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With Christmas fast approaching, I originally planned on purchasing myself an upgrade to my 2 year-old laptop. Yet, besides gaming which I am for the most part not particularly bothered about and can easily do still on the family PC, Xbox 360 or through OnLive, my current system proves more than capable for almost everything I can through at it - even if a bit slow on more laborious tasks such as video rendering (something which I have done only about three times in an entire two year period). Now, whilst this isn't a definitive decision, I think it may be nice to purchase a tablet for use downstairs as I dislike having to carry my laptop up and down to/from my room all the time especially when I want to just do a bit of light web browsing. Whilst the most obvious choice might be the Nexus 7 for most people, I own a Galaxy Note (which has a large 5.3" screen) and it is because of this that I don't see a 7" tablet as a worthy investment for such a measly increase in screen size. So, what do people here feel to be the best 10" tablet (so long as it will be publicly available in the UK by Christmas 2012)?
Are there specific features you want a tablet to have?
sls123093 said:
Are there specific features you want a tablet to have?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I must thank you, first and foremost, for such a quick response to this thread. Now, in terms of features, storage is one of my main criticisms over the Nexus 7 and for a tablet to be a true media device I would personally want it to have expandable storage via a Micro-SD card slot. Since my Galaxy Note already has a large 5.3" display, this tablet would have to be no less than 10" to even feel any more beneficial than just using my phone and, on the topic of displays, my past three phones have all had AMOLED displays with a very high resolution so a tablet would need a fairly decent resolution else it'd be left behind my Note. Although I may never utilise it as I certainly haven't needed nor wanted to before, the ability to mod easy (no locked boot-loaders or stuff like that) would be nice.
I did look at the latest iPad at one point in time and, whilst its quality app market, high-resolution screen coupled with a sleek design and upcoming support of Siri make it all very desirable, the lack of true multi-tasking seems a killer for me. I like the ability to quickly flick between an internet browser and an office program, for example. This has allowed me, in the past, to even complete homework tasks for school on my Galaxy Note.
Well if price isnt an issue, The brand new infinity has the best display out of any android tablet, and is super fast. Plus the dock is awesome. If price is a concern, you can still get an older prime + dock for around 400. But 10" might be too much, I personally think it is. I think 8.9 is a happy medium. But if you dont want a tablet, chromebooks are awesome
TheMuffStuff said:
Well if price isnt an issue, The brand new infinity has the best display out of any android tablet, and is super fast. Plus the dock is awesome. If price is a concern, you can still get an older prime + dock for around 400. But 10" might be too much, I personally think it is. I think 8.9 is a happy medium. But if you dont want a tablet, chromebooks are awesome
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aren't Chromebooks basically just laptops, which I already have one of? And, 8.9 inches isn't enough of a size increase over my Note still. I would want a 10" tab. And, as of the last time I checked, the Infinity is around £650 GBP or so. That is even more than an iPad! Plus, I have no use for a keyboard dock.
Brad387 said:
With Christmas fast approaching, I originally planned on purchasing myself an upgrade to my 2 year-old laptop. Yet, besides gaming which I am for the most part not particularly bothered about and can easily do still on the family PC, Xbox 360 or through OnLive, my current system proves more than capable for almost everything I can through at it - even if a bit slow on more laborious tasks such as video rendering (something which I have done only about three times in an entire two year period). Now, whilst this isn't a definitive decision, I think it may be nice to purchase a tablet for use downstairs as I dislike having to carry my laptop up and down to/from my room all the time especially when I want to just do a bit of light web browsing. Whilst the most obvious choice might be the Nexus 7 for most people, I own a Galaxy Note (which has a large 5.3" screen) and it is because of this that I don't see a 7" tablet as a worthy investment for such a measly increase in screen size. So, what do people here feel to be the best 10" tablet (so long as it will be publicly available in the UK by Christmas 2012)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I recommend a used iPad Wifi/3G model
Iph0ne27 said:
I recommend a used iPad Wifi/3G model
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But, if you read later on, you'd know that I dislike the lack of multi-tasking on an iPad. Plus, I have grown accustomed to Google's wealth of services and the Android OS.
Web browsing on a tablet sucks, which will you will soon find out. Keyboard dock helps 100 fold, and the chromebook is just a webbrowsing net book. Its so light and small its not like a hunky laptop, and doesnt get hot. And you can buy an infinity for ~500$ on here. Or evne a regular transformer for around 350
TheMuffStuff said:
Web browsing on a tablet sucks, which will you will soon find out. Keyboard dock helps 100 fold, and the chromebook is just a webbrowsing net book. Its so light and small its not like a hunky laptop, and doesnt get hot. And you can buy an infinity for ~500$ on here. Or evne a regular transformer for around 350
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How does web browsing on a tablet "suck"?
Isn't that one of their primary functions?
Closed use proper Q&A section
Hello everyone.
I am considering buying this tablet, as the price for the TF300TG dropped in my country to the level acceptable by me, but I am a bit worried. This tablet is one year old, yet it seems to be still quite popular. I would like to know its performance, as Antutu results show like ~10k which is quite low these days, on the other hand youtube tests show real racing 3 running quite smoothly.
Is it still worth buying?
I need a tablet mainly for hd movies and web browsing, 3G is a must. I might play some games, but this is not the main goal. I am also considering Lenovo S6000 (but the MTK actually sucks) and PIPO M9 Pro.
I will be grateful for any feedback, suggestions and opinions.
Regards.
Dandry said:
Hello everyone.
I am considering buying this tablet, as the price for the TF300TG dropped in my country to the level acceptable by me, but I am a bit worried. This tablet is one year old, yet it seems to be still quite popular. I would like to know its performance, as Antutu results show like ~10k which is quite low these days, on the other hand youtube tests show real racing 3 running quite smoothly.
Is it still worth buying?
I need a tablet mainly for hd movies and web browsing, 3G is a must. I might play some games, but this is not the main goal. I am also considering Lenovo S6000 (but the MTK actually sucks) and PIPO M9 Pro.
I will be grateful for any feedback, suggestions and opinions.
Regards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i love my tf300 and would buy it again in a heart beat, although there are some new toshiba tablets that look nice
Dandry said:
Hello everyone.
I am considering buying this tablet, as the price for the TF300TG dropped in my country to the level acceptable by me, but I am a bit worried. This tablet is one year old, yet it seems to be still quite popular. I would like to know its performance, as Antutu results show like ~10k which is quite low these days, on the other hand youtube tests show real racing 3 running quite smoothly.
Is it still worth buying?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you want an android tablet + keyboard option there's nothing else as cheap around afaik.
if you arent intrested in the keyboard it loses a lot of appeal.
robgee789 said:
i love my tf300 and would buy it again in a heart beat, although there are some new toshiba tablets that look nice
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1. I love my tf300t. No issues out if it at all. Tom Tom is awesome on it unlike my prime (tf201). The screen is absolutely clear even in sunlight. I primarily use mine outdoors as a huge gps
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app
Yes, its still a great device especially if you grab the keyboard. I use mine everyday and haven't found a newer one that's been tempting enough to buy.I say go for it... and then root it and drop a great rom in it
Yes, i love my tf300t its the best tablet i have ever had
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T using xda app-developers app
I own the TF300T and (depending on the price) I 'd say it's still a great tablet for web browsing and watching movies.
Some remarks:
- Tablet feels generally fast/smooth, unless you're installing/updating applications or during heavy access of the internal storage. Then the device becomes very slow during these occasions (it's the known I/O issue with the ASUS tablets).
- The tablet screen is not very usable in bright sunny day outdoors, as someone claimed the opposite above. Even at full brightness, I need to find shade to be able to see the screen.
- The speaker is loud, but the placement is not ideal and that hurts/changes the sound depending on how you're holding or placing the tablet. For movies, you need to be careful not to cover the speaker with your fingers. If you want clear stereo sound, it's best to use headphones.
- Screen quality is pretty decent with comfortable viewing angles.
- I can play tons of fun games with no problems at all. However: I do not like/try the heavy 3D games out there. The few I did try long time ago (e.g. dead trigger), the speed was very good. But I generally prefer the simple(r) games.
hope this helps
I've been using my Asus Transformer TF300T (WiFi only) since August 2012 and I am satisfied with it.
At its price range, there is no tablet with a hard-wired keyboard dock (not bluetooth keyboard) that can match it. You should also check out the pricing of its more high-end brethren, the Transformer Infinity TF700KG (3G) and TF700KL (LTE). These Infinity models use a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 Dual-Core processor (1.5GHz) instead of the usual Quad-core Tegra3 in order to fit in the Mobile Broadband radio. The processor may be a downgrade but the screen is upgraded to a Super IPS+ 1920x1200 display. Since you don't plan to play games to much on it, the brighter display would be a nice trade for the less powerful processor.
Some notes if you are getting a TF300:
1. The tablet experiences a weird battery drain bug (especially when connected to the keyboard dock). Unlike an iPad, which you can leave on sleep mode for weeks or months with minimal battery drain, the TF300 will be out of juice within 3 days if you do not plug it in... Turning off all radios still doesn't improve this too much...
2. The charger is very proprietary. Unlike typical Android tablets, the device-side connector is proprietary (looks like an Apple or Samsung 30-pin connector, but is not compatible with either). This part is understandable since this connector also serves as the docking connector to the keyboard dock. The more annoying thing is that the charger is not a normal 5V (10W) USB charger but is a special 15V charger that uses a USB port... Asus fiddled with the wiring so that a normal USB cable plugged into the charger produces only 5V so as not to accidentally fry your other devices, but their proprietary cable produces the correct 15V to charge the TF300. Plugging the TF300 to a regular 10W 5V USB charger will only charge the device if it is turned completely off. And it will take quite a long time to charge...
3. If you will buy the TF300 for the keyboard dock, then you would probably bring it around docked (otherwise, what would be the point of getting the keyboard dock?). You will have a hard time finding a nice, slim case that would fit on the tablet and still allow it to be docked. AFAIK, there is no case that just fits over the tablet portion of the TF300 while still allowing it to be docked and undocked from the keyboard dock. There are folio-type cases that cover the two halves of the tablet when docked but they are not form-fitted to the TF300 and are held in place by elastic bands (ugly...)...
If the keyboard dock is not a necessity and you can live with a smaller tablet, you may want to consider the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 (8" tablet with 3G and S-Pen)...
Hope this helps you decide.
Best Regards!
^_^
Having my TF since around 3 months now, I have to revert my former prediction I would not buy it again, or recommend it right now:
Don't get me wrong, it is a great combination of a tablet and a somewhat capable notebook but:
- the CPU is too weak and once the Tegra 4 hits it will be outdated
- always runs at around 40 - 50 % of RAM already used by simple firing up the Tablet
- the screen is not good enough for longer sessions (had to experience that for myself first but it is true)
and the biggest reason for waiting:
Asus announced a new version of the Infinity coming up soon, the baby offers:
- 300 PPI
- 2560 x 1600 resolution
- Tegra 4
- 2 GB of ram (which will soon be the new standard)
So if you can wait a few month and don't mind paying a bit more you will probably end up with the best tablet on the market.
Hope that helped
- the CPU is too weak and once the Tegra 4 hits it will be outdated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's fast enoughimho, the main bottleneck is the storage I/O. And of course it will be outdated once the new version comes out, that's the meaning of the word outdated....
- always runs at around 40 - 50 % of RAM already used by simple firing up the Tablet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a good thing because free RAM is useless RAM. Most of the system is loaded into RAM which means the slow storage I/O is much less of a problem. And even with the whole system loaded, you have ~60% free for demanding applications.
- the screen is not good enough for longer sessions (had to experience that for myself first but it is true)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why? Is it too bright? Is the refresh rate wrong? Because it looks fine to me and I watch movies on it.
If anything I think it's main weaknesses are the speaker, poor standby times since the update to 4.2 and the large bezel.
frankgreimes said:
- the CPU is too weak and once the Tegra 4 hits it will be outdated
- always runs at around 40 - 50 % of RAM already used by simple firing up the Tablet
- the screen is not good enough for longer sessions (had to experience that for myself first but it is true)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Regarding the CPU:
Personally, I think Nvidia over-sold the capabilities of the Tegra processors. They over-hyped the performance of the Tegra 2 but actually delivered that expected performance when the Tegra 3 was released, then again with Tegra 3 (where its over-hyped performance would only be delivered by the Tegra 4)...
I know this from personal experience since I bought a Motorola Atrix 4G (yes, people like me actually exist! ) for its Tegra 2 processor on Aug 2011 (Asia version) only to find out that its H.264 HW acceleration is limited to simple profile only... (its direct competitor then, the Samsung Galaxy S3, had better H.264 HW acceleration support...)
Tegra-accelerated games (THD) were few and far between and graphics performance was not as impressive as promised.
Then I bought the Asus Transformer TF300T (Aug 2012) with the Tegra 3 processor and thought: "Finally, the H.264 HW acceleration will be fixed and gaming performance would improve..." Well, the H.264 HW acceleration was fixed, but gaming performance remained "meh"...
A lot of popular games (mostly from GameLoft) don't even recognize the device and several workarounds needed to be done to get the games to play. When finally games officially supporting the tablet were released (like Dungeon Hunter 4 and Asphalt 7), I find out the games don't perform fluidly or stutters in the middle of gameplay (Asphalt 7) or are simply unplayable due to the low framerate (DH4)... Then I see my friends playing these same games flawlessly on a Samsung Galaxy Note (1st-gen)...
After some updates for the games and lots of tweaks to free up memory (RAM), I finally am able to play Asphalt 7 with a smooth framerate during the actual race (no more stuttering) but the menus are still not as smooth. I also am able to at least play DH4 (on medium detail settings)...
Which brings me to the RAM issue...
The TF300T came with a lot of gunk that I didn't and had no plan of using. I can't uninstall them without potentially breaking OTA updates. So after discovering that freeing up RAM would allow certain games like the above GameLoft games and other large games (SoulCraft, SpellStorm, etc) to run better, I looked around the forums (mostly this forum) to find utilities like App Quarantine - requires root - (to prevent applications/services from being started at boot and ever after) as well as Greenify - requires root - (to force applications you actually to be hibernated so that they don't "wake up" and "phone home" every so often and not release their RAM and CPU resources) and Auto Memory Manager (to tweak the OOM/out-of-memory settings of Android so that the OS will do a cleanup of empty processes and kill other less important processes when the free memory drops below a certain threshold)...
Regarding the Display:
The screen is not as bright as other tablets, but I knew that going in and obviously it was a trade-off to lower the cost of the unit. It is still usable, as long as you are indoors and do not have a bright light source behind you...
As I replied to Dandry's original post, for his application (general tablet use), the TF300TG (3G version) would still be a match to his needs as long as the price is reasonable (meaning lower than it's original price) and the hardware-docked-keyboard-w/-battery-pack feature is compelling for you...
Cheers!
^_^
Even better with the Official Cyanogen 4.3 Nightlies
I had mine for over 1 yr now, rooted a couple of months ago and now have the new Official Cyanogen 4.3 Nightlies rom installed. Runs great.
I have 2 of them and have no regrets
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
bcombel said:
I have 2 of them and have no regrets
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Both of my kids have each their tft300 and sharing one keyboard
Since one year now and nothing negative to say...
Go for it
Sent from my HTC EVO 3D X515m using xda app-developers app
Citruspers said:
It's fast enoughimho, the main bottleneck is the storage I/O. And of course it will be outdated once the new version comes out, that's the meaning of the word outdated....
This is a good thing because free RAM is useless RAM. Most of the system is loaded into RAM which means the slow storage I/O is much less of a problem. And even with the whole system loaded, you have ~60% free for demanding applications.
Why? Is it too bright? Is the refresh rate wrong? Because it looks fine to me and I watch movies on it.
If anything I think it's main weaknesses are the speaker, poor standby times since the update to 4.2 and the large bezel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know about yours, but mine started to have ghostclicks and if I press the black border it acts touch sensitive. Sometimes the tablet runs as smooth as it gets other times I hate to work with it, kind of strange.
The RAM thing really depends how you are looking at it, free RAM should be reserved for tasks that need it, if you are constantly running on 50 % of the full RAM = less ram for the more important stuff. Believe me I have tried to remove all the startup blunder but some apps aren't just going away, i.e E-Mail clients although I am using K-9.
For basic things the screen is good enough, but when it comes down to PDF reading and looking at some more complex websites you can really tell the difference in terms of text-quality. I have seen tablet with 200 ppi + and black actually looked like black not just more grey.
Grifter thanks for your lenghty and great review and recommending some apps I really hope they are going to fix my startup problem because it gets annoying.
Disclaiming: The tablet itself is for sure not bad and the docked keyboard is a great pleasure but right now we are 2 months away from the next Infinity which will offer a lot more for for only + $ 150 so personally speaking I would wait and see this 300 ppi Tegra 4 baby in action before buying one right now. chances are it's going to fix all the previous problems the Transformer-series has had.
But if your looking for a great budget tablet you can't go wrong with the TF 300.
I've been dealing with lots of lag and my friends and dad's Nexus 10 is much smoother. Having the choice again for $100 more, I would have bought the Nexus. Keep in mind I'm on the stock rom and rooted. Can't unlock because of the rma'd issue. Hoping it's smoother with a custom ROM, which I imagine it will be, after the upgrade
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T using Tapatalk HD
TF300T hardware is not bad given the price. You can have a Samsung for better performance if you can afford to fork out more, evidently. My main grudge is the way they treat customers after the purchase. Witness petition after petition that went unanswered. If they don't care about customers, then we simply shouldn't spend money on their products, especially on one that's so prone to bricking as this model - and not always due to users' fault as they're so fond of clamoring. If they deliberately refuse to release the Key so as to drum up service, there's even more reason to stay away.
Unfortunately, corporate moral standards have been set so low in the last two or three decades, consumers can only get them to listen by hurting their bottom line. As the adage goes, evil will flourish where decent people stand idly by. A few years ago, China banked on low prices to gain market shares. Then they understood that without improving the quality of products and services, they will fall out of the race. We should remind Asus of that principle. In this business, being # 3 is a kiss of death. I can see Ipads battling Samsung Notes. Who ever heard of TF this and that competing against anything of substance? God help them, as I don't care to.
Update on the screen quality:
I gave it another chance by taking the tablet with me outdoors (in the shade, in a bright summer day). The screen is barely usable outdoors, period. At full brightness, it's barely visible. And the glass reflects the fingerprints a lot. At some cases I could hardly tell if the screen, beneath the fingerprints, was on or off. (I am not sure if a screen protector would solve this last issue)
graphdarnell said:
In this business, being # 3 is a kiss of death. I can see Ipads battling Samsung Notes. Who ever heard of TF this and that competing against anything of substance? God help them, as I don't care to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Be reminded that the transformer line were the first mainstream tablets which had an additional detachable keyboard. That was an ASUS innovation and only now do we see similar hybrid/convertible devices from other manufacturers. Also, ASUS competes very well both with Apple and Samsung, simply because they are behind the Google Nexus devices.
TF300T Was a great workhorse for me for 14 months, I also have a TF700 which I no longer use(IO performance issues and overall slow performance due a 1080p screen resolution with a very slow Tegra SoC) and can finally can let those two go.
The TF300T is still great, specially for watching HD movies(720p only), with the docking option you can have up to 128Gb of storage. 720p videos run great, even 1080p videos run great on my 65"LED tv thru HDMI adapter as long as you disable the video on the TF300T and OC to 1.6 Ghz(Performance Mode), GPS works great, WIFI is decent enough and the multitouch feature on the touchpad was really useful. 8 Megapixel camera(rear)with AF still takes great pics specially if you use the right software and you can even make HD video recording.
My only big complain is regarding the browsing department, I tried everything you can imagine with no success, installed every single ROM, tried every single browser with no luck at all. I heard there's an IO performance issue with Asus TF300T and TF700 tablets.
My wife gave me a Nexus 7 32GB 2013 for my birthday, what an amazing machine for browsing internet content, this is amazingly fast, fast , fast. I just ordered a nexus 10 32Gb which will make my life easier and replace my TF700. I will no longer have the flexibility for the storage as I have with the transformers but who can complain if these new units can perform without glitches,lagging or slowdowns specially browsing internet and playing 1080p videos smoothly.
There is no blame to Asus or the transformer line, maybe just for the I/O issues, I had a TF101 as well(tegra 2). Tegra 3 SoC is the one to blame for. Such a poor SoC with so much publicity that was always under-performing, from the very beginning. It's time to upgrade for me. my 2 cents here.
jrsalda said:
TF300T Was a great workhorse for me for 14 months, I also have a TF700 which I no longer use(IO performance issues and overall slow performance due a 1080p screen resolution with a very slow Tegra SoC) and can finally can let those two go.
The TF300T is still great, specially for watching HD movies(720p only), with the docking option you can have up to 128Gb of storage. 720p videos run great, even 1080p videos run great on my 65"LED tv thru HDMI adapter as long as you disable the video on the TF300T and OC to 1.6 Ghz(Performance Mode), GPS works great, WIFI is decent enough and the multitouch feature on the touchpad was really useful. 8 Megapixel camera(rear)with AF still takes great pics specially if you use the right software and you can even make HD video recording.
My only big complain is regarding the browsing department, I tried everything you can imagine with no success, installed every single ROM, tried every single browser with no luck at all. I heard there's an IO performance issue with Asus TF300T and TF700 tablets.
My wife gave me a Nexus 7 32GB 2013 for my birthday, what an amazing machine for browsing internet content, this is amazingly fast, fast , fast. I just ordered a nexus 10 32Gb which will make my life easier and replace my TF700. I will no longer have the flexibility for the storage as I have with the transformers but who can complain if these new units can perform without glitches,lagging or slowdowns specially browsing internet and playing 1080p videos smoothly.
There is no blame to Asus or the transformer line, maybe just for the I/O issues, I had a TF101 as well(tegra 2). Tegra 3 SoC is the one to blame for. Such a poor SoC with so much publicity that was always under-performing, from the very beginning. It's time to upgrade for me. my 2 cents here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Finally managed to make my TF300T run smooth enough at 1.3Ghz(including browsing) with Latest Hydro 8 Rom(JB 4.2.1) and Greenify, App Quarantine and AutoMemory Manager Apps and latest Browse to Ram apK. I'm going to keep my TF300T and start experimenting with my upcoming Nexus 10. However My TF700 definitely goes to craigslist or ebay.
Hey everyone,
So I am a Nexus 7 user and I am bummed that it won't be supported anymore. It really fit my needs and I love so much about it. The size is just right (I have huge hands, too!), the video display was spot on, it was fast, the 32 GB was ample room...I could go on.
Have any of you migrated from the Nexus 7 to this tablet? I have read a few reviews on other sites where Nexus 7 users raved about this tablet as a truly appropriate replacement for their Nexus 7. I was wondering if any of you can attest to this fact, too? Mine is coming soon so I am excited to get it, unbox it, and set it up. I doubt I'll root it though because I am not that hardcore, and I'll always worry about security (social media apps, cloud storage apps, banking apps, etc.).
Thanks for any feedback or insight you may be able to give!
Cheers,
Keith
Chose this tablet over the N7. Not sure if this is a replacement as it is not that new anymore. But it is still a good device and nothing in the market to beat it (yet).
Sent from my SHIELD Tablet using Tapatalk
Coming from a 2013 Nexus 7, the shield tablet to me beats it in everyway possible. I use mine mainly for gaming and in that area it is on a whole other level due to its GPU. Battery life while gaming crushes the Nexus 7 but for whatever odd reason, standard use such as browsing the web, watching videos is where it tends to lack at times. If your a casual user this tablet is a overkill. If you tend to game heavy you will find it astonishing at how much of a improvement this tablet is, I promise you it will not disappoint. Hope you enjoy yours as I do mine!
Hey guys,
I'm looking for some recommendations on a new tablet, I'm going to use it mainly for gaming and watching movies/TV shows. My iPad Air broke recently and am looking to get an android alternative.
What's most essential for me are the specs, the more future-proof it is the better as I won't be getting another tablet for quite some time (5+ years). Things like the camera, keyboard or controller support are secondary as I'll hardly use these features at all.
Nvidia Shield K1 seemed like a really good choice, however it's impossible to find a new one now at $200. Google’s Pixel C also look pretty awesome with the Tegra X1, but it’s still really expensive even after two years, and I'm not sure if it's really worth it for the steep price.
What are some good tablets I can get that are best bang for the buck (in term of gaming performance) under $400?
By the way, as someone who has never owned an android device before, I'm wondering how good are they for gaming in comparison with the iPad? Google store is looking pretty sweet now with plenty of apps, figure it'd be a good time to switch especially if I can get a tablet that's cheaper and with better specs.
I'm getting pretty tired of apple’s iTunes sync, locked down updates, and the fact that older devices get significantly slower with new iOS updates. Although I wonder how does the Android market fare in comparison, is it a similar thing as well?
Performance in gaming is my primary concern, how are optimisations on android games in comparison with their iOS counterpart? If I buy an android tablet that have similar spec to an iPad, can I expect the same level of performance in game?
Future-proofing is another one of my concern, does android tablets get significantly slower in a couple years as well? I will not have the money to purchase a new tablet for a while, so the longer this one lasts me the better it will be.
Anyway thank you so much for reading this, sincerely appreciate any recommendations that you can give.
Cheers!
First, read the Forum Rules and search before posting.
Use the thread in place here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1846277
Thread Closed.
Falcon912 said:
Hey guys,
I'm looking for some recommendations on a new tablet, I'm going to use it mainly for gaming and watching movies/TV shows. My iPad Air broke recently and am looking to get an android alternative.
What's most essential for me are the specs, the more future-proof it is the better as I won't be getting another tablet for quite some time (5+ years). Things like the camera, keyboard or controller support are secondary as I'll hardly use these features at all.
Nvidia Shield K1 seemed like a really good choice, however it's impossible to find a new one now at $200. Google’s Pixel C also look pretty awesome with the Tegra X1, but it’s still really expensive even after two years, and I'm not sure if it's really worth it for the steep price.
What are some good tablets I can get that are best bang for the buck (in term of gaming performance) under $400?
By the way, as someone who has never owned an android device before, I'm wondering how good are they for gaming in comparison with the iPad? Google store is looking pretty sweet now with plenty of apps, figure it'd be a good time to switch especially if I can get a tablet that's cheaper and with better specs.
I'm getting pretty tired of apple’s iTunes sync, locked down updates, and the fact that older devices get significantly slower with new iOS updates. Although I wonder how does the Android market fare in comparison, is it a similar thing as well?
Performance in gaming is my primary concern, how are optimisations on android games in comparison with their iOS counterpart? If I buy an android tablet that have similar spec to an iPad, can I expect the same level of performance in game?
Future-proofing is another one of my concern, does android tablets get significantly slower in a couple years as well? I will not have the money to purchase a new tablet for a while, so the longer this one lasts me the better it will be.
Anyway thank you so much for reading this, sincerely appreciate any recommendations that you can give.
Cheers!
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I've had the Nvidia Shield K1 tablet for about two years now and it's by far one of my favorite Android devices. The build is solid, premium, and durable. The speakers are great and the display still holds its own. Even now, many years after it's original release, this tablet is a powerhouse when handling most Android apps and a joy to game on. Despite its lack of selection, I've been very pleased with the GeForce Now streaming service and I like to know that GameStream is available whenever I invest in a PC upgrade. It handles supported Android games like a champ and I'm rooted for the sole purpose of PS4 remote play, which usually runs better than on my PS Vita (and with a native controller!)
I've been waiting years for it's proper successor (since before I even bought one) and have been dealt a number of blows.
First of all, I'm extremely disappointed that Nvidia's gaming services haven't branched out to any other devices. To my knowledge, even the Pixel C doesn't support the GeForce gaming app despite running on Nvidia hardware.
I remember reading that development on the second generation of Shield tablets was halted for Nvidia to work with Nintendo on the Switch. Despite not being a huge Nintendo fan in recent years, I'd happily trade in my K1 for a Switch if it had any additional tablet functionality at all. However, my understanding is that they have yet to even add video streaming services, much less the capacity to function as a student/work laptop like my Shield does.
Overall I'm upset to see the decline of Android tablets in general. From the Nexus 7 to the Nvidia Shield, $200-400 tablets were finally proving to be capable devices when the market dried up. Now Google seems to be confirming the death of Android tablets by replacing them with overpriced and under-delivering Chrome OS devices, which I have no affinity for.
Now that my Shield is starting to show it's age, where do I turn for a quality portable gaming device with web and app functionality? My options seem to be:
a) Buy a Switch, enjoy the games, hope for an update that adds more media and web functionality
b) Pixel C from eBay (does anyone own both of these devices that can offer a comparison, especially when it comes to gaming?)
c) Something way overpriced like a Surface Pro or iPad (which isn't gonna happen anytime soon but seems closest to what I'm looking for in the current market)
Are there any alternatives that I'm overlooking? Thanks!
I've been struggling with this myself - what tablet to get next. I'm not necessarily in a hurry to replace my Shield right away. But something snappier (more current gen processor) would be nice. And I have a few hairline cracks in the screen, which aren't always too noticeable, but obviously a replacement is due at some point. But what? There really isn't much out there. The gaming aspect of the Shield is cool. Although I have to admit I don't use it as much as I thought I would. Gaming is probably not deal breaker for me; but rather I use a tablet mainly for media consumption and general web browsing.
My thoughts on the options you listed, plus some of my own:
- I dislike the Apple ecosystem, as they seem more bent on telling folks what they want; instead of listening to, and actually giving them what they want.
- Pixel C is too old to invest in. Not any newer then the Shield. And I loathe to spend good money on old tech. Form what I understand, the Pixel C is retired and basically end of life (EOL) as far as Google is concerned. So again, a bad choice to put your money.
- MS Surface looks nice. But too expensive for what I use a tablet for (mostly media consumption, web browsing).
- Huawei seems to be one of the few companies committed to making Android tablets with a decent build quality. The M3 looks like a nice tablet, from a build quality aspect. But reviews comment that the processor performance, while fine for media consumption, is lackluster with games. The upcoming refreshed version M5 (they are supposedly skipping M4 since "4" is a bad luck number in Chinese culture) looks to improve the CPU performance. But the lack of a headphone jack is both puzzling for a tablet, and probably a deal breaker for me.
- Samsung Tab S3 looks nice, but very expensive still ($450, released at $600) and probably due from a refresh soon. Although that price point, might scare me away from it's successor! As it did for the S3 when it came out.
- ASUS Zenpad 3S gets good reviews in some places as the best (or at least, one of the best) Android tablet you can get right now. Build quality, while nice looking, is apparently not quite up to par (a little "creaky") with iPad or maybe Huawei. But it has a great screen, and decent processor performance. Again, we are probably due for a refresh (released Aug 2016). So I'm hesitant to spend money on something from almost 2 years ago.
- Apple dropped prices on the iPad to $329 (32 GB) version last year (and same for this years version). It's a great value for a high quality tablet. As mentioned, I'm not going to switch to the iOS ecosystem. But Android tablet makers may (probably) be forced to match quality and price, and that may be a good thing for us. Releasing a tablet like the Zenpad for $300, with slightly questionable build quality is probably not going to cut it. On a similar note, a new Samsung (S4?) without much more functionality than an iPad, selling for $600 is not justified, either.
redpoint73 said:
I've been struggling with this myself - what tablet to get next. I'm not necessarily in a hurry to replace my Shield right away. But something snappier (more current gen processor) would be nice. And I have a few hairline cracks in the screen, which aren't always too noticeable, but obviously a replacement is due at some point. But what? There really isn't much out there. The gaming aspect of the Shield is cool. Although I have to admit I don't use it as much as I thought I would. Gaming is probably not deal breaker for me; but rather I use a tablet mainly for media consumption and general web browsing.
My thoughts on the options you listed, plus some of my own:
- I dislike the Apple ecosystem, as they seem more bent on telling folks what they want; instead of listening to, and actually giving them what they want.
- Pixel C is too old to invest in. Not any newer then the Shield. And I loathe to spend good money on old tech. Form what I understand, the Pixel C is retired and basically end of life (EOL) as far as Google is concerned. So again, a bad choice to put your money.
- MS Surface looks nice. But too expensive for what I use a tablet for (mostly media consumption, web browsing).
- Huawei seems to be one of the few companies committed to making Android tablets with a decent build quality. The M3 looks like a nice tablet, from a build quality aspect. But reviews comment that the processor performance is a bit spotty. And the lack of a headphone jack is both puzzling for a tablet, and probably a deal breaker for me.
- Samsung Tab S3 looks nice, but very expensive still ($450, released at $600) and probably due from a refresh soon. Although that price point, might scare me away from it's successor! As it did for the S3 when it came out.
- ASUS Zenpad 3S gets good reviews in some places as the best (or at least, one of the best) Android tablet you can get right now. Build quality, while nice looking, is apparently not quite up to par (a little "creaky") with iPad or maybe Huawei. But it has a great screen, and decent processor performance. Again, we are probably due for a refresh (released Aug 2016). So I'm hesitant to spend money on something from almost 2 years ago.
- Apple dropped prices on the iPad to $329 (32 GB) version last year (and same for this years version). It's a great value for a high quality tablet. As mentioned, I'm not going to switch to the iOS ecosystem. But Android tablet makers may (probably) be forced to match quality and price, and that may be a good thing for us. Releasing a tablet like the Zenpad for $300, with slightly questionable build quality is probably not going to cut it. On a similar note, a new Samsung (S4?) without much more functionality than an iPad, selling for $600 is not justified, either.
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I appreciate your feedback and agree with most of it, all of the competition is too old or way overpriced. Samsung is getting there, their phones look a lot nicer and their software skins are less obnoxious but their tablets look totally stuck in the past. ASUS and Huawei have been viable alternatives but never seemed to quite hit the mark. As an Android fanboy, I love the Pixel C but ultimately couldn't pull the trigger for the exact reasons you listed. Apple has a dictative and overly minimalist approach but that being said...
I actually jumped the shark a couple days ago and bought a 10.5" iPad Pro w/ the Apple Pencil! The price is fair and the device is definitely high quality. It's taking more getting used to than I thought but the note-taking is fantastic and the fact that is has Civ 6 is a big deal for me haha. Apparently it even has PS4 Remote Play apps which I have yet to try.
I think Android is more friendly and intuitive but I have a new appreciation for Apple's design and hardware. However, the app stores are a lot more similar than I thought. For some reason I expected more selection on iOS especially in exclusive games. In general, the "Top Charts" are very similar between iOS & Android and most iOS exclusive apps are paid for. The platform really seems built for someone that also has an iPhone, Homepod, Apple TV and Mac which I have none of (this is my first and only Apple device). Despite small complaints and frustrations, it's just a really pretty device that handles my needs very well once I identify a workflow.
Overall, it was a really foreign choice for me to make. I've had Windows PCs my whole life and have been on the Android train since the OG Droid. I still might return this model for the newer & cheaper 2018 iPad. If a new Pixel tablet were to drop tomorrow, I'm sure I'd trade for it in a heartbeat. But given the current tablet market, I'm happy with this investment.
Pretty much in the same boat. The shield is still very usable for what I want and need it to do (chess, chrome, youtube and pdf reading) but sooner or later it eventually will have to be replaced. Also, the major reason I started using it as a media consumption device are all the ram problems so little by little I got rid of most of the stuff (including google apps lol!) and ended up using it for its nice screen and speakers and not its strong chip, but I would be so happy if we were to ever see a follow up to the shield tablet (sadly that's not happening). Heck, I would pay double the price of the K1. It seems that android tablets are slowly losing to apple (of course I'm not talking about premium ultra expensive samsung tabs). One last hope for android tablets could be the Mi pad 4 from xiaomi when it releases and that's it. Though, there is this new tablet os google is working on, so maybe that will be enough to spark more interest in tablets once again so we can survive one more tablet generation
The issue is nvidia decided that tablet market was not strong enough and that they would not put out a replacement for our tablets. Unfortunately that is much the consensus for cheaper/under 9 in.
I would really like to see a x1 or x2 based tablet with oled 4k screen...
Nah... it's called the Nintendo Switch... nVidia is selling plenty of mobile chips without the headaches of their own tablet.