[Evan]

Unfortunately not. I largely gave up after finding that the new version of the X98 Air 3G doesn’t even have GPS (link). At this point I’m keeping an eye on the new models just in case something good turns up.

[Evan]

I’m not sure that it’d be practical. There’s probably less than fifty tablets worth looking at (that can’t be eliminated from the comparison just based on cost or features), and each one is “best” for a different purpose. One person wants performance, one wants battery life, one wants fast 3G, one wants a screen that works outdoors, one wants as many pixels as possible, one wants a solid aluminium chassis, one wants Android + Windows + Linux, one wants minimum possible cost but must have GPS, one wants maximum storage space, etc. And, of course, people want combinations of those. If every person picks two things (out of those nine) that matter most, then there’ll be 72 “best” tablets around, one for each combination.

 

It’s probably easier to just have people ask about their specific needs, especially with new tablets turning up every week or two.

[Evan]

No 3G rules it out for me.

 

If it’s good quality, it’ll be a nice alternative to a Surface. On the other hand, if it’s built to compete with the cheap Chinese tablets (ie cut-down quality to reduce the price) then it’s going to have a hard time – it’s a lot more expensive than most of the Chinese options.

[Evan]

So far, none. I was leaning towards the Venue 11 Pro until I found out about its overheating issues. Currently leaning towards a Teclast X98 Air 3G.

[Evan]

Yep. A week later eBay banned the seller and refunded my money.

[Evan]

So far the record for me from Chinese sellers is just over eleven months (from DealExtreme). I’m not sure how much of that was waiting for them to get stock and how long was actually shipping; needless to say, I’d completely forgotten about the order by the time it arrived. I’ve got an outstanding order at HobbyKing as well, but that’s never going to be shipped (I ordered an item that they only put up as an April Fools Day joke, just to see what would happen).

 

Good to hear that Geekbuying is considered a “good” vendor; since they also have the cheapest prices I’ll plan to stick with them.

[Evan]

Chris – thanks very much for the info. I can update the BIOS as well, can’t I? I did check AliExpress, but I couldn’t find anything cheaper.

bun – Thanks very much for that. Geekbuying seems to have an interesting concept of “discount”. I can add the tablet to the cart for $179.99, but when I add the coupon it increases the price to $185.99 and takes 5% off $185.99 (to get $176.99). Still, it’s cheaper than anywhere else, so I can’t really complain.

[Evan]

Dell Venue 11 Pro 7130? They’re cheap second-hand, easy to upgrade (SSD, WWAN, and WLAN cards) and the big problem with them is … overheating! Well, sort of. Dell went and set the thermal throttling limit to 65 degrees, which is ridiculously low for a mobile CPU (most are over 80 degrees). Either you can modify the heatsink to keep it very cool, or there are a couple of software/firmware adjustments you can do to raise the limit.

[Evan]

You might get better answers if you say what actually defines the perfect tablet for you. How long do you need it to run for? Android or Windows (or both)? How much storage? How much RAM? What’s the budget?

[Evan]

The X98 Air 3G has 3G (obviously) and HDMI…

 

The general view seems to be that the Teclast ones tick all the boxes for features, but don’t always implement those very well. The stock Android ROM is a bit bloated, the screen on the X10 HD is poor in sunlight, etc. Whereas the other manufacturers sometimes do one thing very, very well (eg. having an excellent Android stock ROM) but then go and mess up one thing badly (dual-OS tablets with 32GB flash are really a mistake).

 

The other one I’ve been looking at is a second-hand Dell Venue 11 Pro 7130. That’s a far more powerful system (Core i5, 8GB RAM, a real SSD instead of an eMMC). Unlike pretty much any other tablet, Dell has left a few user-replaceable parts, so you can get one without 3G (3G versions are rare) and drop a 3G card into it. The downside is that it’s a Windows tablet, and efforts to make it run Android have not been very successful so far.

[Evan]

The Teclast X98 Air might do what you need. It’s got HDMI out, it’s got more memory (if I remember correctly the I6 only comes with 32GB; the X98 Air comes in 32GB and 64GB versions), and it’s very popular (so there’s lots of support from other people who have them, since Chinese manufacturers can’t be relied upon for much support).

[Evan]

Hmm, no 3G/4G on those models. I’ll go back to looking at the X98 Air 3G, I guess.

[Evan]

There’s the Pipo W6S, which is 8.9″ but 16:10 (1920×1200). It does have 64GB flash, which seems to be almost essential for a dual-boot tablet (it’s possible on 32GB, but neither OS has a whole lot of spare space). Hard to find reviews of it, unfortunately.

[Evan]

That is a bit tricky.

The X98 Air 3G is almost right, but it’s a 4:3 screen (although it can still display full HD at 16:9).

The X10 HD 3G is nice too (16:10) but too expensive.

The Pipo W6S is cheap and has the right resolution, but the screen is too small (8.9″) and reviews are rare.

 

I can’t think of any others at the moment.

[Evan]

I’d be more concerned about the X98 Air. 2GB/64GB for a significantly lower price than the 2GB/32GB W1S. Lower performance, of course, and no USB3, but it’s a much more reliable option (in that lots of people have them and the problems are largely solved). The X98 Pro is nice, but it’s quite a lot more expensive than the base W1S model.

[Author]

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