question Which Tablets

[Stereodude]

Asus ZenPads are decent low-cost options. You could also look at the Fire Tablet line since you mostly care about this product's ability to run one or two trivial bits of software. These guys are all going to fall in the $120 or less category.

There's an 8" Zenpad that's very similar the Lenovo Tab3 8" from a HW perspective, but it's a little more expensive at $129.99. Of course I don't think I can get a Tab3 8" for $109.99 after tax and shipping either (since pretty much only Lenovo sells it so far).

 

[Stereodude]

FWIW, I went with the Asus Zenpad Z380M. It seems more capable as a tablet than the Tab3 8" for actual tablet use should I want to use it for that. It has full lamination of the display. I couldn't find any information on what the Tab3 8" has. It also has a uSDXC reader, more sensors (ambient light, compass, hall), 802.11a, and an extra 1GB of RAM for and extra $20.

 

[Mercutio]

The RAM is meaningful even if nothing else is. Less re-opening your browser and having to wait for tabs to completely reload because Android decided to kill your last Firefox/Chrome process.
I don't have any long time experience with Atom-based Android devices. I'm curious to hear what the battery life is compared to the Nexus 7.

 

[Stereodude]

Well, UPS dropped off the Z380M this morning. It seems pretty nice for $129. I'm not so sure about the bundled / included ASUS customizations to Marshmallow though. I put Nova Prime on it pretty quickly after messing around with it a bit.

 

[MaxBurn]

I was originally not getting the point of chromebooks, but now that they are getting android apps I'm completely turned around. I was looking for a decent big android tablet and not really liking what I found, but this low priced asus flip really fits the bill for me.

The best part is the chrome browser is so much better than any android device I have ever used, fast and can open a lot of tabs with the regular layout. Giving chromebooks android really brightens the future of both platforms IMO.

I tried a couple apps so far and things are going pretty well. Surprisingly well actually.

-Fenix: app not supported. I went through all the hoops required to sideload apps on chromebooks and found out why it isn't supported. Has some bugs and crashing for some reason, not sure why.
-Aquamail pro: just works great. Exactly like it does on a tablet. Exported my four email accounts config to dropbox and imported it on the flip no problem.
-Fruux sync app: works fine and once synced other apps can see contacts and calendar items just like other android devices.
-Google calendar: After adding several google accounts and Fruux sync it sees all my calendars.
-ES file explorer pro: I expected to hit problems here but seems to work. Bonus; the downloads folder in chromebook is the same download folder on the android side of things.
-Mx player pro: seems to work great. bonus; after downloading the AIO codec pack in the chrome browser I noticed in ES file that it was already in the android downloads folder where it belonged. So I launched a movie with some special sound tracks and it picked up the codec and worked.
-Moon+ reader pro: This book reader gets a little upset when windows resize but it isn't too bad, pretty much works as intended.

As I look at the play store seems nova launcher is allowed, I don't even know how that would work?

 

[Chewy509]

New tablet time for one of the kids. (The micro USB connector needed for charging has worn, out of warranty and estimated repair including parts is over $100).

Their current tablet is a HP Slate 7 Beats Special Edition ( http://www.devicespecifications.com/en/model/5f7f2c58 )

The Lenovo Tab3 8 (http://www3.lenovo.com/au/en/tablets/android-tablets/Lenovo-TB3-850F/p/ZZITZTATB4F#tab-tech_specs ) seems comparable, the only sticking point is the SoC (the CPU, 1GHz vs the 1.8Ghz on the HP).

Anyone used this Lenovo and is able to compare to other tablets (particular tablets with the same/similar SoC as the HP), in particular to general responsive and light gaming. (They have all the Lego titles).

I was also considering the Asus Zenpad (or memo pad) range, but don't appear to be easily available (actually in stock anyway in Australia).

Other options are also considered as well. (recommended under AU$250).

FYI. Was going to get the nvidia sheild K1 as a replacement, but it appears as of last month nvidia have discontinued them...

PS. In Australia it's very hard to get anything other than Samsung or Lenovo when looking at big-brand tablets, so am really restricted to these two brands.

 

[Mercutio]

There have been rumors since the beginning of the year that there would be a new tablet with an nVidia X1 CPU this year. I'm definitely annoyed if they're going to give up on the market, because the mix of specs and pricing on that device make it fairly unique among otherwise unremarkable devices.
I've been steering people toward the Asus Zenpad 8. I'm actually not a huge fan of the 4:3 tablet and I think they're a bit slow, but they're good choice for modest hardware. The other easily obtainable-at-retail options are Samsung's ironically more expensive Tab A and an Acer tablet that is likewise unimpressive. I've not gotten to see a current generation Lenovo tablet.

I do think getting 2GB+ RAM is probably more important overall than clock speed. That's a tough call, since both ideas factor in to system performance, but since these tablets tend to last several years and memory footprints for apps keep going up, it seems more important to concentrate on RAM than worry about one being sluggish.

 

[Chewy509]

Thanks, I'll see if I can find a Zenpad somewhere in stock here in Oz, otherwise may see what (at really crappy exchange rate) the price would be for getting one shipped from Amazon (US).

Most of the reports of the Lenovo Tab2 seem favourable in the market segment it's aimed at, so would expect the Tab3 to be similar...

 

[mubs]

Thanks, I'll see if I can find a Zenpad somewhere in stock here in Oz, otherwise may see what (at really crappy exchange rate) the price would be for getting one shipped from Amazon (US).

If you do go this route, make sure to pay in US $. Amazon's exchange rates suck - always higher than what your Oz cc will charge.

 

[Chewy509]

As a follow up to me earlier questions, we ended up getting two Lenovo Tab3 8's for the kids to replace their current HP Slate 7's. (I'm now using one of the HP's as my personal tablet).

Trying to obtain an Asus Zenpad locally was next to impossible... Contacted Asus for a list of authorised resellers, and contacted a few of those. None are currently supplying the Zenpad, or were even willing to get two in to sell. (This includes two very large retail chains as well who sell a number of Asus laptop). I'm unsure of what that implies about the Zenpad or the local distributors for Asus. I also asked Asus about warranty support if purchasing online from Amazon US. Basically, the warranty on products purchased overseas is the responsibility of the seller, so I would have to ship the tablet back to Amazon US for warranty repair/replacement. (The international warranty service doesn't seem to apply on the tablets).

So my wife and I decided on the Lenovo's after playing with one shortly in store...

Compared to the HP Slate 7, the Tab3 8 has a far better display, better touch responsiveness and better audio from the built-in speakers. However, it is a little slower in some things (eg, when doing multiple things, like updates from the Play Store), but overall it feels very similar in performance when the kids are doing the things they normally use them for. Some of their games that they play also feel smoother on the Lenovo than the HP.

The build quality seems better on the Lenovo than the HP as well. So overall pretty happy with the Tab3 8.

 

[Mercutio]

And just a follow up to my comments about the Shield Tablet: The cheapest ones on Amazon are now $350 with some knobs wanting up to $700 for one.
There was a post on Slashdot this weekend that Huewei is planning to build a "Nexus 7 replacement" but ALSO that Google is dropping the Nexus branding, full stop. Which really sucks if you're trying to get a clean Android experience.

All of which is to say that it seems like the market is tightening. There are fewer devices than there used to be and most of them have no differentiating qualities. Tough break if you wanted something decent, I guess.

 

[Chewy509]

All of which is to say that it seems like the market is tightening

Based on what I've seen recently (at least in the Oz market) that is certainly the case... No longer do you have 2-3 models from 6-7 companies available, it's now pretty much only 1-2 models from 2-3 companies being sold in store... In our case, it's either Samsung, Lenovo or rebranded very-cheap almost throw away OEM stuff.

I thought Google was just dropping the "Nexus" brand in favour of the "Pixel" branding for all new devices? IIRC, The "Pixel" branded devices will be all high-end devices only as well.

 

[Mercutio]

Yeah, but compare that to the Nexus 7, which was the game changer precisely because it was a quality, affordable product. If I'm going to blow $500 on a high end tablet, it's going to at least come from a company that hasn't been allergic to external storage for the last four years.

 

[Mercutio]

Amazon has the Shield K1 back in stock at $200, but only for Prime members. I wonder if they got the end of someone's supply or if there's a new product on the way.
I'm having a really hard time finding a good-fit 8 - 10" tablet suited for what probably amounts to a dedicated Minecraft device. I want to see something with 2GB RAM, full Play Store access (sorry, Fire HD) and a better-than-1280x800 screen. Seeing the Shield as a $200 device makes me think that this should only be $120 worth of hardware, but the $120 tablets actually available right now, like the Lenovo Tab 3, mostly have 1GB RAM and 1280xsomething screens. I guess we should be so lucky, because five years ago that would've been a $500 tablet just because of the screen size, but I really don't want to compromise. Maybe I need to go look at weirdo Chinese brands on Alibaba or something.

 

[timwhit]

Certain Chromebooks are getting the Play store now. Could you get one of those instead?

 

[Mercutio]

This is for a kid who specifically wants a tablet.
I feel like it's really short-sighted to buy a new device that only has 1GB RAM, particularly if you are someone who plays games since it sucks pretty deeply to find that the OS auto-closed your game so you'd have enough RAM to open all of your Chrome tabs because you needed to look at one page really quickly.

 

[Stereodude]

It looks like my Google Nexus 7 (2013) died today. It locked up while I was using it. After forcing it to power off (pressing and holding the power button) and turning it back on it's hung on only display a white Google logo in the center of the screen with nothing else. Forcing it off and back on only yields the same result. That's normally just a brief splash screen. Recover mode yields the same white Google logo in the middle of the screen and forcing the bootloader to restart does nothing.

So, what's the spiritual successor to the Nexus 7 (2013) since Google never made one? I'm looking for something with a 7" 16:9 screen that's at least FHD resolution.

 

[Stereodude]

So, what's the spiritual successor to the Nexus 7 (2013) since Google never made one? I'm looking for something with a 7" 16:9 screen that's at least FHD resolution.

Well, after doing some research the refreshed Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0" (SM-T713N) has caught my eye. It is a 4:3 screen, but if I did the math correctly the effective screen size when playing 16:9 video is still larger than the 7" 16:10 screen on the Nexus 7. The OLED screen is a big plus IMHO. However, in comparison to the Nexus 7 (2013) it lacks NFC (I don't use much), doesn't have wireless charging (use this all the time), and doesn't have a notification LED (not sure if I will miss it). However it's significantly more powerful, has a microSD card slot, and has a Nougat upgrade out for it. And, if I want an OLED screen it's pretty much my only small'ish tablet choice.

 

[DrunkenBastard]

My wife has the 9.7" S2, it does have a very nice display. The only negative I find is the lack of fast charging capability but I don't think anything of that era had that. The 8" definiely wont fit in a pocket like the 2013 Nexus can, just too wide with 4:3.

 

[Stereodude]

The 8" definitely wont fit in a pocket like the 2013 Nexus can, just too wide with 4:3.

I don't think I've ever put my Nexus in a pocket, so I certainly won't miss that.

Does your wife have the original Tab S2 (SM-T810N) or the refreshed one (SM-T813N)?

 

[DrunkenBastard]

I got her the original S2 when it just came out. I could fit my Nexus 7 in my cargo shorts pockets, you had previously asked for 7" format tablets so wasnt sure if you were concerened about width.

 

[Stereodude]

I got her the original S2 when it just came out. I could fit my Nexus 7 in my cargo shorts pockets, you had previously asked for 7" format tablets so wasnt sure if you were concerened about width.

Width, not so much. I just don't want a large tablet. My dad also has a Galaxy Tab S2 9.7". I'm not sure which hardware revision it is. He got it late last fall so I'd expect it's the refresh.

 

[Stereodude]

I got the Tab S2 8.0 this morning. The screen is very nice (of course). I dumped the Samsung launcher and put NovaPrime on it. When I get home I will let it run all the updates. I didn't want to run up my hotspot usage on my cell while it downloaded over 1GB in updates.

I also got a 128gB Samsung EVO Plus U3 microSDXC for it. This is a new model, not the older slower U1 card. A1 SD Bench (running on the tablet) reported 39.34MB/sec write and 46.92MB/sec read for it. The internal flash was 92.67MB/sec write and 255.64MB/sec read. This was with the Accurate mode. The EVO Plus microSDXC card was faster in my work laptop where it did this in the internal SD reader.

Pretty respectable for a non-premium microSDXC card IMHO.

 

[LunarMist]

My old tablets were nice, but long deadly by now.
The newer tablest are larger than ever, other than the models with low-res displays.
I don't want to to spend too much. What are the thoughts of the 10.9'' Samsung Galaxy in 2023?

 

[Mercutio]

I have a Tab S9 and a Tab S6 Lite that both see daily use. The S9 is more or less equal to my S24+, only with a bigger screen and a card slot. The S8 and S9 are also water resistant and are entirely legitimate for Samsung DeX desktops, if you want such things. My S6 Lite is mostly used as an emulator for old console games and Android software that doesn't run well on my new guys, but it has held up well for its age. I'd guess that it has about 70% of its full battery after around four years of ownership.

Lenovo P-series (e.g. P11 gen 2) are nice Android tablets as well, but I'm aware they don't have the OS update policy Samsung does. On the other hand, they don't have a Samsung brand name tax, either. Lenovo also has Yoga devices in both Windows and ChromeOS variants, if you want something that can handle a more desktop-like workload. Newer Yoga Chromebooks have Athlon CPUs in them where the older ones use Mediatek ARM chips.

Someone who considers the possibility of an iOS device should know that an ipad Pro is spitting distance from the capabilities of a Macbook Air, other than the deeply shitty OS that is inflicted on the tablet version. iPad Pros do have a use case for someone who values the pen input for art, but there are other ways to get that kind of hardware without catching the butt herpes that is iOS.

Microsoft is still making Surfaces, which IMO is an ugly duckling product that is great for students and other full time note-takers and less than ideal for someone who wants to use desktop Windows or do a lot of typing. Surfaces also have the same powerful stylus-based capabilities for artists. And actually so do Galaxy Tab S-series.

 

[LunarMist]

Something has happened yet again to my links.
I was looking at the S9 FE 10.9', not the larger one. I doubt that it is worth spending over $700 for the S9 and its slightly better display. I'm not playing video games or anything that should be affected to much by the SoC (exogynous 1380). Mostly it will be utilized for the emails and internet at home on Wi-Fi. Trying to read everything on a phone is just OK for brief use, but conventional progressives are not ideal for tiny text in the desktop mode at 6.5" which has a ridiculous 21:10 ratio anyways.
But if Samsung will be the sucky, then I'm always looking for bad news.

 

[Mercutio]

I'm sure the S9FE is a fantastic tablet, though you might want to compare it to the Lenovo P11, which is considerably cheaper.

 

[LunarMist]

I'm not expecting anything Samsung "FE" to be fantastic.
The Lendovo is obviously a step down in the lower-resolution and even wimpier SoC setup. It's also larger, which I don't want to hold.
The S9 FE tablet seems to have basically the same guts as the A54 phone, with a higher-res but slower (90Hz vs 120Hz) display.
Unfortunately I screwed up on the ordering.

 

[LunarMist]

The display is adequate for basic use, but out of control. There is some kind of S-level pen that makes no sense.
The size and weight are excessive for handheld use, but it will be on the folders case in landscape mode.
I am more than a little annoyed that the Samsung is constantly making demands on me to join their organizations.
As if the google Play is not obnoixous enough!
The battery seems rather small compared to the large size of the tablet. The surface area is 3.5x that of a phone with 5000mAh. I'm not saying it should have 17.3Ah, but 8000mAh seems low in comparison. I suppose that would increase cost and weight excessively.

 

[Mercutio]

My S9 usually lasts about a week on a charge at my typical level of activity. If the screen on time is very high, for example if I'm seriously trying to finish a book, it might only last a full day. Even that seems very reasonable to me. I don't often use the S-pen or the official Samsung cover with keyboard, which I dislike for the added bulk.

I also don't see a point in fighting with Google on an Android device. K9 a good alternative if you don't care for Gmail, but Google Photos and Play Books are two of my favorite apps.

 

[LunarMist]

I have a cheap Chinese case of the Amazon. I may get a better case around 2025.
Email will be on there, once I figure out how to get it from the phone. I don't use my g-mail at all except to have an Androids account.
The display is not adjustable on the LUT and any adjustments are reducing the 8-bit to the uglies. There is no way I would put any photos on this, googles or not.

The boot times are pretty horrid (>20 seconds) so I don't want to turn it on/off frequently.
I don't know why a tablet is so slow, since it is not vying for the cell towers like a phone.
My 6700K Skylake system boots way faster and is about 8 years old.

 

[LunarMist]

The email and web are now in use and working fine. The battery life is quite good with minimal use, so I will leave it on and charge about every week. I discovered that the fingerprinter is in the power button. Unfortunately it is one very poor design that mostly reads incorrectly and often locks the tablet for 30 seconds. I am also noticing that the tablet is demanding updates, which seem to be rather slow. I'm not sure why it is apparently so slow or has to update so much.

The main issue is not having access to good Wi-Fi in this area. I probably need another thread about that.

 

[ddrueding]

Wifi6E is so much faster (not just speed, but responsiveness) than anything before, and 7 is technically out now. Just remember that the range on 6E is absolutely terrible. If I get more than 5m from my AP with only one wall in between it drops to Wifi 6 and the difference is noticeable.

 

[LunarMist]

The Wi-Fi is near the entry of the Fibros so there are like 2-3 walls and some electrical stuff between us. My cellphone charging area is in line of sight so it downloads OK. I definitely don't need much speed for the tablet, but it hovers around 20Mb, sometimes up to 100 or down to 10 depending on my orientation. I'm thinking that it would be better to have a separate Wi-Fi in the same room just for the tablet, but I don't want one that is bulky or expensive. The other option is a repeater, but I'm leery about the configuration. Everything seems to be cheap crap and I'm not about to go hunting down FW updates etc. all the time. I don't particularly want that meshly stuff they tout for Fibros/Cable since my Wi-Fi system is already obsolete, but I must use it. I suppose only an AP is needed.

 

[Mercutio]

In a "Hey, this thing is kind of cool!", I found a Logitech G Cloud at a pawn shop on the north side of Chicago yesterday, a place I like to hit up for used photography gear moreso than anything else. It's REALLY a 7" Android 11 tablet in a shell that has game controls built around it, but they only wanted $130 for it and it looked to me like I could sell it for more than that so I grabbed it.

Here's the thing: It streams Xbox, PS5 and apparently Steam and it has a nice, bright screen and Logitech HID controls. The battery lasts long enough that my partner hasn't had to charge it yet, and all she's been doing with it is playing current-generation console games on a handheld. It's substantially lighter than her Ayn Odin or a Steam Deck and has a bigger screen than either.

Not saying they're worth what they cost new but if you see one for less than a couple hundred dollars they might be worth picking up.

 

[Santilli]

RESURRECTION:
My roommate loves to read. She has a Kindle, but they all seem to be 7" screens. Plus the controls aren't exactly user friendly.

The library has a site we can pull up books, and if avaliable, go to Amazon Prime, and download them for 3 weeks for free.
I was looking for a bigger tab, so I got her a 10.1" Fire to see if we can do the same with it we can with the prime. If She likes it, I'll return it, and get the full house 11" Fire, with 64 gigs of ram, and, as Mercutio has suggested, no adds.
Anyone have any experience with these tabs?
I got through just putting her account on it, and wanted back on my computer...
That said, she was up all night playing with it, and first question was where is the charger?

 

[Santilli]

Just compared the Fire to the Kindle.
She likes the bigger, much fewer page changes of the the Fire, with the same size text. Plus all the other stuff she can do with it. So now I need to figure out when to get the bigger one.

 

[Santilli]

Found a refurb for 139 with new warranty from Amazon, so went with that.
Amazon lists as 'new'

 

[Mercutio]

FireOS kind of sucks given Amazon's app ecosystem. A lot of things just aren't available from the Amazon app store. Fire tablets have very nice screens but the rest of the hardware is regrettable.

You should be able to find a much more capable Lenovo M-series tablet in that price range and you may be able to get a Samsung S6 Lite as well. Either of those would be substantially better for the money.

Samsung Tab A devices are also underpowered but with nice screens, but at least they have the full Play framework. Missing Google Play is enough to keep me from recommending FireOS all by itself.

It's possible to put the Play Framework on FireOS but you'll have to keep reinstalling it because Amazon OS updates will remove it, and even with the framework installed, some official Google apps just won't work. Further, Amazon's official launcher is pretty bad and also continuously resets itself back to default.

Basically Amazon doesn't offer a good software experience unless the things you want is tighter control over what a kid can do.

 

[Santilli]

FireOS kind of sucks given Amazon's app ecosystem. A lot of things just aren't available from the Amazon app store. Fire tablets have very nice screens but the rest of the hardware is regrettable.

You should be able to find a much more capable Lenovo M-series tablet in that price range and you may be able to get a Samsung S6 Lite as well. Either of those would be substantially better for the money.

Samsung Tab A devices are also underpowered but with nice screens, but at least they have the full Play framework. Missing Google Play is enough to keep me from recommending FireOS all by itself.

It's possible to put the Play Framework on FireOS but you'll have to keep reinstalling it because Amazon OS updates will remove it, and even with the framework installed, some official Google apps just won't work. Further, Amazon's official launcher is pretty bad and also continuously resets itself back to default.

Basically Amazon doesn't offer a good software experience unless the things you want is tighter control over what a kid can do.

Thanks. Good to know. What would you pick, of the ones you suggested?