Most sustainable tablet, 2024?

Maybe I will buy a tablet.  But having looked, I'm convinced they make it confusing on purpose.

My use
. Youtube and video watching through library streaming services.
. Web browsing
. Some photography
. Mild photo editing like colour correction,  cropping,  etc
. Fair size screen as it doesn't leave the house so maybe a5 or bigger.
.sd additional memory
. Can withstand my skill at breaking computers (so not an apple)
. Last 8 plus years so both durable and hardware big enough to future proof.
. Function offline

Optional but lovely
. I can put a cell card in it to check on emergency situations.
.  Keyboard hookup
. Mild video editing

Been a while since I had to do this.  Any ideas on where to start looking for info?

If you want sustainable, one thing to think about is how easy it maybe to repair or upgrade. This is not normally a priority for tech firms, so ifixit is a good place to look. They give HP Elite x2 1012 G1 Tablet a 10 for repairability, so that might be worth a look for you.



Link to ifixits current tablet repairability score table.

That's really cool. Thanks for the link.

I wish we had more repairable electronics here.  


Thinking more about this, I need something that can work offline.  Apparently some gadgets have an operating system that requires clouds?  How do I tell which have that and which will work offline?  

I have been using a Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.4", SM-T307U, for 3.5 years since i have been offgrid. I got it used on eBay for $90. It works offline and has a slot for a SIM card. I use an Amish vendor with a basic data plan for just $20 a month. I make calls using Google Voice. I use it for all my needs, i do not have a computer or phone. The only issue i have had lately is humidity, and so i bought some desiccant packs and keep it and its charging cables in a bag with dessicant packs when not in use.

There is an international organisation called "infoxchange" which provides cheap computers. and software.  It runs "Connecting-up" which is to help not-for-profits upgrade its hardware.
I have bought a few things through both organisation and never had a problem.  They are very helpful if you call.
I tried to get the Canadian link but it looks at the IP address and will only let me log into the Australian site - sorry.

I have bought two Samsung Galaxy tablets about 3 years ago, one for me and one for my kid to use in college. I've had great luck with Samsung Galaxy stuff, in fact I have one of the first phones they put out here and 12+ years later it still works, I lend it out to people who need a phone. It's usually pretty easy to get them fixed, replacement parts are easy to find because they're so widely used.

I got a Galaxy A lite for myself: I only use as an external monitor when I'm traveling with my laptop, or to find recipes when I'm cooking, so literally just for viewing things on the internet maybe every other week if I'm not traveling. It tends to be pokey even though I literally do not download a blessed thing on it, so it's sort of maddening. Upshot, I can pair it with my laptop and my phone, at least. It was a real cheapie, but you're not going to be able to do video editing on it, I don't think.

For my daughter, who uses it for school, for art and photo editing, for statistical analysis, and who even knows what else, I bought a Galaxy S9+. It's got something like 12 megs of RAM and can handle whatever you throw at it. She's gone through multiple plug-in keyboards already, uses it every day. It was a bit more expensive, but she can use it as a computer (in fact I think the hardware in it is better than in her laptop!) instead of having to schlep her computer with her on the bus, for example.

Why not a used professional laptop?
You can get a Thinkpad T480 for $200. I already bought a handful for friends who asked for a good laptop, but don't need a new machine.
I could not imagine working without a proper keyboard, but apparently some people can.
While the cooling of a laptop isn't idea, it is still much better than that of a tablet, so you get more performance.

I've had good luck with Samsung too. One of the things I use it for is to put on a stand next to where I am painting to show the photo.  I don't have a good printer and doing the math of printing vs new tablet,  it's about 12 months of ink and paper vs a tablet that can last 8 years.

The current limitations are the tablet can only hold 20 big jpeg and accessing from the sd card is slow.  Some software refuses to look at the sd card.  Also i would love better resolution on the screen.


Laptop is in consideration,  but I have an overpowered pc for most anything that needs a keyboard.   I could see myself getting really frustrated quickly with a laptop that doesn't have a super fast graphics build and at least 16 cores, and duel solid state drives.  Not to mention so many ram I can't count that high.  While  being lightweight enough to do tablet duty of reading,  watching videos, and viewing pictures while painting.  Battery lasting one week.  And still cost less than a midgrade tablet...?  I couldn't find anything in that range.  And to be frank, I'm not sure I'm happy with 16 cores on my pc, going to ask if I can install some more with the third solid state drive.  

So, yep, personal bucket of crazy gets in the way of a laptop.  If it has a keyboard,  I would be unhappy if it didn't at least match my pc specks.  But a tablet is a bit like a bike vs the latest car.  I don't expect it to be good at all the things I do on a computer.

I ended up going with a Samson Tab a9+

Everything is at least quadruple the past ones I've used.  Has a metal body, mini SD slot, very good reviews for a budget tablet, decent ram and rom... etc. It's specifically designed to multi task which is a big thing for my use style.  It also has a 90hz refresh rate for the screen, so I'm hoping that watching videos in 30 and 60fps would be less nauseating as it wouldn't keep skipping frames like my current monitors.

The only draw back is a 12 hr battery life for basic use 8 for video or high use.  But it won't leave home so I can always charge it throughout the day.

Okay, the other draw back is USB C hole for charging.  And it doesn't come with a cable so I have to find out where I hid mine I bought by mistake because nothing I own is USB C.  I put it somewhere safe... any idea where?