My old ma has a 10″ Acer Android tablet she bought cheap in Tesco. It is, in a word, crap. She has asked me to ‘sort out the email’ but the problem is the 8GB memory is full.
Does anyone have any recommendations for a replacement?
Amazon Kindle not possible as the Barclays banking app does not run on a Kindle.
bogl says
Kindle Fire tablets are pretty easy to add the Google Play Store to.
https://www.howtogeek.com/232726/how-to-install-the-google-play-store-on-your-amazon-fire-tablet/
Everything works apart from casting as far as I’ve found.
fentonsteve says
Because I’m very dull, I’ve done that to mine.
Barclays banking app still doesn’t run, though.
bogl says
It’s Samsung then. They’re the best pure Android, non-iPadOS game in town.
Rigid Digit says
I got a Samsung Galaxy TabA. Does the job – email, browsing, bit of streaming, writing facile comments on blogs and forums (blorums?).
Got it free with recent phone upgrade (replacing a 3 year old Galaxy Tab which was bequeathed to daughter/grand-daughter).
Can get refurbished ones from Music Magpie for about 80 squids
moseleymoles says
My mum (84) has the Samsung Galaxy Tab and with a stylus can do iplayer, email, bbc news – the bits she wants to use. No online banking, they are just too old for all that. They ring me up and tell me what to buy them from the tax dodgers (weedkiller, thermometers, hats).
moseleymoles says
From memory (3 years ago) £199 so you would either get more for the same price or get the same spec cheaper.
johnw says
If one of the main things you want the tablet for is to log onto your bank, I would avoid an older model that may not have (m)any security updates left in it’s lifecycle. Even if you’re willing to take the chance, the bank may update their app to stop you being able to use it if you don’t have the right safeguards in place. Some banking apps delve relatively low down in the OS and many won’t work if the tablet or phone has been rooted such that the OS doesn’t exactly match what the motherboard is expecting to see.
Otherwise, refurb is fine.
Vulpes Vulpes says
My other half has an old wi-fi iPad (2?) that is basically struggling. I’ve considered getting her a new tablet, but can’t really justify the cost of a new Apple thing, so it’s an Android instead.
I can get a Galaxy Tab A7 32Gb with wi-fi for about £150, which seems like a big upgrade already, but I have no idea whether the 400 quid extra dosh needed for an S7 model would be a wise investment. Can anyone tell me if the massive price hike is worth considering? All she needs is email, browsing, Farceberk and the usual non-techy time wasting things.
Rigid Digit says
Not sure the big price tag is worth it for “normal use”.
The S7 (from what I’ve read) appears to be an attempt to replace a laptop/desktop with better screen resolutions, increased performance etc
Probably a bit much for the usual “who is that bloke on the telly? I’ll look it up on imdb” usage.
Can only really justify a £4ton tablet if someone else is paying, and/or you’re replacing your desktop
Vulpes Vulpes says
Thanks – that’s the sort of neutral analysis I was hoping for!
johnw says
It does depend a lot on what you consider ‘normal use’. I’ve got two tablets in everyday use. One is a posh Samsung 8in which mainly use because I’m mainly reading stuff and the resolution makes reading magazines and newspapers very easy on the eye. The other is a FireHD which does everything the Samsung does (albeit slightly slower but that’s not a big deal when you read a page at a time) but the resolution means it’s really not that nice to use for long periods of reading.
All in all, apart from the fact they no longer do a 4:3 8in high resolution model, they do have a wide range at a wide range of prices you’re not faced with deciding between spending £150 or £550.
Vulpes Vulpes says
Thanks for that too – I think I have now decided that the 32Gb A7 will be such an improvement on the geriatric iPad that it will elicit the bestowal of sufficient brownie points to justify the expenditure of about £170 including a snazzy cover.
johnw says
I think the fairly staedy price drops of the A7 mean that it’s a very easy to justify purchase. My only beef with it is that it’s clearly designed for watching widescreen content. I much prefer my tablet screens to be 4:3 (like an ipad and ipad mini).
fentonsteve says
Breaking news: Barclays shut her local branch, so Ma’s switched to Santander.
*Fires up Kindle, heads to Google App store*