Which tablet

[Jabba]

We're looking at getting a tablet pc for web browsing and email. What makes/models do people use? Any recommendations?

[pamw]

Love our iPad!

[bandiflip]

What she said

[Jabba]

Any particular version? There seem to be so many different ones.

[varleym]

Di loves her iPad - best thing I ever bought her (apparently ). Hers is just a 1st Gen, 16Mb WiFi only (ie. no 3G) and it does the job beautifully. You can pick them up on fleabay for not much more than £120 these days.

Obviously if you want more feature, 3G, etc then you're gonna pay more.

[pamw]

Ours is iPad 2 32g - with 3G - would highly recommend stretching the budget for a 3G one if you can as it comes in very handy for out and about stuff. We use ours a lot when camping or in the caravan - we have a 3 sim in ours and just top it us every so often, to cover the bulk of the trips, mainly in summer. Rest of the time its mainly used on Wi-fi, or Dave can tether it to his iPhone 5.

[bandiflip]

What she said......again


My laptop just gathers dust now...I got iPad 2 and love it....was going to get a 3 but apparently there's not a lot of difference between 2 and 3 to warrant spending another £400 !! I would recomend iPad for sure

[davew]

I wouldn't get an iPad 1, iPad 2 is the minimum you should go for as it has much improved GPS function, much faster CPU and better battery life.

[mike]

Where does the mini come in the spec rankings?

[davew]

Short version...

iPad 1 < iPad 2 < iPad3 = iPad Mini < iPad 4 (iPad 4 is the current retina iPad)

Long version...

The mini sits between iPad 2 and 4 in performance terms. It has the double resolution "retina" screen so it displays the same "pixels" as an iPad 2 but in half the screen area, giving a really good image quality.

The iPad 4 has Retina too so has double the screen resolution of the iPad 2 as well as double the screen area of the iPad Mini. the only limitation of the Mini is it's screen size really, for web browsing, map viewing etc... it's nice to have the extra screen area of the iPad.

The iPad 3 was only around for a relatively short time, being replaced with the iPad 4 when the iPad mini was launched. The iPad Mini came in at around the same performance spec as the iPad 3, albeit with a slightly reduced graphics processor - presumably because it only has to handle half the pixels so doesn't impact performance.

iPad 4 is probably around a 20% increase in performance over an iPad3/Mini with extra RAM. The iPad 3 and Mini use a dual core 1000MHz ARM CPU whereas the iPad 4 uses a dual core 1400MHz Apple Swift CPU and a slightly upgraded quad core graphics CPU over the iPad 3.

Apple have a rolling obsolescence program for their iOS devices which means that new releases of the operating system won't work on devices more than 3 generations old. It's worth bearing that in mind when buying second hand as the free major operating system upgrades that are released each year only support devices within their "useful life". This allows the operating system to move forward without trying to support legacy hardware that would compromise it's speed/function.

That means that the iPad 1 is not supported in iOS 7 - the new release of the operating system that's due out in a couple of months. iPad 2 IS supported in iOS 7. It's not a problem as you can continue using the current iOS and apps but you may find as time goes on that you can't install new versions of apps that are designed and targeted to use new features in the operating system.

It's worth bearing the above in mind if buying second hand as it is likely to see "bargains" appearing when users realise that they can't get all the whizzy new shiny functions without upgrading to a newer model. On the plus side you can take advantage of the price drop once iOS 7 is released but on the minus side you won't get all the new features of iOS 7 which, without breaking my NDA, I can tell you, you will want because a lot of new app functionality will be based on the new OS technology.

[bandiflip]

What he said

[Jabba]

Blimey! I'm starting to wish I hadn't asked

Thanks- don't know if I'm any surer what to go for but at least I'm confused on a higher level now

[Matthews]

Bottom line is your f****d because whatever you buy (apple/android/windows) it'll only do what you want for a few years and then support will be dropped so you'll have to buy a new one , once it's released it's obsolete and the only thing any manufacturer is interested in is gettignyou to buy a new one in a couple of years .
Me cynical never
Matthew

[Bo]

We have both IPad2 3g and Google Nexus 10 (wifi only) and to be perfectly honest there is very little difference. Both are fluid in use, respond very well and not prone to freezing. Apple frustrate me with their lockdowns and dictatorial attitude to users but the Ipad does perform well. Similar priced Nexus 10 does have a better hardware and graphix spec than Ipad 2 and I personally prefer JellyBean to iOS6 . My advice would be try both before you buy but keep away from the cheep Chinese copies. I personally would not buy another 3g Ipad, as it is not worth the extra when you can tether it to most phones now or if you want a data only contract a MiFi.

[tecnick]

My favourite tablet.... Ibuprofen or codeine. The ibuprofen is hard on your tummy after a while but isn't as addictive as the codeine........
.... Do you see what I did there?


Cheers Nick