Tablet advice for travel


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Hi all,

I'm heading off for a trip around Europe soon and was looking for some advice on getting a tablet to take around with me. I was just about to pull the trigger on a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7", but realised it doesn't have a USB port or full-sized SD card slot. The primary reason I want a tablet is to upload photos from my camera on the go using hostel wifi services or public hotspots, so a USB port or full-size SD card slot is pretty important.

Can anyone help me in my hunt for an inexpensive tablet? The cheaper the better. I only need the smallest, lightest, barely-capable device for uploading photos from my camera and checking email. No 3G required, will just use wifi when available. I was looking at the Asus Nexus 7, though I'm not sure if the USB port on this one is for plugging peripherals in (like a camera), or whether its for connecting to a computer like a USB mass storage device.

Cheers.

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So just after I made this thread I realised the Galaxy Tab 2 has a stupid proprietary port which can act as a USB host with an adapter. Damn, Samsung even stole the iPad's lame-ass connector.

Anyway, the question still stands. Has anybody had any experience connecting a digital camera (or another form of USB storage device) to either the Galaxy Tab 2 or Nexus 7?

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So just after I made this thread I realised the Galaxy Tab 2 has a stupid proprietary port which can act as a USB host with an adapter. Damn, Samsung even stole the iPad's lame-ass connector.

Anyway, the question still stands. Has anybody had any experience connecting a digital camera (or another form of USB storage device) to either the Galaxy Tab 2 or Nexus 7?

Root the nexus 7 (it's a one click process), install stickmount, get a usb OTG cable and you can practically attach anything to the nexus 7 (usb flash drive, keyboard, mouse). I'm not sure you can connect a camera directly, but I guess you could mount the memory card.

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Root the nexus 7 (it's a one click process), install stickmount, get a usb OTG cable and you can practically attach anything to the nexus 7 (usb flash drive, keyboard, mouse). I'm not sure you can connect a camera directly, but I guess you could mount the memory card.

Thanks for the reply, but I'd rather not mess around with rooting devices. I've done it on my HTC smartphone and that was a pain. The Nexus 7 is probably infinitely easier to root, but I'd just to like to buy something cheap and usable without any messing around.

I'm actually looking at an Ainol Novo7 Elf II now. They seem to be getting pretty decent reviews for a no-name Chinese brand, and for over $100 less than the Galaxy Tab 2 and Nexus 7 it's worth a shot I think.

http://www.ainol-nov...oid-tablet.html

Is there anything special about USB OTG? Can I just buy any old USB-to-microUSB cable and use that, or does it need to be a special 'OTG cable'?

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The Nexus 7 is probably infinitely easier to root

it is indeed, there's actually a one-click tool, a complete idiot could probably do it successfully (my nexus 7 was my first experience rooting an android device and I gotta say, it was almost easier than jailbreaking an ipod with the help of that tool)

also, afaik you won't find an android tablet that can mount usb drives without rooting so something as easy as the Nexus 7 would probably be your best bet (once you root your tablet you'll need an app to mount your usb drive, I recommend StickMount)

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Well here's an update for anyone who's interested. I went ahead and bought the Ainol Novo 7 Elf II and just tried it out with my digital camera and an OTG cable. All is working sweet, I can browse and copy files directly from the camera, and the tablet itself seems to be pretty good value for $100AU.

Thanks for the replies everyone.

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I will recommend you to go for samsung galaxy tablet 10.1, it would be smart bet for traveling. It have pretty cool huge screen, brilliant touch, amazing user interface, long battery life and the thing I like most about it is damn simple to use.

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