisp quality even if the video is 1920x1080. if your a fan of the Galaxy Note III, then this is the product for you. Everything found on the Note III including the S-pen can be found on the Note 10.1 2014. I have not tested games, even though i have the 32GB model. I have casual games such as fruit ninja, candy crush and clash of clans. Games such as Modern Combat 5, Asphalt 8...etc i'm sure look amazing but i wouldn't now. Now Don't get me wrong the iPad Air is also a great product with the same internals as the iPhone 5S, but as far as productivity and functionality it fails. The iPad Air is too much similar to the iPhone 5S, while the Note 10.1 2014 has some differences with the Note III counterpart. Games on the iPad I will say are better as the App store is in general better then the google play store. Game developers prefer Apple's codes then Android. The only thing I will say that Apple's iPad Air has over all tablets is iCloud. While many will look down on iCloud, I do not have to waste time putting my information on a new device when I can simply sign into iCloud and then all my info is back. All purchased made on iTunes are stored on the cloud, so i can stream my songs, movies, TV shows without even downloading them on my device. I have the 16GB iPad 3rd Generation and I have no music downloaded, no Movies or even TV shows. I can simply go to the movies app, find any movie that i have purchased and press play without even downloading it.
Click to expand...

Just a small correction--the Note 10.1 2014 display resolution is actually 2560x1600. Still no slouch, just wanted to be clear.

I had a Note 10.1 (2014) for nearly a month and will agree that it's a very good tablet--Samsung's best to date, but it still suffers from many of the same problems that plague other Samsung devices. To be brief, my biggest gripes where the hardware/capacitive buttons (make holding and using the tab in portrait mode unpleasant), battery life was just OK, and TouchWiz.

TouchWiz is still the same ole TouchWiz--big and bloated. If you like TW, then you'll probably really enjoy the Note 10.1. I despise it so it tainted my experience quite a bit. Even with 3 GB of RAM is still suffers from sporadic bouts of lag--really unacceptable when I don't have those types of issues on my iPad Air with its 1GB of RAM. Make all of the S-Pen functions more cross-platform useful and give TW a MAJOR overhaul, with a eye towards optimization, and the Note 10.1 (2015) will truly be a terrific tablet.
 
Note 10.1 is too big for me. I previously had the Nexus 10, which I would prefer over the Note 10.1, but sold it because it was too big for everything: watching videos, web browsing, gaming, etc.

I'd like something like the iPad mini, Note 8.0, or LG G Pad. That size.
 
hovscorpion12 said:
Since you mentioned that you preferred Android over iOS, by far (by my standards and by others) the best Android tablet is the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Either that or the - if you don't mind the 2x price - Surface Pro 2. They're so much better and more versatile than the iPad, assuming you don't want to play on the Android device.
 
I'd recommend a Dell Venue Pro or a Surface 2. But I'm also of the opinion that Windows 8 on a tablet is a great OS

No comment on Windows 8 on a desktop :p
 
i would recommended Sony Xperia Tablet Z
6,9 mm as thickness
waterproof
beautiful design

its the iPad Air killer :p
 
Personally I bought an iPad air. I just dont feel like other tablets are there yet. As stated previously use nplayer for your video player, streams from smb sources beautifully. Once the jailbreak is out the air/mini will come out even further ahead IMO.
 
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