Tablets--preferences?

[Qqmike]

When it comes to cheap tablets, attitude is part of value. Friend & his wife from the Midwest came out to visit, driving, brought their $59 D2 tablet. The tablet enabled them to get directions, find motels, do email and Skype back home, and they rigged it up to check on their property back home, monitoring three live cameras on their house. Fifty-nine dollars that was.

[Feathers McGraw]

When it comes to cheap tablets, attitude is part of value. Friend & his wife from the Midwest came out to visit, driving, brought their $59 D2 tablet. The tablet enabled them to get directions, find motels, do email and Skype back home, and they rigged it up to check on their property back home, monitoring three live cameras on their house. Fifty-nine dollars that was.

That's ridiculously cheap!

When I was working on site for a bit (I'm a civil engineer), I was doing something that required me to leave my car and check on some equipment every ~15 minutes, but other than that I had a lot of time to kill. I seriously considered buying a Chromebook to play with, I figured I could leave it in the car and not worry about it getting stolen or damaged too much. If I knew I had another similar job coming along I'd definitely get one.

[SteveRiley]

So many of those cheap Chinese tablets have a 1024 x 600 screen. Then they show Windows 8 running on them, which is crazy. Minimum resolution requirement is 1024 x 768 (down from 1366 x 768 when it was first released). The OS will gripe a lot if it sees a vertical resolution of less than 768. Anyone shipping a tablet with less than that won't be able to honestly claim they're offering certified hardware.

[DoYouKubuntu]

I'm late to this party, so I'm only addressing the OP's question. I bought a Kindle Fire HD 8.9" tablet a year ago and have been very happy with it. Of course, I rooted it, so it behaves just like any other Android tablet, and is not limited to its original Amazon-centric life. Its original carousel thingy is gone, replaced by multiple home screens, each with their own widgets. After rooting it I also installed Google Play, so I have the option of installing apps either via Google or Amazon. I love it, but really only use it for playing games. Well, 99% of its use is games, the other 1% an occasional glance at a web site. Oh, and I always have a root terminal running, which comes in handy for the date hack on Candy Crush Saga, et al.

[Qqmike]

After reading DYK's post, I reviewed the thread only to realize I forgot to post my decision on Nov 26th! WTH is that going on?

I happen to catch Best Buy's pre-pre-impending-get-ready-sneak-preview-pre-Black-Friday-one-time-only-sale-until-the-next-time sale:

Samsung - Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4

http://www.bestbuy.com/site....3181535

For $200 (at the time I made the purchase), it's a no-brainer and a safe way to learn about using a tablet. Previously, a $400 unit, it it loaded with performance capability (see specs on processor speed, resolution, memory, and other). At this price, I can relax, enjoy learning this stuff and watch what happens with Nexus 9 and Tab S lines. No hurry, is there? I think this will do more than I really need, Skype works great, email, Chrome, apps are adequate, etc. I liked it so much, I got one for the spousal unit at that price. Picked up SDHC 32 GB cards (SanDisk, Best Buy on sale @$25/ea.) to supplement the minimal 16 GB it comes with (about the only slightly negative aspect of this $200 value); and got really good, nicely rated MOKO cases at Amazon for $16 each (in with two other items I needed, so I got free shipping). The issue for me is solved for the present, but the thread can continue as there's been a lot of really good discussion on tablets. Many thanks for all your input.

[NickStone]

Would this be of interest?
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/t...r-media-lovers

They're trying to raise $36,000 to start production for this tablet. It sounds too good to be true. Surely it would cost more to manufacture a tablet and supply it to the world, or is to be sold for US market only?

[Snowhog]

That's a "one time only" fundraiser. And the way this fundraiser is setup, if they don't raise the $36,000.00 goal, the funds won't be returned to the contributors. If they raise the funds before the deadline, then only the quantity they specified to be made will be made, then no more afterwards.

[GreyGeek]

10" iPad here. Made in 2010. (I also have a 4" iPad 4th gen but keep it charged only for use by my younger grandson ... it's too small for my eyes and fingers.)
Safari is not that good of a browser, IMO, so I don't do much browsing with it, but the YouTube app is great for watching videos and movies in bed with the ear phones so the wif isn't disturbed.
I also use it with the WeatherPro app for storm watchings. And, I have an app that listens in on commercial radio, police and fire depts, with scanner mode.
Googe Earth is nice. I have a couple astronomy apps, and a math engine installed. Also Minecraft and a flight sim.

[SteveRiley]

Nexus 10. Still chugging along quite nicely after two years. The screen is amazing.

[SteveRiley]

Oh, and I always have a root terminal running, which comes in handy for the date hack

You hack your dates? Scary!

[DoYouKubuntu]

You hack your dates? Scary!

Yes indeed I do! And it's fun, too! I highly recommend it for anyone who plays the Candy Crush line of games.

[SteveRiley]

You hack your dates and you crush your candy. I think I'm afraid of you.

[richb]

I just got a Galaxy Tab S 10.5 inch. The screen is dazzling. It is very responsive and easily interfaced with my laptop with Kubuntu 14,10 installed.

[Qqmike]

... and it is very, very thin! One reviewer on YouTube said he is afraid to handle it for fear of breaking it, implying it is so thin, it is counterintuitive.



Edit: Looks like that would be 6.6 mm!

[richb]

I got a relatively cheap cover for it, all buttons and camera exposed. It makes it less delicate feeling. KDE Connect works well with my 14.10 install