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what tablet do I buy
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topcat2
27-10-2011
I know loads of people post these threads. However I've read so many threads and done my research about various tablets and I just don't know what to buy.

Basically I want to pay as little as possible. I'm not bothered that much about looks I don't need an ipad beautiful though they are.

I need a tablet with at least a 10 inch screen that allows me to:-

- use to surf the web
- use the kindle app
- I can stream live tv e,g tvcatchup, live stream, use eurosport player
- use iplayer, channel 4 player etc to catch up on things I've missed
- use youtube and megavideo
-watch movies
-use facebook and twitter and be able to receive email

I'm not really bothered about apps. It's more for watching tv, doing a bit of forumming, surfing the web.


How much do I need to pay to find something that fills these requirements?
freeview_user
27-10-2011
This should be adequate (you clearly don't need an expensive one):

http://www.comet.co.uk/p/Tablets/buy...-Tablet/757373

The above is made by Archos.
topcat2
28-10-2011
would that do everything I wanted it to. It doesn't say it's compatible with flash?
Gormond
28-10-2011
An iPad would certainly do all the tasks you mention and you wouldn't be disapoint with your purchase unlike cheaper tablets.

- Safari
- Kindle App
- TV Catchup, Sky Player, Eurosport Player
- IPlayer, ITV Player, 4od Player
- YouTube and Megavideo Players
- Quite a few video playing apps for avi, mkv and so forth

The above are all apps, most of them I already use with no issues.
c4rv
28-10-2011
I have a flytouch3 that can do all that and more. £110 inc delivery if you can be bothered to order direct from china (I've order 6 without problems).

If you want UK based then hanspree tablet from ebuyer is around £160 and offers more power and a better screen.
freeview_user
28-10-2011
Originally Posted by topcat2:
“would that do everything I wanted it to. It doesn't say it's compatible with flash?”

It is compatible with Flash (it plays it pretty much flawlessly).

There are many fake Flytouch 3's around on Amazon and eBay.

The iPad doesn't support Flash but there are workarounds.
_________________________________________________
There is also the Hannspree Hannspad but it is no longer available for £150.
Big_Ted
28-10-2011
Originally Posted by Gormond:
“An iPad would certainly do all the tasks you mention and you wouldn't be disapoint with your purchase unlike cheaper tablets.

- Safari
- Kindle App
- TV Catchup, Sky Player, Eurosport Player
- IPlayer, ITV Player, 4od Player
- YouTube and Megavideo Players
- Quite a few video playing apps for avi, mkv and so forth

The above are all apps, most of them I already use with no issues.”


Except for the obvious 2 biggest problem's....

No flash and never to have it....

Cost, 2-3 times the price of others that will do what the OP asked for.

The Archos 101 @ £119 at HMV would do whats wanted so if you have one near you then take a look, otherwise Carphone Warehouse is doing it for £149.

Its an older tablet but is easy to sort for Android Market acces so most apps will be available for it.....
Big_Ted
28-10-2011
Originally Posted by freeview_user:
“This should be adequate (you clearly don't need an expensive one):

http://www.comet.co.uk/p/Tablets/buy...-Tablet/757373

The above is made by Archos.”



No stock anywhere though
Big_Ted
28-10-2011
Originally Posted by freeview_user:
“It is compatible with Flash (it plays it pretty much flawlessly).

There are many fake Flytouch 3's around on Amazon and eBay.

The iPad doesn't support Flash but there are workarounds.
_________________________________________________
There is also the Hannspree Hannspad but it is no longer available for £150.”



Most of which are not much use for the majority of the time, ie using your pc to play flash and watching it on the ipad etc are no use if pc turned off etc.


Basically flash at best is a massive pain on the ipad when you can get it at all....
JeffG1
28-10-2011
Seems like the Motorola Xoom 10.1 Honeycomb is flying off the shelves at the moment! I tried to order on line from Laptops Direct but the basket didn't work. Phoned them and was told the reason was they had just sold out. Went to Amazon (bit more pricey), where it said they only had 2 left in stock. I ordered one of them
c4rv
28-10-2011
Originally Posted by JeffG1:
“Seems like the Motorola Xoom 10.1 Honeycomb is flying off the shelves at the moment! I tried to order on line from Laptops Direct but the basket didn't work. Phoned them and was told the reason was they had just sold out. Went to Amazon (bit more pricey), where it said they only had 2 left in stock. I ordered one of them ”

What price are they going for ?

I notice the transformer has dropped to £350 and that includes the keyboard/battery. That could be due to the announcement of the transformer 2 which looks tasty.
Gormond
28-10-2011
Originally Posted by Big_Ted:
“Most of which are not much use for the majority of the time, ie using your pc to play flash and watching it on the ipad etc are no use if pc turned off etc.


Basically flash at best is a massive pain on the ipad when you can get it at all....”

Unsure what people are using flash for... the majority of sites support HTML5 or have a dedicated app. As for games I would much rather download games from the app store made for the iPad.
Matt D
28-10-2011
Originally Posted by JeffG1:
“Seems like the Motorola Xoom 10.1 Honeycomb is flying off the shelves at the moment! I tried to order on line from Laptops Direct but the basket didn't work. Phoned them and was told the reason was they had just sold out. Went to Amazon (bit more pricey), where it said they only had 2 left in stock. I ordered one of them ”

I think the only reason the Xoom is apparently finally selling is because it had a price cut. It was priced the same as the iPad when it came out, and subsequently did not perform very well (ditto for the PlayBook, TouchPad...).

To be honest, it's still a failure now. Even with a lower price, the number shipped (not sold) in Moto's most recent quarterly results is even lower than the previous (poor) quarter.

Originally Posted by Gormond:
“Unsure what people are using flash for... the majority of sites support HTML5 or have a dedicated app. As for games I would much rather download games from the app store made for the iPad.”

Yup. I personally have zero need for Flash. Rarely ever use it on my PC, and never miss it on the iPad. iPlayer and YouTube both have apps and also work via the browser; 4oD has an app; Sky Go has an app; ITV Player has an app; Live Freeview TV can be streamed via an app (FilmON TV) or website (TVCatchup); Sky News, BBC News, and C4 News all have apps; etc. etc. etc. I don't play browser games, don't want to see Flash ads, and despise Flash-based websites.

Still, I guess there are some other uses which some people may be bothered about.


Anyway. The OP did say "I want to pay as little as possible", which rules out the iPad (and Galaxy Tab 10.1 etc.), so they may as well go for one of the lower-end basic Android tablets.
Staunchy
28-10-2011
Things seem to be hotting up for a pre-Christmas price war, the Blackberry Playbook has dropped in price rather, £250 at Currys.
Captain W
28-10-2011
I'd highly recommend the ASUS Transformer that I'm using at the minute ... even converts into a mini laptop with the keyboard seperate ... currently runs Android 3.2.1 with unlimited cloud access ...

Good luck in your choice
Matt D
28-10-2011
Originally Posted by Staunchy:
“Things seem to be hotting up for a pre-Christmas price war, the Blackberry Playbook has dropped in price rather, £250 at Currys.”

Like the Xoom, the PlayBook has had price cuts because it's been a failure, with poor sales and no real impact on the tablet market. 500,000 units shipped in its first quarter, 200,000 shipped in its second. The Xoom's last three quarters have seen 250,000, 440,000, and 100,000 units shipped [all numbers in the link in my previous post]. Compare the numbers for those two tablets to the iPad: 11.12 million iPads sold in Apple's most recent quarer, 9.25 million sold in the previous quarter. 39.85 million total units sold since launch (versus around 6 million Android tablets "out there", of which 3.4 million run Honeycomb).
Matt D
28-10-2011
Originally Posted by Captain W:
“I'd highly recommend the ASUS Transformer that I'm using at the minute ... even converts into a mini laptop with the keyboard seperate ... currently runs Android 3.2.1 with unlimited cloud access ...

Good luck in your choice ”

Of the Android tablets, that's certainly a good choice
finbaar
28-10-2011
Hannspree Hannspad from Misco for £160. It has a dual core processor and 16gb of storage and as it can run flash it has FULL internet browsing rather than the "web lite" offered by Apple, It is easily upgradable to Honeycomb as well and it is possible to connect a usb keyboard.
freeview_user
28-10-2011
Originally Posted by finbaar:
“ It is easily upgradable to Honeycomb as well and it is possible to connect a usb keyboard[/b].”

Honeycomb doesn't run bug free though. It is no where near as stable as on the Vega.
grumpyoldbat
28-10-2011
Originally Posted by Staunchy:
“Things seem to be hotting up for a pre-Christmas price war, the Blackberry Playbook has dropped in price rather, £250 at Currys.”

The Playbook isn't currently an option based on the OP's criteria as it doesn't do email out of the box and the update which will enable it has been delayed until at least next February.
freeview_user
28-10-2011
Originally Posted by grumpyoldbat:
“The Playbook isn't currently an option based on the OP's criteria as it doesn't do email out of the box and the update which will enable it has been delayed until at least next February.”

Not to mention it's got about 10 apps .
grumpyoldbat
28-10-2011
Originally Posted by freeview_user:
“Not to mention it's got about 10 apps .”

Yep, and that same update which was going to bring support for Android apps is... delayed!
Staunchy
28-10-2011
Originally Posted by grumpyoldbat:
“The Playbook isn't currently an option based on the OP's criteria as it doesn't do email out of the box and the update which will enable it has been delayed until at least next February.”

I was just thinking out loud in relation to a lot of the price cuts, I'd forgotten about the OP
JeffG1
29-10-2011
Originally Posted by Matt D:
“To be honest, it's still a failure now. Even with a lower price, the number shipped (not sold) in Moto's most recent quarterly results is even lower than the previous (poor) quarter.”

If you define 'failure' purely on numbers sold, then I guess Rolls Royce and Bentley must be failures too.

I prefer to look at performance and value for money, and especially at user satisfaction reviews, which have been pretty positive.
Matt D
29-10-2011
Flawed comparison. It's hardly the equivalent of a Rolls Royce or a Bentley. They're not sold with the intention to conquer the car market - they're aimed at a specific section. They also don't get their prices cut when they fail to make a dent against mass market cars, as that's not the point.

The Xoom though was supposed to be an iPad killer. It was Moto's attempt at breaking into the tablet market. It wasn't meant to be a niche thing for rich people, like a Rolls or Bentley, it was supposed to provide competition for the iPad. It failed.

Yeah, it's a nice tablet (not as nice as the Galaxy Tab 10.1 however), but it's still a failure.
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