Best tablet alternative to iPad?

[Alien]

I'm after a tablet PC, ideally using Android I think. Does anyone have personal recommendations/experience to offer for a great alternative to the iPad?

Read good things about Asus and Samsung Galaxy etc and would like best price available online if poss.

Cheers all!

 

[chrisduggan]

Yes the Samsung galaxy tab is probably the closest rival. The Blackberry playbook is also good in my experience. I had a play around with the Sony tablet but not long enough to pass comment.

 

[AssetDomains]

I've been looking at the asus eee pad transformer can't really justify price of these top end tablets though.
The Blackberry playbook has had a price slash over the last few days to £250 so it may be worth a look for you only a 7" inch screen and not android software though.

A friend of mine just bought a cheap Chinese import of ebay for around £140 runs android 2.2 works brilliant for browsing and ebooks what he bought it for plays hd video ok as well. Struggled a bit with multitasking though due to the limited processing power.

I'll probably end up getting one of them myself or maybe one of these http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/mo...c=phoneFinder&tariffNetworks=&clearance=false

Just bare in mind all these budget ones are good for general browsing email etc. but can't hold a torch to the ipads or premium androids for games and multitasking battery life etc

 

[AssetDomains]

Also if your willing to wait a little while or import from the US kindle fire and kobo vox are definatley worth a look decent components the backing of big compaines and can be picked up for around to £250 using one of the import sites

 

[khalid]

Just picked up a viewpad 7 from maplin @ £179.99

Sim free, no contract, runs wifi and 3G, OS is android

 

[Alien]

Thanks for the comments all, much appreciated.

 

[binny]

Not a good time to buy imo as the Kindle Fire is out next month in the US and could turn the market on it's head as Amazon are going in cheap banking on making money from aftersales.

 

[Alien]

Ignore that, lol.

Going with iPad 2, without 3G (lots cheaper and don't need it for inside use).

 

[AssetDomains]

Assuming you have a decent smartphone (android based) you should be able to wi-fi tether your tablet or any other Internet enabled device anyway.

One tablet you might want to consider if you can wait a month is the http://eee.asus.com/en/eeepad/transformer-prime/features

Spec wise it tears the ipad2 a new exit hole.

One other idea I've been toying with as I cant really justify the price of a top of the range pad is biting the bullet and doubling some git on ebay for a HP touchpad at around £170 and installing cyanogen mod android on it

 

[namestrands]

My Cousin is a bit of a gadget geek.. he has bought 4 tablets so far and each time he has told me it is better than iPad2.. however he has bricked 2 trying to make them more like the iPad2. Ironic really considering what he has shelled out this year on "wannabe iPads"

After all of that, he started asking to use my iPad2 and low and behold he is reluctantly going for one now.

I like android, but it just does not compare.

If you are like me and loves tech books and learning new skills then hands down iPad is the kiddy.. you have access to iTunesU and to be honest I would have bought one just for that.

It plays movies well and book reading is as intuitive of the real thing.. They just work well.. I have never had one crash on me, further more my 14 month old son has my iPad1 now and he loves it, there is just so much in the app store for kids to learn and play along with.

By far, hand on heart the BEST purchase EVER made since purchasing the IPAD 1 before.

 

[Scotto83]

Personally I'm an Ipad2 fan all the way.

But if it wasnt for apple I would consider the galaxy s2 tab or one of the cheaper acer models

 

[Alien]

Great points there, thanks!

Can anyone suggest/recommend a good, full sized keyboard accessory for iPad 2?

 

[dta]

very timely thread - was looking to buy my eldest kid a tablet.

based on the fact its for a kid, any recommendations?
anyone know if they come ready equipped with some kind of web filter/lock when surfing online?

 

[Alien]

very timely thread - was looking to buy my eldest kid a tablet.

based on the fact its for a kid, any recommendations?
anyone know if they come ready equipped with some kind of web filter/lock when surfing online?

There's an Acorn Member here who has a site that may help:

http://www.kidstablet.co.uk

 

[boxerdog]

I had a play around with an Archos 101 the other day HERE and am very imressed.
infact HERE gives better details

 

[dta]

@alien - thanks for the link. i looked into those kid specific tablets and made the decision to pay a little extra and get a fully functional tablet but and 'lock' it down.

think this makes more sense vs buying something that's feature limited to start with.

 

[Alien]

Look at this, £70 for an Android Tablet! Crazy! Low spec, but good buy for one of the kids?

http://www.cclonline.com/product/59466/GADETAB726/Tablet-PCs/E-Tab-726-7-Android-Tablet/SYS0753/

 

[dta]

cheap as chips indeed - there's no reviews yet though so that always worries me.

 

[afx]

Probably too late to buy a HP Touchpad new for £90 -- but you may get one on Ebay. The tin itself is at least comparable to an IPAD 2 (once you've installed the Cyanaogen Android ROM) and all for a fraction of the price.

 

[Alien]

I have to say ordering from Apple online has been very slick, makes a nice change and first time I've used them. Ordered iPad online yesterday, with free engraving, arrives today by courier - good service there.