Southy_SWFC

Hello 1 and all.

I'm looking into getting an Android tablet but I'm stuck on which to get.

What is the benefit in getting a Samsung or Google one for $250 when unknown brands have similar specs for around $150?

So far I've only really looked at Best Buy and Walmart but they don't seem to carry them in store so I'll probably end up buying one online which means I'm not limited to where I can get one from.

Any suggestions are welcome,


Thanks

tonrob

No suggestions as to model, but make sure you don't pay full price.

Black Friday is just around the corner, but if you want something sooner then AMEX is giving a 10% rebate on Best Buy purchases via facebook/Twitter until the middle of the month. You can also buy discounted gift cards - look at this site.

Southy_SWFC

Certainly worth a look, thanks for your help. Don't have an AMEX card so I'm not sure that bit applies to me though

Sheepdip

$50 can't be bad? Not the highest spec but would get you going.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/[email protected]

tonrob

If you can get some then it's well worth it. They practically throw money at you during the year with various offers.

You can still look into the discount gift card purchase thing - not quite as lucrative but it's possible to save - say - up to 10% that way depending where you buy from.

Guindalf

The cheaper tablets generally are running older versions of the OS and have much less memory.

Depending on what you want to use it for, I would be inclined to go for the Kindle Fire at $159 or the new version, the Kindle Fire HD at $199.

The lesser-known brands are generally much cheaper made and may not even have access to the Google Play store for apps.

I have an Asus EeePad Transformer, which come with 16 (or32) Gb of RAM and has a micro-SD slot for more (I have another 16 Gb in there) and an optional keyboard dock which not only turns it into a netbook, but also adds a USB port. This may be too expensive for what you're looking for, but remember, you gets whats you pays for!

Bob

With the Fire HD and other versions going up for pre-order, might be worth waiting and seeing if you can pick up a second hand Fire for peanuts?

But yeah, big difference to the cheap budget ones will be in how upgradeable the OS is and if they've hit the limit, which would limit you to what you can with with the thing with regards to Google Play.

The cheap ones will be good for reading, checking email, possibly streaming your music collection and watching the odd show, but not really much else and the battery is the other major thing that suffers, especially length of the life of the battery as well as how long it runs between charges.

Can't go wrong for that $50 one though if all you're doing is reading a book on the bog and want to check your FB/email.

tonrob

Maybe I'm on the bog now. Maybe I'm not. You decide.

Southy_SWFC

The main uses will be to listen to music, play games and skype so I'd like to be able to put an SD card in plus it needs a camera on the front.

I didn't know that some of them dont have access to the app stores so that ruled out a few of the ones that're about $150.

Looks like my 2 only options are really the SS galaxy tab or the Google Nexus. Any suggestions/preferences between the 2?

Thanks for all the help

Bob

And the Kindle Fire, or the HD if you don't mind waiting.

Anyway, as to those two tablets, they're both good, don't think there's really much in them for difference, though I think you can probably get better deals with the Nexus at the moment.

kimilseung

Kindle Fire does not have access to Google Play, less apps available on Amazon. No camera, (this changes with the new ones) hard to get all codecs up and running. The new Fire's put the Kindles back in to consideration, but even with the improvement coming, they are not the bargain they were when they first came out.

If you go Jelly Bean, then Flash will take some trickery, which might impact your British TV viewing pleasure.

cluedweasel

Look to see if the cheaper tablets have resistive or capacitive screens. The more expensive, mainstream tablets have capacitive. It responds to touch a lot better. The cheaper ones often have resistive screens, which is the same tech used on ATMs and the like.

Southy_SWFC

For some reason the white galaxy tab comes with a docking keyboard but the black one doesnt. Perhaps thats what I'll go for then get a 32gb SD card to go in it.

Cheers for your help

Sheepdip

Groupon?

http://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-asus...&c=deal_button

BritishGuy36

OP, you don't say what size you are looking for but at the prices you are discussing I presume a 7".

The Samsung and Asus units are the best tablets I've used (Android or otherwise), and I've tried a few. I currently have an Asus Transformer TF101 and love it to bits.

If I was buying right now I'd buy a Transformer Prime TF201 but that's a 10" model, may be too big for what you want.

But remember that in general the 10" models are way faster as they have faster CPUs.

Just don't be swayed by the fanbois and pay twice as much for the same or lower spec with an Apple product - android is the way to go.