iPad 5th gen 2017 / Lenovo Tab 4 10 Plus / Huawei MediaPad M3 Lite

[ThePsychoToad]

I'm looking for a tablet in the £180-250 ($240-350) price bracket. I've been looking at those three in the title new or refurbished.

 

Does anyone have any of them and can speak to the performance? 

 

I have a MacBook Pro I use for all my work (lots of writing in Word) which I don't like carrying when I travel. My phone is Android and I extensively use Google Drive etc as I've been steering away from Apple the last few years... never had an iPad but I know it's the most powerful at this price range.

 

I want a tablet that I can use at home to browse, toss in my bag for travel, watch a film in a hotel, use OneNote at a conference, and be able to edit some docs or say a PowerPoint on the train. Nothing major just a seamless experience that won't need replacing for a while.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice. I'm fairly well versed in tech but never even looked at the tablet market before! 

[r2724r16]

 

7 minutes ago, ThePsychoToad said:

I want a tablet that I can use at home to browse, toss in my bag for travel, watch a film in a hotel, use OneNote at a conference, and be able to edit some docs or say a PowerPoint on the train. Nothing major just a seamless experience that won't need replacing for a while.

I currently have an iPad Air 2 and it's generally more powerful and lighter than the iPad 5th gen although those two are pretty similar.

 

If I were you, I'd go for the iPad 5th gen over the other options because it's perfect for those requirements above.

[ThePsychoToad]

8 minutes ago, r2724r16 said:

 

I currently have an iPad Air 2 and it's generally more powerful and lighter than the iPad 5th gen although those two are pretty similar.

 

If I were you, I'd go for the iPad 5th gen over the other options because it's perfect for those requirements above.

Thanks. It seems an awkward time to buy a tablet really!

 

Am I right in saying I'd be able to open files from Google Drive in MS Office and be able to put non-Apple format videos on for VLC Player? I've been out of the iOS game for a few years now!

[r2724r16]

21 minutes ago, ThePsychoToad said:

Thanks. It seems an awkward time to buy a tablet really!

 

Am I right in saying I'd be able to open files from Google Drive in MS Office and be able to put non-Apple format videos on for VLC Player? I've been out of the iOS game for a few years now!

I think so, but I'm not 100% sure. 

[Darkseth]

16 hours ago, ThePsychoToad said:

Thanks. It seems an awkward time to buy a tablet really!

 

Am I right in saying I'd be able to open files from Google Drive in MS Office and be able to put non-Apple format videos on for VLC Player? I've been out of the iOS game for a few years now!

Those office files should be compatible. iOS features their own Ofice tools, you can use MS Word/Excep/Powerpoint, or the Google versions too. Also, One-Drive, Google Drive etc is available with all their feastures.

 

Yes @ VLC. I found it the ideal method for me too. You have to connect it to iTunes on your PC, go to VLC there, and add your Videos into the VLC app.

It's a bit strange there, but VLC will be able to play them all. In my case, it's a few .mkv files (everyone with multiple audio sources and subs included, VLC has the ability to let you change it on the fly.

 

If you convert it into an "apple-format", you probably would have to stick to just 1 configuration - unless i just don't know how to do that. So yea, the VLC way is ideal there.

 

Just one disadvantage: VLC doesn't support that floating videoplayer if you want to multitask.

 

Edit: Try to find out what the iPad 6th Generation costs more. Here in Germany, the difference is mostly not that big.

It features an A10 instead A9, will be supported a year longer, and supports the Apple Pencil - Even if you don't want to use it at first, the support for it is a nice thing to have - especially when you re-sell it later.