10" tablet recommendations
I want to choose a tablet, mostly for use by family members - although I'll probably end up running applications on it myself to some extent. I'll undoubtedly be the "technical support" for it. What I have in mind: A 10/10.1" tablet - size is negotiable to some degree. Reliable, long-lasting hardware, i.e., not low-quality components from a company that expects you to buy a replacement within several years. Ability to take a data SIM card, without requiring it, i.e., it will run from a local wireless LAN whether or not there's a SIM card installed, but we can buy a card for it if desired. LTE isn't essential but would be desirable for the sake of low-latency and high speed. Apparently, at least in other parts of the world, LTE is great for VoIP applications and it would be desirable to support these if Australian networks reach the point of being suitable in the coming years. I've heard very good reports about network latency on LTE connections in North America, for example. More than sufficient memory and CPU performance - this is a case of "buy the hardware and use it for as long as possible without replacing/upgrading". Software upgrades available well into the future, including security support and new versions of the operating system. It will be coming into an "all Linux" environment, which suggests Android might be the best operating system, but I'm certainly open to other possibilities. It will be used for the usual kinds of applications: Web, mail, video/audio playback, possibly GPS navigation (if a SIM card is purchased at some point). Other applications are possible, too. I know there are enumerable brands/models that will meet many of the above requirements, but I don't know which manufacturers and models occupy the quality end of the spectrum so far as hardware, longevity and software reliability are concerned. I'm looking for one of the "engineered to work exactly as advertised" options.
Hello Jason, On Fri, 2014-02-21 at 10:51 +1100, Jason White wrote:
I want to choose a tablet, mostly for use by family members - although I'll probably end up running applications on it myself to some extent. I'll undoubtedly be the "technical support" for it.
What I have in mind:
A 10/10.1" tablet - size is negotiable to some degree.
Reliable, long-lasting hardware, i.e., not low-quality components from a company that expects you to buy a replacement within several years.
Ability to take a data SIM card, without requiring it, i.e., it will run from a local wireless LAN whether or not there's a SIM card installed, but we can buy a card for it if desired. LTE isn't essential but would be desirable for the sake of low-latency and high speed. Apparently, at least in other parts of the world, LTE is great for VoIP applications and it would be desirable to support these if Australian networks reach the point of being suitable in the coming years. I've heard very good reports about network latency on LTE connections in North America, for example.
Reads like worth looking at the Cyanogenmod supported list as a first step. As to connectivity, there are battery powered wifi 3G/NextG/LTE modems that some people use. The plans tend to be a bit expensive, but then the oter users should come to the party.
More than sufficient memory and CPU performance - this is a case of "buy the hardware and use it for as long as possible without replacing/upgrading".
Software upgrades available well into the future, including security support and new versions of the operating system.
It will be coming into an "all Linux" environment, which suggests Android might be the best operating system, but I'm certainly open to other possibilities.
It will be used for the usual kinds of applications: Web, mail, video/audio playback, possibly GPS navigation (if a SIM card is purchased at some point). Other applications are possible, too.
Comes to mind that some small ARM box attached to the back of a 12V DC display might have some merit. The Raspberry Pi might be a little underpowered, but you get the drift, at least Rasbian is a Debian variant, so reasonably familiar.
I know there are enumerable brands/models that will meet many of the above requirements, but I don't know which manufacturers and models occupy the quality end of the spectrum so far as hardware, longevity and software reliability are concerned. I'm looking for one of the "engineered to work exactly as advertised" options.
The other consideration might be one of the businesses who sell Laptops with Linux installed. Yes, not cheap, and need to assess connectivity, but also reasonably potent and durable. Regards, Mark Trickett
Hi, Well, if you want to keep the device long term, then that is great for all aspects except 3G/4G/4Gplus - LTE.... over time the radio frequencies have varied a lot and they will vary more again -- this is the single best reason to sort of /force/ people to replace otherwise good mobiles; why put yourself through that with a tablet? My view is that the radio needs to be a separate device, as much as can be practical. You can more easily change your /main/ device, such as a phone or MiFi type of hardware and then tablets, netbooks, laptops and other devices can enjoy a longer life. Certainly make sure you have WiFi, but that's a given these days, then make sure you have enough storage options; it could be a wireless HDD of large capacity, or it could be lots of built in storage and/or ability to insert a micro SDXC card. Cheers A.
On Sat, 22 Feb 2014 05:03:17 Andrew McGlashan wrote:
Well, if you want to keep the device long term, then that is great for all aspects except 3G/4G/4Gplus - LTE.... over time the radio frequencies have varied a lot and they will vary more again -- this is the single best reason to sort of /force/ people to replace otherwise good mobiles; why put yourself through that with a tablet?
What 3G devices have become obsolete in Australia due to this? The Xperia X10i phone which is the first Android device I owned is still running and appears to work OK for my mother on Aldi's (Telstra) network. The phone in question has been used on Virgin (Optus) and Kogan (Telstra). The Xperia X10i has 384M of RAM and Android 2.3.x which seriously limit the applications that can run. It also has only 1G of built in storage for the OS and apps which limits the number of applications that can be installed. I recently sold a Samsung Galaxy S for $50. That phone is newer than the Xperia X10i, has more RAM, and more storage. So if the Xperia X10i stops working well enough for my parents then they may have to spend $50 on ebay to get something better. It seems to me that devices can remain useful on the 3G network after their use for running Android applications has diminished. My Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is 7 months old and is showing signs of screen burn- in. It seems that frequency changes are only going to become an issue if a device doesn't get serious screen-burn, doesn't get dropped too badly, and if app developers keep supporting the device for long enough (IE Google doesn't introduce too many new Android APIs). When a new phone costs $400 to $700 and in a few years it will be worth $50 there doesn't seem to be any financial benefit in trying to keep it going for more than a few years. -- My Main Blog http://etbe.coker.com.au/ My Documents Blog http://doc.coker.com.au/
On 24/02/2014 5:36 PM, Russell Coker wrote:
On Sat, 22 Feb 2014 05:03:17 Andrew McGlashan wrote:
Well, if you want to keep the device long term, then that is great for all aspects except 3G/4G/4Gplus - LTE.... over time the radio frequencies have varied a lot and they will vary more again -- this is the single best reason to sort of /force/ people to replace otherwise good mobiles; why put yourself through that with a tablet?
What 3G devices have become obsolete in Australia due to this?
Any 3G device using 2100 cannot be used on the Telstra network as 3G, nor can any device with 900/2100 UMTS. Telstra only offer 850 for Next-G today, they previously offered 2100, but that is history due to the demise of the agreement between Hutchison Australia and Telstra. None of the Aldi services uses anything more than 3G, as they only offer "part of the Telstra" network. 3G is very slow compared to what is currently available in 4G and 4G Plus for those with the right devices. And yes GSM for phone is usually fine (at this time), but in time those will likely drop off and it will be 3G, 4G or 4G Plus -- read LTE in there somewhere too, which possibly comes under 4G / 4G Plus depending on your definition. The recent switch off of analog TV will result in more mobile frequencies in use and thus, the real need not to get too locked down on radio. Now, the OP wants to keep the tablet long term; there is no radio that you could reasonably say would be suitable for long term without limiting the capability down the track. Sure, if it is 4G and it lives on a common frequency that lives long term, that is a bonus. But it won't cover other, possibly much more useful frequencies that will open up to the market. Again, this leads me to believe that the best option is to have a radio quite separate from a tablet, other than, of course WiFi -- which I think 802.11n is pretty safe for a long time to come yet. So, buy the best tablet you can afford that meets your requirements (including budget), but stretch the value by not paying for a mobile radio that could easily become obsolete much closer in time than the rest of the unit. Not only that, but your tablet battery will last longer if it isn't dealing with mobile data usage on a mobile data network, no matter which frequency is used. A.
Andrew McGlashan wrote:
None of the Aldi services uses anything more than 3G, as they only offer "part of the Telstra" network. 3G is very slow compared to what is currently available in 4G and 4G Plus for those with the right devices.
Those "4G"s should probably be in scare quotes, because In March 2008, the ITU-R specified a set of requirements for 4G standards, named the IMT-Advanced specification, setting peak speed requirements for 4G service at 100mbps for high mobility communication (such as from trains and cars) and 1gbps for low mobility communication (such as pedestrians and stationary users). Since the first-release versions of Mobile WiMAX and LTE support much less than 1 Gbit/s peak bit rate, they are not fully IMT-Advanced compliant, but are often branded 4G by service providers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4G -- Grumpy Pedant
Trent W. Buck <trentbuck@gmail.com> wrote:
Those "4G"s should probably be in scare quotes, because
In March 2008, the ITU-R specified a set of requirements for 4G standards, named the IMT-Advanced specification, setting peak speed requirements for 4G service at 100mbps for high mobility communication (such as from trains and cars) and 1gbps for low mobility communication (such as pedestrians and stationary users).
This raises the question of whether LTE Advanced will meet the above requirements, when released. (From memory, there are LTE Advanced phones available already, but they're not widely used and carrier support is obviously absent. It is to be hoped that carriers are installing equipment that can be upgraded to LTE Advanced, as they are investing extensively in LTE-capable infrastructure at present.)
participants (5)
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Andrew McGlashan -
Jason White -
Mark Trickett -
Russell Coker -
Trent W. Buck