Tablet or Netbook?

[Spinal]

Here's a query to the community...

I need a machine to watch movies on airplanes, occasionally surf the net from a hotel room and check my personal emails...

That said, I can't decide between a netbook (something like a Lenovo Flex 10), or a tablet (I like the surface 3 pro, but it's not cheap). I'm a fan of windows, and don't really like ios (the lack of access to a real file system gets to me).

Ideally, I would want to spend £250 or so.... any suggestions or advice?

M.

 

[guydewdney]

Samsung tablet. Days between charges. Android has full file system access. Ics browser+ is so cool. Typing with an on screen keyboard is pants tho. Use a bluetooth one if space is no issue and lots of tying is reqd.

From my galaxy tab 10.2

 

[developer]

Pick a format that doesn't need two hands to operate - one to hold, one to tap.

Tablets seem like a backward (from a notebook) step to me .

 

[flango]

Samsung tablet. Days between charges. Android has full file system access. Ics browser+ is so cool. Typing with an on screen keyboard is pants tho. Use a bluetooth one if space is no issue and lots of tying is reqd.

From my galaxy tab 10.2

Totally agree with this I have both a samsung netbook and tab 10.2 the tablet goes everywhere with me in a folio case complete with bluetooth keyboard, beauty of a netbook but in a much neater package. I only use the netbook when I want to do Microsoft stuff tablet is the way to go

 

[Giantvanman]

A pity you don't like IOS……….I just got an Apple iPad Air. Fantastically good battery life, very fast processor but cheapest is £329 I think. And so light to hold/carry too!

 

[Spinal]

TBH - there will be very little to no typing, I can do all that on my two work laptops I have to lug around. Weight is the biggest issue, with battery life second.

Most of my flights are European, so 3-4 hrs of life before a charge should be enough, and BA has charge points on board anyhow, so again, not too worried about battery life. Really it's down to capacity and screen... hence why the surface is so tempting, but at 4-5 times my ideal budget for the one I want, it's hard to justify the cost...

Would never buy an ipad air... we have an ipad something or other (think the full fat one), in the house and I hate it, so anything running IOS is out.

M.

 

[Dryce]

SWMBO travels with a Toshiba Portege Z10t - just the screen /tablet section - the kepyboard base unit is left at home.

 

[Spinal]

For those with a netbook - are you able to comfortably watch a movie on a plane? I'm worried that the screen angle doesn't twist open far enough...

 

[flango]

For those with a netbook - are you able to comfortably watch a movie on a plane? I'm worried that the screen angle doesn't twist open far enough...

Its useless for watching movies, my screen twists well back but the picture is just never right and not as well defined as a tablet. I know screen quality impacts that but for a given quality I still think the tablet is better.

Instead of a netbook, what about a Chromebook? I have a samsung one of those too and thats my main internet machine when I'm at home and its slim enough to travel too

 

[Dryce]

For those with a netbook - are you able to comfortably watch a movie on a plane? I'm worried that the screen angle doesn't twist open far enough...

I use an 11.6 in laptop when travelling. Don't use it for movies but for work and reading technical stuff. In Premium Economy or Business it's OK but in tighter economy seating configs (eg. BA or EasyJet) it's difficult to get a comfortable screen angle with the keyboard extending into my midriff.

 

[kingdave]

Way under budget, but I've been using a Nook HD reader hacked to run full android. Cost about £80 and a couple of hours of geekery (I enjoy the learning and sense of achievement, but I can see some wouldn't - that and killing the warranty/risk of trashing it). It has a micro SD slot so carrying enough video content for travel isn't a problem (I already had a 32gb card redundant when I switched to a slotless phone). Battery life has been great, I travel 3hrs per day commuting and have used it on business travel to Asia.

I could get something more expensive, but as far as I can tell all I'd get out of it would be a camera which I don't need. If you don't want to suffer the geekery I'm sure hudls/galaxy tabs etc. are available and work straight out of the box. I found the nook HD acceptably good looking and the 7' screen makes the whole thing coat-pocket-able which is good for my commute on/off train/tube.

For the money I thought this was worth a try - some left in reserve if I encounter premature device death or change of heart.

 

[V12]

We have a surface pro I that we bought on a silly offer that ended up costing us under £300 after cashback etc came through.
It's a great niche device and ideal if you do travel but NEED full windows access as well.
As a surfing/film watching device, it's too heavy and battery life is poor compared to the competition.
If your main priority is film watching and battery life then I would discount any netbooks and look solely at android tablets.
As stated above, a bluetooth keyboard transforms the experience.

I would highly recommend one of these :
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-Xperia-10-1-inch-Tablet/dp/B00CE5DJBQ

It is very thin and light for the size of it and with 2GB ram it just flies without any lag.
The offer on the 32GB model is excellent and comes out cheaper than the 16gb model for some reason! You can also insert a 64gb micro sd card to expand storage for movies on the go.

 

[Spinal]

Thanks; two more queries...

The idea of a super-cheap tablet is tempting, and there are a few android devices at the £100 range for a 10" screen... (thinking the hanspree kit; which though an unknown brand to me, I bought one of their televisions a few years ago and am still suitably happy; they even replaced it when the power switch broke 2 years into the warranty)

That said
1- can I browse a network fileshare (smb) on android device, and then either stream a video off the share or copy it to the device to watch later?
2- I presume batteries are not user-replaceable on the tablets? (thinking of a larger battery for more battery life if needed; as fitted to my laptop)

(loving the looks of the xperia z... may just order one)

M.

(edit: one more! with android running on it, am I forced to use a google account? Not too worried if I can set up a second account on google only for the apps, but not have to port over my contacts/emails... in fact, may just leave my personal eamils off the tablet if I have to port them over, the xperia is tempting me...)

 

[kingdave]

1. Yes. I can browse/view movies stored on my NAS live on the tablet without explicitly copying them over. I can also copy the files across the network. Apps I use for this are ES File Explorer (for mounting the drive), MX Player (playing the videos) and BitTorrent Sync (for copying across the network for offline viewing later).

2. That's going to depend on the specific device. My Nook is less than a year old and the battery isn't failing so I haven't needed to try and replace it. Google results suggest that there are the usual youtube tutorials to help you achieve this if you want. Certainly I guess on most devices replacing the battery is going to be a warranty-killer homebrew-tinkering-mod activity.

 

[V12]

For more battery life have a look at these :

The Best USB Battery Pack For Traveling With Phones, Tablets

My bro in law has one that can give him 10 full charges to his nokia lumia when he's travelling.

 

[DSM10000]

(
(edit: one more! with android running on it, am I forced to use a google account? Not too worried if I can set up a second account on google only for the apps, but not have to port over my contacts/emails... in fact, may just leave my personal eamils off the tablet if I have to port them over, the xperia is tempting me...)

You are not forced to use a Google account (unless you want apps such as email from other sources from the Play store)but I believe that you need one to run the set up, after that Google pretty much leave it to you to run the device as you wish, you can certainly turn off and control a lot more than with Apple

Strangely asking Google "Must I have a Google account to use an Android device" came back with rather vague search answers

 

[Spinal]

You are not forced to use a Google account (unless you want apps such as email from other sources from the Play store)but I believe that you need one to run the set up, after that Google pretty much leave it to you to run the device as you wish, you can certainly turn off and control a lot more than with Apple

Strangely asking Google "Must I have a Google account to use an Android device" came back with rather vague search answers

Indeed... but that was the reason I didn't want an android phone; my contacts and my emails are very important to me, and would rather not have them "in the cloud"; hence why I wanted to know.

Does anyone have both a Z and Z2 tablet? I can't see (beyond the screen, speakers and CPU) any real value to getting a Z2 over a Z tablet...

M.

 

[DSM10000]

Indeed... but that was the reason I didn't want an android phone; my contacts and my emails are very important to me, and would rather not have them "in the cloud"; hence why I wanted to know.

Does anyone have both a Z and Z2 tablet? I can't see (beyond the screen, speakers and CPU) any real value to getting a Z2 over a Z tablet...

M.

Perhaps I misunderstood you but I have my contacts and emails stored on both my Android 'phone and tablet but they are also "in the cloud" as all emails are until and unless downloaded.

 

[V12]

If you use an imap mail server then your mail is always in the cloud.

I've not used the Z2 but the original is an adequate bit of kit. Friend has one and if were in the market for a tablet it would be this.

 

[kingdave]

Depends what your concern is...
Are you worried cloud spies will steal your contact info and read your mail or that the cloud will lose your data?

The former concern is hard to protect against - email is not a secure messaging mechanism. If you're worried about data loss then a regular export and back-up is the way forward I guess.