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Best 10" tablet

M

makken

Golden Member
With the (new) Nexus 10 MIA, and nothing really exciting on this front at MWC, what do you guys feel is the best 10" tablet at this moment?
 
I absolutely love the iPad Air, it's like Star Trek. I had an iPad 1 and it was a real clunker, especially software-wise as more iOS updates came out. But, you have to like the OS & "walled garden" system that goes along with it. But of all the tablets I've used, I'd say that the iPad Air is the best.
 
I'd probably scratch the Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 because the Note 10 2014 is about the same price now (or only $50 more when someone still sells it at full MSRP).

It's down to the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 or iPad Air if you want a $500-600 tablet. Or the Surface Pro 2 if you want a $1000 tablet/laptop. Though for that much money I'd probably want something that was more Laptop than tablet, like a Yoga 2 Pro.
 
zerogear said:
IMO Surface Pro 2 -- because it's actually useful instead of just media consumption
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I want to hate the Surface 2, but the width feels good in your hands & it comes with Office. Hard to beat if you don't have any special requirements!
 
Kaido said:
I want to hate the Surface 2, but the width feels good in your hands & it comes with Office. Hard to beat if you don't have any special requirements!
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I think if the question was "What's the best 10" tablet and laptop replacement device?" I would say the Surface Pro, but looking at it strictly as a tablet it is not the best. It's WAY too thick and heavy, and it is not one of the best when it comes to battery life. And relying on touch input for desktop x86 applications is not a good experience.

In other words, the Surface Pro 2 is at its best when it's being used like a laptop, not a tablet.
 
Likely the Xperia Z2 tablet - out next month. (Yes, I'm running over your requirements a little).

A weight at just 429 grammes, lower than any other 10" tablet, waterproof, S800 etc. It doesn't have the smudge-attracting overlay over the screen which the Z1 tablet has either. The only drawback that I can see is that the resolution is still 1920x1200. Not a massive thing, but still.
 
Ravynmagi said:
I'd probably scratch the Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 because the Note 10 2014 is about the same price now (or only $50 more when someone still sells it at full MSRP).
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The Tab Pro *is* lighter, so if you're never planning to use the pen...

Mondozei said:
Likely the Xperia Z2 tablet - out next month. (Yes, I'm running over your requirements a little).
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Hardware looks nice enough, but multi-window is such an awesome thing for Android 10" that until/unless the Samsung/Google patent deal brings it to AOSP, it will be hard to recommend anyone else's non-budget tablets.
 
Hmm, interesting responses here.

On the surface pro 2, what do you think makes it better than a 2 in 1, e.g., a xps 12 or a yoga (I believe you can actually buy the ivy bridge xps 12 for cheaper than the surface pro 2 now).

Also, for tablet duties (browsing, Netflix/YouTube, email, etc), is the extra performance from the core i5 worth it over the new bay trail tablets, e.g., Asus t100, dell venue 11 pro?
 
makken said:
Hmm, interesting responses here.

On the surface pro 2, what do you think makes it better than a 2 in 1, e.g., a xps 12 or a yoga (I believe you can actually buy the ivy bridge xps 12 for cheaper than the surface pro 2 now).

Also, for tablet duties (browsing, Netflix/YouTube, email, etc), is the extra performance from the core i5 worth it over the new bay trail tablets, e.g., Asus t100, dell venue 11 pro?
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I just bought a surface pro recently. The killer feature for me is the stylus.

For regular tablet duties I would honestly prefer the bay trail tablets. They perform very well but will have better battery life and be lighter. Connected standby is also very nice if you're used to a regular android / apple tablet.

Also unless they changed multi window on the samsung tablets I felt it was clunky and didn't work very well. Windows 8 multi window is worlds better.
 
Mondozei said:
Likely the Xperia Z2 tablet - out next month. (Yes, I'm running over your requirements a little).

A weight at just 429 grammes, lower than any other 10" tablet, waterproof, S800 etc. It doesn't have the smudge-attracting overlay over the screen which the Z1 tablet has either. The only drawback that I can see is that the resolution is still 1920x1200. Not a massive thing, but still.
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I was going to say the TabPro or Note 10.1-2014, but the Z2 deserves a look. Its reasonable to believe the Nexus 10 will get refreshed in June at Google I/O as well.

Windows tablets should be avoided, that platform is a barren ghost town and for practical purposes, dead.
 
Bateluer said:
I was going to say the TabPro or Note 10.1-2014, but the Z2 deserves a look. Its reasonable to believe the Nexus 10 will get refreshed in June at Google I/O as well.

Windows tablets should be avoided, that platform is a barren ghost town and for practical purposes, dead.
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I keep hearing rumors that the new n10 is "just around the corner" but none of those rumors have ever materialized. At this point, I think I'm done holding off waiting for it. If it comes out in June, great, but I'm not holding my breath anymore.

Curious to why you say windows should be avoided. I just checked the metro store on my desktop, and there are apps for Netflix, kindle, hulu, and Facebook. The big thing missing are apps for Google services, but all of those should be accessible from chrome anyways...
 
Bateluer said:
I was going to say the TabPro or Note 10.1-2014, but the Z2 deserves a look. Its reasonable to believe the Nexus 10 will get refreshed in June at Google I/O as well.

Windows tablets should be avoided, that platform is a barren ghost town and for practical purposes, dead.
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Everything I've heard is a 8 inch Nexus Tablet coming, not a 10.
 
If you want a mobile OS tablet: iPad Air. It's very fast, lightweight and compact. The aspect ratio is superior for web browsing and other tasks you'd do in portrait view. And iOS still has a much better tablet app ecosystem -- I've been using Android tablets lately, and it's wild how few of the OS' apps are properly optimized for a big screen. On an iPad, you can generally assume that any app which makes sense for a tablet will have a tablet-native version.

For something Windows-based: I'd lean toward the Surface Pro 2 for the speed and keyboard support, but it's pretty expensive. The Venue Pro 11 might do the trick if you need something cheaper.
 
Commodus said:
If you want a mobile OS tablet: iPad Air. It's very fast, lightweight and compact. The aspect ratio is superior for web browsing and other tasks you'd do in portrait view. And iOS still has a much better tablet app ecosystem -- I've been using Android tablets lately, and it's wild how few of the OS' apps are properly optimized for a big screen. On an iPad, you can generally assume that any app which makes sense for a tablet will have a tablet-native version.

For something Windows-based: I'd lean toward the Surface Pro 2 for the speed and keyboard support, but it's pretty expensive. The Venue Pro 11 might do the trick if you need something cheaper.
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While I agree completely about iOS having a lot more native for tablet apps, the one thing that is terrible for the consumer is the fact that they still have a distinction between iPhone and iPad versions. Whereas on Android, take Tapatalk Pro for instance, that forms properly to devices of all sizes. Tablets will display a tablet UI whereas on a phone, it'll display a phone UI. You pay once, and you own it for both. On iOS, you have to separately buy that app per device. That is the one and true annoyance I have with iOS.

I do think Windows 8.1 is an extremely good tablet OS. It has big, bold text and information right at your fingertips. The ecosystem is not there yet, and the apps are still coming in. Lets say iOS has the 100 most popular apps, Windows/Windows Phone will have under 30, but it is an ease to use the desktop browser or even touch based IE.
 
I would avoid the iPad Air. Apple cheaped out on it by only putting 1GB RAM into it. Completely ridiculous, especially when trying to cram 64-bit OS/apps onto it. Low memory app crashes are something you may have to deal with IME.
 
dlock13 said:
On iOS, you have to separately buy that app per device. That is the one and true annoyance I have with iOS.
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That's not true for all apps, there are universal apps in iOS that works for both phone and tablet.

I just got a refurb'ed Note 10.1 2014 from Walmart. 16gb version for $400. Looks brand new but comes in a plain white box...
 
Maximus96 said:
That's not true for all apps, there are universal apps in iOS that works for both phone and tablet.

I just got a refurb'ed Note 10.1 2014 from Walmart. 16gb version for $400. Looks brand new but comes in a plain white box...
Click to expand...

I know it isn't true for all apps, but there's a good number of them that have two separate apps instead of a universal one.

Android tried that for a bit, but it looked like it never took off since people could just sideload the phone app and use it that way.
 
dlock13 said:
I know it isn't true for all apps, but there's a good number of them that have two separate apps instead of a universal one.

Android tried that for a bit, but it looked like it never took off since people could just sideload the phone app and use it that way.
Click to expand...

I think a lot of Android apps just adjust to the most appropriate version when it detects the hardware. It looks different for phone vs. tablet, but we don't have to do anything and we only have to buy one app.
 
I would throw in my vote for the Surface Pro 2 (well worth the cost).

Having enough storage for most to any applications and apps, and personal files (with abilities being able to work with USB drive sticks and micro SD cards) the biggest benefit would be being able to not feel like a terminal to the internet, but rather a separate individual computer, being able to work as well off line (cloud processing and streaming be damned) and just as well on the go, and in your hands and having a full PC in your hands or lap or everywhere using a proven software base.

It is a device that I would have liked years ago back in college (and most definitely high school). It is sized right for me in full physical keyboard interactions with the type cover while at the same time, being able to fold back for a tablet.

The double edge sword, is that it uses two active cooling (fans) that add thickness, which adds the ability to being able to dissipate heat under full processing load when needed for performance. I rather have this than having the device overheat (my hands or burning out the device). Since using the Surface Pro 2 unplugged mostly, I have not an issue where the device does go warm. Only those fans would come on in full if I play a 3D game. Even CAD manipulation (pen and touch manipulation) does not stress the device to the fullest.

It is a good balance in consolidation, portability, leisure, work (right away without waiting for app development, app validation, and app testing), and typing comfort along with the biggest draw of the pen in feeling and looking like a natural pen when used (drawing, writing) with smoothness in strokes and performance. I demoed a Note about several months ago, and the entry in the handwriting areas are not as nice, smoothness of strokes being the thing that stands out.

Say what you want about the Tablet PC, but Microsoft has done well to improve the inking aspects over time (beginning with XP Tablet Edition).
 
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