Android Tablets ???

digitalscream

Emp_Fab said:

She's got a Nokia N8 running the Symbian Belle OS.  It doesn't support tethering natively, but there's an app called 'Joikuspot' that will provide that functionality.  She gets 500MB /month and uses almost none of it, so the tethering option is ideal.

Now.... which android tablet to get.  I'm not interested in anything fancy - it probably won't get used for anything else, so cost is the main factor here.  Any suggestions ?

Kindle Fire? 

scrumhalf

I've got an Archos tablet which I got a couple of years ago when Carphone Whorehouse had a good deal. There are some things it doesn't do, one of the main things it doesn't do is cost anywhere near as much as an ipad.

Keep an eye on Hotukdeals for offers, along with some informed comment as to how good the offers actually are.

Emp_Fab

I will indeed.  Thanks for your replies guys.

Emp_Fab

PCWorld (spit) have the Asus Google Nexus 7 - 16GB for £150.  It gets very good reviews and is one of the tested devices with this izettle thing.  I might go with one of those.

monquixote

Emp_Fab said:

PCWorld (spit) have the Asus Google Nexus 7 - 16GB for £150.  It gets very good reviews and is one of the tested devices with this izettle thing.  I might go with one of those.

Do it, you won't regret it.

Deadman

My son recently cracked the screen on his Nexus (accidentally dropped it on a new laminate floor!). It was going to cost £130 to repair so we just bought him the Acer Iconia B1 from Argos for a ton. He says it's better than the Nexus. I've had a play and it seems the same. Not bad at all for the dosh.

Emp_Fab

I've been doing some research since my last post and it appears Asus are releasing an updated version of the Nexus 7 next month. With discount codes etc, you can get it for £190.  Now, this buggers my plan as the full retail price of the old version is £159 and I can get a tenner off.  Paying virtually full retail for a device that's about to be superceded (and will inevitably drop in price a lot once the new one is on the shelves) is not sensible shopping.  Trouble is, Mrs F wants it yesterday (as with all things).  So I can't wait until September for the new one, so.... it's back to the drawing board.

Right....  Android, with WiFi and Bluetooth, and something that's fairly robust (she's not kind to technology - how the hell her notepad is still running I do not know - that poor thing has been dropped, crushed, sat on, bounced...).

Sporky

My Asus transformer is a good few years old now and still does what I need of it perfectly well - while there is a new Nexus 7 on the way the current one is a very nice bit of kit (we got one in at work to experiment with using it as a control touchpanel).

For £40 less (what's that, 20%?) might as well go for it.

strumjoughlamps

My 3 yo uses a b1 and for what we paid (59 quid) its a bargain I am amazed on what it runs with no lag.

My 10 yo still uses a TF101 and it really is an excellent tablet, great build quality and is still up there with the best of them, my bro in law was recently after a tablet, had a go with my lads TF101 I showed him the current price he purchased one there and then.

http://shop.asus.co.uk/shop/gb/en-GB/Home/1-Products/752-ASUS-Outlet/1917-Refurbished-Eee-Pad/90OK06W2101070Y-Refurbished-ASUS-Eee-Pad-Transformer-TF101--without-Mobile-Docking--16GB-HDD.aspx

monquixote

Emp_Fab said:

I've been doing some research since my last post and it appears Asus are releasing an updated version of the Nexus 7 next month. With discount codes etc, you can get it for £190.  Now, this buggers my plan as the full retail price of the old version is £159 and I can get a tenner off.  Paying virtually full retail for a device that's about to be superceded (and will inevitably drop in price a lot once the new one is on the shelves) is not sensible shopping.  Trouble is, Mrs F wants it yesterday (as with all things).  So I can't wait until September for the new one, so.... it's back to the drawing board.

Right....  Android, with WiFi and Bluetooth, and something that's fairly robust (she's not kind to technology - how the hell her notepad is still running I do not know - that poor thing has been dropped, crushed, sat on, bounced...).

Don't worry about it. If you wait 3 months there will be something else 3 months away you could wait for. Just buy it now and stop worrying. 

Emp_Fab

I just had me a fiddle with a Nexus 7. Oooh... Very nice. I think my mind is made up - New version or not!

TTony

Could you maybe find one half-submerged in a nearby beach?

digitalscream

monquixote said:

Don't worry about it. If you wait 3 months there will be something else 3 months away you could wait for. Just buy it now and stop worrying. 

There is truth here.

Personally, I'd still look at the Kindle Fire. It's a lot of tablet for £129, and will almost certainly suffice for her requirements.

monquixote

Have you used a Fire?

The one I tried seemed to be an advertising platform as much a tablet. 

Sporky

Aye - I would spend the extra on the Nexus 7. If I was after a Kindle I'd get a Paperwhite.

strumjoughlamps

you pay £10 extra to get ads removed from Kindle.. I have tried the Kindle and Nook tablets and didn't like the frontends on either.

DiscoStu

With the Nexus, you can download the Nexus Media Importer app which, with an On The Go (OTG) cable, will read exterior usb drives. The one my ex has even recognised my Sony camera, which was ideal for on the fly editing and uploading. 

Get the Nexus. 

Emp_Fab

'Tis ordered !

PC-World are a right shower though aren't they.  I read on Hotukdeals that if you use the voucher code 'TAB100' you get an extra tenner off.  So, on their website, I went through the reserve & collect process, with the 'Next' button pointing out that 'Voucher codes can be entered at checkout'.  However, if you choose 'Collect from store' the voucher code field vanishes from the checkout screen.  I ended up doing this twice as I thought I'd done it wrong the first time.  Then two emails arrive to tell me about the two Nexus's they will be reserving for me (at full price).  There was no option to cancel the reservations either, but I'm not fussed about that - they're only reservations - no money changed hands.

So... I pop into my local branch to see if I can just give them the code and pick one up.  No such luck - they don't accept vouchers in-store.

So... I ring their main customer services and get a disinterested girl who's only half-listening, and keeps asking me the same questions - 'what product was it ?'... 'can you hang on ?' (obviously asking someone else), '...and what product was it you were interested in ?'.

Grrrr.

Anyway - it turns out that if you order something online for in-store collection, then you can only benefit from discount voucher codes if that store doesn't have the item in stock. (!).  If they DO have the item in stock, it's classed as a store purchase and as store purchases don't allow discount codes, you don't get it.  If they have to send one out from their warehouses because the store doesn't have any in stock, then it's classed as a web sale and you CAN use the voucher codes.  Crazy !

So, I go back online and go through the process again and this time it tells me that my local branch doesn't have any in stock and that they will get one out for Wednesday - and lo and behold - I can enter the voucher code and get it for £150 instead of £160.

I can't help thinking that because I'd already reserved two of the buggers, their system removed them from their stock list, thereby enabling me to get a discount on the 'third' one )

You couldn't make this shit up could you ?

strumjoughlamps

If youre on 02 get a tenner off a 100+ spend priority moments at currys/pc world

Emp_Fab

I can haz tablit.  ;;)

First thing it did was update itself to Jelly Bean 4.3.

Which was nice.

Now it's charging.

Does anyone know if there is a 'demo mode' for it for me to show it off to Mrs Fab ?