Question on a 8GB tablet for weather forcasts

[NanciL]

I just saw a RCA tablet-QUAD Core 8GB advertised for $38.

I would like to get a tablet and set it up just for various weather forecasts for cities and areas around the country.

I don't want it for anything else.

I don't know anything about computers and was wondering if this one would be good for what I want

We have wifi in the house and also on the road in our trailer

Jack L

[pauldub]

I just use my phone. It's too easy not to. If you get your trailer wi-fi from a dedicated hot spot, you could ditch that and get a phone that will provide wifi and give you your weather.

[Gdetrailer]

NanciL wrote:

trb46 wrote:
I bought an RCA 8GB tablet several years ago to experiment with Android. I think I paid $39.95 for it. It's very slow, has short battery life, but I was able to learn a little bit about Android when using it. I don't use it now other than to turn it on occasionally to check for system updates.

Do you think it would be any good for what I want? Which is just getting weather reports?

And on that battery: Do you mean the battery has to be replaced often?
Or it just has to be charged often?

Jack L

Short battery life as in not much use on battery before needing plugged in to charge..

Not as in physically replacing the battery.

While the cheap price is appealing the fact of the matter is it is a cheaply made bottom of the line barely usable tablet which has no support technical or hardware wise..

What most folks are saying, spend a little more and get a better tablet, the cheap entry level ones like that are kids toys.

A better tablet will have more reliable hardware, slightly more refined OS (Android OS IS "customized" to the tablet hardware by the vendor), will suffer less freeze ups and forced reboots.

Cheap tablets tend to have very cheaply made screens with very low resolutions sort of like early CGA/VGA days, better ones will have higher resolution screens (closer to SVGA to HD). The differences in the screen quality are amazing.

If you want to give a child or young grandkid a tablet, the $39 tablet is what you get them..

If you want to be able to easily read what is on the screen, not have to reboot often then spending a little more makes sense.

I am not a fan of tablets by any means but after dealing with the $39 and even $69 specials I can tell you they are not worth wasting your money on.. At those prices there is no quality in them..

But hey, it is your time and money, waste it any way you wish.

On edit..

Here is a link for a 8" ACER ICONIA for $130..

ACER ICONIA 8"

Specs are..

" 8-inch Display, 1920 x 1200 resolution, Active Matrix TFT Color LCD

Intel Atom Z3745 1.33 GHz Quad-core processor

16 GB Flash Memory, 2 GB LPDDR3 RAM Memory

AzureWave AW-AH691 IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n wireless LAN

Android Operating system KitKat 4.4"

That Intel Atom is a very stable processor that SIPS on the battery but yet is very fast, makes for good battery life, they rate it 7.5 hrs which is pretty good.

The display is full HD at 1920x1200 and overall will be a much batter tablet than any $39 wizbang deal!

As I mentioned before, the only thing I don't like about the ACRS is they do bundle a lot of preloaded bloatware APPS.. Takes a while to find and remove all those useless apps but worth it.

I do realize that you sole intention is to just see the weather, but once you have one you WILL find other uses.. My DW downloaded the Kindle app, gets FREE Kindle books..

That Acer also has a GPS radio built in, downloaded CoPilot GPS APP (free version).

Found a nice FREE Document App that allows you to open and write MS word compatible documents..

You can get FREE Adobe reader apps so you can open Adobe reader files..

You can get a OTG (On The Go) USB adapter which allows you to connect a USB Keyboard/mouse and even USB flash memory drives..

Has a Micro SD card port, allows you to plug in a Micro SD card up to 32 GB for additional documents, photos or even music..

[NanciL]

trb46 wrote:
I bought an RCA 8GB tablet several years ago to experiment with Android. I think I paid $39.95 for it. It's very slow, has short battery life, but I was able to learn a little bit about Android when using it. I don't use it now other than to turn it on occasionally to check for system updates.

Do you think it would be any good for what I want? Which is just getting weather reports?

And on that battery: Do you mean the battery has to be replaced often?
Or it just has to be charged often?

Jack L

[trb46]

I bought an RCA 8GB tablet several years ago to experiment with Android. I think I paid $39.95 for it. It's very slow, has short battery life, but I was able to learn a little bit about Android when using it. I don't use it now other than to turn it on occasionally to check for system updates.

[MrWizard]

My new 11.6" RCA tablet with Android lollipop and 32gig of storage
Was only $93 on Amazon, no ads
It is quad core and Not slow and has connected to wifi better than this lenovo tablet I am using at this moment
Down side, the battery doesn't last as long
When web surfing and watching YouTube

Get that model number and check the web for reviews
On Android tablet forum websites or Amazon
There may not be any attached ads, it maybe an excellent buy

[Gdetrailer]

NanciL wrote:
I just saw a RCA tablet-QUAD Core 8GB advertised for $38.

I would like to get a tablet and set it up just for various weather forecasts for cities and areas around the country.

I don't want it for anything else.

I don't know anything about computers and was wondering if this one would be good for what I want

We have wifi in the house and also on the road in our trailer

Jack L

Junk, save your money.

Been through this a few times with DW and DD.

Cheapo no name and brand names like RCA do not have much in quality.. Took us three cheap under $150 tablets to figure out that there IS a reason those tablets are so cheap..

One of the most important item is the WiFi radio card.. The cheap tablets tend to have very WEAK WiFi cards.. Had one that was only able to get wifi when it was no further than 15ft away from the access point..

8Gig is very weak for space.. and you WILL very quickly run out of storage space.. That memory is SHARED between built in Apps, temp files and update files not to mention if you take photos or want to download a couple of Apps..

Minimum you want is 16gig.

Do it right the first time and you will be much less frustrated.

We found that Acer Iconias have good Wifi cards, quad core processors, 16 gig of storage and are pretty stable..

The no name tablets often would lockup so bad you had to do a full OS restore.. Then redownload all your Apps again.

The only thing I don't like about the ACERs is they ARE loaded with a lot of bloatware.. But 99% of it IS removable and once it is gone you end up with a real nice tablet..

If you have never messed with a Android device, you WILL be in for a learning curve.. There is no manuals or help files.. You are sort of on your own to figure out just how to make it work.. Nothing you have learned on a Windows platform transfers and it is like learning a whole new OS.

[obgraham]

sorry -- dupe.

[obgraham]

I think my cheapie Fire, on sale last month for $35, is a bargain. I use mine just as a reader.

I avoid the ads by simply leaving it in airplane mode until I need something off the wifi. Only the home screen shows any ad.

For OP's purpose, 2 clicks will bring it back on line.

[Chuck_thehammer]

it might work.. but you need Wifi or internet connection. for it to receive weather information.

I have a Verizon 8 inch tablet... it has its own wifi and does do the weather app.
and I also use it to help with satellite finding for my Directv.

[sch911]

You'll have to provide youown a WiFi connection for the tablet of course....

[GordonThree]

Watch out that it's not ad supported, or as Jeff puts it for his $40 Fire Tablets "includes special offers".

It's not that the ads are that bad, but the tablet is constantly talking to the mothership, downloading movies I might like, apps I might like, etc.

[Campfire_Time]

Should be fine so long as it has at least Android 4.x or higher. I have a 3 year old Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 with 8 GB. I have several weather apps. They work just fine.

I use many of the same apps on it as do on my Galaxy S7 phone. They are just a little slower sometimes on the tablet.