Never bought a tablet before, could use some general input

samr4560 · Nov 12, 2015

Hi everyone,
As the title says I have never purchased a tablet before, but am now looking at getting one. It will mainly be used for school-related stuff, (doing readings, taking notes), and leisure (watching video's/browsing the internet). Not much else really- I've never been into games as far as mobile devices are concerned.
As a university student, however, my budget is a bit tight- if possible I would like to stay under $200 CAD. I've been looking at tablets like the Dell Venue 8, ASUS MeMo Pad 8, and ACER Iconia... But am open to any suggestions. What I'm wondering is, for basic applications, what kind of performance can I realistically expect from tablets in this price range?
Also, is it worth buying refurbished devices off Amazon? I've seen some good deals (especially on older gen. gear), but am always wary of buying used.

Thanks very much!

hdmark · Nov 12, 2015

few thoughts because I just went through this (granted I only wanted a tablet to watch movies while I flew places)

1- go to bestbuy and play with a few to see what size you want. I went with 7" because I wanted it to fit int he outside pocket of my backpack and be non intrusive to other people on the plane . but if its for school you may want a 10" or an 8". you'll have to see what you like better

2- I bought mine refurb off ebay I think from the asus ebay store. I grabbed a memo pad 7 (ME572C I believe). I really like it, but its the top end memopad. if you are looking at memo pads, keep in mine they have a TON of different models that very greatly. the base memopad 7 is 720p I think and mine is 1080p.
Refurbs are pretty safe if you find an authorized dealer. my guess is that mine had a faulty screen or something so they replaced the screen and sold it back. ive also bought monitors refurb (2 acer 23")

3- I would look into either 720 or 1080. don't go for a higher res. chances are the battery life will go down and the price will go up. plus unless you want something really fancy, you don't need more than 1080 at that size. you will see the difference, but I personally don't think its worth the money (at least not with my useage)

4- as far as that price range... youre looking more low mid end tablets (that why I bought refurb). they will not be as responsive as the higher end ones. as in the screen will lag behind your finger slightly. the audio may not be as loud or clear. the programs may not run as fast. but its a 200$ device so you cant expect the same performance as a 600$ smartphone.

I would really go check out best buy to see which ones you like the size/ feel of. and then also check the specs to see how responsive each is. if the dual cores feel too slow, aim for a quad core with more ram.

samr4560 · Nov 12, 2015

hdmark :

few thoughts because I just went through this (granted I only wanted a tablet to watch movies while I flew places)

1- go to bestbuy and play with a few to see what size you want. I went with 7" because I wanted it to fit int he outside pocket of my backpack and be non intrusive to other people on the plane . but if its for school you may want a 10" or an 8". you'll have to see what you like better

2- I bought mine refurb off ebay I think from the asus ebay store. I grabbed a memo pad 7 (ME572C I believe). I really like it, but its the top end memopad. if you are looking at memo pads, keep in mine they have a TON of different models that very greatly. the base memopad 7 is 720p I think and mine is 1080p.
Refurbs are pretty safe if you find an authorized dealer. my guess is that mine had a faulty screen or something so they replaced the screen and sold it back. ive also bought monitors refurb (2 acer 23")

3- I would look into either 720 or 1080. don't go for a higher res. chances are the battery life will go down and the price will go up. plus unless you want something really fancy, you don't need more than 1080 at that size. you will see the difference, but I personally don't think its worth the money (at least not with my useage)

4- as far as that price range... youre looking more low mid end tablets (that why I bought refurb). they will not be as responsive as the higher end ones. as in the screen will lag behind your finger slightly. the audio may not be as loud or clear. the programs may not run as fast. but its a 200$ device so you cant expect the same performance as a 600$ smartphone.

I would really go check out best buy to see which ones you like the size/ feel of. and then also check the specs to see how responsive each is. if the dual cores feel too slow, aim for a quad core with more ram.

Thanks very much for your reply, that's a lot of helpful info. I've always been wary of ebay though, (and used/refurbished products in general), any tips on what to look for and how to know if a product as been factory refurbished or the reseller is certified? Thanks!

hdmark · Nov 13, 2015

I use ebay a lot to buy and sell and have only actually been burned 1x (bought a tv from a guy with 0 feedback. he never shipped it and had a long list of excuses. I ended up getting all my money back tho as soon as I contacted ebay).

for refurb stuff, I buy generally from the actual store on ebay. example - http://stores.ebay.com/Acer
I think they have a refurb store too I get from. when searching for stuff. sometimes on the right side you will see like "best buy" or "newegg" or actual manufacturers (like acer). im pretty sure if just the retailers way or reaching more people.

also , make sure to never (or at least be very wary if you do...) buy from someone without a TON of feedback (thousands). ideally 99% and above positive. I sell on ebay and I think im at 60 or 70 feedback but im at 100% positive. if you see someone with less than lets say 100 feedback and they aren't at 100% ... I would stay away. the higher guys with tens of thousands that are just shy of 100% probably just had a crappy customer complain.

as for how to know if its been factory or reseller refurb... I don't really know. my 2 acer refurb monitors were from acer refurb store. and actually my tablet I just looked up I got from a store that has 22,500 feedback with a 99.7% positive rating so I figured they would be safe. plus for only 120$ (when I got it) I wasn't too worried

samr4560 · Nov 14, 2015

hdmark :

I use ebay a lot to buy and sell and have only actually been burned 1x (bought a tv from a guy with 0 feedback. he never shipped it and had a long list of excuses. I ended up getting all my money back tho as soon as I contacted ebay).

for refurb stuff, I buy generally from the actual store on ebay. example - http://stores.ebay.com/Acer
I think they have a refurb store too I get from. when searching for stuff. sometimes on the right side you will see like "best buy" or "newegg" or actual manufacturers (like acer). im pretty sure if just the retailers way or reaching more people.

also , make sure to never (or at least be very wary if you do...) buy from someone without a TON of feedback (thousands). ideally 99% and above positive. I sell on ebay and I think im at 60 or 70 feedback but im at 100% positive. if you see someone with less than lets say 100 feedback and they aren't at 100% ... I would stay away. the higher guys with tens of thousands that are just shy of 100% probably just had a crappy customer complain.

as for how to know if its been factory or reseller refurb... I don't really know. my 2 acer refurb monitors were from acer refurb store. and actually my tablet I just looked up I got from a store that has 22,500 feedback with a 99.7% positive rating so I figured they would be safe. plus for only 120$ (when I got it) I wasn't too worried

Thanks again, great post and very informative!

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Never bought a tablet before, could use some general input

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