What is the best budget android tab?

waynegalway

Hi,

Thinking of getting my old man a present of a tablet for his birthday. He has an ancient laptop that desperately needs to be replaced.

My budget is for €200 max.

I have had iPhones, I currently have an S3 and an ipad2, so I'm fairly tech savvy, but the amount of cheap android tablets out there is mesmerising.

He would mainly use the tab for browsing, emails Skype, and writing the odd letter. I mention the last point, as it means he has to be able to run a decent Office type app (I have Polaris on my S3, and it's grand) AND he would need to be able to hook it up to a printer. The printer he has is reasonably new, but I'm assuming it's not wifi, so he'd need a tablet that can connect via USB to the printer.

I'd like one with a decent screen, bigger than 7 inch, and one that can access the play store (some look like the can only access the manufacturers app store).

Any ideas of what's good? Plenty of them on Argos, but most don't have reviews even though it looks like they do on the listing.

(and I know that an iPad is probably going to be suggested as the most dad-friendly, and while I might agree, my budget just won't get there)

stan 117

my mate in yankland just got a nexus 7 for $199
http://www.google.com/nexus/#/7

PogMoThoin

If you could stretch a little more the Nexus 7 might be just up your street
http://www.google.com/nexus/#/7

waynegalway

Sorry, edited my op, meant to say bigger than 7 inch

Jarren

http://www.ebuyer.com/392408-sumvision-astro-9-tablet-pc-astro-9

http://www.focalprice.com/CE0097B/PIPO_MAXM1_97_IPS_10Point_Capacitive_Touch_Screen_Dual_Core.html#.UEyRsI1lSZM

http://www.pandawill.com/onda-vi40-dual-core-version-tablet-pc-android-40-97-inch-ips-screen-32gb-ultra-thin-hdmi-camera-p64457.html


http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Sanei-N90-9-7-IPS-16GB-Android-4-0-Allwinner-A10-1-5GHz-Tablet-PC-MID-HDMI-WiFi-/251125874011?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item801870d55b#ht_8879wt_1037


However my vote goes for Asus Nexus 7

Creamy Goodness

nexus 7 without a doubt. kind of pointless getting anything bigger as the majority of android apps don't scale well past that.

mickoneill30

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

nexus 7 without a doubt. kind of pointless getting anything bigger as the majority of android apps don't scale well past that.

Except for web browsers, ebook apps, video players & loads of games etc. etc. etc.

PogMoThoin

I know 2 people who had 10" tabs that have sold them for the Nexus 7, their reason being that a 10" tab is too heavy, the 7" is lighter and easier to hold in one hand

Patsy fyre

+1 on the Google nexus 7 superb device. 240 euro in hmv.

pickarooney

What's the point in recommending something which is 40 euros over the OPs budget and patently unsuitable for word processing? It's annoying enough typing on a 10 inch screen as it is.

waynegalway

Thanks for all the responses.

As the last poster said, the recommendations for the nexus are no good to me. If I had 240/250 to spend, I'd go for a 2nd hand ipad (although that probably wouldn't be any good with my dads printer).

It has to be 9/10 inches, as it's a laptop replacement and if I gave him a 7 inch one I know he wouldn't use it.

I was hoping that someone who owns a cheapy one might be able to let me know what they're like.

Creamy Goodness

mickoneill30 wrote: »

Except for web browsers, ebook apps, video players & loads of games etc. etc. etc.

i meant the majority of apps don't scale up well to 9-10" tablets. a lot of the stock apps will but most third party ones don't

The reality is you get what you pay for. I had an Archos 101,which I bought for around €200, and it was ok, but nothing more. It was slow, and as much as I wanted to use it for my excel spreadsheets and word docs, it was inefficient. On the other hand, it was fantastic for its connectivity, and playing movies. I could easily stream movies from my laptop to the Archos with no extra software.

Without banging on about the nexus 7, it is popular because of its specs and it's price. If you go cheaper than you can guarantee its going to be average.

Word processing on any tablet is a joke. I can guarantee I could type out a document faster on my HTC One X. Each to their own I suppose.

pickarooney

It's doable with a bluetooth keyboard but still not ideal.
OP, maybe search for (genuine) user reviews of the latest generation of Zenithink/Flytouch tablets or maybe something from MpMan.