Given Nokia/HMD or Xiaomi/Redmi smartphones can be purchased for $100-200, I'm surprised why a small tablet, with no radio, still costs double+.
Could the larger screen be a factor?
Ask HN: Whom do you trust for a cheap tablet?
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Re: Ask HN: Whom do you trust for a cheap tablet?
#12I use a cheap x86 Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet (don't know the exact model from the top of my head) with KDE Plasma 6. It's great and the two android apps I need to run are emulated via waydroid.
Re: Ask HN: Whom do you trust for a cheap tablet?
#13Sounds like you don't really need Android? Why not just get any used touchscreen solid state laptop, wipe and put Linux on it, and treat it as a huge oversized Pi?
Re: Ask HN: Whom do you trust for a cheap tablet?
#14It’s hard to know what you consider “cheap” but you can buy a 1-3 year old iPad for relatively cheap (iPad 9 renewed on Amazon goes for about $240, WIFI-only). If you are just running a HA dashboard then an iPad is going to be rock solid.
I know that is going to sound counter to what you think you want but it will be plug and play and you can be sure it’s not going to have crapware loaded on it.
Re: Ask HN: Whom do you trust for a cheap tablet?
#15It’s hard to know what you consider “cheap” but you can buy a 1-3 year old iPad for relatively cheap (iPad 9 renewed on Amazon goes for about $240, WIFI-only). If you are just running a HA dashboard then an iPad is going to be rock solid. I know that is going to sound counter to what you think you want but it will be plug and play and you can be sure it’s not going to have crapware loaded on it.
This. Apple won so disproportionally that the the best low-end tablets are old iPads.
Re: Ask HN: Whom do you trust for a cheap tablet?
#16It's a bit of an out-there suggestion, but apparently the Google Pixel tablet supports LineageOS: https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/tangorpro/ Probably not the best-value option for loading a safe Android ROM, but it is pretty recent and has a nice form factor for smart home stuff.
Pixel tab also has official support from GrapheneOS!
Re: Ask HN: Whom do you trust for a cheap tablet?
#17I managed to get lineage os onto one of the xiaomi redmi pads from ali express, great little tablet once you rip all the spyware out
Re: Ask HN: Whom do you trust for a cheap tablet?
#18I managed to get lineage os onto one of the xiaomi redmi pads from ali express, great little tablet once you rip all the spyware out
Re: Ask HN: Whom do you trust for a cheap tablet?
#19Get some slim touchscreen laptop with Linux on it and you're sorted.
Re: Ask HN: Whom do you trust for a cheap tablet?
#20Amazon Fire tablets are the best bang for the buck.