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Is an expensive tablet really worth it? (lemmy.ca)

submitted 4 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

10 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Hey y'all,

There's currently a sale on the Samsung S10+ tablet which I decided to buy out of curiosity. I am absolutely blown away by how good the screen is. I currently own a Pixel 9 so I'm definitely an AMOLED snob and the Samsung software has come a long way. Dex is also a great feature.

However I find it to be a bit too big and heavy with a case and the one accessory which solves the problem the official keyboard case, is 200+ dollars. I am considering returning it as it's a pretty massive investment for what is essentially a YouTube machine.

I just wanted to crowdsource some opinions and see what my options are. I'm considering waiting for an S9 to go on sale instead but the S9 won't be supported as long as the S10+. The pixel tablet is also on sale so it's an option if I can live with a 60hz screen.

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[–] 9point6 6 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Not exactly what you're asking, but here's my 2 cents:

I've had a couple of android tablets over the years and always buy android phones, but in my experience generally even a refurbished 3 year old iPad is a better experience than even the highest end android tablet.

Unless something has drastically changed over the past couple of years, the biggest issue I found with android tablets is most of the apps are just enlarged versions of the phone app, with no real consideration for making better use of the bigger screen. This had the effect of not really adding much versus doing something on my phone. Nearly every app I use on an iPad is correctly designed for the screen size and consequently I make much more use of it.

Google really dropped the ball on its tablet ecosystem and they're not doing nearly enough to combat the issues.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 days ago

The iPad air is genuinely nice. Work gave me an M3 Mac and I'm genuinely impressed. The iPad Air is definitely a solid option. However I'm not in the Apple ecosystem so I didn't find it to be worth the value proposition. However, I'm still willing to be swayed.

Apps are definitely worse on the Samsung tablets. Like Duolingo forces a rotation to the portrait mode unless you enable force landscape.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Depends for whom.

I got a 2-in-1 ThinkPad L390 Yoga, and for me, that's absolutely awesome. But the S10+ weights only 571g, this ThinkPad is 1.54kg. I personally don't mind the weight though.
And the keyboard is already built in. It kinda sounds like you're basically searching for a laptop.

Originally, I thought I wouldn't even use the touchscreen, I only took it as I heard that the yoga version has better display colors, but oh wow does it make sense on a portable device. Something like viewing a map makes far more sense, it's also better for scrolling and in KDE Plasma I also have gestures for nicer window switching.
And I can also just use it as a full on tablet if I flip the keyboard around.

Never have I thought I'd want laptop with a touchscreen, but now I don't want one without it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Yeah. 2 in 1s are an option for me. But right now the best 2 in 1s are Windows devices. Which I'm not a fan of. I don't like windows in anything aside from desktops.

With the Samsung I'm getting android, with Linux via terminal emulation, and if I spend the money I can basically turn it into a laptop.

Proper 2 in 1s now have ARM chips and stupid copilot buttons. That's not compatible with Linux.

[–] ricdeh 3 points 4 days ago

I use a Samsung Galaxy Book3 360 for uni. Very lightweight, high-quality unibody metal chassis, great battery, great display, great touchscreen, it has a pen digitiser allowing you to (hand)write with palm rejection. And all of its features are supported OOTB by the latest Linux kernels with no further configuration required. You can put your distro of choice on there and then install the DE that you like the most. I use the latest KDE Plasma due to its amazing touch support, but it looks very desktop-ey, of course, so not the best candidate for you. Maybe putting something like GNOME (or KDE Plasma Mobile?) on there would make sense for you.

But if you need specific Android apps for what you are doing, this is not a real option. Yes, there are things like Waydroid, but I would expect that to be too much of a hassle for regular use.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Honestly, yeah.

A tablet is going to be a great media device, you can game on them, and that works best with better hardware. It just does.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago

Yeah. This screen despite being too big it's great for general use.

Money isn't the problem, it's value.

[–] jordanlund 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

After experiencing AMOLED burn in on my current phone (Samsung A53, faint outline from the keys on the keyboard), I'd have a hard time buying one again.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Fair concern, but the burn in issue is unlikely to occur on a media viewing device.

[–] jordanlund 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

That is true, but it depends on the media. Moving media, like movies, absolutely correct.

Media where most of the UI is static, like a music player or comic book reader? Could be a problem.