# Best Tablet (for the $)



## jcsnyc (Dec 6, 2015)

Hey all - 

I am adding Mobile into my workflow - with the main intention to use a tablet (or my iphone) to Flag, Rate and do some minor edits.  I am already syncing a bunch of collections and love how the mobile works on my iPhone - though the size is a bit challenging.  My birthday is next week and I am considering asking my wife for a tablet.  iPad is my first impulse - but will I really get $300 extra in value over an Android tablet.

I really plan to use the table for LR Mobile, Kindle, and maybe some personal / business productivity.

Anyone compare the iPad and Android for LR?  Any major differences?  Any suggestions?

NOTE: I was a PC & Android user until about 1 year ago.  Now I use a MacBook Pro at work, Windows 10 at home, and an iPhone.  I do REALLY LOVE the simplicity and reliability of the apple products. But in this case the $ difference seems pretty high for my somewhat basic needs.


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## Ian.B (Dec 6, 2015)

I'm not into tables, but from what I understand it all comes down to personal preference and no difference to whether we prefer mac or window computers


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## clee01l (Dec 6, 2015)

jcsnyc said:


> NOTE: I was a PC & Android user until about 1 year ago.  Now I use a MacBook Pro at work, Windows 10 at home, and an iPhone.  I do REALLY LOVE the simplicity and reliability of the apple products. But in this case the $ difference seems pretty high for my somewhat basic needs.


 Welcome to the forum.
OSX & iOS are going to be well integrated.  If you already have a MBP & iPhone, a third apple device will fit well. iCloud also integrates pretty well with Win10.  All of this is unrelated to Lightroom Mobile though and I think LRMobile will work transparently on iOS & Android although I've never used it on an Android device.  If you add an Android Tablet, you will need to put in considerable effort integrating this OS with Win, iOS & OS X so that everything else works smoothly.


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## johnbeardy (Dec 7, 2015)

I'm going to say iPad. I also feel that I start from an agnostic view as my main computer is Windows 7 but I have a couple of Mac laptops, an iPad and most recently added an iPhone. 

Why an iPhone? Partly it was because I wanted to be immediately up to speed. I know, for example, how to sync contacts from Outlook to the iPad and I just don't want to learn another way to do that, or get all such tasks working to my satisfaction. 

But a second reason was that LrMobile features have - so far - become available first in iOS. I am not sure which features are currently not in LrM / Android, but I am sure there is a list somewhere (Victoria?).

Incidentally, I feel the sweet spot is 64Gb. My iPad2 has 32Gb and I have 5000 photos in LrM, all available for offline editing, and I do feel I need to keep an eye on how much memory is available. I am toying with the idea of replacing it with an iPad Air 64Gb wifi-only.

John


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## Jim Wilde (Dec 7, 2015)

I'm going to say iPad as well, for very much the same reasons as John and Cletus. I had a similar internal debate a few months ago when upgrading my iPhone4. I was very tempted by the Samsung S6, but in the end I went with the iPhone6, but only because of the fact that I had already got everything working seamlessly across my MacBookPro, two iPads and my iPhone4....so it just made more sense to upgrade to another iPhone. We bought an iPad Air 64gb model for our son on his birthday in October, so I'm now casting envious eyes at it.......


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## jcsnyc (Dec 7, 2015)

Great advice everyone!  I am definitely targeting the iPad.... NOW question #2.

Which one?  I have ruled out the iPad Pro - since I want to read/process/do stuff on the subway and don't want A) to be a target B) feel cramped C) spend so much in $.

The iPad Mini 4 seems pretty solid with an awesome upgraded screen and performance.  Anyone have a mini vs. air and have an opinion?

THANKS for all the input!


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## johnbeardy (Dec 7, 2015)

Can't say, but you might read something into the fact I'm not even thinking about it.

Maybe look into which models have pressure sensitivity as that's likely to be more important in apps.

John


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## Victoria Bampton (Dec 7, 2015)

johnbeardy said:


> I am not sure which features are currently not in LrM / Android, but I am sure there is a list somewhere (Victoria?).



I don't have a list published, but the differences are noted in my LRM book


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## jcsnyc (Dec 7, 2015)

Victoria Bampton said:


> I don't have a list published, but the differences are noted in my LRM book



Bought your book last night, Victoria, and definitely picked up some "missing facts" that were useful in LRM on my iPhone 6.  The delays in release for Android tablets also help me decide to go with the iPad.


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## Victoria Bampton (Dec 7, 2015)

Good choice jcsync. I love my iPad!


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## Jim Wilde (Dec 8, 2015)

jcsnyc said:


> Which one?  I have ruled out the iPad Pro - since I want to read/process/do stuff on the subway and don't want A) to be a target B) feel cramped C) spend so much in $.



I have both an iPad retina (iPad 3?), but not the Air version, and an iPad Mini 3 . I tend to use them on an upstairs(Mini)/downstairs(iPad3) basis, as I'm a bit of an insomniac so I tend to keep the Mini on the bedside cabinet where it's used for reading, email checking (sad, I know), and general browsing. I definitely enjoy using the Mini more than it's big older brother, because of its lightness and easier handling, but it would be more of a tough call if I had the full iPad Air. They're both great devices.

But if you're planning on using it for LRmobile, especially for light editing, I would have thought the iPad Air 2 would be a better choice, mainly because of the larger screen size.


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## plopez (Dec 29, 2015)

Jim Wilde said:


> I have both an iPad retina (iPad 3?), but not the Air version, and an iPad Mini 3 . I tend to use them on an upstairs(Mini)/downstairs(iPad3) basis, as I'm a bit of an insomniac so I tend to keep the Mini on the bedside cabinet where it's used for reading, email checking (sad, I know), and general browsing. I definitely enjoy using the Mini more than it's big older brother, because of its lightness and easier handling, but it would be more of a tough call if I had the full iPad Air. They're both great devices.
> 
> But if you're planning on using it for LRmobile, especially for light editing, I would have thought the iPad Air 2 would be a better choice, mainly because of the larger screen size.



Jim, iPad Retina is iPad 4 (I have one as well ), although the common size one, not the mini version. Comparing my iPad with my grandma's iPad Mini the only difference I notice with Lightroom is that sometimes it can get a bit stuck, I don't know if it is a processor thing, but only happens with really heavy images such as panoramas. 

For a choice on the go, iPad Air sounds a better choice


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## Johan Elzenga (Jan 1, 2016)

The iPad 3 was the first one with a Retina display. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPad


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## jmj2001 (Jan 8, 2016)

I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab S with a very high quality 10" screen which works beautifully with Lightroom Mobile.  I have also had iPads but prefer the flexibility of Android overall (although I'm not so keen on Samsung's layer on top of it - I prefer my HTC phone in that respect).  If you travel with the Android tablet and your camera, set to shoot RAW+JPG, it's handy to be able to import the JPGs to Lr Mobile from your camera via a little OTG cable (not possible with iPads, I believe)  and start doing things with them  before you get back to Lr Desktop.  I mean to get johnbeardy's Syncomatic plug-in to improve this workflow.  
My newer cameras have WiFi so I suppose the cable is no longer such an advantage of Android.


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## tspear (Jan 9, 2016)

I went an alternate direction on my last trip. 
I used a Surface and 2 in 1 laptop to offload the images from the camera and do initial editing. Worked really well to have the full Lr available.
Only downside, my 2 in 1 is a work computer that I had to remove Lr when I got home and give my brother his Surface back... 

Oh well. As my daughter says, first world problems. 

Tim


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## rob211 (Jan 12, 2016)

I say definitely NOT an iPad; get a Galaxy Tab instead, or maybe even a Surface Pro.

I have an iPad (and an iPhone and Macs) and like iOS...but not for photos. There are bazillions of nice editing apps in iOS, and they work fine for editing JPEGs. RAW is a rather a huge pain, however. It has to do with the way iOS handles files and RAW; it makes a preview, but you are pretty much limited to using that preview for editing. There are a few exceptions, like Photogene, but very few. And getting an edited RAW, if you succeed in doing so, off the iPad is a pain.

Furthermore, manipulating files on an iOS device is not easy. The camera roll is also read only, and you cannot copy out to say an SD card. That, however, is relatively easy to do on say a Galaxy Tab. I've even used the same microSD in my camera and on the Tab. And with OTG connectors to USB you have a much better range of stuff you can connect; I use ethernet on my Tab quite frequently, for example. No way to do that on an iPad.

At one time Android sorta suffered in a lack of some key apps, but these days most everything you need is available. The iPad hardly gets used now, and is left behind when I need something on photo tips.


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## johnbeardy (Jan 12, 2016)

To be frank, I don't think it matters that it's difficult to manipulate files on iOS, if that's true. Presentation, or showing people pictures, is the main thing I like with Lightroom Mobile on the iPad. After that is rating and flagging, and only then comes adjustment. 

If you already have an Android device it makes sense to get another, but I wouldn't mix iOS and Android, just learn one or the other, and stick to a form factor that provides the level of portability that you need.


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## flashpixx (Jul 14, 2016)

Now Im not sure... have CC on Win 10 laptop and using Samsung Tab S 10" 16gb for LR mob. I shoot fujifilm and use camera remote to import images from the camera then LRmob to import to LR on the Samsung.  
Main concern is am I missing anything on Android?  Was about to go get an iPad Air 2 64GB. Not sure now. Ive not run out of space on the Samsung but with only 16gb I have sbout 5gb left. mmmm decisions decisions.  Might download Victorias ebook after the latest update is included and see what the differences between android and IOS are.


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## rob211 (Jul 14, 2016)

Things have changed since this thread began. Lr Mobile now does raw from camera to tablet to desktop, for example. And there is external storage for iPads (I've reviewed a couple of HooToo thumbdrives for iOS, and the 64MB can store RAW, although moving files around in iOS is still tougher than Android.

But I assume you have a microSD slot on that Galaxy? You could store photos there. I dunno how you use Lr Mobile, but I generally only have working photos there. Not sure it if can access photos stored on the Tab's external storage.


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