# what tablet should I buy????



## huxley (Mar 28, 2012)

I want to get a tablet , but I'm new to all this.... 

tried to read some tablet reviews but I'm still confused on what to buy. 
I'll list what I want a tablet for: 

1. read e-books, plus documents. 
2. listen to music, and audio books,  with head phones.
3. watching video clips. documentaries. 

4. if possible, writing notes in documents. 
5. read comic books. 
6.  long battery life.  5 hours or more is good. 

price range,,,, 200$  no more than 300$


thanks for the help


----------



## Culhwch (Mar 28, 2012)

Well, I don't know about pricing in your neck of the woods, huxley, and I can only offer up my opinion on the tablet that I own, but I can at least do that much and it might be a help to you.

My wife and I bought ourselves and Acer Iconia A500 just this past Christmas, and I have no complaints at all. At the time I did some research, and the Acer was the one I settled on. I ruled out the iPad immediately, because I dislike Apple. I looked at a few different brands, and settled on the Acer due to the price point (just over $500 Australian for the 32GB model), the ability to add expandable memory, and the USB and HDMI ports (which we haven't really utilised as yet). It's a little heavier than most other tablets, but we only use it at home so that's no issue. We use it mostly for web-browsing and watching TV shows and movies ove rthe home network. I've installed a word processor app that is very good to use, but don't use it much. Opens most file formats, though. I use the tablet to read comics and my wife uses it to read the occasional book. It does everything we want it to do, and most of those things are things you have listed.

As I said, not sure about the price, now. The 16GB model was significantly cheaper, and the beauty is you an throw in a micro SD card to expand the memory. I'd definitely recommend it if it met your price range.


----------



## Metryq (Mar 28, 2012)

Culhwch said:


> I ruled out the iPad immediately, because I dislike Apple.



Well, I'm glad your decision was based on _technical_ merits.

Huxley, considering your price range, you'll probably want Kindle (Amazon) or Nook (Barnes & Noble). Both have big companies supporting them with lots of content. I haven't looked closely at them for apps because I don't use a tablet that way—and that's really the critical decision here. How do you plan to use this? 

A tablet could never serve all my computing needs. If you are the same, would a laptop be better? This balancing point is the kind of thing where Flash always gets mentioned. Flash is a resource hog that numerous tests have shown will drain your battery faster. For various reasons, I do not use Flash on my other computers, so that's hardly a selling point. Also, Adobe has abandoned mobile Flash development.

This is only one example of the compromise you (and the designers of tablets) will have to consider. Some mobile devices receive network from both Wi-Fi and cellular data plans, some receive by only Wi-Fi. The cell feature will increase mobility, but also increase the initial price (more hardware in the device) and the operational costs (a monthly fee). 

Don't get sucked into a feature-counting mind set. One review comparing the iPad  and the Acer Iconia Tab A500 mentions the HDMI and USB ports on the Acer. Ooh, big pluses! I have a first generation iPad and bought an optional cable to output video from the Dock connector, which does everything. I really don't use it, and the next generation introduced AirPlay, a means of wirelessly connecting an iPad to an Apple TV—yes, another piece of hardware, part of an ecosystem. But let's not get distracted from the whole point of a tablet here, which is portability. So dispense with all the adaptors and add-ons, like snap-on physical keyboards and such. If you're going to do that, just get the laptop.

I'm going to stop here, as I think I've made my point. There are many in-depth reviews on the Web—just Google "tablet comparisons" "reviews" "shoot-outs" or any number of other descriptors. Your desired price point seems to be the primary factor, so start from there, but don't expect something for nothing. At the rate these devices are evolving, you might even want to check eBay or other outlets for used items.

Good hunting.


----------

