Looking for some advice (Galaxy S 8.4 or iPad)

[Rerednaw]

My old iPad 2 suffered an accident the other day...dang butterfingers. I had a case and it landed on the carpet but it landed on the corner and that was that.

While it's still usable, I'm considering a replacement. Especially as the cracks spider out and little glass slivers are appearing everywhere.

I inherited a Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 and after I cleared up the bloatware I am leaning towards the smaller footprint (fits in pocket easier).

So now I'm on the fence between either an iPad mini or the new S 8.4.

I've read the specs and hardware wise it appears the S wins out here (processor, screen res, SD slot, etc. On the app and OS side it is really hard to tell, as the reviews are rather...divisive. One thing that is swaying me slightly is that the bulk of my library (DVD/Blu-ray codes esp.) is iTunes.

Alternatively I could keep the bigger footprint and get a full-sized iPad 4 or the Gal S 10.5.

So I was reaching out to the community here. Who owns one (or both) and what did you like about either? What did you find needing improvement or lacking?

Thanks in advance!

 

[desura]

The only good thing about galaxy tab s is the amoled screen.

And it is a fantastic screen for cinema. Better than plasma IMHO.

IPad wins on everything else. Unless you want to use the tablet as a television set, I recommend iPad.

 

[preslove]

The only good thing about galaxy tab s is the amoled screen.

And it is a fantastic screen for cinema. Better than plasma IMHO.

IPad wins on everything else. Unless you want to use the tablet as a television set, I recommend iPad.

Except for ram. The galaxy s has 3 gigs vs 1 for iPads. My oneplus one surfs the web far better than my iPad 2 because of the ram difference.

OP, if you use a lot of apps and games, go iPad. If it's going to be a web surfing device, mostly, go with android and lots of ram.

 

[Ravynmagi]

I have a Nexus 7 2013, LG G Pad 8.3, and iPad Mini with Retina. Haven't used a Tab S 8.4 yet.

I love my Android tablets and couldn't part with them. I definitely love the Android OS far more than iOS. But I really love the apps on the iPad. And if I had to just pick one tablet it would be the iPad. But only be a small margin. I don't think either choice would be bad.

If the Tab S 8.4 had a better GPU, I might be a bit more excited about it. I think Samsung kinda dropped the ball here.

Also we may see new iPads pretty soon.

 

[ChronoReverse]

It entirely depends on your usage. If you're gonna game or use one of those apps that are only on iPad then that's easily the choice.

But if you're watching videos and web browsing, the Tab S is clearly the better choice.


If you have a mix I'd probably favor the iPad but the Tab S does have a very very nice screen...

 

[desura]

RAM does not matter because iOS is much more efficient at RAM usage than android. If you do the tab test on both tablets, they are actually about equal.

The galaxy tab s is noticeably laggy in everyday use and, and most annoying of all it has super sensitive capacitive buttons on the bezel. Samsung products always have downright stupid design choices.

 

[ChronoReverse]

RAM does not matter because iOS is much more efficient at RAM usage than android. If you do the tab test on both tablets, they are actually about equal.

No... let me reassure you that Safari crashes far more often even on the 1GB RAM model iOS devices (especially with iOS7). It's not simply a matter of efficiency when modern web pages are just huge nowadays.

The other stuff YMMV I suppose. When I tried out Samsung's tablets I found that the capacitives were too small a touch target (i.e., I didn't like them either, just for the opposite reason to you). I suppose people not used to Android's capacitives might find them obtrusive.

 

[Ravynmagi]

I think Apple kinda needs to bump up the RAM. But I don't think Safari crashing is normal behavior. Mine never crashes on my iPad or iPhones. I think something else might be causing that.

 

[ChronoReverse]

I think Apple kinda needs to bump up the RAM. But I don't think Safari crashing is normal behavior. Mine never crashes on my iPad or iPhones. I think something else might be causing that.

Well, I admit that I have probably too many tabs left opened but you kinda figure a device that is otherwise ridiculously fast should be able to handle that.

Maybe a reset is in order. One thing iOS does right is easy restoration.

 

[Ravynmagi]

That could be it. I do try to keep my tab count down, because Safari does have to reload more often than it should. Was really hoping Apple would bump up the memory on the iPhone 6. I'm still hoping this years new iPad gets more memory, but I'm starting to think it won't happen.

 

[desura]

In my tests, the ipad air can handle 6-8 tabs before refreshing.

The Galaxy Tab S does the same...

 

[ponyo]

In my tests, the ipad air can handle 6-8 tabs before refreshing.

The Galaxy Tab S does the same...

On my iPhone 5s, it's about 3-4 tabs. Lack of ram is a big problem on iOS. Try typing and copying and pasting between couple different tabs. You'll lose everything because of the refresh. Apple's penny pinching on the system ram is annoying. I will not buy another 1gb iOS device.

 

[ChronoReverse]

On my GS4, Chrome doesn't refresh until 8 tabs while the Touchwiz browser can handle at least 15 tabs without refreshing. I'm sure the latest and greatest Android devices can do better than that.

 

[Ravynmagi]

Latest rumor says a golden iPad is coming out this month. Why the heck would you not buy that?