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?

Comments

Re:I feel you...

[TheGratefulNet]

hang on.

2012 is a 'long time ago'? and a device built and sold 3 years ago is now 'long in the tooth'?

you guys who think that you should go thru electronics like you go thru sneakers, I think your priorities are ALL FUCKED UP.

lets also add the vendors in there, who design things that, to the audience, at least, only has a useful interesting lifespan of 3 years.

I have pc's that I built 20 yrs ago that still work and can still be useful. certainly I have laptops that I bought 5 yrs ago that are fine and even 10 yr old laptops can be useful. they don't stop functioning, they dont 'slow down'. that's nonsense!

you guys have been programmed to:

do {
    buy();
    use();
    dispose();
} while (1);

and this cycle that you participate in also encourages the vendors to not care about the gear they sold, causing this feedback-loop go to run-away.

I guess the landfill owners are happy; but I can't see this style of consumerism really being a good thing, to be honest. if your gear is 'worn out and useless' in 3 years, did you really NEED that gear in the first place; and in the 2nd place, what kind of purchasing decision are you making that throws out the cost of an expensive bit of kit in such a short period of time?

some people seriously do not know the value of money. throwing away (and then rebuying) another 3 year device - sigh.... this upsets so many of us. its like you all are being played and enjoy the process OF being played.

Re:I feel you...

[Blue Stone]

One of the major criticisms the OP left out is the way the latest OS updtae effectively broke the device.

When I unlock my N7, the thing frequently grinds to a halt with ungodly lag, that can last anywhere from a couple to several minutes making the device unusable in a casual and thoughtless manner - the very purpose of the device.

This is not due to the hardware's "age", this is due to the poorly written Android Lollipop OS. This problem didn't exist in the previous version. In fact, if it wasn't for this tablet-trashing update, I would be using my N7 as much as the day I got it (usually for simple web browsing, email and the occasional game).

My experiance of the N7 has been one of *forced* obsolescence, not ageing. And the lesson I took from it is, never spend more than £100 on these pieces of shit, because the companies behind them will want you to upgrade (buy another one) as soon as possible and will engineer the necessity by not giving a damn about their un-optimised code for 'old' devices.