New computer - opinions

[bellenuit]

I've just been browsing for a basic tablet and found iPad Mini and ASUS Nexus 7.

I just want for internet browsing, ABC news streaming, iView etc while travelling.

Budget pricing is desired < $300 if possible. Can these use Skype and send receive email ?

Any other options in this market segment ?

What else can these things do ?

Thanks

I know you have a limited budget, but if you look long term it might be worth spending a bit more up front. At the risk of starting Android/IOS war, which I don't want to do, you might be interested in this article I came across just now:

Leading Android fansite recommends Apple Inc iPad Air 2 as best tablet in holiday gift guide

http://appleinsider.com/articles/14...ad-air-2-as-best-tablet-in-holiday-gift-guide

 

[SirRumpole]

I know you have a limited budget, but if you look long term it might be worth spending a bit more up front. At the risk of starting Android/IOS war, which I don't want to do, you might be interested in this article I came across just now:

Leading Android fansite recommends Apple Inc iPad Air 2 as best tablet in holiday gift guide

http://appleinsider.com/articles/14...ad-air-2-as-best-tablet-in-holiday-gift-guide

Thanks, but too late.

I just picked up a Nexus 7 at Dick Smith. $299.

I think it will be fine for my use. Downside is it's only 16Gb with no expansion memory.

Upside very good screen resolution (1920x1200) and quad core processor. 5Mp rear camera.

I want to try writing some apps for Android so it had to be an Android O/S.

Thanks to all who replied.

 

[Tisme]

I've just been browsing for a basic tablet and found iPad Mini and ASUS Nexus 7.

I just want for internet browsing, ABC news streaming, iView etc while travelling.

Budget pricing is desired < $300 if possible. Can these use Skype and send receive email ?

Any other options in this market segment ?

What else can these things do ?

Thanks

I have had a Samsung Tab 7.7 for few years and it is still serves me very well, especially on my extensive travel.

 

[sydboy007]

the inner geek in me quite likes this

http://www.gearbest.com/tv-box/pp_128507.html

Main Features:
● Features 2GB ROM, support TF / micro SD card up to 64GB
● The processor in this chip is Intel Bay Trail-T Quad Core, more stable and reliable
● Support WiFi, Bluetooth, easy to connect with other devices (computer, mobile phone, etc.)
● Operating system: Windows 8 (Can be upgrade to dual OS in later)
● Features two micro USB ports, support webcams and microphones to external hard drives and USB sticks
● Support HDMI connector to connect a home cinema, a Micro SD card slot, giving you the best possible connection
● Compact size of ease for carrying anywhere

It comes with Windows 8.1 with bing (Microsoft has it as a $0 licensing fee option for cheap computers)

If you already have a PC monitor all you'd need is a mirco sd card as the 32GB drive in it will be pretty full from the windows install. You could either use a bluetooth keyboard or a standard keyboard that plugs into the standard sized usb port and a bt mouse. A cheap USB hub would allow you to use standard usb devices, and micro usb adaptors are cheap on ebay.

For something that uses a tad over 2W an hour, it has a lot of potential. A very cheap all round PC. Perfect for kids or web browsing / MS office. Would make a perfect HTPC, especially if you already have network attached storage.

 

[captain black]

the inner geek in me quite likes this

Thanks for posting this sydboy, it's got the inner, outer and everything in between geek excited in me

There's a couple of short threads on Whirlpool about it but not much detail yet. I'd like to see how people go with XBMC (Kodi) and Netflix running on it first but the specs look very promising for it to be a great little HTPC unit

 

[SirRumpole]

the inner geek in me quite likes this

http://www.gearbest.com/tv-box/pp_128507.html

Main Features:
● Features 2GB ROM, support TF / micro SD card up to 64GB
● The processor in this chip is Intel Bay Trail-T Quad Core, more stable and reliable
● Support WiFi, Bluetooth, easy to connect with other devices (computer, mobile phone, etc.)
● Operating system: Windows 8 (Can be upgrade to dual OS in later)
● Features two micro USB ports, support webcams and microphones to external hard drives and USB sticks
● Support HDMI connector to connect a home cinema, a Micro SD card slot, giving you the best possible connection
● Compact size of ease for carrying anywhere

It comes with Windows 8.1 with bing (Microsoft has it as a $0 licensing fee option for cheap computers)

If you already have a PC monitor all you'd need is a mirco sd card as the 32GB drive in it will be pretty full from the windows install. You could either use a bluetooth keyboard or a standard keyboard that plugs into the standard sized usb port and a bt mouse. A cheap USB hub would allow you to use standard usb devices, and micro usb adaptors are cheap on ebay.

For something that uses a tad over 2W an hour, it has a lot of potential. A very cheap all round PC. Perfect for kids or web browsing / MS office. Would make a perfect HTPC, especially if you already have network attached storage.

Yeah, that's an interesting one, well worth considering.

Thanks Syd.

 

[sydboy007]

hopefully this will become available in Australia soon.

For around 200 USD you get a pretty decent PC experience. Got to love Intel being forced to sell the CPUs for these device for something like $15-17 each, and MS providing the OS for free. Competition at its best

http://www.cnet.com/products/zotac-zbox-pi320-pico-atom-z3735f-1-33-ghz-2-gb-32-gb/specs/

 

[Tisme]

hopefully this will become available in Australia soon.

For around 200 USD you get a pretty decent PC experience. Got to love Intel being forced to sell the CPUs for these device for something like $15-17 each, and MS providing the OS for free. Competition at its best

http://www.cnet.com/products/zotac-zbox-pi320-pico-atom-z3735f-1-33-ghz-2-gb-32-gb/specs/

Doesn't seem that long ago I was developing a SCADA system using 186 sandwich comps as the peer to peer distributed masters. How I could have use the zbox back then.

 

[So_Cynical]

hopefully this will become available in Australia soon.

For around 200 USD you get a pretty decent PC experience. Got to love Intel being forced to sell the CPUs for these device for something like $15-17 each, and MS providing the OS for free. Competition at its best

http://www.cnet.com/products/zotac-zbox-pi320-pico-atom-z3735f-1-33-ghz-2-gb-32-gb/specs/

A few mini PC's already on the market though not quite as small as the zbox, similar price point.

Gigabyte BRIX http://www.mwave.com.au/product/gigabyte-brix-gbbxbt2807-mini-pc-ab56510

Intel NUC http://www.mwave.com.au/product/mwave-intel-everyday-nuc-mini-pc-ab53922

 

[sydboy007]

A few mini PC's already on the market though not quite as small as the zbox, similar price point.

Gigabyte BRIX http://www.mwave.com.au/product/gigabyte-brix-gbbxbt2807-mini-pc-ab56510

Intel NUC http://www.mwave.com.au/product/mwave-intel-everyday-nuc-mini-pc-ab53922

Have to add the cost of an OS for the above 2, which starts to price them on the expensive side.

The meegopad and zotac have Win 8.1 preinstalled

 

[sydboy007]

i think this could be nearly the best cheap PC available for under $100 USD

http://www.gearbest.com/tv-box/pp_134110.html

Main Features:
● Features 2GB DDR3 ROM, support TF / micro SD card up to 32GB
● The processor in this chip is Intel Baytrail T Quad Core, more stable and reliable
● Support WiFi, Bluetooth, LAN ethernet
● Operating system: Windows 8.1
● Features four USB ports, support webcams and microphones to external hard drives and USB sticks
● Support HDMI connector to connect a home cinema, a Micro SD card slot, giving you the best possible connection
● With 3.5mm audio output, convenient for life

 

[So_Cynical]

Saw this advertised today and thought it was a pretty good deal - HP Notebook $349

• 15.6" HD LED Display
• AMD Dual-Core E1-6010 Accelerated Processor (1.35GHz)
• 2GB RAM
• 500GB HDD
• AMD Radeon™ R2 Graphics
• Windows ® 8.1

http://www.dicksmith.com.au/computers/hp-15-g040au-w8-1-notebook-dsau-xc0257

 

[pixel]

Saw this advertised today and thought it was a pretty good deal - HP Notebook $349

• 15.6" HD LED Display
• AMD Dual-Core E1-6010 Accelerated Processor (1.35GHz)
• 2GB RAM
• 500GB HDD
• AMD Radeon™ R2 Graphics
• Windows ® 8.1

http://www.dicksmith.com.au/computers/hp-15-g040au-w8-1-notebook-dsau-xc0257

That looks a little better than Syd's $100 job.
However, I'm still not sure that 2GB of RAM is enough to run Windows 8.1.
I must admit though, I haven't tried Win 7 or 8 with less than 8GB. I guess it all depends on what you want to use it for: Web Browsing and Social Media may not require much grunt.

 

[sydboy007]

That looks a little better than Syd's $100 job.
However, I'm still not sure that 2GB of RAM is enough to run Windows 8.1.
I must admit though, I haven't tried Win 7 or 8 with less than 8GB. I guess it all depends on what you want to use it for: Web Browsing and Social Media may not require much grunt.

From what I've read most people seem to have a good experience with 2GB RAm in win 8.1 as long as they're not doing anything particularly stressful, and to be honest most PCs these days sit barely above idle, especially as more and more web browsing has been pushed onto the GPU.

Browsing / email / videos don't really require much processing grunt, especially when pretty much every modern CPU has the video codecs built in. I can see these ~$100 PCs taking a lot fo market share over time as people come to realise they don't need a PC with a cpu that costs more than what they could pay for an entire PC.

 

[sydboy007]

anyone looking for something relatively light (1.4kg) and easy to fit into a small bag might be interested in this dell 2 in 1 laptop / tablet deal for $539

definitely not a speed demon in terms of the cpu or HDD, but perfectly adequate for what most people do these days.

http://www.dell.com/au/p/inspiron-11-3147-laptop/pd?oc=smy510136au&model_id=inspiron-11-3147-laptop

 

[sydboy007]

just bought one of these for my dad

http://forum.xda-developers.com/hardware-hacking/android-sticks/ainol-windows-8-1-mini-pc-t3061460

Been playing with it for about a week now and have to say I'm extremely impressed. A PC that costs $138, does web browsing capably and video playback glitch free.

I do miss the old windows media centre. It was very easy to set up, especially with TV tuners and setting stuff to record. The windows 8.1 with bing will be entitled to the free upgrade to windows 10, but as yet not had the little windows icon pop up to advise about the upgrade, so possibly they'll be at the back of the queue??

Have installed mediaportal which seems to work quite nicely for the video playback, but time will tell how it goes with actually recording TV. Hoping the ATOM CPU has enough grunt for the work.

If you want a cheap PC to do internet browsing and basic productivity work I'd say you'll be pretty happy with it. I bought mine on ebay for $138 with free shipping. Took about 2 weeks to arrive. There;s around 18GB of usable space on the internal drive, and you can add some more space via a $30-40 64GB micro SD card or just plug a thumb drive in.