Looks like I am going to commence travelling with work a little more often (Febuary equals Oman, then Aberdeen then back to Oman) so am looking for a tablet to purchase so I can take my music, books and films with me, to keep me occupied.

Also, would like the ability to use skype and surfing whilst at home.

Battery life would be important, as most flights seem like they'll be long haul.

I am not sure what else I would use it for!

So should I look at ipads or any of the other cheaper tablets like Kindle Fire, for example.

But if Ipad is the bets option, which one?

Please be gentle, up to this point I have been largely anti tablet and maybe still am to a degree, but I can see a use when sat on a plane for hours on end!

Thanks in advance y'all

The nexus 7 was great for my last long hall, the iPad was too large and I couldn't just drag and drop the films I wanted on to it

I guess the first question is do you want a big (9/10"), of a small 7" one??
The answer to that is probably what you want to do with it, just watching films, playing games, reading books & magazines, browsing or email etc.

Then it comes down to how much do you want to spend

If you want films and music on it on any quantity then look for one that has a memory card slot. Then you can have a few memory cards going. One with films on, another with all your music, and a third with all your family pics.
If the iPad had expandable memory then that our the mini would be a great choice, but they don't.

If it's exclusively for travelling, then I'd argue for either the iPad mini or a Nexus 7 (or similar), for one particular reason: weight. Reading a book on the full-size ipad (and I'm a big fan of the device) simply isn't feasible as it's too heavy and cumbersome.
Lack of expandable memory is a point against the ipad (and indeed the Nexus), but then again, you're not going on 6 month trips, so you can chop and change movies, etc, as you watch them.

Go for it, Jim; if you haven't become an enthusiastic tablet fan after a couple of trips, I'll eat my hat.

As someone who owns both iPad and Nexus 7, the Nexus is remarkably portable, but battery life i find is not to the same level as iPads, there are definitely more apps and better ones on Apple, but the 32GB for £199 Nexus is hard to beat.
For what its worth on my most recent trips to Dubai, I have used iPad3 for in flight entertainment (despite the rather good entertainment on Emirates) without problems.

Bockers,
you can expand the storage on iPad, if you use the camera connection kit.

http://lifehacker.com/5782151/add-extra-video-storage-on-your-ipad-with-the-camera-connection-kit

But it's a faff, why not just buy a device that lets you add extra storage out of the box?

Jim, if yo are like me you will want all your music with you, that's 30GB easy. Then Pics, which in my case is 20GB with them all being compressed to screen res. Then a few cards for Films.

Then again maybe I am odd in wanting to have the 500 plus LPs I own on tap wherever I am.

What I will agree with the above comments is that 10 inch tablets are way too heavy.

What are these LPs you speak off?

Lesbian Policewoman. It's Bocker's fetish.

I don't get the big thing over storage space. I've had my 16gb iPhone for two years now. I've got about 30 apps on there, bucketloads of music, 500 pictures. I'll just see how much I've got left:

3.8GB

I guess I'm in the minority by not needing a sh*tload of storage. I was looking at a second hand 8GB Nexus a week ago because I just wouldn't use any more.

Depends on what you want it for,
Mine is full of TV shows each episode taking 200-300 mb it gets heavy quickly.

Just a 720p long film can chew though a few GB

A "faff" that works well and lets you add Gigabytes of extra space for movies

For music etc, why not just stream from a NAS drive? Thats what I do, although admittedly, it can be expensive depending on where you are, but I tend to just buy a local SIM card and then tether using my iPhone. That way I have access to Terrabytes of data

The thing is Jim will be using this abroad on work trips. I assume that he will not be transporting a NAS drive and a PC too. If you are just using one at home then storage is probably not an issue but when away for more than a day at a time I like to have a load of choice of stuff, it is sods law that I would want to listen to the one album I did not have with me

But if £32Gb is sufficient for Jim then he has a wide choice. Most tablets over £150 will do what you want so best go have a play, John Lewis in Kingston have a great selection to try, but as people have said, beware of the weight. The iPad is heavy to hold for long periods, the mini is much better. But if you are going to be using them seated with a table to hand then it may not matter.

Thanks all..

I nearly ordered a Mini 32gb Ipad last night, nearly, very nearly, but then stopped myself, but am planning on going to the Apple shop tomorrow to have a look and a chat with them..

You are right Jim, storage is not a huge issue, this is just for weeks trips here and there, so a few albums, couple of films and a few pics - thats about it - not for my whole catalogue of music and films!

Watch this space!!

Bockers, I leave NAS drive at home and connect to it from anywhere in the world

JimO, if you live localish to me I can get you a 10% discount on most apple products, and on Nexus 7

Data connectiosn in the Middle East can be problematic and not to be relied upon.

Bockers, I guess you're right although I personally never had a problem with net access in Dubai and another benefit is to use camera connection kit or eye-fi card to transfer photos from camera to iPad and then send them to the security of your NAS drive at home.

i've just been given a Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7, its a lovely machine and the screen is very clear. Not used others so can't comment. One draw back, make sure (if you have it) that Sky Go/plus works on what ever tablet you go for...the one I have isn't certified by Sky yet and that sucks.

I don't find my iPad 2 too heavy at all and there is usually something that it can be propped against if needed. I would rather the extra screen space but its a personal choice.

Clearly not a frequent customer of South West Trains

Indeed and very happy about it

I was speaking specifically about using the tablet as an e-book, which lots of people do if they just use a tablet when travelling. The 10" form factor (and associated weight) really doesn't lend itself to that. I love my iPad 2 and wouldn't swap it - because I don't use it for reading books!

As I said a personal choice. I use my iPad as an ebook and don't find it a problem, the extra screen space is a bonus IMO. I would say the weight issue its no different from a Paperback v a Hardback book, personally I prefer a nice hardback book...

Well, I shan't be arm-wrestling you anytime soon!

I think hand size and how you hold it makes a big difference tbh.

Dirty boy!

Oh, I see! I didn't realise you meant that kind of "reading"!

In that case 10" is always going to be better than 7!

Grow up you two

I would suggest someone else could hold it for you.....

Thanks Charlie thats a great offer, but apart from being a way away from you, the purchase is tied into Amazon birthday vouchers, so unless you work for Amazon but thank you.

So I popped to town today, and had a good look at them all. I do think the big ipads are too big for me, they're nice and all, but seem costly and large! But I was told by 2 people (one actually being an apple shop employee) that maybe the Nexus7 would suit my needs. Their reasoning was my main needs are music and watching films, whihc they said the Nexus will do as equally good but for half the price. I looked at both of them and do tend to agree, there seems to be little difference to the lay person.. So maybe a Nexus for me!

Does this seem a reasonable arguement?

Yeah probably unless you have other iphone/ipods etc.

No iphone, use a blackberry, have an ipod but it doesn't get used a great amount, basically just has all my music, which is all from amazon, never used itunes, and just played now and again..