You know that thing you’ve been mulling over buying for a while—a little something you really want, but that’s a bit too pricey for your current situation? Well, that’s exactly where I am.

My birthday is coming up, and I thought: if I reach out to a bunch of close acquaintances, maybe we could all chip in a small amount—myself included—to cover the cost. The item in question is a Pad Pro16 (11.6-inch, 16GB RAM, 1TB), which I found for $718.52. I have 15 acquaintances who are likely to join in, plus another 4 who might be on the fence. In the best-case scenario, it would come out to $37.88 per person; in the other, $47.90 (assuming, of course, that everyone agrees to participate).

I’d primarily use it for reading comics and books, studying, and eventually as a secondary PC monitor. I’m also interested in using it for new hobbies, like creating textures for 3D models, which involves digital painting. I could get a dedicated graphics tablet for that, but I’m a big fan of multipurpose gear—a tablet offers much more versatility and can serve the same purpose, even if it’s not quite as efficient as a dedicated graphics tablet (which usually comes with customizable shortcuts and a pressure-sensitive screen).

At the same time, I’ve been wanting to buy a powerful laptop for a few years now—something that would let me start studying 3D modeling, a field I’m really passionate about. I’d love to have a machine that can keep up with current technological advancements, so I wouldn’t have to replace it just because it can no longer handle certain software or services. Plus, after spending years with an underpowered device, I’d really love to own something truly capable. According to my plans—aiming for a 6,000-bucks laptop—if I were to go into full-on cost-cutting mode, I could potentially buy it in 10 months in a best-case scenario; this $718.52-sum would help shorten that timeframe.

I tend to be a bit "megalomaniacal" in the sense that, whenever possible, I opt for a more expensive item to ensure a longer useful life. However, a higher price tag—especially with electronics—often means the device is more powerful than what I strictly need for my intended purpose. I don’t necessarily see this as a bad thing; it allows me to handle more demanding tasks that a cheaper, less powerful model wouldn't be able to manage.

Here is how I would approach this purchase:

Instead of paying the full amount upfront, I would transfer the funds to my credit card as "secured credit." I wouldn't actually lose the money; the portion I didn't spend—which remains available as a credit limit—would earn interest based on the CDI rate. The bank I currently use, RecargaPay, offers a 110% CDI yield on available credit (up to a limit of 5,000 bucks). In this specific offer, I can pay in 12 interest-free installments of $65.08—a manageable cost for me. By the end of that period, I would add this money to the savings I’ve already accumulated for the laptop, effectively ending up with both the device and the saved funds.

Furthermore, their card offers 2% cashback, which is deposited back into the secured credit account, increasing the total balance and, consequently, the investment return. I also make it a habit to shop through Méliuz; for instance, when buying from Shopee, I can get a 1.5% return during certain promotional periods. This is my standard procedure for any online purchase.

THE QUESTION IS:

I always try to take a step back whenever I consider making a major purchase (over $300)—since, truth be told, I tend to be a bit megalomaniacal when it comes to purchases I deem "good value"—so, am I falling into my own trap, or does this purchase actually make sense?

Anyone else out there with a TCL Nxtpaper tablet? I have the 11 gen 2.0 and I'd love to hear others experiences with any Nxtpaper tablet

Ordered one for the One Plus Go 2 but this does not work with it, ready to negotiate.

Location : Alwar (or I will get it shipped to a friend in Kolkata)

Should I buy this for ₹30k or wait or Diwali sale ? My priorities are gaming and reading. It's sometimes in stock now so should I wait for discount or buy when it's in stock for 30k ?

I have been using it for 2hours now, the speaker is fabulous, touch sensitivity is great and the camera is Average as listed but it's good for meeting calls and other things, have updated it android 15 as many mentioned android 16 have battery drain issue,

My budget is 1500, Can you guys let me know a good back cover and temper glass at this price range.

Finally going to enjoy it to the fullest

Specs:

• Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
• LPDDR5X Ultra RAM
• UFS 4.1 storage
• 8.4" 2.3K (2304 × 1440 pixels) 16:10 240Hz OLED display
• 13MP rear camera
• 8MP front camera
• 10,000mAh battery
• 66W wired / 27W reverse wired charging
• Wi-Fi 7
• Bluetooth 6
• USB 3.2 Gen 2 (supports DP 1.2)
• 2 speakers
• 2 mics
• Active cooling fan (up to 15,000 RPM)
• 38,000 mm² VC cooling system
• MagicOS 11 (Android 17)

Colours:

• Black
• Silver

Sources:

• HONOR (Weibo)
• HONOR (Website)

Note: Converted prices are listed in the comments.

So I recently purchased the Xiaomi Pad 8 and I'm absolutely loving it. It's a fantastic device. It's fast, it's smooth, it's fitting all my needs perfectly. I love the screen, I love the audio, I even like the very simple software it has. But my question is about longevity.

I mostly use my Pad 8 for social media like Reddit, YouTube, Google Messages, and some PS2 emulation, and it handles all of this fine. But I want to know if it will still be handling all this fine in five years. I got the 8 GB RAM, 256 GB storage model, and I'm wondering if I should return it and get the Pad 8 Pro 12 GB, 256 GB model.

So what are your honest assessments on this decision that I would have to make?

Should I return it and get the Pad 8 Pro to future-proof it, or will the Xiaomi Pad 8 stay about the way it is now?

I will say my only complaint is that some of the apps have to reload when I've been away from them for too long or have too many open at the same time. Memory extension kind of helps this a little bit, but not much. However, I've read that even with the 12 GB model, the Xiaomi has aggressive RAM management and will still close down apps at a similar rate as the 8 GB model. Is that true? What do you guys think I should do?

Is there really that much of a difference between the two models for day-to-day use?

I'm not looking for a heavy gaming device, at most I would like to play ZZZ, Minecraft, or some shooters without having to worry too much about battery life and the device heating up. I don't particularly care too much for the best graphics or fps, I just want something decent that'll let me play for an hour or two at most. It would be preferably be on the $250-$400 range but I'm willing to spend up to $500, thanks in advance!

I spent way too long agonizing about which tablet I wanted to get, and wasted quite a bit of time looking at videos (only to find out they were paid) and other reviews (likely also paid).

I'm not a techie, so don't expect any massive breakdowns on hardware/power use.

Use case:

•I needed a tablet in the 300 USD range for college.

•Preference was given to tablets that included a pen, since I would be using it for note-taking 90% of the time, and I can't be bothered to buy those things separately.

•I'd rather eat a jean jacket than ever give a cent to apple again my life, and I know better than to get a surface

•Battery needed to last at least 8 hours (not a huge ask, considering what a lot of tablets boast)

Samsung had a few options in my budget, but the drop-off in quality between their flagship and budget devices is just...godawful. I've tried one of their a-series phones, and it was basically that junk you can buy from behind the counter at Family Dollar.

The TCL NXTpaper 11 was tempting, due to it being on sale. I opted against it because there were negative reviews regarding bugginess/lag, and poor quality control.

I ultimately went with Lenovo, because I've had decent experience with their laptops (I have a 2006 thinkpad that I can still power on and use to this day). The Idea Tab came with both a pen, and case.

It works perfectly for what I needed it for: Taking notes, viewing assignments in canvas, and the occasional youtube video/music streaming.

I do not game on tablets. I have literally no idea if you can load up Overwatch on this thing, and I simply don't understand the appeal of gaming on a tablet over a laptop. It has 8 gigs of ram, so I can't imagine it would be completely unusable for games. Its a 300 dollar tablet, so I can't imagine that it would be completely stellar for gaming either.

While everything works flawlessly for my limited scope of use, I do have a big giant gripe with the bloatware that comes installed on this thing.

There is a feature called "App recommendations", and an app called AppServices that will relentlessly install brainrot games on the device until disabled/deleted. It took an annoying amount of time to wade through the settings and apps to stop these apps from bombarding me. I deleted mahjong about 4 times before finding the correct thing to remove.

I understand that this is a huge issue with all major brands' devices, and went through the same tango with my Acer laptop earlier this year. I'm sure they're making a bunch of money by harassing us with these unwanted, garbage apps, but forcing "Candy Crush Soda Slurpers", "Brick Bash Gem Royale: Must Consoom" or whatever onto users and UN-DELETING them is insulting.

Once I got the crapware off of it, the tablet became exactly what I was looking for. The battery lasts from when I leave the house at 1pm to when I get home at 12am. The pen and palm-rejection features work exactly as one would expect, and it feels natural to write on. I have not had any issues with apps crashing or freezing (with several browser tabs, youtube music, freenotes, and email open). The speaker quality is decent, and it wouldn't hurt my head/ears to listen from it if I were to forget headphones.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that there is a SIM slot, and I'm going to pick up a prepaid sim to take advantage of that feature since I commute between several places often, and don't always have steady wifi.
Camera/mic quality is passably good for things like zoom meetings, but if you're looking to stream on this thing you may want to look elsewhere due to exposure issues and general camera quality. Document scanning is well....not good, even in perfect lighting. Pictures come out rather grainy and dim which makes this less than ideal as a "scanner".

To summarize: If you're on a budget, need a tablet for school/note-taking and other light use, and don't mind dealing with annoying bloatware, the Lenovo IdeaTab 11" "College Tablet" will work just fine.

I was able to boot a Linux kernel on the Lenovo Y700 Gen 4 without an unlocked bootloader, using KDE and Arch.

Let that sink in and move on. Was following up for it so much. Dropped the plan after the price reveal. Whoever planning to get it, All the Best, Enjoy 😊

The new Oppo Pad mini just got listed for 96k which is genuinely insane. Wondering if anyone would even consider it at that price

Does xiomi Pad 8 really have depth effect? if yes then why can't I find it? google says it has the effect but no! It does not have

Any budget tablet recommendations with the following specs big screen(10in-11in), good battery life, good performance, and below 16k. I know my tablets but what I don’t know is where I can find them 😅. Currently eyeing at redmi pad 2, honor pad X9a, oppo pad se, the tablets from Lenovo, the tablets from tecno and infinix, and the tech life tablet. I don’t know which one really has the upper hand but I would say that most of them are pretty decent, close in terms of specs, the only difference is price so whichever is the cheapest option between them we’d get but how about yall what do yall think?