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back to article The best tablets for Christmas

Thank God for Microsoft. Without it and its new Surface tablet this article would be nothing more than me running around having an Android versus iOS argument with myself. Thankfully, as with smartphones, the arrival of Windows 8, here in its RT incarnation, has saved mankind from a bipolar tablet OS nightmare. More …

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    1. The Alpha Klutz
      Reply Icon

      Re: re-sale value

      apple fans are scum on the whole. i am an iMac user but I use it because its a solid PC with a glass fronted screen that I can spit at and wipe clean (eventually, when i can be bothered). when im done with it its going in the skip with the rest of the turds.

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  2. davew_uk
    Pint

    Re: What about the no-names?

    Most of the no-name tablets are rubbish, though there are some real gems out there. There are two main chinese chipsets powering these things, the Allwinner A10 (ARM Cortex A8 single core ~1.2ghz + Mali 400MP GPU) and the Rockchip RK3066 (ARM Cortex A9 dual core ~1.6ghz + Mali 400MP quad core GPU). Once you know which chipset a no-name tablet is based on you will get a very good idea of its performance and capabilities.

    Over here in Portugal the shops are full of sub-100eur 7" Allwinner A10 tablets and they nearly all have 800x600 LCDs with poor viewing angles and 8gb storage. I gave one to my wife, and for basic surfing and ereading its OK, handles virtually any known video file and even makes a fair stab at games.

    I spent a little more on mine (139eur) and got a BQ Maxwell Plus with an 1024x600 IPS panel and the RK3066 chipset. I also have one of these and it smokes the A10-based tablet completely for any use case.

    Bought both for the price of a Nexus 7 over here too :-)

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    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: What about the no-names?

      Sounds like you wish you had just bought the nexus 7 or an ipad mini but some people like to make their lives difficult - I could drive [insert some cheaply made indian car] but I'd rather just drive a Ford / BMW / whatever that works.

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  3. Pie

    I am a bit confused, it's a tablet article but has the ratings at the end for e-readers? Oh and how come no surface score?

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  4. handy

    Playbook

    Agree playbook is a great device, well worth buying. RIM has confirmed BB10 will replace the current operating system as well (BB10 release Feb/March)

    For 129 pound for well built device, you cant go wrong. IMO BB10 looks far superior to ios and andiord and there has been a major push to get developers on board. They stated several months ago there will be more apps than any other OS at launch (main downside previously of PB).

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  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Time for a new spanner in the works

    Maybe a bit late into the debate, but I saw syncing mentioned. This is an issue with Apple, but even more so with Google if you are trying to work with information you need to protect, like client data subject to Data Protection laws.

    With Apple you have to fight a bit, but eventually you have it syncing locally - you can even set up your own Apple server and then have in principle a miniature Private Cloud, thus avoiding it shipping all your data into unSafe Harbor territory and making you break the law.

    I would be obliged if someone could tell me how that can be done with Android, because you more or less START with agreeing to data acquisition by Google because it doesn't strike me that much works without a Google logon - which means agreeing to something that is deemed illegal if you business is located in Europe.

    Anyone?

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  6. messele
    Facepalm

    Why waste time doing a tablet round up and not mention the woeful usability problems that cripple Surface RT and the woeful graphics performance of the Nexus 10 which has a screen resolution way too large for the amount of graphics horsepower backing it up.

    Then there's battery life. Urgh.

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  7. Vince

    "close to empty" - "close to a lie"

    "Windows RT Store is close to empty"

    Not true. It's certainly not anywhere near as populated as iOS or Android/Google Play I will grant you. However, there are 2 other considerations. Firstly, many things simply do not need an app and the platform being a "PC style" experience means many things are already achievable without any extras already. Secondly, there are plenty of useful and worthwhile apps - and the majority (admittedly not everything - yet) of things I want are there. I'm sure it will improve, but to simply write it off as "close to empty" is pretty misleading.

    I've certainly got everything essential going just fine on my Ideapad Yoga 11 ta.

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  8. adnim
    Joke

    Best tablets for Christmas?

    Well that depends.

    Have children... Valium.

    Don't have children... Take whatever floats your boat.

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  9. Miek
    Linux

    I'd like to see what factors put the Nexus 7 and 10 at 85% and the Note 10.1 at 80% . Was it a price thing? The Note 10.1 has more features than the Nexus 7 and 10, so why the poorer score?

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  10. Anonymous Coward
    Headmaster

    Everyone's missed the single most important thing...

    ...about this article. Three instances of "it's" which should have been "its". THREE!

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