So I'm on the look-out for a tablet, and I unfortunately don't know enough people with something other than an iPad, to properly ask for recommendations. So that's where you guys come into the picture! Does anybody have any recommendations on new tablets, or any insight into what might be coming out soon that I should maybe wait for? A couple of requirements: - Must not be Apple produced. - Should either come with a good stylus pen, or a good one should be available as an accessory. - Must have either at least 32GB storage, or allow for expanded storage (SD-card). - Must be LTE compatible. I am currently looking at the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 edition), but I don't know anybody with any info on how good its stylus is, or how well the tablet is performing in general. And I don't particularly trust online reviews unless they're from a source I respect.
It depends what you mean by "good stylus pen". All Android tablets can use an aftermarket stylus, but if you want the stylus to be usable while the tablet ignores your hand laying on the screen then the only way to go is really a Samsung Note tablet like the Note 8 or Note 10.1 http://www.samsung.com/ae/consumer/mobile-phones/mobile-phones/galaxy-note/SM-P6050ZWEXSG http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/galaxy-tab/SGH-I467ZWAATT After looking into the specs on the 2014 edition of the Note 10.1 it looks pretty nice. 2.3GHz quad core processor, 3GB of RAM, 2560x1600 resolution display, real stylus support, LTE and 3G connectivity, expandable memory with up to 64GB SD card, and 8000mAh battery. I just wish the LTE versions weren't an extra $150. Because that is a good chunk of money and you have to pay for the data plan after initial purchase too. http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Samsung...M-P605-4G-LTE-32GB-Black-Tablet-/281216040844
Yeah, the Note 10.1 2014 seems to be the way to go. I really do like the specs, and the native stylus support. (having the screen ignore my hand while using it is a must, else I'd go insane) I don't think we even have the non-LTE version of the 2014 edition here at all. I haven't seen it anywhere, so I don't really have much of a choice. Thankfully, my current mobile data plan provider has a deal where I can share said data plan over several devices. And since I'm already not really hitting my cap of 5GB a month, I don't think it'll cost me that much extra.
Why not just go with a surface pro II and tether it/mobile hot spot for wifi...... unless price is a factor.
Hmm Noo i wouldn't buy 3G / LTE on the table. Tether is so good that it's a no-brainer. Never used a tablet with anything but Wifi connectivity and, since my phone is always handy, i tether it to my S4 whenever i need Inet access on some spot where wifi is not available (which tends to be rare unless u're on the road). The difference in price between LTE and Wifi only is huge huge huge and i don't think it's justified, considering it's a 5 seconds task to do with ur phone. Not to mention that u need a "tablet plan" to use that connectivity in most countries which adds even extra €. About the tablets themselves, if u're really really into native stylus then, yes, as Enigma said, the Note is the way to go. Personally i've tried a lot of tablets and none gets close to the quality of the ASUS ones (transformer series), i kinda hate Samsung tablets (even tho i love their phones and pretty much everything else they do). The surface pro is also an option too but imho it's way too overpriced (u can get a nice flip laptop for the price)..
I went with the WIFI version of the Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014). I wonder how much of a difference there is between the Exynos 5 and the Snapdragon 800. It seems like the Snapdragon 800 performs marginally better, but I wonder if that comes at a battery consumption cost. Super curious, Haibane: Why do you hate the Samsung tablets? I was looking into the ASUS tablets, but their hardware seems a bit dated. I'll be using mine for drawing a lot, so the 2560×1600 resolution will probably be a huge advantage over the ASUS ones.
Exynos 5 is a power hungry beast too when utilized. I wouldn't expect it to be any better or worse in that category over the Snapdragon 800. My phone has the 800, my tablet has an Exynos 5 dual. The Exynos though if configured right can be absolutely insane on idle battery drain, which cannot be said of the Snapdragon 800's. My Nexus 10 only loses 1% battery every 2 weeks when idle. I really dont use it much anymore because I mainly bought it for trips, and I dont go on vacation expect in summer months. This last time I think I last charged it in August or something like that, then havent used it till a couple weeks ago. I took it on a short weekend vacation I took and didnt charge it at all in those months between, and it still had like 95% battery left when I started using it. Then I watched like 7 hours of video at high screen brightness and it is now down at like 40% left. I probably wont charge it till June again when I go on my next vacation. So anyway, ya I love the Exynos chipset.
I don't like Samsung tablets because they lack power usually (not running TEGRA), most of the games or anything don't run on them and they used to not take micro SD. My galaxy tab felt very fragile as well so i always took extreme care on using it. I had also quite some trouble to open and read big PDF files (20-30 mb), like pen & paper rpg books, while it was easy for my buddies on their Ipad or Asus transformer. That's the main reason why i switched to a transformer myself. Their new generation might be much better tho, as Samsung usually does thing very well. For ASUS, u still got a lot of stuff for sale, so some are old, some are new and they are all called the same... so it's quite misleading. This is their latest device for pure tablet (i believe) : http://www.amazon.com/Asus-TF701T-B...d=1392822629&sr=8-7&keywords=Asus+transformer Which has a TEGRA 4 too, 2gb ram and all. I just saw that Evga had a native stylus tablet too with a TEGRA 4 (nexus) but never looked at an EVGA tablet before i have no idea if it's good or not. For myself, i'll probably get this one next : http://www.asus.com/us/News/hnzqzGZ8TfSnrQTo And give my transformer to the wife to replace her motorola xoom that's very nice but quite a paperweight. It'll also replace her old HP pavilion that's a good heater but not so good pc anymore. In any case the Galaxy Note can't be a bad choice,
Theoretically all Android apps should be compatible on any Android device, regardless of its instruction sets the processor uses. This is because Android uses a special "Dalvik VM" which is a java based virtual machine that compiles code "on the fly" when the code is needed and for whatever instruction set is used by the chipset. A great idea, but it has a lot of overhead compared to an app being made specifically for certain hardware. So theoretically everything should be fine, and for the most part apps do migrate fine. But there are a good 15-20% of apps that fail to run properly when used on an x86 processor running Android because developers suck at coding and the app is not compiled to be cross platform. So hopefully you don't use any apps that have this problem, but you may run into it with some of your things from time to time. Of course, Android has begun migrating away from Dalvik VM anyway and using something called ART, so in the near future there may be more or less problems with this cross platform compatibility. I know most apps do need to be recoded to be made ART compatible, it was a big issue when ROM dev's wanted to include ART and masses of users started reporting problems upon enabling it because the apps simply wouldn't compile right and crash all the time. Hopefully with the move to the new runtime the developers of these broken apps will fix their shit and we wont have problems anymore in cross compatibility.
I'm probably going to echo a bunch of other people here about NOT looking for a tablet with native LTE hardware and instead tethering. I would like to know a bit more what you are wanting to use it for as that makes a huge difference in both type of tablet, processing power needed, etc... Since you say a good stylus, are you just looking to do every day notes or are you a graphics artist and if so you should be looking at wacom (imo) tablets. Such as the cintiq mobile since it seems you are wanting to use it on the go.. http://cintiqcompanion.wacom.com/CintiqCompanionHybrid/en/?country=us&language=en IMO you are going to spend extra unneeded moneys on an LTE tablet if you already have a LTE device and you are going to get worse hardware because if they are packaging a small tablet with LTE they are aiming at the phone market and not the tablet/artist/serious stylus user market. I personally have a thinkpad x200 which I love for my chemistry/anatomy etc notes and a wacom cintiq for my more graphics intensive needs... Also I have both of these tethered to my android phone through bluetooth or usb when I haven't had wireless access (such as in the bus or car). If you have lots of money I guess you could add a usb drive tether to a serious tablet but to me it seems unnecessary. Also if you do plan on getting a LTE enabled phone, check to see what manufacture made the tablet, because a lot of times they are really crappy. Sorry reading down I see you went with the note, I've heard bad things from my art friends about drawing lag and pressure sensitivity on those.. and its definitely not good for finishing out inking.. I would check that out.
I had been looking into the Cintiq Companion, but it's super pricy, and not available anywhere around here yet (Europe). I basically got a ~600$ bonus from work, so that's my budget for this, and electronics are extra expensive here. The Cintiq is about $2200 on amazon, and you'd usually have to add at least another 25-50% on top of that when it becomes available around here. :/ I already own a Wacom Intuos5 for precision and detail drawing. This will be a multi-purpose tablet, but where I can hopefully also draw sketches and generally practice drawing on the go. But I don't like the sound of drawing lag and such issues. I'll have to see how it performs, else I might return it for some alternative (although I have no clue which).
My guess is that all tablets will have a little bit a lag to them for drawing because phones and tablets have a "dead zone" around where you touch so that you can click on things easier. If there was no deadzone then much of the time your touches would be interpreted as very small swipes of the screen. You have to move outside this zone for it to begin registering as a drag movement instead of a touch/select action, then it starts drawing your line from the point you first touched down, otherwise it would seem weird and your drawing would be off which would make you think the touchscreen calibration is wack.People interpret this as lag time, but without such stuff it would be really difficult to click on anything on the device. The amount of deadzone varies, most are 1/4" of space (or 6.35mm for you Europe people), but some go as small as 1/8" deadzone. There are also some things going on in the OS and kernel that can cause additional lag, and using a custom version of each can help to make things more enjoyable. Sine it is such a new tablet though I do not think there are any ROMs or kernels available yet. High clock speeds will also help as then it can process things faster which leads to less going on in the background and more time to be following your stylus around.