Her laptop puked out. I did some surfing for the cheapo's and the list is endless. All I need is something she can check her email, ebay, weirdo girl sites that women do, and not much else. No gaming, videos, & oddball stuff. Cell phone is no good for her needs.
I do wonder about the OS too. I don't think they make them in XP Pro anymore, but that is where our brains are. Apple is way past her, but I'm good with it. So we have a quandary.
There are so many out there it is beyond mind boggling. Just wonder if anybody has experienced this same life threatening issue and found an affordable purse sized tablet for SWMBO.
Maybe I'll buy 2 if it's right? (no, I don't carry a purse... :'( )
Get a generic tablet that you can connect with your wifi or hotspot with your phone.
Many can be found from $50 - $80 on Amazon and you can find an Android tablet PC for the same price.
You will be amazed with what you can do with one and for the cost it is worth the experience and if you don't like it, there is a young person waiting for one to play games on.
I bought a Dell, factory refurb Win7 tablet a while back that I use for a specific application. It works great and the OS will be familiar to y'all. I also added a wireless keyboard that makes it more user friendly, but is not essential to the operation.
I'm kind of in the market for something myself.
I recently got a USB hookup thing for my model railroad to program the engines and do some ops. I'm busting at the seams to hook it up but the railroad is upstairs and my machine in downstairs. Nary the twain shall meet - well without way more work than I'm going to put into it. A laptop, notepad or tablet would be ideal for this application.
All it needs to have is a vanilla Windows version with Java on board and I put Java on it if it doesn't have it. A WiFi enabled device would be nice so I could piggy-back my regular net connection. That's not really necessary either.
For that matter if Win 3.11 or WFW could run it I'd be happy. That won't happen. I don't think Win95 could handle a USB interface. Actually I know it won't. Not unless I want to get back into operating systems programming. I'd probably have to write my own compiler to even do that now a days. Without a fat 6-digit paycheck that ain't gonna happen either.
I'm just a hobbyist/hermit anymore.
But I am in the market for a simple computer to talk to my trains.
Yes, today's model trains ain't like they used to be. Might as well be "talking" to a total station.
E
Similar situation recently, I opted for a refurb'd Acer C720 Chromebook on Amazon.
I couldn't be happier. For a basic device WITH a keyboard, I couldn't really ask for more.
I use my IPad for most surfing and book reading at home. I recently had to upgrade my IPhone and the current deal was upgrade and AT&T gives you a free LG Tablet. It has the Android OS. There are things I like about IOS but there are other things that I really don't like so the chance to have an Android was intriguing.
I still use the IPad because of larger screen but the LG is nice. You can do email and surfing on both. The LG supports micro SD storage so it can have more pictures and stuff avaliable
I think if I had started with an Android device, I would have never considered an Apple because of cost. The Apple is very easy once you get started
Next I want to try out a Microsoft Surface. I would like to find a Tablet that I could download a GPS receiver to and submit the files to OPUS.
Get her an iPad, she literally can't break it.
Since it is for SWMBO, get the Ipad. This is not technical advice so much as it is relationship advice. If this purchase was for you I might recommend that you try this droid or that. But for SWMBO, get the Ipad. Nobody goes wrong with an Ipad.
Just went thru this with SWMBO at Christmas. I got her a 10" Galaxy Tab with android her only problem was she could not fit it in her purse.:-O So I bought her a 7" android tab from walmart for less than $70 and she loves it. She can do her email, check her shoping ads, and facebook.
I took the 10" loaded all my current construction project plans (2 streetscapes and a bridge) on it. After a month with it I dont know I managed to keep the paper plans in order. Heck just the ability to pull up a pdf and not worry about catching pages in the wind is worth it.
I love my Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 7" android tablet. Can be bought on line for about $150. The touch screen is the key to a good tablet. Good touch screen = good tablet. I have gotten use to the touch keybord.
Mike Evans
