Help Looking for a good Tablet...

[brendap]

Anyone have ant favorites or recomendations. I was looking at Ipad 2 and the Acer Iconia a200. Any help would be very helpful.

[edstein]

iPad 2 for sure. I have a 32GB wifi version and have been very happy. The new iPad would be even better.

[Mr. Salty]

Originally Posted by brendap

Any help would be very helpful.

More information would be helpful. What are you going to use it for? What's your budget? Are you familiar with iOS or Android operating systems?

[Xander]

If you're going Android, I can't recommend the Samsung Galaxy Tab highly enough. I've been loving mine. I was going to go with Acer (slightly cheaper), but read enough reviews of people having problems to push me to the Galaxy. And I have not regretted it.

[RichC2]

Price:Quality ratio, IMO, goes to the iPad 2 Refurb 16gb Wifi from Apple ($349) or if you're interested in a 7" model, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 ($249)

I own a Galaxy Tab 10.1 myself, you can get one for $299 now (refurbished as well) but I feel like Honeycomb is an extended Beta due to minor (very minor) performance issues, it lacks a certain polish which prevents me from recommending it to anyone but the nerdy. I do love the thing though.

[D.Pham4GLTE (>60GB)]

Thrive refurbished is $200.

http://m.slickdeals.net/f/4275136-To...ay-Daily-Deal?

[kefrank]

I'll throw in a vote for the Galaxy Tab 8.9. It's the perfect size for a tablet, in my opinion, and performs very well at everything I'd want a tablet to do.

That said, if you're already invested in the iTunes ecosystem, it's a no-brainer to get an iPad.

[Ford Prefect]

3 months ago I would have said the Asus Transformer. Unfortunately their last 2 firmware updates (3/28/12 and 4/26/12) have actually caused the tablet to no longer function for myself and lots of other people (do a search, the results are not pretty). I personally steered clear of the Ipads as I like the fact a lot of the Android devices allow the use of Micro SD cards for extra memory (I screw around with cameras, and have an 8 GB micro SD I keep with my tablet that is completely full at the moment, and Apple can bite me when it comes to limiting my storage space). At the moment I don't know what to recommend as I am considering using my Best Buy replacement plan I bought with my transformer to return it towards something else, but don't know what to get.

[Sdallnct]

Do you have an iPhone by chance? As mentioned, if your already "invested" in iTunes, than go iPad2 or the New iPad. And a nice feature I really like if you do have an iPhone is there are some apps that sync via iCloud with the iPhone. Or in reverse. In other words if your using the same app on both devices, the data is sync'd between the two with out entering in both. I find this really useful.

I'm guessing (but don't know) that you can do something in Google ecosystem like that.

IMO it is no longer about just the hardware. It is about the whole package (hardware, OS, app world, support, etc, etc).

[RoboDad]

I agree. And it seems that more apps every day are adding iCloud sync support.

Plus, if you do already have an iPhone, any universal apps (apps designed to work on either device) that you have purchased on your phone do not need to be re-purchased on your iPad. You can simply download the app under the same purchase license.

I definitely recommend the iPad.

[kuroiinu]

I would go a different route. If you already have an iPhone, get an Android tablet for a different experience. Having an iPhone and buying an iPad to me is like buying two of the same car. Boring.

[edstein]

Originally Posted by kuroiinu

I would go a different route. If you already have an iPhone, get an Android tablet for a different experience. Having an iPhone and buying an iPad to me is like buying two of the same car. Boring.

Actually they complement each other. Especially when using iCloud, iTunes, etc.

[Sdallnct]

Originally Posted by kuroiinu

I would go a different route. If you already have an iPhone, get an Android tablet for a different experience. Having an iPhone and buying an iPad to me is like buying two of the same car. Boring.

Humm...I disagree....but aren't the practical issues as well? Music on iPhone, go to iTunes. Music on Android, you would have to move your music out of iTunes to drag and drop. Yes? And if you wanted to use the same app on both, you would have to buy each version. Yes? The iPhone has their own charging cable that will work on the both. The Android's are typically mini USB. Yes?

Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to be Apple fan boy. If he has an Android phone, I'd suggest and Android tablet. I mean just the simple use of Cloud where if you d/l a song on one, have a pic on one, it automatically goes to the other. I'm assuming Android works like the iCloud.

Now if your getting a tablet for 90% eReader, than that is a different story. My wife has an iPhone and about 18 month old Kindle. I think I'm going to get her a Fire for Mom's day. She will 90% use to read. But also play games on the bigger screen. Check email quickly, etc. But she doesn't travel. Like her laptop. So it will be eReader+.

[RichC2]

Google does offer many of the same features, well integrated.

I hate iTunes but if you're already vested in it you may want to stick with Apple. I don't like just how controlling Apples ecosystem is (or iOS in general), but it all depends on the users preferences.

iPad imo is the best tablet on the market, but it comes at a pretty big cost (ignoring the initial purchase)

[kuroiinu]

Originally Posted by Sdallnct

Humm...I disagree....but aren't the practical issues as well? Music on iPhone, go to iTunes. Music on Android, you would have to move your music out of iTunes to drag and drop. Yes? And if you wanted to use the same app on both, you would have to buy each version. Yes? The iPhone has their own charging cable that will work on the both. The Android's are typically mini USB. Yes?

It's not difficult to deal with the above: Use Google Music for Android. Some apps go by your email - you don't have to buy again if you use the same email, even if you need one copy for iTunes and another for Android. In the worst case, you buy again, but it's not the end of the world. I probably have a total of $15 in paid apps. And lastly you carry a mini USB cable, but the USB plug is shared.

I almost always carry both an iPhone and an Android, and am perfectly happy with that choice. There are things you can do with iTunes better than with Android, and vice versa.

[D.Pham4GLTE (>60GB)]

Originally Posted by Sdallnct

Humm...I disagree....but aren't the practical issues as well? Music on iPhone, go to iTunes. Music on Android, you would have to move your music out of iTunes to drag and drop. Yes? And if you wanted to use the same app on both, you would have to buy each version. Yes? The iPhone has their own charging cable that will work on the both. The Android's are typically mini USB. Yes?

Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to be Apple fan boy. If he has an Android phone, I'd suggest and Android tablet. I mean just the simple use of Cloud where if you d/l a song on one, have a pic on one, it automatically goes to the other. I'm assuming Android works like the iCloud.

Now if your getting a tablet for 90% eReader, than that is a different story. My wife has an iPhone and about 18 month old Kindle. I think I'm going to get her a Fire for Mom's day. She will 90% use to read. But also play games on the bigger screen. Check email quickly, etc. But she doesn't travel. Like her laptop. So it will be eReader+.

most current android phones use micro usb. some older phones did use mini usb. though, my android uses extmicro usb, and you can't use an extmicro usb cable on a micro usb device, but you can use a micro usb cable on an extmicro usb device.

[RoboDad]

Music is the one area that isn't an issue at all for me any more. Right now I have all of my music in both iTunes and Google Music. There is a PC app that you can download that keeps your iTunes music synced to Google, and the gMusic app for iOS works very well. So whichever platform you prefer, you can keep your music with you.

However, in every other conceivable way it would make no sense at all to use a tablet from one ecosystem and a phone from another.

[kuroiinu]

I think we are past the "ecosystem" days. Things are now a lot more flexible we can buy what we want.

[RichC2]

Originally Posted by kuroiinu

I think we are past the "ecosystem" days. Things are now a lot more flexible we can buy what we want.

And most things try to be cross platform, unless it's Apple.

[Tracer Bullet]

iPad. It's not even a question. Every other tablet besides the Kindle Fire is a joke.

[kefrank]

Originally Posted by Tracer Bullet

iPad. It's not even a question. Every other tablet besides the Kindle Fire is a joke.

I'm sure it behooves Apple fans to perpetuation this perception, but in 2012, it's simply no longer true. The iPad is the clear market leader, but there are plenty of other tablets that will perform just as well (and in some cases, better) at the majority of things that most people use a tablet for.

[RichC2]

Originally Posted by Tracer Bullet

iPad. It's not even a question. Every other tablet besides the Kindle Fire is a joke.

Galaxy Tab 2 > Kindle Fire

[Tracer Bullet]

Originally Posted by kefrank

I'm sure it behooves Apple fans to perpetuation this perception, but in 2012, it's simply no longer true. The iPad is the clear market leader, but there are plenty of other tablets that will perform just as well (and in some cases, better) at the majority of things that most people use a tablet for.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2401676,00.asp

I'm not sure why anyone would pay the same price for an inferior product.

[RichC2]

Not sure I would consider it inferior. I hate reading articles like that though, they're so littered with inaccuracies and general stupidity (of course you can't find PopGames since it's PopCap, which is owned by EA who publishes their titles on the Android platform) it's difficult to take their opinion seriously. That said he does make one valid point, Android tablets are better suited for the geeks than average consumer (not gonna lie, big selling points for me were emulators and the out of the box codecs supported). And I'm sure Apple does the same thing now, but being able to search the market on your computer and remotely install it onto your devices is a bit easier than searching on any handheld device, even if it's just to make a point.

But for $399, if you can look past iOS and a lack of flexibility (and UI blandness), the iPad 2 is the best value for a full size tablet out there (I bought a refurbished one for my Mom last week, $349 from Apple w/ new battery/no scratches/limited warranty.)

[fumanstan]

Originally Posted by Tracer Bullet

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2401676,00.asp

I'm not sure why anyone would pay the same price for an inferior product.

In many cases, what about $100 - $150 less? While some apps aren't as good, the basic functionality of web browsing, email, games and media all work just fine on an Android tablet. I just don't like iOS, so I would probably never buy an iPad despite how much I love the display.

Although currently, my Kindle Fire does just everything I want it to do.