Low spec 10" tablet purely for watching TV streams and netflix

Werewolf · 18 Jun 2016 at 15:03

Hi

My dad's asked me to look for a cheap tablet for him to use watching TV/netflix.

the key features are a larger screen, very high res is not needed (indeed it would likely be counter productive as he is blind in one eye and has trouble with the other).
Able to watch things like netflix and videos.

It doesn't need to be able to do gaming, doesn't need anything fancy, just basically a largish screen and half decent performance for video

I've got little clue about tablets as I've been quite happy with my nexus 2013, but it's a little small for him.

Cheers

w1lliam · 18 Jun 2016 at 15:13

Nook HD+

Can be picked up for about £50 from places like cex

kona786 · 18 Jun 2016 at 15:13

What's your budget mate and does it have to be new?

Werewolf · 19 Jun 2016 at 00:53

Hi about £150-200ish I'd guess which I know is going to be tight (although I have seen 10" models for as little as £60 but that rings too many bells).
He doesn't know how much use he'll get out of it so doesn't want to spend much.

New would be preferable, but good quality second hand (factory refurb with some form of warranty for example) would probably be ok.

The Deuce · 19 Jun 2016 at 08:24

asus zenpad 10

Things change I've changed · 19 Jun 2016 at 08:51

I have had quite a few tablets over the years ranging from budget to expensive iPads but right now I'm using a Lenovo a10 tab2 full HD model, and I have been very impressed by it for the money, check out reviews online, it actually has a 16:10 display @ 1920x1200 which I prefer over 1080p as it's a bit wider for portrait web browsing, really nice IPS display and outside of gaming I really don't notice any lag at all, and battery life is very impressive, around 12 hours!, It also has a Dolby ATMOS multi-speaker bar on the rear which is the best I've heard from a budget tablet.

http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/tablets/lenovo-tab-2-a10

If your not looking for good gaming performance this really is a hidden gem, I got it as a temporary tablet but have decided to keep it.

If you decide to get one just make sure you get the full HD model as there are two models that look identical, it has much better display and faster processor, the white one right now can be had as cheap as £139.

Werewolf · 19 Jun 2016 at 18:17

Cheers, I'll have a look at both of those models

thep02 · 19 Jun 2016 at 19:17

No advice, I've been looking at chinese phones the past few days and I've seen loads of tab adverts might be worth going to look at sellers mentioned in the Chinese phones threads as their tabs may have improved as much as the phones in the last year or so.

Werewolf · 19 Jun 2016 at 22:03

I've just had words with the old guy and ordered the Lenevo as I found it for £150 with a second year of warranty, hopefully i'll work out for him.

Werewolf · 21 Jun 2016 at 23:20

Just a quick update, the tablet arrived today and after a bit of faffing about with updating it and locating the micro SD card slot (in my rush to put the thing into a case I hadn't spotted the rubber card cover), we're quite impressed with it.

It works well for netflix and iplayer from our initial tests, and it is awesome for comics/graphic novels something I thought I'd check out as my brother in law asked for advice on a cheap tablet for comics a while back.

Noxia · 22 Jun 2016 at 07:47

lowrider007 said:
I have had quite a few tablets over the years ranging from budget to expensive iPads but right now I'm using a Lenovo a10 tab2 full HD model, and I have been very impressed by it for the money, check out reviews online, it actually has a 16:10 display @ 1920x1200 which I prefer over 1080p as it's a bit wider for portrait web browsing, really nice IPS display and outside of gaming I really don't notice any lag at all, and battery life is very impressive, around 12 hours!, It also has a Dolby ATMOS multi-speaker bar on the rear which is the best I've heard from a budget tablet.

http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/tablets/lenovo-tab-2-a10

If your not looking for good gaming performance this really is a hidden gem, I got it as a temporary tablet but have decided to keep it.

If you decide to get one just make sure you get the full HD model as there are two models that look identical, it has much better display and faster processor, the white one right now can be had as cheap as £139.

Thanks for this, I was looking at ipad Pro just for web browsing but this made me realise my money is better spent elsewhere.

ANDARIAL · 22 Jun 2016 at 08:29

Thanks for the pointer to the lenovo

My Xoom 1 has started to show its age lately and is really laggy.different roms and resets make no difference so was looking for another tablet just for surfing and emails

Things change I've changed · 23 Jun 2016 at 02:27

Glad you like the tablet,

I also have a performance tip if your interested, it helps improve the scrolling performance on the Lenovo tab 2 a10 by quite a lot in my opinion.

You do this by disabling a feature on the tablet called AAL (Ambient-Light Adaptive Luma), basically this tablet doesn't have a conventional ambient light sensor so it will not change brightness based on external light sources, it uses AAL that analyzes the content on screen and changes the brightness accordingly but from my experience this can have a negative effect on scrolling performance.

Just download this, https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.themonsterit.EngineerStarter

Select MTK settings, swipe across to Hardware Testing, go to the bottom and you'll see an AAL option, turn it off, reboot tablet to enable, and voila, you will have smoother scrolling.

kevpuk · 23 Jun 2016 at 10:13

Hhmm, this looks like an interesting tablet - was thinking of grabbing something to use with Sky Q app until they make the app phone compatible. Trying to read up on whether the A10 is up to the task.....

kevpuk · 24 Jun 2016 at 15:38

kevpuk said:
Hhmm, this looks like an interesting tablet - was thinking of grabbing something to use with Sky Q app until they make the app phone compatible. Trying to read up on whether the A10 is up to the task.....

Well, took the plunge and ordered from JL (2yr warranty) @ £139.......collected today and so far very impressed. Not done much with it really, just got a load of important apps (Sky Q, Deezer, Sonos, Amazon Underground) etc. on it, in between a couple of system updates.....and like what I have seen so far.

It was on Android 5.01 when I fired it up (build date March 2016 sticker on actual tablet) and plan to grab the MTK engineer thing mentioned above to tinker with.

ANDARIAL · 24 Jun 2016 at 16:13

Still trying to decide between this or this`
10.6" Fusion5 108 Octa Core Android Tablet PC - 2GB RAM - 16GB Storage - Android 5.1 Lollipop`

Things change I've changed · 2 Jul 2016 at 11:40

Just wondering how you guys are getting on with the tablet?

ANDARIAL, did you go for a Fusion5 in the end for the Lenovo? The resolution is a lot better on the lenovo and much better battery life.

ANDARIAL · 2 Jul 2016 at 11:54

Still trying to decide.The lenovo is currently in the lead Argos has it for £149,better resolution as you said.Still trying to restore my Xoom1 to its former glory but not having much success

ebilcake · 4 Jul 2016 at 12:27

Lenovo Tab 2 A10 is a good tablet, checkout your local John Lewis is you have one, they often have them in the used/clearance section for £80.

ANDARIAL · 8 Jul 2016 at 11:59

Bit the bullet and just picked up a lenovo full hd tab from Argos