Tablet for PDFs - Trying Not to Go Apple

renaldof on 04/03/2019 - 10:26

Hi and sorry for the long post, as I like giving context before asking for advice ;)

I've recently started a post grad and I found that I am more productive working with PDFs versions of my books than the physical ones. I like being able to highlight my stuff, split screen and work on tasks/assignments right next to the book and I am also not a big fan of carrying physical heavy books around (I am terrible at keeping them as well). Whenever I need to do reading of the subject, I'd like to have it handy in a tablet.

Going through my research it looks like the best tablet for PDF reading apparently is the "iPad Air 2". I am not a tablet person neither an Apple user, so first checked that this device was released in 2014. "Good, it must be quite cheap for a used one then" but WTH!? People are selling this device for up to $450 bucks, used. Why would I bother getting an old/used iPad 2 Air if I can buy a brand new iPad 9.7 cheaper than that? (Question #1)

Anyway, I've been looking for Android alternatives not to go with Apple, but this is getting hard: retina-quality Android tablets are almost as expensive as the iPad, but they do not retain the re-sale value anywhere near as much as the iPads.

Has anyone gone through this and could give me a hint of what tablets did you buy for PDF reading? (Question #2)

Thanks so much and have please have a good week!

Electrical & Electronics Tablet

Comments

  • cc23 on 04/03/2019 - 10:51
    +5

    The new 'basic' iPad they made is almost exactly the same as the Air 2 you can look it up, but yeah, I would say if all you're doing is looking at PDFs get the new nice and basic iPad use it for a few years and then sell it. You'll probably lose only $100 - $200 total. The bonus you will have with the newer ipad over the air 2 is if you do want to do 'highlighting' etc, you have the option to buy the apple pencil. I wouldn't buy an Air 2 now.

    Android are just not even really trying any more in the tablet game in either software or hardware and the resale value is awful. I used to own a galaxy note tablet 2014 edition and it was excellent had a nice S Pen in there, but they have just not aged well and nor has the support or service or updates you get with them.

    The responsiveness and battery life of iPads for these purposes is literally second to none (literally none).

    I bought an iPad Pro 10.5 with 4g and wifi with an apple pencil and smart keyboard for around $800 last year on Gumtree and it replaced a laptop for me.

    TLDR: this isn't a phone, it's fine to go Apple, it's actually kind of silly in my opinion to not go Apple.

    • renaldof on 04/03/2019 - 10:58

      yep, from an apple-avoider perspective, I don't avoid being rational. I've never felt the need for a tablet, so never bothered researching before. I usually enjoy my Android phones and their cost. Going through this search for PDF reader doesn't point me anywhere else other than an iPad.

      BTW, when you say that the iPad is almost the same as the Air2, are you also talking about processing power?

      • ThithLord on 04/03/2019 - 11:21
        +1

        BTW, when you say that the iPad is almost the same as the Air2, are you also talking about processing power?

        It shares a lot of features, but the Processor is not one of them (which is the most important, anyway)

        Chipset:
        iPad 2018 Apple A10 Fusion (16 nm)
        iPad Air 2: Apple A8X (20 nm)

        CPU
        iPad 2018: Quad-core 2.34 GHz (2x Hurricane + 2x Zephyr)
        iPad Air 2: Triple-core 1.5 GHz Typhoon

        iPad 2018 is far, far superior.

    • kerfuffle on 04/03/2019 - 11:02
      +1

      As someone who refuses to use an iPhone, I agree with the go Apple for the tablet sentiment (currently have an iPad mini 4 and a Google Pixel 2)

      • renaldof on 04/03/2019 - 11:19

        I too own a Google Pixel 2 and I couldn't be happier. I'm just not going for the iPad mini because of the screen size - I use one at work for testing.

        • kerfuffle on 04/03/2019 - 13:18

          Yeah, that's understandable; I only have one for the form factor (some of my bags are too small for a standard iPad)

  • 87percent on 04/03/2019 - 10:58

    you could get the xiaomi mi pad, doesn't have retina but has IPS

    • renaldof on 04/03/2019 - 11:27

      I can prob try some pricebeating with Officeworks and get the iPad for around $400. The Mi (I love the brand btw) would be around $360 plus waiting time, plus suffering from the resale price loss as other Android tablets. But thank you for the reminder.

  • GordonR on 04/03/2019 - 14:45
    +3

    I have an iPad Pro 10.5" with Apple Pencil (no keyboard) and it has revolutionised my research and teaching life.

    The pencil is 1000 times better than a dumb stylus, because it glides nicely on the glass screen and is as precise as a regular pen / paper.

    I use Notability to take notes in seminars, when I am working on some project, or when I have research meetings with students, and unlike my previous paper notes, I can always locate them - Notability can also somehow magically search on my appalling handwriting, which always amazes me.

    I use Mendeley to store and index hundreds of research papers, even books, but if I want to scribble all over one, then I export it to Notability and add some blank pages for writing on.

    I prepare all my lectures (on a laptop or desktop) as half-written PDFs, and then I use PDF Expert to project them direct from the iPad while annotating them (filling in the details) during the lecture. When done I just upload the annotated slides to the lecture recording system. PDF Expert has a projection mode that has the iPad screen displaying the annotation toolbars etc, but the projected screen is just the content of the document minus the toolbars, so it is cleverer than just screen mirroring.

    I can split screen Mendeley and Notability and read on one half-screen while writing on the other, but it is a little bit too small for my eyes, so next time I'll get the larger iPad Pro.

    One of my students has a similar Samsung set-up so I am sure it is available if you are wedded to Android.

    But for me, it is the pencil that makes it all work, and has allowed me to go almost totally paperless. The previous dumb stylus with a little soft rubber nub to write with was so unpleasant to write with at any length that I could never ditch the paper.

    My advice: Stretch the budget to include a proper active stylus.

    • renaldof on 04/03/2019 - 16:22

      It looks like you've tech'd the whole way, which is quite impressive. I've seen some really positive reviews about using the Apple pencil, but I think that first I will check the pdf tools you mentioned to see if it presents that much value to me to make it worth buying, and my needs can't probably justify stretching the expense to get a pro model. Thanks for the impressive feedback and workflow.

  • renaldof on 04/03/2019 - 16:26

    So, I just bought the iPad 9.7 32gb (2018). Officeworks price beaten Toby Deals and it cost me $400.90. Unfortunately I'll have to collect tomorrow as the stock of this item is quite slim across Brisbane.
    Now I'll see if I can score at least the case from my work, as they will be able to handle the iPad mini 4 they lent me to another staff member.
    I ozbargain even at work :)

  • PVA on 04/03/2019 - 16:31

    Why not the Microsoft tablet (go I think is the cheaper one) fine for PDFs.

    Or the full surface pro and it’s your computer too.

    I have an iPad Pro, wife has a Samsung s2 tablet, to me the Samsung is a much nicer tablet to use and the screen looks better for documents.

  • cfuse on 04/03/2019 - 16:51

    I have one of these: https://onyxboox.com/boox_noteplus

    E ink screen touch screen, digitizer pen, android OS. I'm happy.

  • abctoz on 06/03/2019 - 23:07

    For pure PDF reading, there are a good selection of 'chinatabs' with 'retina' resolution, they are decent build quality but won't be as fast as an iPad, but cheaper 200-300

    Eg
    Techlast t10, t20
    Alldocube m5x, x
    Chuwi hi9 air

    Check out techtablets for reviews

  • denz02 on 08/03/2019 - 00:31
    +1

    Get an ipad it is worth it I am recent convert to apple products andd they just work everything is clear and it is always fast.

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