OK Tablet Experts...

[midwestfisherman]

What tablet would you recommend. I'd like something in the 8" to 10" range, 32GB RAM, WiFi Only. I mainly use a tablet for email, Web surfing, sharing photos, and media consumption (Youtube, movies and music). An SD card slot would be nice but not a deal breaker if it doesn't have one.

So far I am considering the Galaxy Tab S, Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 and the LG G Pad 8.3.

Which do you all like better and is there anything else that I should consider?

 

[Dylanharvey999]

Tab S 8.4

Nothing even compares IMO.

 

[paperwastage]

if you ever want something more useful than email/media consumption, then look at the windows 8 tablets... typically not as high resolution, but you can load any windows application and use it (eg photoshop)

 

[jacktesterson]

Tab S 8.4. I've used them all, including just returning a Nvidia Shield Tablet. I've also had a Dell Venue 8 Pro, Surface 2, Nexus 10, Nexus 7 2013 and Arc10 HD before, so I have a good feeling for them all. I also own a ipad Mini Retina currently.

In my opinion, the Tab S 8.4 is the best tablet available.

The screen is just on another level, and that's the main focus of a tablet.

My opinion of course. I think you'd be happy with any of the 3 mentioned.

 

[Ravynmagi]

Galaxy Tab S is pretty and underpowered. It's the little spoiled princess of tablets. She thinks she's all that, but she's just an annoying brat.

Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 isn't a bad choice. Good display, good Snapdragon 800 (oddly the only recent Galaxy Tab with it). And last I checked the price seems good.

LG G Pad 8.3, I have one of these. They are nice. Though I don't care much for the feel of the tablet in hand. And the specs are a tad dated now. But if you find one really cheap, it may ben worth it.

Nvidia Shield Tablet is worth a look. It's got a powerful processor, amazing graphics performance, and front facing speakers. Though the downside is it's kinda bulky for it's screen size.

Nexus 9 is rumored to be coming soon. I think this will be an impressive affordable tablet. I think this may be the one to wait for.

 

[Commodus]

Keep in mind that Apple is likely to refresh both the iPad Air and iPad mini in October, so it may be worth waiting. They're both expected to get Touch ID and faster processors, and there's talk that they'll be slimmer. Also, Apple still has a huge, huge advantage in terms of tablet-native apps; there are many more of them, and new features tend to show up on the iPad first.

I'd hold out for that Nexus 9 if you're going to go Android. Given that it's going to use a Tegra K1 chip on top of a stock interface, it's likely gonna scream in terms of performance... and get an Apple-like level of software updates. Just hoping that HTC's design is comfy and doesn't feel too cheap.

 

[jacktesterson]

Galaxy Tab S is pretty and underpowered. It's the little spoiled princess of tablets. She thinks she's all that, but she's just an annoying brat.

Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 isn't a bad choice. Good display, good Snapdragon 800 (oddly the only recent Galaxy Tab with it). And last I checked the price seems good.

LG G Pad 8.3, I have one of these. They are nice. Though I don't care much for the feel of the tablet in hand. And the specs are a tad dated now. But if you find one really cheap, it may ben worth it.

Nvidia Shield Tablet is worth a look. It's got a powerful processor, amazing graphics performance, and front facing speakers. Though the downside is it's kinda bulky for it's screen size.

Nexus 9 is rumored to be coming soon. I think this will be an impressive affordable tablet. I think this may be the one to wait for.

The nvidia shield tablet is a buggy mess. I literally just returned one after using it for 4-5 nights. All that horsepower on a shaky frame.

Go ahead and jump in but be warned. Nvidia half a$$ed Android.


The Tab S has plenty of power for what is being described in the original post. Its more than enough for almost anyone. And it works! It actually feels more smooth than the Shield. Nvidia - take note, you don't get force closures, and you can actually setup multiple profiles without memory leaks and none stop crashing! And the Wifi actually works when your 20 feet away from the router!

Did I mention apps like Chrome Beta, Dolphin, Facebook, HD Widgets, among others are all a laggy mess on the Shield Tablet?

The screen is also very average. Its too warm for my liking. Whites are yellow.

And one last thing - The weight. Prepare for a heavy tablet with the Shield.

Its getting good reviews for the most part, but I think there is a lot of negatives out there people need to be aware of.

Check out the nvidia forums on these issues too.

 

[midwestfisherman]

I should have mentioned, I had an Ipad Air and sold it. My wife has an iPad Mini Retina and while I really liked my Air I want to get into the Android world. Thanks for the responses so far. Interesting take on the Shield. Too bad the thing is so buggy I might have gotten one of them.

It seems like all of the reviews on the Tab S have been favorable.

 

[Red Storm]

I would not buy a tablet until seeing what the Nexus 9 has to offer.

 

[maxi007]

Dell venue 8

 

[Ravynmagi]

The nvidia shield tablet is a buggy mess. I literally just returned one after using it for 4-5 nights. All that horsepower on a shaky frame.

Go ahead and jump in but be warned. Nvidia half a$$ed Android.


The Tab S has plenty of power for what is being described in the original post. Its more than enough for almost anyone. And it works! It actually feels more smooth than the Shield. Nvidia - take note, you don't get force closures, and you can actually setup multiple profiles without memory leaks and none stop crashing! And the Wifi actually works when your 20 feet away from the router!

Did I mention apps like Chrome Beta, Dolphin, Facebook, HD Widgets, among others are all a laggy mess on the Shield Tablet?

The screen is also very average. Its too warm for my liking. Whites are yellow.

And one last thing - The weight. Prepare for a heavy tablet with the Shield.

Its getting good reviews for the most part, but I think there is a lot of negatives out there people need to be aware of.

Check out the nvidia forums on these issues too.

The Shield is basically stock Android. Not sure what the issues are, maybe some premature drivers for the K1?

The Exynos 5 chip in the Tab S series (and most of the Tab Pros) has a GPU that is inadequate to run a 2560x1600 resolution display in my opinion (and pretty much the opinion of every reviewer).

But this does bring up a good point. There really are no great Android tablets right now. Pretty much any Android tablet available right now seems to have some issues with it. It's kind of a sad state of Android.

I love the Nexus 7, it still runs great, few issues, though it's over a year old. I'm really hoping the Nexus 9 brings us a good quality Android tablet without weird drama issues.

 

[jacktesterson]

The Shield is basically stock Android. Not sure what the issues are, maybe some premature drivers for the K1?

The Exynos 5 chip in the Tab S series (and most of the Tab Pros) has a GPU that is inadequate to run a 2560x1600 resolution display in my opinion (and pretty much the opinion of every reviewer).

But this does bring up a good point. There really are no great Android tablets right now. Pretty much any Android tablet available right now seems to have some issues with it. It's kind of a sad state of Android.

I love the Nexus 7, it still runs great, few issues, though it's over a year old. I'm really hoping the Nexus 9 brings us a good quality Android tablet without weird drama issues.

Curious. What is it inadequate in?

It runs 1080p MKV's fine. It browses the web fine.

Here's a video of it playing Real Racing 3, Asphalt 8, etc.

Not arguing. Just making a point. Paper benchmarks are not always a great indication of real world experience. I agree it might not be leading edge (GPU), but there is a huge tablet user base that do not game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqLWYpGuiDE#t=104

 

[Ravynmagi]

He can buy it at Best Buy, try it out for up to two weeks and exchange/return it for something else if it sucks.

But still think waiting on the Nexus 9 is a good idea.

 

[Roland00Address]

This here right now. LG G Pad 8.3" for $199 it has amazing hardware and it is an awesome deal for that price.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=36741075&postcount=13

The Galaxy Tab S will have a better screen (the G Pad is still nice). The Nvidia Shield Tablet will be faster but with a worse screen. Both of them cost a lot more.

Dell is releasing a competitor to the Galaxy Tab 8.4 with a screen the same size, same ppi, and also OLED (maybe same screen?). No words on price for the Dell. It will use Intel Mooresfield a quad core baytrail part made for android and thus is a faster CPU than Exynos and will have a faster GPU than the Tab S (PowerVR G6430 in mooresfield). Now the Ipad Air is believed to be PowerVR G6430 at roughly 450 mhz the max you can run mooresfield is 533 so if dell allows it, it will be faster than the Tab S for the ipad air gpu is already 30 to 50% faster than the tab s in graphics, and an additional 18% just will make the pain even worse.

I have no doubt the Nexus 9 will be better than the gpad 8.3 but probably for more money based on what we are hearing. That said it may be worth waiting for the nexus 9, but if you were to buy right now I would recommend the G Pad for that price.

 

[wangotango]

tablets suck in general. but to answer your question. I hate to say cause I am a dar hide linux guy but...

Microsoft Surface 2

the hardware is good, comes with office, has USB, and is reasonably priced. 350.00 shipped. it's fast, effective, and has some keyboard options that make it attractive if sitting on a flat surface. God that hurt to recommend.

 

[Roland00Address]

tablets suck in general. but to answer your question.

Says you.

 

[MagickMan]

I have a Tab S, its AMOLED display is f@#king gorgeous, and I've had no issues with it being "underpowered", seems very fast to me.

 

[squarecut1]

Tab S 8.4

Nothing even compares IMO.

Apparently bad battery life

 

[jacktesterson]

tablets suck in general. but to answer your question. I hate to say cause I am a dar hide linux guy but...

Microsoft Surface 2

the hardware is good, comes with office, has USB, and is reasonably priced. 350.00 shipped. it's fast, effective, and has some keyboard options that make it attractive if sitting on a flat surface. God that hurt to recommend.

10" 16x9 Screen - Super Heavy - Lack of Apps.

Its a good tablet, I owned one for a while, but I'll never recommend Windows RT.

 

[wangotango]

Its 8.1 windows

 

[Red Storm]

Its 8.1 windows

The Surface 2 is Windows RT. The Surface Pro 2 is Windows 8.1.

But the Pro 2 is heavy, thick, and lacking quality apps. It's a poor tablet, and an okay Ultrabook, but the screen is too small. The Pro 3 has a much nicer screen, but again, it's more of a notebook than a tablet.

 

[mmntech]

Say what you want about Apple but the iPad is still the best tablet you can buy in terms of both performance and support. My only beef with it is you can't use external storage without jailbreaking the damned things. I like being able to put a whole ton of movies on an SD card if I'm going up to the cottage.

The Galaxy Tab S is probably the best Andriod one right now. The AMOLED screen is absolutely gorgeous. This would be the one I would get over the iPad.

Surface 2 is nice as well, but as they others have said, bulky. If you're going to go for broke like that, might as well get the Pro 3 instead. At least it can run any windows app.

 

[MagickMan]

Apparently bad battery life

As long as it lasts for 3-4 days of regular use (12-14 hours), which it does, I don't care.

 

[Rdmkr]

I've been enjoying my tab S 8.4. I'd say the (graphical) performance complaint is somewhat legit (nowhere near terrible but a notch and a half below perfection); the battery life one not so much. It also comes with pretty extensive homescreen skinning that you've got to get rid of to make it run well. Not saying this because it's a problem you can't fix in half a minute (it's mostly just widgets); just warning you about something that will likely mess with your first impressions.

 

[bassoprofundo]

While the iPad is still the 500 lb. gorilla in this space with pretty much unbeatable tablet-optimized app support and size/weight balance, and while I love mine, I have to put my plug in for the Surface lineup.

I've barely picked up my other tablets since I acquired a Surface Pro 2 earlier this year. For that matter, I rarely feel the need to fire up my high-end i7 laptop either. The SP2 does everything I need/want to do, is just blazing fast, and will run any Windows app out there in addition to all of the metro apps. The Surface Pro 3 (my wife has one) is even better (lighter, thinner, bigger screen, better resolution, etc). If you need something even lighter to do the tasks you described above and don't need legacy app support, the Surface 2 will do all of that at a darn good price.

I don't understand the "bulk" comments, either, especially with the Surface 2 (non-pro) or the SP3. The Surface 2 is dead-even with 3rd & 4th gen iPads, which I don't find to be heavy at all, and it's a difference of 0.44lb with the latest Air. I guess if you're going to be holding your tablet in the air above your head or something in bed most of the time, then by all means, go for the lightest thing you can find. Mine sits on my lap or on a table (another plus for the Surface lineup with its integrated kickstand) most of the time, so even the relative "chunkiness" of my SP2 (@ 2lbs) doesn't bug me.

As for the Android tablets, I've tried and tried to find one I love and to justify it's existence alongside my others, but I can't find a single one that does something better for me than the iPad or Surface lineups. To each his own, though... At the end of the day, though, it's about what works best for you, and for your usage scenarios as described, pretty much anything out there today is going to work for you.