# Talk to me about tablets....



## ginnie5 (Jul 15, 2003)

we use lots of free online resources......books and study guides and such. Lots of them are pdf form and I'm thinking that a tablet for school would be a nice thing to have. 15yo dd has one and she loves putting her books on it. 
I've resisted even thinking about one but.......I'm seeing the usefulness of it lately. The boys history this year was a lot to print.....we usually do history on the couch. If I had a tablet I could just use that.....
BUT......and here's the big thing.....I am SO confused looking at them! I have no idea what to even look for. I think internet would be a nice thing to have on it though instead of it being just a reader.
So can anyone help me?


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## cindy-e (Feb 14, 2008)

Kindle vs. Nook vs. iPad: Which e-book reader should you buy? | Crave - CNET


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## jcatblum (Dec 15, 2009)

My opinion is wait! This wk amazon is scheduled to reveal new products & apple the following wk. I myself am torn as well. We are loyal iPhone users, so all my apps & normal task could be done on an iPad. However, amazon offers good perks with the fire. Waiting to see what the new products will offer.


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## PNWKatie (Aug 4, 2012)

We're currently thinking along the same lines. We'll wait until October to decide what we want to do since everyone seems to be coming out with the new stuff in the next couple of weeks. Both my husband and I have the current ipods, while the kids have an old 1st generation Ipod that originally they were using for games but of course now that it can't be updated anymore the apps they can use are really limited. I love some of the educational apps for the girls (they are 5 and 6). My son has the Kindle Fire and likes it as well. I'll wait and see what Apple will be coming out with before settling on something.


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## ginnie5 (Jul 15, 2003)

well I have to save up for it so it won't be right away. I like the Kindle Fire so far but I like the price of some of the Androids better.......Apple I'm afraid is just out of my budget. I am a huge Ubuntu fan so I think the next thing I will check is if any are compatible.


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## halfpint (Jan 24, 2005)

I picked up the Nexus 7 (not available at many retailers) last week for $199 from Staples and love it. We also get $25 in Google play downloads, although I haven't purchased any yet. My 14yo daughter spent her money on one also. Although we home school, my children take some classes and are required to watch a lot of short video's and read documents that are e-mailed to them. My daughter has loved being able to use hers anywhere without dragging the laptop around (her purse nicely holds the tablet).

You'll want to consider the storage size, and if you will need additional memory. Some have SD cards, but ours doesn't, but we've purchased a USB adapter cable that we can hook a USB thumb drive into for additional storage, so didn't feel it was necessary. 

Do you want to have to use WiFi or have a mobile broadband connection (3G or 4G). Since WiFi is available at most places we would use our tablets, we didn't feel that having a broadband connection was important or worth the cost, but you might.

What operating system do you want? There are many free android apps, but since I don't use an Apple I don't know about apps for them.

Are front and or back cameras important? Most have at least one. Front camera is great for video conferencing (ie skype), but not so great for taking pictures, and back only camera not good for video conferencing. Most have at least one. Which is important to you? I prefer using mine for videoconferencing, so a rear camera was not important to me.

There are Kindle and Nook apps for Android, so if you have books already in either one you should be able to download them to your tablet if you get the Android operating system. 

What size screen is large enough for you? My husband has an HP tablet, and I felt it was too large for me to crate around. The 7" tablet is large enough for me to read comfortably ( I have some PDF documents in dropbox that I've looked at) but small enough to carry around easily (about the size of a book). The Nexus 7 is currently the lightest 7" tablet on the market (that may change soon as several vendors are coming out with new devices this fall).

Look at the battery life also. There are a few out there with only a few hours of life, while most will have 7-10 hours.

Here is another site that gives some comparisons: Tablet comparison | Tablet pc comparison 2012

Good luck;
Dawn


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## romysbaskets (Aug 29, 2009)

halfpint said:


> I picked up the Nexus 7 (not available at many retailers) last week for $199 from Staples and love it. We also get $25 in Google play downloads, although I haven't purchased any yet. My 14yo daughter spent her money on one also. Although we home school, my children take some classes and are required to watch a lot of short video's and read documents that are e-mailed to them. My daughter has loved being able to use hers anywhere without dragging the laptop around (her purse nicely holds the tablet).
> 
> You'll want to consider the storage size, and if you will need additional memory. Some have SD cards, but ours doesn't, but we've purchased a USB adapter cable that we can hook a USB thumb drive into for additional storage, so didn't feel it was necessary.
> 
> ...


I have the Nexus 7 also and it can be used as a GPS as it comes with a global positioning chip inside. If you have a Google Voice number at any hotspot it can be used as a phone. With a few little attachments you can find cheap on amazon, a case I got for $8 has a keyboard, a stand support and it is a hard case. The stylus I got for $5 works great. You can print from it once you get the proper attachments. Video conferencing is a great business feature or fun with family members. It is worth the extra $50 to get the 16GB one. When you read books, the pages bend and the touch screen technology is pretty first rate, referred to as butter.....very smooth. The battery life is all day long. With another short cord attachment it can be hooked up to a TV! I love mine and it fits in my purse.


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## Steve in PA (Nov 25, 2011)

ginnie5 said:


> well I have to save up for it so it won't be right away. I like the Kindle Fire so far but I like the price of some of the Androids better.......Apple I'm afraid is just out of my budget. I am a huge Ubuntu fan so I think the next thing I will check is if any are compatible.


Without getting into a whole bunch of technical gobblygook, yes a version of Ubuntu works on tablets. But, there aren't many programs that can use the tablet processor. I'm a Ubuntu fan too.

I bought a 99 dot HP touch pad and put android on it. I like android so far.


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## featherbottoms (May 28, 2005)

My MIL has a Toshiba Thrive tablet. We picked that one for her because of the different ports so you can hook it up to different things, including a TV or monitor. Most of the tablets we looked at did not have that. She also has a wireless printer that she can use with the Thrive. Not all tablets have printing capabilities.

I have a Nook Color that I use for the internet, email, and reading and it does all those things fine. 

Both these tablet computers run some version of the Android OS. However, you can "root" the Nook to run Linux. Google that and you'll see what I mean.

You might also want to consider if you will want/need internet or wi-fi away from home. Some of the tablets do not support 3G or 4G so you are limited to where you can access the internet. Neither of the two I mentioned have 3 or 4G capabilities.


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## prairiecomforts (May 28, 2006)

We have a kindle fire and we love it.


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## blooba (Feb 9, 2010)

I know you said you can't afford Apple so this maybe out of your budget also but Samsung Galaxy Note is nice because it comes with a fine tipped stylus and is designed for writing and drawing.

Being able to take notes on the books is a great feature. All other tablets have stylus's available but since they are designed to use your finger the stylus is about as big as your finger. Also the Note has a feature where it can sense the presence of the stylus and wont read your palm resting on the screen.


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## ChristieAcres (Apr 11, 2009)

Another Nexus 7, 16mb, owner. It is an excellent compact highly versatile little tool. I enjoy watching news videos on it, along with all its many other features. The Nexus has been rated highly! I am getting the USB adapter cord, case, and keyboard. In 6 wks, another model will be rolled out.


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## Feisty Farm (Apr 10, 2012)

I have both the Toshiba Thrive and a kindle fire. I use both in my classroom ( I am a 4-8 remediation teacher). I find that they are very useful. The ipad offers some features that an android tablet doesn't, but for they price, I personally do not think an ipad is worth it.


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