What Tablets Should I Consider?

I like Apple iPad, on my second, a 10.5" iPad Pro.

I am a member of the Apple cult, had a Mac since 1989, and stayed in the Apple garden since then. Glad I did.

Know nothing about the other tablets. The iPad fits perfectly with my system.

A tablet is a great alternative, and wonderful for traveling.

My old tablet was a low end 10" Samsung A (now my husband's tablet). It was lacking in power.
I upgraded to a 10" Samsung Galaxy S5e. It is great. Has everything I need. I don't get the LTE version as I use my Wifi at home and mobile hotspot when out.

I also had the 8" Samsung Galaxy S2 (now my son's tablet) but I wanted the 10" screen to see movies while I walk on the treadmill and the 8" screen just isn't large enough.

The 10" Samsung Galaxy S5e is a good tablet.

I just bought a Microsoft Surface Pro 7 to replace my aging (and bulky) Lenovo X series convertible tablet / laptop. So far, I like the product for it's size, weight and Windows functionality. Amazon reviewers give it a 4.5 star rating. One issue though is it's WiFi adapter failed on the second day of use. Amazon is in the process of replacing it.

Not many tablets are GPS enabled these days so I bought Garmin's Glo 2 GPS receiver. It operates via Bluetooth so no physical connection is required. Garmin isn't very clear on platform compatibility but it works with the Surface Pro as well as my iPad Mini and iPhone 10X.

The Surface Pro 7 as best I recall was the first "Surface" machine to use Intel WiFi hardware and the associated driver. There was a great deals of issues around October 2019 where people could not connect or at best had an intermittent connection. I'm not sure if MS or Intel ever got the issue resolved.

You might want to review https://borncity.com/win/2019/10/28/vorsicht-beim-surface-pr...

For many years I was dead set against Apple products and had a Samsung table. However, Samsung failed to provide any updates to Android beyond one about a year after initial purchase. In some cases this hampered the installation of apps which were deemed "incompatible". I later acquired an iPad Air 2 and once beyond the initial new learning curve, I have found it to be very good and Apple seems to be very good about supplying updates.

I saw that review and several others like it but unfortunately it was after I experienced the problem. That's why I ordered the older Surface Pro 6 as a replacement which has far fewer complaints. Thanks Amazon for your no questions asked, free shipping return policy!

The Surface Pro 6 uses the older WiFi chipset but still has the same I7 processor, 16GB RAM and 512GB SSID. It was also $500 cheaper.

Thanks for pointing this out for other prospective buyers.

Well, that IS interesting. Here I thought that most of the Android tablets still had native GPS aboard, but if most don't have GPS enabled these days, then I might end up getting a Garmin's Glo 2 GPS receiver.

Thank you for the tip!

GPS on the tablet is not required, but the Garmin Glo GPS receiver needs Bluetooth on the tablet as well as an app such as Bluetooth GPS to interface with the Glo. There are several Android apps similar to Bluetooth GPS, but I do not know whether there are any Windows apps for this, if the tablet runs on Windows.

dobs108

That is not our experience at all. We have two 8-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab A (2017). There have been more than 10 full operating system updates and are up to Android 9.

dobs108

My first smartphone was a Samsung Galaxy S3, and as I recall, the third in a series of similarly named smartphones now up 10 IIRC. Somewhere around that time, we also acquired a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 tablet, where the 10.1 was a direct reference to the screen size, and like an earlier poster, in my case also WiFi-only since the phone had working hotspot capability.

Like my Garmin GPS models, I try to stick with reputable electronics having widespread high expectations of long term support. With the smartphone locked to my carrier, updates were few and far between, and even though not locked, fewer still for the tablet. Given it's too-soon-to-suit-me obsolescence, I've decided I'll stick to upgradable tech like a laptop going forward. My current smartphone is an unlocked Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and gets updated monthly, with a roughly 3 day allowance before it's forced upon you (if only M$ were listening to its Win10 users with critical apps that every single update breaks).

Before deciding to stay the laptop route for portable uses, I found Samsung's subsequent tablet model names much less consistent and informative than their S-series naming for their smartphone line.

I bought the Amazon HD 10 and saw right away it was a custom version of Android. It wanted you to buy all apps from Amazon. Then i found a hack made of 4 files online. Had to be installed in order and warned me "This may cost you money"....it didn't but i can get apps from the Play store. Also it shoots a lot of advertising to you. That too can be mostly fixed. There some online settings you can go thru. If you need links holler....Stan393

my experience was the same as his, plus the fact my first one warped and was unusable and the second the battery expaneded

No GPS aboard, correct?

Correct i wish it did

The 2019 Amazon Fire HD 10 was updated with a faster processor and a few other improvements compared with the 2017 version. It is ideal for playing media and light computing use. Lots of hacks and mods are available.
While it does lack a GPS, the HD 10 otherwise works well and frequently goes on sale for $100.

If you have an iPhone and iPad entries you make to your calendar or address book will transfer. Can be handy if you and your spouse have the same system.

But having said that maybe Androids do too?