Recommendations for tablet to replace Hudl1 please.

downshifter

My much loved Hudl is beginning to grind to a halt, I may reset it to factory settings to give it a last chance but would like some recommendations to replace it please.

It'll just be for books incl audiobooks, bit of telly/radio, internet, email and so on. Pretty basic. No music, stored videos, photos, games. I have a laptop with Windows vista and an iphone 5c and of course the Hudl is Android so I have no preference for operating system.

The key thing I think is that I have very poor broadband, anything from .2 to 1.2 mb (on a really good day!) as I'm in a very rural area. Although the iphone and laptop pick up max available wifi, sometimes the Hudl won't even get max when a couple of feet from the router, let alone anywhere else in the house. Is there any sort of spec I should look for that will ensure I get the maximum that's possible?

The Hudl is 7 inch and I'd like to go bigger, maybe 10" screen. Would be grateful for any recommendations.

Thanks

DS

Rough_Justice

I've been looking for Hudl2 replacements for our youngsters & like you thought 10" might be better, so I bought an Acer Iconia One 10 B3-A30 about six months ago just to try it & see how it compares. Positives: battery life is much longer & it has a newer OS (Android 6). Negatives: very slow at times, having only 1GB ram. Lower screen resolution too.
My conclusion?
Spend a little more to get something more up-to-date and with more RAM.

Personally I'm waiting to see if the Amazon Fire HD 10 2017 version will get the new Android 7-based Fire OS 6 before I settle on them, since adding Google Play isn't difficult.
A 1920 x 1200 display, 2GB RAM & 32GB storage (with an SD slot) would be hard to beat from mainstream manufacturers with a reasonably modern OS at £160 if you take the ad-free route.
Otherwise it looks like being a Samsung Glaxy Tab A 10.1 which now has Android 7 but costs around £200, or the Lenovo Tab 4 10" which is the same kinda price as the Amazon but has a lower-resolution screen - I'm veering more towards the Samsung personally.
Decisions, decisions.

codger

Rough Justice's reference to the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.1 is one I'd endorse, on the proviso that you look around eBay for so-called "reconditioned" models. . . from Argos.

The Tab A has an idiotic design fault in that two touch-sensitive controls are damn near invisible, and damn near unavoidable, on the plastic casing either side of the Home button. Clearly, Samsung's designers were more interested in the look of the thing than its usability. Effect of this is to render the tablet very difficult to hold, and almost impossible to, for example, temporarily hand across to another person to look at because fingers and thumbs will catch those touch-sensitive controls and that's that, whatever was on screen will be lost.

Argos's eBay store has long retailed the Tab A as, er, 'refurbished'. Yes. Right. I have some experience (from Dell onwards) of so-called 'refurbished' sales and always, wherever possible, go that route because, not to put too fine a point on it, 'refurbished models' from a manufacturer (NOT from a third party). . . ain't. They're. . . new.

As a result, our household has 'refurbished' equipment from Panasonic. Pure. Sony. Samsung. Even Humax. Every such item cost considerably LESS than retail because no retail mark-up was ever involved: the manufacturer sent it direct to us, or used a retail channel with whom it has a direct, specific agreement. And every single such item came with a warranty identical to that which comes with the retailed product: only the box was different.

My Samsung Tab A has a superb screen (as good as Mrs C's Apple iPad Pro 9.7"), great connectivity, ample power, trouble-free Android operating system, 12-month guarantee . . . and cost £145 including P&P from Samsung (via Argos, eBay.)

I suspect a significant re-design of the thing is due because of the sheer volume of consumer complaints about the blatantly stupid lay-out of those controls (I've learned to use my Tab A upside down in portrait mode; if I can do that, so can anyone) and that Samsung would very much like to shift all stocks of the existing tablet as best it can.

On the basis of a £145 payment for a brand new 10.1" tablet with 12 month guarantee from a major manufacturer (and yes, of course, the tablet I have is new: forget all the silly pretences about 'refurbished') then there's absolutely no better tablet available at anywhere near that price.

Just don't pay retail for it. (In fact: don't pay retail for anything, ever, if you can buy 'manufacturer refurbished'.)

downshifter

Thank you both for such helpful replies, looks like that Samsung will definitely go on the shortlist then! Interesting info about refurbished machines too, I had no idea.

Any other ideas gratefully received too, am in no hurry to get this.

Thanks again

DS

roddydogs

No. Votes for the lenovo A10?

samsung_laptop

Before buying a tablet I would check the reviews to see what the battery life is like. When my girlfriend was looking to buy a tablet people was giving good reviews for the samsung galaxy tab 3 but when she bought it the battery life was worse than my daughters hudl 1. My other daughter has the amazon fire tablet and again it has poor battery life and doesn't match the hudl 1.

Rough_Justice

roddydogs wrote: »

No. Votes for the lenovo A10?

Not from me, there were too many things about it I didn't like. It wasn't as responsive or as fast as the Samsung and they've only just upgraded the OS to Android 6 so whether or not it will get 7, who knows?
NOT that I'm fixated on the Android version but the more current it is, the better IMHO for a variety of reasons.
As far as battery life goes, it looks very similar in both the Samsung & the Amazon Fire ........ but the Fire takes quite a while to charge. At a reasonable budget though some compromises have to be made, as codger says in the case of the Samsung it's with the gawdawfull positioning of the touch-sensitive controls.

Which is why, as I said before, I'm holding out for a little while at least to see if Amazon update the tablet to their Fire OS 6. Trouble is, Amazon ain't exactly very forthcoming about updates to their OS.

almillar

Without delving into any tech details, if you're considering an Amazon tablet at all, WAIT until they announce their Black Friday deals if you can - the tablets always have something off.

Robisere

I have a Lenovo Tab3-8, an 8" tablet which would fill all your requirements, BUT I find it slow at times and with too much Lenovo bloatware.

Then an old friend offered me a hudl2 that he had bought for a relative who could not use it and had left it in a drawer for 2 years. It was practically unused, had a cover/stand, screen protector and all accessories, boxed like new. I bought it very cheaply and set it up, then compared it with the Lenovo.

The Hudl2 is faster, the screen appears better (although resolutions are identical) and the wireless is several times better: 150Mbps as opposed to 65 Mbps and falling away with distance from the router, which takes longer with the Hudl. I use it for Kindle, emails, news, magazines, music, TV channels and videos. It does all of that in varying degrees of improvement upon the Lenovo, which I intend to sell.

IMO the Hudl2 was a fine device, spoiled by reputation from people who failed to look after it. I know of all the faults, because I have family members who had 2 and broke them by not looking after them. I have cannibalised them and have a box of usable spares for when I need them.

[Deleted User]

Robisere wrote: »

I have a Lenovo Tab3-8, an 8" tablet which would fill all your requirements, BUT I find it slow at times and with too much Lenovo bloatware.

Then an old friend offered me a hudl2 that he had bought for a relative who could not use it and had left it in a drawer for 2 years. It was practically unused, had a cover/stand, screen protector and all accessories, boxed like new. I bought it very cheaply and set it up, then compared it with the Lenovo.

The Hudl2 is faster, the screen appears better (although resolutions are identical) and the wireless is several times better: 150Mbps as opposed to 65 Mbps and falling away with distance from the router, which takes longer with the Hudl. I use it for Kindle, emails, news, magazines, music, TV channels and videos. It does all of that in varying degrees of improvement upon the Lenovo, which I intend to sell.

IMO the Hudl2 was a fine device, spoiled by reputation from people who failed to look after it. I know of all the faults, because I have family members who had 2 and broke them by not looking after them. I have cannibalised them and have a box of usable spares for when I need them.

You’ve canibilised your family members?

jshm2

Outside the big brands you're really just looking at getting an Amazon fire tablet for the price of the old Hudl 2's