Need Tablet Advice

[IsaacT]

Hey guys,

I have decided that I really want to buy a tablet to use at school and for media enjoyment. I have taken a look at as many as I can get my hands on and have some ideas but need some advice on choosing the best option.

1. I would like to have at least a 9 inch display.
2. I want it to be fast, preferably over 1.7GHz processor speed with 2GB of RAM.
3. I need to be able to create word documents.
4. I want to be able to take handwritten notes on it.
5. The display should be atleast 1920x1200, although this isn't as big of a deal.

If it is android I would really prefer to have stock android over the re-done versions a lot of companies put out. Or atleast the ability to change it if I so choose.
If it is apple, I need to know that it will be a decent machine for all of the above. I know iPads look nice, but how good are they at tasks?

I have thought about the following tablets so far:
1. EVGA Tegra Note 4 - This I have discarded due to bad reviews of the build quality and the fact that the screen is so small.
2. Galaxy Note 10.1 - I have yet to completely throw this out of the window. All I seem to hear are good things, just not sure if I want to stretch the price point for it. Also, Samsung is one of the worst about reskinning and bloatware if I remember right. Upside is that my phone is a Galaxy S4.
3. iPad Air - These puppies is 'spensive, but they appear to be a great tablet. I am just hesitant to buy back into the apple dominion.
4. Google Nexus 7 - Too small, otherwise great tablet.
5. Google Nexus 10 - I really didn't care for how it looked when I first saw it. The specs are nice though so I am having trouble.
6. Asus Transformer T101 - This looks to be a good deal, but I have hesitations about Windows 8, even if it is on a tablet.


Any advice would be appreciated. I don't want to throw away my money but I need some portable computing for school since I only have a desktop right now. I have no desire to buy a laptop, so that isnt much of an option for me.

Thanks,
Isaac

 

[Seoul_lasers]

I have tried out many tablets ( actually all) that you've listed.

Here is what you'll have to sort out,

IF you're looking for an open tablet for connecting to DIY electronics and serial applications you'll need to be looking at an android tablet.
The Galaxy Tab running the Exynos 5 Octa Quad Core ARM chip will be a great performer.
The screen is 2560x1440 and can display 2K video without stuttering. The downside is that there are very few apps in comparison to the Apple (iPad Air)

The iPad air is just as fast as the Galaxy tab and runs the same chip, more storage but has a vast array of apps, but it's not as open for serial communication unless you jailbreak...
:

 

[Livinloud]

Word documents = not apple. Idk if im supposed to say this but UMass has a bunch of employees who just got a bunch of new iPads for work. UMass isnt an apple university and I strongly advised my dad from getting an apple since they had some input in it. Had him suggest the surface to IT and they liked it but didnt test it enough so they said get the iPad, you'll be fine. Well iPad = horrible to sync with a windows university without adapters, cables, blah blah blah. Now my dad comes back 2 months later (yes two quick months) and says IT said I was right, they love the surface and stopped approving iPads for purchase -_-

Well, great waste of money. Give them to the dumb apple groupie employees and let them be happy. Upgrading to surfaces ASAP.

 

[IsaacT]

I am really thinking of going with the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition. It is a lot more than what I really wanted to spend but it seems to get all perfect reviews.

 

[Livinloud]

Tab was acrually my second to recommend. GF got the 7" for xmas and loves it

 

[Seoul_lasers]

Word documents = not apple. Idk if im supposed to say this but UMass has a bunch of employees who just got a bunch of new iPads for work. UMass isnt an apple university and I strongly advised my dad from getting an apple since they had some input in it. Had him suggest the surface to IT and they liked it but didnt test it enough so they said get the iPad, you'll be fine. Well iPad = horrible to sync with a windows university without adapters, cables, blah blah blah. Now my dad comes back 2 months later (yes two quick months) and says IT said I was right, they love the surface and stopped approving iPads for purchase -_-

Well, great waste of money. Give them to the dumb apple groupie employees and let them be happy. Upgrading to surfaces ASAP.

Not to knock down what you're explaining, actually syncing iPads with windows is NOT difficult at all and is done all the time here in ROK. I am amazed that a University has problems syncing iPads within a Windows environment. Also Word docs can be edited using several available WP suites in the App Store. They all work extremely well!
The problem is that most Universities that are windows exclusive have been sold on the idea that iPads are incompadible with windows exchange servers because they either lack the know-how or are paid to exclude the devices from their network, as often happens with some institutions here (mostly Govt.)..
~ Every intl. school and post secondary institution here in ROK is Windows 7-8.1 centric due to government requirements yet they manage to maintain an working iPad program.

Apple's iOS may be locked down tighter than a drum but working interoperation with Windows 7-8.1 OS's is not one of its downfalls.

Android for all it's openness (linux kernel) lacks some really basic software that Apple iTunes store seems to have in abundance.
So there is a downside to both worlds....
The MS surface is very overpriced for what it does in my opinion and better performance and battery life can be had with both the Galaxy Tab and the Air...
:tinfoil::tinfoil::tinfoil::tinfoil:

I am not a Apple fan boy nor a Fandroid... I am giving you my honest professional opinion based on my experience with both platforms in the industrial/ Corporate Education environments.
Hope this helps.

 

[Livinloud]

Seoul, I leave out the parts I know for sure I cant discuss which is the programs the university uses that dont sync and what they use the tablets for. There is a lot more behind it but it also involves information that I know for a fact I cant share. When you have massive servers, super hard security checks, constantly updating, etc (using words I can say) the iPad is a POS (piece of shat not point of sale system)

 

[Seoul_lasers]

Seoul, I leave out the parts I know for sure I cant discuss which is the programs the university uses that dont sync and what they use the tablets for. There is a lot more behind it but it also involves information that I know for a fact I cant share. When you have massive servers, super hard security checks, constantly updating, etc (using words I can say) the iPad is a POS (piece of shat not point of sale system)

scratching head here,
I have been for the last full ~3years been working with LG Display and I can assure you we use programs that are "probably" (far more advanced) to what your University is using. Many staff use iPads because they are thin and lightweight and are able to connect to these special (In-house programmed LG applications) properly. The biggest draw is that they have an extremely excellent direct IP-IP teleconferencing application built in. FaceTime. Android OS lacks this
application. When my students have to work overseas generally Face time is how they remain connected with R&D/ engineering/ marketing staff here in ROK. :wave:

Again it comes back to the know how and many Universities are paid to create incompatibilities out of loosing their funding from Microsoft or MS exclusive companies.

I'm not sure why a POS (Point of Sale) is such a problem for a University
as there are many applications that do this in the App store. :undecided:

I happen to like both the flexibility of Android and the reliability of iOS. I just don't buy the University incompatibility statement as I too know the world of
how Universities are funded.

However, if you were meaning (possibly) military R/D and top of the line document encryption well (military standard), I'd suggest that using any mobile device
for this purpose would be insufficient.

 

[crazyspaz]

Nexus 10 all the way! The new one should be released soon IIRC. Also, you can get a refurbished (by microsoft) surface on ebay for 180$ right now. 32gb version as well

 

[Eudaimonium]

Not really by experience (longer than 5 minutes anyway), but Xperia Z Tablet is the single one tablet that I would ever really even consider buying if I had cash growing on trees at home.

And that's just purely going by aesthetics, here.

Hardware is way more powerful than you'll ever need for anything on a tablet, and you can always re-install any version of any Android OS you want, but I just can't STAND neither the iPad nor any other competing tablets simply on the account that they're all "curvy" and "sleeky" and whatever else.

If you were to ask 10 year old me what would 2014 technology look like, it's not iPad, it's not Samsung pad. It's Xperia.

 

[DJNY]

Why I would prefer the iPad over the Sony Xperia Z

iPad has: better display, more storage, better battery life on full performance

 

[Eudaimonium]

Apple iPad 4 Wi-Fi - Full phone specifications

Sony Xperia Tablet Z Wi-Fi - Full phone specifications

I dunno, both have well over 200 pixels per inch display density, exactl resolution numbers aren't really all that important anymore. Text looks like printed on paper any way you look at it.

iPad has more storage, but less RAM memory - but then again, like I said, 1 or 2 GB of RAM in a tablet is really all just a bragging right and nowhere close to actually being feelable in practice.

I just don't know about price or availability.

All I'm saying is, I'd pick Xperia, first because I don't like Apple all that much, second because I like Android OS, third - aesthetics. It's just really nice tablet Flat, edges, high tech looking.

Just to be clear if I had $500 lying around, I'd always invest that into PC upgrade or any number of things. Tablets in themseves aren't really clear concept to me. It's too large to use as a phone in any way, and screen size will always be smaller than the modest netbooks or laptops that for the same price offer almost everything a full desktop PC does.

But if OP says he wants it, he wants it.

 

[DJNY]

^ hey you have to compare with the new iPad version, the iPad Air
Apple iPad Air - Full phone specifications

Personally I would choose the older iPad version you listet, cause it is quite a bit heavier (better ergonomy imo) and lower priced (cause old version).

I was also against Apple (hey, there are more than enough reasons to hate their strategies), but when I compared the tablets back in 2012 when I bought mine, the iPad was by far the one appealed the most.

The Retina display is still one of the best. Especially when you read a lot on it (I use my pad 3-4h / day I said, 90% not for entertainment like movies, games..). My dad and a friend of mine upgraded their old iPads V2 to the Retina version and it´s night and day.


That said, the Sony Xperia Z for sure has it´s advantages over the iPad. You can also upgrade the space extern a bit (32GB just won´t do the trick when using the tablet for many things imo).

 

[Eudaimonium]

I didn't even know that one was the newer model, I'm not very knowledgeable of this series so I just went with the numbers

Hmm, it seems to have ever bigger pixel density, and a different processor, more efficient one if I am not mistaken, which should yield even more battery lifetime.


Well, I believe we can agree that it just basically boils down to personal preference.

There's no tablet that you can buy today that doesn't have sufficiently powerful hardware, enough storage, and screen resolution. That's why I was going with Xperia earlier.

I mean honestly it really is all just the same, no? Granted, operating systems are different but both will accomplish whatever you need a tablet for. Multimedia, games, even some office work and not to mention plethora of third party apps for everything else.

Isaac, let us know what you pick and maybe post a review in Geeks corner and your opinions?

I can always use more information and knowledge regarding mobile platforms, for when people ask me what I'd reccomend (and they do sometimes).

 

[DJNY]

Hmm, it seems to have ever bigger pixel density, and a different processor, more efficient one if I am not mistaken, which should yield even more battery lifetime.

Not really :/
The iPad has a bigger battery, is more efficient, especiall in the Idle-mode. Also it takes forever to load the Xperia Z iirc.
I´m far away from being an expert on tablets, as I hope that I´m gonna have my iPad (v3) for some more years now. I´m still amazed by the display everytime.

Here is a nice fact comparison between the Xperia Z and the iPad Air:
Apple iPad Air vs Sony Xperia Tablet Z LTE - Tablets Spezifikationen Vergleich

 

[Eudaimonium]

Uhh, I was refering to the iPad