# Best tablet with a SIM card slot for less than £250



## Errol's son (Jul 15, 2013)

I want to buy a tablet but I will use it overseas in Africa and will mainly connect using a prepaid internet connection.

I have seen people buy tablets overseas without a sim card slot and find they are useless as there is no sim card slot and they have to buy a bulky wireless connector to carry around or use a dongle to get online.

I will mainly use my tablet for email, Skype, word processing (writing one page letters often just tweaking a template somewhat), making simple spreadhseets, surfing the internet and watching the occasional YouTube clip. I would also like to store some music on it.

I would prefer one that is 10 or 11 inches as I think a 7 inch one is probably useless for word processing although I have never used a 7 inch one. I also want a strong one but am not prepared to pay for a full on "tough" one.

Ideally it will have a standard sim card slot as mini sims are not available on the network I will use although I understand if has a mini sim card slot I can simply chop the standard sim card down to fit using a template cutter available on ebay...


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## Shippou-Sensei (Jul 15, 2013)

I'd be intrested in this thread i though any tablet with mobile capabilities was going to be near the £300 mark

e2a

a quick google proves me well wrong.  the nexus 7  with mobile  is £230

although the cheap nexus 10  is over 300m and  doesn't come with mobile.  

you might neec to compromise on size


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## Errol's son (Jul 15, 2013)

Shippou-Sensei said:


> I'd be intrested in this thread i though any tablet with mobile capabilities was going to be near the £300 mark


 

I can stretch to GBP300 if necessary but don't want to go much over.


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## marty21 (Jul 15, 2013)

Don't know if they will work in Africa- but most smart phones can create a wifi hotspot - so you can use that to connect your tablet - then you could get something like a Kindle Fire HD (£150ish) or Nexus 7, etc - roughly same price


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## Errol's son (Jul 15, 2013)

I don't have a smart phone.  I use a simple Nokia for calls as it has an excellent battery life and two Sim cards so I can normally always get a signal and can go days without recharging it if needs be.

I just don't like lugging a laptop around as when I am at home I don't really need it. I want to leave my laptop in my office most days.  A tablet will let me do work such as emails when at home and is far more portable, particularly if it has the Sim card inside it.

I looked at the CAT B15 smart phone which looks a pretty good smart phone for Africa but I could never give up the basic Nokia and feel a tablet offers much more than any smart phone could.  My experience of smartphones is that the battery never lasts.  Whilst it does not matter if the tablet runs out of juice, my phone has to stay on.


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## marty21 (Jul 15, 2013)

Errol's son said:


> I don't have a smart phone. I use a simple Nokia for calls as it has an excellent battery life and two Sim cards so I can normally always get a signal and can go days without recharging it if needs be.
> 
> I just don't like lugging a laptop around as when I am at home I don't really need it. I want to leave my laptop in my office most days. A tablet will let me do work such as emails when at home and is far more portable, particularly if it has the Sim card inside it.
> 
> I looked at the CAT B15 smart phone which looks a pretty good smart phone for Africa but I could never give up the basic Nokia and feel a tablet offers much more than any smart phone could. My experience of smartphones is that the battery never lasts. Whilst it does not matter if the tablet runs out of juice, my phone has to stay on.


yep smart phones eat up the juice - spare batteries can help, charge a couple overnight so you can get through the day


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## FunkyUK (Jul 15, 2013)

Get a mobile wifi access point... something like this, and you can connect multiple wifi devices to a 3G / 4G sim to access the internet. they're available in 3g and 4g versions. we have a few Huawei ones at work. they do the job nicely.


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## Errol's son (Jul 15, 2013)

FunkyUK said:


> Get a mobile wifi access point... something like this, and you can connect multiple wifi devices to a 3G / 4G sim to access the internet. they're available in 3g and 4g versions. we have a few Huawei ones at work. they do the job nicely.


 

That is the thing most people have to buy when they buy a tablet without a SIM slot.  The trouble is that the ones the networks sell here in Africa where I am are more bulky than that one.  It seems that some Amazon reviewers have problems using the one you linked to abroad.  I fear I will encounter the same problem if I take that one to Africa.  I really want the SIM card in the tablet so the thing is highly portable...  The earlier IPADs had the SIM inside so I will be looking at those...


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 17, 2013)

I also want the best tablet for under £250. 

What is the current winner in that department? I want to sit in bed watching you tube and reading wikipedia, and not a heck of a lot more.


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## editor (Nov 17, 2013)

Nexus 7 is a bargain.

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/tablets/3465478/new-nexus-7-2013-review/


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 17, 2013)

editor said:


> Nexus 7 is a bargain.
> 
> http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/tablets/3465478/new-nexus-7-2013-review/


Sounds good enough for me. Thanks man.


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 17, 2013)

editor said:


> Nexus 7 is a bargain.
> 
> http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/tablets/3465478/new-nexus-7-2013-review/


Oh, does it have a USB input thingy?


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## tommers (Nov 17, 2013)

Yeah nexus 7.  Although i've never owned any other one so maybe they're all good.


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## emanymton (Nov 17, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Oh, does it have a USB input thingy?


What do you mean by USB thingy? It comes with a USB lead so you can plug it into your computer to transfer files, if that's what you mean.

I've had mine for over a year and am very happy with it, but like tommers I have never realy used another tablet.


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 17, 2013)

emanymton said:


> What do you mean by USB thingy? It comes with a USB lead so you can plug it into your computer to transfer files, if that's what you mean.
> 
> I've had mine for over a year and am very happy with it, but like tommers I have never realy used another tablet.


Usb hole. 
I heard that ipads didn't have them. I was worried that it might be some sort of tablet precedent.


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## Sunray (Nov 20, 2013)

I would get a 2nd hand iPad 3 or Mini 1 with mobile.

Android tablets are fine if you want to web browse or watch movies, but if you want to have access to a decent selection of tablet applications, the library for actual tablet apps on android isn't so great, lots of apps are scaled up phone applications. 

No such problem with the iPad. Nearly 500,000 iPad designed applications.


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## editor (Nov 20, 2013)

No, I _really_ wouldn't recommend running the risk of a second hand iPad.

Short of a relative handful of niche applications, there's more than enough apps for Android tablets. Hundreds of thousands of them in fact - many of them exactly the same as their iPad counterparts - so it's a complete non issue. Moreover if you get a Nexus tablet, you'll get a better screen and some of the very wonderful features that are unique to the Android 4.4 OS.


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## Fez909 (Nov 20, 2013)

"usb hole"


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 20, 2013)

Sunray said:


> I would get a 2nd hand iPad 3 or Mini 1 with mobile.
> 
> Android tablets are fine if you want to web browse or watch movies, but if you want to have access to a decent selection of tablet applications, the library for actual tablet apps on android isn't so great, lots of apps are scaled up phone applications.
> 
> No such problem with the iPad. Nearly 500,000 iPad designed applications.



This makes up my mind then. I did say I just want to read wiki and watch a couple of films. 
What's the big deal about 'Apps' anyway? They are just applications right? Why do we have to call them bloody apps, just because they are on a phone or a 7inch pad? 

No I don't need a sodding piano app or a 'draw with my finger' app.


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## editor (Nov 20, 2013)

You'll get all the apps you'll need on an Android tablet and get a cheaper, brand new tablet in the bargain and they'll work just about exactly the same as they would on a slower second-hand ipad with a lower resolution screen.


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 20, 2013)

I don't want any apps.


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## editor (Nov 20, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I don't want any apps.


Then get an Android Nexus and save yourself a few bob.


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 20, 2013)

editor said:


> Then get an Android Nexus and save yourself a few bob.


I think I will. It is a clear winner. 
I'll wait for after Christmas though. The shops and post are mega annoying right now. 

. . . and what's all this new shit about leaving mail with neighbours? The post office say they can now do this. 
My neighbours got given two records I ordered but now they have vanished. 

The PO are using this neighbour thing as an excuse to close the pick up office thingy. It's going to be a fucking nightmare. 
I should start a new thread about it. Pisses me off.


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## Errol's son (Nov 20, 2013)

I got the ASUS Fonepad which is near enough the same in many ways and I am very happy with it for surfing the web, watching TV etc.  I think it is a bit cheaper than the Nexus 7 now.

But the 7" screen is too small to write emails of more than one or two sentences.  A 7" screen is also slightly too big to put in trouser pockets, if you don't wear a coat.  In some ways I wish I had got an 11" tablet.  But the Fonepad (and I assume Nexus 7) are very good value.


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