What tablet for myself
Author
Discussion

LosingGrip

Original Poster:

8,602 posts

181 months

Thursday 5th February
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Im going away for five weeks with work shortly and want to treat myself to a tablet. There is so much choice!

I want to watch Netflix etc. Maybe some normal games. Nothing major. Happy to pay a decent price for one. Large screen.

Ive got a Samsung Fold so leaning towards another Samsung. But also got a Macbook, but my partner uses that more than me.

It needs to have the possibility of a SIM card so I dont have to hot-spot my own data and drain my phone battery.

Any suggestions and links to deals would be most appreciated!

mmm-five

12,022 posts

306 months

Thursday 5th February
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Assuming you need the power of the latest & greatest, then if you want the 'good' Samsung tablet, then you won't get better than the current gen 14" Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra...but the Apple-like £1150 price tag may be a little off-putting. The Tab S10 FE+ is slightly better value at £850 for the 13" 5G model.

The other alternative is to get a Samsung Renewed (i.e. refurbished) model and save a little...although the same S10 FE+ is only 5-10% cheaper that way.

You could also get a GalaxyBook5 Edge with 5g for £950.

All these are prices direct from Samsung, so I'm sure there's offers available on them all from elsewhere...maybe CEX is worth a look for used items with some warranty backup (e.g. the same S11 Ultra 5g is £975 and the S10 Ultra is £690).

If you're not after the latest & greatest, but still want the same Samsung/Android OS as you're used to, then a Tab S8 Ultra 5G can be had for £470.

The final choice of course, is to get a 13" M4 MacBook Air for £850 and tether to your phone.

knk

1,327 posts

293 months

Thursday 5th February
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Lenovo chromebook duet is fantastic, especially for the price. Lovely screen, and detachable keyboard is useful.
https://chromeunboxed.com/lenovo-chromebook-duet-5...

the-norseman

15,013 posts

193 months

Thursday 5th February
quotequote all
Ideally what is your budget? and then buy what ever Samsung or Apple one that is within budget.

I have bought Lenovo M10 for kids which is lower budget and they are ok once the bloatware has been taken off them, I was given a Samsung A9 for free a few months ago, removed all the Samsung bloatware off it and it runs nicely, I run the usual stuff on it, Netflix, Prime, Disney+ etc etc and it has a sim card.

nvubu

920 posts

151 months

Thursday 5th February
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I find that a 9" or 10" tablet is the right size for travelling, but I don't play games at all. I watch movies, surf the web, occasional Excel, plus the ability to be a Sat Nav if a hire car doesn't have Android Auto - or as is common in Africa, the ICE is all in Japanese.

As much RAM as possible and an SD card if the storage is smaller than 256Gb.

I have had to use a tablet as my camera on 2 trips once when I lost my phone and the other when the phone bricked itself while at Heathrow.

megaphone

11,447 posts

273 months

Friday 6th February
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What phone do you use? I'f iPhone go iPad, if Andriod go Android based tablet. Then they will all sync up properly with contacts and settings etc.

louiebaby

10,825 posts

213 months

Friday 6th February
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Unless something has changes, there is no Android App for Apple TV.

If you wanted to download episodes of TV to watch away from WiFi, for example, that's easy on Android for Netflix, Prime and BBC iPlayer, (possibly others) but not possible for Apple TV.

If that's a factor for consideration, I hope it helps.

I'm with other posters here, about 9 or 10 inch is nice for watching on a plane or train, and not too massive to use as a book / kindle as well.

LosingGrip

Original Poster:

8,602 posts

181 months

Friday 6th February
quotequote all
megaphone said:
What phone do you use? I'f iPhone go iPad, if Andriod go Android based tablet. Then they will all sync up properly with contacts and settings etc.
Samsung phone but Macbook at home. My partner tends to use the Macbook however.

It also needs to be a decent size for use in a car.

CSR Performance

229 posts

10 months

Friday 6th February
quotequote all
megaphone said:
What phone do you use? I'f iPhone go iPad, if Andriod go Android based tablet. Then they will all sync up properly with contacts and settings etc.
This. Although that being said I'm an iphone user but I do have a Samsung tablet. Ironically it came free with an iphone about 8 years ago and still works absolutely fine. I use it on my desk as a world time clock, for playing apple music(!), a digital calendar and monitoring my home CCTV. Then when I go abroad it comes with me to watch YouTube and Netflix.