Need an advice on a tablet from tech-savvy people :)

[Sammy]

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[Cindy]

Well I'm a Microsoft person through and through and when I needed a tablet I ended up with ... an IPad mini.

Does all of what you said, fits into my handbag, I have a 4 G roaming connection and I use wireless local if need be, I can access my base computers up and download docs from it, watch movies on the plane and hating to give too much away I love it.

One weird experience is running two websites from a taxi on an I Pad, it is wonderful

[Lauren5]

Personally, I'm not that big of a fan of the tablet, with the exception of the Note tablets and hybrid tablets (tablets with attachable keyboards)

Personally, for price concerns, I avoid Samsung, however they do make great products. I especially like that their android tablets and phones are able to put two applications on the same screen, extremely useful for browsing the web while looking up an address on maps.

As for screen size, no, the 7 and 8 inch models are used primarily vertically.

The Tab 3 has a somewhat longer battery life due to upgraded software and more energy efficient components. It also has an upgraded processor. In terms of screen resolution and features, they are largely identical. If you are interested in a pen, then paying the extra for the Note 8 is worth it.

Personally, I'd say go for the WiFi model. Not only are 3G/4G models more expensive, they also require a data plan.
I doubt that you would be able to use a USB 3G/4G modem in the same way you would on a laptop; not only due to a lack of a full sized USB port on the tablet, but also because they'd want you to buy the more expensive 3G/4G model and a separate plan. If you plan on doing that, and internet on the go is your main concern, I'd recommend going with a Windows 8 tablet, as most of those have full sized USB ports, as well as the ability to download the drivers for it. If you plan on doing that, I'd go for the $350 ASUS T100, which is a 10" hybrid tablet with full Windows 8, although that may be more than you need.

Whatever you do, do NOT go with iOS. It's just a hassle to work with, as well as rather overpriced.

Hope this was helpful

[Hikari]

My tablet needs are not much different than yours and I found I didn't really need anything beyond my Kindle Fire. Sure the IPad is better, and plays nice with my iPhone and my hackintosh netbook but since I have a netbook (fits in a larger purse and has an actual keyboard) a lightweight laptop (a10 powered HP envy 15") and a powerful laptop (Asus G75vw i7 with a GeForce, weighs like. 12lbs) I found that I was well covered on just about everything mobile except an easy to carry device that I could read books and emails on.

The fire is cheap, plays my Hulu and Amazon prime movies as well as my books and music but, the whole OS is designed to make it very easy to purchase things from the amazon store which can be dangerous if you like to read a lot. If I had it to do over I would probably have spent the much greater cost to get an IPad mini and downloaded the Kindle app for my books because the iPad mini can stream your iTunes content to your Apple TV (Roku 3 might be better but I am a sucker for things that work together.

As far as USB goes I am not sure many of the tablets on the market would let you use their USB ports to connect to a modem, I have a ZTE 4g lte hotspot from verizon which let's me connect via wifi, I use it for everything from my iPhone (mine is old no 4g) to my gaming laptop since it supports 8 connects at once. It only costs $20 extra a month for that line from Verizon (data is shared however).

[Lauren5]

Yep, avoid the iPad. Not only is iTunes completely frustrating to work with, the iPad just doesn't have the features of Samsung's tablets or the price competitiveness of Windows tablets. Another big advantage of the latter two is that they can carry a microSD card for expanded storage, which I have found invaluable.

Yeah not needing the keyboard and paying for it is an issue. I don't think there's a 3G/4G model of it either, but at least you'd have the USB modem that would for sure work with it. But do consider that it is priced competitively for a 10 inch tablet, at least in the US, the pricing goes for a 7 inch Tab 3 is $170, an 8 inch Tab 3 is $270, iPad mini (7 inch) it's $330, T100 is $350, the 8 inch Note is $360, the 10 inch Tab 3 is $360-450, the 10 inch note is $500, while the 10 inch iPad is $600 (prices for WiFi only models.) Personally I wouldn't pay any more than $400 for a tablet.

I don't know how it works in Europe, but in the US, even if you already have a data plan, to add a tablet it's another $15-20 a month, and that doesn't add any extra data to your plan. As far as SIM cards go, I'd assume them to be similar, but the only way would be to check one out yourself, try popping your SIM card into one at a store, or asking to see a friend's.
That's where you might have issues, the software. I doubt there's compatibility with Android.

The pen is really darn cool, and can be bought separately, but only works with Note phones and tablets. It allows you to write in handwriting and it can either save it like that for notes, or translate it to text as you go. You could also use it for drawing. It's something you'd have to try out to see if you like it.

So try out the pen on the note, and get a look at the SIM slot and see if it's compatible. If it is, don't let them make you buy a new data plan when you buy a 3G/4G model, and just go with the card you have now and swap them when you want to use the other.
Good luck, and have fun shopping!

[Lauren5]

In terms of feel, just letting you know in advance that the Note series are somewhat shorter and wider than the Tab series. All depends on what you like best.