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by mindrunner 3437 days ago
Don't even bother with those Chinese tablets. They are passable for media consumption, but absymal for anything else.

Buy something like a refurbished Dell Latitude series instead. Keyword here is you said "long trip'. When you buy something that made a lot of tradeoffs to achieve that price point, you are going to be frustrated.

2 comments

How about for app development? I got a small Windows 10 Chinese tablet that I want to use for testing Windows 10 UWP apps but don't want to open it (haven't had time to use it yet) if it wouldn't be worth it.
I have a Chuwi. Honestly, from the get go, you will know that its not a development machine.

As for testing apps, If you wish to simulate the user experience on a cheap Atom, this would be the thing for your. Else, you're bound to be frustrated.

Thanks. I misspoke, I meant to that I want to use it as a testing device and not a development device. I don't think I could do development on a 13" laptop let alone a tablet
I'm considering one for media consumption (Netflix, high-bitrate 1080p video) - do any have good battery life?
It will play fine. In my case, this is what I realised.

* I bought it thinking that this would be a cheap Win10 based Netflix / Comic Reader. Windows 10 is not really a touch friendly OS. You will end up booting into Android and installing apps. Even then, there are frequent crashes / Some apps won't work because the Tablet does not meet DRM requirements.

* Netflix on Android only runs in HD with certified devices. Else you're going to be getting streams in 480p max.

* I apologise for the Caps. I got burnt by 2 of these tablets. (My fault, because I was expecting an iPad like experience without paying the price). I'm hoping that I can give you what to expect if you decide to buy one.

There's a site and YouTube channel called techtablets.com, the guy does good (and possibly unbiased) reviews of most of these tablets you should check it out it will answer your question.
techtablets.com is great. In fact, I got my tablet based on his reviews. There is a hidden subtext behind his reviews though. He already knows what he should expect for the price he is paying. Thus, his reviews are based on what all tablets in that price point offers.

I went in thinking that the specs on paper would turn out to be great value for money. That was my biggest mistake.

Yeah that's true. You can say that his reviews are comparisons between devices of similar caliber but you get to see some details that you wouldn't otherwise expect e.g. If a USB port supports display out etc