Tablet PC's

pauldavid

I know it is completely unrelated to cycling but I'm hoping that among the good people of BR someone may be able to advise me.

I need a kindle type device so that I can download books from the university library and save some money but was wondering if I could use a tablet pc for this purpose. If it is possible then I could have one unit to do all my day to day stuff instead of kindle and laptop.

So

Can I use the tablet as a kindle and

are the cheaper tablets (seen some on Amazon for around £70) any good??

All help gratefully received

hulla the hulla

I have heard and from others i have spoken to, all the cheaper tablets leave the user with a hugely underwhelming feeling as the interface and performance are poor. Certainly the ones I have played with were not up to much. Personally it'll be a challenge to get something good enough without spending proper money. The £70 ones are no more than toys...

Sent from my iPad

B3rnieMac

The best value for money tablet I think would be the Advent Vega available from Dixons for 230 - it only has a small internal memory though so a lot of videos and apps are out of the question without more external memory - but it's snappy enough for most users - 1GHz processor - and has a responsive capacitive touchscreen.

However I would go for an iPad, if you go to 400 quid plus most tablets are similar spec wise, but the iPad just has a far more expansive list of entertaining and useful apps specifically designed for the tablet. And it looks gorgeous.


Sent from my iPad 2

jig

As hulla says - I'm afraid when it comes to tablet PC's it seems to be that the cheaper ones dont cut the mustard.

HP had a good deal the other week where they dropped the price from £300 - £89 for their ipad equivalent --- but they have stopped making hardware so future support for this is questionable.

The other decent ones seem to be around the same price as an ipad - there are likely to be some deals on ipads in the future if ipad 2.5 / 3 is released - not by much though.

Personally, if you want it for books, I would go for a kindle 3g - you can get "refurbed" ones off amazon for around £115. These are really good for book readers, an extensive library and allow you to use 3g at no further cost.

Just my views though!!

jig

As hulla says - I'm afraid when it comes to tablet PC's it seems to be that the cheaper ones dont cut the mustard.

HP had a good deal the other week where they dropped the price from £300 - £89 for their ipad equivalent --- but they have stopped making hardware so future support for this is questionable.

The other decent ones seem to be around the same price as an ipad - there are likely to be some deals on ipads in the future if ipad 2.5 / 3 is released - not by much though.

Personally, if you want it for books, I would go for a kindle 3g - you can get "refurbed" ones off amazon for around £115. These are really good for book readers, an extensive library and allow you to use 3g at no further cost.

Just my views though!!

pauldavid

Thanks for your replies people, much appreciated

Not sent from anybodies ipad

The Ors

You can get the Kindle app for the iPad that allows you to use Amazon's service & you can add books to the built-in Books app. Only real downside is the price of the iPad & the fact that it's not great in sunlight.

Pigtail

Or if you can wait a bit Amazon are just about to announce their own colour tablet.

lifeform

How about a secondhand netbook off ebay and either hack it with iOS or just dump Linux on it?

ilm_zero7

Asus make a tablet that becomes a laptop - sweet
it outperforms an Ipad too !

alan_sherman

wait til tomorrow evening when amazon tablet will be announced

qwerty1982

Hey mate,

I have an Advent Vega, £199 from PC world and is fantastic. You have to do a couple of things to it but I have added anew rom to it so runs on Android 3.2 Vegacomb (basically the same userface as all the expensive tablets... looks and feels just as good)
I have the kindle app on it as well, plus there is the google books app.

I work for an IT and CCTV company so use it for work and pleasure. Yes it has a small internal memory but you can expand the external memory to 32gb.

So I would say, go for a Vega, you wont be disapointed mate.
If you do and want a hand, drop me a PM and will gladly help.

shouldbeinbed

You can put kindle onto pretty much any platform. I have it on my android phone & windows netbook.

B3rnieMac

qwerty, how do you find the small internal memory? do you have to keep moving things to and from the sd card as and when you use them? last time i used android (a while ago admittedly) this was the case, and a bit of a hassle. been considering a vega for a while as a cheap tablet to take to the lab with me, wouldnt want to get any acid or base on my ipad...

qwerty1982

B3rnieMac

Nah, with the new vegacomb you can set it to install all apps etc on the sd card, or just use apps2sd or such likes to move them there, once there thats it, they run and work from there.
My bro in-law has the Motorola zoom on android 3.2 which cost him over£400.
The vega running vegacomb is just as good but for half the price!
With out flashing the ROM to vegacomb or simular, it is a bit pants though, so that is some thing you would need to do.

RoadyForever

The kindle is pretty good for reading books, very easy on the eyes. With the colour one being released, there should be lots of cheap B&W ones!

Posted from a tablet running windows8 8)