Sorry for probably the nine jillionth "what should I buy post" on all these forums, but I'm about to drive my family crazy hemming and hawing and dithering about purchasing my first tablet, and I can't make up my mind and I need some advice.
I want to buy a tablet. I have $150 to spend for a tablet and case, no more (although for one of my options I might have to dig deeper for a few more quarters). So a 2013 Nexus 7 or anything else in that price range isn't happening. I could wait until I could do a little more, but I'm really not inclined to, plus I view this as a getting my foot in the door situation just to see if I'm going to LIKE a tablet. My only experience with such things is my kid's Kindle Fire and iPod Touch, and I kind of THINK that I'm going to like a tablet, maybe even get hooked on it, but I'm not sure enough to drop $200-$300 first time out.
So I'm thinking my options are a used first-generation Nexus 7, or a new Hisense Sero Pro 7 or ASUS Memo Pad HD 7. I had considered a refurb Galaxy Tab 2 but the specs don't match these, and one of the Nook HD's B&N is clearing but it lacks a camera and while I'm not much of a photographer my understanding is that a camera is needed for some apps to work.
I'm basically looking for something to surf the web, do Twitter and Facebook with, play music (most of stuff is Amazon, I've downloaded a bit from Google Play and am gravitating there more and more because of higher bit rate MP3 encodes, but the vast majority of my music is self-ripped from CDs), play videos (again, much self-ripped), read books with (all are Amazon because I have an original Kindle e-reader), read PDFs with, use as a GPS and use a few boring news/sports/music related apps with (I do not game, at all, and have no plans to start).
It's doubtful that I'll root the thing or look for an alternate ROM, although I see a lot of first-gen Nexus 7's out there with CM, etc., already on it and that would not dissuade me from trying it. I'm basically looking for something that's just going to "work" when I need it, period, when I turn it on, without having to do a lot of user maintenance or have to worry about the thing disintegrating if I breathe on it wrong. Neither am I going to obsess over not getting the latest Android update exactly when everyone else does.
I don't use the Cloud and have no inclination to start, being that so much of my content is self-ripped and I don't have time to upload it nor am I prepared to purchase the extra storage it would take, but a 32-gig Nexus should be sufficient, although the SD card option for the others is attractive, would make it easier to change out content (and would be a must given Hisense's 8 gig internal, the ASUS is a bit better at 16).
And I'm not going to obsess about screen resolution, either, eyes aren't good enough in my middle-aged years to worry about seeing every skin pore on a person's face when I'm watching video on a 7-inch screen.
So, which of these tablets would best suit my needs at the best price? I'm posting this on the 2012 Nexus 7 forum because in my heart of hearts that's probably how I'm leaning, but I trust the objectivity of folks here to lead me in a different direction if that's where I need to go. Thanks in advance for any help.
I want to buy a tablet. I have $150 to spend for a tablet and case, no more (although for one of my options I might have to dig deeper for a few more quarters). So a 2013 Nexus 7 or anything else in that price range isn't happening. I could wait until I could do a little more, but I'm really not inclined to, plus I view this as a getting my foot in the door situation just to see if I'm going to LIKE a tablet. My only experience with such things is my kid's Kindle Fire and iPod Touch, and I kind of THINK that I'm going to like a tablet, maybe even get hooked on it, but I'm not sure enough to drop $200-$300 first time out.
So I'm thinking my options are a used first-generation Nexus 7, or a new Hisense Sero Pro 7 or ASUS Memo Pad HD 7. I had considered a refurb Galaxy Tab 2 but the specs don't match these, and one of the Nook HD's B&N is clearing but it lacks a camera and while I'm not much of a photographer my understanding is that a camera is needed for some apps to work.
I'm basically looking for something to surf the web, do Twitter and Facebook with, play music (most of stuff is Amazon, I've downloaded a bit from Google Play and am gravitating there more and more because of higher bit rate MP3 encodes, but the vast majority of my music is self-ripped from CDs), play videos (again, much self-ripped), read books with (all are Amazon because I have an original Kindle e-reader), read PDFs with, use as a GPS and use a few boring news/sports/music related apps with (I do not game, at all, and have no plans to start).
It's doubtful that I'll root the thing or look for an alternate ROM, although I see a lot of first-gen Nexus 7's out there with CM, etc., already on it and that would not dissuade me from trying it. I'm basically looking for something that's just going to "work" when I need it, period, when I turn it on, without having to do a lot of user maintenance or have to worry about the thing disintegrating if I breathe on it wrong. Neither am I going to obsess over not getting the latest Android update exactly when everyone else does.
I don't use the Cloud and have no inclination to start, being that so much of my content is self-ripped and I don't have time to upload it nor am I prepared to purchase the extra storage it would take, but a 32-gig Nexus should be sufficient, although the SD card option for the others is attractive, would make it easier to change out content (and would be a must given Hisense's 8 gig internal, the ASUS is a bit better at 16).
And I'm not going to obsess about screen resolution, either, eyes aren't good enough in my middle-aged years to worry about seeing every skin pore on a person's face when I'm watching video on a 7-inch screen.
So, which of these tablets would best suit my needs at the best price? I'm posting this on the 2012 Nexus 7 forum because in my heart of hearts that's probably how I'm leaning, but I trust the objectivity of folks here to lead me in a different direction if that's where I need to go. Thanks in advance for any help.
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