Hi everyone, I've been using a Lenovo thinkpad tablet 10 for the past 6+ years for mainly taking notes, watching video and a backup device rather than having to take a laptop with me everytime. unfortunately the battery is now barely holding a charge so I'm looking for a replacement. Since picking up this device the tablet market has very drastically changed to the point I don't believe I need windows for my needs hence I'm now looking at alternatives but can't decide what way to jump. Priority wise would be notetaking in onenote, followed by battery life. Currently i'm looking at the following devices: Samsung galaxy S6/7 - Android has come a long way and supports onenotes, multi tasking, generally works better on a touch screen. Apple Ipad - Generally been avoiding apple however price and polish on their products makes it very hard to ignore as an option. Main reason for avoiding is I can see it being the start of buying completely into Apples ecosystem Onemix 3s - Slightly smaller screen size but good price and performance. Pipo w12 - Random device I came across that uses windows on ARM. Great price but the downside as well as the upside is windows on ARM. People seem to like the surface pro x but finding a good in depth review that shows rather than talks about the problems Surface GO 2 - Largely ruled out at this point. Poor price, storage will be a problem and by the time you add pen etc is more expensive than other options but on list as people do still hold it in high regard. Willing to have my mind changed on it. Windows doesn't seem to be a necessity anymore but it has saved me on occasion being able to format a drive, or fix a line of code in visual studio. Those are exceptions rather than a required use case. I do like being able to respond to texts on Windows saving me having to lift my phone etc. Again a nice to have consideration. The flip side is my current podcast app will sync between multiple android devices removing another battery drain from my phone. Any advice or thoughts especially regarding the above devices would be greatly welcome.
I'd get an iPad - Apple are the only people who really seem to care about their tablet audience, and so they end up much better from the hardware right through the software, and even on price it's pretty solid (though I would only look at the very base model, myself).
Would you consider a Chromebook "convertible", like the Acer Spin, Asus Flex, or Lenovo Ideapad Flex?
The household has 3 iPads, a laptop, an iMac and 2 Windows PCs plus I've pre-ordered the Steam pad to go with the Nintendo Switch and the PS4. I can safely say that the iPad is my daily go to for consumable content. With two kids under 13, these iPads have lasted and survived numerous drops and I'm consistently impressed with their continued support after seven years! They may be expensive but the price is easily worth the quality.
As much as I hate to say it, Apple iPads are easily the best on the market - no one else really cares to the same extent (seeing as Google seem to have forgotten that tablets exist) and they have by far the best software support. The only other option that I'd consider would be a convertible laptop running Windows - but that's really a different usage case (laptop with occasional tablet-ing).
Another iPad vote, been using a 1st generation iPad Pro 12" for the last 6 years and it is holding up incredibly well, battery life is still around 8 hours and performance is still excellent. You are however right to fear it being the entry to an expensive apple habit.
A qualified vote for iPad from an android phone and PC user. (In another use case; definitely the one for parents/grandparents due to long life and simplicity.) I have had an iPad Mini for over a year and bought it as my DJI drone wasn't happy with a perfectly good Samsung 8" tablet, that's the only reason. It IS well made and feels like a quality item. Although I'm running Firefox (I hate Safari for some reason), it still pops stuff up on Safari that annoys me intensely. My other Apple gripe is you HAVE to register a card with eth app store to open up an account, even if it's for free apps. I don't feel on a slippery Apple slope, the kids have iPhones and we have Samsung ones and I'm not buying an iMac, Macbook or anything Mac as I really do prefer Windows and android.
I'm almost convinced for the ipad. It seems Apple are the only ones that take the tablet seriously. Samsung do a good job on the hardware and some software tweeks but tbh I've never been fond of Android. (Loved windows phone and still crave blackberry hardware) Looking at Apple's current offerings I'm gonna rule out the ipad pro. I'm also thinking the ipad air is more than I need. Unless the 2nd Gen pencil and A14 is worth the upgrade over the base 10" ipad. I tried digging into Amazon renewed and its a bit of a crap shoot trying to work out if it's even a deal or not. What's everyone's thoughts on 1st Gen apple pencil vs 2nd? Is there any point in upgrading to the air over the base 10" ipad? As for that slippery slope, I can definitely see it being a gateway. First step into being able to sync tablet with phone maybe eventually laptop lol. Apple watch ain't that bad (another area android has been disappointing).....I think i'm slowly converting
Duckduckgo user here yet whenever there's a link from an app or email, it opens in Safari. I'm sure there's a way to turn that off (as there's a way to make Spotify your default music streamer) but I haven't been ars'd to work it out... Until now... How to Change Your Default Browser in iOS 14 from Safari to Chrome, Firefox, Edge, or Another App « iOS & iPhone :: Gadget Hacks
Apologies for the derail. I am most grateful to you, Ian for making my iPad browsing 1000% better with Firefox as the default browser - literally just gone in and done what it said in the link. Safari is no longer intruding to browsing and my biggest iPad bugbear has been removed in a flash! So one objection to iOS has been removed; the walled garden is more bearable now! As you were...
I'll buck the trend and say for tablet use I think Samsung and its mods to android make it better than iOS particularly if you like to have 3 or 4 apps on the go at the same time with a desktop like experience. So I would vote for samsung/android or windows, iPad just isn't that hot for that.
From researching a bit ipadOS does seem to support app split screen, even if a little clunky. 2 Apps open at once would be a major requirement. I don't see the need (or expect there to be enough screen space) to have 3 open at a time without just switching between apps. I do have the galaxy note 8 and samsung has done some nice touches that google has slowly adopted. Dex is also nice but I have pretty much stopped using it on my phone. The only other thing I can see with the galaxy tab is being able to screen share on it from a windows laptop. I do worry about Android support as I will likely use this device for 5+ year assuming it holds out. On the windows front I'm struggling to find a device that justifies it's price tag. x86 while offering a ton of flexibility does such battery, So many crappy N4xxx devices, increased storage requirements adds cost and simply the OS is unpleasant to use with touch. Previously I was willing to compromise as it was the only OS that met my needs.
I have a convertible 2-in-1, the Dell 7275 with a Core m7-6y75, 8GB RAM, and a 1TB NVMe SSD. I also have the £70 active stylus for it. Honestly... don't. x86 tablet/laptop crossover devices just aren't up to scratch. Save yourself the headache and get an iPad.
Samsung do 4 yrs of updates so its not terrible on that score but I think they have been a little stingy on their tablet RAM IMO for something that's going to be around a few years,.Dex is something I use most days and if it wasn't for some DRM issues when running things on a second screen as well as some security software that I can only run on windows I probably wouldn't have a windows tablet device. On the windows touch side, I find it no more difficult than iOS but I guess it depends on what you are doing my use tends to be quite simple browsing and office suite stuff.
Depends how much you are willing to spend. For a larger budget I'd recommend a Samsung S range, for budget go for the Samsung A7. (Typing on one right now!) Great battery life and way more than enough grunt for writing notes and watching videos.
