Tablet for sister

[swanysto]

My parents want to get my sister a tablet for her birthday. I haven't really kept up with tablets for a while now.

They have been looking at the Amazon Fire 7" for $199. They want to stay at $300 or below. I personally don't think she will enjoy the 7", so I was looking at other tablets options in that price range, but I have no clue. The ipad mini 2 looks nice, and so does the samsung tab pro 10.1.

She has a windows phone, I don't know if it was just something she wanted try out, or if she really got it cause she likes the OS better. Anyways, I don't know if a windows tab would be better or not.

I don't think she has any specific app needs. I think she probably uses the kind of apps that are available on most OS's these days.

Any help pointing me in the right direction would be appreciated. I would prefer something that can be picked up at Best Buy or Frys.

 

[paperwastage]

well, secret birthday present might make it hard, can't bring her to a store to test out the different tabletse...

you should figure out how she's going to use it... 7-8" and >9" are two different tablet classes .... smaller = more portable, but larger = better for home use on couch/bed

at $300 & small, I find it hard to beat a iPad mini 2... nvidia shield would be a good android alternative with expandable storage

for >9", $300 is doable, might need to look at the samsung >9" line

 

[swanysto]

I would think most of the use is going to be at home, but who knows, this could open up options for her

 

[Yuriman]

My 2 cents: If she has a phone and a laptop already, there's a fair chance she won't use a 7" tablet much - especially if her phone is 5"+. Tablets are near useless for being productive, and can't be used very easily for taking notes and such in classes. I sold my Nexus 7 after I realized I CBA to find it when I have a ~5" phone in my pocket. My brother came to the same conclusion independently. The only people in my extended family who still use a tablet are my grandparents, who refuse to upgrade from their iPhone4's. So, if you're set on a tablet, a 9"+ model is probably a safer bet.

I like the flexibility of Windows tablets, and there are some nice devices in the $2-300 range, but generally Android tablets will have much better battery life.

 

[Kaido]

Check out this new 11" tablet for $199:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2426525

It's basically like a budget Surface, but running Android (latest, v5) - comes with a nice LED-backlit keyboard, which can detach to turn into a nice tablet.

 

[razel]

It depends on what your sister wants and what you think she needs. I agree with Yuriman that nearly all tablets in the 7-10 inch range are productive-less. They are great for media consumption. I'm glad she likes the mobile Windows OS, so do many of my females friends and family.

I have always advised that millennials get one device on each platform. Usually Windows laptop then either ipad/android or android/iphone, but with the way I see OSs becoming more of an environment it may not be a good idea if you love one of them. The future seems to be that phones/tablets are just screens to get information off the Internet. How to get that information through the GUI (OS) become your personal preference.

Anyhow, I'd probably get her a Dell Venue 8 Pro. On sale, you can get them in the $200 or less range. It's full blown Win 8.1 and touchscreen. You will not be able to get much productivity out the desktop apps like desktop office since the screen is 8", but at least you know that you can if you had to. On the other hand, the latest preview versions of Office do work great on touchscreens.

The Kindle Fire won't be a good choice unless you plan on putting Android on it.

 

[Ravynmagi]

I'd go with an iPad Mini 2. It's an amazing tablet. Very fast, beautiful display, great solid build quality. And you find the best apps here, developers still favor this platform first.

I really wish there was a great Android option to give. But it's hard to come up with one. I really love the Nexus 7 2013, but I wish it was a tad bigger and I know most people would like at least an 8 inch screen, as do I. The Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro and S have good and bad points and overall just isn't quite good enough to win over an iPad Mini 2 in my opinion. But if you really want to avoid iOS, one of these would probably be your best choice.

Amazon Fire tablets are okay-ish. I can live without the Google Play store (but just barely). For me what really irks me though is that Amazon doesn't update the Fire OS on their tablets when a new Fire OS comes out. You have to buy a new tablet every year to get the latest version of the OS, that's seems really stupid.

 

[swanysto]

Ok, I got back a text from her husband. She would prefer 9-10". She will use it for movies, games, and surfing. My guess would be the games she plays won't be super taxing on the hardware.

 

[swanysto]

I'd go with an iPad Mini 2. It's an amazing tablet. Very fast, beautiful display, great solid build quality. And you find the best apps here, developers still favor this platform first.

I really wish there was a great Android option to give. But it's hard to come up with one. I really love the Nexus 7 2013, but I wish it was a tad bigger and I know most people would like at least an 8 inch screen, as do I. The Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro and S have good and bad points and overall just isn't quite good enough to win over an iPad Mini 2 in my opinion. But if you really want to avoid iOS, one of these would probably be your best choice.

Amazon Fire tablets are okay-ish. I can live without the Google Play store (but just barely). For me what really irks me though is that Amazon doesn't update the Fire OS on their tablets when a new Fire OS comes out. You have to buy a new tablet every year to get the latest version of the OS, that's seems really stupid.

I agree with you on the iPad mini. Unfortunately(knowing what I know now) the larger iPad would go out of their price range.

 

[poofyhairguy]

I vote a swappa iPad Air 1 given those needs and budget. I have seen mint 16GB ones go for below $300.

 

[Oyeve]

On the android side of things, how about the Tab Pro 8.4? Its decent and fast enough and should be well below 300 bucks.