I'm getting a new tablet... but which one?

[Spector]

Can you guys give me some suggestions as to what would be the best tablet to buy - preferably android - on the market right now? One that gives good value for money without being totally dirt cheap? I'm not sure where to start so maybe somebody on here would have a recommendation?

[Matt_B]

I'd think that the latest model of the Amazon Fire HD 8 still rules the roost for value, at about £80.

If you want a bigger screen there's also a significantly more powerful 10" model for about £150.

You've just got to resort to a bit of hackery to get Google Play on them, but that should only take ten minutes or so.

[Spector]

I'd think that the latest model of the Amazon Fire HD 8 still rules the roost for value, at about £80.

If you want a bigger screen there's also a significantly more powerful 10" model for about £150.

You've just got to resort to a bit of hackery to get Google Play on them, but that should only take ten minutes or so.

No I want to avoid that as I've had far too many problems with apps installed on the Kindle fire HD I already have. It's easy to get android apps on them, but a lot of the apps don't work properly on mine.

[Matt_B]

Do those apps include Kodi and YouTube by any chance? They can be made to work, again with more hackery, but it's a bit of a pain and they'll probably break whenever you do a system update.

If you're wanting a tablet that runs more or less stock Android you could take a look at the Huawei MediaPad. That's about as cheap as you get for something that's not got the Amazon subsidy keeping the price down.

[Antiriad2097]

Size? I have a 10" Samsung Tab A6 (I think) that has proven reliable and decent resolution for the price. Seems to be going for around £200 just now, though I'm sure I paid less in a sale in Tesco or Asda, around £160 iirc.

It does have physical buttons though. My old Asus one had virtual buttons which I preferred, as they remain in a constant position no matter which way round you hold it.

I am far from expert on these things though, I haven't really tried many others.

[The Laird]

Can you guys give me some suggestions as to what would be the best tablet to buy - preferably android - on the market right now? One that gives good value for money without being totally dirt cheap? I'm not sure where to start so maybe somebody on here would have a recommendation?

I've just been looking for a new one myself recently and found this to be a very good tablet for the price: https://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/computin ... 2-pdt.html

They also do it with 32GB storage too.

[Spector]

Size? I have a 10" Samsung Tab A6 (I think) that has proven reliable and decent resolution for the price. Seems to be going for around £200 just now, though I'm sure I paid less in a sale in Tesco or Asda, around £160 iirc.
It does have physical buttons though. My old Asus one had virtual buttons which I preferred, as they remain in a constant position no matter which way round you hold it.

Fair point about the physical buttons. I think that would knock it out for me.

Do those apps include Kodi and YouTube by any chance? They can be made to work, again with more hackery, but it's a bit of a pain and they'll probably break whenever you do a system update.

It's apps across the board, to be honest. First of all, BBC News stopped working, then BBC Sport, then TheTrainline said it was no longer compatible or whatever (though it did start running again a few weeks later), and other apps are ludicrously slow or just freeze. I've had enough of Kindle. It's done a job for me these last five years, but I would never get one again. I'm prepared to pay for this, I'm not looking for the cheapest option, just one that's not overpriced.

Can you guys give me some suggestions as to what would be the best tablet to buy - preferably android - on the market right now? One that gives good value for money without being totally dirt cheap? I'm not sure where to start so maybe somebody on here would have a recommendation?

I've just been looking for a new one myself recently and found this to be a very good tablet for the price: https://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/computin ... 2-pdt.html
They also do it with 32GB storage too.

Ta for the suggestion, though the ghost of PCWorld still haunts me so when I see that in the web address I flinch for a minute I'll check it out

[Sega_MegaDive]

Stick with a good brand like Samsung. Avoid the cheaper less familiar brands as theyre junk.

[The Laird]

Ta for the suggestion, though the ghost of PCWorld still haunts me so when I see that in the web address I flinch for a minute I'll check it out

No worries. They have the same tablet in Argos too but it's £30 more expensive.

I really rate Huawei stuff, the battery life is amazing too, much better than any other brand I have used (Samsung, Acer, Google etc.)

[Matt_B]

It's apps across the board, to be honest. First of all, BBC News stopped working, then BBC Sport, then TheTrainline said it was no longer compatible or whatever (though it did start running again a few weeks later), and other apps are ludicrously slow or just freeze. I've had enough of Kindle. It's done a job for me these last five years, but I would never get one again. I'm prepared to pay for this, I'm not looking for the cheapest option, just one that's not overpriced.

I think you'd be having similar problems with any five year old tablet, to be honest. The OS will be well and truly obsolete, the battery and flash memory will have been thoroughly thrashed, and every app is just that more demanding on something that's far weaker than even the cheapest ones on the market now.

Getting stuff like the BBC apps, where you can find 100% compatible versions in the Amazon store, shouldn't be a problem on the more modern versions though. It's usually just apps that compete with Amazon's own media services that they don't like, but there are ways around those.

Anyway, if you're done with Amazon, I'd suggest Huawei as your next best bet. Samsung's tablets are good too, but they're much more expensive unless you go for an older model and that'll probably negate any expectations you might have of getting a longer life out of them.

[Antiriad2097]

Can you guys give me some suggestions as to what would be the best tablet to buy - preferably android - on the market right now? One that gives good value for money without being totally dirt cheap? I'm not sure where to start so maybe somebody on here would have a recommendation?

I've just been looking for a new one myself recently and found this to be a very good tablet for the price: https://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/computin ... 2-pdt.html

They also do it with 32GB storage too.

Screen resolution isn't that high for a modern tablet on that one. Depends what your doing, but I shelled out a little bit more on my Samsung for that reason. My old Asus was that res, and on comics it just wasn't quite sharp enough for text without zooming in a good bit. The higher res Samsung is a vast improvement. Not that I read comics often on it. The lower res will be fine for video though.

[Spector]

Another semi-related question that could be met with roars of silence: has anyone ever managed to run an exe file on an Android device using a dos box or something similar?

[Matt_B]

Another semi-related question that could be met with roars of silence: has anyone ever managed to run an exe file on an Android device using a dos box or something similar?

Yes, you can run exe files using aFreeBox, or something similar. However, it obviously won't run Windows applications and the performance is, at best, likely to be on par with a Pentium II. Also, don't expect to get far without some sort of keyboard.

For Windows applications, there is a port of WINE, but don't expect miracles. Your chances of running all but the most rudimentary applications are slim, and expect to have to do a fair amount of configuration. I've yet to even attempt this myself, but then again I've got a Windows tablet for that sort of thing.

[Antiriad2097]

Tried years ago, it was terrible, tablet just didn't have the power to run anything but really ancient stuff.

Bought a Lynx 1010b for £160 a couple of years back, amazing little ,machine for Windows stuff for the price. My only issue is that the Windows interface itself isn't ideal on a 10" screen with my failing eyes and fat fingers. Still, for the depth and range of gaming it offers it hammers the Android tablet.

[psj3809]

Another semi-related question that could be met with roars of silence: has anyone ever managed to run an exe file on an Android device using a dos box or something similar?

Theyre a bit pricey but coming down in price all the time (I got mine for £220) but the GPD Win which you might have heard me mentioning before !

Great little mini PC, i use it for a lot of Steam games and emulation use. Cant run the latest steam games but lots of my favourites are from a few years ago but worth looking at possibly...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GPD_Win

Yeah its another gadget but its quite a cool one ! There is a GPD Win 2 but its silly prices at the mo (£700 etc)