Which tablet meets these requirements and may be competively priced now/soon?

[desidude]

Hello friends and Happy Thanksgiving!

I was wondering if any of the tablets that are either being discounted for 'Black Friday' or being sold at a competitive price would meet my needs:

1) A tablet that has a USB or external connection is preferred

2) A tablet that has cellular data functionality (SIM Card) and is not restricted to one particular carrier. I do not wish to enter a contract with a phone company in order to purchase the tablet

3) Anything between an 8inch to 10inch screen is fine

4) Good for reading, including PDFs, books

5) Preferably a windows based OS or at least the ability to function MS Word and Powerpoint

This is for my friend who is a professor and has been seeking a tablet for the last couple of years and I thought this may be the time to get a good deal.

Any thoughts please? I am located in Houston, TX USA

Happy Thanksgiving!

desidude

 

[poofyhairguy]

The Nokia Lumia 2520 hits all those points I am pretty sure.

 

[desidude]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. I was wondering if there are any other suggestions, as I am concerned that Nokia may not have a wide network of warranty providers.

How about the other brands, e.g. Samsung?

Thanks,
desidude

 

[poofyhairguy]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. I was wondering if there are any other suggestions, as I am concerned that Nokia may not have a wide network of warranty providers.

How about the other brands, e.g. Samsung?

Thanks,
desidude

For Windows your options are that Nokia or Microsoft's Surface 2 64GB LTE. That is it.

If you can deal with not perfect Office Compatibility then Android becomes an option which really opens things up (aka Samsung). But Windows tablets are mostly not LTE.

 

[desidude]

Hello poofyhairguy,

Thank you for your replies. Wishing you and your family/friends a very Happy Thanksgiving.

I appreciate your reply. I think only the Microsoft Surface 2 has the SIM card option, so I may need to consider some of the Samsung models.

Can the Android tablets, e.g. the Samsung, run programs such as MS Word and Powerpoint?

If not, I presume they have some good options for academic note taking and basic powerpoint.

Any suggestion on which Samsung model is in the mid price point range? e.g.$500 or less, and preferably a 2014 or late 2014 model?

I really appreciate your help, there are so many Samsung options, I am confused!

 

[sonitravel09]

I guess Samsung Galaxy Tab 2.10.1 is a good one. It is not working on Windows, but it perfectly works on Android. It is not slow, what you can face with windows based OS.

 

[Midwayman]

Hello friends and Happy Thanksgiving!

I was wondering if any of the tablets that are either being discounted for 'Black Friday' or being sold at a competitive price would meet my needs:

1) A tablet that has a USB or external connection is preferred

2) A tablet that has cellular data functionality (SIM Card) and is not restricted to one particular carrier. I do not wish to enter a contract with a phone company in order to purchase the tablet

3) Anything between an 8inch to 10inch screen is fine

4) Good for reading, including PDFs, books

5) Preferably a windows based OS or at least the ability to function MS Word and Powerpoint

This is for my friend who is a professor and has been seeking a tablet for the last couple of years and I thought this may be the time to get a good deal.

Any thoughts please? I am located in Houston, TX USA

Happy Thanksgiving!

desidude

1) USB for what? Nearly every android has a variant of USB on it. You looking to hook up drives, a wired keyboard, or what?

2)That's most LTE tablets.

4) If you're reading letter sized PDFs and want full page view, 10" is where its at (or larger)

5) Word and powerpoint are on iOS now. I know they're coming to or are on android. Are you just looking for file compatibility, or are you hoping to run the desktop app?

I think the USB question is the most important one to figure out what you need.

 

[pyrolyser]

If you're planning in hooking up a USB external storage device, you should first search about write permission for KitKat

 

[desidude]

Hello friends,

Thank you for your reply and apologies for my delayed response.

The USB functionality will be to transfer files, either a PDF, Powerpoint or a Word document.

I know this can be easily done via email, but the Professor is not that tech savvy unfortunately.

So for example, lets say he types up a word document and makes a powerpoint on his laptop, and then saves it on a USB and wants to retrieve it from the USB to the tablet when on the go, e.g. at a conference or on the move.

Nothing complicated!

The other issue I am struggling with is identifying a tablet that I can buy in the USA which has LTE/Cellular capability, without a contract.

I know iPads can do this, but do you know of any other brands?

Thanks,
desidude

 

[lopri]

never mind. I am an idiot.

 

[desidude]

Hi lopri...sorry, did I say something wrong

 

[Midwayman]

Hello friends,

Thank you for your reply and apologies for my delayed response.

The USB functionality will be to transfer files, either a PDF, Powerpoint or a Word document.

I know this can be easily done via email, but the Professor is not that tech savvy unfortunately.

So for example, lets say he types up a word document and makes a powerpoint on his laptop, and then saves it on a USB and wants to retrieve it from the USB to the tablet when on the go, e.g. at a conference or on the move.

Nothing complicated!

The other issue I am struggling with is identifying a tablet that I can buy in the USA which has LTE/Cellular capability, without a contract.

I know iPads can do this, but do you know of any other brands?

Thanks,
desidude

So he wants USB OTG functionality. Apple is out. A win 8 tablet, or android might have it. However you have to be careful as not every tablet supports USB OTG, and its not a well published spec.

This is looking pretty good.
http://www.amazon.com/NVIDIA-SHIELD-...rds=lte+tablet

$400 for the unlocked no contract version. Super fast, USB OTG support.

 

[lopri]

I think the OP wants (full-sized) USB 2.0/3.0 ports on top of the micro-USB receptacle for charging/USB OTG.

OP: I originally suggested Xperia Z2 tablet then realized the tablet does not meet the USB port requirement. You did not do anything wrong. ^^

 

[Midwayman]

I think the OP wants (full-sized) USB 2.0/3.0 ports on top of the micro-USB receptacle for charging/USB OTG.

OP: I originally suggested Xperia Z2 tablet then realized the tablet does not meet the USB port requirement. You did not do anything wrong. ^^

Yah, those are super rare though. Surface pro is the only one I can think of off hand that has them.

 

[gmaster456]

I guess Samsung Galaxy Tab 2.10.1 is a good one. It is not working on Windows, but it perfectly works on Android. It is not slow, what you can face with windows based OS.

If it is the Galaxy Tab 2 you are suggesting it is most certainly slow and very out of date. If I remember right it's running Tegra 2

 

[gmaster456]

I would suggest either the Surface 2 or the Lumia 2520 and call it a day. I am a Campus Officer for the college in my town and I see a lot of MS Surfaces around. It does everything you're asking so no need to complicate things with Android workarounds. It may not be suitable for one handed reading but not many 10 inch tablets are. It would be fine on a tabletop or using a kickstand however.

 

[Midwayman]

Using a micro USB to USB adapter is a 'work around'?

 

[pyrolyser]

A simple USB OTG cable will do the trick. Tablets with full-sized USB ports are rare nowadays unless you're looking at a surface. Some keyboard docks like the ones from the Transformer line of tablets from Asus do offer full-sized USB ports.