Tablet with a Pen

Hogosha · May 14, 2019

For the first time in years I am in the market for a new tablet. I like Android for the platform since that is where I own all my apps. I am willing to look at a windows tablet if it is reasonable in price for what you get. I mostly use the tablet for reading the news, and taking notes with OneNote. That means that it needs to have a pen. That is the number one requirement. Does anyone have any idea what tablets there are on the market that will work for my needs? I am so out of the loop on that right now.

Origami Cactus · May 14, 2019

Samsung has nice tablets with their nice pens, but they are a bit expensive?

Samsung S3 and S4.

There is also the more budget Note 10.1, but with it you need to make sure to get the S-pen variant.

Darkseth · May 15, 2019

iPad. Period.

And i am saying this as an Android + Windows user, who has NO apple Products aside from iPad.

If OneNote has all the features you want/need on Android, it will be okay (Huawei mediapad M5 Pro, Samsung Tab S3/S4).

But iOS offers MUCH better note taking apps with Notability and GoodNotes 5.

A bit more overall viewed:

Android tablets are basicly dead. Google gave up on them a few years ago, only Samsung/Huawei keep them alive. But yeah. extremely bad update policy (much worse than any smartphone), Hardware is often not that great (Samsung Tab S4 is quite not bad, but for 500+ bucks you can already get a MUCH superior iPad Pro 10.5" 2nd gen (from june 2017~), or the new iPad Air 3.

iOS is by Far better optimized, which you can feel when you use it. There are many more apps available that aren't just specifically optimized for Tablet use, but also much higher quality, feature-set, and support from developers.

And this is the Problem on Android. Doesn't matter how decent the Hardware is, and how decent the Pen is. If there aren't any decent apps, it's useless.

Apple also supports it far longer. Even a 2 year old iPad will still get updates in 3-4 years from now. While even the Brand new Samsung Tab S4 (too expensive, not worth in my Opinion because it loses hard against an iPad Pro 10.5") will probably be outdated in 2 years. The Tab S2 for example got 1 single Major Update, that's it. And it was always at least 1 Andorid version behind -> It was NEVER Up to date.

iPad with the Apple Pencil will give you a better experience, and many more possibilities to take Notes with and be productive otherwise.

Also, 4:3 from iPad is better for reading stuff than a quite Tall 16:10 format (which is better for watching videos).

Edit: I would stay away from the Note 10.1. This is a piss-old crap with a horribly outdated OS version -> Security issues. Also, the old Samsung Touchwiz Skin, which was bad and got replaced by "Samsung Experience" in 2015.

If you find a used one for <100 bucks, you might consider it. But anything more than 100 bucks is not worth it.

Glassed Silver · May 16, 2019

I myself went with the Surface Pro 6, the better equipped 256GB model can be seen in quite a few discount promos, the 128GB i5 model is more commonly discounted.

128GB means slower storage, if that isn't a concern, at least go for the i5 instead of the m3 CPU. I think in terms of bang for buck you're not that far off from a device that will do anything you want in this form factor than can be done comfortably and reasonably.

I have an iPad myself and I was initially even considering going iPad again, but despite the wealth of apps available at the end of the day the Surface can be laptop and tablet and for the tablety things a Surface is MORE than enough, I don't need a selection of 20 different f2p games that all copy each other. Okay that's a snide remark, the iPad IS all about an incomparable tablet app ecosystem, that's undoubtedly the one thing Apple has no doubt going for them. Apple knows, you know it, Microsoft does, Google does...

The question is: if the tablet tasks you need are just reading and OneNote, does an iPad really make sense? Say you're also in the market for a laptop upgrade like I have been. Surface is a no-brainer if all you ever touch on your iPad is YouTube, Prime Video, note-taking app, browser and the like.

Also... the Surface Pen is an absolute godsend and back- and forward-compatible. As is the keyboard. With the iPad you'll be spending money again when Apple says the body length needs to shrink by 4mm. Go figure.

That being said I think all individual factors have to be filled in by you, the only two main pointers I can really give you:

iPads are gonna iPad. That they do really well, but they don't really scrape their hardware's capabilities realistically.

Windows tablets are gonna Windows. They will behave like Windows and if you don't like that, well.... Not good, however:

both of these will get updates and security patches for a long time. Don't bank on super old devices and if you wanna make the purchase last a long while you won't even be looking at the Tab S4 anymore, since it too is due for a refresh soon, the S5e is an obvious hint at a new gen of the flagship tablet launching soon.

In the end your options end up being on the pricier side, but only you can make a call on that. iPads are less pricey indeed, but the new Air gets maximum processing specs with an OS that doesn't really need it and they skimped on areas where you would FEEL the difference a lot more as reader and note-taker like less bezel or a better version of OneNote.

Teddy07 · May 16, 2019

On 5/14/2019 at 4:40 PM, Hogosha said:

I mostly use the tablet for reading the news, and taking notes with OneNote. That means that it needs to have a pen. That is the number one requirement.

1

I recently bought an Ipad pro and can not recommend it enough. The pencil and the whole device is just awesome for note taking. I went with a used Ipad pro 12.9 first gen and it is still very smooth.

My father has a Galaxy Tab S4 with a pen. I tried it out but it wasn´t as good as my Ipad. Never had an Apple device before but I think it is the best for note taking.