LG G Pad 8.3 Hands-On

[Colbane]

I have the black version of this tablet. It arrived two days ago.

My opinion: this is the best tablet I've ever owned. I've had quite a few, including the iPad Mini and Nexus 7 2012. I had problems with my Nexus 7 (memory leak that was never fixed), and the screen was too small. So I purchased the iPad Mini in hopes for higher quality and bigger screen. I got both, but I hated iTunes and iOS with a passion. So I bide my time and wait for the next big release that would catch my eye. It was so hard not to buy the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, but I felt the situation would be a lot like my iPad, where I felt tied to the Amazon store. I could use custom ROMs but after the HP TouchPad, I wanted a tablet that would work awesome without having to flash a ROM. This doesn't mean I won't, but I wanted the perfect fall-back plan.

Anyhow, I'm loving this GPad. The screen is gorgeous, the battery life seems pretty damn good, its super fast, and the device size is absolutely perfect.

 

[erwaso]

$299 wouldve been wonderful but i feel its worth $349. Wspecially when something like the Nexus 5 16gb costs the same lol

 

[Colbane]

I think its worth the price too. I can't stop drooling on mine.

 

[erwaso]

One thing i experienced last night, i left this charged to 100% in my work bag in my car and it was at 85% this morning. In standby and no wifi connection. Anyone else?

 

[Colbane]

I charged mine yesterday morning at 100%. Today, after using it quite a bit yesterday, watching a TV show and reading last night, it is still at 44% right this second.

EDIT: I had my percentages backward. My battery is at 66%!!!

 

[jaj324]

No one knows for sure but based on leaks it will have a Snap800 with 3G ram.

If that is accurate it WILL be my next tablet. If not, maybe the LG 8.3

Sent from my LG-D800

 

[jaj324]

If that is accurate it WILL be my next tablet. If not, maybe the LG 8.3

Sent from my LG-D800

My N7 2013 will hold me over nicely until then.

Sent from my LG-D800

 

[erwaso]

More mfgs need to start making cases for this. The universal ones are too wide from my research.

 

[tx_tuff]

No one knows for sure but based on leaks it will have a Snap800 with 3G ram.

Why did you have to go and day that LOL know I don't know haha. Is it suppose to be out before Christmas?

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

 

[RussellmaniaKW]

Really thinking hard about buying this tablet, but have one concern. I've seen mention in a couple places that there might be a bug that is causing this to run on only 1 core at times when it ought to spin up multiple cores and the Engadget review I think complained about occasional lag. I figured the lag was just b/c of the stock LG launcher and that something like Nova would have no lag, but if this CPU issue is widespread then i don't know if I want to purchase until there's a fix.

has anyone who has the tablet experienced any problems with lag or the CPU apparently only running on 1 core? How does this thing run with a good launcher like Nova or Apex? (I hate that blog reviews don't cover this point...I don't want a review of the stock launcher, I want a review of the device!) also, how hard is it to remove/disable the bloatware on this thing? LG included a crap-ton of apps that I probably won't use and I don't want them taking up a gig of RAM in the background. Has that been a problem for anyone?

My local best buy has it in stock so I'm really tempted to go pick it up today, but I know the responsible thing to do is wait until it's on Amazon and save 25 bucks in taxes haha. Still considering the new N7 too. I know it has some build quality issues, but it seems like if I get a good one it's a very good tablet...the screen size is the only thing keeping me away though.

 

[lwood11]

Really thinking hard about buying this tablet, but have one concern. I've seen mention in a couple places that there might be a bug that is causing this to run on only 1 core at times when it ought to spin up multiple cores and the Engadget review I think complained about occasional lag. I figured the lag was just b/c of the stock LG launcher and that something like Nova would have no lag, but if this CPU issue is widespread then i don't know if I want to purchase until there's a fix.

has anyone who has the tablet experienced any problems with lag or the CPU apparently only running on 1 core? How does this thing run with a good launcher like Nova or Apex? (I hate that blog reviews don't cover this point...I don't want a review of the stock launcher, I want a review of the device!) also, how hard is it to remove/disable the bloatware on this thing? LG included a crap-ton of apps that I probably won't use and I don't want them taking up a gig of RAM in the background. Has that been a problem for anyone?

My local best buy has it in stock so I'm really tempted to go pick it up today, but I know the responsible thing to do is wait until it's on Amazon and save 25 bucks in taxes haha. Still considering the new N7 too. I know it has some build quality issues, but it seems like if I get a good one it's a very good tablet...the screen size is the only thing keeping me away though.

I don't think people will generally be aware of how many CPUs are in use and besides, it's a constantly changing situation. As far as saving tax on Amazon, I don't know about your state, but where I live, Amazon now charges sales tax, so they have no advantage over a B&M store in that regard.

 

[erwaso]

No lag here. And how would they know when it runs on one core? Sounds like speculation. My lg og can run eco mode (2 cores) but you have to manually set it to do so.

 

[erwaso]

Engadget doesnt like it lol
LG G Pad 8.3 review: well-designed, but priced too high

 

[Colbane]

That's because they only promote buying Apple devices.

 

[Haalcyon]

That's because they only promote buying Apple devices.

I always knew there was something shady about Engadget.

 

[MrSlippery519]

Engadget doesnt like it lol
LG G Pad 8.3 review: well-designed, but priced too high

Priced to high but is cheaper than the amazing Ipad mini, yep bang on...

 

[cbb77]

That's because they only promote buying Apple devices.

Exactly! Funny I had posted a comment directly on this. Mentioned how the iPad Mini came out last year at just about the same price point and with inferior specs, yet they never complained about price. G Pad is so much more at $20 more than the original iPad Mini started at and they complain. Lo and behold they deleted my post.

 

[tx_tuff]

I wouldn't call that a bad review, the fact is the guy is hung up on it being only a Snapdragon 600 instead of a 800 and compared the UI with Samsung which I'm really tired of hearing.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

 

[lwood11]

Well, if they want to make an issue of the Snapdragon 600 in the G Pad, why don't they say the same thing about the N7, which has the same processor? Most of these reviews are subjective and illogical. In reality, if you compare the G Pad and N7, the advantages of the N7 are that its screen is somewhat brighter, the resolution is marginally better, the price is lower, and the software is better supported. The advantages of the G Pad are that it has a significantly larger screen and a microSD card. It seems likely to me that the price will come down on the G Pad at some point and it's likely that custom ROMs will appear, so those differences may not matter so much.

Some reviewers have claimed that the N7 is somehow hipper looking than the G Pad, but I find the N7 to be a real plain-jane. When you see tablets on display at Best Buy, you would never give the N7 a second look if you didn't know what it was.

So, for me the advantages of the G Pad outweigh the advantages of the N7. If the N7 had the same screen size as the G Pad, I'd probably buy it, but it looks kind of dinky to me. I'm willing to pay more for the G Pad to get a more useful screen size.

 

[erwaso]

Well, if they want to make an issue of the Snapdragon 600 in the G Pad, why don't they say the same thing about the N7, which has the same processor? Most of these reviews are subjective and illogical. In reality, if you compare the G Pad and N7, the advantages of the N7 are that its screen is somewhat brighter, the resolution is marginally better, the price is lower, and the software is better supported. The advantages of the G Pad are that it has a significantly larger screen and a microSD card. It seems likely to me that the price will come down on the G Pad at some point and it's likely that custom ROMs will appear, so those differences may not matter so much.

Some reviewers have claimed that the N7 is somehow hipper looking than the G Pad, but I find the N7 to be a real plain-jane. When you see tablets on display at Best Buy, you would never give the N7 a second look if you didn't know what it was.

So, for me the advantages of the G Pad outweigh the advantages of the N7. If the N7 had the same screen size as the G Pad, I'd probably buy it, but it looks kind of dinky to me. I'm willing to pay more for the G Pad to get a more useful screen size.

Similar but not the same. N7 has the same processor as my lg og, the snapdragon S4. Gpad has the same processor as the lg g2. A small upgrade but more updated than wwhat's in the N7 and proven much faster.