I would really be grateful for some advice from you guys regarding which tablet to get

Sazzles · November 30, 2022

Hey you lovely people,

as the title says I am in need of some advice and recommendations regarding which tablet to get since I never had one before and there are so many models it's quite overwhelming.

I'm playing with the idea of either getting a Samsung Galaxy Tab S8+ or a iPad Pro 11", however of course I am also open for other tablets!

I would use it for: work, reading and note taking, drawing and well... watching stuff, gaming etc.

Usually I like to buy devices and basically use them until they can't be fixed any more so it's not a "I'm not sure if I should get this years iPad model" type of purchase but rather an investment into a device I want to use for a really long time if possible, therefore I'm not against spending a bit more once. Therefore my question or concern would be: Are those devices that would last me a very long time?

Also another thing I'm really not familiar about is how compatible are iPads with Windows PCs, are they a pain in the butt to manage your files etc with?

Thanks in advance!

fun_two · November 30, 2022

Welcome to LTT forums!

I am personally waiting on the Pixel Tablet which should be out in Spring 2023 (I think)

But Tab S8 is a good tablet, if you are not into the Apple ecosystem.

TylerD321 · November 30, 2022

2 minutes ago, fun_two said:

Welcome to LTT forums!

I am personally waiting on the Pixel Tablet which should be out in Spring 2023 (I think)

But Tab S8 is a good tablet, if you are not into the Apple ecosystem.

I find that the iPad Pro is pretty much the easiest thing to use for any drawing work or anything else you might use a magic pencil for. It's major downfall is that its file system is extremely confusing to me. I use an iPhone and an iPad, but would never use an Apple Computer.

porina · November 30, 2022

I eventually bought the Tab S8 but was debating vs the latest Air for a long time, with a primary use of gaming and a small side order of watching videos. The main difference in the end was pricing. To get a decent amount of storage on the Air was way more expensive. I'm not a fan of iPad's aspect ratio either, they're too square for 16:9 orientated content, which includes most games and videos. It may be better for some productivity, but it is not so much a use case for me. iPad probably wins for software support though. That's long been a big weakness for Android, although the Tab S8 family are supposed to get 4 years of OS updates and 5th year of security. If buying now note the 1st year is nearly up.

In both cases you could probably use Google Drive/iCloud to sync files between tablet and Windows so not a major deal there. Even when I used an iPad I did so through Google as their service works better for me.

Sazzles · November 30, 2022

49 minutes ago, porina said:

I eventually bought the Tab S8 but was debating vs the latest Air for a long time, with a primary use of gaming and a small side order of watching videos. The main difference in the end was pricing. To get a decent amount of storage on the Air was way more expensive. I'm not a fan of iPad's aspect ratio either, they're too square for 16:9 orientated content, which includes most games and videos. It may be better for some productivity, but it is not so much a use case for me. iPad probably wins for software support though. That's long been a big weakness for Android, although the Tab S8 family are supposed to get 4 years of OS updates and 5th year of security. If buying now note the 1st year is nearly up.

In both cases you could probably use Google Drive/iCloud to sync files between tablet and Windows so not a major deal there. Even when I used an iPad I did so through Google as their service works better for me.

Thanks for the insights! Atm I'm glad that I'm in a spot where I could allow myself to invest on a device which I would use for a long time.

Is the iPad worth it's money in general, as in is it a good quality product?

Excuse me for the probably silly questions

porina · November 30, 2022

14 minutes ago, Sazzles said:

Is the iPad worth it's money in general, as in is it a good quality product?

It is a good quality product. If it is worth the money is a personal judgement.

Commodus · December 1, 2022

19 hours ago, Sazzles said:

Hey you lovely people,

as the title says I am in need of some advice and recommendations regarding which tablet to get since I never had one before and there are so many models it's quite overwhelming.

I'm playing with the idea of either getting a Samsung Galaxy Tab S8+ or a iPad Pro 11", however of course I am also open for other tablets!

I would use it for: work, reading and note taking, drawing and well... watching stuff, gaming etc.

Usually I like to buy devices and basically use them until they can't be fixed any more so it's not a "I'm not sure if I should get this years iPad model" type of purchase but rather an investment into a device I want to use for a really long time if possible, therefore I'm not against spending a bit more once. Therefore my question or concern would be: Are those devices that would last me a very long time?

Also another thing I'm really not familiar about is how compatible are iPads with Windows PCs, are they a pain in the butt to manage your files etc with?

Thanks in advance!

For actual tablet functionality, I'd lean toward an iPad. Simply put, the iPad has a much richer ecosystem of tablet-native apps, including a few creative exclusives like Procreate. Android isn't as bad as it once was in this regard, but it's still true that it has fewer tablet apps. For that matter, iPads are now pretty solid for multitasking. There are a few areas where Android pulls out front, but I'd now say iPads have their advantages, too. They're more powerful for games, and will have stronger OS update support (typically 5-6 years of major OS updates versus 4 for Samsung).

Both tablets would last a long time, although I think they might even be overkill. For your uses, the main advantages I could see would be the 120Hz displays and upgraded speakers. Don't be afraid to look at slightly lower-end models, particularly the iPad Air with M1 chip. If you don't mind a 60Hz screen, it offers much of the iPad Pro's core experience at a lower price; it's still fast, looks great and supports the current Apple Pencil.

As for compatibility with Windows... it depends. Windows 11 now supports iCloud photo libraries, so it shouldn't be a problem to get your artwork and snapshots. And if you use cloud services like Google Drive or Microsoft's OneDrive, shuttling files over shouldn't be an issue. The main concern is drag-and-drop transfers — that's an area where Android is still generally better. But if you're content with cloud syncing, I wouldn't worry.