tablet for touring

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
Bonefishblues
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Re: tablet for touring

Post by Bonefishblues »

al_yrpal wrote:
My phone is an HTC One S. Because its now free of contract I have looked around to see if there is a sensible replacement. The bad news is all decent more modern phones are considerably larger and don't fit in a trouser pocket easily, and, except for the Moto G are all eye wateringly expensive! Its difficult to understand why the latest phones mostly cost more than £500 when they can make a Hudl with 95% of the functionality for £99!!!

Al

Is the answer "because they can" :D
andymiller
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Re: tablet for touring

Post by andymiller »

It's not the lightest tablet out there but I'm pretty happy with my Tesco hudl (and I should say that in normal circumstances I am an Apple fan-boy). I don't know if they are still doing the double-up deal on Clubcard vouchers which made mine a steal.

If you prefer something smaller (and you can live with a smaller screen), an iPod touch is well worth considering. If you want to have the fallback of your own wifi if you need it then you can buy a little 'MiFi' mobile wifi hotspot for £50 or so.

Personally I prefer to have a separate phone (OK there's extra bulk but I prefer not to be reliant on one device). I've just bought a dual-SIM Nokia for £15 - battery seems to last forever.
robing
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Re: tablet for touring

Post by robing »

I found this on ebay. A basic 7 inch tablet with front camera only, no gps or bluetooth. But at this price I'm guessing the quality probably isn't very good.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/7-Inch-Allwin ... 27ea42d513
freeflow
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Re: tablet for touring

Post by freeflow »

Sony Xperia Z ultra. Now available for around £250.
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bikes4two
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Re: tablet for touring

Post by bikes4two »

Pandaz wrote:A second hand Asus 7 is the way to go: 11hr battery life!


So is that 11hr battery life as quoted for a new Asus 7 (hence new battery), or is that your observation of the battery life on a second hand one?

What would bother me about a 2nd hand device like this, is how many charge/discharge cycles are there left in the battery and can a new battery be fitted if required (hopefully so, otherwise this is just another example of built-in redundancy).
Without my stoker, every trip would only be half a journey
simonhill
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Re: tablet for touring

Post by simonhill »

robing wrote:I found this on ebay. A basic 7 inch tablet with front camera only, no gps or bluetooth. But at this price I'm guessing the quality probably isn't very good.


There are plenty of very cheap tablets around. If all you want to do is browse the net and do a bit of email they are probably adequate.

They will be slow and heavy, poor screen resolution, old version of operating system, poor battery life, etc, etc.

Nonetheless that may not matter and you may be happy with one.

I s'pose a comparison could be why buy a £1000 bike when there are plenty of £150 bikes in the shops.

As I said I have a Nexus 7 2013. To compare with many of the others recommended, try googling model name with compare or review, etc. There are a few good tech sites that do reviews and comparisons.

For budget, ie sub £200 the Nexus normally wins, mainly cos its screen is so much better. The Hudle also gets good reviews, not as good, but cheaper. Again you need to choose how much you want to spend.

Re weight (Sweep), I don't think anyone was worried about 60 grams in their bag!! Where it is more of an issue along with the slimness thing, is when you are holding it with one hand for a couple of hours. Comfort is the consideration, not oveloading your panniers.
robing
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Re: tablet for touring

Post by robing »

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/p ... 827487.htm
bikes4two wrote:
Pandaz wrote:A second hand Asus 7 is the way to go: 11hr battery life!


So is that 11hr battery life as quoted for a new Asus 7 (hence new battery), or is that your observation of the battery life on a second hand one?

What would bother me about a 2nd hand device like this, is how many charge/discharge cycles are there left in the battery and can a new battery be fitted if required (hopefully so, otherwise this is just another example of built-in redundancy).


The Asus 7 inch memopad looks good for the money and is super light. However, some reviews have said you can't charge via the micro usb, needs a special adaptor, which would be quite a big drawback.
robing
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Re: tablet for touring

Post by robing »

Found another couple of contenders from Argos. The Acer Iconia One at 90 quid including £10 Google Play voucher. And Argos own tablet made by Bush at only £70. Only 280g in weight, but seems to have a lot of negative reviews including a Which dont buy!
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Sweep
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Re: tablet for touring

Post by Sweep »

Well it looks like the Hudl 2 has arrived.

Pretty much time as predicted months ago.

Views?


http://www.tesco.com/direct/hudl/?sc_cm ... 4_32_5_043
Sweep
robing
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Re: tablet for touring

Post by robing »

The Hudl 2 is considerably larger and heavier. I got the Acer Iconia One 7 inch tablet from Argos. Very pleased with it, it's fairly slim and light yet rugged. The screen is great, apps load quickly and good battery life. At £89 it's a very good price and includes £10 Google Play credit.
gplhl
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Re: tablet for touring

Post by gplhl »

MrsHJ wrote: I'd take an ordinary kindle ( less weight than books and long battery life) just for reading and the iPhone for internet access and get a hub charger.


Depends on where your touring, if your in inhospitable places, electronics seem to die...

My iphone top button stopped working
My kindle died
My netbook touchpad stopped working and the keyboard now only works intermittently.

Top of the list for next tour after this one is durability!

If I was in the UK, I think just a kindle and an iphone with maybe the luxury of a Bluetooth keyboard may suffice (keyboard only for typing blog quickly).

Gary
www.longbikeride.co.uk
slogfester
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Re: tablet for touring

Post by slogfester »

Our tablet choice was set by the size of my handle bar bag where we wanted to keep it safe and handy. So we got a Samsung Note 8" which fits nicely (with a robust cover) in to a Ortlieb Ultimate 6. Never missed a beat in 4000 km / 4 months on and off road touring.
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toekneep
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Re: tablet for touring

Post by toekneep »

I took a Nexus 7 (new model) on our five month tour round Britain this summer. I added a cheap blue tooth keyboard for typing the blog. I really couldn't fault it in any way. The battery life was adequate and we used a top up battery for backup. The keyboard (I'm typing on it right now) was excellent. Not the cheapest option I know but it did just work so I'm happy.
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anniesboy
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Re: tablet for touring

Post by anniesboy »

Can I ask what keyboard you used?
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toekneep
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Re: tablet for touring

Post by toekneep »

Sorry I don't have it with me right now. I will post more details later. It was about ten quid I think.
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