Budget Tablets

[quedz]

Need to pick up a budget tablet to stream AT&T's "WATCH TV" App. Any recommendations? 

[Erich]

Just a thought. Are you coming due for a new cell phone? If so, your carrier may offer a deal with a throw in tablet, or heavily discounted.

[broox]

I use a kindle fire tablet. Every year or two I buy a  new one. Like 100-150$. My wife is still clinging to her 6 year old iPad that cost 800$ and now hardly runs anything. I have streamed sling tv and YouTube tv on my tablet and it has been fine.

[Steelharp]

When I saw the title, I thought, "There's a tablet I can take to fix my budget??? WOOHOO!!"

[peejman]

I got my wife a Samsung tablet for Christmas. It's the smaller 8" version and it works fine.  

[leroy]

Check with your phone carrier... They may give ya one for ya usin your data plan... The truth is they are all good... As others have said, the 8 inch ones are the handiest ...

leroy

[quedz]

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like an 8" will be large enough. 

[DaveTN]

Keep an eye on Amazon and check the reviews. A couple of years ago my wife bought 5 cheap tablets that were on special for $50 each. I think most of them are still working.

I had to replace my tablet with a small laptop. 32 or even 64GB won’t cut it anymore unless its just for a dedicated purpose like watching TV.

[quedz]

2 hours ago, DaveTN said:

A couple of years ago my wife bought 5 cheap tablets that were on special for $50 each.

Fire?

[DaveTN]

2 minutes ago, hughd said:

Fire?

No, they are Trio Stealth's.

But Best Buy has 16GB 7” Fires for $40 if you think that will do what you want.

[chances R]

I generally use a chromebook

 

[quedz]

2 hours ago, DaveTN said:

But Best Buy has 16GB 7” Fires for $40 if you think that will do what you want.

Strictly for streaming "WATCH TV" dialed back to HD.   What do you think? Any reason to go 32GB+? Also, I have 4G service but my old Moto G is 3G... Last night I noticed some buffering while watching data free on my phone. Is that related to the 3G Speed, data free streaming or something else?

 

Edited May 10, 2020 by hughd

[lock n' load]

I almost got talked into a tablet for ,99¢ from the AT&T store but after hearing I would have to add an additional line and pay $10 extra a month I passed. It would probably be better to get one outright from Bestbuy, Amazon, etc then deal with the phone companies. They are sneaky like that..

[PoofNoEyeBrows]

Why not look for wifi only, refurbished units. If the sole purpose is to couch surf and stream i see no reason why you should get locked into a service co tract from a carrier. Also, android tablets will usually allow you to add a micro SD card for extra storage brunging the base unit price down even more as you don't need to fixate on the storage as heavily.

[quedz]

47 minutes ago, lock n' load said:

I almost got talked into a tablet for ,99¢ from the AT&T store but after hearing I would have to add an additional line and pay $10 extra a month I passed.

That's confusing to me, I don't run into that viewing via computer with my plan. I better look into that. 

[quedz]

36 minutes ago, PoofNoEyeBrows said:

Why not look for wifi only, refurbished units. If the sole purpose is to couch surf and stream i see no reason why you should get locked into a service co tract from a carrier.

I just signed up for their Unlimited & More plan. No contract and after discounts I'm looking at $70ish/month for internet, phone and the TV application. It seemed good to me, I'm just a little confused with all the ins and outs pertaining to the TV app. 

 

Edited May 10, 2020 by hughd

[lock n' load]

15 minutes ago, hughd said:

That's confusing to me, I don't run into that viewing via computer with my plan. I better look into that. 

You may not be in that situation. I did get swindled by Verizon one time when I switched from AT&T. I bought a phone with unlimited data. When I'd gotten home I was looking through my bag and found a Jetpack which is like a mobile hotspot that they had snuck in there. I returned to the store thinking they had gave it to me by mistake. They said no it was mine. I asked if it cost anything and they also said no. I found out later that it wasn't free and they added a line to my service and I'd have to pay $15/mth for the jetpack service. I didn't have a need or want the thing but I was stuck with at that point. I could either pay the early cancellation fee or keep the thing and pay for it for 2 years. I did the math and it would've been cheaper to just pay the fee. So I did that.  I'm still mad about that and it's been two years ago.

[Ronald_55]

1 hour ago, lock n' load said:

You may not be in that situation. I did get swindled by Verizon one time when I switched from AT&T. I bought a phone with unlimited data. When I'd gotten home I was looking through my bag and found a Jetpack which is like a mobile hotspot that they had snuck in there. I returned to the store thinking they had gave it to me by mistake. They said no it was mine. I asked if it cost anything and they also said no. I found out later that it wasn't free and they added a line to my service and I'd have to pay $15/mth for the jetpack service. I didn't have a need or want the thing but I was stuck with at that point. I could either pay the early cancellation fee or keep the thing and pay for it for 2 years. I did the math and it would've been cheaper to just pay the fee. So I did that.  I'm still mad about that and it's been two years ago.

That is when you call corporate support and forcefully, but politely, raise hell. If the rep you talk to can't ,(or won't) help, ask to speak to their supervisor, If they can't, ask to speak to THEIR supervisor. Repeat. Remain calm and polite, but voice your immense displeasure that you were lied to and cheated. If they say they can't cancel your the tablet plan without charging you, don't believe it. It is just paperwork. Far enough up the chain someone has the ability to do that. 

One caveat is if you dealt with a dealer store that is not corporate. If so go back to them and do the same thing. If they say they can't, tell them that you will contact corporate about this shady dealing if you are not taken care of. Again politely, but unwavering. 

All corporate call centers have a chain of command and policies in place if you escalate. At the very least you bother someone high enough up that they give in just to get you off their line. If you become belligerent or threatening though, the same people have policies about dropping your call like a hot rock.

[DaveTN]

16 hours ago, hughd said:

I just signed up for their Unlimited & More plan. No contract and after discounts I'm looking at $70ish/month for internet, phone and the TV application. It seemed good to me, I'm just a little confused with all the ins and outs pertaining to the TV app. 

 

Do you have a Smart TV? If you do, you don’t need a tablet unless you just want it to be portable.

You aren’t looking for a tablet that has a phone line assigned to it, correct? All you need is either WiFi, or an ethernet connection to watch TV on a tablet or computer.

EDIT: After looking it appears you can't use "WATCH TV" on a smart TV. (Who would have thought you might want to use it on a TV? ) So I assume this is just something you have in addition to your AT&T TV?

Its also limited in what tablets and operating systems you can use. You better check before you buy anything.

Edited May 11, 2020 by DaveTN

[quedz]

1 hour ago, DaveTN said:

You better check before you buy anything.

No, I don't have AT&T TV service. I'm using an indoor antenna for the few over the air channels I can pick up. Think I'll give CS another go, might get lucky this time.  Thanks for your help.