Looking for a tablet with specific criteria...

[BrownPaw]

Greetings,

I'm looking for a tablet that meets some pretty specific criteria. I haven't found a good site for sorting everything available by features -- even most store sites (such as NewEgg) suck at providing ranges for sorting.

7-8" screen size
Decent processor/memory (think Nexus7 and up)
Front camera (don't care about rear)
Expandable storage (microSD)
Separate HDMI port
Bonus points for hardware GPS and LTE options, but not a deal breaker
Bonus points for "retina" screen, though not a deal breaker either
And, obviously, won't break the bank too much

My problem is that there are some very good contenders but they are always missing just one or two things. No tablet appears to have ALL of this. The Nexus7 looks great except it's missing expandable storage and HDMI out. The nvidia Shield looks great except it has no front camera! I've run across a few older tablets (I think an Asus or two) that have pretty much everything else, except they still run on a 1ghz processor. It's really frustrating. Any suggestions?

 

[slugg]

I'm in the same boat as you, in the sense that I can't quite find the right combination of features in a tablet. My particular requirements are different, but we have the same problem.

You're going to have to make a compromise somewhere. From what I've read from your post, it looks like your two best options would be the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HDX (7 inch). In the 16 and 32gb configurations, they're exactly the same price. Here are the main differences:

- The Kindle Fire HDX uses FireOS, which is Amazon's specialized version of Android
- ^^ You don't get Google Play (officially, but you can side-load it). You're on Amazon's market.
- The HDX has better color representation, although only barely. Both screens rock.
- The HDX has a longer battery life.
- The HDX is one of (if not the?) most powerful tablets on the market.
- The HDX is available in a 64 gb configuration.
- Available with 4g LTE and "GPS" (not sure if it's real GPS), if you wanted it.

Now, I understand that you really want the external storage, but consider this. Yes, even though the 64 gb model is more expensive, you can kind of mitigate the need for external storage. So what you end up with is a tablet that does almost everything you want, albeit you may have to spend a bit more.

 

[MrSquished]

https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=lg_g_pad&hl=en

runs naked android like the nexus but has a microSD slot. not sure about hdmi out though

 

[paperwastage]

https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=lg_g_pad&hl=en

runs naked android like the nexus but has a microSD slot. not sure about hdmi out though

believe there's a MHL adapter(to HDMI)... kinda sucks having to carry around a dongle though

maybe the Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 or Note 8.0?

 

[BrownPaw]

I'm in the same boat as you, in the sense that I can't quite find the right combination of features in a tablet. My particular requirements are different, but we have the same problem.

You're going to have to make a compromise somewhere. From what I've read from your post, it looks like your two best options would be the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HDX (7 inch). In the 16 and 32gb configurations, they're exactly the same price. Here are the main differences:

- The Kindle Fire HDX uses FireOS, which is Amazon's specialized version of Android
- ^^ You don't get Google Play (officially, but you can side-load it). You're on Amazon's market.
- The HDX has better color representation, although only barely. Both screens rock.
- The HDX has a longer battery life.
- The HDX is one of (if not the?) most powerful tablets on the market.
- The HDX is available in a 64 gb configuration.
- Available with 4g LTE and "GPS" (not sure if it's real GPS), if you wanted it.

Now, I understand that you really want the external storage, but consider this. Yes, even though the 64 gb model is more expensive, you can kind of mitigate the need for external storage. So what you end up with is a tablet that does almost everything you want, albeit you may have to spend a bit more.

Thanks for this. Another thing I failed to mention is ideally something offered in a Google Play variant -- as in, able to install a base, non-modified version of Android. I don't mind the Amazon ecosystem, but I've been under the impression that the Fires are fairly limited. Is this not true if you sideload the Play Store?

I'm ideally looking for a tablet for long-term backpacking and travel, so flexibility is kind of important. :-/ Has there been any success in rooting the HDXs?