Inexpensive Tablet

I hesitate to say “inexpensive” because what one considers inexpensive, another probably thinks it’s over their budget so please, take this post as I’m meaning it to be – a recommendation for anyone considering a tablet for reading or stitching or some other “only one” type thing that isn’t going to take a mortgage on the house to buy.

Most of you probably remember the story about my “green” tablet? That was 2018 (and I haven’t forgotten!) :). I did have other tablets and every now and then, Vince will find a tablet on sale for less than $100 and he buys it and tells me he thinks I will like it but that Samsung tablet was just the best (and probably much better in my memory than it really was!). I have an iPad but I think I bought it because some program (maybe Knit Companion) was only available for IOS devices. Maybe it wasn’t Knit Companion but it was something. Anyway, I’m an Android girl so whatever program I used with the iPad was the only thing I used it for and, obviously I’m not using Knit Companion much these days so I rarely use the iPad. It’s pretty old. I bought it several years before we left Texas.

Last year or maybe the year before that, when I started using Pattern Keeper for cross stitching, I told Vince . . I want another Samsung “Tab S” model tablet like the green one (which wasn’t really green but the case was green so it was named “the green tablet”). We got one and it’s what I’ve been using for cross stitching and reading online books or listening to audio books and sometimes for blog posts and email. Where ever I go, I almost always have that tablet with me. If we’re waiting at a doctor’s office or even if I’m in the car and Vince is inside somewhere shopping, I have the table and I’m reading. When I go to my stitching groups, I have the tablet because it has all the charts I’m working on in Markup.

We were in Walmart a couple of weeks ago and I told Vince . . I should probably get a smaller, less expensive tablet for reading books and for the audio books since I carry my tablet with me so much. Not that it’s terribly special or was terribly expensive but since it has my books, and all the cross stitching charts set up on it, I would lose everything if I lost it or it broke. He said “I was just looking in the electronics section and they have an ONN. 10.4″ tablet (the Walmart brand) for $115 so we went over and looked at it. I thought it was fine but it’s only after using it for a few days that I can say if I really like it. The sales person said “You can use it for up to 30 days and return it if you don’t like it.” So we got it. I used it for a few days – put some books on it; read and listened to an audio book. I put some charts in Markup and then I thought . . this is a 10.4″ tablet and they have an 11″ tablet with twice as much storage and 4 MB Ram instead of 3 on the 10.4″ tablet, and an 8 MP camera, where the 10.4″ tablet has a 5 MP camera – not that the camera on this will get used much. The 11″ tablet is on sale now for $139 so, I said to Vince . . what IF I get the 11″ tablet for my cross stitching (because the charts can take up a lot of space) and have the 10.4″ tablet for Brooks and things like that?

Even though it seems a bit excessive, it seems like a good thing to do – keeping the stitching separate from other things.

You can see some of the charts I have loaded into Markup. I’ll continue using the Samsung tablet for the charts I’ve already started but will switch the others to the new tablet before starting them.

I got a pink sparkly case for the 11″ tablet and a purple sparkly case for the 10.4″ tablet so I can tell them apart – if I remember which is pink and which is purple.

There are two things I don’t love and one of them isn’t really a problem.

1. This is the “not really a problem” thing – I don’t think the battery holds a charge as long as they say it does or as long as the Samsung tablet does but (1) it charges super fast and (2) Vince said it’s pretty normal for the newer, lower end tablets not to have the long lasting batteries. They say the battery stays charged “up to 16 hours”. I’m thinking when I’m using it for stitching and it’s on pretty much constantly, I’ll be doing good to get 12 hours out of it. I’m not concerned because it charges so fast. If I go upstairs for half an hour or so to eat a meal, the tablet will charge back up to 100%.
2. It comes with several apps pre-loaded, including the Walmart app. I think someone said there are 4 or 5 pre-loaded apps and these cannot be removed. The Walmart app uses 268 MB – I’ll just have to live with it.

All in all, I’m really pleased with these two tablets. They feel good, they’re responsive, maybe because I am used to using the Android platform, I find it very easy to use. For those who use and love Apple products, you may not like it but I’m very pleased with it, especially for having the two with specific uses.