Budget Tablet for Travelling Advice please!

[RichieLee]

Hey there guys, a bit of a lowdown on the situation...

I may be going to Hong Kong for about 20 days a little later in the year with the girlfriend. Now although I'm pretty fluent in Cantonese myself, she's a Welsh girl and will no doubt be bewildered with the culture shock and lack of English speakers out there (staying in the New Territories). For the times when we wont be hiking about the concrete jungle we'll be exhausted and bored in the nights at the guest house we'll be renting. We would get a hotel but it's stupid money. This place is basically a bedsit in an apartment building. Which is great to keep costs down but it's far from the lap of luxury. A Bed, a toilet, a shower, a fridge and air con in a glorified shoebox-All you need really when travelling! Even if there was a TV in the room it'll all be in Chinese!

Soooo I'm thinking of getting a tablet pc and uploading some video files on there. I've already bought a few shows over the years including Sherlock and black books and a couple of movies so I'm hoping this will keep us entertained for the trip. Now I was considering bringing my laptop but weight is an issue with my camera gear anyway and I don't want to lug around anymore than I need to.

I think a tablet would be ideal to view videos and using it to connect to wifi in places like museums and mac donalds (she's a very fussy eater so no doubt we'll be visiting that safe choice from time to time) so that we can access the net when we're out and about if need be to email relatives back home.

I'm after a budget tablet. Something that will allow me to put video files to watch on there (expandable memory preferred) and something able to send a couple of emails and surf the web. Obviously the cheaper the better so that if it gets damaged or stolen then it wont bother me so much. If it survives the trip then we can use it as a general web browser about the house. So any advice guys? I've never had a tablet in my life and I'm expecting a bigger version of my htc desire hd just without the call function. No ipads here guys, it's primary purpose is a portable, rugged cheap video player with email and web functions, no need for fancy apps or bells and whistles.

Thanks in advance,

Rich

[MSIC]

To be honest, i think i know the tablet for you.

For about 4 months over last summer I owned a
Kogan Agora 7".
At the functions you describe, particularly playing back video (not HD though), it worked pretty well.
Also browsed the web ok, as long as you definitely dont enable flash, then it's dog-slow.

Battery life is around 4 hours away from the wall (pretty poor by tablet standards) - perhaps also take one of those Duracell-type portable extenders?
http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/gadge...rtable-charger

I feel compelled to add however that overall, i ended up putting the device on ebay - it was too much a frustrating experience for general use, for me.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The Lenovo A1 is available for around £150:

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/leno...-co-uk-1125451

[RichieLee]

I'm honestly considering this as a super cheap option...I'm expecting it to be absolutely dire but literally will be used to watch some tele and the odd email if need be. http://www.scan.co.uk/products/7-sto...20-wifi-webcam

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I'm honestly considering this as a super cheap option...I'm expecting it to be absolutely dire but literally will be used to watch some tele and the odd email if need be. http://www.scan.co.uk/products/7-sto...20-wifi-webcam

Watching video is probably with gaming the most taxing thing you could do on a budget tablet. The CPU in the one you mentioned is very slow,the GPU is not that capable for video decode and the screen is likely to be terrible and is very low resolution. Battery life is probably terrible. The RAM is very limited too.

The A1 is worth the extra:
1.)The CPU is significantly faster being A8 based
2.)Twice the RAM
3.)Better GPU for video decode
4.)Much better screen with higher resolution
5.)Better battery life
6.)Has a magnesium alloy frame

If the A1 is more expensive get a decent smartphone like this Defy:

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/moto...e-shop-1104611

Weatherproof and will play videos fine.

[RichieLee]

With the lenovo coming in at £150, it's making me think I'll be spending money on memory cards anyway which at that point I might aswell be getting myself something along the lines of a notebook like... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-Netbook...405652&sr=1-23

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Not a bad price for the Acer netbook!

Edit!!

Not sold by Amazon though.

[scaryjim]

The CPU in the one you mentioned is very slow,the GPU is not that capable for video decode and the screen is likely to be terrible and is very low resolution. Battery life is probably terrible. The RAM is very limited too.

A 1GHz ARM11 CPU is actually plenty nippy enough for web surfing, email, and watching standard def video - up to 480p which is the native res of that tablet. In fact, the specs are very similar to my old etouch, which managed all sorts of stuff more than handy.

One key fact - that tablet will *not* support flash as Adobe haven't ported flash player to the ARMv6 instruction set, so you won't be able to watch iplayer or other flash-reliant online video. It should have the android youtube app as standard though, so you can watch cats falling into boxes But my etouch played video rips, surfed the web, did internet radio via the tunein app, and pretty much all the basic functions you're looking for, without any difficulty. It might be worth going round your local cash converters type shop and seeing if you can demo any android tabs they've got. I reckon you'd probably be OK with a bog standard tab to be honest, as long as you're not expecting too much from it.

Oh, and a 1GHz ARM11 is plenty for Angry Birds, which is always a fun timewaster

[RichieLee]

Cool thanks for that Jim.

Like I said it's pretty much for watching tv shows in our downtime, to take our minds off living in a shoebox lol. Wont be watching youtube really as web access would be scarce and I've already got a collection of stuff. Being able to connect to wi-fi to surf net and check emails would be a bonus. Cheap and cheerful really, I'm umming and arring about a netbook I have enough computers already!

[scaryjim]

IMNSHO a 7" tablet is the ideal size for both portability and usability. I used to have a 10" tablet, but it was too big to comfortably hold with one hand, and it was big - and heavy - enough that I could tell when I had it in my bag. When I got a 13" laptop I found that no more burden to carry around and it was *much* more versatile and powerful: the tablet never left the house after that.

I now have a blackberry playbook, and it's so much smaller (and to a lesser extent lighter) that I can chuck it in my bag without noticing it's there. So it tends to travel with me most days even if I probably won't need it, because it's no hassle to have around, and if I do find myself at a loose end I can pull it out and use it to listen to music, read ebooks, watch movies, play games - basically to kill time. Plus that smaller screen makes it easily managable in one hand, typing on it is easier as you can hold it by the bottom edge and "thumb-type" - OK, I'm getting a bit preachy now.

Basically, the 7" tablet fits into the "portable media device" niche much better than a larger 10" tablet (and therefore by extension than a netbook).

OTOH: the cheapo storage options tablet has a couple of downsides: firstly, it only has 256MB RAM, which I've read can be a significant detriment to Android 2.2+, and secondly, it has a quoted 4 hour battery life which (if my experience is anything to go by) will mean the battery lasts 4 hours regardless of what you're doing with the tablet (mine didn't save any power *at all* when in standby mode). So be aware that you're not going to be able to take it out with you and have it last all day - you'll need to turn it off when you're not using it.

If you're willing to spend a bit more, I think the Playbook is a great device. It's currently very short on app support, but it's meant to be getting an update that will allow it to run any Android app, and if/when that happens it will become (again, IMNSHO) just about the best tablet you can buy. PC World are currently doing an online-only special price of £169 on the 16GB version.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

This tablet looks interesting:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/sho...php?t=18366622

http://www.androidtablets.net/forum/...g-details.html

Supposedly it has an IPS panel and uses a MALI400 MP GPU!!

[daveleebond]

I can't recommend the Advent Vega enough, 1ghz dual core tegra2 so video decoding is no problem aslo has USB port so can attach portable HD or USB sticks and as well as expanding the interal microSD to whatever you can afford.

If you do a search on hotdeals you should find them on offer somewhere < £150.

Many ROMS available for this device from Android 2.1 -> 4.

[pp05]

IMNSHO a 7" tablet is the ideal size for both portability and usability. I used to have a 10" tablet, but it was too big to comfortably hold with one hand, and it was big - and heavy - enough that I could tell when I had it in my bag. When I got a 13" laptop I found that no more burden to carry around and it was *much* more versatile and powerful: the tablet never left the house after that.

I now have a blackberry playbook, and it's so much smaller (and to a lesser extent lighter) that I can chuck it in my bag without noticing it's there. So it tends to travel with me most days even if I probably won't need it, because it's no hassle to have around, and if I do find myself at a loose end I can pull it out and use it to listen to music, read ebooks, watch movies, play games - basically to kill time. Plus that smaller screen makes it easily managable in one hand, typing on it is easier as you can hold it by the bottom edge and "thumb-type" - OK, I'm getting a bit preachy now.

Basically, the 7" tablet fits into the "portable media device" niche much better than a larger 10" tablet (and therefore by extension than a netbook).

OTOH: the cheapo storage options tablet has a couple of downsides: firstly, it only has 256MB RAM, which I've read can be a significant detriment to Android 2.2+, and secondly, it has a quoted 4 hour battery life which (if my experience is anything to go by) will mean the battery lasts 4 hours regardless of what you're doing with the tablet (mine didn't save any power *at all* when in standby mode). So be aware that you're not going to be able to take it out with you and have it last all day - you'll need to turn it off when you're not using it.

If you're willing to spend a bit more, I think the Playbook is a great device. It's currently very short on app support, but it's meant to be getting an update that will allow it to run any Android app, and if/when that happens it will become (again, IMNSHO) just about the best tablet you can buy. PC World are currently doing an online-only special price of £169 on the 16GB version.

Jim can you tell me approx how much battery life you're getting on the playbook.

I wouldn't mind a tablet but at sub200 mark as it's my first, plus my brother has a BB Bold 9900 which is the reason I'm looking into it.

[scaryjim]

What doing? It varies, but it's pretty damn good. The best thing is that it has a proper standby mode - it'll do days in standby. From memory ~ 3 hours of iplayer audio (listening to test match special ) with the screen turned off drained ~ 15% of the battery, but if there are any particular tasks you're likely to use one for just post in here or drop me a PM and I'll run some tests for you

[pp05]

What doing? It varies, but it's pretty damn good. The best thing is that it has a proper standby mode - it'll do days in standby. From memory ~ 3 hours of iplayer audio (listening to test match special ) with the screen turned off drained ~ 15% of the battery, but if there are any particular tasks you're likely to use one for just post in here or drop me a PM and I'll run some tests for you

How long does it take you to charge it fully. Did you listen to audio through a BB handset or through wifi?

Main thing I see it being used for is web browsing via wifi, youtube, and occasional video playback via iplayer / local media ie.. divx/avi files.

Btw does it play most popular formats ?

[scaryjim]

Audio was via wifi - I don't have a BB (the missus does, but I'm not letting her have the playbook back just yet ). Full charge takes a couple of hours iirc, I generally charge it overnight though, so I'm not 100% sure on that.

I'll do some wifi youtube / iplayer battery tests over the course of the next week. I don't have many video files but I'll see what I can pull down to test it with: worst comes I'll shove some stuff through handbrake to get a variety of formats (or nick stuff off friends )! of course, once I've drained the battery by messing with it I can also do a charging time test for you too. I'llreport back after the weekend