OK, I (think I) want a tablet/iPad to use to watch movies.
I don’t really want to watch streaming content. I would rather just download the movie or convert it from DVD and load it onto the device. Yeah, I realize I could only hold one or two movies, but that would be fine, particularly if I could upload different movies from my laptop.
Is there such an animal?
Just get a DVD player? Way cheaper than a tablet. No operating system, no RAM, etc.
Question as a follow-up: are there DVD players that will display still data, like text, or jpg/pdf pictures, or the like? A DVD player that is also an e-reader?
You can watch movies on pretty much any tablet (or smartphone or similar device), though some may be better than others in terms of display quality, memory capacity, battery life, etc.
You can convert movies from DVD if you have a computer with a DVD drive and a program like DVD Catalyst.
Space isn’t going to be a problem if the tablet has a slot for a micro SD card, especially the 64GB+ SDXC type. Load movies onto the card from your computer, insert in tablet. Hours of entertainment.
You don’t have to worry about conversions if the space problem is reduced this way. Just rip straight onto the card.
Any decent, name brand (e.g., Asus) Android tablet currently being made should be able to handle the video demands. At least dual core, 1.3GHz+. 10" is better than 7" for watching movies. That would put you over $150 if you get a good one.
I bought a 9" Nook HD+ over a year ago for a really good price and it’s fine. B&N now sells Samsung tablets labelled as Nooks. The newest Amazon Kindles should be decent but max out at 8.9" and are kinda pricey at that size. All are Android devices.
Avoid the el cheapo, no-name ones. Always check the Amazon reviews.
I love my Tab S. The screen is incredible, battery life is pretty good and it’s light enough to hold comfortably with one hand. It’s pretty much everything I wanted in a tablet other than that it could have had more storage, but on the other hand it does have an easily accessible card slot.
This one. <holds it up>
You should buy a cheap 10" Android tablet, in Australia they cost around $130, If you download movies you can get good quality at around 500 to 700 mb’s each. If you buy a 16gb sd card it will hold over 20 movies.