Sorry - another tablet/ipad question

lizziebabe

Just to let you know the Nexus 7 is £159 at Tesco Direct. If you go through Quidco there is another £10 off. Also 159 Tesco points.

onzey

And if you or your daughter wanted ipad or ipad mini get a refurb from Apple

http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/specialdeals/ipad

jackieblack

DCFC79 wrote: »

You any closer to deciding OP ?

Id suggest a Nexus 7 or a Samsung Tab 2, used my N7 alot and briefly used the Tab2, if i didnt get a Nexus I would have gone for the Tab2.

Not really, I'm swaying from one to the other and back again.

I suppose, for me, the bottom line is that if there is some factual reason why/how communication with my daughter, if/when she gets an iPhone and/or iPad next year, will be easier or simpler, then I'm probably prepared to pay the difference to get the iPad mini.
However, although I keep hearing that this is so, I'm still no clearer how or why, so am no closer to a decision really

Anne_Marie_2

jackieblack wrote: »

Not really, I'm swaying from one to the other and back again.

I suppose, for me, the bottom line is that if there is some factual reason why/how communication with my daughter, if/when she gets an iPhone and/or iPad next year, will be easier or simpler, then I'm probably prepared to pay the difference to get the iPad mini.
However, although I keep hearing that this is so, I'm still no clearer how or why, so am no closer to a decision really

I think that you are going to have to get to the bottom of your internet issues with Skype etc. first of all.
As you said previously, your internet in the evenings is pretty poor, and so you will have to get that sorted out, as I would imagine that evenings will be the very time that you will converse with your daughter when she is at uni.
I would suspect that whatever programme you use to communicate, it will be poor until you get the internet issues sorted out.
Check with your current ISP to see if there is a problem, which there obviously is, and if it can be rectified. Failing that, check with other ISP's that operate in your area. Ask your neighbours what their evening internet service is like, and who are their ISPs.

Are you certain that your daughter will be getting an iphone or ipad? She may change her mind and get another make of android phone or tablet, in which case, you will have wasted extra cash if you get the mini ipad when the Nexus would have done you just as well.

I know that you want a tablet before your Christmas trip, so you have plenty of time to decide what road you will go down. I know if I was in your situation (without the internet issues), I would be going with what is best for me, and not be dependent on what my daughter may or may not get in the future.

Sorry, I haven't helped in making things any easier for you.

Miró

lizziebabe wrote: »

Just to let you know the Nexus 7 is £159 at Tesco Direct. If you go through Quidco there is another £10 off. Also 159 Tesco points.

Please don't get a refurbed one from Tesco. I did and after 3 dud ones, (first one died after a week, second one had dead pixels, third one had a white smudge embedded in the screen), I got a refund and went for an iPad mini from John Lewis (with 2 yr guarantee). As a newbie to tablets I found the iPad a bit more faffy to set up than the Nexus 7 and the bigger screen size not as comfy to hold in a girly hand. Still glad I went for it tho as I have never ever had a prob with an Apple product before.

*tempts fate!*

jackieblack

Anne_Marie wrote: »

I think that you are going to have to get to the bottom of your internet issues with Skype etc. first of all.
As you said previously, your internet in the evenings is pretty poor, and so you will have to get that sorted out, as I would imagine that evenings will be the very time that you will converse with your daughter when she is at uni.
I would suspect that whatever programme you use to communicate, it will be poor until you get the internet issues sorted out.
Check with your current ISP to see if there is a problem, which there obviously is, and if it can be rectified. Failing that, check with other ISP's that operate in your area. Ask your neighbours what their evening internet service is like, and who are their ISPs.

I think you're right. I'll contact Virgin next week, I've always found them very helpful in the past and have been pretty pleased with them up until now so I think I'd like to give them a chance to sort it out first and then maybe look elsewhere if they can't.

Anne_Marie wrote: »

Are you certain that your daughter will be getting an iphone or ipad? She may change her mind and get another make of android phone or tablet, in which case, you will have wasted extra cash if you get the mini ipad when the Nexus would have done you just as well.

Yes, I'm 99% certain. She really wanted an iPhone last year but ended up getting a Blackberry as her BF had just got one and it meant that they could BBM each other. Whether or not she gets an iPhone next year, when her contract finishes, she is 100% that she would love an iPad - although we've been out looking at them today and she's decided that she'd prefer an iPad mini to the larger iPad. (I think the mini is a bit bigger than she'd imagined it.)

Anne_Marie wrote: »

I know that you want a tablet before your Christmas trip, so you have plenty of time to decide what road you will go down. I know if I was in your situation (without the internet issues), I would be going with what is best for me, and not be dependent on what my daughter may or may not get in the future.

Sorry, I haven't helped in making things any easier for you.

I doesn't help that I'm the second worst decision maker in the world when it comes to making purchases of significant cost (the worst is my Dad so I blame him - it's plainly in my genes)
It took me 4 years of procrastinating before I bought my current laptop (only when Windows 8 launched and I realised that I did NOT want that, it forced me to bite the bullet and make a decision while W7 was still available )

It's not the amount of money so much as getting good value for the money. I don't mind paying the extra for the iPad mini provided I'm satisfied in my own head that the extra cost is justified
Having looked at, and had a bit of a play with them both today I must say that I am probably leaning more toward the iPad now. It looks like it would be simpler to use (once it's set up), and seemed a bit more intuitive than the Nexus but if I find I can't get on with it after the trip I'm sure my daughter would happily take it off my hands

I do still have a few concerns about how any tablet would work for me and I think I'd still need to take my laptop as well when we're away. I see the tablet more as a device for convenience at particular moments/for particular tasks, rather than a tool that will fulfil all my computing needs.

But, as you correctly say, I don't need to make a definite decision for a few weeks yet

jackieblack

Mir! wrote: »

Please don't get a refurbed one from Tesco. I did and after 3 dud ones, (first one died after a week, second one had dead pixels, third one had a white smudge embedded in the screen), I got a refund and went for an iPad mini from John Lewis (with 2 yr guarantee). As a newbie to tablets I found the iPad a bit more faffy to set up than the Nexus 7 and the bigger screen size not as comfy to hold in a girly hand. Still glad I went for it tho as I have never ever had a prob with an Apple product before.

*tempts fate!*

No, thanks for the warning though
Although I am a big Tesco shopper the one thing I don't buy there is Tech. I know too many people who've been disappointed by their customer service over Tech issues.

lizziebabe

Mir! wrote: »

Please don't get a refurbed one from Tesco. I did and after 3 dud ones, (first one died after a week, second one had dead pixels, third one had a white smudge embedded in the screen), I got a refund and went for an iPad mini from John Lewis (with 2 yr guarantee). As a newbie to tablets I found the iPad a bit more faffy to set up than the Nexus 7 and the bigger screen size not as comfy to hold in a girly hand. Still glad I went for it tho as I have never ever had a prob with an Apple product before.

*tempts fate!*

This one is brand new from Tesco - I wouldn't chance a refurbed one.

Anne_Marie_2

jackieblack wrote: »

I think you're right. I'll contact Virgin next week, I've always found them very helpful in the past and have been pretty pleased with them up until now so I think I'd like to give them a chance to sort it out first and then maybe look elsewhere if they can't.

Great stuff, fingers crossed that you get it sorted out asap.

jackieblack wrote: »

Yes, I'm 99% certain. She really wanted an iPhone last year but ended up getting a Blackberry as her BF had just got one and it meant that they could BBM each other. Whether or not she gets an iPhone next year, when her contract finishes, she is 100% that she would love an iPad - although we've been out looking at them today and she's decided that she'd prefer an iPad mini to the larger iPad. (I think the mini is a bit bigger than she'd imagined it.)

Does certainly help a lot in deciding when you see something in the flesh. Great stuff again, we are getting somewhere now.

jackieblack wrote: »

I doesn't help that I'm the second worst decision maker in the world when it comes to making purchases of significant cost (the worst is my Dad so I blame him - it's plainly in my genes)
It took me 4 years of procrastinating before I bought my current laptop (only when Windows 8 launched and I realised that I did NOT want that, it forced me to bite the bullet and make a decision while W7 was still available )

:eek: 4 years! Thought that I was bad taking a few months to make decisions on things, but never taken that long. Just think at that rate, wonder how long this thread would be going on! :rotfl:

jackieblack wrote: »

It's not the amount of money so much as getting good value for the money. I don't mind paying the extra for the iPad mini provided I'm satisfied in my own head that the extra cost is justified
Having looked at, and had a bit of a play with them both today I must say that I am probably leaning more toward the iPad now. It looks like it would be simpler to use (once it's set up), and seemed a bit more intuitive than the Nexus but if I find I can't get on with it after the trip I'm sure my daughter would happily take it off my hands

Understand totally here where you are coming from. Just you make sure that you do get on with it if you do buy one, as I know that your daughter would happily be grabbing it from you, as would mine.

jackieblack wrote: »

I do still have a few concerns about how any tablet would work for me and I think I'd still need to take my laptop as well when we're away. I see the tablet more as a device for convenience at particular moments/for particular tasks, rather than a tool that will fulfil all my computing needs.

Again know totally where you are coming from. I'm probably the worst to give advice here on that score. as what I did was far from money saving. Earlier in the year, I was looking for a tablet or something very lightweight for travelling. In the end, I realized that a tablet was not for me, so would have to really up my budget and go ultraportable. In the end I sold one of my laptops, and bought a macbook air at a brill price, only because the ultraportables that I liked were much more expensive. I do not regret it for one minute, best decision ever, and I did not waste money on getting something that would not have fitted the bill. I simply could not live with using only a tablet when I was away from home for a couple of months, whereas a two week trip would be ok.

I think that you will be ok on using a tablet though, once you get the hang of the thing. I was a bit aaargh about using an android phone, and now would not be without it, brilliant piece of kit, and I use it for playing my music more than anything else.

One thing that did bother me about a tablet was the lack of physical keyboard, as I touch type, and these onscreen keyboards just don't get on with my fingers at all. You can easily now buy covers with keyboards to fit tablets, to make life that bit easier. Haven't checked on them for the ipad mini, but am sure that if they are not already out, there will be soon, if that's what you might be after to save you taking a tablet and laptop on your trip.

jackieblack

Anne_Marie wrote: »

:eek: 4 years! Thought that I was bad taking a few months to make decisions on things, but never taken that long. Just think at that rate, wonder how long this thread would be going on! :rotfl:

Well, I could never find one that was exactly what I wanted and while my old laptop was still grumbling on I just thought that I'd keep looking, rather than buy something that wasn't quite right.
The prospect of being stuck with W8(:eek:) pushed me into finally making a decision

Anne_Marie wrote: »

I think that you will be ok on using a tablet though, once you get the hang of the thing. I was a bit aaargh about using an android phone, and now would not be without it, brilliant piece of kit, and I use it for playing my music more than anything else.

I can't work 'phones.
I've never yet managed to answer a call without cutting the person off and having to ring them back :doh:
I miss my Nokia 3330, I knew how to work that

Anne_Marie wrote: »

One thing that did bother me about a tablet was the lack of physical keyboard, as I touch type, and these onscreen keyboards just don't get on with my fingers at all. You can easily now buy covers with keyboards to fit tablets, to make life that bit easier. Haven't checked on them for the ipad mini, but am sure that if they are not already out, there will be soon, if that's what you might be after to save you taking a tablet and laptop on your trip.

It's not so much the keyboard as the lack of expandable memory, card reader and the ease of printing.
We take ALOT of photos when we're away and back them up onto the laptop, and then onto USB sticks as secondary back-ups. I know there's a card reader gadget I could buy but then I'd end up with a fistful of SD cards and have to transfer them all back to my laptop again when I got home anyway - the laptop that I take away is an old very small, very light one (not my new one) so it's no hassle to take it really.