Hej,

I'd love to dip in folks knowledge out there and see what recommendations you might have. Have a fair idea of what I'd like as base from a tablet, but then there are so many out there to choose from. Listed a few things, below, that I feel are important to me, personally - always aware of course that everything is a compromise and nothing ever ideal :). Note, this isn't a hierarchal list.

1) Battery capacity / time. It'll really be for mobile usage, so a good battery would be useful; and / or really good battery management. From what I get iPads eat less power while being turned off, but then that may have changed?

2) Storage. I'd like something with a decent amount of space available - or, probably even better, option to use sd / micro sd cards or similar to extend or swap things out.

3) Am more interested in using tablets for using web / writing / reading than anything else. Not much interest in gaming, for example, and I have photos / cameras that are much better than anything in a tablet / what a tablet can do [doesn't mean I'll say I won't ever use built in ones ... but it's just not that important].

4) Wi-fi rather than mobile ready versions; I am quite happy to be off-line at times.

4b) I'd like a good GPS system that works with wi-fi turned off though. Use for when I am cycling [main form of transport] - and while paper maps are great I think having a tablet stashed away in my handlebar bag to check quickly would be something quite useful when commuting to new places / on unfamiliar routes - there's some nice aps out there that'd work with that, too - and the larger screen size compared to smart phone is good for cycling where it helps seeing more of what's ahead / around me, too. Not a must, really - but I am fairly certain I'd frequently be disappointed if I'd were not able to do that.

5) I don't, really, want to pay super much for what is more a utility device - my main work will remain on the computer and most of the proper heavy lifting will be done there. Would prioritise build quality a bit more than raw 'power'. Think most iPads, really, are more than what I'd want to pay. Would consider refurbished, depending.

Ideas?

check out the toshiba encore range

battery is good for 7 - 8 hours of moderate use , windows 8 on a tablet is great
external hdd can be connected through the micro usb / otg cable
it also has gnss ( the newer type of gps) however there are little to no apps that use this as the older apps look for a com port for gps and gns doesnt use com ports , but its sat nav capable - we just need more apps to come out for this. there are some but they arent that great atm


i have the 64gb version and its great -
i also bought a bluetooth keyboard and an otg cable for a mouse

now i can play old games with no problem as the system is 32 bit

black and white , quake 4 , populous 3 all work fine

add another 64gb through microsd and you are all set

plus it comes with a free full version of ms office home and student, for all your office needs

I don't have a good answer, but perhaps a good question: what size/weight are you looking for? A larger tablet is easier to read on and view a map on but is harder to hold for long periods, and takes more space to carry.

Also, I'm not sure what you mean about writing. A tablet is normally a bad writing device. You can add a keyboard to type, and you can get a tablet with handwriting recognition, but that would limit your choice quite a bit. So what exactly are you looking for in this respect?

Basic stuff on the go. Respond to e-mails / social media type things / jot down notes to expand into something more once back home - not heavy office work, really. Keyboard attachment as an option would be nice, of course, but not essential.

Size / weight is of course a big thing. But honestly I am not completely sure. Have handled / held various in store, but that's not really comparable to long term use. Do think 7" would be fine, really, on a screen size level - it's often more down to how well designed a website is, I think, rather than pure size of the tablet. 10" would be nice for the map function, obviously. I usually have things with me to prop up something else against [i.e. I carry stuff :) ]. But really - I'd only know precisely how much handheld I'd do after having a tablet for a good while :/.

[Anything - any tablet out there - would be way, way, way, lighter than my current laptop - and I've been carrying that a lot of places :)]

I have a first gen Nexus 7, and IMO the 7" screen is enough for browsing and mails. I've also used GPS software on much smaller devices, and it works fine. So for a start a 7" tablet would likely be enough for you, and they are cheaper.

If you really want the tablet mainly for web / reading / writing, then the amount of storage won't be an issue. It mainly matters if you want space for media or for large apps such as games. I'd say that even 8GB will be enough for you, though I will still recommend 16GB. I don't think you'll ever need an SD card unless you do decide to keep media on the tablet.

I'm not sure about offline GPS for Android. Google Maps does have an offline mode, but it's not terribly convenient from what I've heard.

Yes - but I know that I'd probably use it to transfer data. I.e. not necessarily use it on the tablet, but to get it from one place to another / and or upload, download stuff to / from computers. SD slot alone would be enough for that. Not essential, again. Yes - google maps is no use, but there's plenty of good choices out there. Like, for Android, or [url=https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=menion.android.locus.pro&hl=en]Locus Maps. That, too, is where having storage space available on the tablet is important, too - offline maps are quite data intensive.

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Nexus 7 is probably a save bet to play around with, a little. I like, in theory, the look of the Lenova Yoga HD+, but it's of course not available yet and the previous [non-HD versions] weren't particularly good tablets.

Any other suggestions to look at, other than Nexus / Toshiba Encore?

I have a 2013 Nexus 7, and it is phenomenal for what I use it for. Surfing, YouTube, WWE Network and stuff, but it never leaves the house, so the lack of an SD card isn't an issue, and the 16 GB memory isn't either. There's a 32 GB for $20 mor on Amazon ($239). I install custom Roms (Cyanogenmod) so that limits my choices. The screen is fantastic, and it is fast.

Unless things have changed Nexus range are not the go if you want micro sd support.
Samsung/Asus tablets or some of the better known chinese branded ones might be the go

While my current tablet is a Nexus 7, my next one will be an ASUS VivoTab Note 8. It's a Windows tablet with a Wacom pen, and while I'm buying it mainly for games support, having full Windows can be helpful for many things, even for web browsing, where robust Flash support is useful on many sites. Nokia's HERE Maps is supposed to be a good offline GPS solution.

Still, it's a more expensive solution than the Android tablets, and battery life is a little less. IMO amongst the Windows 8 tablets (such as the Toshiba Encore) it's the best choice because of the Wacom pen, because it allows good interaction with desktop programs in a way that other tablets can't. Then again, that may not be important to everyone.

If you're not concerned with games, I would recommend the Surface 2. Good price, solid battery and the keyboard cover works quite well.

About using external microSD cards: do the newer tablets (newer tablet-Android versions) allow moving of installed applications to the external memory? Android phones seem to allow that, but at least not my tablet.

I was disappointed that when I added a 32GB microSD card to my old but trusty ASUS Transformed TF101 tablet (Android 4.0.3), I think all installed apps still insist on staying on the internal 16GB(?) memory. So the external SD is pretty much only a storage place for e.g. apk installers, movies, photos and such.

Even all the Android games bought with Humble Bundles are like that. There are a couple of games (e.g. Bard's Tale, I think) which allow you to install the gigabyte(s) of extra game data to the external memory, though. But I easily run out of free space on the internal memory if I install lots of HB Android games. Some of them are huge, 500MB or even a gigabyte.

It's considerably more expensive than the 7" Android tablets or even the 8" Bay Trail tablets, so I'd say that "good price" is in the eyes of the beholder.

Well, even though this is pretty much entirely what you didn't ask for, I'd say for the price of a tablet go with something like the ASUS Taichi or Acer Aspire. If your handlebar bags are big enough for the 11.6" form factor you'll get a much more well-rounded device than any tablet out there, similar battery life (as in "it works all day then I charge it at night"), and still lightweight enough that you shouldn't even notice it's there.

The biggest reason to go with something like that (or a Transformer tablet) is the actual keyboard. You say you want to use this for writing. Nobody I know (which, admittedly, is a tiny, tiny selection of "all the people") would seriously consider doing more writing than a short email reply on a touchscreen virtual keyboard.

It's almost always true that the more your gadget can do, the more you grow to rely on those capabilities - see, eg, hundreds of millions of hysterical posts about who has the better App store, Apple or Android. Buy in on a laptop that's as portable as a tablet, and you will probably find that in a little while you're not so keen on surrendering your capabilities. USB ports, removable media, ability to plug up to display projectors, better integration with work software, and many more. If it's just a toy you want, there's nothing wrong with that, get an iPad or Transformer, but if you want to do more than just passively absorb media, tablets are not your best bet.

EDIT: If for whatever reason the weight of a small laptop is going to be a problem, then you should be looking at the 7-9" tablets, but you'll probably not find a good way to integrate a keyboard with something that size.

Whichever one you buy, make sure to get some sort of protector for it. Sucks when this happens to your tablet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkmnC9YBX88

The Lenovo Yoga has exceptional battery life. It might not otherwise have the best specs, but it supports everything you want (GPS, micro SD)