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looking to procure a tablet for PFS so I won't have to lug around so many books. I couldn't find a recent thread on this, so I thought I'd throw a new one out there and see if I could find any new advice.
looking to spend about $200, give or take. 7" tablet is fine. not planning to use it for much other than loading PDFs at the game table, or maybe some light browsing over Wi-Fi for obscure rules. I would prefer something that's easy on the eyes and will load the PDFs quickly.
ipad mini is a bit out of my budget. I've been looking at the samsung galaxy tab 2 ($170), the kindle fire ($150) and the newest generation nexus 7 ($230).
I know the nexus 7 works, a couple people I play with regularly have them. just wondering if I could get by with the galaxy and save $60 without sacrificing a ton of performance? that would go a long way towards replacing some of the books I only have dead tree versions of.
anyone have experience with the galaxy tab 2? or maybe the last generation nexus 7? I'm not sure the kindle fire is going to work.
I would not recomend anyting under the 9 inch display when it comes to gaming books. Anything less you you are constantly zooming in as gaming books are pretty big.
-MD
Other than making sure the hardware is sturdy, reliable, and of sufficient screen size (i.e. 9+ inches), the PDF app you use will have the biggest impact on your reference experience. Personally I use and recommend Android, where my PDF viewer of choice is Moon+ Reader Pro.
While both my phone and tablet are Android 4.2 or 4.3, Moon+ runs on 2.2 or higher so that should give you a pretty broad range of options to look at. My only caution would be to not go with too old a tablet since developers will often times stop supporting older versions as time marches on.
Also, when you find a tablet you are interested in, check its reviews on cnet.com, and then also check YouTube to see if there are any tutorials on how to update it to a newer version of its OS. Frequently, even if a manufacturer has abandoned update support, you'll still find community-made updates that will let you benefit from the newer versions.
Happy hunting!
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not sure how much I'll actually be *reading* the books on the tablet, I do have dead tree versions of most of them. it's more for the convenience at the PFS table of having quick access to rules. a 10" tablet is 50% more than a 7".
I'm liking the processing power of the nexus more, it seems a bit beefier. the camera I don't care about. the samsung has expandable memory, but 16gb is actually quite a bit for just storing books. currently all of my books AND scenarios are under 2gb.
mostly just wondering if the performance boost from nexus is worth the extra $60.
Additionally, you could consider a Nook HD+. Apparently, B&N are going to discontinue the line, but the machine is decent. And new ones are only about $150 or $175 with decent memory and RAM.
mostly just wondering if the performance boost from nexus is worth the extra $60.
Remember that your up-front price isn't the only cost factor to consider. If you buy something cheap yet verging on discontinuation/obsolescence today, it will be that much sooner before you'll start feeling the need to buy a new device to replace it.
FWIW, I own a Nexus 10 and absolutely love it. With DropBox and GoogleDrive support, the lack of an SD card port is a non-issue in my eyes. If you are OK with the 7" screen, I would say the extra $60 would be well-spent. You'll have the peace-of-mind that comes with having an up-to-date machine that is still supported amongst the flagship offerings of its vendor — particularly if you aren't comfortable with the modding options I mentioned earlier.
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Additionally, you could consider a Nook HD+. Apparently, B&N are going to discontinue the line, but the machine is decent. And new ones are only about $150 or $175 with decent memory and RAM.
I have the original nook and my mom works at B&N. I could likely get one even cheaper, but I'm concerned about the PDF performance. I know the nook I have now is terrible at that, but it is just the e-ink display.
I have the original nook and my mom works at B&N. I could likely get one even cheaper, but I'm concerned about the PDF performance. I know the nook I have now is terrible at that, but it is just the e-ink display.
Not bad. I haven't had a chance to extensively test them myself (not owning one makes that difficult), but the most recent models look more than sharp. With the availability of the Play Store, much of the problem actually viewing a PDF should be cleared up. The HD+ is a proper tablet (not an e-reader), and the display is gorgeous; for a time, I think it had the best display on the market. CNET has a review.
I'm a fan of the Kindle Fire for my stuff.
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I have a 1st gen iPad running GoodReader that works fine for displaying Pathfinder PDFs. Mine is the 16gig version. I have every Pathfinder book (including every PFS scenario) loaded on it and I still have over 6 gig in free space.
So far, the only thing I've found that i can't do with it, is run the HeroLab character sheet (because it requires iOS v6+ and 1st gen iPads are limited to v5). However, i use SplashTop to connect back to my PC at home and run the full version of HL from there.
I guess what I'm saying is that, if using Pathfinder PDFs is all you plan to do with it, and older iPad is sufficient (and probably not expensive if you can find one that's "gently used").
-Skeld