Cheap Tablet for Watching Shows on Plane

Looking for a bargain 10" tablet strictly for watching movies & tv shows on flights. Primarily downloaded from Netflix, but the option to transfer on other movies from a PC would be nice, but not critical.

Price is the main concern here, <$100.

I found the following as a refurb from grays online for $80 (With 20% off PANTHER code) which I am considering, would it be ok for the above ? Or any other suggestions ?

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Lenovo-Tab-10-10-Inch-Tablet-Bla…?

Comments

  • +2

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/472412

    It's worth going over the budget a lil bit and getting FHD etc. Comes out to $124 inc GST

    That Lenovo only has 1GB ram, 1280x800 res, 1.3GHz quad-core

    • +1

      Thanks for the suggestion, but will Netflix downloads be higher than 1200x800 on the Onda tablet ?

      I found a post which says the following

      It depends on your device. If it supports Widevine L1 hardware DRM, the high quality option will be 720p or 1080p depending on the title. If only L3 DRM is supported, both quality options will be 960x540 resolution, the high quality one will be just slightly higher bitrate. Netflix seems to use VP9 for mobile downloads and the bitrates are very low so it's even worse than the normal streaming quality. If you have an Android phone, you can check which DRM level your device supports with this app.

      Also surely 1GB RAM is enough to watch downloaded content ?

      • Many flights have wifi now, so you might find yourself just streaming Netflix soon.

        1GB ram is just a PITA and will chug. It's not a huge amount more money to get a lot more tablet

  • +10

    With your budget, I rather watch the inflight entertainment.
    Slow tablet. Crap resolution. Perfect to start a bad day on a plane.
    Probably will crash (not the plane) when you load Netflix or when you connect to the Wi-Fi at the same time.
    On a brighter note, you will be fully occupied fixing the tablet during the flight. By the time you finish, the plane would've landed at the destination. Killing two birds with one stone. Not a bad suggestion actually.

    • +2

      "(not the plane)" LOL

  • maybe look a second one spend extra and get older sammy or ipad

  • +2

    I've bought one of those Lenovos for a young family member. For movie watching it is fine. It supports H.264, H.265 and 1080p. I can't imagine you having any troubles. Far better size and quality than the screens on the plane.

    Forgot netflix and load up an SD card with movies or TV shows. I'd recommend the Android app 'MX Player' plays practically everything.

    Just keep in mind it's Grays. You might get a crappy refurb or faulty one and need to exchange it or return it. Buy well ahead of your next flight.

  • Yeah under $100 is just useless..

    basically you happy to throw $100 to the bin after a week, instead of spend $200 but you enjoy it for 8 months. Oh please…

  • +2

    Also note that Netflix's download feature is quite poor (despite being the most reliable streaming service in every other way).

    Pretty much every time I've downloaded something, it has stopped in the middle of downloading, for no reason, and not resumed. So I've come back later to watch my shows/movies and they are not downloaded. Asking about it online, lots of people say the same.

    • +1

      I fly twice a week and agree wholeheartedly. I have a surface I got with a 128GB slim fit USB3. It's been 3 years so far and hasn't skipped a beat. Not the cheapest option I will admit.

  • +1

    Get a super old iPad and buy the goodreader app - lets you move files to the iPad wirelessly and watch movies and listen to music etc. $100 sounds like the right budget. My first gen iPad is still going strong.

  • +1

    Just download the movie/tv shows onto your phone so that way you can use the $100 on other things

  • I got a Samsung mytab 8 inch from Optus. It travels with me everywhere. I wont take the full size ipad cause it is too expensive. With the Samsung you can put an SD card in it too.

  • I bought a Lenovo Tab E10-only 1GB RAM, but runs Android Oreo Go-not too bad for watching shows.

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