Which one to keep?

[Ancalagon44]

So, recently I decided I need an Android tablet, and ordered myself a Lenovo A10-7600. It is a 10 inch tablet with a quad core Cortex A7 CPU. Resolution is 1280x800 and it is an IPS panel. Yeah, not cutting edge by any means, but I wanted something cheap, cheerful and portable.

Anyway, today I hear that I have won a Lenovo Ideapad A10. The difference between the two is the Ideapad is actually a laptop, and so it comes with a keyboard. Unfortunately, it isn't the kind of keyboard that you can remove. It also has a 10 inch display, but it is a TN panel (I think) with a resolution of 1366x768. It has a quad core Cortex A9 CPU running at a higher clockspeed (1.6 vs 1.3) and also has a Mali MP4 instead of an MP2.

So now I need to decide what to do with them. The advantages of the A7600 are that is lighter, and I can always get a bluetooth keyboard for it. I can't remove the keyboard of the Ideapad. The A7600 has the better screen, being IPS instead of TN.

The advantages of the Ideapad is that it's CPU and GPU are both much, much faster, and I think it has double the memory. It has a physical keyboard already, so I don't need to buy one.

I could keep both, but not sure I see the point. Otherwise, I could sell one, or give one to my brother (if he wants it). But, if I only keep one, which one do I keep?

EDIT: Just to clarify, both devices run some version of Android 4, not sure what exactly.

 

[Crono]

Keep whichever you need more, or get rid of both and get a hybrid ultrabook/tablet.

If you don't know which one you need more, you obviously don't deserve either, so please mail me both devices and call it a win.

 

[Ancalagon44]

That is the problem, I don't know which would be more useful to keep!

In an ideal world, if the laptop I had won was a Windows laptop, it would have been a no brainer - I would have kept both.

Because it is an Android laptop, I'm not sure I need both an Android tablet and an Android laptop.

 

[zaza]

That is the problem, I don't know which would be more useful to keep!

In an ideal world, if the laptop I had won was a Windows laptop, it would have been a no brainer - I would have kept both.

Because it is an Android laptop, I'm not sure I need both an Android tablet and an Android laptop.

In that case get the tablet. Nothing like laying under your bedsheets at night or in the morning with all of it between your hands, browsing the internet and playing flappy bird.
There is just a sense of control and comfort with a tablet that you can't get with a laptop.

 

[WelshBloke]

Given that you wanted a tablet in the first place and that the laptop isnt really so much more powerful to take it into 'proper' laptop territory I'd say keep the tablet.

 

[midwestfisherman]

Get rid of them both! Lenovo = EVIL!

http://gizmodo.com/lenovo-joins-the-malevolent-side-of-the-online-advertis-1686922941

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2887392/lenovo-hit-with-lawsuit-over-superfish-snafu.html

The articles are calling this "adware", it's more accurate to call it Malware!

 

[Ancalagon44]

Get rid of them both! Lenovo = EVIL!

http://gizmodo.com/lenovo-joins-the-malevolent-side-of-the-online-advertis-1686922941

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2887392/lenovo-hit-with-lawsuit-over-superfish-snafu.html

The articles are calling this "adware", it's more accurate to call it Malware!

I know about that, but it isn't a good enough reason to get rid of them. I'd rather just fix them to prevent that adware from working. Even if I have to install a custom rom or something.

Also, I'm based in South Africa, so zero chance of me benefitting from a class action lawsuit.

Thanks for the advice guys, still don't know which way to turn. A really portable laptop would be useful for note taking during lectures and practical group meet ups (full time employed, part time student), but, being an Android laptop means I will probably be wishing I had a Windows laptop instead. Then again, I could try Office for Android I suppose?

 

[corkyg]

It really depends on what your main usage is. If work, the laptop wins. If play, the tablet wins. Also factor in primarily stationary or mobile.

 

[Ancalagon44]

It really depends on what your main usage is. If work, the laptop wins. If play, the tablet wins. Also factor in primarily stationary or mobile.

I've now got both devices sitting on my dining room table.

As for use cases, I'm thinking the following:
Lying on my couch or bed, browsing news and forums, maybe responding to emails. Here, a physical keyboard will be useful for typing I think, so the Ideapad would be better.

Lying on my couch or bed, playing mobile games. Not sure who to give this one to. The Ideapad is far more powerful, having probably 60% faster single threaded performance, plus up to double the GPU performance and double the RAM. However, the tablet has the better screen (IPS) and it also is more portable, lacking that keyboard that I can't remove.

Typing up notes at university. The tablet can do this if I buy a physical bluetooth keyboard for it, but the Ideapad does this out the box. However, this is not to say it does it well. I don't know what it will be like to type on, and also not sure what productivity programs Android has.

Playing mobile games or watching movies while travelling. The smaller weight of the tablet and it's better screen will probably mean it wins this. I don't do much travelling, but I am flying to Spain in July.

Would I use both, if I kept them? I don't know. In theory it is possible, in practice due to the difficulty of synching saved games, I would end up using one of them exclusively for games. Unless saved games could be saved to the cloud, I wouldn't want to use both for playing games.

One of my friends has said he might want to take the Ideapad off my hands if I decide to sell it. So I could sell it to him. Otherwise I have offered the choice of devices to my brother, reason being that 2 years ago, I won an iPad (4th generation) and I gave it to my oldest brother. So it was only fair to offer my middle brother this one.

EDIT: Thinking about it, I'm leaning towards keeping the Ideapad and either selling the tablet or giving it to my brother.

The reason is, the Ideapad's hardware is much more powerful. It is less likely to be irritatingly slow. It will play a greater variety of games. I mean, I'm not sure whether Baldurs Gate: Enhanced Edition would run on the tablet at all. Or if it did, how slow it would be. Yes, the viewing angles are not great, and that keyboard might get in the way. I don't know, I'm thinking I could put up with those, but the speed of the tablet worries me a little.

Has anyone got an Android device with a quad core Cortex A7 CPU? Something like a Galaxy Tab 4?

 

[corkyg]

OK - from what you say, I would keep them both and let trial usage provide the answer. BTW, what is comparative battery life of each?

 

[Midwayman]

Where is the sell them both and buy something better option?

 

[Ancalagon44]

OK - from what you say, I would keep them both and let trial usage provide the answer. BTW, what is comparative battery life of each?

Only problem is that if I do open them, I damage the resale value a bit. I won't be able to get as much for them as if they are unopened.

However, that doesn't matter if I give one to my brother, who won't care. My friend also probably won't care if I open it before selling it to him.

From what I can tell, the battery life is similar.

Where is the sell them both and buy something better option?

Not a bad idea, I suppose I'm a little reluctant because I'm wary of selling electronics. People are dodgy. But yeah, something else I could look at. Or even offer a direct trade.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Sounds like quite the pickle. I would keep the tablet personally. Android is a tablet OS.

 

[Ancalagon44]

I've decided I'm going to open them and play with them tonight - see which form factor suits me best. I can't make a decision like this without using them.

Also I'm not sure the difference in screen quality will be so important. According to reviews, the tablet may have an IPS panel, but it still has washed out colours. It is much brighter and has better viewing angles, but then, I'll be using it indoors anyway, so brightness shouldn't matter that much.

Can anyone suggest a good real world benchmark app for me to install?

EDIT: Little update

Having them side by side, there is a noticeable difference in screen quality. The tablet may not have the best IPS screen in the market, but it is considerably better than that of the Ideapad. Such a shame they used a TN panel on the Ideapad - they could have charged considerably more for it if it had a decent screen.

The keyboard of the Ideapad is useful, and I think with a bit of time, I could get used to it. It could still be a useful device because of that. I don't think typing with an onscreen keyboard can really compare. I have installed swiftkey on the tablet, so I'll have to compare a good onscreen keyboard to a physical keyboard.

I could keep both, but there is the opportunity cost of not selling the Ideapad.

Regarding selling both and buying something better, the problem is I don't want to spend any more money. So yeah, they could get me a discount on a better device, but only a discount. I would still have to put more money in, which I don't want to do.