Mel B Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 I love my laptop (using it now! :D ) but it obviously quite large being a 17" model, and although I have internet on my phone the screen is small and it is slow, so I hardly ever bother to use it for that, emails etc. I am therefore thinking of getting a tablet PC to tote around with me on a 'day to day' basis, when I'm out in the UK, and for surfing when abroad using free wifi rather than roaming, unless I could get cheap internet access (ie foreign sim, tethering etc). We used to have an HP 10" netbook but sold that when I got the laptop as it hardly got used then and was still fairly bulky to carry around anyway. So, can anyone recommend a good not too expensive tablet of some sort - either new or second hand which would do what I want? Or alternatively a good netbook? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnerontheroad Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Have a look at this just got one for my daughter who say's it is great. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-Galaxy-7-inch-Bluetooth-Android/dp/B0042D75TU/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_t_2 Good Luck Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 tablets are expensive for what they are. many have poor connectivity (IPad) and limited memory lots of cheap android tablets around but you will need to do your home work as I dont know much about them I nearly bought the 7.7 inch Samsung galaxy for about £400, but as we have a 14 inch light travel laptop will stick with that...was intending to use it for a kindle reader as well but a bit overkill. wife going to New York next week and bringing me a kindle back anyway... A good place to shop is a company called "Panamoz". lots on AV forum get there stuff from there, and my son bought an £500 camera from them last month, and it came in 2 days, they are in far east somewhere... edit: Dave beat me to it!lol..that is the older 7 model not 7.7 which has better screen etc.. but more expensive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 I the same problem about two months ago, my old laptop was to heavy, to big and slow. I looked at stuff like the ipad but dismissed this pretty quick as all my other stuff is windows based and it seemed pointless to mix things up. Depends what you want to do i use mine a lot for photo's when away plus general computor/internet so prefer a keyboard, hate touch screens. Bought a 11.6" HP, it was only £329 and is great, pretty fast large hard drive, three usb ports so I can connect a disc drive as well if needed. Bit more bulky than a tablet but still easily carried around in a small bag or rucksack, not saying you should buy this one but I reckon most small modern netbooks will do a good job these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Our kids bought me an iPad for my 70th birthday. Thought it would prove to be a bit of gimik but love it now. It's so fast and convenient. I only use my rather slow old lap top when I need the conectivity for printing documents and photographs etc. It's all I take when we travel. Thinking of replacing my now very slow old lap top an all in one desktop. Incidentally I got the so called police malware on the lap top last week. It's reckoned to be one of the worst around at the moment. Took me ages to get rid of it. Fortunately I managed to get into safe mode and then trawled through all the places the files could be hiding deleting any that were established at the date and time the problem occurred then did a final scan using malware. Don't believe any one who tells you it only comes from dubious site. I was searching for pet insurance at the time and failed to switch the computer off when it poped up in time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean.clarke Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 Hi Mel, you want to wait a couple of weeks for the new "Nexus 7". It is already available on preorder straight from Google and comes in at something like £159. It is ultra fast and has all the latest software from Google (and likely to be kept uptodate etc.). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/tablets/google-nexus-7-1087040/review I think its cheap as tied to Google store..make sure you can load your own stuff. review says nothing about what it is like as an e reader... Kindle fire 2 out soon also, and this time is rumoured to be released here have a look at this http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005DRAOG0/ref=cm_cd_asin_lnk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean.clarke Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 No, not tied to the Google store - well, any more than any other Android device - Android is open, and always will be. Don't confuse the Android to Google store relationship (Play store as it is called) with the way Apple crap is tied to the Apple store. There are no limitations on putting software on ANY Android devices, where as Apple is strictly locked down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCC Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 My partner and I have both got 7" NATPC android tablets bought from Amazon. Current price is £110 and they're brilliant. They use android 4 - ice cream sunday - which is designed to work with tablets. Wifi connection seems to work well. 16GB storage and you can add a micro sd card (we've added an extra 16GB card also from Amazon). Battery life is OK - about 4 hours I think though they take a while to charge. Lots of free software to download from Google including Adobe Reader, compatible office suites and lots of useful utilities and games. Email and calender link seemlessly to gmail and the gmail calender when on wifi. I have an android phone and sync both that and my laptop to gmail and it all works really well. 7" size is very portable and my partner slips hers into her handbag. Screen is still big enough to work on Word documents and the like and to surf the net. The lower price means you don't have to be paranoid about looking after them. Used to wonder what the point of a tablet was but I seem to have started carrying my life around on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean.clarke Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 PCC - 2012-07-15 9:19 AM My partner and I have both got 7" NATPC android tablets bought from Amazon. Current price is £110 and they're brilliant. They use android 4 - ice cream sunday - which is designed to work with tablets. Really? is it a custome build?? I think you mean Ice Cream Sandwich (lol) Nexus 7 will have Jelly Bean - which is a ICS on steroids... very, very polished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 But Sean, the nexus 7 has no memory slot?:-S I wanted an all in one 7 inch size device (book reader/browser/external memory slot/ able to watch movies) The only one that came near I thought was the galaxy 7.7 but my thinking has changed and getting a kindle instead, as I dont think any of these devices compare with a dedicated e book reader for reading. am I right? will get a tablet later... Mel here is another example of a cheapy (have not looked at spec). 7 inch screen,32GB Micro SD and its £56 http://www.amazon.com/Android-Capacitive-Touch-Screen-Tablet/dp/B007REMD84/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342343556&sr=8-1&keywords=nexus+7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCC Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 You're right of course - I got my ice creams mixed up. The NATPC is a generic device coming out of a factory in China and put into a box with a name on it whilst the Nexus 7 is made by Asus (but also comes out of a factory in China). Seem to be questions about whether jelly bean is much of an improvement on ICS at present but no doubt it will get better with development. The Nexus also has a better display but you will pay a huge premium if you want to increase the memory (£159 for the 8GB version, £199 for the £16GB) while a micro SD card costs a few pounds - you pay your money and you take your choice but they can't be repaired or have a replacement battery fitted (even the Ipad) and technology is moving on at such a pace that they will soon be obsolete. The Kindle is much, much better for reading. I think there was a rumour that someone was going to build a tablet with an e ink display on one side and a TFT screen on the other. Might be an interesting compromise or it might be better to stick to 2 separate devices. You would lose the Kindle's advantage of fantastic battery life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 Mel..or this @ £80? :D http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ployer-Momo9-Android-Sandwich-Capacitive/dp/B007W2LBP2/ref=pd_cp_computers_3 the developments are coming so fast with these devices, I really dont see the point of spending £3-400 on one a Kindle + generic tablet can be had for approx £160 for both Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertandjean Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 The NAPTC 7" sounds good but does it support Skype and have a front facing camera? Also does it have a USB port? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 robertandjean - 2012-07-15 11:59 AM The NAPTC 7" sounds good but does it support Skype and have a front facing camera? Also does it have a USB port? Thanks. Yes to all, but this model looks better for not much more (£105) 1 gig Ram, 16 gig memory (expandable) It also has a capacitive screen which is supossed to be better You need to scroll through reviews at bottom and probably use Google for reviews before committing.....But for the money http://www.amazon.co.uk/NATPC-ULTIMATE-Capacitive-Android-tablet/dp/B007V5XL94/ref=pd_cp_computers_2 review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fg3c6g7GM4E Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 Useful definitions of tablet and laptop from a chap in a Comet store recently. Laptop = producer computer: tablet = consumer computer. One is aimed at actively doing your own stuff, the other at mainly passively viewing other people's stuff. The choice depend on what you will mainly do with the computer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCC Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 The NATPC only has a 0.3 mp camera: not sure of this is a problem for Skype. The USB is a mini USB connection. Have a look at the apps at Google Play store (silly name - there's lots of serious stuff) and you will see what you can download. There's lots and lots of free stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertandjean Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 Thanks for the helpful replies, will consider each of options suggested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vindiboy Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 Mel B - 2012-07-14 9:44 PMI love my laptop (using it now! :D ) but it obviously quite large being a 17" model, and although I have internet on my phone the screen is small and it is slow, so I hardly ever bother to use it for that, emails etc. I am therefore thinking of getting a tablet PC to tote around with me on a 'day to day' basis, when I'm out in the UK, and for surfing when abroad using free wifi rather than roaming, unless I could get cheap internet access (ie foreign sim, tethering etc). We used to have an HP 10" netbook but sold that when I got the laptop as it hardly got used then and was still fairly bulky to carry around anyway.So, can anyone recommend a good not too expensive tablet of some sort - either new or second hand which would do what I want? Or alternatively a good netbook? http://www.wildcamping.co.uk/forums/general-chat/20423-i-pad-note-book.html I have the same dilemma and posted this on another forum and have had some helpful replies but I am still unsure which to get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 Been using a Samsung Netbook for 3 years does everything we ask of it. 'er indoors fancies a tablet tempted with an Ipad ruled it out on cost bit too much for what would be a toy, looked at Andriod tablets concluded they were really a phone with a big screen, not sure about the latest office programs on Android but the version on my phone won't open docx or xlsx files so makes it rather limiting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonflyer Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 I have an old fashioned 11" notebook by Philips, which works as a proper computer for a typist and also is loaded with Kindle for PC and Nook for PC (US books). I would find a 7" notebook too small to read and work with. Due to weak hands I can no longer hold a reading book, so a Kindle would not suit me. Just my opinion. Joyce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Joyce a Kindle touch only weighs 213 grams! a paperback can easily weigh twice that :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonflyer Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Judge It is not the weight of the book. It is the fact that I have lost feedback, my hand relaxes and the book falls out/down. I find it difficult to hold a single sheet of paper too. I manage quite well at most tasks now, but nearly 30 years ago my hands were paralysed by repetitive strain injury and the pain was ********. Joyce NB: I still have difficulty in shops when they place the notes in my hand and then the coins on top. I cannot close my hand quickly enough to stop them sliding off, so have to be prepared with my other hand to catch them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelc45 Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is well worth looking at. It's easy to 'drive' and has excellent battery life. ICS will auto install in the next few weeks. I think it's better than the iPad Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 http://eee.asus.com/eeepad/transformer-prime/features/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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