10" ICS tablet for £200?

[tenohfive]

I'm looking to get a 10" tablet at some point in the next couple of months but I'm not sure if I can get what I'm looking for within budget. I'm willing to compromise on some things if everything I want isn't doable.

First thing is a decent quality 10" screen - it'll be mostly for movies and web browsing, and a 7" tab isn't that much bigger than my SGS3. Second thing is a reputable manufacturer - there's a place for £60 tabs and I'm not having a pop at them, but I'd like to spend the money on a trusted brand. Third is the OS - ideally I'm looking at Android and ICS onwards as I just like how they work (and have a fair few apps/games etc already.) But the OS isn't set in stone. Storage wise I'd like to have either 16GB plus memory card slot or 32GB without. Cameras etc I couldn't care less about.

Is this doable or am I asking too much for £200?

[plasticpig]

The only big brand tablet that I can think of that is anywhere near that price is an Acer Iconia A200. That's only 8GB and comes with Gingerbread but Acer released an update to ICS and it will take a 32GB SD card

[edeath]

There is the Sumvision Titan being sold for £169.99. It is dual core with 16GB memory but I have no experience with it - however should be pretty reasonable.

[Panclan]

The Motorola Xoom 2 is available from Currys/PC World for £199.98 16Gb but no additional sd slot
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/motorola-xoom-2-10...

[tenohfive]

Panclan said:

The Motorola Xoom 2 is available from Currys/PC World for £199.98 16Gb but no additional sd slot
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/motorola-xoom-2-10...

They were on HUKD for £160 a couple of days ago. That lack of memory expansion is a killer though - whilst I'll generally be streaming films etc, when I go away I want to be able to chuck a load on there.

Unless something else springs up between now and buying I think it'll probably be the Iconia. Whilst it's not the fastest or slickest it looks like it'll do everything pretty solidly. I will be keeping an eye on second hand Asus Transformer Primes as I might get lucky and pick one up around the £200 mark.

Edited by tenohfive on Friday 12th October 12:38

[TameRacingDriver]

tenohfive said:

First thing is a decent quality 10" screen - it'll be mostly for movies and web browsing, and a 7" tab isn't that much bigger than my SGS3.

I'm not going to try and change your mind about a 10" tablet, but what I will say is that, although a 7" tablet is "only" 2" bigger than your SGS3, I speak from personal experience when I say in fact, a 7" tablet is VASTLY bigger than your SGS3 in the real world use, probably twice the size or larger in fact.

I was sceptical myself but I actually find the 7" tablet a good usable size (and I have a 4.6" Galaxy Nexus - a very good upgrade in size over that), but it all depends what you want from it.

As you were....

[bodhi]

I'm sure if you were to shop around you could get a Sony Tablet S for around your budget. I bought one a year ago and it's been fantastic. Lovely to hold, really straightforward to use, has expandable memory and a brilliant Universal Remote Control feature. Using the IR transmitter on the top it can drive just about any Electronic equipment - TV's, Sky Boxes, Hi-Fi's, you name it.

I have an iPad 2 as well through work, and if I'm honest, I never use it at home as I far prefer the Sony. I've had less software issues with the Sony too, make of that what you will.....

[tenohfive]

bodhi said:

I'm sure if you were to shop around you could get a Sony Tablet S for around your budget. I bought one a year ago and it's been fantastic. Lovely to hold, really straightforward to use, has expandable memory and a brilliant Universal Remote Control feature. Using the IR transmitter on the top it can drive just about any Electronic equipment - TV's, Sky Boxes, Hi-Fi's, you name it.

I have an iPad 2 as well through work, and if I'm honest, I never use it at home as I far prefer the Sony. I've had less software issues with the Sony too, make of that what you will.....

I don't need convincing on the Apple front, simply put I hate iTunes so I've always avoided their product. Is ICS available on the Sony though?

TameRacingDriver said:

a 7" tablet is VASTLY bigger than your SGS3 in the real world use, probably twice the size or larger in fact.

I'll have a nosy next time I pass a Currys or PC World to see what it's like in the flesh, but one of the things I'll be using it for is so I can watch films with the missus, so the screen needs to be big enough for us both to see from lap distance. Can't hurt to have a look at a 7" tab though.

[bodhi]

tenohfive said:

bodhi said:

I'm sure if you were to shop around you could get a Sony Tablet S for around your budget. I bought one a year ago and it's been fantastic. Lovely to hold, really straightforward to use, has expandable memory and a brilliant Universal Remote Control feature. Using the IR transmitter on the top it can drive just about any Electronic equipment - TV's, Sky Boxes, Hi-Fi's, you name it.

I have an iPad 2 as well through work, and if I'm honest, I never use it at home as I far prefer the Sony. I've had less software issues with the Sony too, make of that what you will.....

I don't need convincing on the Apple front, simply put I hate iTunes so I've always avoided their product. Is ICS available on the Sony though?

TameRacingDriver said:

a 7" tablet is VASTLY bigger than your SGS3 in the real world use, probably twice the size or larger in fact.

I'll have a nosy next time I pass a Currys or PC World to see what it's like in the flesh, but one of the things I'll be using it for is so I can watch films with the missus, so the screen needs to be big enough for us both to see from lap distance. Can't hurt to have a look at a 7" tab though.

Yep, ICS has been available for a while now. Pretty sure I read somewhere that Jelly Bean was on the way too.

[Furry Exocet]

Now the Galaxy tab 10.1 v2 is out, can you pick the original 10.1 up cheap??

[Zad]

The Barnes & Noble Nook HD+ will be available in early November for £229. It has 16GB and a 9 inch screen, but 1600x1200 and micro-SD card slot.

[tenohfive]

Zad said:

The Barnes & Noble Nook HD+ will be available in early November for £229. It has 16GB and a 9 inch screen, but 1600x1200 and micro-SD card slot.

Down sides from a quick look (I'd not heard of it before your post) are a custom charger - irritating as just about everyone uses micro-USB now, and it means paying extra for spare cables as I like to have the option to charge anywhere (at least two at home plus a couple for the cars.) And if you want HDMI out that's another custom cable.

Furry Exocet said:

Now the Galaxy tab 10.1 v2 is out, can you pick the original 10.1 up cheap??

Quite possibly, I'll watch a few on ebay and see how much they go for. I've started watching the Asus Transformer Prime TF201 for the same reason, and of the options if in budget that's probably my preferred one.