Tablet advice

[Tmation]

My mum wants to get my dad and iPad or other tablet for his birthday. They don't have a computer in the house but can get cheap broadband from their phone supplier.


What's the best to go for for a non tech savy old bloke? he will need one that is stand alone (no need for 3G) and hopefully can be connected to his Sony TV via USB or HDMI as I have a Sky package that he can view on the tablet.


I use MAC, PC and Android so I was thinking a Google Nexus 10 would be cheaper and easier to use, no need for an iTunes account etc etc. I can set him up a GMail account and he won't be buying any apps, just using free ones.


Any thoughts or advice most appreciated.

[seangee]

Some good deals on the Galaxy note 10.1 around. Micro SD slot means you buy the lowest spec on and just put a card in it.

[mickvp]

i own an ipad myself. and as much as its simplicity and versatility is great. the android device (either nexus 10, or galaxy tab 2) is probably a better fit for your parents.

Especially if you want to connect it externally, as far as im aware, this is not possible with the ipad, without perhaps buying apple tv as well?

[BBROWN1664]

My mum got an ipad and is managing with it OK.

[Lazarus]

HP Slate 7 is a decent bit of kit.

small and versatile.

[stevierst]

Got a Toshiba AT300, that's ok too. Its one of the bigger tablets out there if your folks are suffering with bad eyesight:

[Tmation]

Thanks for the advice, I am still leaning towards the Google Nexus as its much cheaper than Galaxy Tab or Note and especially iPad.


I saw an HP one that was like a laptop and the screen came off to become a tablet, very nice but it runs windows 8 so a bit too much for him I think.


I have a Google Nexus 4 phone which was half the price of a Galaxy 3 and much less than an iPhone 5 and I find it very good.
.

[nsr500v4]

I would definately go for an Android tab, no worry about syncing stuff etc like itunes. drag and drop much easier than apple.
 10" tab easier on older eyes too. The samsung are great bits of kit, as is the Nexus 10, i am sure either would be great

[Lazarus]

Thanks for the advice, I am still leaning towards the Google Nexus as its much cheaper than Galaxy Tab or Note and especially iPad.


I saw an HP one that was like a laptop and the screen came off to become a tablet, very nice but it runs windows 8 so a bit too much for him I think.


I have a Google Nexus 4 phone which was half the price of a Galaxy 3 and much less than an iPhone 5 and I find it very good.
.

The HP is a true tablet - have a look about for the Slate 7

[Ian-man]

We have a nexus 7 and it has been spot on. Just need a Google account, works just like a big android phone.

[alan sherman]

Got my parents a Samsung Tab 10, WiFi only.  No need for the note as the stylus is no use to them.  Mum is getting on well with it.  Not expensive, large screen so they can see stuff (7 would have been too small), bought 64Gb card for peanuts and loaded up with MP3 music, family pictures and some films for them.  They go away in a motorhome so have a long time off wifi so the big memory card is a real bonus.

Mum is now on email and Facebook, plus spending a fortune on Amazon and eBay!  Skype is useful too as we don't live close.  The only small shortcoming of the Samsung are that it is not waterproof / water resistant (the Sony ones are now) and it doesn't use the standard micro USB charger.  She was nervous using it at first until I said that if she really buggers it up we can do a factory reset and start again.  Now she is less scared of it and tries stuff out.


Make sure any data (especially pictures) is saved to the memory card as my android phone had to be sent back recently.  Everything on the card was safe and I removed it before sending off for repair.  Stuff in the phone memory was lost.  I did actually back up the pictures from my android device to a NAS, but I doubt that your parents will!  For this reason alone I would always want a removable memory card. 

[Buzz]

The second gen Nexus 7 comes out in July so the original will surely drop in price.  Even the Gen 1 is much better than the Slate 7 in terms of screen resolution and performance plus as it's Google you'll always get the latest OS first.


DYOR!

[BBROWN1664]

My Mrs was after one of the eBook type things. I got her a Lenovo tablet instead. Significantly cheaper than Nexus/iPad/Samsung and does the same thing but in a more handbag friendly size.