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tmmar's avatar
tmmar
Explorer
Nov 29, 2013

Android-Apple-Microsoft

Looking to get a tablet for the wife and am not sure which way to go. I see many Android tablets that look fairly decent but haven't tried any. I used an Apple for a while but found the operating system not that intuitive. Tried the Microsoft Surface 2 and liked the Windows 8 operating system and the fact that it had a version of Office with Word/Excel but can't find anyone who discounts it from the $449 price. She likes to down load books from the local library and will also use it to access the internet.
Any help and guidance is appreciated.
  • Bill.Satellite wrote:
    The Kindle Fire HD might be a good choice if you are doing a lot of book reading. My wife loves hers and she does her Facebook stuff and surfing as well.
    If you see posts from someone using any kind of a take-off of the Windows names (Windoz, etc.) they are just likely Apple fanatics.


    Or spent 30+ years working in the industry
  • My wife and I both have NextBook Android tablets that we use for reading and Internet access, among other uses. I prefer Android so I can run the same apps on my smartphone. Our e-reader app of choice, for instance, is Moon+ Reader Pro, and we download mostly free or low cost books from Amazon and other sources, including our library service. I use a program on my laptop (Calibre) to convert book formats as needed, and then automatically send them to the tablets using DropBox. Moon+ Reader's DropBox support also automatically synchronizes my current reading position on the tablet with my phone, and vice-versa. Very handy...
  • X2 Consider one of the Kindle E books first, then an Android based Tablet second.
  • The Kindle Fire HD might be a good choice if you are doing a lot of book reading. My wife loves hers and she does her Facebook stuff and surfing as well.
    If you see posts from someone using any kind of a take-off of the Windows names (Windoz, etc.) they are just likely Apple fanatics.
  • The brand new Dell Venue Pro 8 has Windows 8.1 with MS Office. It is currently priced at $299 list from Dell, but it can be had right now for $240 from Microcenter. I have several tablets (iOS and Android) and am looking forward to evaluating Windows 8 on one as it's the only logical HW for that version of Windows.
  • Choosing for my wife, it was her choice, not mine. She liked the Apple iOS devices her grandchildren had already taught her to use, so got her an iPad for her last birthday when she could no longer handle a laptop in her bed, and she used it for the rest of her life.

    Internet access, email, Facebook, movies. For reading, she stayed with the Nook she got two years before, liked that better than the Nook or Kindle app on a heavier tablet.
  • I would avoid the Windoz based strictly on that all Windoz systems are more vulnerable to viri/hacks/etc.

    The android tablets we have are generally safe, we got an MS-Office compatible ap for them from the Google-store.

    I haven't used an iPad, but Apple tends to keep their OS locked down well enough the vulnerability should be low. I would be very surprised if there is not MS-Office compatible ap for iOS (but I have never looked either)