What sort of Tablet or iPad should I get?

[Hawk]

Hello all,

I’ve just joined so please bear with me - hope this thread is in the correct section!
.
A brief waffle about me – I retired a few years ago but worked as a software developer, mainly on VB, Sycero, Clipper and MS Access. Know nothing about Tablets and iPads.

I do not need a smartphone.

I’m running a laptop with Windows 7. Know nothing about Apple Mac gear whatsoever apart from the fact that it’s quite expensive.
What I need is something pocket-sized – a Tablet or an iPad, hence my post. I thought the best approach would be give a sort of my needs and don’t needs.
1/ Pocket size if possible – say no more than 9 inches in largest dimension.
2/ Price as low as possible without sacrificing too many needs.
3/ Can it use email and Google? See 5 and 6.
4/ Reasonable speed if poss.
5/ Can it connect directly to my laptop with a USB port?
6/ On my laptop my ISP is Zen and my email is gmx and I have a router connected to my normal BT phone connection – will I have to do something different or add my new device with Zen?
7/ A camera would be nice but I have an expensive digital camera so nothing fancy needed.
8/ Games and gaming devices – I’ve no interest whatsoever.

That’s about it; any sort of suggestions will be appreciated. TIA.

Mike.

 

[mantadog]

If you are looking for a decent fairly low spec but does what it says on the tin type tablet id recommend the hudl from Tesco. Especially if you shop with them already and have clubcard vouchers you can double up to basically get it fro half price.

Ive used both hudl '1' and '2' and the current 2nd gen one is way way better. Though if you wanted to go for a more established name, something like a Samsung would be good too.

 

[Hawk]

Hi mantadog,

Thanks for that. I'll have a firkle through the spec and come back to you; we do shop there and have all the Clubcard stuff. I'm not bothered about the name.

I'll hang on to see if anyone else here replies, just in case they have something they want to offload.

Mike.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Hi mantadog,

Thanks for that. I'll have a firkle through the spec and come back to you; we do shop there and have all the Clubcard stuff. I'm not bothered about the name.

I'll hang on to see if anyone else here replies, just in case they have something they want to offload.

Mike.

Just to say, I haven't used one personally, but I keep up to date on all tech stuff, and the reviews of the Hudl 2 are excellent as an android tablet. The first version was very basic, but they packed in surprisingly high specifications to the second.

iPad's are great, there's no doubt about it but they are very expensive and unless you have a full Mac infrastructure, they're no better than an android alternative.

The other one to consider if you wanted something a little more robust could be the Samsung Galaxy Tab

 

[grimsbymatt]

If you have the budget, the latest iPad minis are very nice, but probably offer more power than you really need. The latest google Nexus 7 is also very nice, but cost around £200 and again offer more power than necessary. I found that tablets below that price range couldn't play HD videos very smoothly (or even at all in some cases) - however, this was more than a year ago now, things may have changed.

If none of this is a factor, if go with the recommendation above from Mantadog.

 

[Wozza63]

The Nexus 7 offers everything you want from a tablet and a very good price. Only problem is that Google no longer officially sell them, but you should be able to find one still.

 

[grimsbymatt]

The Nexus 7 offers everything you want from a tablet and a very good price. Only problem is that Google no longer officially sell them, but you should be able to find one still.

They seem to offer a Nexus 9 nowadays, which is as pricey as an iPad mini (and looks very like an iPad!).

 

[Wozza63]

Yeah the Nexus 9 is good but I still prefer the Nexus 7. They bumped up the price a lot with the Nexus 9 as well as the Nexus 6 phone. I don't think they realised the main reason for the popularity of the Nexus range was great value for money and affordable devices.

 

[Hawk]

Before I looked in here, I did a bit of research and it's looking like the earlier version of the Nexus 7 is what I'm looking for; there are a couple of used ones on EBay at the moment for just over £100 which is all I really want to spend.

Though the Tesco's hudl looks good and is probably the cheapest I was a bit concerned at the battery life, speed and it's actual size whereas the Nexus scores on all those points.

I'm assuming that Apple's iPad isn't really an option for several reasons.

Now, back to numpty mode :yawn:, a few more questions to bore you with:

1. How does the internet connection operate remotely and do I need to add to my existing ISP account (Zen)?
2. Can I use my existing gmx EMail?
3. Will it see my gmx EMail on my laptops, same with IE?
4. Can I connect via USB to printer, laptop, other camera?

Thanks again,

Mike.

 

[grimsbymatt]

Yeah the Nexus 9 is good but I still prefer the Nexus 7. They bumped up the price a lot with the Nexus 9 as well as the Nexus 6 phone. I don't think they realised the main reason for the popularity of the Nexus range was great value for money and affordable devices.

I tried to go cheaper than the Nexus 7, but the quality just wasn't there back then. The 7 was perfect for my needs - fits in my jacket pocket, plays HD videos perfectly, has a full HD screen, as well as being powerful enough for the few games I play.

If the OP can find a 2nd generation Nexus 7 for a good price, I would seriously recommend it. As mentioned above, though, it may well be more powerful than really required. I did try an Asus Android tablet at around £120 which would have been excellent, except it just couldn't play all the HD video files I needed it to. Otherwise, it was plenty good enough, although with a lower resolution screen.

From a quick scan of the reviews, it seems the newer Hudl mentioned above will probably be the best buy at the sub-£200 price range, although at 8.3" would have been too big for my requirements.

Wow - I just looked and the 16GB Hudl2 is only £99! I'd almost even be put off at that price. I'd have to go and try one out.

 

[Hawk]

I'm still seriously thinking of the earlier Nexus 7 as it seems to fit my requirement better than the hudl, however, I'll hang on until I know the answers to my questions in post #9.

If the OP can find a 2nd generation Nexus 7 for a good price, I would seriously recommend it. As mentioned above, though, it may well be more powerful than really required.

Grim, why would you prefer the later Nexus 7? At first looks they look too expensive for me over the small improvements in my "spec"?

Mike.

 

[grimsbymatt]

The HD screen on the 2nd gen nexus 7 is awesome, plus I think it has more powerful processing capabilities. If you think the first gen will suffice and is in your price range, it's still a great tablet. I think the older one's a bit thicker as well.

 

[Hawk]

Hi Grim,

I think the 1st gen one will suffice; there seem to be umpteen on EBay as well at what seem to be good prices.

Any comments about this one? anyone? Looks good to me and I'm tempted especially with all the extras.

Nobody's answered any of my questions in my earlier posts, though. Or should I have posted on the Tech Support section?

TIA.

 

[mdwh]

The Nexus 7 is great in every way (I have 2nd generation model), a shame they stopped making it, as I prefer the pocket sized 7" models. Hudl also seems to be good (and a much lower price; I'm not sure about battery life but reviews should test that kind of thing). At the high end is also the Galaxy Tab S.

All Android tablets will do Google and email as standard. For Internet access you should just have to connect to your wireless network without needing to do anything ISP specific. To access your ISP's email, you will need to enter in the details (no different to when you set up Outlook or Thunderbird etc on Windows) - you can do this with the Gmail application on Android (it supports any ISP, not just Gmail itself). Also there are plenty of other email clients for Android (I use the free K-9 Mail).

All Android tablets should support connecting to laptop via USB cable. Note that connecting a tablet to other devices is more limited - Android (and Ipad) tablets are "slave" devices, so they act as the "USB device" rather than the "PC" (so you can't generally connect a tablet to a camera, just like you can't connect two cameras together via USB). Some tablets (including the Nexus 7) support USB "On The Go" which means with an appropriate cable, it can act like a PC to connect slave USB devices too. But support may still be more limited than a PC or Windows tablet. Some printers I believe have specific support for Android tablets.

(Tablet or ipad? Ipads are tablets... )

 

[grimsbymatt]

Some printers I believe have specific support for Android tablets.

Also, some printers have cloud printing functionality, so you can print from any Android phone or tablet. Is this available on iOS as well? I think it's a Google thing.

 

[Hawk]

Thanks, mdwh, that's pretty well the sort of information I needed. I've gone and bought the one mentioned in my post that hasn't arrived yet, so watch this space!

The Nexus 7 is great in every way (I have 2nd generation model), a shame they stopped making it, as I prefer the pocket sized 7" models. Hudl also seems to be good (and a much lower price; I'm not sure about battery life but reviews should test that kind of thing). [Not good from reviews]At the high end is also the Galaxy Tab S.

All Android tablets will do Google and email as standard. For Internet access you should just have to connect to your wireless network without needing to do anything ISP specific. To access your ISP's email, you will need to enter in the details (no different to when you set up Outlook or Thunderbird etc on Windows) - you can do this with the Gmail application on Android (it supports any ISP, not just Gmail itself). Also there are plenty of other email clients for Android (I use the free K-9 Mail).

GMX will just work, then, without me having to do anything as my GMX username and password will be as is.

All Android tablets should support connecting to laptop via USB cable. Note that connecting a tablet to other devices is more limited - Android (and Ipad) tablets are "slave" devices, so they act as the "USB device" rather than the "PC" (so you can't generally connect a tablet to a camera, just like you can't connect two cameras together via USB). Some tablets (including the Nexus 7) support USB "On The Go" which means with an appropriate cable, it can act like a PC to connect slave USB devices too. But support may still be more limited than a PC or Windows tablet. Some printers I believe have specific support for Android tablets.

I'll see if my Canon iP2702 does. Just checked, it does.

(Tablet or ipad? Ipads are tablets... )

I should have said iPad or OTHER tablet!

 

[Hawk]

Oh well, it's just landed via Royal Snail - all I have to do is set it up now!

 

[Hawk]

... thread mentioned above not appeared yet so having another go setting up Nexus - not finding it too easy at the moment!

 

[Wozza63]

Please try to keep to as few threads in the forum as possible.

What issues are you having? I found the Nexus 7 incredibly easy to set up.

 

[grimsbymatt]

... thread mentioned above not appeared yet so having another go setting up Nexus - not finding it too easy at the moment!

What are you struggling with?