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Ask HN: Tablet Choices

4 points by fumar ↗ HN
My girlfriend's birthday is on Sunday.

She needs to replace her laptop. Ideally, I would buy her a Macbook Air. Unfortunately, she is dead set on a tablet of some sort. She was excited by the Courier video a few years back.

She really wants a tablet with a good keyboard solution. I think Surface is the best bet on it. What do you guys think?

I narrowed down the list to:

Microsoft Surface RT - iPad 3 - Refurbished, seems like a good deal iPad 4 - iPad Mini - Asus Transformer Prime -

I added more notes on here, vpena.sqsp.com/2012/10/24/on-tablets Never thought, this would be a hard choice. I know Monday the Nexus 10 will probably debut.

5 comments

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duiker101
Totally go for the surface, if money is no problem I think ATM there is no other tablet I would buy. Other way the Transformer is great, but if it's a laptop replacement I would still go on the Surface to avoid risking the need to buy a laptop later because she feels the tablet is not enough.
fumar
Right, I think the biggest draw back for Surface RT is the screen. I have an HP Touchpad, and the resolution is terrible. But, I think im leaning towards Surface at the moment.
Galactor963
How tech savvy is she? I've found that many people who say they want "a tablet" really only think the iPad. If she saw the Courier video, I take it she's a little more tech savvy than that, but it's still worth asking.
fumar
She has moderate skillz. We use a several different devices at home; iMac, macbook, Windows pc, HP Touchpad (cm9), Android smartphones. I think she would be willing to put up with a few quirks from a first gen device. But, the iPad feels less risky.
jamesjguthrie
From that list I'd go Surface RT. If you'd look at other options I'd say something like the Dell Latitude 10. That's a tablet but with the full Windows 8 experience.