What's the best device for use in a cramped seat flying over the Pacific?

[Manningham82]

I'm flying Cathay Pacific and told all seats have USB charging ports. I'd like to do some movie watching, some N64/SNES emulation (connecting a gampad, ps4 maybe?), and maybe some productivity via connectable keyboard.

I fly Seoul to NYC often, first time with Cathay and I'm really looking forward to the USB charging ports

 

[Rukbat]

You ask the tough ones, don't you?

I'm vaguely familiar with what the flight might be like - I was on a KAL 007 - NYC to Seoul - about 5 years before the one that was shot down. Talk about boring. (I'm American and don't speak a word of Korean. My seatmate was a Korean woman, about old enough to be my mother, who spoke not a word of English. [We got along fine the few times we had to communicate - with gestures and smiles.])

Anyway - your question is like "what flavor ice cream should I have for dessert?" Take what you'll be most comfortable using, and that you'll find best to use for hours at a stretch. I'd go with about a 10" Android tablet and a few 64GB SD cards of movies I haven't seen yet. But that's me. (I would have killed someone to be on a flight with a USB port in the seat and a tab or even a phablet - but computers those days came in boxes of at least a cubic foot.)

 

[Devhux]

If you wanted something for emulation, I'd highly recommend taking a look at something like the nVidia SHIELD Portable. Sure, the screen is only 5" but it's an amazing device for that purpose!

You could go with a bigger tablet, but bear in mind you'd need a wired controller that could be plugged in via a USB On-The-Go cable (wireless controllers would be a no-no on a flight). Of course, a tablet would be better for watching movies or trying to do some work.

It really is as Rukbat hinted at: there's really no one device that is perfect for all these tasks.

 

[Manningham82]

I like the 10inch tab recommendation.. picked up a galaxy tab s 10.5 today and the size seems right for a flight. Wonderful screen, but Touchwiz.. yuck. And the thing stuttered like crazy, even after a reboot! Samsung..

Why would wireless controller be a nono? Would they even know?

I guess you're right, no perfect device. I was just kind of hoping someone else had a solution they felt strongly about. I can be swayed

 

[Rukbat]

I like the 10inch tab recommendation.. picked up a galaxy tab s 10.5 today and the size seems right for a flight. Wonderful screen, but Touchwiz.. yuck.

:::whisper:::Nova Launcher:::/whisper:::

And the thing stuttered like crazy, even after a reboot! Samsung..

It will with certain video file types, it won't with others. Experiment. Then download a free video file converter (a PC will run the conversion faster - like a live snail is "faster" than a dead one - but any improvement is an improvement) and convert all the videos you'll be taking with you to that format. (Try the first one before doing the others. If it still stutters, try a different conversion program.)

Why would wireless controller be a nono?

Legally? Yes. Airplane mode means no Bluetooth either.

Would they even know?

Probably not. There's no confirmed crash caused by a radiating device. If you want to risk making history ...

I was just kind of hoping someone else had a solution they felt strongly about.

Even if someone did, it could be the totally wrong solution for you. A 10" tab on the lap tray is probably about as good as it's going to get. A Chromebook or netbook (do they still make those) of about the same size might also work (although my Acer netbook isn't very powerful).

 

[Manningham82]

Rukbat thanks for all the input

I actually installed Nova Launcher on the display model Tab S 10.5 in the store.. had to covertly tether it to my Nexus 5 and download that way hehe. It seemed faster, but I didn't get to really put it through its paces. I think I read that Nova Launcher doesn't really do much about the TouchWiz bloatware running in the background, so I'm hesitant to buy a device relying on Nova Launcher to bring it up to snuff in terms of speed. I'll read up some more about it.. have you personally used Nova Launcher to save a Samsung device from TouchWiz?