Looking for a tablet (or convertable). Mostly used for browsing on the couch or when cooking to lookup recipies. It needs to be fully functional without an attached keyboard.

I'm not looking to do real work on it. But its something I want to buy Soon (next week), so that excludes the upcoming replacement for the nexus 10.

Right now the following are under consideration:

http://www.amazon.com/Transformer-T100TA-C1-GR-10-1-Inch-Detachable-Touchscreen/dp/B00FFJ0HUE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396467749&sr=8-1&keywords=t100

http://www.amazon.com/Asus-TF701T-B1-GR-ASUS-10-1-Inch-Tablet/dp/B00FFF7DAK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396467779&sr=8-1&keywords=asus+transformer+pad+tf701t

http://www.amazon.com/Nexus-Google-7-Inch-Black-Tablet/dp/B00DVFLJKQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396467804&sr=8-1&keywords=nexus+7

http://www.amazon.com/LG-Tablet-Quad-core-Flash-Display/dp/B00HL3P9EG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1396467903&sr=8-2&keywords=lg+tablet

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/ipad/ipad_air/wi_fi

I'm kinda avoiding Apple, partially because i've got an investment in both the windows/android environment.

Windows does offer some decent word processing (Apple would to at this point).

Thoughs ideas? Am i missing something

4/2/2014 3:46:32 PM

What kind of investment in Windows or Android precludes an iPad? The only thing I can think of is if you've paid for Android apps you'd actually want to use on an Android tablet.

4/2/2014 4:05:35 PM

Nexus 7 is the best performance/price ratio. But, you'll need a good case with kickstand if you want to use it in the kitchen. Plus, the screen is a little small for "productivity" stuff. But, I guess that's subjective.

Right now, my wife's uses a Lenovo Yoga Tablet (got it for around $230 something with one of those Lenovo coupons). It's got mediocre performance and the form factor is a little odd, but it's super affordable. The plus to using it in my kitchen is that already has a built in kickstand and the battery life is phenomenal. Display on it sucks though, so not as clear and sharp as Nexus when it comes to movies. But, we rarely use it for movies. Mostly for browsing the web and recipes.

Before the Yoga tablet, my wife had an old laptop she used in the kitchen. We named it "the kitchen sink" because it had everything from grease, flour, seasonings, and the like on it and inside it.

4/2/2014 4:14:04 PM

not against apple totally, but both me and the gf are pretty much android (mobility) and windows for desktop.

I'm trying to minimize a bunch of cross platform investments/learning curve.

4/2/2014 4:28:36 PM

whats best in the $150 range? spend $60 more and get the Nexus 7?

4/2/2014 5:11:05 PM

love my nexus 7 - have the otterbox case and love it, too

4/2/2014 7:27:27 PM

If you're able to spend exactly $399 then the Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 is arguably the best tablet under $400 right now. I've owned both generations of Nexus 7's and I LOVE the Tab Pro 8.4. I have a Galaxy Note 2 as a phone so the 7" Nexus wasn't as appealing to me as it's only slightly larger than my phone.

I've had it for a few weeks now and I think this one's a keeper. Unlike the Nexus it has an SD slot so you can easily bump the storage up by 64GB and the screen is simply amazing (2560 by 1600). It's a very sturdy tablet as well. It feels much nicer in the hands than the Nexus 7. Samsung does a great job with drivers as well. External harddrives, games controllers (xbox 360), and flash drives are pretty much plug and play. With my Nexus 7 I had to fiddle with a bunch of settings to get them to work.

Root it, freeze any Samsung processes you don't want, stick a launcher like Nova Prime on it and it's essentially the same as a vanilla Android tablet like the Nexus.

--And seriously take advantage of Bestbuy. I have a 30 day return policy (I think 15 is standard) with no restocking fee. Pick up each of these tablets and play with them for a week. All their prices are pretty much the same as online and you don't have to deal with shipping. They've got the Galaxy Tap Pro series in stock as well as most of the ones you've mentioned.

[Edited on April 2, 2014 at 10:30 PM. Reason : s]

4/2/2014 10:25:18 PM

i'll sell you #1 for $350. used less than 20 hours for a project

4/2/2014 11:37:28 PM

Pretty much any tablet in existence can browse the web and look up recipes

4/3/2014 2:13:55 AM

True,

But its going to be replacing a Mario Cromebook, and i'm looking for somethign that doesnt make me hate myself if i open more than 2 browser windows, or try to watch some shockwave flash.

8.4 Pro is nice looking, just a little expensive for the features it seems to me.

4/3/2014 10:27:46 AM

It's a premium tablet in competition with the iPad Mini. It has the same specs as a more expensive Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1" just a slightly smaller screen. I would say for $399 having one of the (if not the highest) DPI screens, SD slot, premium build, and a very zippy processor make it great for the money. You did say $400 or less.

4/3/2014 11:18:59 AM

I've had the Prime (TF201?) and I now have the Infinity (TF700?). While I never had many issues (I don't use it for much), the general consensus is they're slow and shitty. I haven't rooted mine, and some say it helps, but not to the point of recommending it. I think the only thing I'd recommend it for is if you need a dock, otherwise, go with a Nexus or Galaxy.

4/3/2014 12:15:51 PM

Here's a great review of the Tab Pro series:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7886/samsung-galaxy-tab-pro-84-and-101-review

The real only complaint with the 8.4" is the battery life but I haven't noticed anything that bad.

4/3/2014 12:18:57 PM

the windows based tab t100 seems to be very functional as well... Just not sure about speed. I'll have to play with one.

also 8.4 has different specs than the 10.1

[Edited on April 3, 2014 at 12:31 PM. Reason : dd]

4/3/2014 12:30:21 PM

Quote :

"also 8.4 has different specs than the 10.1"

All the specs are the same (ram, screen resolution, storage) except for the processor and gpu. In fact the 2.3GHz Snapdragon on the 8.4" is actually faster than the 1.9Ghz Exynos Octa on the 10.1" Tab/Note and 12.2" Tab/Note if you look at the benchmarks in that review.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7886/samsung-galaxy-tab-pro-84-and-101-review/6

8.4" wins every benchmark compared to the 10.1". Not that it's a huge deal. They're both incredibly responsive.

[Edited on April 3, 2014 at 12:44 PM. Reason : s]

4/3/2014 12:42:36 PM

Dell Venue 8 Pro

4/3/2014 12:52:23 PM

The lack of apps on my Yoga 2 Pro is just horrendous. The app store is just sad sometimes. Don't think it had 80% of the apps I use regularly on Android.

4/3/2014 12:53:50 PM

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Touchpad-16GB-Dual-Boot-/191102573706?_trksid=p2054897.l4275

4/3/2014 2:02:03 PM

Don't think that really meets the requirements of the thread title...

4/3/2014 3:47:04 PM

Maybe he'd rather spend $130 than $390

4/3/2014 5:32:54 PM

Then he should have said best tablet for $130. If you say you want a device for under $400 then it usually implies you would pay up to $400 for the device if it's worth it. At the end of the day if I'm buying a device I'll probably use for the next 2 years then a couple hundred dollars isn't going to make a huge difference.

4/3/2014 5:50:45 PM

who would want some haggard hp shit?
poor people, that's who.

4/3/2014 6:06:53 PM

Haha. The HP touch pad is pretty old now. Almost 3 years.

4/3/2014 6:12:11 PM

He did mention watching Flash. And he only ruled out iOS, not WebOS

4/3/2014 6:48:17 PM

I got my iPad Air refurbed on Best Buy's website for $350.

4/4/2014 11:51:00 AM

Yeah but then you have to deal with iOS.

4/4/2014 11:55:07 AM

not hating on apples tablets, they are great... I just dont like the fact that I can't do what i want.

We have the ipads at work, and unless you want to use a cloud provider, your basically fucked trying to get anything on or off the device that isn't music or videos.

You also can't easily share the device between mutiple people without iTunes basically wiping the device every switch.

Sure i know there are ways and work arounds, but I would rather have a device thats capable of doing stuff without apple "Helping" me every 2 seconds while trying to generate revenue.

4/4/2014 12:59:07 PM

^^ i mean, i'm an Android developer and love my SGS4, but decided to pick up an iPad Air because of platform diversity and also iOS's Google integration has greatly improved since the last time I used it (iPad 3 days). And being able to FaceTime/iMessage with friends/relatives who exclusively use those is a bonus, too.

[Edited on April 4, 2014 at 5:09 PM. Reason : ]

4/4/2014 5:05:02 PM

I tell them to use Google. Even my GF who has been all Apple just got a Galaxy Note 3 and she says it's way better than her iPad mini. iOS is just boring.

I mean stuff like this is awesome:

http://themerapp.com/

It completely redesigns the entire homescreen interface with the download of an app. I don't have to deal with jailbreaking or rooting or anything. I have the freedom to make my phone look however I want. The first thing my girlfriend did when she got her phone is download a new icon set because she "couldn't do it on her iPad".

4/4/2014 5:12:25 PM

Quote :

"I tell them to use Google."

i'm talking about in-laws, cousins, uncles, aunts, close friends, not-so-close friends, etc. do you really demand that everyone with whom you can interact on a cell-phone/tablet sell their shit and buy into using Hangouts?

i mean, let's be real here. as of today, both Apple's and Google's ecosystems are here to stay. neither side is remotely close to being "obsoleted" (versus G+ & Facebook). people have made up their minds on which platform will manage their calendars, emails, contacts, messages. so while certain people I interact with have decided to utilize iMessage/FaceTime exclusively, and Google continues to make strides in making their services ubiquitous across devices, I really don't lose much by picking up an iOS device.

its an inherently flawed strategy on my part, i know. but i am at the mercy of the market and the choices of my (misguided) Contacts.

4/4/2014 5:36:30 PM

You can download hangouts for iOS and it works great. I can't download facetime for Android therefore everyone should use hangouts. It's not that complicated. It's a great cross platform solution that's real easy to use.

4/4/2014 5:40:32 PM

Can FaceTime do anything that Skype can't?

4/4/2014 11:28:22 PM

got a lenevo miix 2, it just seemed like a bargain compared to the competitoin

4/5/2014 8:34:21 AM

No question, nexus 7. I think a new one will be announced in July too.

4/5/2014 1:09:52 PM

If you want to spend $179-230 then yes a Nexus 7. If you can spend up to $400 then there are better tablets (like the Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4").

4/5/2014 9:21:07 PM

Mixx 2 was 270 runs full windows 8.1 with office.

Current. nexus is out of date, iPad air is expensive as crap

4/6/2014 12:34:52 AM

Windows 8 sucks harder than Lindsey Lohan.

[Edited on April 6, 2014 at 1:04 AM. Reason : hahaha Office on a tablet. what's the point? a tablet is for consuming, not creating.]

[Edited on April 6, 2014 at 1:05 AM. Reason : all this consternation and you end up with a Windows powered device. lame.]

4/6/2014 1:03:43 AM

^^

4/7/2014 5:41:04 PM

For everyone that has a tablet do you find a 7.1 inch screen to be sufficient. I'd love to save cost but can't help but feel that 7.1 inch screen may be a little small to bridge gap between a computer and using my smart phone.

When i move i plan on getting rid of my desktop PC and only keep my entertainment PC that I can use with my 55" Flat screen to browse the internet.

4/15/2014 10:52:10 AM

Depends on the phone you have. I've got a Galaxy Note II and the Nexus 7 was too similar in size to it so I didn't keep it. The 8-8.4" form factor is much better in my opinion.

4/15/2014 11:10:14 AM

I got a LG "Lucid" VS840 screen size ~4" Diagonal.

4/15/2014 11:12:42 AM

I was browsing bestbuy and saw they had a refurbished
Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1" - $249 &
Insignia Flex 10.1" for $199

Both have 16GB. Which of these would be the better product? Is the Samsung worth the extra $50. I mostly want this just to browse internet, perhaps some video streaming, music playback, and perhaps to do some documentation.

Battery Life is important to me also.

4/15/2014 11:21:57 AM

Don't get either. Dated and low resolution. 1366 by 768 on a 10" screen? Most cell phones on the market have a higher resolution than that now. I'd still consider the Nexus 7 as it's the best tablet for the money right now and you get much better specs.

-The Galaxy Tab 3 is only 1280 by 800 on a 10".

If you're truly only using it for browsing and you can deal with the low resolutions and really need the extra 2-3" then I say go for it but I'd much rather sacrifice screen size over resolution.

[Edited on April 15, 2014 at 12:48 PM. Reason : v]

4/15/2014 12:30:54 PM

I don't want to spend more than $300-$350.

Seems like my choices are 10" with marginal resolution or 7" screen with superior resolution

4/15/2014 1:03:18 PM

https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=lg_g_pad

8.3" with 1920 by 1200 display for $349. Plus it's a Google Edition device.

For $399 I'd say get the 8.4" Galaxy Tab Pro but it's a little pricey.

If you look at older tablets you can find decently priced ones with nice screens:

http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-TF700T-B1-GR-10-1-Inch-Tablet-Gray/dp/B008F4NL04/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397585099&sr=8-1&keywords=tf700

Asus TF700 with a 1920 by 1200 screen for $279.

Go pick up a Nexus 7 from Bestbuy and play with it for a week and see how you like it. Then return it if you don't like it. No restocking fee.

Kindle Fire HDX 8.9" is another option. $339 but you're stuck with the Amazon store which is fine if you're using it primarily for media consumption.

Just my two cents but resolution is a huge factor in reading, browsing, and video. You'll be way happier with a device with a higher PPI. It's just a more pleasing experience. If you're stuck between a larger device with a poor resolution and a smaller one with a high resolution get the smaller one. You'll be way happier in the end.

[Edited on April 15, 2014 at 2:12 PM. Reason : s]

4/15/2014 2:06:27 PM

Cool thanks for the advice. Does the operating system matter much rather it be 4.0, 4.1, 4.2 etc for Android devices?

4/15/2014 2:22:58 PM

I've completely stopped using my Nexus 7 after finally starting to use my Dell Venue Pro 8.

Even with the smaller app pool, having REAL windows is so much damn better

4/15/2014 3:18:10 PM

I have both and I still use Windows 8.1 primarily on my laptop and Android on my tablet and phone. All the apps I take advantage of on my tablet just don't exist in Windows.

I mean what's the alternative if an app doesn't exist? Use the web?

4/15/2014 3:35:19 PM

^^ saw the screen resolution wasn't that great for teh Dell.

^ Sounds like you endorse Android OS. I was thinking about windows 8 but just didn't know enough about it.

4/15/2014 4:18:53 PM

I've owed iOS, Android, and Windows tablets and I prefer Android. Of the top 10 apps I use on Android 5-6 of them don't exist in Windows. e.g. there's a couple games I really enjoying playing and there's no Windows versions. Running a full version of Windows isn't advantageous to me when there's no Windows equivalents to what I run.

Sure having a full version of Windows is needed on a laptop because things I do on a laptop use those full versions. Doesn't make sense for a tablet though.

4/15/2014 4:29:23 PM