Android Tablets ???

Emp_Fab · August 2013

Mrs Fab needs to get an Android tablet so she can connect it to one of these 'izettle' card reader machines so she can take card payments at the fairs she visits. I know bugger all about tablets apart from the ones I munch every morning and night for my ticker.

Given that she's going to be out and about with it, and may not be in the vicinity of a WiFi hotspot, do most tablets come with a SIM card slot so you can get a 3G data Sim-only contract and get on the web that way ? Failing that, she's got an old USB mobile broadband dongle - I'm presuming that would work on an Android tablet ?

octatonic · August 2013

... are hard to swallow.

strumjoughlamps · August 2013

Can your missus not use her phone as a wifi hotspot?

Just look for 3g versions of the tab, my galaxy note 10.1 comes in a 3g version but it bumps the cost plus you have to have a sim contract, much cheaper if you can run existing phone contract as a wifi hotspot.

strumjoughlamps · August 2013

In fact why not just use phone?

TTony · August 2013

Comparative review of compact tablets in PCPro this month.

Not sure if you can get at the current month's content online.

[edit]

But as I now have it in front of me ...

Winner - Asus Fonepad @£179inc VAT. 13hrs battery. Incl 3G/phone.

monquixote · August 2013

The Nexus 7 is the best Android tablet by some margin and it's sold at cost price..

A new one is about to come out.

littlegreenman · August 2013

Does the Nexus 7 support Flash? If not, are there any tablets that do?

monquixote · August 2013

I think hardly any do out of the box, but with a bit of fiddling you can get it working:

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to/google-android/3417930/flash-on-android/

TTony · August 2013

monquixote said:

The Nexus 7 is the best Android tablet by some margin

Came 3rd in PCPro's review. Loses out to the Asus due to being more expensive (like-for-like spec) and having 50% less battery life (in their tests).

I've no experience of either of them though - just reading from the review.

littlegreenman · August 2013

Good to know. I have a few browser games I play that are flash-based so it's a bit of a deal-breaker if a portable device won't support it. Might be easier if I get a small netbook. Decisions, decisions...

monquixote · August 2013

TTony said:

monquixote said:

The Nexus 7 is the best Android tablet by some margin

Came 3rd in PCPro's review. Loses out to the Asus due to being more expensive (like-for-like spec) and having 50% less battery life (in their tests).
I've no experience of either of them though - just reading from the review.

Those spec on spec reviews don't tell the whole story. The Nexus is designed by Google to be the fully integrated experience and is sold at cost price as an exercise in moving the tablet market forward.

If you compare specs iPads for example seem very overpriced and underpowered (iPad mini has 512MB vs 2GB and is a chunk more cash), but it's the slickness in use that makes it not the number of gigawidgets.

There are plenty of Chinese tablets with amazing specs for beans, but you will spend the whole time swearing at it until you send it back or bin it.

TTony · August 2013

^^ 'tis true.

holnrew · August 2013

I love the Samsung Note 8's form factor, but the software isn't well optimised.

digitalscream · August 2013

Gotta say, I was going to go with a tablet...but I'm loving my Samsung Chromebook at the mo. It's not the fastest machine out there, but it's quick enough, HAS A KEYBOARD and the battery lasts forever (well, compared to most laptops which are at least double the price).

When I'm out and about, I just use my phone's wireless hotspot capability; takes seconds to set up. By far the best way of doing it, because you don't need to get an extra contract, or to worry about topping it up etc.

chrispy108 · August 2013

chrispy108 · August 2013

Emp_Fab said:

Failing that, she's got an old USB mobile broadband dongle - I'm presuming that would work on an Android tablet ?

Nope, won't work I'm afraid, nowhere to plug it in, and no drivers for it if you could.

You're best off using your phone as a hotspot (I use my iPhone, works fine, some networks charge, 3 don't (at least not on my contract).

digitalscream · August 2013

If she's got Android 4.0 or above on her phone, then the phone will support wifi hotspot natively and the network doesn't really get a say in it.

tonyrath · August 2013

I have a Kindle fire and an Ipad. Ipad eats anything in its range

BadBoyKane · August 2013

chrispy108 said:

Emp_Fab said:

Failing that, she's got an old USB mobile broadband dongle - I'm presuming that would work on an Android tablet ?

Nope, won't work I'm afraid, nowhere to plug it in, and no drivers for it if you could.

You're best off using your phone as a hotspot (I use my iPhone, works fine, some networks charge, 3 don't (at least not on my contract).

Not true, I used to use a Vodafone Huawei USB 3G dongle on my old Asus Transformer and it worked no problems. Plug it in, wait a minute or so and in the settings menu (I forget where abouts, around the network area) it will now show 3G and you can set it up that way (wifi on the tab will need to be off for it to register the 3G signal for some reason, I could never get it to work when my wifi was turned on)

Some of the older tablets had full size USB ports in them, even ones now such as the Galaxy Tab with its Samsung designed port or other tabs using micro USB (even Android phones) you can simply buy an adapter to plug a full size USB device into it (OTG adapter).

I use one occasionally with my HTC One to connect my ext hard drive to.

I am not sure if the latest (Jelly Bean) OS still supports using a USB 3G dongle but shouldn't be no reason why not. I has Android 3.2 when I had my Asus Transformer.

Failing that, no pint paying upto £100+ extra for a tab just to have the 3G functionality.

Just get something like one of the Mifi adapters, just a 3G dongle which has built in Wifi, or what has been mentioned above if the Mrs has a phone compatible with Wifi tethering then use that.

Emp_Fab · August 2013

She's got a Nokia N8 running the Symbian Belle OS. It doesn't support tethering natively, but there's an app called 'Joikuspot' that will provide that functionality. She gets 500MB /month and uses almost none of it, so the tethering option is ideal.

Now.... which android tablet to get. I'm not interested in anything fancy - it probably won't get used for anything else, so cost is the main factor here. Any suggestions ?

stickyfiddle · August 2013

We have an ipad here, but if you really want Android the the Nexus is the only one I'd consider. Lots of friends have them and love them- it's a really good device.

digitalscream · August 2013

Emp_Fab said:

She's got a Nokia N8 running the Symbian Belle OS. It doesn't support tethering natively, but there's an app called 'Joikuspot' that will provide that functionality. She gets 500MB /month and uses almost none of it, so the tethering option is ideal.

Now.... which android tablet to get. I'm not interested in anything fancy - it probably won't get used for anything else, so cost is the main factor here. Any suggestions ?

Kindle Fire?

scrumhalf · August 2013

I've got an Archos tablet which I got a couple of years ago when Carphone Whorehouse had a good deal. There are some things it doesn't do, one of the main things it doesn't do is cost anywhere near as much as an ipad.

Keep an eye on Hotukdeals for offers, along with some informed comment as to how good the offers actually are.

Emp_Fab · August 2013

I will indeed. Thanks for your replies guys.

Emp_Fab · August 2013

PCWorld (spit) have the Asus Google Nexus 7 - 16GB for £150. It gets very good reviews and is one of the tested devices with this izettle thing. I might go with one of those.

monquixote · August 2013

Emp_Fab said:

PCWorld (spit) have the Asus Google Nexus 7 - 16GB for £150. It gets very good reviews and is one of the tested devices with this izettle thing. I might go with one of those.

Do it, you won't regret it.

Deadman · August 2013

My son recently cracked the screen on his Nexus (accidentally dropped it on a new laminate floor!). It was going to cost £130 to repair so we just bought him the Acer Iconia B1 from Argos for a ton. He says it's better than the Nexus. I've had a play and it seems the same. Not bad at all for the dosh.

Emp_Fab · August 2013

I've been doing some research since my last post and it appears Asus are releasing an updated version of the Nexus 7 next month. With discount codes etc, you can get it for £190. Now, this buggers my plan as the full retail price of the old version is £159 and I can get a tenner off. Paying virtually full retail for a device that's about to be superceded (and will inevitably drop in price a lot once the new one is on the shelves) is not sensible shopping. Trouble is, Mrs F wants it yesterday (as with all things). So I can't wait until September for the new one, so.... it's back to the drawing board.

Right.... Android, with WiFi and Bluetooth, and something that's fairly robust (she's not kind to technology - how the hell her notepad is still running I do not know - that poor thing has been dropped, crushed, sat on, bounced...).

Sporky · August 2013

My Asus transformer is a good few years old now and still does what I need of it perfectly well - while there is a new Nexus 7 on the way the current one is a very nice bit of kit (we got one in at work to experiment with using it as a control touchpanel).

For £40 less (what's that, 20%?) might as well go for it.

strumjoughlamps · August 2013

My 3 yo uses a b1 and for what we paid (59 quid) its a bargain I am amazed on what it runs with no lag.

My 10 yo still uses a TF101 and it really is an excellent tablet, great build quality and is still up there with the best of them, my bro in law was recently after a tablet, had a go with my lads TF101 I showed him the current price he purchased one there and then.

http://shop.asus.co.uk/shop/gb/en-GB/Home/1-Products/752-ASUS-Outlet/1917-Refurbished-Eee-Pad/90OK06W2101070Y-Refurbished-ASUS-Eee-Pad-Transformer-TF101--without-Mobile-Docking--16GB-HDD.aspx

monquixote · August 2013

Emp_Fab said:

I've been doing some research since my last post and it appears Asus are releasing an updated version of the Nexus 7 next month. With discount codes etc, you can get it for £190. Now, this buggers my plan as the full retail price of the old version is £159 and I can get a tenner off. Paying virtually full retail for a device that's about to be superceded (and will inevitably drop in price a lot once the new one is on the shelves) is not sensible shopping. Trouble is, Mrs F wants it yesterday (as with all things). So I can't wait until September for the new one, so.... it's back to the drawing board.

Right.... Android, with WiFi and Bluetooth, and something that's fairly robust (she's not kind to technology - how the hell her notepad is still running I do not know - that poor thing has been dropped, crushed, sat on, bounced...).

Don't worry about it. If you wait 3 months there will be something else 3 months away you could wait for. Just buy it now and stop worrying.

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Android Tablets ???

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