Which tablet isn't shit?
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Looking to finally get a tablet. Well, another one-- I used to have a Blackberry Playbook after the fire sale. Good screen, nice CPU, and then it just shit itself (random freezing & reboots even after factory reset). Also, Heather's Playbook shit itself, and her dad's Playbook shit itself. Fuck Playbooks.
Aside from the Playbook, my only experience with tablets so far has been "99.997% of them are cheap Chinese pieces of shit with some outdated version of Android, only on the market to take advantage of Grandma who wants to look at photos".
So-- which tablet ISN'T shit? I'll need it to:
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play videos. The primary purpose will be putting shiny flashy things in front of Molly during the cross-country car trip this summer. So it has to have a good screen, speakers that aren't complete shit, and be able to actually do video playback without freezing & stuttering
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be rootable. Ain't no fucking way I'm installing Apps without a security/privacy suite-- and ain't no fucking way I'm browsing the Internet without AdBlock & a fully loaded Hosts file.
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Be powerful enough that it doesn't choke to death on such CPU intensive tasks like "scrolling" or "typing".
So, what's out there?
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@Lorne-Kates if you're willing to spend for it (and they ship to you, google is weird about that sometimes) the Pixel C is what you want methinks.
600$USD, specs for days, no crapware preinstalled (unless you condifer the standarg google suite crapware...), unlocked bootloader so basically instantly rootable
there's some offers on Amazon of source, but no official resellers it seems so... there you go.
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The nvidia shield K1 tablet is also nice. Rootable, powerful and since it's slightly older, not very expensive. Should be around $200.
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@accalia said in Which tablet isn't shit?:
600$USD
Looks nice. Certainly at the upper end of the price range.
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@Lorne-Kates said in Which tablet isn't shit?:
@accalia said in Which tablet isn't shit?:
600$USD
Looks nice. Certainly at the upper end of the price range.
yeah, it's pricy, but it's also about the highest spec tablet out there.
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@Lorne-Kates I don't know if it's rootable, but I got myself a Fire HD 8 yesterday. It's not as cheap as the Chinese knock-offs, but the benefit of that is it isn't utterly worthless shite. If it turns out to be rootable, then it might just be what you're looking for.
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If it must be Rootable. Get a Nexus.
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Picked up a Samsung Tab A 10.1 for €230 during Christmas Sales.
Nice screen, fast, recent tablet, plays YT and streaming TV nice and fast, not too much crap pre-installed, hasn't burst into flames (yet)
Storage size (you'll be needing an extra card), it's a SamsungNo idea about how it roots.
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I have an iPad mini. It satisfies your 1 and 3.
As for #2, you can have ad blocking now. But forget about rooting, it's not worth it. iOS has pretty decent privacy record, so I am not sure what you expect there.
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@Lorne-Kates said in Which tablet isn't shit?:
security/privacy suite
FWIW 90% of "security" apps are absolute garbage. Even the ones from reputable av dealers are crappy.
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@cartman82 Who the hell downvotes you for that?
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@Rhywden said in Which tablet isn't shit?:
@cartman82 Who the hell downvotes you for that?
I like to imagine apple and android fans are battling over my comment with hundreds of upvotes and downvotes, and the android people are just barely winning right now.
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@cartman82 I prefer Android to iOS but I gave you an upvote, because I didn't want you to have -1 any more ;)
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@sloosecannon said in Which tablet isn't shit?:
Even the ones from reputable av dealers are crappy.
Anything from reputable AV dealers seems to actually be complete garbage. However, I rooted my phone, tweaked the hosts file, and installed an iptables-based firewall and the only malware on my phone is Google's and the government's spying stuff so I guess it's okay
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Most generic Android tablets in the $200-$300 range are decent nowadays.
Just buy an Asus Whatevertheyrenamingtheirtabletlinethisyear.
And if you ever decide to buy a high-end tablet (>$500), buy a Windows one. You'll appreciate having a real OS that lets you see two apps at the same time.
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@bb36e said in Which tablet isn't shit?:
@sloosecannon said in Which tablet isn't shit?:
Even the ones from reputable av dealers are crappy.
Anything from reputable AV dealers seems to actually be complete garbage. However, I rooted my phone, tweaked the hosts file, and installed an iptables-based firewall and the only malware on my phone is Google's and the government's spying stuff so I guess it's okay
Partially due to the fact that you can't actually do "anti-virus" on Android at all due to how the system is designed. You've basically got Google's option (which works well enough anyways) and nothing else. As long as you install from Google Play only, though, you should be fine.
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I've had a Dell Venue 8 for a few years now, and having full x86 Windows on one has been very nice at various times. I imagine there are better ones now, but just wanted to make sure this direction enters your options.
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@bb36e said in Which tablet isn't shit?:
I rooted my phone, tweaked the hosts file, and installed an iptables-based firewall and the only malware on my phone is Google's and the government's spying stuff so I guess it's okay
I did none of those things and the only malware on my phone is Google's and the government's spying stuff ;)
Honestly, I see AV in the mobile space as being mostly a tiger rock. There are a few viruses out there, but odds are very low you'll run into one, so it's not like AV has to be any good.
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@anonymous234 said in Which tablet isn't shit?:
You'll appreciate having a real OS that lets you see two apps at the same time.
Yes, Android is really nice
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@TimeBandit said in Which tablet isn't shit?:
@anonymous234 said in Which tablet isn't shit?:
You'll appreciate having a real OS that lets you see two apps at the same time.
Yes, Android is really nice
Wake me when they can show three apps at once
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@TimeBandit said in Which tablet isn't shit?:
@anonymous234 said in Which tablet isn't shit?:
You'll appreciate having a real OS that lets you see two apps at the same time.
Yes, Android is really nice
Oh, cool! And it only took them
8 YEARS
to include that extremely complicated feature.
Hopefully around 2024 they will fix the damn external storage problems, and by 2032 they will be able to make phones that get updates for more than 2 years.
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@anonymous234 said in Which tablet isn't shit?:
by 2032 they will be able to make phones that get updates for more than 2 years.
They already do, it's called a Nexus phone
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@Yamikuronue said in Which tablet isn't shit?:
I did none of those things and the only malware on my phone is Google's and the government's spying stuff
While I agree with you for the most part. I managed to get my managers car to send me (and him) an email after I sent a text message to it without doing much to prove a point that he should probably upgrade one of the servers from Windows 2003 in 2014-5.
The car OS was Android 2.