Which tablet?

[Prokart2000]

Hey everyone 

 

After doing my first year of uni I'm thinking of getting a tablet with a pen as a way of note taking in lectures. 

 

I am just wondering which one to pick. I have seen the new tab s6 lite which looks good but I'm unsure on how the chipset will hold up. Then I thought I could purchase the tab s6 when the s7 is released as I'd assume it's price would be decreased, I'm just not sure how we'll supported it will be in the future with software updates. 

 

I am also unaware of how the palm rejection is with these tablets. 

 

My main uses would be note taking at uni, browsing on Google, YouTube, Netflix and some occasional gaming, which makes the s6 lites price seem appealing. 

 

Does anyone have experience or the knowledge of which would be best for me? 

 

Thanks for the help

 

Pro 

[George Vella]

If I were you, I'd pick anything between the Tab S4-Tab S6, I own a tab S4 and I don't regret it. I'd reccomend for you to go to the Tab S6 and buy a keyboard case for it since you'll be working with docs.

 

The palm rejection is mainly great on my Tab S4 and my brother's Tab S5e so I'd assume it's the same for the Tab S6.

 

For software updates I wouldn't hold my breath as Samsung is notorious for not giving their devices more than 2 years of software updates. I'd pick an iPad if you want long term support but even my old Galaxy Tab A 2016 (10.1) on Nougat got a security software update a month ago, although its still stuck on Experience UI.

 

For note taking as I mentioned before I'd buy a keyboard case for it as it really imporves the experience and Dex is a nice touch as well.

 

As a conclusion, if I were you I'd wait for Samsung to release the Tab S7 and pull the trigger, although if the games that you play aren't that demanding even the higher end Tab A series would be a great alternative.

[Prokart2000]

18 minutes ago, George Vella said:

Got rid of the message to save space in the thread

As long as they continued with the security updates I think the current and next gen of android would be suitable 

 

Do you reckon the price of the tab s6 will be reduced accordingly when the tab s7 is released? I get 10 percent student discount directly from Samsung aswell which will help out. 

19 minutes ago, huilun02 said:

Same here

I'm one of those people who just don't like apple products I'm afraid 

 

Yeah that's why I was thinking of saving the extra and getting the tab s6 when it comes down in price. I'm just not sure when that price drop will occur 

[George Vella]

1 minute ago, Prokart2000 said:

I'm one of those people who just don't like apple products I'm afraid 

 

Me too, I've always used Samsung Tablets.

 

About the price, I obviously can't predict the future but according to prices on amazon, The Tab S series of tablets has gotten down in price, not by a lot though so if you don't think it suits your price range consider the Tab S5e or the Tab S4 or otherwise, as I suggested before, try their Tab A Series of tablets as my 4 year old tablet (Tab A 2016 10.1') still works fine for Google Docs, ect but Gaming doesn't go too well on it.

[Prokart2000]

1 minute ago, George Vella said:

Me too, I've always used Samsung Tablets.

 

About the price, I obviously can't predict the future but according to prices on amazon, The Tab S series of tablets has gotten down in price, not by a lot though so if you don't think it suits your price range consider the Tab S5e or the Tab S4 or otherwise, as I suggested before, try their Tab A Series of tablets as my 4 year old tablet (Tab A 2016 10.1') still works fine for Google Docs, ect but Gaming doesn't go too well on it.

I reckon if the s6 goes down to around the price of the s4 currently it will be okay as I'll get an additional 10 percent off of that price. 

 

I guess I need to wait and see what happens about tab s7 to see when the tab s6 comes down in price. 

 

The tab s6 does seem ideal give its amazing specs and s pen that seems to work really well, it's just the price which is off putting. 

[Lord Vile]

3 hours ago, Prokart2000 said:

Hey everyone 

 

After doing my first year of uni I'm thinking of getting a tablet with a pen as a way of note taking in lectures. 

 

I am just wondering which one to pick. I have seen the new tab s6 lite which looks good but I'm unsure on how the chipset will hold up. Then I thought I could purchase the tab s6 when the s7 is released as I'd assume it's price would be decreased, I'm just not sure how we'll supported it will be in the future with software updates. 

 

I am also unaware of how the palm rejection is with these tablets. 

 

My main uses would be note taking at uni, browsing on Google, YouTube, Netflix and some occasional gaming, which makes the s6 lites price seem appealing. 

 

Does anyone have experience or the knowledge of which would be best for me? 

 

Thanks for the help

 

Pro 

What subject?

[Prokart2000]

48 minutes ago, Lord Vile said:

What subject?

I'm studying motorsport engineering however I won't require it for things like cad as I have my computer for that

 

Edit: I just like the idea of a stylus to write with instead of pen and paper

[Darkseth]

I can recommend an iPad for "digital Note Taking", if you're into these kind of advantages.

I personally love it. Beeing able to delete instantly, drag and drop parts for a better organisation, digital Search function that can even search your handwritten words..
And not needing a heavy folder, that grows and grows.

 

Performance and battery life are very consistent, the Apps are extremely good (GoodNotes 5, Notability, and some other really interesting apps).

I would take that over any Android.

On smartphones you can really consider Android vs. iOS, but on Tablets... Android is worse (even less/slower Updates, and not very good optimized apps.. Especially Digital Note Taking Apps are much worse on Android mostly).

 

A good sweet spot between price, and performance (headroom) for the future is the iPad Air 3. + Apple Pencil (or Logitech Crayon, if you do not care about pressure sensitivity).

 

And especially for Gaming, iPads beat similar priced Android Tablets.

[Prokart2000]

40 minutes ago, Darkseth said:

I can recommend an iPad for "digital Note Taking", if you're into these kind of advantages.

I personally love it. Beeing able to delete instantly, drag and drop parts for a better organisation, digital Search function that can even search your handwritten words..
And not needing a heavy folder, that grows and grows.

 

Performance and battery life are very consistent, the Apps are extremely good (GoodNotes 5, Notability, and some other really interesting apps).

I would take that over any Android.

On smartphones you can really consider Android vs. iOS, but on Tablets... Android is worse (even less/slower Updates, and not very good optimized apps.. Especially Digital Note Taking Apps are much worse on Android mostly).

 

A good sweet spot between price, and performance (headroom) for the future is the iPad Air 3. + Apple Pencil (or Logitech Crayon, if you do not care about pressure sensitivity).

 

And especially for Gaming, iPads beat similar priced Android Tablets.

I'm not usually a fan of apple but I guess I can have a look into it. 

 

I have a while until I go back uni anyways so I think I'm going to wait and see if there are any notable releases and hopefully tech stores will reopen near me so I can try some out I store as my handwriting isn't the greatest so I want one that would feel comfortable.

 

Its a shame there isn't more on offer. It seems there's is really only apple and Samsung offering something decent.

 

Edit: it probably doesn't help I prefer the design of the Samsung and android in general. With the ipad I'm just paranoid a new one will come out soon as its an early 2019 model. 

 

On a side note can you do screenshots with the pen where you select a certain part of the screen and then paste it into notes? 

[Darkseth]

Not like that. You kinda do a normal Screenshot (not WITH the Pen), and before you even save it, you can Crop/edit it, and "export" it right into your Notes App, where you can annotate it, and if the App allows, even resize, rotate etc

 

The thing is, Apple makes use of the Tablet format better with a better OS optimization (and iPadOS made a huge leap).
Also, the Developers focus more on iPad Apps, where they also optimize for tha Tablet size with a different Layout, while Android Apps can often be just "large Phone layouts".

 

As for Android, Google gave up Tablets years ago. That's why there are no optimizations on Stock Android for Tablet size devices. Samsung only kinda tries to make it work.

Huawei is gone thanks to the Annoying Orange, and yea that's it.

But even if other companies would make Tablets.. I doubt it would be better. Because it's still Android, and there's a lack of optimized Tablet apps.

 

Also, Updates. Even a 380€~ Tab S6 Lite will probably only get ANdroid 11, MAYBE 12 sometime. While an iPad gets support for like 4-5 years easily.

 

When i used an iPad for digital Note Taking, i switched from an Android Tablet, and it was my only Apple device. Didn't regret it, it worked extremely great. Mainly  because the Apps (GoodNotes 5 and Notability) were so damn good.

[Prokart2000]

1 minute ago, Darkseth said:

Not like that. You kinda do a normal Screenshot (not WITH the Pen), and before you even save it, you can Crop/edit it, and "export" it right into your Notes App, where you can annotate it, and if the App allows, even resize, rotate etc

 

The thing is, Apple makes use of the Tablet format better with a better OS optimization (and iPadOS made a huge leap).
Also, the Developers focus more on iPad Apps, where they also optimize for tha Tablet size with a different Layout, while Android Apps can often be just "large Phone layouts".

 

As for Android, Google gave up Tablets years ago. That's why there are no optimizations on Stock Android for Tablet size devices. Samsung only kinda tries to make it work.

Huawei is gone thanks to the Annoying Orange, and yea that's it.

But even if other companies would make Tablets.. I doubt it would be better. Because it's still Android, and there's a lack of optimized Tablet apps.

 

Also, Updates. Even a 380€~ Tab S6 Lite will probably only get ANdroid 11, MAYBE 12 sometime. While an iPad gets support for like 4-5 years easily.

 

When i used an iPad for digital Note Taking, i switched from an Android Tablet, and it was my only Apple device. Didn't regret it, it worked extremely great. Mainly  because the Apps (GoodNotes 5 and Notability) were so damn good.

Ah okay I understand what you mean 

 

I can't lie you are making a very positive argument for an ipad. The Samsungs seem good but are actually more expensive than the air even though I'd have to buy a pen still and yeah the huawei/Google situation has really annoyed me. 

 

I think my main thing about the ipad air 3 is that it's getting on a little bit so I'm paranoid ill buy something and a new one will come out soon after. It does seem really good for the note taking and the support for it seems great

[Darkseth]

I know that feel.
But you really never know, when anything new comes out.

On Apple's iPads you can at least be sure: The Model won't get worse suddenly, and it will be supported for a few Years.

 

Rumors say, a new Model might come out in October~. MAYBE even june/july, but we won't be sure untill June 22th during WWDC.

[Prokart2000]

6 minutes ago, Darkseth said:

I know that feel.
But you really never know, when anything new comes out.

On Apple's iPads you can at least be sure: The Model won't get worse suddenly, and it will be supported for a few Years.

 

Rumors say, a new Model might come out in October~. MAYBE even june/july, but we won't be sure untill June 22th during WWDC.

Is June 22nd the date when we will know for sure if anything is coming? 

 

I'm happy to wait until then as I have no real need for it as my uni start up again in September so I have no need for it until then and id rather get the new one. 

[George Vella]

https://9to5google.com/2020/05/29/samsung-galaxy-tab-s6-lite-android-10-s-pen/amp/ @Prokart2000, this may also interest you

[Lord Vile]

16 hours ago, Prokart2000 said:

I'm studying motorsport engineering however I won't require it for things like cad as I have my computer for that

 

Edit: I just like the idea of a stylus to write with instead of pen and paper

I wouldn’t get one for note taking, they’re slower than pen and paper and you can’t write as small. All I did was write out everything in the lecture theatre and retype everything afterwords, saves space and makes things sink in better  

[Prokart2000]

1 hour ago, George Vella said:

https://9to5google.com/2020/05/29/samsung-galaxy-tab-s6-lite-android-10-s-pen/amp/ @Prokart2000, this may also interest you

Okay I'll take a look 

 

46 minutes ago, huilun02 said:

Whatever you decide to go for, I hope you remember and remain consistent to the very reason you started this thread and not straight up bought a Tab S6

Yeah definitely, I wanted to see what would be best. 

 

19 minutes ago, Lord Vile said:

I wouldn’t get one for note taking, they’re slower than pen and paper and you can’t write as small. All I did was write out everything in the lecture theatre and retype everything afterwords, saves space and makes things sink in better  

That's a solid point, I think I just like the ways you can present stuff on there it makes it pop out more and easier to remember 

[Lord Vile]

5 minutes ago, Prokart2000 said:

That's a solid point, I think I just like the ways you can present stuff on there it makes it pop out more and easier to remember 

When I was at uni I would not have been able to take notes on a tablet, especially second year when I was writing 5 pages an hour. There's a lot of information to get down especially when you're not given packs. Plus you should probably go through textbooks and fill out your notes even more.

[Prokart2000]

7 minutes ago, Lord Vile said:

When I was at uni I would not have been able to take notes on a tablet, especially second year when I was writing 5 pages an hour. There's a lot of information to get down especially when you're not given packs. Plus you should probably go through textbooks and fill out your notes even more.

I guess that's very true, maybe I don't require one as much I think I do then. I just have a couple of mates who use them and it seems really useful. 

[Darkseth]

Actually, you can write just as fast (why wouldn't you?) There is literaly no difference in writing speed, at least from MY experience.

And you can write even smaller, if the Notes App allows you to zoom in.

[Prokart2000]

4 minutes ago, Darkseth said:

Actually, you can write just as fast (why wouldn't you?) There is literaly no difference in writing speed, at least from MY experience.

And you can write even smaller, if the Notes App allows you to zoom in.

I'm honestly unsure if it's easier or harder as I've never tried it on a tablet before, that's one of the reasons I thought I'd ask on here for the advice lol. 

 

It does seem very useful from what I've seen in lectures. 

[Darkseth]

It's probably just personal preference So Just try out, how YOU can handle that. Since without a Screen protector ("Paperlike 2 is really great"), it doesn't feel like Paper, but just.. Plastic on Glas.

Paperlike 2 is quite nice, it brings back that resistance that's similar to Paper, with just minimal loss in clarity.

 

I used an iPad for like a Year, and it was beyond usefull to me. The Digital possibilities... just perfection. I felt, like i was beeing way more productive thanks to it.

Could be the same for you, or you end up ditching it and go back to paper ^^ You can only try it out for yourself. But i personally can give you my full recommendation for that.

[Prokart2000]

1 minute ago, Darkseth said:

It's probably just personal preference So Just try out, how YOU can handle that. Since without a Screen protector ("Paperlike 2 is really great"), it doesn't feel like Paper, but just.. Plastic on Glas.

Paperlike 2 is quite nice, it brings back that resistance that's similar to Paper, with just minimal loss in clarity.

 

I used an iPad for like a Year, and it was beyond usefull to me. The Digital possibilities... just perfection. I felt, like i was beeing way more productive thanks to it.

Could be the same for you, or you end up ditching it and go back to paper ^^ You can only try it out for yourself. But i personally can give you my full recommendation for that.

Okay that seems like a good idea, I just need to wait for the technology shops to open around me again as they are still shut for the moment.