How on earth does one choose a tablet?

espresso

bundly wrote: »

Well, I am not bothered about the camera as I have a new digital one. What I want MOST of all is to surf the net without having to use a wifi hotspot. I've just come back from abroad and found it really frustrating not being able to get on the net and find out about trains etc.

I like the price and spec of this one BUT I think I need a 10 or 11 inch screen as my eyesight isn't great.

http://www.tesco.com/direct/acer-iconia-79-hd-a1-810-16gb-white/161-9004.prd?sc_cmp=ppc_g_+acer%20+iconia%20+a1_b&gclid=CKvUtaDs2bkCFXLLtAodXiQAgQ

As you have said that one is too small and it only has WiFi connectivity.

For your use you require 3G connectivity. This here may help but cheapest is not always best if it doesn't do what you need it to do.

bundly

Getting256 made me look at Google's Nexus 10, which has come top of PC Advisor's reviews.

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/tablets/3408209/nexus-10-review/

I am trying to work out if it has the 3G thingy.

espresso

bundly wrote: »

Getting256 made me look at Google's Nexus 10, which has come top of PC Advisor's reviews.

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/tablets/3408209/nexus-10-review/

I am trying to work out if it has the 3G thingy.

Top ten tablets with 3G/4G connectivity here

bundly

I have established that what I need is 3G so on each site I am searching for £g or filtering my results for just 3G, and yet each one I look at in detail says 3G only with a dongle thingy. It's going to be horrendously laborious if I have to look at every spec for hundreds of machines :-(

ETA thanks espresso!

ETA the review of that article says "Poorly researched article. For a start the Nexus 10 is a WI-FI only tablet with no 3G or 4G connectivity, same with the 16GB Nexus 7, The Xperia Z is WI-FI only for £399 it costs £499 with 4G connectivity, I'm pretty sure that the Samsungs are WI-FI only too. The only 3G/4G tablets I can see here are the iPads and the Padfone. Terrible article."

bod1467

Why have you copied that text several times and pasted it in pale-grey font?

Gettin256

yep nexus 10 is currnetly wifi only. rumour has it that a 3g one will be released over the next couple of months so it's probably not suitable.

macman

bundly wrote: »

Only for travelling away from home, mainly by train, and staying in hotels which don't all have wifi in rooms or free. Also I need to write emails and hate the tiny keyboard so if I can plug in an external keyboard that would be great!

Would like to be able to watch iPlayer. Be nice to ditch my MP3 player and plug my earphones into the tablet, too.

So we've established that you need a 3G tablet. That means that you will need to take out a data contract or use PAYG data. which is an extra ongoing cost. Also, do you already have wi-fi on your home broadband, because if not you'll be reliant on 3G there as well, as tablets do not offer ethernet connection.
However what's really making me scratch my head is why you would want to hook up a separate keyboard? The whole point of a tablet is it's benefit in terms of weight, size and consequent portabiity. Once you have to lug a separate k/b around with it, you'd be much better off just buying a netbook, a 10/11" conventional laptop, or an Ultrabook (since budget does not seem to be an issue).
But, if you still want a tablet, I'd look no further than the Google Nexus 10 (once it comes in a 3G version).
One last point. If you want to use it abroad without wi-fi, it's going to be very expensive indeed, as you will incur large data roaming charges, unless you use a local SIM card for each country you visit. And iPlayer access outside the UK is heavily restricted because of the rights issues involved.

bundly

bod1467 wrote: »

Why have you copied that text several times and pasted it in pale-grey font?

Cos I kept on copying and pasting but it did not appear to paste. Now I see the text only once, with a big space under! Have deleted that.

bundly

macman wrote: »

you will need to take out a data contract or use PAYG data. which is an extra ongoing cost.

why you would want to hook up a separate keyboard? Once you have to lug a separate k/b around with it, you'd be much better off just buying a netbook, a 10/11" conventional laptop, or an Ultrabook.

Well Macman, I don't know what I want. I only know what I want to do with it. I travel, and would like to be able to get on the net on the train or stations, where there is no wifi. I heard that you can get a contract for £5 a month. That is another thing I know nothing about, and will have to research. When I get to wherever I am going, I'd like to pull the keyboard out of my suitcase to make typing emails easier. They aren't very heavy, I just saw one made specially for the Samsung Galaxy. I don't need the keyboard during the journeys.

I will not be using the machine at home at all. Abroad I would generally connect to the hotel's wifi.

Had a look at netbooks and ultrabooks and they are heavier than tablets.

Macman, I looked at the Google Nexus 10 there is one on ebay at £300 but it does not list 3G. I guess that means it is one without.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Google-Nexus-10-10-32-GB-Android-4-2-JellyBean-Wi-Fi-Tablet-Black-/290933226712?_trksid=p2054897.l4275

womble12345

I was recently in a similar situation, I wanted a tablet I could use for email, twitter, facebook, internet and some basic games to keep me amused on my 1 hour daily train commute. I already had an old 9 inch netbook but it was too big to carry around all the time. I went for a Nexus 7 32GB 3G and I spent £15 on an ovivomobile SIM which gives me 750mb a month. This works great for me. I thought a 10 inch would be too large for portability so I am happy with my 7 inch tablet, also I dont mind touchscreen keyboards (unlike you). Why dont you have a play with different sized tablets in somewhere like carphone warehouse and make a call then as what you gain in screensize you lose in portability....

It does sound like you need 3G and this will be great when you are out and about in the UK but you also say you want to use 3G abroad, this will be VERY expensive..... see here:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-data-roaming

Also most tablets have bluetooth capability and this will allow you to wirelessly connect a proper keyboard but these are not that cheap and require batteries, etc. Seeing as you say a proper keyboard is important I would be looking into a netbook with 3G capability as if you have to carry round a tablet and a bluetooth keyboard then I expect a netbook which includes both may be easier to move about...