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Anyone who has a Surface (Pro 3/4) care to say whether or not the 4GB RAM is enough for everything that isn't video games and video editing or something? I just want a thing to draw on and do office apps and watch videos.
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Dec 13, 2016 22:12
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I got a SP4 with i5/8GB and its pretty dope! Replaced my MacBook for sure. Also, I did the in store deal where you get the cover and the Surface for like $1000 (its like $1500 normal) and then returned the keyboard for $100 back because I hated the type cover and if I REALLY needed to type a lot of stuff I'd just plug in a keyboard at work, or use the virtual keyboard like normal. Good purchase, would do again. Hate Cortana.
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Dec 16, 2016 07:06
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Go into a store, you get by far the best deal doing that. This week only, though (supposedly).
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Dec 16, 2016 22:14
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kloa posted:Where'd you do this? I've been eyeing the SP4, although trying to hold off for the SP5. It was during their before Christmas sales. Since they'll announce the S5 soon I imagine sales will happen soon.
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Jan 14, 2017 00:20
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Well, you can get the new iPads for ~$300 from Apple starting 3/24. http://www.apple.com/ipad-9.7/ e: oh sorry, $200 altogether.
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Mar 21, 2017 21:25
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Fire tablets are fine, just be sure you get the ones that don't have "special offers" which is a relatively innocuous way for them to shovel ads onto your device. As far as the warranty, Best Buy tries to sell you on protection plans, etc., so be sure you're not paying extra for it.
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Apr 14, 2017 19:57
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isndl posted:They're still using the lovely Marvell wireless chips unfortunately, I'm soured on them after the one in my SP3 straight up died forcing me to use dongles. I'll never understand why they stick to this loving thing. It makes the Surface Pro, an otherwise amazing device, finicky as hell. It's the primary thing an average user uses or cares about : internet access. Why skimp there? The Surface Pros are expensive already, just put a nice Intel adapter on it, drat.
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May 31, 2017 20:27
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Couple of things about lovely WiFi cards: you should make windows never turn the WiFi off when it sleeps or hibernate (under power management and also make it max performance) and also make sure that the WiFi chip's device in device manager has the box unchecked that says "let windows turn this device off to save power" or else it'll lose connections alllllll the time and you'll need to restart to fix it. The battery loss is minor and probably neutral if you factor in the constant restarting, as well as the fact you save yourself a headache. loving Marvell chip.
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Jun 3, 2017 17:56
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joepinetree posted:I am an old person who has been out of the tablet market for years. I will be going to Europe soon for about 3 weeks, but I need to finish a few papers that I want to submit for publication by the end of the summer, and I don't want to carry my behemoth of a laptop (17 inch screen). Essentially all I need is something light, that runs microsoft word or compatible, and that can do a remote desktop connection through VPN so that I can use my university's stats server. Is there a tablet that fits the bill, or should I look into some of the cheap windows netbooks? The VPN thing might be weird, but if an iPad can't do that then a Surface certainly can.
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Jun 6, 2017 21:33
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spiderbot posted:I'm thinking of getting a tablet or 2 in 1 for taking notes in meetings and reading ebooks. Due to cost I'm looking at refurbished machines, in particular the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, Dell Venue 8 or 11, and Samsung ATIV Pro 700T. Which of these will give me the easiest and most reliable hand writing experience? I am leaning towards Windows machines because I know I can use Office etc. , but is this less of an advantage now that you can get Office 365 on Android? Or is the Android version sub par? Straight up, office on mobile devices is very poo poo for anything above entering data into existing forms, or with OneNote. So an android version will be pretty poo poo, unless all you're doing is taking notes in OneNote. There is a free version of office apps for mobile devices that have very, very reduced capabilities called Word Mobile, Office Mobile, etc. (I think OneNote too for pen writing) which should fit any basic usage needs like taking notes or writing a paper. These are also available on the windows store. Android tablets also suffer from a lack of tablet optimized apps, much worse than iOS, and historically receive about 0 software updates and security updates. An iPad is also not at all a bad idea (in fact I recommend you get one instead of the other options). You can check out their refurb store (Apple refurbs are very very reliable) here. Prices start at $339 for refurbs but weirdly enough the new ones are honestly roughly the same price ($329) but you'll need to buy a pen in any case for writing. Apple Pencils are nice, for sure, but I think there are other cheaper options that aren't $100+. Battery life under normal usage is, I think, something like 6-7 hours? iOS apps for iPads are generally optimized for them, but sometimes not and they just upscale the mobile versions. You can, importantly, use the Office 365 (or maybe just Mobile Office apps) or use the Apple native ones which are similarly bare bones like the Mobile Office apps for free. You could also get a Surface Pro 3 refurbished from Microsoft. It's $450ish (I don't know your budget) here. You get a pen for writing and drawing included with it and it's full Win10. Battery life under normal usage will be probably 4-5 hours. jokes fucked around with this message at 17:02 on Jun 22, 2017 |
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Jun 22, 2017 16:58
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I got the Fire HD 8. It's good enough for anything you'd probably use a tablet for. Streaming stuff ain't no problem, certainly browsing reddit/SA is great. If you try to dig deeper you're gonna have problems. For example, swapping the launcher with something not poo poo is pretty much undoable (more on that in a bit). You can't reliably downgrade the OS version, and the most recent version has explicitly blocked old exploits and rooting. So you can't use any ADB commands to disable/delete the native apps. You can get the ads on the lockscreen disabled for free by just contacting Amazon, and being like "i want to see my wallpaper and not some obtrusive ads on the lockscreen" and it works. I can post a chat transcript (probably) where I literally said only like 4 things and he unlocked it. I don't understand why. Important: Launcher shenanigans. The standard launcher that comes with it is uninstallable, unchangeable, and undeletable. If you attempt to go through ADB and use a normal disable/uninstall command it'll just say no. A hide command also doesn't work. There is also no option to set a default "home app" like a normal android device. That being said, there is a hack-y workaround. The home button will always call in the standard Fire Launcher and there's no changing it through the settings. But there is an APK called LauncherHijack v3 that will remap the home button to use the desired launcher. But when you hit the home button, it'll still call in the Fire Launcher for about .1 second and then go away. But otherwise it's fully functional. If you don't want to use your own launcher, honestly it's fine. But it's RAM-heavy and skips a bit because it loads in a fuckton of content for the 10+ tabs to the right for music, movies, news, etc. Installing Google Play store is incredibly easy, so it can DO everything a normal Android tablet would do. For example I'm posting from it right now! All in all, not bad for $80 and I'm happy with it for couch-browsing.
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Dec 1, 2017 00:23
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The Ferret King posted:Yeah I thought maybe the stories of converting it to a standard tablet with ease may have been over simplified. At least getting the google play apps was easy. The rest of it is a different story.
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Dec 1, 2017 03:12
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Coca Koala posted:How well does the iPad (or any other tablet) work for watching tv etc when you're chilling in bed and don't want to hold it up or support it in your lap? The good tablets don't have stands for whatever reason, excepting the Surface Pro. You'll need to get a case for that unless you're good at using your knees/comforters to support it. A tablet is 100% perfect for your wife's use case and really any tablet will be great for Netflix. Any iPad that isn't the $249 one would be (in my opinion) a waste of money here though.
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Dec 8, 2017 15:52
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If you're concerned or whatever about the software, I'd be prepared to attempt to root that badboy and flash a ROM. Android tablets have an atrocious record for being updated.
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Jan 10, 2018 20:02
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The Fire tablets will always have Amazon poo poo tied to them, and customizing it beyond the wallpaper is pretty much not gonna happen without a lot of wonky workarounds (and even then you'll be severely limited) so an iPad would be a better choice compared to a Fire tablet, though obviously pretty much any other tablet wouldn't have this nonsense to deal with. The processor in it is pretty weak. Generally the answer to these questions will be "you should just try it out and see if it works for you" because it handles word processing surprisingly well to an extent. It does MS office just fine, for sure, on a normal document but when I have to handle 30-plus page word documents with a lot of heavy backend poo poo in there it definitely has trouble. But I have no idea if your forms are too large or there's too many things moving around, if the program will be hard on the RAM/processor, if you need a certain resolution. It costs like $70 to try it out and if it doesn't, returning it is free and easy.
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Jan 21, 2018 07:56
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Always a solid choice. An iPad (especially refurbs) are, honestly, great value. If you could nab a shitton of refurbs that would be a better way to do it since Apple refurbs are just incredibly well done and great value.
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Jan 23, 2018 20:37
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C-Euro posted:After asking about cheap tablets for reading I got a sweet deal on a used 5th gen Fire. Only problem is, when I connect it to my laptop over USB to add books onto it, my laptop doesn't recognize it as a storage device (although it begins to charge once connected). Do I need to do something on the Fire itself for it to start acting as a storage device? I think you need to go into the settings and enable the USB debugging or whatever thing. It's disabled by default. I don't think that makes it act as a storage device though. You'll have a much better time just putting poo poo on a SD card though and moving that back and forth.
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Feb 11, 2018 20:15
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Kubrick posted:I'm looking to get a cheaper tablet specifically for reading digital comics. That means it needs to be able to run both the Marvel Unlimited and Comixology apps and have a large screen with good resolution for reading text. You just download google play from a website and then use any google play apps including marvel unlimited. It's very easy.
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Mar 3, 2018 23:31
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Oh they figured out how to root the most recent version of Fire Hd 8s? Now I'm really upset I returned my HD8 and bought this iPad. I didn't really have any problems with my Fire HD8 except for the goofy amazon software, and the display wasn't amazing. gently caress.
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Mar 19, 2018 06:14
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Surface Pro 2017 with the fanless i5 is a VERY good pick. Great battery, silent, processor more than capable for most poo poo, even some light gaming. Course, it's expensive. I had a Surface Pro 4 and I loved it, except for the battery. I only used emulators on it for gaming and it ran like a dream. I even managed to put on-screen touch commands in the emulator for airplanes. Highly recommend. When I used the 2017 for a week, it was the perfect 2-in-1. But I didn't need a laptop to look at PDFs, so I just got an iPad. For office, etc., I had no problems with it. Or at least no more problems than you would with a laptop's touchpad. No slowdown, things like that. jokes fucked around with this message at 17:14 on Mar 21, 2018 |
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Mar 21, 2018 17:08
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Hit up that apple refurbished store for them for a bit more of a discount. I think the 2017 is like $240.
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May 1, 2018 16:54
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What all are you plugging into it? If it's just for the ethernet there's a $20 USB-to-Ethernet adapter from like Amazonbasics that shouldn't bottleneck you.
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Jul 26, 2018 03:47
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And if it's a problem just get a USB adapter that has multiple ports!
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Jul 28, 2018 06:23
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I personally love the chiclet style keyboard on the type cover. It's truly unfortunate That it's as unpopular as it is because I want a backlit version of the type cover as a keyboard for all my computing.
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Sep 21, 2018 15:22
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isndl posted:When was the last time you used a type cover? My SP3 type cover was backlit. I used the Surface Pro 4 and its type cover for about a year. I got a "Microsoft designer keyboard" which is similar ish but is missing the backlight. I've tried many keyboards and basically none of them have media keys, backlighting, and those chiclet keys. Sad!
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Sep 22, 2018 06:02
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If you're a huge snob about screen quality definitely do not consider the Kindle(s).
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Oct 9, 2018 01:28
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They're great tablets, but the Fire launcher thing is annoying. It made me want a regular Android tablet.
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Jan 3, 2019 21:35
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CascadeBeta posted:You can get nova launcher working pretty easily with a minimal amount of jank. Minimal, but still apparent and it's very annoying when I used it. Otherwise, great device.
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Jan 6, 2019 18:20
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Without that little flicker then yeah I'd be way, way more into the Fire tablet(s).
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Jan 7, 2019 08:02
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The surface has.. spotty stylus support. There's jitter, they break pretty easily, I hate the sensitivity of it. I had a Surface Pro 4 and I really enjoyed it as a laptop. As a tablet... eh. I think the stylus got better since then though.
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Mar 12, 2019 05:07
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The input delay absolutely kills me for e-ink displays. If the 2 has a lot less delay, I'd be into it.
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Dec 29, 2019 05:41
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It’s been a year or so, maybe two, since I messed with Fire Tablets but I had an HD8. Getting Play store apps on it wasn’t a problem at all, but reliably using a different launcher is what hosed with it. You needed to download some random APK off github to get the home button to go to whatever launcher, and it still had a split second of an attempt to launch the amazon launcher so it wasn’t completely seamless on that front. They were also juuuuust locked down enough that you couldn’t actually remove the Amazon apps completely, and getting root access was impossible at the time, maybe different now. A part of me hopes and wishes that Amazon gives up and realizes they’re poo poo at making software for these and completely opens them up, but who knows.
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Jan 22, 2020 17:55
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Fawf posted:Re: lockscreen ads, it's ~~~dishonest~~~ but just hop on Amazon support chat and tell them they're lagging your tablet or whatever and they'll remove that poo poo pronto at no cost Pretty messed up to decrease Amazon’s intrusive ad-based revenue.
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Jan 29, 2020 17:15
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I got a Samsung Tab A for emulator reasons and have been enjoying it thoroughly, aside from all the Samsung poo poo apps that I'll never use. I spent about $220 on it. There's an 8" but it has a bad resolution. Get the 10" if you get this.
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Mar 25, 2020 15:46
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Billa posted:Howdy! I went from an iPad Mini to the Galaxy Tab A (mine is 10"  ) and it rules so hard. I put a popsocket on the back to hold it up more easily. gently caress the HD8, it has a horrible screen and sideloading the Play Store only does so much for it, since it's a pain to fully de-Amazon the thing.
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Jun 8, 2020 21:17
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Cornuto posted:Bought a Fire10 HD a couple years back when going on the first vacation with my toddler to keep him entertained with movies at the airplane/airport. Haven't even touched it since the vacation and found it frustrating to use with a lot of input lag and really sluggish. Android tablets are also, similarly, mind-blowingly better than the HD10/HD8.
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Jun 18, 2020 18:57
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shlomo posted:Do you have any particular (recent) models in mind? I've had a hard time finding positively reviewed Android tablets lately; meanwhile, my Nexus 9 is getting pretty long in the tooth. I use a Samsung Galaxy Tab A (10") that cost like $250 from Costco and it's perfect. As far as de-samsungifying it, that can be done in a lot of ways. I'm sure you could flash a different OS onto it for the nuclear option, or do root nonsense, or ADB to get rid of the deeper apps, or just disable/delete all the poo poo. But frankly it's all relatively unobtrusive anyways. I'm a tinker-person and never did ADB poo poo so I did that to just get rid of like 90% of all the Samsung apps. Doing so saved me about 0.5GB of RAM consistently but I never noticed before.
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Jun 18, 2020 19:35
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I have that tablet. It’s excellent for everything but some of the more graphics-oriented games. Be ready to delete a bunch of Samsung/pre-installed apps. They don’t get in the way, but I save like 300MB of RAM deleting all those apps.
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Sep 17, 2020 00:24
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Getting lineageOS onto a Samsung tablet is fantastic. So much random poo poo that doesn’t need to be there. It shaved off about 600MB of constant RAM usage. Stupid how long it took me though. For my Galaxy Tab A 10.1 inch (2019) I had to flash stock firmware to bypass Knox, whatever the gently caress Knox is, and THEN I could put Lineage on there. Why did they have software specifically designed to make it harder to flash a different OS and put it on the box? Who was hoping for that, lol.
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Sep 26, 2020 01:19
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Big thing about Samsung is they are so popular you’ll see a lot of support by other users. If you want to flash a custom ROM there’s basically guaranteed to be a guide for your model. Plus there’s excellent build quality (even if the guts might be low spec). But importantly if you have a problem you can Google it and easily find an asked and answered tech forum post about the problem.
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Nov 16, 2020 06:17
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