Is anyone really knowledgeable about Tablets/and or laptops?

Videomaster21XX

Videomaster21XX

This is how a unicorn comments
Citizen
I've only ever used a desktop, so I sadly just have no idea what I'm doing.

I'm looking for a tablet or laptop that I could play video files on smoothly, AND be able to hook it up to a TV or projector. I don't need it to play high end games or anything, just basic movie files and allow me to hook it up to an external display. Preferably by HDMI output.

Also don't have a huge budget, so am looking to see if there is anything under the 150 mark, or the very least not much higher then 200.

I mean I look at amazon and see some laptops refurbished (which I'm not sure if that's a thing I'd want to mess with) or some regular tablets for like 50 or 100/120 bucks, but given I'm not some super tech guy. I'm not really sure if they can do what I want, or how to even really find out. :/
 

Axaday

Well-known member
Citizen
There is nothing wrong with refurbished on Amazon, but you want to look at how old the model is. Aside from having an HDMI, practically anything you get is capable of what you are wanting, but if you get a 2018 model, even refurbished, it will stop working well in a few years.

All of my tablets have been iPads and they don't have HDMI. But I see Amazon has several HDMI tables available. Their own brand comes up first. If you really don't need a keyboard at all and don't need to run any traditional software, I would just go with that.
 
Dake

Dake

Well-known member
Citizen
It really does depend. I'd personally be more wary of a "cheap" tablet (which likely uses a really old version of Android) than a slightly older, refurbished laptop. In addition, a laptop will be able to do most of the other things (since it's a computer) you may occasionally need whereas a tablet can be more limited. That being said, the Amazon Fire Tablets are supposed to be fairly decent, you just get the ads and stuff. You should be able to get a USB-C to HDMI cable (assuming the tablet supports video out via the USB).

I'd also check Newegg for refurbs; they may be a bit more trustworthy. For example, here's an HP Elitebook. It does not have an HDMI port, but it does have VGA and you can get a VGA-HDMI cable. The HP also has a decent Geekbench score. It should do what you need plus random other portable computing things including light gaming via Steam or whatever. It doesn't have a ton of RAM, but the other benefit to most PC laptops is they can be upgraded to extend their lives. That HP looks to be pretty easy to upgrade. It comes with a single 16GB RAM stick, but has two slots. You could either try and match the specs of the existing RAM or buy another pair to upgrade it further. RAM is one of the simplest ways to make an older computer feel faster, and RAM cards are frequently on sale.
 
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Videomaster21XX

Videomaster21XX

This is how a unicorn comments
Citizen

For example of what I looked at. Like this seems like a good deal. 129.00 with some tax doesn't sound so bad, but yeah I can't figure out how I'd find what year this is, and the HDMI it has listed is a "Mini HDMI" I'm... not really sure what that is. I think it means I can get a cable that has a mini port that plugs into the computer, then a normal HDMI port that can plug into the tv?

I don't even know if this is a good brand to buy.
 

Axaday

Well-known member
Citizen
That is what mini HDMI means and Gateway is a respectable brand unless it has slumped in recent years.
 
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