Good 9" - 10" Android tablet

[werepossum]

I am having a devil of a time selecting a new tablet and I need help. I had selected one perfect for my needs and had ordered it at a hell of a deal at the Lenovo store - a Yoga 10.2 32GB for $279 - but unfortunately someone there stole my credit card info and ran wild. Lenovo was, um, less than helpfull so I'd really like to avoid them. My wants are:
9"+ screen, good quality
1920*1080 to 1920*1280 resolution
Android OS
Access to play store
16 GB
Expansion port
No malware, minimal bloatware
No Winchester hard drive
GPS would be nice

Uses would be:
E-reader
Web
Movies
Music
Email
Light gaming such as Minecraft

Seems tablets are now divided between 1280*800 and 2550*1440 models as though designers are utterly unaware of the prevalence of 1920*1080 content. I do not care about cameras or heavy multitasking. We currently have an iPad 2 and a Nook HD+.

Any suggestion?

Thanks!
Mike

 

[Medikit]

If you really want 9" I think the iPad is better than the Nexus 9 but if you must have an Android then watch for the Nexus 9 price to drop in the coming months. Also check out this site: https://twitter.com/search?q=#HTCHOTDEALS every Tuesday, I am willing to bet they will repeat the $199 deal again.

You could make life a lot easier on yourself by getting an 8" tablet instead. I think they are better suited for android.

 

[Midwayman]

The biggest problem is going to be the 1080p resolution. That's mainly going to limit you to older tablets. The samsung galaxy tab pro 10.1 has been going for around $250 recently and what I'd suggest. Not 1080p, but its probably the best 10" for the money at the moment. If I were looking into 1080p tablets specifically I'd check out sony. They held back on the resolution upgrades with newer SOCs IIRC.

 

[werepossum]

If you really want 9" I think the iPad is better than the Nexus 9 but if you must have an Android then watch for the Nexus 9 price to drop in the coming months. Also check out this site: https://twitter.com/search?q=#HTCHOTDEALS every Tuesday, I am willing to bet they will repeat the $199 deal again.

You could make life a lot easier on yourself by getting an 8" tablet instead. I think they are better suited for android.

Thanks for the tip. Our Nook and our iPad are both around 9" and my old eyes are weak, so I really don't want to go smaller. Thanks for the hot deals tip.

The biggest problem is going to be the 1080p resolution. That's mainly going to limit you to older tablets. The samsung galaxy tab pro 10.1 has been going for around $250 recently and what I'd suggest. Not 1080p, but its probably the best 10" for the money at the moment. If I were looking into 1080p tablets specifically I'd check out sony. They held back on the resolution upgrades with newer SOCs IIRC.

Understood, but I really don't want to spend more than $300, I don't care about the additional resolution, and I'm afraid with that additional resolution things would come in too small for me to make out, forcing me to scale up everything to read it.

Honestly I may root my Nook and keep it. Unfortunately sometimes the screen returns continuous random inputs and other times it ignores all touches; I'm afraid that may be hardware. The hardware was pretty much perfect for me, but the B&N-added OS sucks ass.

 

[Medikit]

Thanks for the tip. Our Nook and our iPad are both around 9" and my old eyes are weak, so I really don't want to go smaller. Thanks for the hot deals tip.


Understood, but I really don't want to spend more than $300, I don't care about the additional resolution, and I'm afraid with that additional resolution things would come in too small for me to make out, forcing me to scale up everything to read it.

Honestly I may root my Nook and keep it. Unfortunately sometimes the screen returns continuous random inputs and other times it ignores all touches; I'm afraid that may be hardware. The hardware was pretty much perfect for me, but the B&N-added OS sucks ass.

They are selling the iPad air 1 at microcenter right now for $300:

http://www.dealigg.com/story-Apple-iPad-Air-Wi-Fi-16GB-300-32GB-360

 

[Ravynmagi]

Understood, but I really don't want to spend more than $300, I don't care about the additional resolution, and I'm afraid with that additional resolution things would come in too small for me to make out, forcing me to scale up everything to read it.

Honestly I may root my Nook and keep it. Unfortunately sometimes the screen returns continuous random inputs and other times it ignores all touches; I'm afraid that may be hardware. The hardware was pretty much perfect for me, but the B&N-added OS sucks ass.

Resolution and text size and content size are going to be two different issues. I've sometimes found that higher resolution screens sometimes end up with bigger text and larger sized content on the screen, because they got too aggressive with the DPI scaling. So you could have a 1440p tablet that is easier to read than a 1080p depending on the DPI scaling the manufacture used. And Android allows for some adjustment of the text size as well.

 

[Ravynmagi]

They are selling the iPad air 1 at microcenter right now for $300:

http://www.dealigg.com/story-Apple-iPad-Air-Wi-Fi-16GB-300-32GB-360

Wow, an iPad Air 1 for $300 would be nice. Shame it is instore only.

 

[Zaap]

I've been in the same boat, werepossum- looking for that ever-elusive 10"/high res/decent priced tablet.

I ended up getting a Yoga 10+ for my wife recently, her needs pretty much the same as your list and it's been a perfect match for that. Battery life on this thing has been incredible, and the stand is perfect.

I know you probably aren't lovin' Lenovo right now, but you can get the Yoga from other retailers, for example:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc..._3_silver.html

I don't know much about it, but there's the HP 10 Plus for around $289 with a 1920 x 1200 screen. Seems pretty new, I can't find a review, but then I didn't look exhaustively:

http://store.hp.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/us/en/pdp/tablets/hp-10-plus-2201us-tablet

or Amazon for $279:

http://www.amazon.com/HP-Plus-10-1-I.../dp/B00LPC3W1Q

At a glance, looks like a decent basic tablet with a great screen.


Best Buy recently had the iPad 4 for $250 and I picked up 2 of them for family members, but I no longer see them anywhere. I'm guessing they were just clearing those out for newer models.

Good luck in the search!

 

[werepossum]

Figured I could drive down to Atlanta for the Air deal, but it's over. Then I figured I'd just get over my mad at Lenovo and buy the Yoga from Amazon - after all, the Lenovo web store is apparently in Pakistan or Indonesia, so it's not really the Chinese company I'm pissed at - but Amazon is now charging $350 for what they normally sell for $280. Screw it, I can live without it.

I almost jumped on the HP a bit earlier, but it's basically a $99 cheapo with a $180 HP name plate.

Looks like a new tablet (my October 2013 birthday gift lol) can wait a while longer. Hurray for First World problems!

 

[Medikit]

Figured I could drive down to Atlanta for the Air deal, but it's over. Then I figured I'd just get over my mad at Lenovo and buy the Yoga from Amazon - after all, the Lenovo web store is apparently in Pakistan or Indonesia, so it's not really the Chinese company I'm pissed at - but Amazon is now charging $350 for what they normally sell for $280. Screw it, I can live without it.

I almost jumped on the HP a bit earlier, but it's basically a $99 cheapo with a $180 HP name plate.

Looks like a new tablet (my October 2013 birthday gift lol) can wait a while longer. Hurray for First World problems!

Watch for Nexus 9 deals every Tuesday. http://www.htc.com/us/go/htc-hot-deals/

Do not buy the periscope camera they keep trying to sell.

 

[werepossum]

Watch for Nexus 9 deals every Tuesday. http://www.htc.com/us/go/htc-hot-deals/

Do not buy the periscope camera they keep trying to sell.

Are they sometimes half price? I don't like the slow charging or lack of an expansion port, they have an absolutely insulting up-charge for 32 GB, and overall $399 seems like a ludicrous price compared to $499 for the Tab S which is way better at pretty much everything. For $200 I'd jump on it. I might even go $249. Maybe . . . I wouldn't go $300 though.

lol And yeah, thanks for the warning about the goofy camera. I can see those things at $39.95 in KMart in the very near future.

I almost bought the Lenovo Yoga 10+ at NewEgg for $249 but I just couldn't pull the trigger. Apparently I am pissed at Lenovo themselves, not just their storefront. I'll probably buy something in late winter or spring, seems right now everything is marked up anyway.

I did sign up for the hot deals, thanks for the tip.

 

[Ravynmagi]

I probably wouldn't say the Tab S is better at pretty much everything... The Nexus 9 has a faster CPU and insanely faster GPU. And many might think the latest version of stock Android is a much better OS experience than the bloated Touchwiz Android the Tab S uses. I think the Nexus 9 has at least a couple significant points in it's favor over the Tab S.

Though I wouldn't pay $400+ for either tablet. Both have big flaws too in my opinion (poor performance in the Tab S, poor build quality and bulky in the Nexus 9).

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Kinda disappointed I didn't grab an iPad Air 2 for discount on Black Friday but at the same time my wallet doesn't need that burden. Will next year finally be the year of Android tablets? I doubt it.

 

[werepossum]

I probably wouldn't say the Tab S is better at pretty much everything... The Nexus 9 has a faster CPU and insanely faster GPU. And many might think the latest version of stock Android is a much better OS experience than the bloated Touchwiz Android the Tab S uses. I think the Nexus 9 has at least a couple significant points in it's favor over the Tab S.

Though I wouldn't pay $400+ for either tablet. Both have big flaws too in my opinion (poor performance in the Tab S, poor build quality and bulky in the Nexus 9).

So if one is heavily into gaming or multitasking, the Nexus 9 would be a better piece of kit?

So which way did you jump, iPad or another Android? I'll have to say I don't have any really significant complaints about my iPad 2 (other than my inability to pry it from my wife's hands lol) and the screen on the Airs certainly is nice if maybe not quite as nice as the Tab S.

 

[lopri]

If money is not an issue then check out the Xperia Z2 tablet.

 

[DaisyDog]

If money is not an issue then check out the Xperia Z2 tablet.

I can vouch for the Sony Z2, very happy with mine.
It's as light as a feather and very fast with most tasks.
With a likely new model being released March next year, I notice that a lot of resellers are offering reasonable discounted deals on them now.

 

[Medikit]

Staples is close to your price point right now:
http://slickdeals.net/f/7481318-ipad-mini-2-239-ipad-air-319-at-staples-b-m-starting-12-7?v=1

 

[Medikit]

Hot deal going away in 2 hours: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KHA2DQM/...d_p=1990147102

 

[werepossum]

Thanks, guys. I may run out and get the Air deal at lunch, even though I really wanted to stick with Android. And yeah, I like the Xperia Z2, but price is an issue. (And for the price I think I'd rather the Tab S - don't know I need or want that much resolution, but if I'm paying that much anyway . . .)

 

[Medikit]

Thanks, guys. I may run out and get the Air deal at lunch, even though I really wanted to stick with Android. And yeah, I like the Xperia Z2, but price is an issue. (And for the price I think I'd rather the Tab S - don't know I need or want that much resolution, but if I'm paying that much anyway . . .)

If you read the Nexus 9 reviews the Lollipop UI really doesn't seem suited to a >7" tablet. The iPad still seems to be king of the tablet world.

 

[SpacemanSpiffVT]

The Tab S performance is quite good, if you don't care about gaming so much. I have played with it and the N9 in person and wasn't so impressed by the N9. Screen isn't as nice, 4:3 is not so good. build quality is worse but it is definitely smoother during some parts of the OS.

TouchWiz is crap though. Will probably root the Tab S if I keep it.. But I am leaning that way. Love having a microSD card too.

 

[Medikit]

The Tab S performance is quite good, if you don't care about gaming so much. I have played with it and the N9 in person and wasn't so impressed by the N9. Screen isn't as nice, 4:3 is not so good. build quality is worse but it is definitely smoother during some parts of the OS.

TouchWiz is crap though. Will probably root the Tab S if I keep it.. But I am leaning that way. Love having a microSD card too.

I'm shopping for tablets for my brother right now who is committed to Android. I'm hoping to get another deal for the N9 for $199 on Tuesday but so far they keep trying to sell that periscope camera. I was interested in the Dell 8" tablet since it has an intel SOC but Dell doesn't seem to be updating their tablets very frequently and people are having a lot of compatibility issues.

 

[gmaster456]

I personally think the Original iPad air is a better tablet than the N9 at the $399 price point.

 

[werepossum]

If you read the Nexus 9 reviews the Lollipop UI really doesn't seem suited to a >7" tablet. The iPad still seems to be king of the tablet world.

I actually like the display better on my Nook HD+ than on our iPad 2. I really prefer to avoid the AppStore and the whole "being an iDiot" experience, and I really wanted GPS and an expansion slot, but for $319 that's just hard to pass up. Gonna miss the Play Store though, but as long as there's a Kindle App I can cope.

My usage is basically reading, web surfing, and Mincraft with my grandson, so it's hard to argue I can't do that with an iPad Air. lol

The Tab S performance is quite good, if you don't care about gaming so much. I have played with it and the N9 in person and wasn't so impressed by the N9. Screen isn't as nice, 4:3 is not so good. build quality is worse but it is definitely smoother during some parts of the OS.

TouchWiz is crap though. Will probably root the Tab S if I keep it.. But I am leaning that way. Love having a microSD card too.

I actually like 4:3 if it's 1920 x 1,440 or higher. Makes a better e-reader in my opinion. My gaming is very light (I have a gaming PC) so the Tab S would be fine with me IF the price was right. So far it's not been.

 

[thilanliyan]

I personally like my Tab S 8.4. I watch a lot Netflix and Youtube on it and it's plenty fast for that. And I really like the split screen multi-tasking. Touchwiz lags a bit but it's not too bad. I haven't played any games on it though and probably wouldn't really use it for that.

And THAT screen!! OMG!! It's nice...