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All iPads Are you tempted by other tablets?

FatLouie said:
My iPad Pro M4 has also served as an e-reader. Does a good job at it for me, others may be more demanding when it comes to e-readers. Every time I considered buying an e-reader, I would stop and think that I would then be carrying around two tablets; in the end, it just didn't make sense for me to purchase an e-reader.
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I have a few Kindles. I pretty much only use the Paperwhite 4 on vacation (beach/poolside) or long haul flights nowadays.

I buy my ebooks from Kobo and the whole dance of converting and loading them into the Kindle is a chore. I do have a Kobo reader as well but I prefer the feel in-hand of the Kindle.
 
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Tried several times, but it didn’t work. Android tablets are not optimized for the screen size available, most apps runs like big, ugly phone versions. The ecosystem is nonexistent and each Android maker add their overlay and move settings around so finding things like changing the notifications volume can become a challenge. Every time I need to update a setting in some family members android phone is a cursing contest from me. I bought another tablet, to complement my iPad Pro, an iPad mini 7.
 
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No. I bought a Samsung Tab A (for a very specific, limited use case) and hated everything about it. It didn't adequately serve the purpose I bought it for and I had no desire to use it for general tablet use, I much prefer my iPad. The Tab A now sits up in my electronics cabinet gathering dust.
 
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I was slightly tempted by those paper-like e-ink tablets, but I tried them and they're not much better than iPad+pen.
I am tempted by other watches (in fact I have a Garmin now and not an AW), phones with flip screens, computers with better specs, and so on, but of all the apple products, the tablet is the one that is 10 steps ahead of all other competitors.
 
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I didn't want to spend a lot of money experimenting. I targeted my money to the platform and ecosystem with the best reputation, and glad I did. I realize Apple intentionally made its architecture a closed system, but it satisfies all my needs with no desire for outside alternatives.
 
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If i was going to buy an Android tablet (which i’m not ), it would not be a Samsung device with a slower Mediatek cpu.
Here in Sweden the best and most expensive Samsung tablet cost about 1800USD, same as iPad Pro 12.9 M4.

If i was going to buy an Android tablet it would probably be OnePlus Pad 3.
Yes, it’s not as fast as Samsungs, but it’s only cost 1/3.
 
If my needs boiled down to web browsing and the NYT crossword then perhaps. But the difference in app p[arity between the iPad and Android is night and day. There are no Android answers for power apps like Shapr3D or Scaniverse, Pixelmator or Keynote.

If you're happy to live within the Samsung ecosystem (which syncs nicely with a Microsoft backend) its ok for writing, emulators and browsing. But if you want to do anything between layer-based image editing and CAD then an iPad is your best choice.

The best thing is that most of those power apps run just as well on a £300 iPad as much as a £900 one. Shapr3D runs excellently on the base and Mini models as does Pixelmator.
 
I've used and tested many Android tablets. Many have better hardware than Apple. I know many will say M series processors are way more powerful. Sure. So what if you get a M10 or M100 processor in a tablet? So what?

As of right now, for the price of iPad Air, you can get iPad Pro specs with an Android tablet. Even budget tablets have 90Hz or even 120Hz refresh rate. Matte glass surface is not an extra cost.

iPads are good tablets. Great tablets. But main reason to go with iPad is for the iPad-exclusive apps.

As for the many people saying apps are not optimised on Androids. Please. As if iPads do not have iPhone apps that are just scaled up.
 
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Ludatyk said:
I think you being disingenuous... the OP is discussing the Tab Ultra S10, which is a very good choice if the user is not willing to spend almost a 1000£ (imo).
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How so? To stream tv and watch youtube all the differences in performance, storage, memory, as well as in the choice of the OS become completely irrelevant. The much older Tab S8+ for half the price of a Tab Ultra S10 would be plenty for media consumption because it has a OLED display.
 
I am tempted to use a newer android phone but never an android tablet. I currently use Samsung Tab A 8.0" 2019 for the reason that it still works and it was what I can afford back then but I would still primarily use an iPad. I see the appeal of an android phone but not an android tablet.

I am using 2019 flagship models from both android and iOS, Huawei P30 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max, both bought pre-owned.
 
Ludatyk said:
I believe you can use hotspot to be the bridge to transfers when not on an Wifi...
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I wonder if it works when you have no internet, but even if it does, it's still a pain (it's not as seamless as doing it with an iPhone). My faster workaround is attaching a tiny USB C drive to my key ring
 
I already have both Android & iOS tablets, so I didn't have to choose. For simpler tasks like watching videos, Android is cheap & does the job. Why pay at least $300 for an iPad when you can get a better device for that for half the price. If you care about customization & freedom, then Android is your only choice.



For drawing, I don't know. The tablet I have (Honor Pad 9), has a nice pen, but it's not on pad with the Apple Pencil, so my iPad is my favorite device for that. From my limited experience drawing on Samsung devices, it can be quite nice for that, but again, I don't have an extensive experience with it, so I can't say for sure.



I say, go for it. App support isn't the best, but it's not that bad. If anything, going through the different experiences is the best way to go about it, in my opinion.
 
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Yes, with caveats.

Google need not apply for reasons that are too complicated to easily fit here but sums up to: I hate their business model and that business model is why Android tablets suck from a software standpoint.

Microsoft keeps doing really weird stuff. If they would have built the equivalent of the mythical iPad that runs both iPadOS and macOS (like the Chinese tech nerd who combined an iPad with a MacBook Air, for example) rather than a somewhat tabletOS running on somewhat tablet hardware that can somewhat Windows, it would be of interest.

As others have noted here, eInk devices (I have a reMarkable 2) could do it for me, however my own experience and desire for instantaneous responsiveness makes them a long shot. Kinda good, not good enough for me.
 
Eric_WVGG said:
don't want to rely on Amazon any more that I already do, and there's really nothing else viable.
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Kobo is a viable alternative. They make excellent readers that are on par or even better than Kindles, and are quite easy to customize without having to jailbreak them. Kobo has a full-featured bookstore and the readers also work great with Libby/Overdrive for borrowing from libraries — and soon with Instapaper for saving long articles and even emails and PDFs from your phone or computer. (More salient to this thread, Kobo also makes a few full featured "tablet" style models with stylus support and such, but I haven't tried any of those, just their e-readers.)

Not affiliated, but I've had great experiences with their readers and also really don't like Amazon :)
 
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I've almost completely switched from an old iPad to the Amazon Fire 10 Plus tablet. Does all I need for $120, except it has issues with notifications. I don't use it as a communicator, so I'm ok with this.

iPads are good, but not with their current screens (eyestrain), designs (no bezels for a better grip), and lack of a headphone jack.
 
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okkibs said:
How so? To stream tv and watch youtube all the differences in performance, storage, memory, as well as in the choice of the OS become completely irrelevant. The much older Tab S8+ for half the price of a Tab Ultra S10 would be plenty for media consumption because it has a OLED display.
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But if we are streaming TV and watching youtube... a bigger screen makes a difference, right? That's the point of the Tab Ultra S10.
 
Sensamic said:
I've been thinking about buying a Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra, which supposedly will be announced next month. It could be a sort of replacement for the iPad Pro 13, which I want to buy but is way expensive.

For example, with discounts, I could buy the base 256GB 5G Tab S10 Ultra + official keyboard (comes bundled with the S Pen) + 512GB MicroSD for almost 1.000€ less than the equivalent iPad Pro 1TB 5G + Apple pencil + MK.

The problem is app support, as always, which is not ideal on Android tablets. Anyone tempted by other brands? Maybe because they offer good alternatives for way way less money? The long term support is still better with Apple, but Samsung does offer 7 years of OS updates.
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Tempted?! No, I just go out and buy what scratches the tech itch. I've owned Samsung Galaxy Tabs in the past. Excellent devices. The App-gap between what is available for iPadOS vs Android is still there but not as bad as in the past. How severe that gap feels is mostly based on the mix of apps that you use.

The biggest gripe I have with Galaxy Tabs is the heaviness of apps to support the Samsung ecosystem. Virtually none of which can be removed, many of which can't be disabled. These apps have a drag on performance.

If you are having difficulty justifying iPad Pro 13, then I suggest looking at iPad models that ARE within your budget rather than getting a Galaxy Tab that is within that same budget.
 
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Sensamic said:
I've been thinking about buying a Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra, which supposedly will be announced next month. It could be a sort of replacement for the iPad Pro 13, which I want to buy but is way expensive.

For example, with discounts, I could buy the base 256GB 5G Tab S10 Ultra + official keyboard (comes bundled with the S Pen) + 512GB MicroSD for almost 1.000€ less than the equivalent iPad Pro 1TB 5G + Apple pencil + MK.

The problem is app support, as always, which is not ideal on Android tablets. Anyone tempted by other brands? Maybe because they offer good alternatives for way way less money? The long term support is still better with Apple, but Samsung does offer 7 years of OS updates.
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So a replacement for something you don’t have 🤭
 
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All I can say, I still hadn’t moved an inch from iPad (despite having an old Air 2). Because it is a consumption device for me mostly but when I want to play with it (games, Garageband, some photo editing, video editing etc), it comes very handy. Android is still many steps behind and has not even a smallest part of apps that are available for iOS.

Sensamic said:
256GB 5G Tab S10 Ultra + official keyboard (comes bundled with the S Pen) + 512GB MicroSD for almost 1.000€ less than the equivalent iPad Pro 1TB 5G + Apple pencil + MK
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I have few questions.

Why would you want iPad Pro? Just for the OLED display? It barely differs from iPad Air, and you won’t feel a difference between M3 and M4. Air is much cheaper, if I were you I would have considered Air first.

Second question is why 1 TB? iPads are now USB-C and you can connect external drives any time, so you don’t have to overspend on storage anymore. Sure SD card is more convenient, sure Apple’s storage is overpriced. But overall experience is still worse on Samsung tablets.

As for the pencil, idk. Do you really need it for your tasks or it is more of an impulsive decision? Pencils are for artists, I’ve never considered one because I come from Steve Jobs era and his still support his “who needs a stylus?” philosophy. Same for keyboard, I have a Macbook Air for keyboard experience, a real laptop with real operating system
 
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