Mini-tablets

[RogerS]

Some of these are remarkably cheap. For example, this one from CPC Farnell http://cpc.farnell.com/zoostorm/3310-95 ... dp/SB04863 £78

There must be a catch, surely ?

They say it is a 7" but is that display size or is the display size a lot less. The resolution doesn't seem that great and so perhaps that is the catch. Thinking of using it as a cheap streaming audio device for the kitchen.

 

[mseries]

I have been looking at cheap tablets for my Dad this week. He noticed the hudl at Tescos. It has OK reviews in the press, it seems to be value for money, no idea how long it will last, how long it will be before the battery stops storing it's charge - the batteries are not removable/replaceable like phones. I can't speak for the one you link to, I glanced at the specs, it's low power and low res - it'll probably be OK for streaming audio though a smart phone would work for that with some external speakers. It has low memory (1GB) so won't handle multitasking as well as others and it's 1GHz processor is not great either. It's storage is 8 GB so that will limit what you can save on it, though these devices are not really intended to store much so I wouldn't worry about that. This device is also running an old version of Android, this is not a problem in itself but some apps may fail to update in the future.

I have a first generation Nexus 7 which is great and my wife has a Kindle fire HD, both are not in the cheap price range but do come out better in the reviews than the cheap ones. Of the two, I prefer the Nexus because it's vanilla Android with Google Play. The Kindle (and Hudl) has a HDMI port which means it can be connected to a TV and used for Netflix, Youtube, browsing etc, thus smartening the TV. I use mine for mainly surfing (using browser or eBay, Amazon apps), email, watching video on Youtube, iPlayer, streamed from my server or downloaded mp4s and its fine for that. The reviews of the hudl say they'll be OK for these just not for hi-graphics games.

On a sub £100 budget I'd recommend you take a look at the Tesco Hudl, might too soon to know how well it will survive but if you are in no rush to buy, see what happens, we might see some discounting after Christmas.

£150-£200 I'd recommend a Nexus 7

 

[No skills]

Whats your budget?

I've been considering getting a galaxy mega to use as a small tab at home. 6.3" screen roughly the same internalls as a s4 and just under £300.

FWIW

 

[No skills]

Best list my reasons before somebody says but the ipad mini is only...

1. Its not apple.
2. Good build quality
3. More up to date os than whats on cheap tabs.
4. Can be used as a back up phone should one of ours be lost etc.
5. Its not apple.

Rightly or wrongly thats imo.

 

[RogerS]

Bit confused, noskills....are you pro or anti the iPad mini?

Budgetwise.....want to stay below £100 as it is only for streaming (he says)...but a decent sized screen would be useful for other things. Mmmmm....will take a look at the Hudl although on principle I try and avoid Tesco.

EDIT: The spec on the Hudl looks pretty good. I particularly like the fact that, unlike the Kindle, you have access to the apps in Google Play. A lot of people complain that the Apple stuff is too proprietary but the Kindle is even worse IMO.

 

[Alex H]

I recently bought one here for 98€ (10" screen), just to explore what they could do, play games rather than the limited stuff on the phone and whether it was eventually worth perhaps giving up the laptop.

I would say, if you are going to buy one, then not all tablets can get stuff from the Google Play store - there is a compatibility list.

Mine isn't on the list, but has it's own store.

Having said that I'm quite happy with it so far, I think if I had £350 to waste I'd still buy a laptop rather than an iPad or Galaxy

 

[Robbo3]

I bought a 7" tablet for £45 about 6 months ago just to familiarise myself with Android.
- http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-7-inch-An ... 2a2db989d2

Posted the specs on a specialist forum & was advised to root it then run a benchmark test.

The forumites were highly impressed saying technology had moved on so fast that it was comparable to tablets costing £150 or more & therefore probably one of the best value for money tablets at the bottom end of the market.

Actual size :180 x 120 mm
Minus Bezel :170 x 105 mm
Actual Viewing Size :150 x 78 mm

HTH

 

[petermillard]

The Tesco tablet does seem to have had some good reviews, e.g. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/tablets/ ... tesco-hudl - should be fine for audio streaming, and at least it's expandable via micro sd card if you decide to use it for anything mor demanding. Stock Android, too, if you wanted to roll up your sleeves and start digging about.

Would I swap my iPad mini for one? Umm no, thanks. But for my money, I'd take the Hudl over anything I could find on CPC, personally.

Pete

 

[RogerS]

Peter...how do you find the screen size on the iPad mini compared to the full-blown iPad ?

 

[John Brown]

For reading books, the Kindle is superb. Personally, I would not want to read books on a tablet. For anything else, the Kindle is pretttttttty basic.

 

[RogerS]

For reading books, the Kindle is superb. Personally, I would not want to read books on a tablet. For anything else, the Kindle is pretttttttty basic.

That pretty much sums up my conclusion re the Kindle.

 

[mseries]

For reading books, the Kindle is superb. Personally, I would not want to read books on a tablet. For anything else, the Kindle is pretttttttty basic.

That pretty much sums up my conclusion re the Kindle.

Don't confuse Kindle/Paperwhite and Kindle Fire HD.

Kindle is not a tablet, it's an eReader. KFHD is a tablet, with apps, browser etc. It's restricted compared to vanilla Android though. iPads are restricted to Apple stuff though too.

 

[RogerS]

For reading books, the Kindle is superb. Personally, I would not want to read books on a tablet. For anything else, the Kindle is pretttttttty basic.

That pretty much sums up my conclusion re the Kindle.

Don't confuse Kindle/Paperwhite and Kindle Fire HD.

Kindle is not a tablet, it's an eReader. KFHD is a tablet, with apps, browser etc. It's restricted compared to vanilla Android though. iPads are restricted to Apple stuff though too.

iPads are restricted to stuff that can be bought via the Apple App store. The programs themselves are not all written by Apple but are written to Apple standards. I think you'll find that the number of apps in the Apple store is rather large although I accept that some very specific apps may only be written for one platform or the other...but then that applies to all platforms.

 

[mseries]

iPads are restricted to stuff that can be bought via the Apple App store. The programs themselves are not all written by Apple but are written to Apple standards. I think you'll find that the number of apps in the Apple store is rather large although I accept that some very specific apps may only be written for one platform or the other...but then that applies to all platforms.

I know. I do actually have a iPad in front of me right now which I am using to test our site on a small device and in Safari. My point really was about Kindle Fire HD being restricted to Amazon App Store and that it's the same paradigm as Apple. My wife doesn't see Amazon/Kindle App Store as any restricton actually, she can get everything she needs though she isn't a demanding user. [She got one app for free, which is a paid for one on Google Play]. And, it's possible to side load additional apps on the KFHD anyway.

 

[John Brown]

From a professional point of view, having had to design "things" that work with iPad/iPhone/Android, my perspective is that Apple do everything in their power to stop you using their devices as you want to. Android, on the other hand is totally open, but presents an inconsistent operating system, because of the varying hardware platforms(and OS versions). Kindle is a completely different thing, and great for reading books(no, I'm not talking about the Fire HD, as I wouldn't want to read books on a Fire HD, as it's the so-called eInk that makes Kindle so attractive for book reading.

You have to hand it Apple as far as marketing goes, though.

 

[AndyT]

Some good points here especially on the difference between a kindle e-reader and a kindle fire tablet.
Anyone considering buying a kindle fire to read out of copyright scanned content should read this pleasantly frank review at Project Gutenberg


http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Kindle_Fire_Review

 

[RogerS]

Some good points here especially on the difference between a kindle e-reader and a kindle fire tablet.
Anyone considering buying a kindle fire to read out of copyright scanned content should read this pleasantly frank review at Project Gutenberg


http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Kindle_Fire_Review

Blimey ! :shock: And people used to say that Apple was proprietary.

 

[RogerP]

In my opinion the best tablet for reading books is the now discontinued Kindle Touch. 4GB of memory (3000 books). Stereo sound (with headphones) plays mp3s - music while you read or audio books. Wifi downloads. (there was also a 3g version). Web if you must but not ideal - good enough for finding/downloading books and email. Battery life in months not hours and of course the non-reflective, read in sunlight, e-ink screen.

 

[petermillard]

Peter...how do you find the screen size on the iPad mini compared to the full-blown iPad ?

Pretty good - though my ageing eyes do prefer the larger iPad! One of the things I prefer about the iPads is the 4:3 screen proportions - I had an original Nexus 7, and my wife has a kindle fireHD, and we both found the screens uncomfortably skinny when held in portrait mode (for reading) and in landscape mode the on-screen keyboard takes up half of the screen. Probably not an issue if it's just for audio streaming, but if it's use is extended to other tasks, it could be a nuisance.

Kindle Fire HD is pretty much a storefront for Amazon, though you can install your own books by emailing them to the @kindle.com email address that every kindle comes with. My wife still reads on hers (landscape mode, 2-page view) but if she wants to look something up she puts it down and picks up her iPad... We also have e-ink kindles (and had e-ink readers long before there were kindles) but generally find bright sunlight to be the only circumstances where they're preferable to read on - we much prefer reading on a tablet, but perhaps we're just weird! Bought my wife a new kindle paper white which arrives this week, so maybe that'll change our opinions.

HTH Pete

 

[RogerS]

Have to confess that one of the coolest apps (free IIRC) that I tried on the iPad I used to have (thinks...why did I sell it?) was one that gave you a second display for the iMac .....great for SketchUp and such.