Which Budget Tablet?

Samsungnote10 on 09/06/2017 - 02:08

just wondering if people could give us some pointers,
on the lowest budget possible
we currently have a surface generation 1 RT,
admittedly, on paper the tablet is great, but the reality is that it lags so badly even with a full format its barelu useable, and the genuine kb accesory we purchased you cant type quickly or it lags again,. unfortuantely, its barely useable

we will only use it for
movies on planes, so 8 hours battery is good (the surface gen 1 still has 8 hours)
windows 10 preferred (we could not use win 8 even we tried)
browsing the internet a lot
writing emails, word docs, so a great keyboard
bluetooth,
usb prefer 2
storage not fussed, 64 gb is fine

we dont need any form of graphics capability, dont care about brand, light weight would be better, bigger screen the better, can be refurbished with 1 year warranty
the surfaces look perfect but not for $1500-$3000 budget

would any of these do the job?
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/ASUS-Transformer-Book-T100TA-DK00…
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Toshiba-Satellite-Radius-11-C004-…

we really dont know much about the processors etc.

thank you eveyrone

Computing

Comments

    • the-mal on 09/06/2017 - 08:13

      The examples OP provides are in the $300-$400 range. Big difference between that and a $900 Surface.

      The Surface is an awesome machine, but definitely not what I'd call budget.

  • Fiximol on 09/06/2017 - 12:39

    Why do you want a tablet form?

    The Inspiron 11 from dell, currently part of the ebay 20% off sale, starts from $320 after discount and is generally a very good value windows 10 device. It doesn't fold over like the Toshiba, however but it does have a touchscreen.

    • Adz81 on 09/06/2017 - 12:44

      This one would run Sketchup ok, I'm guessing, at least better than the Miix 320… This may have swayed me…

    • Samsungnote10 on 09/06/2017 - 13:03

      It doesn't have to be fold over.
      Touch screen really helps
      Light weight really helps

      As we don't need to carry a laptop. Which are quite bulky. And don't last very long battery

      We like the fact that it switches on instantly like the ipad we used to have at the press of a button

      Fold over would be preferred but not essential.

      Do the processor matter?
      We just don't want to buy one and realise we can't use it due to lagging or keyboard being slow

      We do a lot of emailing when on the move

      • scrimshaw on 09/06/2017 - 20:18
        +1

        the dell inspiron that's linked isn't the touchscreen model. The touchscreen one is here and costs more

        Do the processor matter?

        For things like movie watching, typing documents, you can get by with N3710 or N4200 for example, this are basically Atom chips but rebadged as Pentiums and they provide just enough power for the basic tasks.

        Higher up the performance rung you're looking at Core M series, which you will find in some of the Surface Pro line up, Lenovo IdeaPad Miix 700, the Huawei Matebook and the Galaxy Tab Pro.

        These are lower power CPU's just like Core I ultra-low voltage series and based on the same architecture, just shrunken down even more to give it more portability. However they cost upwards of $800 typically and you can't consider em' budget anymore. But they give you the best of both worlds: good battery life, very portable and somewhat-decent performance.

        The refurb ASUS Transformer you linked is very, very old stock, running Atom Bay Trail Z3775, these are very slow and you should avoid the "BayTrail-T" Atoms if you can.

        The Toshiba Radius 11 is fine but is plagued with short battery life, of under 5 hours.

        • Samsungnote10 on 10/06/2017 - 01:40

          thank you so much for your response

          you make very good points,

          im going to be a pain say the folliwng,

          I used to have an ipad first gen, the battery life, and quickness in swithcing on by pressing the button and lightness were perfect, but it didnt have a KB nor a stand nor usb, so I saw the Surface RT, this should have solved all my problemsm, however the lagging really killed it
          we loved the fact that it had 64gb, usb, a stand, a dedicated KB, and great battery life and ability to fold it

          we just want something that combines both, so we were waiting for new surfaces coming out however, they all trippled in price!

          hence we are looking ,

          im lucky you pointed out those problems as we would have been yet disapporinted again,

          unforatuntely, im back at square one!

        • scrimshaw on 10/06/2017 - 02:11

          @hellohello123:

          Chinese tablets might be your only options remaining. Go to Techtablets.com and read / watch the reviews

          https://techtablets.com/recommended-chinese-tablets-brands/

        • Samsungnote10 on 10/06/2017 - 10:09

          @scrimshaw:

          Thank you
          Would an android tablet such as Samsung galaxy be any good?
          Cam you get decent kb for them?

        • Fiximol on 10/06/2017 - 11:25

          @hellohello123: If you are considering android tablets then it's a whole different kettle of fish. I would personally consider the lenovo tab 3 10 business which can be had for $229 delivered or $250 via their ebay store which might work out cheaper next wednesday depending on their offers. The lenovo tab 4 is on the horizon, however, so if you are able to wait the price might drop a bit more or the new tablets might be better for you.

          There isn't too much need to worry about keyboards. You can get a bluetooth keyboard from $10 onwards from local retailers that will work with all tablets with BT.

          It comes down to a trade off: price, performance (hardware), reliability/warranty - choose two. Chinese tablets have great price and hardware but can be unreliable and difficult to get support. Good spec branded tablets/laptops from Aust retailers can be pricey, and the lower priced tablets/laptops from Aust retailers usually offer a very slow experience.

        • scrimshaw on 10/06/2017 - 12:40

          @hellohello123:

          For branded stuff, Logitech makes a variety of of tablet keyboards which are universal.

          They don't dock or mate with the tablet, of course, so they connect via BT

          https://www.logitech.com/en-au/tablet-accessories/keyboards

          There are also Chinese knock offs which are much cheaper, can find them on Gearbest or AliExpress. No warranty though.

        • Samsungnote10 on 11/06/2017 - 00:24

          @Fiximol:

          Thats a great suggestion, thank you
          to be honest, that $229 lenovo looks perfect, spec wise it seems the same as the surface rt but only 32gb,

          My friend had an ipad with a BT KB but it was terrible, are you sure the non genuine BT KBs work just as good? can I do bt headphones and KB simulatenously?

          am I being a bit paranoid that to get good use I need a docked KB like the surface?

          sorry for the numerous questions

        • Fiximol on 13/06/2017 - 13:13

          @hellohello123: Bluetooth keyboards are OK in my opinion but I am not a heavy user of them so my experience is limited. You should not have any issues with using BT headphones and KB concurrently.

          It depends on what you mean by "non genuine" - if you want to stick with large brands you can get a logitech tablet BT keyboard for $44 from good guys or a full sized BT keyboard for $38 from Harvey Norman.

          If you prefer a docked keyboard (nothing wrong with that, btw. Things like keyboards and headphones preferences are very individualised) then your choices are a bit more limited.

  • Samsungnote10 on 13/06/2017 - 12:34

    Had a play with the cheapest surface at jbhifi yesterday.
    $979

    Keyboard seemed good.

    Looks perfect. Pity about the price

  • Samsungnote10 on 13/06/2017 - 17:58

    http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Microsoft-Surface-Pro-2-Core-i5-4…

    Whats everyones take on this, I know its refurb, but 3 months warranty, comes with KB
    I can go to the shop and have a look at one on display for condition

    also has kb

    • cheepo on 09/07/2017 - 20:43

      Curious to know if you ended up purchasing this tablet or decided to go for something else instead? If so, how are you finding it and what condition did it arrive in? I'm after a decent Windows 10 tablet around this price.

  • Albie764 on 10/07/2017 - 07:22

    Definately should go for the surface pro series..lightweight, fast, runs Windows 10 & highly secure. Top choice. Price is bit high but it is quality.

  • Nzkev779 on 10/07/2017 - 08:19

    Better to spend more & go with surface pro in my opinion..better in the long run..durability..win 10 pro..security etc number of reasons.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join