Jayne wants a tablet so that she can browse the internet and access e-mail without having to fire up the laptop, especially when we are on holiday, but there are hundreds of them out there and I was hoping someone with a bit of experience might be able to give me some pointers.
I guess we will need WiFi and 4G connectivity, and I would like to stick with Android as we have that on the mobile. Jayne wants a decent sized screen - she finds the mobile next to useless in that respect. I don’t know how much storage we need - we won’t be using it for photos or videos other than possibly in an emergency. Are there other features we should consider? Which brands are the worth considering or, alternatively, to be avoided? Price wise I don’t mind spending what’s needed, although I spotted some which are £800-£1,000 which is more than I wanted to spend - the laptop didn’t cost that much.
I’d go for one of the Samsung’s, the S6 lite is on Amazon for £329 at the moment, the S7 is more advanced but twice the price. I’m an Apple fan I’m afraid so can’t tell you a huge amount about them other than the reviews seem to say the Samsungs are a safe bet.
EDIT: Just noticed the Amazon FireHD 10 tablet is on offer today for £89 on Amazon could be worth a punt!
Both are Android and can be had for about 300 notes. They’re not super powerful so don’t expect to game on them, but great of browsing the web and watching videos. The integral stand and hook is very handy. Not sure if these support 4G, I’ve only ever used Wifi tablets but in a squeeze you can always tether them to a smartphone.
That Amazon fire deal for £89 looks amazing…must be worth a go?..have had Apple iPads before but its a major expense and not sure worth the extra money.
You don’t need to spend £300 on a tablet that just browses the web and does emails !!
There are plenty of nice large screen fast tablets out there but I would avoid the Fire unless she can test one first. My g/f had one and I didn’t like how restricted it was. I prefer the full Android marketplace.
You can get a Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 now for under £200 from Amazon. I personally use a Lenovo Tab M10 and it works perfectly with nice clear screen and fast processor.
I bought my wife the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 (10" screen) for her birthday, had a go myself as I had an ageing laptop that needed replacing. Decided that would be much better for me too so have one each now. We have the WiFi versions but you can get one to run off mobile data too.
I’ve had a Lennovo 10" for years and even though updates are no longer available due to its age it functions perfectly still. If you don’t mind a little bit of fiddling you can use your phone as a WIFI hub and use your current data contract rather than buying one with a sim card which requires a new contract or a pay as you go. I’m not sure how much more 4G versions are these days might save a few pounds but slightly less convenient having to tether to a phone.
Oh, Tip: Don’t put it in the seat pocket of an aircraft you will leave it behind!!
Don’t get an iPad unless you have an iPhone or an Apple laptop, as it will be difficult to share files.
Something like a Samsung A7 7" for £100 on Amazon.
I’ve had a Lenovo 10" for several years, Android, it’s more than adequate for email and browsing. Was £100 from Argos.
Probably wouldn’t bother with 4G, they cost more, plus the data contract, are you really anywhere without WiFi, home or staying somewhere?
I don’t know anything about these as stuck to my laptop, just upgraded after 10 years and a hard disk crash:-)
My other half has used a tablet for at least 4 years and currently uses a Samsung Galaxy ‘A’ 8.0", 2019. This was inherited from her granddaughter, so has a cracked but functional screen. Has been in perfectly satisfactory heavy daily use for over a year and only downside is, needs charging almost every day.
My advice with such a fragile and heavily used item, rather like a phone is don’t pay too much as item likely to need replacing within 2-3 years and for most users functionality of cheaper tablets totally adequate.
Well, I didn’t come to the 5 forum for advice on tablets but Mrs G wants one for watching box sets, so I’ve found this discussion very informative! You all have my thanks!
That’s exactly what my wife uses hers for. She has the Samsung mentioned in my above post and also an Amazon Fire tablet of the same size for box sets on, yes Amazon. The Samsung is used for Sky stuff via Sky go and other stuff. Both can do all internet stuff too, very handy. She only uses a laptop occasionally, mainly for crafting software, printing etc.
We have laptops, iPad Air and iPad Mini. I am a heavy user for writing, listening, designing fun trip routes and investing and the iPad Mini is far and away the best of the three. I cannot do without it.
I’ve had a sumsung tab S for years. Its been a thoroughly reliable bit of kit, and I’d have no hesitation getting another similar sumsung android tablet.
I too would also recommend samsung!
had several Samsung items over the years and never had any problems.
my PC monitor is Samsung and it has given me 14years of exellent service
Thank you - let me think about that. Is there just one type? If not can you please let me have the exact model number so I can look it up online? Where in the country are you?
Can I also suggest you edit your post to remove your e-mail. I will PM you if I’m interested.
Take a look at Which reviews and if you decide to go Apple then I often buy their refurbished ones from Apple so all with warranty also phone support is terrific.
Advice selecting a tablet?
No problem. I’ve worked with tech for 20yrs and would be happy to help.
Somehow choosing electrical goods can sometimes feel a little daunting, after all, the manufacturers update their models pretty often and the software updates may only be guaranteed for a set period of time. After which, your device will continue to function but may not run the “latest and greatest” version of the Operating System (OS) software or some apps.
So here’s a list of things to consider, to help narrow your choice.
Is Jane’s phone Android or Apple?
If Apple, pls stick to iPad as you’ll have the best experience possible. Apple allows you to link your devices. Before you knee-■■■■ your response to “I’m not interested in that feature”, can you be sure that won’t change? It’s very powerful and worth considering.
Internal Memory. Would you like to have the ability to download and watch movies or other stream content - e.g. from BBC iPlayer but not have to be online? i.e. on a journey or out of wifi range.
If so, please consider the amount of internal memory. Also remember, just because the device is sold as 64GB, doesn’t mean you’ll have 64GB of available memory. The OS and other “core apps” will take a portion of the total memory. But having said that, you’ll still get more photos, movies and songs on it than large luggage packed into an ND boot! (Why did they make the ND boot opening oval?)
Screen size. How big is the screen on the laptop you own?
And how big is your phone screen? (I’m assuming you own a smartphone, even if it’s not very up to date.) A tablet with a screen size similar to an iPad is often my first suggestion, but please don’t limit your screen contemplations to size alone. You also need to consider the resolution. iPad will have you covered as Apple are very picky about this. However, some cheaper Android tablets may cost less because they cut corners to lower the unit cost. An easy win to lower cost is to reduce the resolution. Two devices with the same physical screen size in mm can be vastly different. It’s worth paying a visit to Curry’s PC World or John Lewis and looking for yourself. Why? Becuase resolution is important for people who have sight issues. My wife and I are opposites, she’s long sighted and I’m short sighted. Text on different resolution screens may be easier/harder to read comfortably for you. It doesn’t matter what anyone else says at this point. It’s important you’re comfortable because eye strain or tired eyes caused by eye strain is a bad place to be.
If Android then which brand?
The £1m question!
I’d refer you to point number one, where I asked if your phone was Android or Apple. Same thing here.
If your phone is Android, which brand is it?
And, do you ever customise the way it looks or the layout?
If you don’t then I’d stick to the same manufacturer, provided you’re happy with their phone. On the other hand, if their phone OS niggles you in some way, it might be worth considering a change in manufacturer. If you’re sticking to the same manufacturer as your phone, have a budget in mind and list the devices they have and narrow down.
Then go see one in real life (I know this is trickier than it sounds, or maybe try YouTube for a first look).
Keyboard. Would you like a keyboard?
I know you specified a tablet at the start of this message and tablets don’t have a physical keyboard. But, please read on. If you’re thinking of adding a folio case with a keyboard so you can reply more easily to those emails you’re reading, you might wish to consider a slight change in tactics.
(Assuming you’re not Apple iPhone people, in which case you may wish to ignore this bit if you’re sticking to Apple devices)
Assuming you’re Android people, please take a look at a Chromebook.
You can get some really slick ones with touchscreens and a clam hinge that allow them to be a tablet and/or a laptop just as you choose.
They’re amazing bits of tech. Make sure you don’t buy the lower end ones and you’ll be able to install Android apps on them too. They start up in seconds, easily as fast as a tablet, and the software update cycle is amazingly quick as well. Literally, 45/50 seconds to update the entire OS.
I also like the fact I can link my phone and Chromebook together and reply to texts with a real keyboard as I’m a bit of a “sausage finger” typist with on-screen keyboards.
So there it is.
I’m sorry I haven’t said XXX tablet is amazing and you should go buy it now.
But what’s great for one person/family might not be the right fit for another as we use devices in different ways and for different lengths of time.
If you’re opting for Android, a good comparison site to use is GSM Arena. They’ll give you all the tech specs, processor names, memory internal RAM, battery sizes and so on. As you’re narrowing your choices.
Good luck and feel free to reach out if you make a shortlist and would like help highlighting differences.
could be worth a punt!