# Budget tablet recommendations  for 2015



## Riklet (Dec 27, 2014)

I've been browsing and looking online for the past week or so, having decided I'd quite like a tablet. 

Never owned one before and I'm not looking for a top of the range one. I'm not planning on doing anything that special or different with it, just general browsing, music, videos, bit of writing, viewing photos and so on. Budget is £200 max, preferably less but I can always stretch for quality.

Currently interested in:

Nexus 7 (seems good but harder to buy now, price high-ish, no sd card and only 7inch - dunno if this might be an issue)

Lenovo - various models, there's an 8inch one the A8-50 which looks good. And smaller A7-50.

Samsung galaxy tab 3 or 4 - some decent prices going on these ones.

Asus ones like (fucking tapashit wont let me link) the ME181c.

Advice or ideas plz? 

Apologies if there is a recent thread on this but I couldnt see much.


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## magneze (Dec 27, 2014)

Not got one myself but the Tesco Hudl 2 is pretty well reviewed.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/tesco-hudl-2-review
http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/tablets/tesco-hudl-2-1267726/review
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/tablets/391081/tesco-hudl-2


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## editor (Dec 27, 2014)

The Samsung Tab ones are really good value at the moment.


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## yield (Dec 27, 2014)

Asus Google Nexus 7 (2013) - discontinued. Argos still seem to have some stock for £170

LG G Pad 8.3 (V500) - Expansys have it in white or black for £185.

Comparison http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=5673&idPhone2=5600

Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 is good but over budget.


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## Epona (Dec 28, 2014)

magneze said:


> Not got one myself but the Tesco Hudl 2 is pretty well reviewed.
> 
> http://www.trustedreviews.com/tesco-hudl-2-review
> http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/tablets/tesco-hudl-2-1267726/review
> http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/tablets/391081/tesco-hudl-2



My dad bought one of these for us for my husband to use whilst in hospital and for a tablet at the cheap end of the market it's actually pretty good, HD screen with 16:9 aspect ratio and decent sound, possibly the worst thing about it is that it keeps pestering you until you have linked it to your google account (which isn't that onerous tbh).  It's quite a handy little device for the price.


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## tufty79 (Dec 28, 2014)

Sorry to thread hijack 
I'm looking at this at the mo - http://www.tesco.com/direct/connect...-black/182-3108.prd?pageLevel=&skuId=182-3108 - a 7" with windows/office for £60...
All i really need it for is interwebbing/filmwatching,  but guess the camera stuff'd be useful as well. 
I'm guessing that with a hdmi port it could be hooked up to a monitor? 
I think i'm basically asking 'is it likely to be terrible?' 
(oh, and would it fishco?)


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## yield (Dec 29, 2014)

tufty said:
			
		

> Sorry to thread hijack
> I'm looking at this at the mo - http://www.tesco.com/direct/connect...-black/182-3108.prd?pageLevel=&skuId=182-3108 - a 7" with windows/office for £60...
> All i really need it for is interwebbing/filmwatching,  but guess the camera stuff'd be useful as well.
> I'm guessing that with a hdmi port it could be hooked up to a monitor?
> ...


I've never used a windows tablet. Looks like it's a Linx 7 rebadged for Tescos. 

Good value for the price. I don't know if having only 1gb of ram will be a problem?


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## Riklet (Dec 30, 2014)

Now wondering about whether to spend more for something real snazzy, or stay under the 200 mark.

I've tried out the samsung tab S 8.4 and it's a really lovely bit of kit. Seen it going for 260 on Amazon n hoping for an even better deal.

That said, still very swayed by that LG tablet, or the 32gb nexus, providing I can get hold of one. Thanks for the Argos link etc yield.

But I'm still wondering if it's worth stumping up more n getting something pretty snazz.


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## Fez909 (Dec 30, 2014)

tufty79 said:


> Sorry to thread hijack
> I'm looking at this at the mo - http://www.tesco.com/direct/connect...-black/182-3108.prd?pageLevel=&skuId=182-3108 - a 7" with windows/office for £60...
> All i really need it for is interwebbing/filmwatching,  but guess the camera stuff'd be useful as well.
> I'm guessing that with a hdmi port it could be hooked up to a monitor?
> ...


Fairly sure it would Fishco but the dancers might stutter a little bit when there's too many of them. Just pretend they're doing robotics 

Looks an awesome deal for £59 (it was £99 on Black Friday apparently) but you'd be best trying one out just to make sure I reckon as it is pretty low powered to be running a full version of Windows.

I'm sure they'll have a display model in Tesco? If not tell them you want to try it before you buy it. Can't imagine them saying no. Reviews seem good from the brief look I've just had.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Dec 30, 2014)

I've got the LG G Pad which I'm very impressed with and did well in most reviews I read. 

As a more budget option I think the Hudle 2 is hard to beat for the price after using my Dad's over Xmas.


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## c01642 (Dec 30, 2014)

Fez909 said:


> Fairly sure it would Fishco but the dancers might stutter a little bit when there's too many of them. Just pretend they're doing robotics
> 
> Looks an awesome deal for £59 (it was £99 on Black Friday apparently) but you'd be best trying one out just to make sure I reckon as it is pretty low powered to be running a full version of Windows.
> 
> I'm sure they'll have a display model in Tesco? If not tell them you want to try it before you buy it. Can't imagine them saying no. Reviews seem good from the brief look I've just had.



Carphone warehouse do a windows tablet for £49.

http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/tablet/hipstreet-w7?colourCode=BLACK


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## Fez909 (Dec 30, 2014)

c01642 said:


> Carphone warehouse do a windows tablet for £49.
> 
> http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/tablet/hipstreet-w7?colourCode=BLACK


Looks to be the same thing...jut re-branded? Even more of a bargain, then


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## Riklet (Dec 31, 2014)

Wasn't sure in the end about forking out more than 200 for the Samsung galaxy tab S, but liked the feel of it... went to John Lewis earlier and picked up a galaxy tab pro 8.4" for 199 quid. okay,  not quite cutting edge but still v decent.

Really nice feel to it so far, feels like a good deal especially with the 2 year warranty.

They had some decent deals going there. Decent Asus models for example.


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## Chz (Jan 6, 2015)

Really, the only non-iPad things worth buying are the Tab 8.4 and the Hudl 2. At MSRP, barring sales and whatnot that is. The Tab 8.4 is nicer than the Hudl, but not nice enough to justify its premium. Once you go past £200, I'd just get an iPad unless you're especially tied to Android.


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## Riklet (Jan 8, 2015)

Im enjoying my samsung pro. Good size n feels sleek, altho it is def not perfect. Speakers on only one side is the biggest drawback so far, perhaps. But good bit of kit and runs very smooth.


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## fractionMan (Jan 8, 2015)

What the best budget tablet with a 10 inch screen?


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## fractionMan (Jan 8, 2015)

The hudl2 is great value, ours is excellent


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## Corax (Feb 3, 2015)

Riklet said:


> Nexus 7 (seems good but harder to buy now, price high-ish, no sd card and only 7inch - dunno if this might be an issue)





yield said:


> Asus Google Nexus 7 (2013) - discontinued. Argos still seem to have some stock for £170


I loved my Nexus 7 2013, it was brilliant.

Unfortunately, mine's just a little a bit shit now:

Pro-tip for anyone with a Nexus 7 - don't leave it submerged in water for half an hour.  Unless you want a quirky high-tech dinner mat.


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## likesfish (Feb 5, 2015)

Morgan have nexus 7's for £70 quid you can usually find a 10% code off if you google couldnt tell mine from new got a refund on the £26 piece of rubbish I brought so it cost me less than £50 very happy with it.


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## Me76 (Feb 21, 2015)

I bought a Lenovo A7-50 after smashing my Nexus 7 2012 falling over. 

It was £80 from Argos and its much whizzier than my nexus ever was.  There are a couple of bug bears in that the brightness and volume settings keep resetting themselves, but apart from that, I would very much recommend it.


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## Tankus (Feb 21, 2015)

Another plug for the hudl2 , my sis has got one ....better than my 2013 nexus 7


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## nogojones (Feb 21, 2015)

So a Hudl2... would it work as an e-reader? or would it be straining to read books on it?


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Feb 22, 2015)

It would work, but it's a bit heavy and battery life is shorter then an ereader. The screen is like a laptop or phone, so that's more your thing if you can deal with it.


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## stuff_it (Feb 22, 2015)

HP Touchpad + android = £65ish


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## Sunray (Mar 6, 2015)

Here's a curve ball. 

A windows 8.1 tablet.  Its a PC.  It can run windows applications. Probably not so fast but for 90 quid? 

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/tablets/1000352/linx-8-review-the-sub-100-windows-tablet

The office 365 deal means you can get Office for a year.  Just needs a portable bluetooth keyboard and mouse.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Mar 6, 2015)

Sounds pretty shit. Unless you've got a compelling reason to stick with MS, I don't see the advantage.


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## c01642 (Mar 23, 2015)

HP Stream 7,windows 8.1 now £50

http://www.neowin.net/news/hps-stre...s-currently-available-in-the-uk-for-just-4999


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## mango5 (Apr 29, 2015)

Having recently got serious about Evernote I think I'm going to want to use a tablet largely for note-taking while out and about, since typing from handwritten notes is becoming a bore.  Plus carrying a paper diary and paper notebook is getting too heavy.  Looks like the Hudl is the way to go for a glorified notebook.  Will I want a keyboard too? What are the benefits and drawbacks (especially weight and battery)?
Interested in your experiences, since the Hudl is so popular and now 'just' £100 with the keyboard an extra £15-ish via ebay.


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## Chz (Apr 30, 2015)

Hudl battery is variable. When you cane it, it drops *fast*. But under light use a good six-seven hours is normal. When the 4yo plays nothing but games, it's around 2.5.

It's heavy for an 8" unit, but 8" tablets aren't all that heavy to start with. 

For really serious use, I'd look at a Surface.


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## mango5 (Apr 30, 2015)

Thanks.  I'm serious, but Surface is hardly a budget option.


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## Chz (May 1, 2015)

It is and it isn't. If you consider that it replaces both a tablet _and_ a laptop, it's a reasonable cost. But yeah, it's an awful lot more than a Hudl 2.


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## motsy (Jun 5, 2015)

Riklet said:


> I've been browsing and looking online for the past week or so, having decided I'd quite like a tablet.
> 
> Never owned one before and I'm not looking for a top of the range one. I'm not planning on doing anything that special or different with it, just general browsing, music, videos, bit of writing, viewing photos and so on. Budget is £200 max, preferably less but I can always stretch for quality.
> 
> ...



Mine's a HP Stream 7 Windows 8.1 which I also use for writing, messing about with photography (I still do it) the internet, gaming (I've got a some good Nintendo emulators for it), music, reading and videos (Why is what's on You tube A LOT better than what's on the telly these days?) on Youtube.

I've had to make a few sacrifices (I can't install MS Works on it, not even from the SD card but Open Office're good free alternative as I'm not payin' ninety quid for a discontinued suite and I ain't payin' every year to use MS Office either!!). It's decent enough for an entry level tablet and good for somebody who doesn't want anything special (If Corel, Xara and Magix think I'm forking out fifty quid to download software I've already got they can fuck right off!!).


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## motsy (Jun 5, 2015)

mango5 said:


> carrying a paper diary and paper notebook is getting too heavy.



I agree entirely.
For some of what I write, I need more than one pen and paper notebook. Another reason I prefer Pocket PCs (I still use them) and my HP Stream 7 is that I can keep my notes in order and backed up without having to flick through pages and pages of notebooks with pages missing, about to come out and have random notes written on each page, especially when an important code or note is required and I can what I've been writing on the PC and transfer it onto my tablet by SD card.


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## Mogden (Jun 16, 2015)

I've battered my Samsung Tab 3 into breaking down after I've had it for just over a year *shakesfist*. I'm thinking of replacing it anyway cos the battery life is now shocking. Lenovo Yoga tablets look pretty good. I like the idea of the in-built stand as I'm usually listening to podcasts/watching crap telly in the kitchen. Any opinions? As well as my tablet, my Samsung mobile this time has been a nightmare to use so I'm loathed to go Samsung way this time.


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## mango5 (Jul 17, 2015)

I really like my Hudl2 but last week it crashed and died  Tesco are picking it up for repair next week - they say think it's a motherboard problem.  Can't fault their customer service so far.


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