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Going to buy a tablet for schoolwork and stuff.

post #1 of 27
Thread Starter 
As the title says, I'm in the market for my very first tablet. I'm tired of lugging around my laptop and I wanted something i can just whip out of my backpack without any hassle. Prices don't matter to me (of course I would like to spend less) as long as its under 500$. It will mostly be a general utility (play some light games, schoolwork, taking notes) so doesn't need to do anything special. I would love about 16GB of memory for short videos and whatever apps I need.

The choices I have right now are these:

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1
I was looking at this because the pen thing along with the formula recognition software would be really great for taking notes in subjects like chemistry and physics, and I also do some architecture work so being able to do really quick sketches on the fly would be great. As a tablet though it seems a little over-the-top and it really hits that price cap hard.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2
This seems like a general all-rounder, 10 inch screen as standard and the usual tablet features. I am not brand-loyal to Samsung in any way, I'm just not familiar with other tablet manufacturers.

Google Nexus 7
This tablet seems like my favorite as it combines an impressive feature list with the portability of a 7-inch tablet. The screen size will be a little detrimental to reading books and watching videos but its feel (the nice dimpled texture on the back) and its weight are perfect for me. I checked it out in the NCIX at Aberdeen and I really like the tablet. An extra bonus is that I get updates straight from Google, which is awesome. I also (for some reason) reeaaaly like the NEXUS logo on the back.

Order of preference:

Google Nexus 7 > Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 > Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (10-incher)

Ideas? Suggestions? I'm all ears.
post #2 of 27
 
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Wife's Rig
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i7-3770k Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP5 TH Asus HD7950 DCII Summer has killed my OC :( G.Skill TridentX 2400 2 x 4GB 
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Samsung 830 128GB Plextor M5p 128GB 2 x WD 500GB Blues LG 
CoolingCoolingOSMonitor
Prolimatech Megahalems Rev C Arctic F12 CO PWM x 2 Push/Pull Windows 7 64 bit Ultimate LG IPS235V 
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Corsair AX850 Coolermaster HAF 912 advanced (Asia version) 
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post #3 of 27
Quote:
Originally Posted by AznRage View Post

The screen size will be a little detrimental to reading books and watching videos
Did you tried with a book. I scanned and putted my school book (large one) in PDF, it's great to read on my kobo vox (weak single core 7 incher) with repligo.

Same thing with videos, they look great.
    
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post #4 of 27
Thread Starter 

Man, I totally forgot about that. Maybe I'll wait until it actually comes out and check out user reviews and stuff, because I like to wait for a more mature product before picking up technology. Thanks for reminding me smile.gif
Quote:
Originally Posted by spikexp View Post

Did you tried with a book. I scanned and putted my school book (large one) in PDF, it's great to read on my kobo vox (weak single core 7 incher) with repligo.
Same thing with videos, they look great.

Great to hear, I just assumed it would be a little worse than reading on a 10-inch screen because of size.
post #5 of 27
nexus 7
post #6 of 27
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by drbaltazar View Post

nexus 7

Why do you think it's better than the other two?
post #7 of 27
Wait for next week's announcement by Google. Nexus 10 by Samsung will be announced alongside with Nexus 7 32GB (already presold in some stores) -- same Nexus device just more internal storage.

Later this year theres a rumored $99 Nexus tablet as well.

Edit: more info here,
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57528352-94/google-to-co-brand-10-inch-nexus-tablet-with-samsung/
Quote:
The 10.1-inch tablet will boast a pixel density that is higher than Apple's third-generation iPad, said Richard Shim, an analyst at NPD DisplaySearch.
The 2,560x1,600 display will have a PPI (pixels per inch) of about 299, said Shim. That tops the 264 PPI on the 9.7-inch 2,048x1,536 Retina iPad.
"It's going to be a high-end device," Shim said -- in contrast with Google's $199 Nexus 7 and upcoming $99 tablet.
post #8 of 27
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by zephiK View Post

Wait for next week's announcement by Google. Nexus 10 by Samsung will be announced alongside with Nexus 7 32GB (already presold in some stores) -- same Nexus device just more internal storage.
Later this year theres a rumored $99 Nexus tablet as well.
Edit: more info here,
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57528352-94/google-to-co-brand-10-inch-nexus-tablet-with-samsung/

Looks like there's lots of good stuff happening from Google these days. I am most likely buying a Google device for the convenient updates and support.

Thanks a lot for your help smile.gif
post #9 of 27
Quote:
Originally Posted by AznRage View Post

Looks like there's lots of good stuff happening from Google these days. I am most likely buying a Google device for the convenient updates and support.
Thanks a lot for your help smile.gif
It'll most likely launch with Android 4.2 too! which is rumored to have multi-user support and profiles.

I agree with you when it comes to Nexus devices and staying up to date. Some smart guy will come and quote me and say custom ROMs, not everybody wants to flash custom ROMs even though I do but having a OTA allows publishment of binaries/drivers/etc leading to overall stability in custom ROMs rather than backporting.

http://androidandme.com/2012/10/news/multiple-sources-say-google-will-unveil-three-new-nexus-devices-on-october-29th/ has all the listings.
Quote:
The Nexus 10 is rumored to include a 2,560 x 1,600 display and Samsung’s Exynos 5 (ARM Cortex-A15) processor. We speculated that production issues with either of these components might have delayed the release of this tablet, but Samsung just announced a new Chromebook that features their Exynos 5 chip.
Some more stuff about Nexus 10 ^^ definitely impressive.
Quote:
Even though it’s a dual-core chip, the Exynos 5 Dual will be superior to Samsung’s Exynos 4 Quad chip, which is currently found in international Galaxy S III models. The Exynos 5 (obviously) promises faster speeds, running at 1.7 gigahertz with ARM’s quad-core Mali T-604 graphics processor. It will compete with the Snapdragon S4 chips currently tearing up benchmarks on newer Android devices.

The Exynos 5 Dual also sports USB 3.0 and SATA III controllers, so it’s well equipped to move data quickly. While I don’t think you’ll ever be hooking up your smartphone or tablet to a SATA connector (meant for storage-heavy products like hard drives), the addition of USB 3.0 should speed up device synchronization.

The chip also supports Wi-Fi Display technology, which will allow you to wirelessly stream media from your phone to a supported TV. To do that now, Android manufacturers like HTC and Samsung have accessories that plug into your TV and only work with their phones. Apple’s spin on media streaming is Airplay, which lets you push media from your Apple devices to an Apple TV.
Wi-Fi Display isn’t widely supported yet, but as it shows up on hardware like the Exynos 5 Dual, it has the potential to be a legitimate cross-platform solution for media streaming to your TV.

Thanks to the ARM Mali T-604 GPU, the Exynos 5 supports huge resolutions up to 2,560 by 1,600 (that’s far beyond the standard for 1080p HDTVs), and stereoscopic 3D. The GPU also has DirectX 11 support, which means the Exynos could power light gaming on Windows 8 machines.

Read more at http://venturebeat.com/2012/08/10/samsungs-exynos-5-dual/#27Gh4tE9i03tkhJI.99
^^ Stuff about Exynos 5. Kind of funny as the other day I was constantly saying that # of cores doesn't mean that it's faster than a dual core.
Edited by zephiK - 10/22/12 at 11:48am
post #10 of 27
Thread Starter 
Yeah, I'm reading about it right now on various sights and I'm really excited about it.
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