Is It Worth It?... Tablets.

[Parasondox]

Previously on The Parasondox Tales...

My Nexus 9 lags like a 90s PC game. Its awful. HTC are no longer building them so does that mean a new Nexus tablet will be out soon?

*Got whispered into my ears*

Whats a Pixel C?

I was thinking, should I get a new tablet? Is there really a point? Tablets are meant to be slotted between a phone and a notebook laptop, but really in the past few years, there isnt much fuss about them. Moses had the original tablet. You know? Before he killed all those people. Hahahaha fun times in the Bible.

Oh look. A new Apple iPad Pro 9.7 is out and I... *snores*

Yeah, fun right? Are they needed anymore? Do you have one? Which do you have and how long have you had it for?

Is the Surface Series better than the iPad range?

 

[DefunctTheory]

The Surface Pro series isn't really comparable to 'standard' tablets. They're the race cars of tablets - A fuckton of horesepower at the expense of pretty much everything - Heat, battery stamina, and so forth. It also has the entire Windows 'Ecosystem' sitting behind it, which is a huge plus if you want it, but completely pointless if you don't, and potentially a deal breaker if you don't like Windows. If you need or want the pure power of 'proper' computing hardware and to run desktop/laptop stuff, then it's the only choice (Along with the very few other manufacturer models that follow the same design philosophy). If you don't need the power, it's an automatic skip on your way to selecting a tablet.

As for the comparison, the Surface Pro pretty much sits unopposed from the Apple camp - That's because it's a laptop replacement, while the iPad line are pure tablets.

The iPad, and arguably pretty much everything else, beats the Surface RT series though, if that's what you meant.

I had the original Surface Pro, which I loved, but I gave it to my mother (She loves it) because she stole it from me and I found I didn't really suffer to much from loosing it. I don't mess around with electronics when I'm out and about, though, and I prefer a proper keyboard when I'm home, so tablets just aren't for me.

 

[sageoftruth]

Sorry, ignore this post.

 

[Cowabungaa]

I used to dick around with one for a bit. They're fun sci-fi toys but that's all I really got out of them. I bet that in certain situations they can be very useful, but for the average person sitting at home? Nah. Pure luxury toys. And I got enough of those as is.

[small]I still want one though, for the sci-fi factor.[/small]

 

[Mister K]

Depends. If you read ebooks and you have to deal with a lot of text reading/typing, or just want to use something to watch videos while in bed, then tablets are worth it.

If no, then no.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I love my Kindle. I mainly use it for reading and sometimes browsing, but I also recently got Goat Simulator (Waste of Space) for free. Holy shit that game works well on there, surprisingly.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

Depends. If you read ebooks and you have to deal with a lot of text reading/typing, or just want to use something to watch videos while in bed, then tablets are worth it.

If no, then no.

Exactly this. I have a tablet because I like to read ebooks and the occasional comic on them. Plus youtube and netflix look better on it when I'm in bed and I'm even too lazy to use my chromecast. Typically When I get home I'll just put my phone down and pick up my tablet unless I need it for some reason. I have the Nvidia shield which is a really great device and it's super cheap as far as tablets go. Plus if you like games you get a little more horsepower out of it than most tablets. I play games on PC so being able to stream to the tablet was a nice benefit.

 

[KaraFang]

I have the ?80 nexus 7 from Google.

I use it at home on the sofa to surf, watch youtube, netflix and read Ebooks. I also play the occasional mobile game on it. Does everything I want.

If you want power, buy a laptop, and get one that can switch to a pad design if you want this as well.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

Depends. If you read ebooks and you have to deal with a lot of text reading/typing, or just want to use something to watch videos while in bed, then tablets are worth it.

If no, then no.

Exactly this. I have a tablet because I like to read ebooks and the occasional comic on them. Plus youtube and netflix look better on it when I'm in bed and I'm even too lazy to use my chromecast. Typically When I get home I'll just put my phone down and pick up my tablet unless I need it for some reason. I have the Nvidia shield which is a really great device and it's super cheap as far as tablets go. Plus if you like games you get a little more horsepower out of it than most tablets. I play games on PC so being able to stream to the tablet was a nice benefit.

ive been streaming them to my phone, and was considering getting a larger phone for this reason.

Then I look on Amazon, and I've ordered this little magnifying glass for old people to use their phones/tablets. $5 dollars.

 

[Yopaz]

As for the comparison, the Surface Pro pretty much sits unopposed from the Apple camp - That's because it's a laptop replacement, while the iPad line are pure tablets.

The iPad Pro actually tries to to the same thing as the Surface and the first one was released at a comparable price. While still not supporting desktop programs that was kind of useless though.

OT: I have a Surface Pro 4 and I really love it, but as AC said it's not really a traditional tablet. It's an ultraportable laptop with optional keyboard. I have a Samsung tablet that I use for Android apps. I still use it, but I am not sure I will replace it when it breaks. If you like watching Netflix on the toilet, sure, but I don't find much use of mine lately.

 

[Level 7 Dragon]

I've got a Samsung Galaxy S4 and it served me well for the past three years.

I mostly use it for uni textbooks, films and music and it accomplishes those tasks rather well.

It depends of your life style, but for me it was a slice of fried gold.

 

[sonicneedslovetoo]

Here is what I find tablets are good for:
They have more battery life than laptops and if you don't need a keyboard you can just not take one with you.

Lots of people will say "I don't have a proper computer" and never bother to spend 20$ on a bluetooth keyboard to make a tablet into a ghetto computer which bothers me a lot. Anyways Tablets are good for one thing, consumption, if you don't watch some form of streaming content be it youtube/twitch/hulu or whatever, or read websites where you have wifi they aren't all that useful.

TECHNICALLY you can do gaming on them, however most of the games are ad-filled derivative free to plays and finding something decent is actually harder than finding good games on Steam Greenlight. So I wouldn't count on it for gaming as the likelihood of you even seeing a good game is a statistical anomaly after you look through the top 25 and filter out all the Clash of Clans knockoffs, the "totally not counterstrike" games and the "grab that auto 5"s.

What I find Tablets are good for is focus, I do some writing and since I can't really alt tab with a tablet and I'm stuck in my word processing software(WPS Office is great cause its free without ads). That's pretty much the only reason I keep my tablet around otherwise it sits around collecting dust.

Wait there is one exception, they are really really good at playing an audiobook for practically forever, you can leave one playing an audiobook unplugged all night and you will find your battery life hasn't dropped more than 10% the entire time.

 

[Gatlank]

Well i used to own one and i can count with the fingers of one hand the times it was useful to me.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

TECHNICALLY you can do gaming on them, however most of the games are ad-filled derivative free to plays and finding something decent is actually harder than finding good games on Steam Greenlight. So I wouldn't count on it for gaming as the likelihood of you even seeing a good game is a statistical anomaly after you look through the top 25 and filter out all the Clash of Clans knockoffs, the "totally not counterstrike" games and the "grab that auto 5"s.

Or with the Moonlight app, a really good PC and decent connection, you can live stream games right to your tablet device or phone. All you need is a Blue Tooth controller and your set.

Portable Overwatch. Wave of the future, Dude. One Hundred Percent ELECTRONIC~!

 

[DementedSheep]

A have as surface pro and it's very useful but I mostly use it for study (students are the demographic is made for) and got it because I wanted something with a long battery life and Microsoft office.

With gaming I play isometric RPGs, puzzle and adventure games on it if you can make it work on a touchscrean. I played planescape and shadowrun: dragonfall recently with few problems. I wouldn't get it for gaming though, it's only worth it if you're planning on doing work on it.

 

[Nielas]

Depends. If you read ebooks and you have to deal with a lot of text reading/typing, or just want to use something to watch videos while in bed, then tablets are worth it.

If no, then no.

Don't forget watching videos while sitting on the toilet.

 

[RaikuFA]

I have a Kindle Fire HD. I mainly use it to read comics/manga. If you're planning on doing that I say get one. If you're onlu just gonna surf the Web with it skip getting one and stick with your smartphone.

 

[MysticSlayer]

Yeah, fun right? Are they needed anymore? Do you have one? Which do you have and how long have you had it for?

Is the Surface Series better than the iPad range?

I have a Surface Book, which is basically a more laptop-focused Surface device. It is still a 2-in-1, and the tablet (or "clipboard" as Microsoft and most users call it) works, but it can be a little bulky.

Personally, though, I do like the direction Microsoft took Windows in allowing it to easily accommodate devices that can function as both a laptop and tablet. I use the tablet portion a lot for videos, writing (homework and notes), and reading. I also tend to flip it around into "kickstand" mode when I'm playing games with a controller. On the flip side (pun not intended), it works very well for when I need to do a lot of typing, which is most of the time. Overall, it is the best of both worlds, and I take advantage of both quite often.