Which Tablet?

[radiator]

So I'm toying with the idea of getting a tablet for Christmas, and was wondering if any of you lot owned one and could help me decide.

The iPad Mini and Kindle Fire HD both look good, could anyone give me a bit of advice? Primarily I want it for comics and ebooks, but games are also a priority.

Would one of these mini tablets be better for these uses? Is there a trade-off between screen size and weight/suitability as an e-reader?

I really, really like Apple, so am leaning towards the iPad side of things.

[Richmond Clements]

I shall be watching this thread with interest. I'm circling the idea of getting one of them Nexus thingys...

[Minkyboy]

I got Mrs Minky a Nexus 7 32gb for her birthday earlier this month. Very happy with it. Nice bit of kit.

[Dan Kelly]

The big difference between the iPad Mini and (most of) the regular iPads is the lack of Retina display

This is less of a problem if you're not actually used to the display, and is also less of an issue on the smaller screen.  This has generally been the major criticism of the mini in most reviews.

iPad's big benefit is the size of the games / applications store - including comixology, Dark Horse, Marvel and DC apps (to be honest you only need the first two)

Kindle HD has more pixels in a similar size package so crisper images.  I've no experience these myself.

I believe PJ and Art have both played with the Kindle as a comics reader...

[Bolt-01]

I'm looking at getting the Kindle for Mrs Bolt this X-mas, so I'll report back.

[Professor Bear]

7 inch screens are just about fine for US format comics, but not so much 2000ad-sized pages unless you have absolutely perfect eyesight, though obviously double page spreads are a bother.

Just to test the waters to see if it is for you, I'd recommend buying a second hand tablet from somewhere like Amazon Marketplace as you can get them for about 30-40 quid - even a bad model will give you an idea of what your gripes, preferences or expectations will be from something that costs ten times as much when you finally go to shell out for it (and if you end up depending upon it you'll appreciate having a spare).

[Link Prime]

I think this was recently the subject of another thread, and the overall bottom line was this;

- Best if price is no issue; iPad (3rd / 4th generation w/ retina display).
- Best of the rest; Google Asus Nexus 7 (latest model is 32Gb).

Personally, I'd very much rate the Nexus 7; it has Comixology / DH Comics / Kindle / Ebook reader Apps etc, is very lightweight, great screen display and has a better App store than any Amazon device.

Also, worth noting for Irish peeps that Kindle Fire devices are currently not sold in Republic of Ireland, and imported ones are not supported due to location restrictions.

[Banners]

I'm waiting for a Windows 8 Pro version of Surface.

[radiator]

Thanks for the replies.

The big difference between the iPad Mini and (most of) the regular iPads is the lack of Retina display

This is less of a problem if you're not actually used to the display, and is also less of an issue on the smaller screen.  This has generally been the major criticism of the mini in most reviews.

Hmm, yes - I had heard that resolution is an issue on the mini.

Kindle HD has more pixels in a similar size package so crisper images.  I've no experience these myself.

But I believe that the Kindle screen is significantly smaller that the Mini's.

7 inch screens are just about fine for US format comics, but not so much 2000ad-sized pages unless you have absolutely perfect eyesight, though obviously double page spreads are a bother.

Yes, I'd heard that the size of the average 2000ad page renders speech bubbles a bit hard to read... Not ideal, especially as I'll be spending a lot of dough.

It looks like the iPad would be the best bet, though that does push the price a bit higher than what I was thinking of which could rule it out for now. As I said, I am biased towards Apple, as I already own so many Apple products I like the continuity.

So it seems like we're still waiting for a properly decent tablet for comics then? Maybe I'll put it off wait until the inevitable Retina Mini?

[IndigoPrime]

- Best if price is no issue; iPad (3rd / 4th generation w/ retina display).
- Best of the rest; Google Asus Nexus 7 (latest model is 32Gb).

I agree with this, as do the vast, vast majority of my tech journo chums. Almost everyone who has a Nexus and an iPad has said they barely use a Nexus any more, which says a lot about the Nexus. Several have, however, been confused by the new iPad mini being a lot nicer than they expected.

As ever, much of your decision, radiator, and that of anyone else will come down to a number of factors, primarily centring on use-cases and money. However, what I would strongly recommend is seeing the tablets in the flesh, so to speak. If possible, go to an Apple Store and play around with the different iPads, check the screens and the weight, and see which you prefer. Then find whatever local retailer has other tablets in stock and compare them.

However, here are the things you mentioned:

comics: iPad w/ Retina wins hands down here over every other platform, because it has more apps (including, of course, 2000 AD in Newsstand) and a fantastic display (not just the resolution, but the display itself) that's the right size to comfortably read comics without faffing about. The iPad mini is by comparison reportedly barely acceptable for US comics without zooming and is much more grainy, although it obviously has the same impressive app ecosystem.

ebooks: I'd probably go for a separate Kindle there, to be honest, but Android and iOS devices will both run Kindle apps without any problems, and iOS has its own iBooks thing which is... OK. Again, the main issue here will be the display (since text at high-res beats low-res), but there's also weight to take into account for long-form reading. Here, I'd say the big-o-iPad is less impressive, purely because it's a bit too heavy.

games: iOS is a fantastic games platform, as anyone who's read the section I edit in Tap! magazine will know. Android is... less fantastic. It's a bit like going back in time and looking at the C64 vs the Atari 8-bit or the Amiga vs the Atari ST. They're all capable platforms, but the sales of the Commodore kit simply meant you got way more of a selection and far better developer support than on Atari. Things are improving for Android, and it does get a fair number of the key titles these days; however, if you're seriously interested in gaming on tablets (having used the word "priority"), iOS is by far the best choice, and the larger iPad is superior on the basis that games are designed for that size and the graphics are better. Note that if the mini sells really well that might change. (One possible exception: Android is far better for emulation, if you desperately want to play old games. Admittedly, that's what I used to do with various Nintendo handhelds. With iOS, though, there are too many good new games to mess about with Spectrum tape images and SNES ROMs.)

So largely echoing Link Prime:

If you're made of money: iPad + cheapo Kindle
If you're happy to compromise and spend a fair amount: iPad (Retina) and put up with the weight when reading ebooks
If you're happy to compromise and want to spend as little as possible: Nexus

As I said, I am biased towards Apple, as I already own so many Apple products I like the continuity.

If you're already going from Apple to elsewhere, you're probably not going to be thrilled with a non-iOS tablet.

So it seems like we're still waiting for a properly decent tablet for comics then? Maybe I'll put it off wait until the inevitable Retina Mini?

Bar the weight, the standard iPad is decent for comics and it's great for games. The Retina mini—I'll be surprised if that appears before 2014.

[radiator]

ebooks: I'd probably go for a separate Kindle there, to be honest, but Android and iOS devices will both run Kindle apps without any problems, and iOS has its own iBooks thing which is... OK. Again, the main issue here will be the display (since text at high-res beats low-res), but there's also weight to take into account for long-form reading. Here, I'd say the big-o-iPad is less impressive, purely because it's a bit too heavy.

I don't read that many novels tbh - certainly not enough to warrant buying a dedicated Kindle. I've read books on my iPhone and while it's hardly ideal, it didn't bother me too much.

Is there any indication of when they're going to refresh the iPad?

[Colin YNWA]

Okay just to throw an oar in. Is there a consensus on the Nexus 10 yet? I know its very new but it has a bigger screen size (I think) than the iPad 4 and is getting pretty good reviews (in the mainstream, which is all I notice). Its also comes in a fair bit cheaper?

[oshii]

Has anyone had a go on a Kindle Fire HD?  If so what did you think?

[IndigoPrime]

I don't read that many novels tbh - certainly not enough to warrant buying a dedicated Kindle. I've read books on my iPhone and while it's hardly ideal, it didn't bother me too much.

The issue though is the iPad is far heavier than the iPhone. But if you read few novels but like comics and games and are an Apple fan, you'd be mental to consider anything other than an iPad.

Is there any indication of when they're going to refresh the iPad?

The ones they refreshed last month, you mean? Not for some time, I'd imagine. With a few exceptions, Apple tends to do an annual refresh. The iPad '4' broke that trend (arriving about six months after the iPad '3'), but there were compelling reasons for this: a chip upgrade to combat competition, and the new connector, rolled out across the iPhone and iPod refresh, not to mention the iPad mini. To that end, it wouldn't shock me if the next iPad showed up next autumn and the spring Apple refresh subsequently became for the iPhone (with summer for WWDC and software).

Okay just to throw an oar in. Is there a consensus on the Nexus 10 yet? I know its very new but it has a bigger screen size (I think) than the iPad 4 and is getting pretty good reviews (in the mainstream, which is all I notice). Its also comes in a fair bit cheaper?

Similar display quality, but the Nexus is widescreen, which is slightly better for movies and feels a bit odd in a large tablet for a lot of other stuff (bar some landscape games). Build quality, battery life and app ecosystem are worse (the last of those considerably so, given how few tablet-optimised apps exist for Android), but the Nexus is cheaper. If you want a pure consumption device and aren't too fussed about a very wide selection of games, the Nexus is worth considering (although do be mindful that most Android devices are abandoned by manufacturers pretty rapidly); if you want a tablet on which you can actually do a bunch of things, and/or want a device where developers have actually considered you're using a tablet rather than a massive smartphone, the iPad remains the better bet.

[radiator]

Stupid question:

How does 3G work on iPads? I've noticed that 3G iPads are more expensive, but do you also have to pay monthly for the 3G usage on top of this? Or is it like Kindles, where (as I understand it) the 3G is built in to the cost of the actual unit?