Which Tablet Should I Buy?

[cullenmichael34]

I am looking at (mainly) the ASUS Transfromer tf300 with dock, Google Nexus 7, and Lenovo a2109.

The main purpose I want to use it for is: Internet, 3d gaming (Modern Combat), Skype, Youtube, and creating word documents. I really like the idea of the keyboard dock on the transformer, but is it really worth the price? Also, my tablet has to have a quad core processor. I found the Lenovo on NewEgg for $250, Nexus 7 (32gb) is $250, and the tf300 is $350, but if I were to get the tf300, I would have to get the dock too ($100). I like the idea of a bigger screen, and I think I would be willing to sacrifice quality for size when it comes to the Lenovo. But, on the Nexus 7, I really like the idea of it being a google product.

Also, would the tf300 really be able to replace my computer as far as word documents go?

Thanks, this is my first post by the way.

 

[B. Diddy]

I replied to your other post in the Nexus 7 forum, but figured I'd duplicate the response here. FYI, I just got a new (not refurbished) 32 GB TF300 at Gamestop (with a bunch of quality games preloaded) for $299, and the keyboard dock at BestBuy for $75.

I have both the Nexus 7 and the Asus TF300. They're both excellent devices. The Nexus 7 is just about the perfect size because it's small and light enough to be very portable, but big enough to be easy on the eyes when using it for prolonged stretches of time. The Tegra3 makes it very snappy, and games look and play great. The lack of a keyboard dock isn't a huge drawback, since it's easy enough (and cheaper) to get a 3rd party Bluetooth keyboard as well as a standup case for the tablet. There are also companies that make keyboard cases that are generally decent--check out the Nexus 7 accessories forum for discussions on that.

I've only played around with my new TF300 (with dock) for a couple of days now, but I can tell it's all high quality. Updated it to Jellybean 4.1.1 as soon as I turned it on. No 4.2 yet, and not sure if Asus will go that far, but one thing that Asus has been known for is good support and relatively frequent updates for their tablets (compared to others like Acer and Toshiba). Performance is about the same as the Nexus 7, although Jellybean 4.2 on the Nexus 7 might give it a small performance edge. Games look great. The dock works perfectly, although the dock itself is actually lighter than the tablet, so when it's docked, it can be a little top heavy.

The main drawback of the Nexus 7 is that the 7" screen is just a little too small if you want to do a lot of office productivity. This is where the TF300 is superior. Although it's true that Android tablets aren't ideal for complicated and involved documents, I think they're perfectly fine for light to moderate word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations. Google continues to improve Google Docs (now called Google Drive), adding new features a few times per year, it seems. The tablet also has Polaris Office preinstalled, which got decent reviews when it first came out, but I haven't worked with it to see how it's held up.

I played around with the Lenovo at Office Depot, which seems like a good tablet, and $250 is a pretty good price. My main concern would be how long Lenovo will support it, since they're still a pretty small player in the US tablet market.

Anyway, good luck with your decision! I don't think you can go wrong with any of them.

 

[osubeavs728]

I bought a asus refurbished tf300 at newegg.com for 259.99 and a keyboard dock at office max (price match) for 50.00. Paid 310.00 all together, couldn't be happier

 

[B. Diddy]

Check this out:

10.1" 32GB Tablet w/Keyboard Dock

 

[CHIP72]

One quick note - the Nexus 7 is actually an Asus product (albeit a pure Android one). I think the success and popularity of Asus' Transformer line is a major reason why Google tapped Asus to manufacture the first-ever Android Nexus tablet.