Best tablet to hold in landscape without touching knobs

omega3

Senior member
Feb 19, 2015
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So I have no experience with tablets but gonna buy one. I thought going with the ipad, but what puts me off is that i would hold it mostly in landscape so won't that lead to accidental home button pressing with my thumb?

If so, which are the best alternatives that i can confidently hold in landscape mode without risking accidental button pressing. I was thinking mabye Asus Zenbook or HP. Not sure.

I wanna be able laying in the couch so i think the 9,7" size of the ipad would be good i assume or should i take smaller.

Which are your recommendations? Thanks.
 
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ControlD

Diamond Member
Apr 25, 2005
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I have used both an iPad and a Galaxy Note tablet a fair amount and I have never had issues with accidentally pressing the home button. They way you hold the tablets you have to move your thumb to the home button, it isn't generally resting there. I wouldn't worry about that aspect of it honestly.
 

Kartajan

Golden Member
Feb 26, 2001
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... I read the title thinking you were needing some kind of ruggedized tablet for disaster recovery...
(landslide) ;)
 

Commodus

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 2004
9,206
6,799
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So I have no experience with tablets but gonna buy one. I thought going with the ipad, but what puts me off is that i would hold it mostly in landscape so won't that lead to accidental home button pressing with my thumb?

If so, which are the best alternatives that i can confidently hold in landscape mode without risking accidental button pressing. I was thinking mabye Asus Zenbook or HP. Not sure.

I wanna be able laying in the couch so i think the 9,7" size of the ipad would be good i assume or should i take smaller.

Which are your recommendations? Thanks.

iPad. The home button location isn't an issue, and Android is still pretty lousy when it comes to tablet-native apps. That and most Android vendors have conceded the high-end mobile tablet market to Apple... haven't seen many good examples in a while.

What's your budget? I'd go with the iPad Pro if speed is a concern or you want something particularly future-proof, or the iPad Air 2 if you just want something for browsing and videos.
 

Red Storm

Lifer
Oct 2, 2005
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You're not going to accidentally press the home button. Go to any store that sells iPads and hold one, you'll see there's no worry. Get the iPad.
 

omega3

Senior member
Feb 19, 2015
616
23
81
iPad. The home button location isn't an issue, and Android is still pretty lousy when it comes to tablet-native apps. That and most Android vendors have conceded the high-end mobile tablet market to Apple... haven't seen many good examples in a while.

What's your budget? I'd go with the iPad Pro if speed is a concern or you want something particularly future-proof, or the iPad Air 2 if you just want something for browsing and videos.
I would mainly use it for browing and video watching, maybe playing some games.. can't Android do that properly?

Regarding the home button, isn't there a way to disable it once you've unlocked the ipad? I have no experience with tablets so far (only pc's and laptops) but if you want to hold it firmly on the side panels it seems touching that home button is inevitable.
 

Commodus

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 2004
9,206
6,799
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I would mainly use it for browsing and video watching, maybe playing some games.. can't Android do that properly?

Regarding the home button, isn't there a way to disable it once you've unlocked the ipad? I have no experience with tablets so far (only pc's and laptops) but if you want to hold it firmly on the side panels it seems touching that home button is inevitable.

Android can, but it's a question of getting an ideal experience. That video app you get may get its big new feature on iOS first, or you may have to accept a blown-up phone version on Android. Apple also has a knack for more consistent performance.

There's no way to disable the home button when you've unlocked the iPad. You'd have to do a multi-finger gesture to have a hope of getting back to the home screen. With that said: it's a non-issue. The button isn't raised above the surface, so you'd have to grip the tablet in a pretty specific way to accidentally visit the home screen.

Go try the iPad lineup and a few Android tablets (I'd look at the Galaxy Tab S2) in a store... no guarantees that you'll get a perfect demo, but it's the best way of finding out what tablets are like before you buy.
 

Mike64

Platinum Member
Apr 22, 2011
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... I read the title thinking you were needing some kind of ruggedized tablet for disaster recovery...
(landslide) ;)
:p That was the only reason I opened the thread at all - morbid curiosity about why the OP would be wanting a tablet to use during such a specific form of natural catastrophe. Imagine my disappointment when I discovered the actual, all too mundane, question...:(/:D
 
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