Tablet Suggestions??

My suggestion would be a Samsung Tablet A with integrated gps. The integrated gps is important because although the tablet has wifi it doesn't need it or any cell service for navigation. About half the price of a I pad.

 

iPad mini

 

I don't mean my comment as a "knock" against any particular device, but I highly advise against buying with the price being the first thing. Of course, all of us have a budget and must stay inside that said budget. Also, as I said I am an ios person. I also know of some iPads that are not all that good. The same can be said for android devices as well. I just recently purchased an iPad A2270 off Amazon on sale for just under $400. This iPad replaced a 4th Generation I had used since 2013. I decided to replace it ONLY because the battery was giving me problems. It is still on my desk and will boot up just as it did when I first bought it. ios devices are tough and built to last. To date, I have not seen any non-ios device last much over 5 years. Now before somebody gets their panties all in a wad and can't get to that comment place fast enough I am speaking about what I have seen with my own blue eyes. I am tough on things like tablets and smartphones. ios devices are MUCH more expensive. I would be telling a lie if I tried to sugarcoat that. However, with almost 12 years of using them, I have bought good high-end Andriod tablets and I have purchased ios tablets. I get longer life with my ios devices. I also highly recommend taking a look at some of the youtube reviews of ALL these devices. Toms guide does a great job looking at both android and ios. LINK.

As I said, I'm an ios guy. I don't need to tear down android to sanctify my choice. Some people don't like ios, some don't like android. I just think before you buy a tablet make dang sure you have all the available information!

 

LoL no worries i rag on ios pretty hard. Ive had nothing but poor experinces with them and after one of their techs went off on me after asking an apparently dumb question....well lets just say i will never recomend one. Then there is the whole no repair without paying their techs in house who 99% of the time say no to even simple repairs or try to force you to buy new nonsense irks me like crazy. Didnt mean to come off as combatitive though.

I do wholeheartedly agree on the no referb thing though unless its a manufacturer direct sale. Way too many iffy shops out there.

Depends on how you use it. I have it for many reasons but you may not want it. Though iirc you do need to have a way to upload the ELD data on demand by the DoT.

 

The thing is I can say the same thing about non-ios devices. I had the Best Buy store near me refuse flatly to work on an old android tablet I actually bought there. They said it was out of warranty! Out of full disclosure let me say I have no use for Apple as a company and I despise their corporate culture! So believe me when I say flatly I am NOT an Apple Fanboy! I also hate what Apple has done with regard to their devices. I'm not going to do an X1heavy and write a tome in regard to this, BUT this is not an easy thing to discuss in a few words. I also should add that Samsung is also starting to do what I am going to try to explain. Look VERY closely at this 3utools printout of my new iPad I took this morning.


If you look toward the bottom you will see all those serial numbers for the internal components of that device. BTW Samsung also does this! If you have a battery replaced in a non-Apple service situation afterward you can no longer see the battery health in the iPhone and true tone won't work either. 3rd party service centers like THIS ONE will work on them, but there are limits on what services they can provide and have the device restored to 100% out-of-the-box condition. YES, some people have had some limited luck using computer programs that will rewrite ICs but to date, I know of nobody that has succeeded in syncing a replacement logic board to the touch ID. Like I said Samsung is also doing this same BS.

If I were a 3rd party repair tech I can't give away my time. I have spoken to several people that do micro repair on ios and non-ios devices. An honest tech will tell you flatly you are better off buying a new device. The only time paying to get a device repaired like this is when you have critical data not backed up on the said device. I recently went through a process I detailed in THIS THREAD!

The main point I am trying to make is a simple one. I fully agree with you on this comment. I'm just also adding this same thing goes on with non-ios devices too!

As I said I am an ios guy! The reason I am so is that I have learned in my 63 years that something "cheap" in almost every situation is actually the most expensive thing in that store OVER time. If I need a screwdriver I had much rather go spend the money on say a Craftsman tool than go buy a bag of screwdrivers on the dollar rack!

 

Apple guy here so yup, ipad.

I have two, I have a mini that I use on the fly for satellite view of sites, weather, traffic, podcasts, FaceTime with family instead of phone calls. I do have Cellular on that one so it’s always connected without jumping on a hotspot.

I have a regular low end iPad ($329) Im my bunk that I use for streaming and basic computer applications.

depending on his needs, I think either would be great. And they last me a long time too.

 

I also want to add another thing. You will get what you pay for. When you examine the specs of that "cheap" device take a look at its processor, memory, and storage. Late last year I was speaking to another ios guy that had bought a really cheap iPhone X and hated it. Apple devices with small storage are not as fast as the ones with larger storage. So honestly, EVEN with ios devices if you buy toward to lower price range you stand a great chance of not being happy with that device. I took this from the Verizon website a few minutes ago. Even with non-ios devices, to get good quality devices you are going to be paying for them. Samsung is starting to pull away from the rest of the pack in the android market! If I were tempted to buy non-ios this is what I would buy!

 

As to the Apple issue, I’d like to respectfully disagree about the amount of storage impacting the over all quality of the device.

There might be more options on the “pro max” versions everything else is basically the same as to chips, speed, materials, etc.

I have bought cheap and I have spent way too much on some items but other than features like better camera or better screen or whatever, the base units have very very similar performance.

Now, I’m NOT saying Apple is perfect and will please everyone or that they don’t have the occasional “lemon” … but the specs between model YEARS will have a bigger impact than the amount of storage within the model line up.

just my respectful two cents worth.

 

There is a youtube video where they tested two iPhones. Same except for storage. They tested it fairly. The lower storage phone was slower. I have looked for that video some since I made that comment.