KPH tech blog

Recently I was browsing for a tablet (a name which I still cannot get used to), to expand my computing capabilites outside of the house. The search started when I was trying to view a film on my phone when my battery died, forcing me to sit on the sofa with a portable but still uncomfortably awkward 15-inch laptop. I realise Tablet PC’s have been around for a while, but I guess I never really needed one, and the question that would always have to be answered was, “can a Tablet do anything that my mobile or laptop don’t already do?”

Invariably, I was looking for something that I though didn’t exist; a cheap and fairly small device with the capabilites of my laptop but at half the price (sub-£200 GBP). My budget immediately ruled-out the cheaper iPad mini (currently at £249 GBP) and also the cheapest Microsoft Surface/Nokia Lumia tablets (around £400), which would have been an ideal candidate to merge into my already-growing ecosystem of Windows devices (Windows 8.1 laptop, and Nokia Lumia 820 running Windows Phone 8). That left me with just a handful of options: an Android tablet, a tablet running a limited Android UI (such as Amazon’s Kindle/Fire range), or a cheaper tablet running on an older operating system.

I’d set my sights on an Asus/Google Nexus 7 (2013 version), a tablet which I had been looking at for a while, even as far back as a year ago when my father was making a similar purchase. I liked the idea of a small 7″ screen, which was still an upgrade from the 4″ screen on my smartphone, and the idea of holding a device which was low in weight, as I would be holding the tablet for long periods of time to watch films and television shows. That meant battery life and pixel resolution were also key factors – I didn’t want to be viewing a Full HD film on a device that could only output at a standard definition of 1024 or 1280 pixels.

Although mobile data (3G or 4G/LTE) is a standard feature in mobiles and features in some tablet models, I wasn’t concerned with connectivity other than Wi Fi, as I would mostly be using the device in the comfort of my own home. The Nexus 7 2013 seemed a viable option, but poor ratings and reviews across multiple shopping websites and online forums discussing both Asus’ “appalling” customer service, and, in some cases, the screen appearing to form cracks for absolutely no reason whatsoever made me think twice about purchasing the Nexus 7 2013.

As I started looking around for another tablet that could match the Nexus 7 on specifications, I discovered the Samsung Galaxy TabPro; my father had purchased a Galaxy Tab 3 8″ and had recommended Samsung tablet, although past experience with a cheap Samsung flip phone (E250) was tempting me otherwise. However, the technical specifications listed the 8.4″ version as having a pixel resolution of 2560 x 1600 (with a pixel density of 359 PPI), which was far more superior than the Nexus 7 2013 which has a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels and a pixel density of 323 pixels per inch.

Another feature I found more appealing about the Galaxy TabPro was the ability to externally expand the storage; the Nexus had 16GB of internal storage and no card slot, whereas the Galaxy TabPro has 16GB of internal storage and also a microSD-card slot offering an extra 64GB of external storage if I needed it. As it happened, I had a spare 16GB microSD card, meaning I now have 32GB of storage; I mainly use the internal storage for apps, games and Google Play Books downloads,  and the external storage for music and videos. Plus, the Galaxy TabPro has got an 8MP rear camera, which is a nice feature although I’ve rarely used it alongside my mobile phone and Canon digital camera.

Some of you, no doubt, will still be asking why I so readily rejected the iPad mini – the main reasons being the price, the superior specifications of a cheaper Android tablet, and potentially having to use the incredibly slow and prone-to-crashing Windows version of iTunes to load music and video onto the device (I have had a bad experience with iTunes in the past, endlessly syncing music to my 4th-Gen iPod Touch 64GB). If it wasn’t for these reasons, I probably would have considered the iPad Mini.

Overall, I have had a very pleasant experience with my Galaxy TabPro. Battery life hasn’t been a concern (in contrast to various customer reviews on Amazon and a critical product review on CNET suggesting a poor battery life), and I’m able to surf the ‘net, Facebook and watch a couple of movies before the battery runs out of juice.

However, shopping for a tablet case has been rather difficult due to its unusual screen size at 8.4 inches, meaning most universal cases don’t actually fit the bill and I’ve had to resort to browsing on Amazon for a case. I wouldn’t recommend Samsung’s own range of cases; I’ve held a few of them in stores, and retailing at around £35, they seem rather flimsy for the price. I’d much rather have a more hard-wearing, independently-made case from one of the many offerings on Amazon, and I’m now moving towards a case that includes a detachable wireless keyboard, as typing this blog entry on my tablet has prompted many autocorrections that I care not to discuss at great length (though it did just replace “autocorrections” with “autocorrelation stock”).

Also, I’ve since gone back to the shops to look at a Nexus 7, and honestly, the 7 inch screen does look a bit too small…

-Chris Kenworthy.