# Tablet OS choices **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 15, 2018, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablet-os-choices/814189 "2018-05-15T04:58:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2018, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablet-os-choices/814189/21 "2018-05-16T07:10:54Z")
I also have a Chromebook that I got because it was less than $80. My advice is stay away from Chromebooks. They’re far more limited in functionality than any tablet and very limited in compatible apps. I got to to play videos on the go, but found that it won’t play many common types of video. Their weight and size advantage has been overtaken by Android and Windows 2in1s (tablet with a detachable keyboard). The Win 10 tablets I got are 2in1s. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2018, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablet-os-choices/814189/22 "2018-05-16T08:01:56Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > It seems to me that there is an Amazon Video app in the Google Play Store. > [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amazon.avod.thirdpartyclient](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amazon.avod.thirdpartyclient) That’s a pretty recent development. Within the past few months, I think. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2018, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablet-os-choices/814189/23 "2018-05-16T08:23:44Z")
I’m told if you get a fire you can get it rooted so you can access the play store and other Google apps according to searches it’s not overly hard to do ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2018, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablet-os-choices/814189/24 "2018-05-16T13:55:19Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > That’s a pretty recent development. Within the past few months, I think. There are reviews of the Amazon app on the Play Store going back to January 2017 at least. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2018, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablet-os-choices/814189/25 "2018-05-16T14:06:28Z")
> [@lingyi](#): > > I personally think all Apple products are way overpriced. I refuse to pay more than $200 for a tablet and $100 for a phone. I may be a generation or two behind, I paid less than $150 for my second Samsung tablet and less than $90 each for my 11.6" Win 10 tablets (which I use for reading comics). That’s my general thinking. Since I’m just using my tablet at home on the couch or in bed, I want a nice large 10" screen. For a current gen iPad, that’s a minimum of $330. Or, for half the price, I can get a [Lenovo Tab 4-10](https://www.androidcentral.com/lenovo-tab-4-10). Now, to be clear, the iPad is a better made and feature-filled tablet. But not (in my opinion) 100% better to justify double the cost and not better in ways that’ll significantly affect my browsing websites from the couch, reading webcomics or watching YouTube cat videos. The OP’s use case sounds a lot like mine so it’d be up to him if reading the SDMB on a Retina display is worth twice as much money. Edit: Amazon Prime Video has had an on-again-off-again relationship with Google. Sometimes it’s available, sometimes it gets pulled, depending on how well they’re playing together. It was easy enough to find several sources [heralding its return](https://www.androidpolice.com/2017/08/30/amazon-prime-video-returns-us-play-store/) in late August of last year despite the early 2107 reviews. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2018, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablet-os-choices/814189/26 "2018-05-16T14:50:43Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > I’m told if you get a fire you can get it rooted so you can access the play store and other Google apps according to searches it’s not overly hard to do Sideloading apps, even the Google Play Store is _not_ rooting related. It can help to be rooted in some instances, but not generally needed. To learn about the details of this stuff, try browsing over at the [xda developers](https://forum.xda-developers.com/amazon-fire) forum for Fire Tablets. The latest twist on installing the Google Play Store yourself is that Google has decided to start blocking installs on “unsupported” devices (i.e., those companies like Amazon that have their own version of Android). There are workarounds for this but more complicated than it used to be. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2018, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablet-os-choices/814189/27 "2018-05-16T15:18:35Z")
For me, the decision comes down to your intended use - but over time, you may find a shift. I used to spend hours coding, writing & surfing on my desktop in the study but that was taken over by a laptop on the couch (using remote access) to get to the desktop. Video was an occasional use. Now 95% of my time is spent on a tablet - consuming, not creating code or reports. It has replaced my newspaper, most magazines, books and TV in many cases. Email, texting and video chats are almost exclusively on the tablet. Occasional spreadsheets & documents are almost always done on the tablet. I have used both Android and iOS but have ended up on iOS. I have come to appreciate the security provided by the ‘walled garden’ and ‘sandboxing’ that keeps data private to a single app. As a result, I now do all my bill paying and other finance stuff on the iPad. The ‘side loading’ and lack of solid sandboxing on Android and Surface seems less secure. Surface can be be as vulnerable as any Windows box. I have had good luck with the Apple Refurb store as a way to save a few bucks (right now they have 128GB 2017 models for $309). In the long run though the price difference has not been a big deal. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2018, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablet-os-choices/814189/28 "2018-05-16T15:51:59Z")
Well, side loading is just an option. You have to actually set your tablet to allow it and then load the stuff on. Hopefully, if you’re taking the time to noodle that out (not that it’s difficult) you’re bright enough to not download random shit from Shady Steve’s House of Totes Legit APK Files. I’d bet that fewer than 10% of Android users in the western world bother to do it though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablet-os-choices/814189.md?page=1)