Large Screen Tablet, Windows (Preferably) or Android

LRayve on 31/08/2015 - 18:52
Last edited 31/08/2015 - 18:52

I'm looking for a large screen tablet for my mother who has some vision issues and needs a larger screen. I know she could zoom in on the screen or change font size but she finds it hard to do that, especially on pdf books with illustrations. She mainly will use it to read pdf magazines and web-browsing. A standard 10" tablet is just a little too small for her and her coke bottle glasses.

I was thinking something around a 12 to 15 inch screen. She doesn't need extreme resolution - 1920 x 1080 would do fine and she certainly doesn't need too much processing power so an i3 or even an atom with 4GB ram would be plenty. If the Surface 3's were cheaper I'd buy her one of those but they seem overkill in terms of performance for her needs.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Computing

Comments

  • scrimshaw on 31/08/2015 - 18:57

    Max budget please.

    I know Aldi is selling their Bauhn branded Win 8 (10 inch) 3G enabled win tablets, those retail for $350.
    http://www.bauhn.com.au/product-listing/2-in-1-windows-10-1i…

  • scrimshaw on 31/08/2015 - 19:09
    +1

    The most budget high resolution Android tablet I can find in Au is the Lenovo Tab 2 (A10). The specifications are not bad, FHD display, quad core and 2GB of RAM.
    http://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/lenovo-tab-…

    • Rayve on 31/08/2015 - 20:23

      If the screen were larger that would be a good buy. Thanks for suggesting it as I might get one for my wife who would like a tablet for watching her Hulu and Netflix on as the speakers in our existing tabs are pretty poor.

  • iridiumstem on 31/08/2015 - 19:11

    The only 12 inch Android tablet I can think of top of my head is Note Pro 12.2. It'd go over your budget considerably.

    • Rayve on 31/08/2015 - 20:20

      This one looks pretty good actually and is a reasonable price although I'm a little more comfortable with the idea of Windows 8 or 10.

      I think what I'll do is make a template and make some mock-up screens on my 27" computer monitor and let my mum see them at various sizes and see which ones she feels comfortable with.

      She tried our 17 inch laptop, our 15 inch laptop and our 10 inch tablets and was most comfortable with the 15 inch size but I'll try some sizes in between and see how she goes.

      Is there likely to be significant reduction on the surface pro 3's soon? I don't really want to spend more than around $700.

      • iridiumstem on 31/08/2015 - 20:26

        Not likely, imo. The price is already far lower than what it was used to be after the adjustment to the price due to exchange rate.

        I think you could wait for the Keynote for rumoured iPad Pro (I apologise for bringing up iOS products, but I think it's worth considering) and IFA which is going to be within 2 weeks time (I believe?). I think you'd be able to find a lot of devices on IFA (since ASUS and Lenovo might release more products). I am not sure whether you could grab this, but Tab Pro 12.2 would be better (Wacom makes everything more expensive + generally heavier because it requires metal plate). That said, as a Tab Pro 10.1 user, I suggest not getting one unless you know how to tweak things (There are considerable lags that you could remove by tweaking things around, if you know what you are doing).

        Other than that, I should've mentioned this as well, but Venue 11 might fit your bill as well. They appear on Dell Outlet fairly frequently and I've seen them starting from $600 AUD (10.8 inch though).

        Slightly digressing, I personally think Android is better than Windows for consumption related stuff on tablet. The apps on Android are much better (quantity and quality wise) for touchscreens in my opinion. As a Tablet OS, Windows still have fair bit to go in my opinion. Windows OS don't have major problems as a tablet OS but, I've had several irky moments that makes me hesistate to recommend Windows tablet. I've had few cases where the tablet/laptop I own didn't shutdown properly because I've closed the lid before it fully shutdown. It's my opinion though from using both OSs.

        • Rayve on 31/08/2015 - 20:40

          Thanks again for the advice. I think my apathy towards IOS is due to limited, albeit somewhat distant experience with Apple products beings over-priced and underpowered, more style than substance; but I confess to not having used an actual Apple computer for many years (think original Apple Lisa II - circa 1985) and a 32GB ipod about 5 years ago.

          I just have so many Windows and Android apps and familiarity with them and the OS makes them more appealing but I will look at the new ipads.

        • iridiumstem on 31/08/2015 - 20:49

          @Rayve: The reasons I am suggesting an iPad as an option are:

          1. 4:3 is better for web browsing imo (though since Android have adopted this ratio as well with Nexus 9 onward, I think it's a moot point)
          2. Software support on tablets are awful on Android side (at least Samsung one is awful, Nexus is better but they don't have 12 inch range), whereas iPads get reasonable amount of upgrades. I know that custom ROMs exist, but that requires work and I don't think it's an option for everyone.
          3. At least in terms of flagship tablets, iPad Air 2 was decently specced (A8X was designed for tablets, RAM side, it's slightly underwhelming, but most Android tablets are on 2GB as well) and so I think rumoured iPad Pro would be similar. 12 inch range is probably a niche market with flagship spec, so I think it wouldn't be bad if you look at what Apple comes up with as well.

          TL;DR, iPads are an alright choice (albeit an expensive one) in my opinion.

          These said, I am not suggesting iOS as what you should get but what you can consider as well as an option (just in case you got the wrong impression).

  • wal990 on 01/09/2015 - 07:56

    teclast x98 pro, intel atom Cherry trail CPU. 4gb ram 64 rom (+ SD card support) runs Win 10, retina display (iPad size) has a HDMI support for 2k display. It will get an update to run Android also.

    about 350 AUD.

    or you can get the bay trail version for about 270 ish.

    • scrimshaw on 01/09/2015 - 08:45

      Where can you buy this? Looks tempting.

      • wal990 on 01/09/2015 - 09:12

        your typical chinese sellers like banggood gearbest… x98 pro is fairly new (less than 1 month) the bay trail version are much more mature

        another model might be worth looking at is Onda v919, theres even a core m version (the same processor in the new macbook air)

        • Make it so on 01/09/2015 - 17:22

          I have actually been looking into buying the X98 Pro, but I do not think anyone ships them yet. Geekbuying, Banggood and other sites are all doing presales. But it will be great once it's available. With 4GB RAM, it's actually usable!

  • Rayve on 01/09/2015 - 23:47

    How does this HP look to people? It has a 13.3 inch screen, comes with a Bluetooth keyboard cover for $749.

    http://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/hp-envy-x2-…

    • iridiumstem on 01/09/2015 - 23:53

      It looks more like a proper laptop that has all the components in the tablet part (it might be too heavy).
      The weight on the OfficeWork page was 1.46KG (I assume the total), so how heavy is the tablet?

      • Rayve on 02/09/2015 - 01:18

        I think it was 800g or so. A lot of my mom's use would be lying down in bed to read so she wouldn't be holding it up completely unsupported. The screen size seems appealing because it is slightly bigger than A4.

        • iridiumstem on 02/09/2015 - 01:41

          http://www.mobiletechreview.com/notebooks/HP-Envy-x2-13t-201…
          http://www.notebookcheck.net/HP-Envy-x2-j001ng-Convertible-R…
          http://winsupersite.com/mobile/hp-envy-x2-detachable-pc-13-f…
          ^The reviews all have different configurations (in terms of CPU and RAM), so do look at them with that in mind.

          The reviews I've seen on it gave me values that are closer to 1.2kg (tablet only), 1.8kg (with keyboard).
          That's more of a laptop weight than a tablet weight (though at that screen size, you'd probably need to look at at least 700g).
          I know that Core M series can get very hot, so that might be something you would need to test, in my opinion.
          Other than that, I think it'd be alright (Don't quote me on it though, the 13 inch tablet market is not exactly something that I follow).

        • iridiumstem on 02/09/2015 - 08:09

          @Oversimplified: Just adding on, I think, while screen size is important, I think screen ratio is also important too. It's a nightmare to read PDF in portrait mode for 16:9, 16:10 is doable (but can be better), 4:3 and 3:2 I personally believe to be better for reading stuff because they are closer to the ratio that A4 paper is in (The aspect ratio of A4, 1:1.414 is near the average of 1.5 for 2:3 and 1.333 for 3:4).

  • Rayve on 09/09/2015 - 15:54

    I ended up ordering a 12.2 inch tablet with an i5 and 4GB ram for $299. It's an older model which I do remember looking at in 2012 but then it was over $1000. I also bought her a kobo H2O so she can read her books with less eyestrain.

    • scrimshaw on 09/09/2015 - 21:54

      I'm kinda interested. What was the model of that tablet?

  • Rayve on 09/09/2015 - 22:58

    It's an Asus Eee Slate Ep121 from Kogan.

    https://www.kogan.com/au/buy/asus-eee-slate-ep121-tablet/

    As I said it was $299 plus $35 delivery. It's currently out of stock but it was also OOS yesterday and I ticked the box for email alerts when back in stock and got it today so hopefully if you are interested they will restock quickly.

    It seems pretty good value with the included Bluetooth keyboard and case/stand. It also upgrades and works well in Windows 10 with some minor fiddling with drivers. The CPU is the somewhat underpowered low voltage dual-core model and I guess is 5 years old now but runs rings around those older atom cpus (one of which I have regularly used on a Win 8.1 tablet with no real problems at all).

    The screen ratio is 3.2 to 2 so not too far from standard paper and I'll try to set it up for her so she can also plug in the hmdi and watch netflix and hulu.

    Hopefully the big, simplified metro interface will be easier for her to interact with. I wish it carried through to some in-app style though as I think too many menu items might bamboozle her.

    • Astro551 on 11/09/2015 - 00:24

      ah yes the classic ASUS Eee Slate Ep121, what a great piece of ozb history. let us know how it works as a tablet/"slate", it looks decently heavy/fat.

  • Rayve on 20/09/2015 - 20:08

    And Kogan cancelled my order after taking payment 10 days ago. So now I'm back to square one….

    • iridiumstem on 20/09/2015 - 20:14

      Wow, that's dodgy. :S

      Samsung in Gear S2 presentation mentioned a tablet, Galaxy View. Nothing has been reveiled, but the rumoured spec is close to budget line than a flagship if you are interested (though the leaked spec does make me question because it said battery capacity to be 5,700mAh which is less than iPad Mini). It's rumoured to be 18.4 inch at least. There are a lot of rumours on it, all very misleading because Samsung is rumoured to be working on a Windows tablet as well so the spec is getting mixed up.

      • Rayve on 20/09/2015 - 21:04

        Many thanks for the info on that Samsung. I hadn't read about it before but the size sounds ideal (maybe even a little too big). If they can keep the price down by limiting the specs then it would be great as power is not what I'm looking for. The battery specs are a bit strange though - I really don't think a battery of that size could run such a big display for very long - maybe they are intending to sell it with some sort of dock for extra power? Then again, I don't really envisage it being used away from the AC for too long so it shouldn't be a major problem.

        • iridiumstem on 20/09/2015 - 21:09

          I am assuming that there is a mix up since 5700 mAh is too small, even for a budget tablet, if you consider the size of the 18.4 inch tablet. That said, I don't think the information out there are correct nor accurate, since I've not heard anything about this device until the Gear S2 Unpack (which is really rare for electronics, since most of them leaks before the company announces their existence).

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