Need (want) a new tablet

[brew703]

I've been using the crappy Amazon Fire HD for a couple years now. This thing is freaking SLOW.
If Amazon would get their heads out of their azz's and make a tablet with a better processor and at least 6 GB's of RAM it would not be a bad tablet.

Anyway, looking at:
Samsung Tab 6
Surface Go.

I don't do a lot of gaming at this time but might start in the future (probably more sports related than anything) so want the ability to not have any lag time, screen freezes or any issues related to gaming or even watching video's.

I've checked out the reviews on both and as with anything there are pro's and cons.
The one thing that irritates me is the time it takes for a web page to load. I would also like the ability to multitask, opening more than one web page at a time.

For those that have used one of these tablets, would you recommend? Is there one pro or con that you absolutely hate or love?

Just want to make an informed decision and get opinions and views from others who are not providing "professional" reviews.

Thanks.

 

[day_trippr]

I finally put an end to The Spousal Unit's pita iPad Air2 and got her a Tab S5E 128GB/6GB in Rose Gold for Christmas. It's a great machine with a killer 10.5" display (same display as the S6) and is amazingly thin (and dense!) and as it speaks "Samsung" the wife can easily move stuff from tablet to phone and vice versa without having to deal with that pos iTunes. Also there are speakers at the top and bottom and the sound is amazing for a tablet.

I'm still using a Tab S2 10" but have been eyeballing the S6 for some time now. I can't imagine ever using the S-Pen or a keyboard - I have a workstation and an actual laptop for creative stuff - so I'd likely opt out on those if I ever do pull the trigger before a Tab S20 shows up. That leaves outright SOC performance, two more gigs of RAM and double the flash to 256GB on the top tier models, as differences to the top tier S5e models.

I'll be interested to see where you go on this. I might follow

Cheers!

[edit] As for multiple web pages, we use Chrome on all our Samsung stuff and can open a stupid number of tabs before things start to slow. And the gui does support stacking a pair of compatible apps, each owning half the screen. Don't use it that much though but it's there...

 

[dwhite60]

I've got a Samsung Tab S2. Been a great machine for a couple of years. I do not game so for my needs is plenty of horsepower.

Wife, kids, myself, we're all Samsung devotee's. Always had great performance and great service life out of everything we've had.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[brew703]

I have a Galaxy note 10 plus and love it so I'm leaning towards the Samsung over the Surface.
I probably will not need the keyboard but to charge an extra $180 on top of the cost of the tablet is insane and a RIP off.

 

[matt_m]

The latest generation of 10" iPad perform decently in real-world use based on our experience with them in a high school and the price isn't terrible. The iPad Air is a good step up from that but in price as well. Its a more closed ecosystem than the Android tablets but a lot more open than the Fire you've been living with. And for another $70 you can get 2-years of warranty including 2 $50 do-overs for accidental damage incidents.

 

[day_trippr]

I'd argue the ecosystem thing. Fire tablets allow sideloading of Android apps (Chrome, the HBT branded Tapatalk app, for examples). Afaik the only way to get something on an iPad is via that pos iTunes.

That said our Fire HD 9.something has been pretty much retired as in the current times it is a dog wrt performance...

Cheers!

 

[BrewerBrad82]

Please learn how to use apostrophes. *triggered*

 

[brew703]

The Fire tablets lack sufficient storage and RAM to do anything except basic web surfing and watching Youtube.

It cannot handle games and the Amazon app store SUCKS. I actually loaded Google play store on mine but most of the apps are not optimized for the Fire tablet, although they still work for the most part.

Another issue is the WIFI, which constantly drops just about every time I use it. So now it will be relegated to the junk pile which my grand daughter can use if she forgets her Ipad at home.

After reading reviews and watching YouTube videos of both the Tab S6 and the Microsoft Surface Go, I opted for the Samsung. I wasn't sold on the processor Microsoft used and there was somewhat of a lag time when using the pen and also when playing video games, at least from what the video's I watched showed.

The Samsung is definitely more than I wanted to pay but it does have 6 gigs of RAM, wanted 8 but didn't want to pay another $80.

 

[day_trippr]

Good choice, once you've gotten it squared away let us know what you think about it. I may pull the trigger
Did you pick up the keyboard cover?

Cheers! (as to the grammar police: good luck with that apostrophe thing )

 

[brew703]

Good choice, once you've gotten it squared away let us know what you think about it. I may pull the trigger
Did you pick up the keyboard cover?

Cheers! (as to the grammar police: good luck with that apostrophe thing )

Will do.
No didn't get the keyboard cover. $179 is a bit much for something I'm not sure I will use.

There are some aftermarket ones on Amazon I may try if I feel its necessary. I'm sure those are not as good as a Samsung but they are a fraction of the cost of a Samsung.

I thought Samsung was offering 50% off on the keyboard cover if purchasing the tablet at the same time but that offer must have ended. I would have paid $90 but not $179. For the price of the tablet the keyboard cover should have been included.

 

[day_trippr]

Yeah, I agree you'd have to be motivated to pay that price.
iirc, there was a lead-up to the holiday season offer on the keyboard cover. It almost pried me off the fence...

Cheers!