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Arvald
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Tablet recommendation

Wed Sep 20, 2017 9:11 am

Does anyone have a recommendation on a reasonably high end Android tablet that will receive ongoing updates/upgrades.
I'm looking for an 8 to 10 inch device that has at least 4G RAM and 64GB storage.

My previous was the Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro and I was disappointed when Samsung discontinued it and dropped all updates to that spectacular piece of hardware for its time.

I am asking since it seems Apple is the only company who supports its hardware beyond the first year.
 
ChicagoDave
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Re: Tablet recommendation

Wed Sep 20, 2017 12:52 pm

Are there specific Android only apps/games you are using it for? Otherwise if you're looking at $500+ laptops, you may want to check out a Surface Pro 3/4 or Acer Switch Alpha. Some good tablets to be had and they'll definitely receive security updates
 
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Re: Tablet recommendation

Wed Sep 20, 2017 1:42 pm

High-end/Android/Big-screen/Tablet, pick any 3. You''ll probably have to compromise and get a smaller Note 8 for everything you want other than screen size (avoid the re-released 7 burner).

That said, the cheaper iPhone 7 Plus offers similar performance and a far more evolved lifecycle as you mentioned, while the new iPhone X costs similarly but is on a different plane. YMMV.
 
Arvald
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Re: Tablet recommendation

Wed Sep 20, 2017 2:26 pm

I have a Oneplus 5. So recommendations of a phone are far under the 8-10 inch screen. I can currently do it all on my phone but want a larger screen.

I don't want a Windows machine for this, I have a HP Elite X2 at my disposal for that. The use for this is Android apps (so iPhone/iPad is useless)

I'm asking here in case someone has heard of any company making tablets that are worthwhile.
 
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Re: Tablet recommendation

Wed Sep 20, 2017 3:50 pm

Arvald wrote:
I'm asking here in case someone has heard of any company making tablets that are worthwhile.

That's the problem, pretty much none if upgrades are you biggest beef. Even the Shield K1 is getting long in the tooth. All the rest of the manufacturers you are at the mercy of their willingness to update, if any. Remember Google does not do their own tablet anymore since the Nexus 9.

What kind of apps do you need? May be you may get away with a less updated tablet (assuming you don't install new apps much and don't browse the net using it)? Failing that, you will need to research a bit which tablet(s) have the best community support in terms of custom ROMs. I would say the larger brands (Samsung for example) give you a better chance of that happening.
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ChicagoDave
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Re: Tablet recommendation

Wed Sep 20, 2017 10:18 pm

Exactly what Flying Fox said. The only two companies making tablets/phones you can count on for upgrades are Google and Nvidia. And the Nvidia was released in 2014 so its....a bit old. Unfortunately to date NV has not appeared interested in making a replacement tablet; their main focus with that chip line going forward is automotive. I'd love to be surprised with a Tegra X2 tablet release tho.

If you demand security, it 's really a Nexus or nothing. Or boot Android on a VM.
 
meerkt
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Re: Tablet recommendation

Sat Sep 23, 2017 9:37 am

A shame that it's Windows, and asymmetric, but cost/perf seems pretty good:

Lenovo ThinkPad 10 2nd gen (20E4S0UG00) for $200.

10" 1920x1200
4GB RAM
64GB flash (and with SD slot I think)
Atom Z8750 (don't know how it compares in CPU/GPU performance, but I assume competitive)
 
MichaelJD
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Re: Tablet recommendation

Thu Oct 05, 2017 4:46 am

You are looking for something inexpensive. So, why not try the NPOLE HD Tablet! It’s one of the tablets under 100 and one such a durable device, two times than Apple iPad Mini 4.

Speed is okay, about 1.3 GHz per second. The RAM isn’t that bad either, 1 GB. The downside is the internal disk. You get only 11.63 GB to use. Not sure if the storage is upgradable. But, honestly, you don’t expect cool features from a cheap stuff like this one.
 
Chrispy_
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Re: Tablet recommendation

Thu Oct 05, 2017 7:40 am

Arvald wrote:
Does anyone have a recommendation on a reasonably high end Android tablet that will receive ongoing updates/upgrades.
I'm looking for an 8 to 10 inch device that has at least 4G RAM and 64GB storage.


Pixel C;

Ongoing updates? - yes, currently on Oreo.
Screen? - 10.2"
Storage? 64GB
Ram? 3GB

Not sure why you want 4+ GB RAM since the android ecosystem doesn't really have any apps that can utilise it. 3GB is enough for all the multitasking you could want on an Android device for the useful lifetime of a tablet right now and the 6GB models are just marketing fluff, unless the whole app ecosystem of the Play Store changes. What matters more than RAM is actually the NAND speed and the efficiency of the OS. Google does very well in this department, for example - side by side comparisons of the 3GB Pixel XL has it running heavy tasks quicker than the 4GB S7 Edge. Samsung's extra RAM is going unused whilst the lighter, more nimble OS with less bloatware and faster storage subsystem is what actually matters in real-world usage.

If you check the memory usage of your current phone/tablet - it will likely show that about 80% of it is in use right now. That's simply because Android system doesn't reclaim memory from background applications until it needs it - putting them into various states of idle/sleep/hibernate to NAND on the fly as needed. With an active tasks app monitor installed, I'm running about 10 regular apps on my phone and the actual memory usage of those active apps is a little over 300MB.

If, for some edge-case usage that I haven't covered, you still want more RAM, the only sensible options are the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 (4GB) and the Asus Zenpad 3S (4GB) but they will generally be slower than the Pixel and also suffer from inferior build quality, sound quality, screen quality, and interface quality. The Pixel C is expensive because it's just a much higher-end product.
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Arvald
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Re: Tablet recommendation

Thu Oct 05, 2017 8:47 am

Chrispy_ you missed the one feature of the Pixel C... unavailable unless you want an over priced UK version ($1200 on Amazon??? over double list price)

Leaner OS I can definitely go lower RAM. Phone is currently a Oneplus... RAM never goes over 30% use :D
I've had high RAM devices and it always gets slow due to lack of RAM with bloatware (Samsungs for sure)

I can hope they will release a Pixel 2 version for Xmas.
 
Arvald
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Re: Tablet recommendation

Mon Mar 12, 2018 8:59 am

Resurrecting this post.
I never bought due to not finding a tablet I liked.
A couple weeks ago I tripped over some details on some updated custom ROMs for the tablet.
I have since unlocked the Tab Pro and flashed LineageOS onto it. This took me from Android 4.4.2 to 7.1.1. The word on their forum is Android O is incoming too.
The tablet overall is pretty smooth and the battery life is longer than it used to be. (8+ hours watching HD video is possible now)
Makes a very expensive tablet useable again!
 
Vigil80
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Re: Tablet recommendation

Mon Mar 12, 2018 10:15 am

Interesting. So if you're willing to flash the OS, does that make something like the Tab the one to get again? The fire tablets in TR's mobile recommendations are a little underwhelming.
 
Arvald
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Re: Tablet recommendation

Mon Mar 12, 2018 10:27 am

Take a look at LineageOS supported devices list before you think about that...
Not every device has support. I found mine but a buddy who had a 7" of the same generation did not have support.
I think a big decider is does the hardware have good CPU and enough RAM that can run the updated Android versions.
Even on my tablet TWRP does not look to be getting further updates. The version seems stable enough but did have issues on loading the larger GApps packages.

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