First tablet purchase questions

[samalis]

So my laptop is dying and my fiance wants me to get a tablet, problem is I have no clue about tablets and which ones are good or decent for their prices.

I was thinking maybe the Samsung Galaxy tab S

Is this worth getting or are there better ones?

I am pretty much looking at a $300-500 range and just want to make sure I am getting the best out of my money.

Tablet is mainly for streaming videos/travel/browsing if that helps at all.

[Spicyryan]

What screen size (7ish, 10, or 12")? How much internal storage are you looking for?

Android, IOS, or Windows operating system? This likely will be influenced by your smart phone (assumption you have one ). If you watch video on your smart phone you can also use this as a determination of screen size. Personally if I was traveling I try to go as light as possible, and love my Nexus 7 2 which feels much larger than my 5 and 5.5" phones even if it 1.5-2" doesn't sound impressive. I also can turn around and say I rather have a large TV too so I personally try to keep everything in perspective.

Convertible (keyboard dock, generally applies to just the Windows ones) or just a tablet?

Is refurbished fine with you? It honestly should be, but I didn't go that route until I purchased a second tablet personally so I understand. This is however the best way to get the most for your money.

Do you want to get something cheaper that was good or great when it was released a year ago, or the latest and greatest?

[samalis]

What screen size (7ish, 10, or 12")? How much internal storage are you looking for?

Android, IOS, or Windows operating system? This likely will be influenced by your smart phone (assumption you have one ).

Convertible (keyboard dock, generally applies to just the Windows ones) or just a tablet?

Is refurbished fine with you? It honestly should be, but I didn't go that route until I purchased a second tablet personally so I understand. This is however the best way to get the most for your money.

Do you want to get something cheaper that was good or great when it was released a year ago, or the latest and greatest?

Screen size: Prolly 10 or 12

operating system doesn't matter too much although I am not big on IOS

Probably just tablet, though don't mind either.

Refurbished is fine.

Pretty much I want the best possible tablet I can get for the $300-500 range.

[Spicyryan]

Screen size: Prolly 10 or 12

operating system doesn't matter too much although I am not big on IOS

Probably just tablet, though don't mind either.

Refurbished is fine.

Pretty much I want the best possible tablet I can get for the $300-500 range.

Ninjaed you above.

While I have a Windows tablet, and could advise you on buying one I honestly don't know nearly as much about them as a whole compared to Android and IOS. Honestly a Windows tablet is like a laptop with no mouse or keyboard which really bugs me for some reason, but it is also very useful if you need the Windows ecosystem for things.

So, I will stick to IOS and Android since you rather that, and since you don't like IOS (who would?!) lets get down to Android.

For 12" you have the Galaxy Tab Pro 12.2 (new even apparently) and that is all I think of off the bat. 12" is a very unconventional size. I am also leaving out all the random Chinese ones in case you get that guy who goes "yeah, well I payed nothing for this *pots and pans noises* and it is great" Oh, and the 12.2 has a stylus if you are into that sort of thing. It is nifty, and Samsung gives it some extra features if you are into those Samsung apps.

On the other hand, Samsungs S tabs are meant to be the direct competition to the Ipads. The S line of tablets are Samsung's poster children now. I have been less interested in keeping up with Samsung lately because I am just me, but I know the S tabs are great and have the ultra powersaving mode that came out with the S5 that the pro line lacks (only released a few months apart too which is funny). That being said the displays on the Samsung S line are probably the best on any tablet out there. You can't go wrong with a 8 or 10" Galaxy Tab S which is also the same price as the 12.2 Pro between the links.

Sony is due to refresh their Z2 tablet from 2013. When this thing came out I told people who asked me that there was no reason to buy an Ipad over it, but that was 2 years ago. It is IP68 cert so you can take a shower with the damn thing (that probably induce random touches though on the screen so just take a bath with it). It was at the time and might still be the thinest tablet ever, and the speakers are on the front which is a huge benefit for media. However this is only worth it if you find one for ~$200. The battery life will not be as good as the Galaxies, and the screen will not be as nice especially compared to the S line.

There is not really much competition in the space of tablets compared to the mass competition of phones where you could be here for a day going over that.

Which leaves us with the last of the bunch. I am a Nexus sorta guy so here it is in all its could have been better glory.

The 9" Nexus 9 (oho!) is the middle ground between everything really. This will always have the latest version of Android, but lacks the screen quality of the Galaxy S. You can likely find it for $3-350 new (I get the dumb emails from time to time), but that is not much in the way of savings compared to these hack and slash prices I am seeing on the 2014 S tabs that are barely higher. At MSRP it be much easier to talk about pricing between them. Yeah, you know what, just go with the S, why am I typing all this shit?

[killerx]

I love my galaxy tab s 10.5 wouldn't trade it for anything. Great display and battery life. Honestry the seen is the best I've seen had it since it first came out.

[octopus]

Tablet is mainly for streaming videos/travel/browsing if that helps at all.

If that's really all you really need then I'd recommend getting a refurb Nexus 7. Groupon sells it for like $150 pretty often.

[bluefan]

My Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact is a beast. It's sexy too. Hella expensive, but it was worth it for me as I sold my eReader and VITA for it. Battery is pretty much top of the bunch, almost no bloatware and isn't running Samsungs hungry TouchWiz. It's only 8" though, so while the screen is adequet to watch movies on (resolution and colour is outstanding using Sonys triluminos engine), it can be a bit small for some.

New Surface 3 has a starting MSRP of $499 I believe, base model of course. Thinking of one myself to replace my 6 year old laptop.

[Hellfury]

I don't know much about the new Surface 3 (the non-pro versions) as they are fairly new, but I think they'll hit the price range you suggest in the US?
I use the Surface Pro 3 as my work computer, and I am in love with the thing, we have several of them in the company, and I haven't missed a traditional laptop for a nanosecond since I got it (it has for all practical purposes the power of a standard laptop). Add the type cover and you've got a laptop in tablet form.

[The Stig]

Ignore Surface RT (the none pro Surfaces), Microsoft gave it the kiss of death by not giving it Windows 10. So this is akin to PS2/Xbox FFXI.

[Maestro]

I can vouch for the Galaxy Tab S 10 but honestly it came down to personal preference between that and the Nexus 9. The screen on the Tab S is probably the best screen between the Ipad/Nexus 9/Tab S, but that might just be personal opinion. One of the biggest deciding factors for me was that only the Samsung has a MicroSD slot which allows for I believe a max of 128 GB card. Both Ipad and Nexus 9 have fixed storage sizes and the only other option would be to use a USB-OTG (On the Go) cable/adapter and a usb stick. The Tab also has a fingerprint "scanner" if that matters to you but it does take a bit of finagling to work at times unless you set it up a certain way when scanning your finger the initial time.

Now the one major plus to me was that I use many Samsung products and the tablet integrates with them. I currently have an Galaxy S4 phone and with an app (SideSync) from Samsungs app store you can remote manage your desktop but also allow a virtualization of your S series phones. Below is a photo of my screen I quickly took with the app running.

Spoiler: show

Its a nice little feature that allows me to charge my phone but still be able to access it via my tablet. The tablet also has an IR Blaster which you can use as your remote for your TV and if you have a Samsung TV theres easy wireless Screen Sharing built in. Again most of things Im sure would be capable via apps from the Google Store, but its nice to not have to fidget w/ things and have them all built in and free. There is also multi-Window support which allows you to split the screen in 2 so that you can watch a video on 1 half and run an app on the other half. That being said there is bloatware but not too much but this may be an issue for you. The tablet is currently running Lollipop (newest version of Android OS) but Samsung is notoriously late with updates as it only recently happened in the past few weeks. If having the newest OS is important to you, you may be better off with the Nexus 9.

Also keep in mind if maybe you want something a bit cheaper but very similar in terms of hardware consider a Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 4 which was the previous model before the Galaxy S tab series was released. It'll save you around $100 but have similar features but off hand I couldn't tell you what they are but in terms of hardware specs they were very similar with the main difference being I believe the screen.

Also if as you say it's for traveling you may want to consider the 8 Inch version of the Galaxy Tab S. While the 10 in version is very light you'll probably want to buy the book cover samsung sells to hold it upright on a tray/desk/etc. The 8 inch is incredibly comfortable to hold 1 handed and depending on your travel situation may be preferable. My recommendation is get down to your local bestbuy/electronics store and see them in person and carry it around. Its going to be something you'll be lugging around all over the place so make sure its something you're comfortable with. If you have any questions feel free to PM me. Good Luck.

Shit just remembered and dont want to retype anything the Galaxy S tabs have been going down in price recently especially the 8 inch i believe. Theres speculation that Samsung will be releasing new models soon and thats the reason for the price drop so you may want to consider holding off unless you need something urgently.

TL;DR version Tab S 10 is good but go to bestbuy and find out which you like best in hand.

[Spicyryan]

Ignore Surface RT (the none pro Surfaces), Microsoft gave it the kiss of death by not giving it Windows 10. So this is akin to PS2/Xbox FFXI.

That, and fucking RT was the worst execution since Vista. Another one of those good ideas go astray sorta things we have come to expect.

They might as well have made a Windows tablet mobile OS (or used the phone one? Windows phone hasn't been important enough to know about, but I think it has its own OS) instead of trying to slim down the existing.

For a software company, I am amazed that Microsoft and Windows became as popular as it is because honestly it has always been mediocre IMO.

[bungiefan]

Ignore Surface RT (the none pro Surfaces), Microsoft gave it the kiss of death by not giving it Windows 10. So this is akin to PS2/Xbox FFXI.

Surface 3 isn't RT, it's running an x64 Atom processor, and real Windows 8.1, not Windows 8.1 RT. It also supports the drawing pen, but you have to buy it seperately from the tablet, $50, IIRC. Surface 3 is like a Surface Pro 3 Lite. Surface 1 and 2 were completely different.

[The Stig]

Oh, wasn't actually aware there's a Surface 3! My usual retailer don't even stock it anymore lol
So I tend to refer to it as Surface 3 nowadays, I wondered why he said none pro lol