Can I do better than this tablet?

[tinpanalley]

I'm looking at this Asus Zenpad Z170CG here on Amazon France because for the price, being a really basic Android tablet for online searching, the odd video, and for having on the go capabilities with the SIM slots and expandable storage, it seems to do the basic things I'll need. Also, I teach kids English and a really portable tablet for watching videos from microSD cards is really practical.
Is there another cheap tablet like this with 3G I should be considering? I'd love it to be Windows because everything else I own is but for that reason, I thought I'd get an Android tablet to have access to some other apps.

Any recommendations would be great.

 

[paperwastage]

capabilities with the SIM slots and expandable storage, it seems to do the basic things I'll need.

which network are you planning to use it on?

 

[Raduque]

I wouldn't buy an Android tablet with only 1gb ram. I considered it once, but decided against it. Android really needs 2gb to run well.

 

[tinpanalley]

I wouldn't buy an Android tablet with only 1gb ram. I considered it once, but decided against it. Android really needs 2gb to run well.

Really? Even just for basic searching and for playing videos on my microSD cards?

 

[JeffMD]

1gb is very tiresome today. Good luck with keeping any music players open while you are browsing the web.

The atom processor in this thing is very entry level. The CPU performance is just short of the old Tegra 3 line of processors, although the antutu 3d performance puts it closer on par with snapdragon 600 (Squarely between Galaxy S4 and LG G3). I suspect the 3d performance will fall in real gaming due to the 1gb afforded it though as games looking to run on those platforms are expecting 2-3x more memory.

 

[tinpanalley]

1gb is very tiresome today. Good luck with keeping any music players open while you are browsing the web.

The atom processor in this thing is very entry level. The CPU performance is just short of the old Tegra 3 line of processors, although the antutu 3d performance puts it closer on par with snapdragon 600 (Squarely between Galaxy S4 and LG G3). I suspect the 3d performance will fall in real gaming due to the 1gb afforded it though as games looking to run on those platforms are expecting 2-3x more memory.

Right. Ok. Thanks for the useful feedback. This is literally for nothing more than web search and playing videos off Youtube or flash storage. I know the music player was just an example but I've never once used a tablet to play music. It's literally a portable internet machine for me, nothing else. If there will ever be gaming, we're talking maybe the occasional casual game. I'd never game on a tablet either.

 

[sweenish]

Just get one with 2 GB of RAM.

Even web browsing doesn't do well with 1 GB.

 

[tinpanalley]

Just get one with 2 GB of RAM.
Even web browsing doesn't do well with 1 GB.

None available to me at that price, though. But thanks for the help.

 

[sweenish]

Then save up for a bit longer.

You will regret a 1 GB device.

EDIT: To clarify, 2 GB is not an ideal value. It's the minimum.

 

[tinpanalley]

Then save up for a bit longer.
You will regret a 1 GB device.

What would be a similarly priced alternative to look out for? ANYthing 2Gb?

 

[JeffMD]

1gb still works fine. Saying 2gb is required is silly because it is not.

Frankly I know of no mid level android tablets. When I wanted to step above entree level tablets I went to the ipad mini 2.

 

[sweenish]

Enjoy every web site re-drawing every time, then. And your home screen re-drawing whenever you exit the browser. Open up your current task manager, look at how much RAM just your browser is using, realize the mobile versions are not that much different, and try stuffing the OS and your other apps all into 1 GB. It won't be fun.

I've put it in three threads now, there's the Shield Tablet K1. ASUS makes Android tablets with 2 GB of RAM for very affordable prices. I believe someone went for the Zenpad S 8.0. It has a 2K screen, 2 GB RAM, and costs US$200.

The problem with Android is always people going too cheap. They have a bad time, go to Apple, happily spending at least double what they originally did. And then they say Android sucks. Had they spent that money on Android in the first place, they'd probably be happy. Let's not perpetuate the cycle.

You can do well with cheaper Android devices, if the specs are right. And 1 GB of RAM just isn't.

 

[tinpanalley]

Enjoy every web site re-drawing every time, then. And your home screen re-drawing whenever you exit the browser. Open up your current task manager, look at how much RAM just your browser is using, realize the mobile versions are not that much different, and try stuffing the OS and your other apps all into 1 GB. It won't be fun.

I've put it in three threads now, there's the Shield Tablet K1. ASUS makes Android tablets with 2 GB of RAM for very affordable prices. I believe someone went for the Zenpad S 8.0. It has a 2K screen, 2 GB RAM, and costs US$200.

The problem with Android is always people going too cheap. They have a bad time, go to Apple, happily spending at least double what they originally did. And then they say Android sucks. Had they spent that money on Android in the first place, they'd probably be happy. Let's not perpetuate the cycle.

You can do well with cheaper Android devices, if the specs are right. And 1 GB of RAM just isn't.

Ok, cool. Thanks for the feedback.
The Shield looks great but has no SIM slot.
And there's absolutely nothing to worry about with perpetuating any cycles. I'd never base my opinion of an OS on my having spent a limited amount on a device. And there is certainly no concern of me ever going to any Apple device even if it was free. So that takes care of that problem.
Thanks again though for the advice.

 

[Raduque]

I bought a Lenovo Tab2 A10. It had a Mediatek 4 core processor that runs at 1.7ghz and 2gb ram. I use it for light browsing and comics through Google Play Books, and that's pretty much it. It handles that usage case just fine. No cellular radios, though.

My HP Spectre x2 has LTE - but it was $600.

 

[sm625]

My phone has 2GB and my audible app will sometimes stop when I run the web browser. Even though there is supposedly 700MB of free memory available. Android is just bad on memory. (What do you expect from a company with a measly $476 billion market cap?) I suspect that if I shelled out $600 for a 4GB phone, it would do the same thing. So there really isnt much downside to having only 1GB. Just assume that every time you switch apps, it is going to reload the app.

 

[sweenish]

Without mentioning the phone, your argument is pointless.

Samsung, for instance, can't manage memory to save their lives.

 

[LPCTech]

I have a digiland 10" chinese tablet that I bought for 60$ one year ago. Its got a 1.3Ghz mediatek 4 core processor, 1GB ram, low res screen and 16GB storage. Running android 4.4 Its still working flawlessly today. I can stream video from websites, play video off my sdcard browse the web with chrome with no issues. Best purchase ever lol. Never a problem.

So I think it really depends on the device.

 

[loimlo]

I've been using ASUS MemoPad HD7 which has 1GB RAM/16G ROM for past 2 and a half years. So I think I'm pretty familiar with this topic usage model. Based on my experience, if you open 5~8 apps concurrently, some apps would be kept, some apps would be deleted from RAM, and you've to reload it when you switch to deleted apps anyway.

To further illustrate my point, I usually launch Chrome to open 6 webs, some webs would be kept, some webs would be deleted from RAM, and you've to reload it when you switch to deleted webs anyway. Btw, reload web usually takes 1~2 secs, so it doesn't bother me that much.

I usually spend very fragmented 20~30 minutes per day on browsing the web, and I've been served very well by this budget tablet. But your mileage may vary depending on your requirement and patience....


Here's Anandtech excellent review of this tablet.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7160/asus-memo-pad-hd7-review

 

[tinpanalley]

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for their input. I've been using the Zenpad 7 on WiFi, with my SIM, for everything I need to use it for and it is absolutely perfect. Fits my needs exactly.
Thanks everyone!