Ipad alternative

[solent spence]

I know iPads are good (wife had one and they do what they very well) but so are android tablets, and mine needs replacing as it is too slow

What is currently the best tablet to try (iPad price range or less)?

Anyone researched this lately?

[Landlockedpirate]

Everyone will have different opinions, but I really like my Galaxy Note 10.1. Great screen and it will view/play just about anything (unlike the ipad). Being honest the touch screen is not quite as good as the Kids Ipad 4's

[solent spence]

Any experience of google nexus 7 which gets good reviews on paper?

[Bucksribster]

I've got a nexus 7. It is pretty good, but I also have an iphone 5 and a macbook air, and I have to say I think apple stuff is still the best.

I bought the nexus 7 because it was half the price of the iPad mini, and has GPS in all versions. I only really use it on holiday and it is great for that. I have loaded navionics charts on it, and used this excellent app for navigation both in the UK and overseas. Not easy to use in a rib at high speed. This is however by far the cheapest way to get a 7" screen chart plotter. You can get a 'ziplock' type waterproof pouch for less than £5. The screen is great. Battery life is not great, but I don't think it is for any of them. The scrolling, pinch to zoom, and other stuff works well, but does not have quite that 'quality' feel of the ipad.

What would I buy now? Probably another Nexus unless I was going to be using it all day every day.

Hope this helps!

[Ribtecer]

May be I should know this at 41 but I don't.

Will all apps run on all the tablets etc?

I have at present a Nokia Luma Smart Phone, for which the apps are cr*p, and are planning on changing it to the Samsung Galaxy when my deal runs out in Nov. Then once I am used to the software I was planning on buying the Galaxy tablet for navigation etc. But I am confused as to weather the Navionics software will run on anything or just the Apple stuff.

I am getting to old to understand and my kids don't get what I want from theses things as they are still to young.

HELP!!!

Ribtecer

[Bigmuz7]

Ive tried a nexus 7 and its good.... and ..cheap , but the android o/s is still clunky compared to ios devices, Ive been running a Galaxy S4 after an iphone 5 and found the same .. lots of clever stuff with android platforms, but ios just runs better and is a lot less cluttered feeling. I also have an ipad 3rd gen with retina display and it really is the dogs.

Been using google maps on it for sat nav .. ill never buy another chav nav system again .. this is really good now.. and its well accurate, up to date and free !!

The apple apps seem much more reliable too than the android ones for me. As a result for example I can use the ipad to remote desktop into my office server through its contract Vodafone sim .. 3G service gives me next to desktop speed from remote log in on the move .. pretty good in my view

[solent spence]

Thanks all, it really is tricky to separate new android and iOS, especially as I like both for different reasons.

iPads work so well and smooth clear operation. And I like them as a 'thing'

Wondering maybe to go for the smaller size 7" for portability device

But nexus 7 is a strong rival and I will need to try out both. Despite reviews I find android apps good

It's like choosing beta max vs VHS!!

Price may swing it, if so close

[Bucksribster]

Agree with Bigmuz

If you are going to gat an iPad, and you want to use it for navigation (Navionics or Google maps etc), you need to go for the expensive one with the sim card, as the other ones do not have GPS. If you go for a nexus 7, they all have GPS. This can make the price difference quite big!

See if you can have a try out of a friend's tablet, and try both types if you can.

[solent spence]

Thanks for helping narrow this search. I have a few trips looming so can try them out in duty free dixons and try to make a decision.

[Bigmuz7]

I must confess .. remote desktopping into my office was a must, so I bought the most expensive platform to allow me to do it in tablet form ... its so good .. Ive been able to do away with an old slow as fook laptop, its bag, its charger (because it was always dead) .. its invertor (to charge it from 24v) and the pad doesent needing updated all the time like the laptop did ..

I never really saw a place for tablets TBH, but they are so good at media connections through wifi and phone that they really are a worthy piece of kit.. especially if you are on the move

You really need to grade the expensiveness of your purchase on the severity of use/need that you require.

remembering ofcourse if you want air time use as opposed to wifi, thats gonna add £28/month or so to your expense

o2 offer a useful amount of 'hotspots' that allow wifi that doesent add to your data useage which is also worth remembering

[kubcat]

I have a reasonably new iPad with a Lifeproof case and a lifejacket.

It makes it much bulkier but it is waterproof, it floats and the retina display is fine in direct sunlight. Navionics is what I use on the rib and it works fine, every time.

I have tried my friends android tablet with Navionics. It works inconsistently and just not bright enough. I have no idea what brand it is but it was far cheaper the the ipad. Maybe it is just not a good one.

[colcreate]

The company I work for looked at this recently. IT wanted Android because of future in house software developement so looked at a few different makes and models.
Guess what, despite the higher price we got iPads!

On a personal note, prior to the above and being a longtime Windows and HTC PDA heavy user, I tried an iPad. They are just great, wouldn't want to change and was devasted when I smashed it.....

[solent spence]

After some duty free testing I am thinking the ipad mini is nicer to use, and now trying to find out when the mini2 will be released (usually one week after I buy version1!). Android system just isn't as slick

[lump1066]

+1 for iPad and Lifeproof case. Also bought the mounting kit, and its setup on console - backup to plotter etc.

[wavelength]

nexus7 32gb £179 at Asda. seems like a bargain? What is the best chart app thingie wotsit to run on it? As you can see I'm very tech savvy

[solent spence]

That is a good price. Nexus 7 32gb was £224 in duty free

[Bucksribster]

Originally Posted by wavelength

nexus7 32gb £179 at Asda. seems like a bargain? What is the best chart app thingie wotsit to run on it? As you can see I'm very tech savvy

You want Navionics. It is great software, and runs really well on the Nexus 7. The guys here are right that an iPad has a nicer feel, but the Nexus is a great bit of kit, does everything the iPad does, and less than half the price if the equivalent iPad.

[chris.moody]

The navionics charting apps are great. I run the navionics on both an iPad (old v1 model) and a nexus7 (the new 2013 model with the high res screen).

Works well on both devices but I like the nexus better.

If you go down the iPad route isailor app is also worth looking at.

--
Tigga - Avon SR4 Rescue with 40hp Yamaha 2 stroke