Tablets that aren't iPads

I'm on an O2 staff deal, so I get unlimited everything, including data with tethering, for £15 a month (and it's not a contract)

That's a pretty sweet deal, but alas, I am but a plebeian. Is tethering / using smartphone as a wireless hotspot something that pretty much any half-decent smartphone will do? Sorry if it's a basic question; as I said earlier, I've always been an oblivious dumbphone user.

  On 10/4/2012 at 2:55 PM, Ron Manager said:

That's a pretty sweet deal, but alas, I am but a plebeian. Is tethering / using smartphone as a wireless hotspot something that pretty much any half-decent smartphone will do? Sorry if it's a basic question; as I said earlier, I've always been an oblivious dumbphone user.

Not sure about any smartphone, however with O2 you can do it with an iPhone, and I don't think it necessarily costs extra, it just eats up your data allowance (in no time).

  On 10/4/2012 at 2:55 PM, Ron Manager said:

That's a pretty sweet deal, but alas, I am but a plebeian. Is tethering / using smartphone as a wireless hotspot something that pretty much any half-decent smartphone will do? Sorry if it's a basic question; as I said earlier, I've always been an oblivious dumbphone user.

not every network allows tethering, or rather - you have to pay extra for the ability (with O2 you do,depending on your tariff). If you're on an Android handset, it can be relatively easy to enable tethering as long as your handset hasn't been crippled at the software level by the network operator (many networks including O2, Vodafone, Orange and Three mess with the software on the phone and disable features / add shite you don't need). With Apple handsets, the networks have an agreement with Apple whereby the tethering feature is disabled based on the SIM Serial number of the SIM card being used.

  On 10/4/2012 at 2:00 PM, Ron Manager said:

  On 10/4/2012 at 1:21 PM, zazen said:

  On 10/4/2012 at 12:45 PM, vincentvc said:

so.. nexus 7 doesn't have a SIM slot? bummer :/

 

yeah nexus 7 is wi-fi only. I route it through my android phone's wireless hotspot when I need to.

 

This is something that appeals to me and one of the things I would consider getting a smartphone for. What phone do you use for this, what sort of contract are you on? (in terms of price and data).

I only buy second hand tech so for me it works like this:

- Second hand HTC Wildfire. They're very underpowered but can just about do what a smartphone needs to do. You can get them for around £60 at CeX etc

- I installed CyanogenMod 7 on it (Android gingerbread), but I think the original htc-flavoured android would also have allowed tethering

- That gives me tethering and mobile hotspot.

- I've got a £12 a month sim only deal with Virgin mobile that gives me 5Gig a month mobile internet. Its a monthly direct debit that I can cancel with 1 months notice, hence somewhere between pay-as-you-go and a contract.

I should say the HTC wildfire experience is pretty slow. But, its cheap and I've got email, calendar, maps wherever I go which is really handy.

Rumours of the iPad Mini being unveiled next week are heating up...

  On 10/4/2012 at 4:47 PM, Joyrex said:

Rumours of the iPad Mini being unveiled next week are heating up...

Yeah this is gonna smash the competition when its released. I was gonna wait for the Ipad Mini but in the end went for the Ipad 3.

  On 10/4/2012 at 3:04 PM, jhonny said:

Not sure about any smartphone, however with O2 you can do it with an iPhone, and I don't think it necessarily costs extra, it just eats up your data allowance (in no time).

  On 10/4/2012 at 3:06 PM, oscillik said:

not every network allows tethering, or rather - you have to pay extra for the ability (with O2 you do,depending on your tariff). If you're on an Android handset, it can be relatively easy to enable tethering as long as your handset hasn't been crippled at the software level by the network operator (many networks including O2, Vodafone, Orange and Three mess with the software on the phone and disable features / add shite you don't need). With Apple handsets, the networks have an agreement with Apple whereby the tethering feature is disabled based on the SIM Serial number of the SIM card being used.

  On 10/4/2012 at 3:26 PM, zazen said:

I only buy second hand tech so for me it works like this:

 

- Second hand HTC Wildfire. They're very underpowered but can just about do what a smartphone needs to do. You can get them for around £60 at CeX etc

- I installed CyanogenMod 7 on it (Android gingerbread), but I think the original htc-flavoured android would also have allowed tethering

- That gives me tethering and mobile hotspot.

- I've got a £12 a month sim only deal with Virgin mobile that gives me 5Gig a month mobile internet. Its a monthly direct debit that I can cancel with 1 months notice, hence somewhere between pay-as-you-go and a contract.

 

I should say the HTC wildfire experience is pretty slow. But, its cheap and I've got email, calendar, maps wherever I go which is really handy.

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like you've got a pretty neat set-up zazen. £12/month sim only and you get 5GB? Way more generous than I imagined... definitely something to think about. cheers.

  On 10/4/2012 at 5:45 PM, Ron Manager said:

 

 

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like you've got a pretty neat set-up zazen. £12/month sim only and you get 5GB? Way more generous than I imagined... definitely something to think about. cheers.

Oops sorry, just checked my package: Its £16 a month. 5GB data, 200 mins, 5000 texts. I think I get it slightly cheaper cos I'm also a VirginMedia (broadband) customer. But still, there are a lot of good 3GB-5GB deals out there, and I find it pretty hard to use more than 2GB or 3GB per month over 3G - probably because streaming music or video over 3G doesnt work too well so its hard to use a lot of bandwidth. your milage may vary.

I can wifi tether on my nokia e5. Three offers free texts and free weekend calls and unlimited data for 20e a month.

  On 10/4/2012 at 4:47 PM, Joyrex said:

Rumours of the iPad Mini being unveiled next week are heating up...

Isn't that an iPod ?

  On 10/4/2012 at 8:02 PM, mcbpete said:

  On 10/4/2012 at 4:47 PM, Joyrex said:

Rumours of the iPad Mini being unveiled next week are heating up...

Isn't that an iPod ?

Its an iphone 5.

congrats on the post count Chassis!

  On 10/4/2012 at 5:06 PM, The Bro said:

  On 10/4/2012 at 4:47 PM, Joyrex said:

Rumours of the iPad Mini being unveiled next week are heating up...

Yeah this is gonna smash the competition when its released. I was gonna wait for the Ipad Mini but in the end went for the Ipad 3.

in terms of what?

if you're talking about power of CPU and graphics, the Nexus 7 will still beat it...unless Apple can match the 12-core Tegra 3 that the Nexus 7 has. (pro-tip: it won't)

My coworker brought in his Nexus 7 for me to check out. I really like it! 7" is a good size for a tablet.

I'm pretty sold on the Note 2 for a new phone though. Small enough to be portable but big enough to feel like a true media device for more than just phone tasks. I've been playing with v1 at work and really like it, and everything about the note 2 is an improvement.

  On 10/4/2012 at 1:21 PM, zazen said:

  On 10/4/2012 at 12:45 PM, vincentvc said:

so.. nexus 7 doesn't have a SIM slot? bummer :/

 

yeah nexus 7 is wi-fi only. I route it through my android phone's wireless hotspot when I need to.

yeah i often do it with my laptop if there's no decent wifi around, drains the phones battery real bad though!

rather have a tablet with mobile network.

and is 7inch good enough for taking notes in class?

you can barely take notes on the "giant" iPads in class, if you're talking about using a stylus. I just bought a bluetooth keyboard for mine. Maybe the new generations of tablets are much more delicate, though.