Computer Questions Not Worth Their Own Thread II
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caketastydelish
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I'm considering buying a tablet (I sold my third generation iPad about a year ago).
Here's what I demand:
-A good HD resolution.
-Can be Android/Windows/Apple or even Kindle. But the app store for whichever one must have a decent selection for both games and books.
-Be able to run video game emulators (from the super oldschool games to the Wii/Xbox 360/ PS3 generation without problems)
The lowest price possible to provide all of this.
Optional bonus- Includes foldup keyboard.
Here's what I demand:
-A good HD resolution.
-Can be Android/Windows/Apple or even Kindle. But the app store for whichever one must have a decent selection for both games and books.
-Be able to run video game emulators (from the super oldschool games to the Wii/Xbox 360/ PS3 generation without problems)
The lowest price possible to provide all of this.
Optional bonus- Includes foldup keyboard.
The Nexus 7 '13 is my go to tablet, as the name says it's a 7" and perfect for me, since I just use it in bed mostly. Excellent 1080p screen, good specs, and it's a Nexus so it's updated all the time. Should be able to handle any games you can throw at it, Google Play is pretty great these days, Google Books/Amazon Kindle app gives you plenty of access to books. I picked up a refurb model for just shy of $125.
I don't think any tablet is going to run 360/ps3 emulators but I could be wrong.
I don't think any tablet is going to run 360/ps3 emulators but I could be wrong.
caketastydelish
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I checked out the nexus tablet and I'm seeing a maximum of 32 GB storage. I'm wanting WAYYYYYY more than that. Can you buy custom storage with a lot more and insert it?
The current tablet market is depressing.
Kindle: Kindle is garbage software, don't bother. Ereader much better for books, and books available across any platform anyway.
Android: Non-nexus devices get garbage security/software updates, except for the Shield Tablet. The Shield Tablet is recalled. The Nexus 9 is the only Nexus tablet still for sale, it's too expensive and has mediocre build quality.
Apple: Hella expensive, Apple doesn't allow emulators.
Windows: Haven't really kept up to date with offerings from Lenovo/Acer/Dell, but they've all got slower CPUs than the Surface 3, which is already expensive for lagging behind Apple in performance.
Pick your poison.
Bluetooth keyboards on tablets are kind of garbage, I wouldn't bother with a keyboard unless it connects physically like the Surface/Surface Pro/iPad Pro.
No PC is going to emulate XB360/PS3 games. Wii is essentially from the PS2 generation when it comes to emulation, and you're still not going to be doing that on a tablet - even with a Surface Pro you're realistically limited to PS1-gen games.
Kindle: Kindle is garbage software, don't bother. Ereader much better for books, and books available across any platform anyway.
Android: Non-nexus devices get garbage security/software updates, except for the Shield Tablet. The Shield Tablet is recalled. The Nexus 9 is the only Nexus tablet still for sale, it's too expensive and has mediocre build quality.
Apple: Hella expensive, Apple doesn't allow emulators.
Windows: Haven't really kept up to date with offerings from Lenovo/Acer/Dell, but they've all got slower CPUs than the Surface 3, which is already expensive for lagging behind Apple in performance.
Pick your poison.
Bluetooth keyboards on tablets are kind of garbage, I wouldn't bother with a keyboard unless it connects physically like the Surface/Surface Pro/iPad Pro.
No PC is going to emulate XB360/PS3 games. Wii is essentially from the PS2 generation when it comes to emulation, and you're still not going to be doing that on a tablet - even with a Surface Pro you're realistically limited to PS1-gen games.
Jesus, the Nexus 9 is expensive for what it is. It does have external keyboard support, though, apparently. The nexus 7 is still available btw, not sure where you'e getting your information from, Zelig. A brand new 16gb version is $149 on Amazon (was 175 last time I looked) with 32gb for $199.
caketastydelish
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If everything Zelig says is true, I might as well stick with my trusty laptop and just deal with it that a laptop is less portable than tablets (not as accesable in say, a car ride), because my current laptop can actually do everything I want it to do, and no tablet on the market can. It seems to me the best tablet on the market in terms of what I'm wanting is probably the surface pro 3, but I didn't want to pay near that much. For the price range of anywhere around $1000, I'd rather buy custom parts to make my own desktop PC and make it a kickass powerhorse. It's even more tempting because I've never made my own PC before.
edit: I can live without the Ps3/xbox 360 gen of games as long as it goes up to the Ps2/gamecube/xbox original but the problem with Nexus 7 is lack of harddrive storage. Which is a shame because (according to cardgame) it does literally everything I want except for the lack of space. As in, if it were customizable, I'd definitely pay the $150 to get the crappy 16 gigs as long as I can pay a hundred of however much more to get a custom sd drive (or whatever they're called) which has a lot more. We're talking around 128 gb, minimum.
edit: I can live without the Ps3/xbox 360 gen of games as long as it goes up to the Ps2/gamecube/xbox original but the problem with Nexus 7 is lack of harddrive storage. Which is a shame because (according to cardgame) it does literally everything I want except for the lack of space. As in, if it were customizable, I'd definitely pay the $150 to get the crappy 16 gigs as long as I can pay a hundred of however much more to get a custom sd drive (or whatever they're called) which has a lot more. We're talking around 128 gb, minimum.
caketastydelish
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I like to download and play lots of games. I'd rather save up $1000 or so.
The specs I'd want are:
i7 processor
16 GB ram
1 TB storage
can play DVDs AND blu-ray.
HD Monitor (1080P)
a good motherboard
a good CPU
a good graphics card
a good sound card
in other words, would this gig be graphically comparable to Xbox One/ PS4 in capabilities? If not, how much would I have to pay to get a gig that can handle such?
The specs I'd want are:
i7 processor
16 GB ram
1 TB storage
can play DVDs AND blu-ray.
HD Monitor (1080P)
a good motherboard
a good CPU
a good graphics card
a good sound card
in other words, would this gig be graphically comparable to Xbox One/ PS4 in capabilities? If not, how much would I have to pay to get a gig that can handle such?
My philosophy on spending tonnes of money on computers is that you never buy the top-end stuff, because it will just depreciate so quickly. I wouldn't spend more than £500 or so on a new machine and even then I'd be concerned about wasting some money.
Do you do any video recording or editing? If not, an i5 CPU will give you the same gaming performance for much less cost.
Sound card is unnecessary these days, onboard audio is just fine.
You can get an enthusiast-class rig that would obliterate a console for $800.
Mobo $70-80
CPU $180
GPU $200
1TB HDD $50
1080p monitor $100
8GB RAM $50 / 16GB RAM $100 (8GB is plenty for almost everyone)
Computer case: $50
DVD/BR player: After a quick glance around the net, you can get a combo reader for $40.
--------------------
TOTAL: $740 for cheapest configuration (of what I would consider an acceptable gaming rig - it is certainly possible to spend less.)
This gets you a powerful modern GPU (R9 380 / GT 960) paired with an i5 quad core at 3.2ghz, which will be quite capable of running modern games at high (not necessarily ultra - depends on the game) settings and good frame rates. For another $100 you can jump to the next tier (R9 390 / GTX 970) for a significant graphics performance bump, or get entry to the SSD club with a 240GB drive for amazing load times. Heck, 128GB SSD are now available for $50.
edit: Do you have KBM already? You can get a combo of both for like $20-30 if you don't want anything fancy.
Sound card is unnecessary these days, onboard audio is just fine.
You can get an enthusiast-class rig that would obliterate a console for $800.
Mobo $70-80
CPU $180
GPU $200
1TB HDD $50
1080p monitor $100
8GB RAM $50 / 16GB RAM $100 (8GB is plenty for almost everyone)
Computer case: $50
DVD/BR player: After a quick glance around the net, you can get a combo reader for $40.
--------------------
TOTAL: $740 for cheapest configuration (of what I would consider an acceptable gaming rig - it is certainly possible to spend less.)
This gets you a powerful modern GPU (R9 380 / GT 960) paired with an i5 quad core at 3.2ghz, which will be quite capable of running modern games at high (not necessarily ultra - depends on the game) settings and good frame rates. For another $100 you can jump to the next tier (R9 390 / GTX 970) for a significant graphics performance bump, or get entry to the SSD club with a 240GB drive for amazing load times. Heck, 128GB SSD are now available for $50.
edit: Do you have KBM already? You can get a combo of both for like $20-30 if you don't want anything fancy.
Only Bluetooth, same as every Android tablet.
Cheapest 16GB is $250 here. And it's been discontinued and isn't available from Google, so it's only sold by third-party retailers. Google only offers warranty on devices purchased from them directly, and Asus limits warranty to authorized retailers.
Well it's also fairly slow now, given the pace of iteration in mobile.
Scores 587/1799 (single/multi) on Geekbench (cpu perf), compared to say, the Nexus 9 at 1887/3208. GPU is also less than a third the performance of the Nexus 9, even when accounting for the lower screen resolution.
Due to Apple's decision to discontinue the quad-core Mac Mini, combined with the deterioration of the Canadian dollar, the 2012 Mac Mini that I purchased for $700 now goes for upwards of $1200 on ebay.
Benchmarks are kind of worthless in the mobile world, zelig... iPhones are almost always underpowered compared to top tier Androids, yet frequently deliver smoother and faster performance. My Nexus 7 is nothing short of awesome.
GPU benchmarks are pretty relevant if you're looking at FPS.
And iPhones frequently crush top tier Androids in CPU benchmarks. Also in storage benchmarks, where is why many Android devices struggle with smooth performance.
Real-word javascript benchmark:
Storage performance:
You can think whatever you want of your Nexus 7, but by nearly any measure, it's several times slower than a modern tablet.
caketastydelish
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Considering I want SSD (and a minimum of 1 TB) that's looking at around $320 just for that. And I would pay the extra money for the top-tier graphics card, if we're gonna go that far anyway. It's gonna cost a fortune, but even with the speed of technology I plan on enjoying this computer for many years. *begins the tedious process of saving*
Hmm, I also own the Moto X^2, which is apparently the fastest Android phone at the moment, and there's not much difference between the two for my uses. Yes, the tablet is slower, but it doesn't affect me.
cake, you want SSD-only storage?
1TB is available for as low as $300. That's a $250 bump from a single HDD, and for a high level enthusiast card brings your total to 1100. Of course, the GPU world doesn't stop there; you could spend 500-600 for a flagship 980Ti. But I really wouldn't recommend it, as it's insane overkill for 1080p.
cake, you want SSD-only storage?
1TB is available for as low as $300. That's a $250 bump from a single HDD, and for a high level enthusiast card brings your total to 1100. Of course, the GPU world doesn't stop there; you could spend 500-600 for a flagship 980Ti. But I really wouldn't recommend it, as it's insane overkill for 1080p.
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