Tablet Help Needed!

[nkereina]

Thinking about buying a tablet for my 66 year old dad for Christmas. He is NOT tech savvy, but he manages to use his iPhone fairly well. He likes reading news and sports updates through apps, looking at YouTube videos, listening to music apps like iHeartRadio, and I can see him eventually downloading movies on it as well for when he travels. Considering all of this, which tablet do you think might be the best option?

I think an iPad would be easiest for him to use since its the same as his iPhone. However, the cheapest I can find is around $200 which is a little more than I wanted to spend. I looked at the Samsung Galaxy 7" tablet which is about $89 right now but know nothing about Androids and am not fond of the smaller screen. Kindle Fire is also an option at $50, but I've read it's restrictive when it comes to apps, downloading, etc.

Any other tablets I should be considering? Pros/cons? Thanks for the help!

 

[PrincessJo]

My Galaxy is 10.5" and I love it. I also have a Samsung phone, Samsung washer/dryer, Samsung TV... etc. I love all of their products, obviously.

I use my tablet for everything, including e-mail, listening to iHeartRadio at work, reading my books and even watching movies while I run at the gym. I have nothing bad to say about it. DH downloaded an app for me so I can read my books and he has downloaded many other apps for me too.

I'm not tech saavy, but DH stopped buying Apple products because he likes to personalize his devices and Apple doesn't let you do that. He likes to change his fonts and icons and stuff like that. Samsung is much more versatile and user friendly. Hey, I'm using it! Because I'm not tech saavy, I can't answer technical questions, but I thought this might help.

 

[LJSquishy]

To be honest, I probably would consider giving him a different gift if an iPad is out of the budget. I'm not saying other tablets aren't adequate, but it does sound like an iPad would be optimal for him since he's already familiar with his iPhone. He may want to be able to sync his iPhone and iPad. If he plans to download any movies for traveling in the future, you'd probably need something larger than 16gb...minimum of 32gb I'd say.

With that said, the Fire tablets are inexpensive and can do the web browsing he'll want to do. You'd have to double check that he can get the apps he wants on it but I'm fairly certain he can. Samsung tablets are probably even better than the Fire, but the one I would suggest (Galaxy Tab S2) is still over $200. I have no idea how easy it is to download movies to watch on anything other than an iPad so I can't help you with that. If I were only looking for a tablet for web browsing, I'd probably just get a Fire tablet...but if I wanted apps or anything else, I'd want either a Samsung or Apple product (iPad is my vote).

 

[aprilgail]

My 86 year old mom manages to use an iphone so I got her an ipad mini- I actually bought it second hand for 125.00- I wouldn't consider buying any other type of tablet.

 

[nd5056]

Well... if I had to call out a minimum specs for the tablet it would be:

- at least 1.3Ghz processor speed - but anything above 1.7Ghz is better
- 2 GB of RAM
- 16 GB storage
- need to check the touch screen sensitivity - some are not responsive at all

with that said, for someone like that I'd agree with aprilgail and get a used Ipad or Ipad Mini

 

[Lynne M]

The thing is, if you get an iPad, he can sync it with the iPhone (calendars, contacts, notes, etc). You can also share apps - a lot of iOS apps are universal now, meaning that you purchase once and get an app that runs on both devices. Any universal apps that he's got on the phone will automatically load on the iPad.

My non-tech savvy parents have been doing fine with their iPads for years now. I really don't think they'd be comfortable with any other tablet, since they know iOS so well. I know techies like to complain about Apple's rigid app infrastructure, but that's actually a plus for non-techies. It keeps things very simple and straightforward.

 

[lizabu]

If ne has an iPhone an iPad is the way to go. Minis are getting cheaper. Or maybe pool together with a sibling.

 

[nkereina]

Thanks all so much for the replies! Thinking I might just cough up the few extra bucks for an iPad mini. He'll get a lot of use out of it for a while, so will probably be worth the cost. Thanks for all the advice!

 

[focusondisney]

Glad you're thinking of going with the iPad. Non- techy old people will be happier if they stick to what they know. I am a non- techy & in my late 50's (mildly old!) & have had an iPhone for years. I had been considering also getting an iPad. Then my laptop broke last spring. Instead of an iPad, I got a Windows surface 3 that my DH suggested (he has a Windows phone & uses that on both his work & home computers). Anyway, I hate, hate, hate the stupid surface tablet!! It is slow & glitchy & I haven't figured out apps or games I want. Actually, the one we bought did the "blue screen of death" with in days of getting it. We had to return it & get another one.

At this point, I'm just biding my time til my birthday next spring. I'll be asking for the iPad I should have gotten in the first place.

 

[nd5056]

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Specifications

• Model number: ASUS-2B16 (2013)
• 7” LED backlight WUXGA full-HD (1920x1200) display
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• 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor
• 2GB RAM
• 16GB hard drive
• Android 4.3 Jelly Bean operating system
• Pre-loaded with Chrome, Gmail, YouTube, and Hangout apps
• Buy apps from Google Play
• 1.2MP front and 5MP rear HD cameras
• Stereo speakers
• Up to 10 hour battery life
• WLAN 802.11 a/b/g/n
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• Narrow bezel
• Color: black
• Condition: new
• Dimensions: 4.5”x7.9”x0.35”, 0.6lb.
• 1 year warranty from ASUS

 

[Micca]

We have a Samsung Galaxy 3, it's several years old. It's basically worthless for just about anything other than surfing the web, and even that is slow and clunky.
Maybe they've improved, or maybe it's ok for playing games, but I'd never buy another one. I'd def. go for an iPad, but they are pretty expensive.

 

[nd5056]

The fact is, once you spend the same amount of money on Android that you'd spend on iPad, you'd get the same speed or better. The problem is people usually try to compare $200~$300 Android to $400~$500 iPad expecting the same results.

I had the Tab 3 and got rid of it in a hurry for the same reasons as you have described. But I'm more the satisfied with my $500 Samsung that has 12.2" screen.