Buying a new tablet

I bought a Samsung Galaxy tablet because I have a Samsung phone. I reckoned that the technology must be very similar. I found it very easy to set up. It is quite old now and doesn't get updates but it's fine and does what I need.

I stick with the Samsung Galaxy too.
I bought a newer one a couple of years ago.
Tbh, I don't use it much as I do most things on my phone.

I've got a Samsung Galaxy tablet A9+ which I think is a 10" there is a larger size. Absolutely love it, easy to use, takes good pictures, plenty of memory. Large enough to do catchup from things like Iplayer and a nice sound for commentary and songs. When it kicks the bucket wouldn't hesitate to buy another one. I know several people who have similar and haven't heard anyone moan about theirs.
I bought mine from off the Internet when it was on offer. There is an instruction manual to click on if you are puzzling over a problem. I can understand you asking as there is so much conflicting adv8ce and too much choice. Good luck.x
I understand w

Why are you buying a new device? Chances are you won’t use a quarter of the bells and whistles loaded on it.
There is a very good selection of pre used tablets.
I’m on my 5th pre used IPad. As good as new for what I want.

I can't help with what to buy, but did you realise you don't need to go to PC World or similar, to buy it , especially if you don't want to be talked into buying something you don't want, or need ?
Many large supermarkets sell tablets these days, and also Argos

Hi, Exdancer… the most important thing you must do when buying a new tablet is…… check the storage of the old one and obviously buy one that has bigger storage / memory.
Or you will be wasting your money and back to square one. If you don’t know how to check this then ask your younger family members for help.

I got my latest one from John Lewis. Tried to understand the differences between certain models and went for one that did less than the one I had spilt liquid on and destroyed. Needed help set it up though although it didn't seem too difficult just did not have the confidence to try myself.

I have always loved Apple but my latest MacBook Pro is becoming obsolete because the memory is only 64GB and the operating system takes so much of it. The only reason I will go for another Apple is because it syncs so nicely with everything else I have got otherwise I would throw in the towel!

You say you are used to "windows" , but most tablets run on Android, they are just like a larger version of a mobile phone, usually without the "phone" ability unless they have a sim card slot. If you want Windows as your operating system, try a Microsoft Surface , they are like using a proper computer, but in tablet sized handiness.

I have a Samsung a9. Easy to use but the battery is not the best.

Paid a bit, but my Lenovo Yoga is a laptop and a tablet (it folds over) and it is 5 years old and still upgradeable.

Advice. I set auto defrag; I backup to an external drive; I regularly delete .txt files and .log files more than a year old; delete my Mcafee and reinstall every time rather than upgrade, because it then removes a lot of checkpoints.
I have no idea how to do this on a tablet, but if you take your older machine to the nice local IT shop, there will be a young geek there to do it for you saving money on a new one

ps get hi to clean your fan too.

I was gifted an iPad from new. Far too expensive but it does everything and hasn’t slowed down. Has Kindle but I prefer real books. I no longer need reading glasses but love the opportunity to enlarge the screen. Use it abroad to watch Netflix etc. When it goes to tech heaven I will gladly replace. I’m a touch typist and had courses on Windows but found it easy to get going on the apple. We all get stuck at times. A younger member of the family has recently shown me how to Bluetooth my iPad to the printer enabling me to print out labels for eBay or recipes even.
Hope you find one you are happy with.

I have just bought a new 13” iPad from John Lewis. I found out too late that if you bought in the shop they would transfer everything for you but I had it delivered as I can’t get out with a newish TKR. It also came with the box open ,not thought the box the iPad was actually in, John Lewis is not what it was. I can’t remember half my passwords and I’m going to get our friendly computer man onto it when I’m up to being sociable and not so sweaty. My dgc said just put the old iPad and the new together and they will mate as it were. That did not happen.

You will realise I don't know what I'm talking about when I said I want Windows - what I DO know is I don't want Apple because I watch my husband struggle with his. I assume you can get whatever system you favour put onto a brand new machine, is that correct?
I have liked my Samsung and would consider another.
How do I find out how much memory it has so that I can make sure the new one has more?
(the grandson who usually helps me is working in Portugal during the summer recess from Uni)

ExDancer

You will realise I don't know what I'm talking about when I said I want Windows - what I DO know is I don't want Apple because I watch my husband struggle with his. I assume you can get whatever system you favour put onto a brand new machine, is that correct?
I have liked my Samsung and would consider another.
How do I find out how much memory it has so that I can make sure the new one has more?
(the grandson who usually helps me is working in Portugal during the summer recess from Uni)

Go into settings and scroll down to Device Care. Click on Memory. You will see how much memory you have used and the total amount on the tablet. If you then click on Clean Now you can free up some memory space.

You can't easily put different operating systems on your tablets. My husband used to struggle with Apple but is now managing quite easily. I can't imagine what there is to struggle with once you get used to it and they are more reliable than anything else on the market lasting years longer than your average laptop or tablet. However, Samsung it a good make too. This should help you decide on how big the memory/storage should be:

Basic Use (64GB to 128GB)
Good for reading books and emails.Fits casual web browsing and streaming videos.Best if you use cloud storage like Google Drive.

Heavy Use (256GB or More)
Best for large games and heavy apps.Fits downloaded movies and offline music.Great for storing many photos and large files.

You can also store stuff on an SD card too but you do rather rely on them not to corrupt.

definitely don't get an ipad. I had an issue with mine and Apple were AWFUL. If you are used to Samsung stay with that. I have one too and it's great..

I've got a Kindle Fire and am very happy with it.

ExDancer

You will realise I don't know what I'm talking about when I said I want Windows - what I DO know is I don't want Apple because I watch my husband struggle with his. I assume you can get whatever system you favour put onto a brand new machine, is that correct?
I have liked my Samsung and would consider another.
How do I find out how much memory it has so that I can make sure the new one has more?
(the grandson who usually helps me is working in Portugal during the summer recess from Uni)

No, you can't have whatever system you want, tablets will come with either apple or Android (like a phone), Windows is used on laptops, desk tops and Microsoft Surface tablets. If you are used to using just android then get another Samsung, they are good quality generally Take your existing tablet into Currys/PC World and ask them to check how much "rom" it has. To put it simply, "Ram" is how fast it will work, and "rom" is how much memory space it has to store apps, pics, files etc. If you know the actual make/model of your current one, someone here will tell you how much rom it has, that's the key thing to be able to store more stuff!

Also meant to say, there are also of course Chromebooks, like a laptop, but you can't add software easily to it.

I bought a new ipad this week my 3rd in many years. I transferred everything from the old to the new one very easily took less than 10 mins im very happy with it .

Daisycuddles

definitely don't get an ipad. I had an issue with mine and Apple were AWFUL. If you are used to Samsung stay with that. I have one too and it's great..

Personally I would never have anything apart from Apple, their service is next to none. wonderful to operate and syncs with everything else, I have iPhone iPad and iMac, never had any trouble with any of it. if I have a query i Phone apple they take over my appliance and do it all for me free of charge. Perfect for me. You can book a spcific appointment any time you like or just phone up and waith for them to answer the phone, never have o wait long. The best by far IMO

Well thank you everyone, I have taken it all on board.
I really can't be bothered to learn a whole new system at my age (87) I'm just too lazy these days.
I'll let you know what I decide when I've had a look at other retailers, and the internet, and gained a bit more knowledge.