Tablet Advice

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Hi everyone, been a while since I posted on here but its usually the best place for advice!

I'm currently looking into purchasing a tablet of some form - something I have pretty much no experience with - to save me carrying around a laptop. I would like to use it for both my studies (engineering) and my work (private music teacher). As an aside I wouldn't mind being able to play a few IE games on there

As such there are a few requirements I would be looking for:

• Lightweight - I'm assuming nearly all tablets are pretty light so I'd be pretty safe in this area
• Hard wearing - I'd be carrying it everywhere and using it nearly everyday so if its likely to crack its of no use
• Decent size - I'll be reading lecture notes from it whilst studying so being able to see a good chunk without scrolling is a must. If possible I'd like to use it as an additional tool to put notation/guitar tab on during lessons so something close to A4 size would be handy (it would also be handy if it would fit on a music stand)
• Good battery life - Again, since I am using it nearly all day it needs to last a decent amount of time. I can charge it when I'm at work in the evening but its a little tricky to do so when I'm at the university during the day
• Able to run a variety of programs - I have to use Microsoft Office as well as Matlab on my course
• Good amount of storage space - Probably won't be too much of an issue with external hard drives and what not but I'm not sure what's good for a tablet
• Reasonable price - unfortunately I'm not made of money, so keeping around the region of 200 GBP would be ideal, I am able to go higher if its something that's going to be really worth it

I think that's everything I can think of so far. I don't know how realistic my expectations are with this, but I don't have a clue either way so any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Any extra pieces of kit or alternatives to a tablet are welcome as well!

From what I've looked at so far, I like the look of this

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00JG76I7W/ref=nosim/sorcerersplace0b

but I'm fairly clueless!

 

Chinese models are the way to go these days, trust me. Generally much more affordable than mainstream stuff and just as good if not better.

Plus they send you a complementary wife with the hardware.

 

Thanks for the replies!

You're not wrong Tal - there are mountains of them out there.

 

Yes, samsung Galaxy tabs are good. How about a hybrid? How much can/will you spend. The fruit brand is not bad either.(and I hate it)

 

I am a PC user, but I have been nothing but happy with my iPad. Mine is a couple of years old and still works perfectly and never causes me any problems. I also use it pretty much every day. I was in the Apple store earlier tonight and was shocked to see how light the new ones are. Although I am going to use mine until it dies (because I am cheap), but I did appreciate the new ones.

 

Just an update, I ended up purchasing a used Sony Xperia. It was really cheap and I'm very happy with it!
Despite wanting to use it for uni I installed BG:EE almost immediately and that is what I have used it for the most