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...

[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.