Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: Best Tablet In 2015?
An anonymous reader writes: My 2012 Nexus 7 tablet is showing its age. The battery drains quickly, the storage problem that plagued all the Nexus 7s persists even after rooting and re-imaging, and the CPU/RAM can't keep up with the later Android versions. When it came out, it was fantastic — good specs, solid build quality, Nexus line, and a good size. Is there anything on the market today that stands out as much as the Nexus 7 did? I tend to prefer the smaller tablets over the bigger ones, but I'm not entirely averse to an 8" or 9" device. There seem to be some really nice devices in the $3-400 range, but I'm not sure if there's a huge benefit to those over the ~$200 models. I don't do any serious gaming on my tablet, but I also want the apps I do use to be snappy. Those of you who have bought or used tablets made in the past year or so, what has your experience been? Any brands or models that stand out from the crowd? Any to avoid?
I got a dell tablet from work and rolled my eyes pretty hard, but I have to say it's really nice. Thin, light, well built and speedy. The screen is really bright and they seem to be pretty supportive of rooting and alternative images. The depth camera thing is a total gimmick but overall it's the nicest tablet I've used in recent years. I've seen them run about $300 new and $200 refurb from dell.
iPad Air 2?
After several weeks of looking around... Just got Tab S for 400 EUR (in the Netherlands), and I expect 50 EUR back from Samsung (mail-in rebate).
Like an updated Nexus 7 with a faster Atom quad core, faster Power Rangers graphics, micro SD slot and much better price. Can be found for $119 shipped refurbished on eBay /thread
My situation exactly, I totally sympathize with you, right down to the 2012 Nexus 7 and the exact same problems (minus storage issues). Was (and is) an amazing tablet, but it's becoming rather long in the tooth, and I think I may have to replace it soon, especially with the battery life having dropped dramatically. I'm currently looking at an Asus Zenpad C 7.0 , but I've never used it before, and so I can't make any statements as to the quality. Seems to be similar in spirit to the Nexus 7 (2012). If anybody has any expirience with this tablet, I'd love to hear it! (Or, other reccommendations would be much appreciated too).
"Set a man a fire, he'll be warm for the rest of the night. Set a man afire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life."
The Sony tablets are very, very nice, and they have an 8" compact version. They're very lightly skinned, they're water resistant (you can wash off the screen) and they're very light. So light, in fact, that the first time I picked up the Z I thought it was an empty display model. That lightness, more than anything, is what makes it so pleasant to use for me. Can hold it up without effort for long periods when reading for instance.
Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
If you are into smaller tablets, why not one of the bigger cells or hybrids? I know several people who are happy with their Galaxy Notes. And right now, with my 5.5" Moto X Play, sometimes I don't feel the need to get my tablet.
morcego
Like an updated Nexus 7. Faster Atom cpu that scores just a little under the galaxy s 8.4, powervr graphics, a micro SD slot, 1920x1200 ips screen I'm a 7" form factor. Great speakers for the size too. Best of all? $119 shipped refurbished on eBay.
Second choice: Galaxy S 8.4, $250 refurbished from Samsung direct. /thread
The iPad 3 I bought at around the same time is still chugging along fine, maybe you should consider upgrading to one of those?
I had a Nexus 7 with exactly the problems you describe and I had gotten the Nexus 7 for exactly the reasons you mention. I replaced it with a Lenovo Tab 2 A10. Relatively inexpensive, good build quality, faster than the Nexus 7. Put in a micro SD card and have had no problems with it despite daily use for 3 months.
The new iPad is announced Wednesday.
Sure it's old but an excellent upgrade over yours. Relatively fast, high quality screen, while no longer in production, you can find fantastic deals on Amazon. I still use mine and have no plans on changing it.
I have several Android devices in the past and the nexus line had always been the best. Why? Software updates, stability, build quality. Other Android tend to randomly reboot or freeze more often, updates are rare, eventually you end up installing a mod that is not as stable as Google's release.
I had a N7 2012 too, drains fast, charges slowly, overall great piece of shift.
It's not 2012 anymore, any decent tablet will perform faster and better than your old N7.
did you forget to take your meds?
Just wait for the Surface Pro 4 coming this fall. The 3 is a fantastic device, and the 4 is sure to follow suit. On top of that, you get a real operating system, to boot.
I'll sell you my 2011 Xoom, which is still doing fine.
(Heavy, I grant you... tablets have gotten a lot lighter.)
I don't have a Surface, but this seems about right. I have a Winbook and Windows 10 has made it a sweet experience. However, the screen is somewhat resistive, and the Surface, w/ its pen, would be ideal for using as both a tablet, as well as a laptop when needed.
Wait a few days for the Apple announcements. You don't have to be an Apple fan necessarily, but at least then you'll know what the actual 2015 range of available tablets will be and be able to make comparisons. At the moment you'll be comparing current gen Android to just-about-last-gen Apple. You'll want to compare current to current.
I have a TF201 (Transformer Prime) and it was abandoned at Jellybean. The community is struggling to produce a stable KitKat rom. But that happens to everything eventually. There's a very good JB ROM, I'm going back to that for now.
So you can count on a couple of OS updates and then abandonment... like everyone else. :p
When it's working properly even my old TF201 is a peach but 1GB is not enough RAM, really.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
If you want quick updates to the latest version of Android, it's got to be Nexus 7 (2013), Nexus 9 - or you could buy a device supported by Cyanogenmod and install Google Apps on top if required.
If not, just pick the specs important to you - say 1080p screen, at least 32GB flash, 2GB RAM and quad core CPU - and get the best deal available. You should be able to find even a factory refurbished 9 inch tablet for under $200. They are all pretty good.
Check on Samsung tablets. Replaceable battery and great displays. I am 60 and still nearsighte enough to use the 10.1" as my desktop replacement.
"Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"
I have a Yoga 3 and it kinda is the best of both worlds. A decent laptop, and a really good table. That runs most of your standard applications. Without as much of the closed architecture that will prevent you from tinkering with it.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
With the new Nexus lineup being ready to be announced, I would wait and see if the rumor of a Nexus 8 is true. Otherwise, and what makes me feel the rumor could be true, the Nexus 9 has had quite a few deep discounts lately. While the 9 had some issues after release, the subsequent Android updates seem to have squashed many of the issues. Most review sites now call it one of the better tablets on the market if they reviewed it again after the original release. Personally I have a Dell Venue 8 7840. It is a very solid build. Unfortunately the 5.1 update has brought some big issues for me. Random system restarts, apps crashing due to memory running out, GPS doesn't work with all apps. With 5.0, it was a really strong tablet. 5.1, not so much. The Acer "gaming" tablet is one that interests me, but may not be for everyone.
I made the mistake of getting the wife and I a pair of their crappy Ellipsis 7 tablets. Perfect size but woefully underpowered. I upgraded to the 128GB iPad Mini 2, but my wife doesn't want an IOS tablet... she has a considerable investment in the Google Play store. What are some good choices for recent tablets to replace her Verizon network Elipsis?
I own both the 2012 and 2013 Nexus 7s and they are like night and day. The 2012 is practically useless (sloooow due to the flash problem....) while the 2013 is still going strong and is one of the best Android devices I've owned. You can still get them at a discount (<=150) if you keep your eyes open.
Not sure I'd recommend anything more expensive unless you have a specific need to fill. In fact there's no reason to buy any brand new (as in came out this year) electronic device when you can find the last few year's mid-to-high end models at steep discounts.
Apple may announce something on Wed or delay tablets until next month. But when that happens, you will see the new device, how the new device lowers the cost of used older models and how the competitors respond.
Get a tablet that can run Gnome 3!
If you're paying $3 for a tablet, then you're buying an Etch A Sketch.
or maybe an excedrin
I have a Nexus 9, and I'd say that even though the performance isn't bad it could be better. But maybe it's because I'm used to the performance of my desktop.
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
Best Buy sells a $60 atom tablet with Windows 8 on cowboom.com. I have a similar next book tablet. This is essentially a stripped down PC. I've been able to boot into the bios, and it would likely run Linux if you were willing to work for it. The CPU is 64-bit capable, but OS is 32-bit as there is only 1gb of ram which is non-expandable. All win32 apps seem to work well. This is surely better than an iOS device.
I have a Nexus 7 2012. It's only good as an ereader right now. Even the Kindle app struggles. I did some window shopping at Best Buy recently and the Amazon Kindle HD tablets looked very nice. Good looking screen, supposedly it will work well with the Kindle app and Prime video. Does anyone know if Google apps like Youtube are able to be installed on them? If it can't do basic Google apps then the purchase is a non-starter.
> Seriously, which x86 tablet is great and cheap?
I want something that doesn't break in my hands.
And I want to run Xfce-based distros on it (like Handylinux), not Ubuntu! (*)
I'm getting so tired of waiting, I'm thinking about running VNC to my home, which is almost as good as running Linux locally.
(*) Actually I wanted KDE, but I'll settle for Xfce. Ubuntu is not bad, if I can find a way to put Xfce on it, it may be enough...
My second generation Nexus 7 (the one in the blue box and with the HD screen) has none of the listed issues. Of course, I do wish it accepted MicroSD cards (or any for that matter) but otherwise it's great.
And it's replaced my laptop for most things. The surface 3 is pretty good too.
yes I titted up my markup but you still got the link.
It's so hard to click that Preview button. I mean, it's all the way over there. Then glancing at that small, single-line post?? It's just too much effort.
Waiting for my 64GB Jolla to arrive. Any day now..hopefully.
It's $299 and outperforms just about everything. It has tons of features like a pressure sensitive stylus, nexus-like software support, game streaming, 1920x1200 display, SD card, sim card, etc.
Got some fantastic reviews when it launched, still available new, and NV has a history of long OS support for their Shield line. The K1 was a pretty solid processor, too. (It's under recall for a battery issue, but presumably you're not going to get one of the bad batteries on a new unit.)
Hands down the best. anything smaller is a toy.
Yes even my Surface pro is sad compared to that wonderful sized screen.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
You see, I don't have face that problem. My Nexus 7's screen was broken in 2013.
The first question you should ask is, "Do I need a tablet, really, or do I just want a tablet?". I've found few legitimate uses for a tablet computer versus a laptop or even a traditional desktop computer.
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
I still find Cocodamol does the trick for me. Definitely my favourite tablet.
It's in the title.
It started back in Team Fortress Classic
I'm pretty happy with the HP Stream 7, which can be had for $80 or sometimes less. Win10 on it is fine. Win8.x wasn't as much of a pain as people would lead you to believe. The OSK is crap, though (even with the hidden full keyboard), so I threw a bluetooth keyboard and mouse at it.
http://www.amazon.com/Jelly-Co...
http://www.amazon.com/Microsof...
Runs Steam fine, much of my 2D game library works well. People have reported success getting it to boot Linux. Its main limitation is the 1GB of RAM which limits multitasking, but for that price, you buy one tablet for each app you want to run and line them up on your desk and walls and laugh maniacally.
The nice thing about the proliferation of smartphones and tablet is that, unlike old power-hungry PCs, they're still pretty useful after you retire them to a life as a digital photo frame or weather station or garage door opener or baby monitor or whatever.
No, people in your situation use the cellphone form factor this way: http://nypost.com/2014/02/16/p...
https://jolla.com/tablet/ and it should be able to also run Android apps.
My Nexus 7 is practically useless now. I am considering upcoming Galaxy s2. or maybe have just one device/phablet like Note or such. But my Galaxy S4 is still going strong so can't justify that expense.
No one is doing any serious gaming on a tablet.
I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
If you're sure that you want a 7" Android tablet in the $200 range, the 2013 version of the Nexus 7 is probably your best bet.
You would think that something better would have come out by now, but there really isn't anything in that size and price range that is noticeably better.
If you wait until the end of the month, Google is expected to release some new Nexus models. Perhaps they will finally have a 7" tablet upgrade in the mix.
Get an x86 based tablet. [...] you can run [...] Linux on the thing.
Which x86-based tablet in 7-8" and 9-11" size classes works well with Linux when paired to a Bluetooth keyboard? I've looked into it but found plenty of reports about Wi-Fi not working, Bluetooth not working, backlight adjustment not working, and most critically, suspend not working.
USB is the solution
Then why does Apple refuse to implement publicly documented USB device classes?
I cart around 25GB of music and 20GB of video with me, and there are very few tablets on the market that can handle that.
You can blame the SD Card Association for making Microsoft's patented exFAT file system a requirement for devices that support microSD cards bigger than 32 GB.
The OS has nothing to do with the hardware.
It does if the hardware locks you into using the operating system that came with it, be it through a cryptographically secured bootloader or through an undocumented chipset.
A few years in tablet - hardware is a long time considering how big leaps there have been in screen quality and processing power and you still have those things even if you use an outdated OS
But how useful are "screen quality and processing power" if the device's manufacturer refuses to issue updates to correct security vulnerabilities in a device's operating system and refuses to cooperate with hobbyists making replacement operating system images?
Then use free apps instead of non-free apps. A free app can be updated to use the new API of the network service while still using the old API of the operating system. F-Droid is the best known repository of free apps for Android.
The good old Exodus tablet running Moses 1.0
My Nextbook has a light, solid build and all the apps I need. Went with an 11.6" so I can develop on it but they come in 7, 8, and 10 as well.
(and be quick, the upcoming Yoga 3 isn't remotely as good).
I've been buying those for the past year or so, in 8" and 10" format. Not good at gaming, but excellent for everything else. Their weird shape allows for a bigger battery, better speakers, integrated stand, and they even fit the hand better.
They even look nice, and are reasonably updated (not Nexus-level though). They're regularly on sale, probably right now due to EOL.
The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
If you want something that stands out of the crowd, then you might want to take a look at the Jolla Tablet http://jolla.com/tablet/. It won the Best tablet award at this years Mobile World Congress. I've been using a Jolla smartphone and really like it. It doesn't spy on me, I can get root from the settings, it has a command line shell + SSH built in and it runs Linux.
Jolla's Sailfish OS is based on the Maemo/Meego line. They've built a really nice user interface on top of it and it's partly open source. The UI is based on swiping gestures, so it takes a few minutes to learn to use it, but after that it's really swift and nice. They also have an Android VM, so you can run Andoroid apps on it if you want. No Google Play store though, but I believe you can enable it yourself if you want. If you want apps outside the official store, you can add additional repositories to the phone.
Jolla also listens to its users. You can log in at http://together.jolla.com/ to leave bug reports, feature ideas and ask advice from the community and Jolla sailors. The OS gets regular updates which add features and squish bugs, so my phone is actually a lot better now than when I bought it. The specs are more modest than the current Android flagship models, but the OS is much lighter so doesn't need that much processing power to run well. The price tag is pretty nice too.
Have a look, try it out. They're just about to start shipping.
Only dumb birds land downwind.
I had that storage problem.
Assuming you're running one of the new builds of Android with TRIM support
* Root the device /dev/zero to a temp file
* Open a shell using adb
* Fill the remaining space in each file system ( system / cache / userdata ) by using dd to copy
* Delete the temp file
http://www.it-psycho.de/2012/1...
This trims all the remaining free space and gets rid of the block fragmentation that the storage controller caused before TRIM was available on Android.
I found this improved my laggy 2012 Nexus 7 from "intolerably slow" (taking 5-10 seconds to wake up from a screen unlock swipe) to "not bad" (screen unlock works OK, apps load quickly, still not the fastest tablet on the block but entirely adequate).
I think it helps the battery consumption as well - it's not constantly wiping blocks just to write logs etc.
Where do you get such a cheap etch-a-sketch?? My daughter's birthday is coming up!
The dangers of excessive individualism are nothing compared to the oppressiveness of excessive collectivism
Oh no, now I have this image of someone attempting serious gaming on a tablet in my head.
surface 4. granted that microsoft do not play an xbox360 and crappy the device....
Stay your pitchforks a moment: My desktop is a Lin/Win box, my laptop is a MacBook Pro that dual boots Mac/Lin, my phones are a Galaxy S5 and a iPhone 5c, I have a kindle, a verizon droid tablet (which I forgot I had), an ipad, heck my TV is a Samsung smart with a hacked evolve that can boot mint (because, seriously, if you're going to use cssh you really need to do it on a 4K UHD display ;)
I picked up the surface because - well, because of a 30 day return option. I wanted to rip the heck out of it. So I upgraded it straight to 10 (10 wasn't officially supported on it when I did, I wasn't about to give the thing a chance at success)
About 20 days in I realized I had pretty much migrated everything off of drop box onto One/Sky drive, and my Drive usage had become more organized and well deliniated against that usage.
A little later on I realized that I haven't had a single one of my esoteric usb/bluetooth devices /not/ work with the Surface. Somewhere about 10-14 days in, I stopped even trying to use them on my/my wifes other devices, I'd just automatically reach for the surface.
Truth be told, it was "Fresh Paint" that distracted me enough to get suckered in. It helped me discover the remarkable versatility of the devices form factor and the combination of the kick stand and the foldable keyboard and the magnetic attachment points for the power/keyboard.
I've used the surface now everywhere that any of my other devices used to go and places none of them would: Balanced on the dash of the car, on the tiny ledge by my shower.
I can't begin to do it justice trying to describe the versatility, I will just say that it was a huge part of enamoring me to the device.
It has the best wifi/bluetooth of any of my devices and it is fast at connecting; it talks to all of my devices, and windows 10 comes with an app for setting up a small handful of windows features against iphone/ipad/droid phones.
Battery life is pretty good, and unless you're trying to play an mmo at ultra-high-graphics it's very easy to switch to a battery saving mode to squeeze a few more hours of facebooking/solitaire out of it. The only problem is it's so good that when the battery does get low, you get a bit 10ish ("I don't want to go") #1stworldproblems.
Time for the cons:
The weight is just a few grams heavy, and although it's not, with the keyboard attached it feels heavier than the (17in) MacBook Pro. It does sometimes feel a little large and unwieldy, but yesterday I realized that's because I'm using it now where I would previously have used my phone. I wouldn't give up an inch of the form factor, tbh.
It has it's own, unique, special power connector, and doesn't seem to be capable of USB charging.
The little Windows insignia/button on the device is poorly placed. Instead of putting it near the camera, for example, it's on the right hand side roughly exactly where you would put your hand to hold the device a large part of the time. Good news: you can disable it.
Start-up time from off and sleep feel a little sluggish. They didn't at first, and I don't think they've gotten slower, I think I am just really eager to interact with the device now when I am turning it on.
If anything, the biggest drawback is the storage capacity. I have the Pro i5/256 and I have 167Gb left, mostly because I'm being very selective about what I install.
Some of the default Windows 10 apps for things I'm not very keen on. But hey, if you want default apps, go get an apple. Specifically, Groove Music. W.T.L.F, and I'm still very undecided on the photos app. I must confess that I had a Windows 7 Phone phone for a while, so I've experienced the original, pure, "Metro" experience, and I can imagine how the photos app would have been as a pure metro app and I like that idea - but using the photos app you can almost smell the blood that must have been spilled in the clashes between the mobile and desktop teams...
Lastly - and this is really Windows 10 r
-- A change is as good as a reboot.
I'm happy with my Galaxy Tab 4 10.1,and it was pretty cheap when I bought it last year.
Just as useful as they always were.
That depends on a philosophical choice of how you define more or less useful. If a device's operating system is discovered to have a security vulnerability that is subsequently exploited, does the operating system become less useful? Or has it always been less useful because the vulnerability has always existed even when it was undiscovered and unexploited?
Having an outdated OS does not magically reduce the screen's quality or anything over time.
True, a high-quality screen displaying a ransom message is still just as high quality as it always was, but it's not as useful as it always was.
Other than Video games I have yet to see any one use one to be productive, and I work for a software company. They best tablet is still my old i7 laptop. battery life is great, it runs the latest software, and comes with a full keyboard. It can run both ios and android in sandboxs, best all in one tablet i have ever had.
The NVIDIA Tegra K1 is the SOC with the best gaming performance thank to its Kepler GPU. Nvidia uses it in its Shield line of products, but you can also find it on the Xiami MiPad, which is cheaper (under USD250) and offers a gorgeous 7.9â 2048x1536 IPS display with a form factor similar to the iPad Mini which is hard to find on the Android platform.
* 5 years ago, this category of product didn't even exist.
* 3 years ago, you bought something that was "fantastic".
* Now, it's crap and you absolutely need a newer version.
* 3 years from now, you'll come back to Slashdot to whine that you have a crappy 2015 tablet.
* 10 years from now, you'll ask yourself where all the lithium and rare earth went.
Ipad clone. Best value for $200.
"Looking for how to fix Nexus 7 lag? Is your Google Nexus 7 lagging after Kit Kat update? Is your Nexus 7 exhibiting lag after an update in general? Then read on! In this post you’ll see how to speed things up a bit with a short and simple trick to speed up your Nexus 7." ref
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I have the original Nexus 7, and a Nexus 10, and I just got a Nexus 9.
I like to buy things when they are no longer new and the price drops. I got a Nexus 9 with 32 GB of storage and with LTE cellular data, for $365. Last November I should have had to pay $600 fit the same device.
It is smaller and lighter than the Nexus 10 so I like it better for carrying around, yet the screen works for reading O'Reilly books. The 3:2 screen ratio works better for reading books with tables than the 16:9 screen on the Nexus 7, but the tablet isn't really much bigger. And it's fast... it's a pleasure to surf the web on the thing.
I didn't get the key folio case; I got the inexpensive, thin, and light case. I have a Perixx Bluetooth keyboard for typing.
I am completely happy with my Nexus 9 and II recommend it.
lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
Great little tablet. Not a lot of storage but has a micro SD card slot. Far less bloatware than Samsung and no weird keyboard. Touch is ok, not as good as Nexus, but at $130 it's a bargain, especially for tablets which I consider disposable devices.
I use it mostly for: Audible, Kindle, listening to music (from sd card or songza) and web browsing (with Firefox, which so far seems the only tablet browser that supports ad-blockers without having to do weird proxy configs). Decent performance.
I also have a Yoga Pro convertible and lately I've noticed that I tend to pick the tablet more often than the Yoga Pro.
lucm, indeed.
I know this can sound a bit nerdy, but for the last few months I have been following the news on the new USB-C connector and I am _really_ looking forward to it. For this reason, I have decided that whenever I renew my hardware (phone, tablet, laptop, etc.) I not to buy any hardware that does not have it.
What I want is something that I can use both as a tablet as well as a laptop replacement for most computing. I find that the ability to have a proper keyboard adds great usability to a tablet. Hence the 2-in-1 hybrid.
For this reason, I am currently holding for an Asus T100HA 2-in-1 with USB-C connector to replace my original Asus Transformer. Although I may change my mind if something better comes up at IFA 2015.
Starting at 299 EUR, the Asus seems quite good already. Check out the specs here: https://www.asus.com/2-in-1-PCs/ASUS_Transformer_Book_T100HA/specifications/
My only concern is whether I can get it to boot Linux on it, as it comes with Win 10.
AC
I have a Coby 10" tablet from 2-3 years ago, picked because $DAYJOB's program of "You've worked here N mod 5 == 0 years, pick a gift" had it as a choice. It's not bad, but there's been almost zero support for upgrades, and scarcely even any documentation on the vendor's website. It's now running 4.0.4, and I think it might have originally come with 4.0.1, but there's nothing since then. And it's Wifi-only, so it's not like there's a mobile phone provider to blame for the lack of upgrades (oh - avoid HTC also :-), but this has a much higher level of vendor abandonment than I've seen from anybody; at least HTC kept the documentation online for a while.
For it's day, it wasn't bad for a low-end tablet. 10" screen, something like 1024x800 or 1024x768, SD card slot so I could add storage (subject to Android's clunkiness about that.) It did replace my Kindle 3 for most ebook reading (the Kindle was still the winner for taking on airplanes or reading on the train, because of size, but for home or work, the bigger screen and backlight were a win.)
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
I've found the last ~5 years of using Android products to be really frustrating - Google supports new versions of Android on any Google hardware that has enough horsepower, but most other vendors give you at most a couple of minor upgrades, if you're lucky; I seem to have missed the 15 minutes that my HTC Aria could be upgraded from 2.1 to 2.2 before it dropped Google Play support, no-name Coby tablet stopped at 4.0.4, Samsung doesn't seem to plan to take my S4mini phone to 5.0, and it may stay stuck at 4.4.2, and in general the vendors customize the interface so that you can only get upgrades from them, which the carriers don't push them to deliver on because both sides want to ship new shiny hardware, not support slightly older hardware.
Apple will of course provide software support and upgrades for anything that can handle them, but Google devices are about the only Android gear that you can expect the same level of support, unless you want to move over to Cyanogen.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
All jokes aside, there are plenty of tasks out there for which the Surface Pro 3 or other full-size tablets are oo big. We have built a web app for in-class marking in tertiary software engineering lab classes, and a 7 or 8 inch tablet is the perfect device for carrying around with you and entering marks. A 5 inch phone is too fiddly to press on radiobuttons and can't fit readable descriptions for more than a couple of marking criteria on the page; a full-size tablet requires you to put it down on a desk to use and gets heavy to carry round - and the Pro 3, I suspect, would be particularly bad.
I might get a Pro 3 or its successor one day, but it will be an adjunct rather than a replacement for my own Nexus 7.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo
--Andy Finkel (J. Klass?)
Although LG have come up with newer models, my trusty old LG G Pad 8.3 is still my "go to" tablet for when on the move. 1900x1200 resolution (none of this 4:3 nonsense seen in recent tablets) and an SD card slot are nice bonuses, though watch out for colour calibration issues and a somewhat darker display than other tablets.
I *strongly* recommend that you put CyanogenMod on the G Pad 8.3 - it's an officially supported device and CM lets you tweak the colour calibration too in the Settings. I just wish LG would come up with a decent successor to it - all their later models just don't do it for me.
When it comes to Android, there's only three solutions to getting decent updates: a Nexus device, a device that ships with Cyanogen OS or a (preferably official) CyanogenMod custom ROM install.
I needed something to keep me amused on the train to and from work, so LTE was a must have as I can't be bothered with tethering.
The micro SD slot is useful for storing movies when traveling on planes, and the case flip cover/stand option is good and is well designed to attach to the tablet without being a hindrance. it's fairly light and thin like all other good tablets.
The screen is awesome and colours look good once the screen "mode" is set to Basic. I got a matte screen protector because the reflective surface of the screen was annoying though.
Adblock plus works on it ok, and I haven't felt the need to root the device.
The finger print reader is awesome as I can't be bothered with PINS/passwords, and swipe patterns are not very secure (look for the smudge marks)
It has a pretty good camera, and a flash, which was also a must for me.
It has infrared which might be good for someone who wants to replace some remotes, but I just played with it briefly though.
The battery lasts about 6 hours with normal use, and way longer when watching movies (maybe 12 hours)