iPad Mini versus Samsung Galaxy Note 8

So I have a Kindle Fire HD, but as readers of my previous post will know I am fed up of not being able to access the majority of android apps and magazines. Whilst I love the hardware I can no longer live with the software controls that Amazon impose.

I’ve avoided Apple for years on the basis that they too exercise huge control over what you can and can’t do, but in different ways.

So now to decision – do I abandon my apple hatred and get am ipad mini and an iphone 5 or do I go down the samsung route. I love the looks of the new note 8, but it is £70 more expensive than the ipad mini…

I use my Fire for reading, email and calendar, facebook and twitter, and general browsing.

I guess my priorities are to avoid “dead ends” when browsing. I hate clicking on links in emails or on facebook/twitter and then finding that my device does not support flash or whatever. I also fancy an 8″ screen rather than my current 7″.

So trying to leave emotions about apple lovers/haters aside what is the best technical solution?

Thanks

Flash is pretty much dead on mobile so I wouldn’t let that be a factor. The mini is a great wee tablet. I’m pretty sure it’s due for a retina upgrade sometime this year though.

I’m also sure the Apple app ecosystem is better and safer. Better quality apps and less/no malicious apps. It is quite controlled though.

I like my iPad mini it’s a little frustrating that you have to email files to it instead of being able drag and drop from a sd card or USB stick if you’ve not got access to a laptop.mother than that its great.

Flash is pretty much dead on mobile so I wouldn’t let that be a factor.

This is true, the latest version of Android doesn’t support Flash.

Flash is pretty much dead on mobile so I wouldn’t let that be a factor

The problem I have with this approach is that tablet users like me don’t think of them as mobile devices and website builders still seem to have lots of flash content. From a factual point of view would I be right in assuming that the ipad mini does not support flash, but the samsung does?

You don’t think of a tablet as a mobile device? Determined to swim against the flow aren’t you?

If you detest Apple, then spring the extra money for the Samsung. I’m sure both are excellent and it’s more a matter of taste. I don’t know much about computers, but love my ipad. I can’t remember being irritated or inconvenienced by a lack of flash. If I was, I’d put it down to a poor website who can’t be bothered keeping up with the times, since so many people are mobile now with no flash.

I have an iPad mini and Mrs M has a Nexus 7. Pretty much everything about the iPad is better than the Nexus including quality of the device, UI, apps etc although it is more expensive. The apps are always going to be more reliable on an iPad because there is only one version of the UI whereas with Android each manufacturer puts their own customisations on top

IMO I think Apple are now more trustworthy than Google about control and what my data is being used for

I like my iPad mini it’s a little frustrating that you have to email files to it instead of being able drag and drop from a sd card or USB stick if you’ve not got access to a laptop.mother than that its great.

You can get round that by using Dropbox to sync files across all of your devices

Would be great if I wasn’t 5000 miles from my laptop 🙂 as it is PDFs on a sd card can’t be got at boo.

The Samsung won’t have flash out of the box as android 4.2 doesn’t support it. But its pretty easy to add it.

The note will take a card so for 15 quid you’ll have a 48gb tablet.

Mini is nice and ios is slick. Android has come on leaps and bounds and the latest version ifs very polished.

Are you sure you want the note your paying a lot over some very good Android tablets for one inch of screen and the s pen which unless you have a specific need for i

I’m a Flash developer by trade and in my experience even if you can get that Flash player installed on a tablet the experience is pretty dire. Better off without it and if the website is written properly you should get alternative (compatible) content.

The iPad mini does NOT support Flash (in a browser) at all. Some apps are written in Flash though. But they are stand alone.

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the input despite arguing about whether a tablet is a mobile device(!) – my view comes from the perspective that most tablets are used on the sofa over wifi rather than on the move on 3g as well as the fact that with 7″ minimum screens they can show full webpages rather than needing to view cut down versions. I appreciate that this is a non technical perspective.

I think the decision would be easier if the nexus had an 8″ screen or the samsung was cheaper, just not sure I can bring myself to join the apple club…

The pens on the Note series of devices are very good, and if the Note has the facility to add a memory card then I’d take it hands down, as I *really* dislike the practice of gouging customers for tuppence-worth of extra memory as seen with every Apple device.

Root the kindle

Rooting Kindle Fire HD

Root the kindle

I might if I even began to understand the instructions.

May have to ask my eleven year old…

Can’t comment on the Samsung, like the iPad mini though it provides just the right amount of digital world with minimal impact on the real one.

I use an iPad (not mini) and a Samsung Galaxy Tab at work, and the iPad just feels much better in terms of build quality, has a much better display and the software is much slicker and much more intuitive to use. Generally websites look better and work better on the iPad too (we do web development). I don’t know about the build on a Note, but the software is the same. I’d say, if you are on a strict budget, or need some specific feature of Android, then get the Samsung, if you can afford it, then get the iPad. They do very similar things, iPad is just a nicer experience.

pleader, the samsung is £70 more than the mini…

but it has a better display, a stylus and an expansion slot for micro sd cards

p.s. my son has ipad 2 and my wife has ipad mini so I know what they are like. ipad is too big and heavy for my needs, mini is a beautiful piece of hardware, but I wonder whether the flexibility of the samsung in terms of connectivity and memory will prove more useful for the next couple of years

You don’t think of a tablet as a mobile device? Determined to swim against the flow aren’t you?

Actually, I’m inclined to think that he’s ahead of the flow here. Consider Apple: they seem to be merging iOS with OSX. The hardware in some tablets is now comparable to home desktops from 5 years ago, with x86 tablets running full Windows OSs being released. In my oppinion, There’s less and less reason for App Ecosystems, other than centralised distribution for lots of developers allowing a skim of revenue to land straight in Apple / Google /whoever’s pocket, and control over content.

You don’t think of a tablet as a mobile device? Determined to swim against the flow aren’t you?

Actually, I’m inclined to think that he’s ahead of the flow here.

ahead of the flow? that would be a first!

iPad Mini on Nexus 7/10 , these are the devices you should focus the rest of the Android tablets are just not quite there yet. I’d personally take the Mini, I’d take the Nexus only if you really need a wider aspect screen.

iPad could be the greatest machine in the world, but I cannot stand itunes. For that reason, I’m out. Samsung all the way.

I think it also depends on the ecosystem you have got already. I would have got a nexus or a galaxy but I already had apps and an iTunes library / purchases. For that reason alone I went iPad mini.

That said, it’s been a great device.