Best tablet with a SIM card slot for less than £250

[Errol's son]

I want to buy a tablet but I will use it overseas in Africa and will mainly connect using a prepaid internet connection.

I have seen people buy tablets overseas without a sim card slot and find they are useless as there is no sim card slot and they have to buy a bulky wireless connector to carry around or use a dongle to get online.

I will mainly use my tablet for email, Skype, word processing (writing one page letters often just tweaking a template somewhat), making simple spreadhseets, surfing the internet and watching the occasional YouTube clip. I would also like to store some music on it.

I would prefer one that is 10 or 11 inches as I think a 7 inch one is probably useless for word processing although I have never used a 7 inch one. I also want a strong one but am not prepared to pay for a full on "tough" one.

Ideally it will have a standard sim card slot as mini sims are not available on the network I will use although I understand if has a mini sim card slot I can simply chop the standard sim card down to fit using a template cutter available on ebay...

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

I'd be intrested in this thread i though any tablet with mobile capabilities was going to be near the £300 mark

e2a

a quick google proves me well wrong. the nexus 7 with mobile is £230

although the cheap nexus 10 is over 300m and doesn't come with mobile.

you might neec to compromise on size

 

[Errol's son]

I'd be intrested in this thread i though any tablet with mobile capabilities was going to be near the £300 mark

I can stretch to GBP300 if necessary but don't want to go much over.

 

[marty21]

Don't know if they will work in Africa- but most smart phones can create a wifi hotspot - so you can use that to connect your tablet - then you could get something like a Kindle Fire HD (£150ish) or Nexus 7, etc - roughly same price

 

[Errol's son]

I don't have a smart phone. I use a simple Nokia for calls as it has an excellent battery life and two Sim cards so I can normally always get a signal and can go days without recharging it if needs be.

I just don't like lugging a laptop around as when I am at home I don't really need it. I want to leave my laptop in my office most days. A tablet will let me do work such as emails when at home and is far more portable, particularly if it has the Sim card inside it.

I looked at the CAT B15 smart phone which looks a pretty good smart phone for Africa but I could never give up the basic Nokia and feel a tablet offers much more than any smart phone could. My experience of smartphones is that the battery never lasts. Whilst it does not matter if the tablet runs out of juice, my phone has to stay on.

 

[marty21]

I don't have a smart phone. I use a simple Nokia for calls as it has an excellent battery life and two Sim cards so I can normally always get a signal and can go days without recharging it if needs be.

I just don't like lugging a laptop around as when I am at home I don't really need it. I want to leave my laptop in my office most days. A tablet will let me do work such as emails when at home and is far more portable, particularly if it has the Sim card inside it.

I looked at the CAT B15 smart phone which looks a pretty good smart phone for Africa but I could never give up the basic Nokia and feel a tablet offers much more than any smart phone could. My experience of smartphones is that the battery never lasts. Whilst it does not matter if the tablet runs out of juice, my phone has to stay on.

yep smart phones eat up the juice - spare batteries can help, charge a couple overnight so you can get through the day

 

[FunkyUK]

Get a mobile wifi access point... something like this, and you can connect multiple wifi devices to a 3G / 4G sim to access the internet. they're available in 3g and 4g versions. we have a few Huawei ones at work. they do the job nicely.

 

[Errol's son]

Get a mobile wifi access point... something like this, and you can connect multiple wifi devices to a 3G / 4G sim to access the internet. they're available in 3g and 4g versions. we have a few Huawei ones at work. they do the job nicely.

That is the thing most people have to buy when they buy a tablet without a SIM slot. The trouble is that the ones the networks sell here in Africa where I am are more bulky than that one. It seems that some Amazon reviewers have problems using the one you linked to abroad. I fear I will encounter the same problem if I take that one to Africa. I really want the SIM card in the tablet so the thing is highly portable... The earlier IPADs had the SIM inside so I will be looking at those...

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

I also want the best tablet for under £250.

What is the current winner in that department? I want to sit in bed watching you tube and reading wikipedia, and not a heck of a lot more.

 

[editor]

Nexus 7 is a bargain.

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/tablets/3465478/new-nexus-7-2013-review/

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

Nexus 7 is a bargain.

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/tablets/3465478/new-nexus-7-2013-review/

Sounds good enough for me. Thanks man.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

Nexus 7 is a bargain.

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/tablets/3465478/new-nexus-7-2013-review/

Oh, does it have a USB input thingy?

 

[tommers]

Yeah nexus 7. Although i've never owned any other one so maybe they're all good.

 

[emanymton]

Oh, does it have a USB input thingy?

What do you mean by USB thingy? It comes with a USB lead so you can plug it into your computer to transfer files, if that's what you mean.

I've had mine for over a year and am very happy with it, but like tommers I have never realy used another tablet.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

What do you mean by USB thingy? It comes with a USB lead so you can plug it into your computer to transfer files, if that's what you mean.

I've had mine for over a year and am very happy with it, but like tommers I have never realy used another tablet.

Usb hole.
I heard that ipads didn't have them. I was worried that it might be some sort of tablet precedent.

 

[Sunray]

I would get a 2nd hand iPad 3 or Mini 1 with mobile.

Android tablets are fine if you want to web browse or watch movies, but if you want to have access to a decent selection of tablet applications, the library for actual tablet apps on android isn't so great, lots of apps are scaled up phone applications.

No such problem with the iPad. Nearly 500,000 iPad designed applications.

 

[editor]

No, I really wouldn't recommend running the risk of a second hand iPad.

Short of a relative handful of niche applications, there's more than enough apps for Android tablets. Hundreds of thousands of them in fact - many of them exactly the same as their iPad counterparts - so it's a complete non issue. Moreover if you get a Nexus tablet, you'll get a better screen and some of the very wonderful features that are unique to the Android 4.4 OS.

 

[Fez909]

"usb hole"

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

I would get a 2nd hand iPad 3 or Mini 1 with mobile.

Android tablets are fine if you want to web browse or watch movies, but if you want to have access to a decent selection of tablet applications, the library for actual tablet apps on android isn't so great, lots of apps are scaled up phone applications.

No such problem with the iPad. Nearly 500,000 iPad designed applications.

This makes up my mind then. I did say I just want to read wiki and watch a couple of films.
What's the big deal about 'Apps' anyway? They are just applications right? Why do we have to call them bloody apps, just because they are on a phone or a 7inch pad?

No I don't need a sodding piano app or a 'draw with my finger' app.

 

[editor]

You'll get all the apps you'll need on an Android tablet and get a cheaper, brand new tablet in the bargain and they'll work just about exactly the same as they would on a slower second-hand ipad with a lower resolution screen.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

I don't want any apps.

 

[editor]

I don't want any apps.

Then get an Android Nexus and save yourself a few bob.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

Then get an Android Nexus and save yourself a few bob.

I think I will. It is a clear winner.
I'll wait for after Christmas though. The shops and post are mega annoying right now.

. . . and what's all this new shit about leaving mail with neighbours? The post office say they can now do this.
My neighbours got given two records I ordered but now they have vanished.

The PO are using this neighbour thing as an excuse to close the pick up office thingy. It's going to be a fucking nightmare.
I should start a new thread about it. Pisses me off.

 

[Errol's son]

I got the ASUS Fonepad which is near enough the same in many ways and I am very happy with it for surfing the web, watching TV etc. I think it is a bit cheaper than the Nexus 7 now.

But the 7" screen is too small to write emails of more than one or two sentences. A 7" screen is also slightly too big to put in trouser pockets, if you don't wear a coat. In some ways I wish I had got an 11" tablet. But the Fonepad (and I assume Nexus 7) are very good value.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

epic bump, but same question for now.

mum-tat has a tablet which doesn't have sim card, it's fairly ancient and could do with replacing, and as she's currently got internet fail, we're thinking about one that can take a sim card for emergencies (she relies on the internet for keeping in touch with most people and online grocery shopping) - can think a bit later about what provider is good for PAYG data on a 'now and then' basis.

any recommendations?

probably looking for something in the 9 - 11 inch range for ease of reading / use.

 

[ohmyliver]

epic bump, but same question for now.

mum-tat has a tablet which doesn't have sim card, it's fairly ancient and could do with replacing, and as she's currently got internet fail, we're thinking about one that can take a sim card for emergencies (she relies on the internet for keeping in touch with most people and online grocery shopping) - can think a bit later about what provider is good for PAYG data on a 'now and then' basis.

any recommendations?

probably looking for something in the 9 - 11 inch range for ease of reading / use.

What tablet/phone does she have (i.e Android or iOS).

If it's Android OnePlus Pad Go review: a bargain tablet that handles everyday use with ease The Oneplus Pad Go LTE is about 240 quid, gets good reviews, and has a sim slot

 

[Puddy_Tat]

What tablet/phone does she have (i.e Android or iOS).

it's android. i can't remember what make / model it is - possibly samsung and must be a good few years old now - i think she has tried to replace it once and didn't get on with the replacement thing, so kept the old one.

possible that the need has blown over - until next time there's an internet problem anyway...

but thanks - will bear it in mind. i'm thinking a larger tablet might work now - smaller one was ok when she want away a few times a year.

 

[ohmyliver]

might be worth taking her down PC World, and just getting her to see how she gets on with the various Android varients on tablets, or even an iPad (you can get a refurb iPad 8th gen with LTE for 230 or so quid), before spending the money on a new one.