For showing my work around - what tablet should I get (4:3 aspect ratio)??

[IntrepidB]

I constantly see myself into situations that I want to show my photos to other people, and almost every time I see myself in an inconvenient situation (no decent internet around, laptop is too bulky, phone too small, etc).

I want a screen that has the minimum acceptable size to display a picture (7") with good image quality. It is also important that for a 7" screen, the aspect ratio is 4:3 (same as the standard photo DSLR size and the same as the Ipads).

The Ipad mini would be perfect, except for 2 points:
- pricy. I don't want to pay a premium for the brand or things that I won't use. I just want to display photos.
- itunes. I don't want to deal with itunes whenever I want to update my album.

In a few words, I'm looking for a tablet with:
- 7" screen (could fit in my camera bag)
- 4:3 aspect ratio (fit my photos perfectly)
- Good screen quality and colors (as close as possible to ipad retina display, with good contrast and viewing angle)
- Price close to 200 dollars, I don't want to pay for performance, I just need it to display photos
- Desirable (but not required) sd/microsd card slot, to easily manage my photos directly from the PC

Any recommendations?

 

[JClishe]

I'm not aware of any 7" tablet that's a 4:3 aspect ratio besides the iPad mini. Although I think it's a 3:2, but still, that's much better than 16:9 IMO.

Regarding iTunes, you don't need it. I have an iPad and don't have iTunes installed on any machine I own. I hate iTunes and refuse to install it. I store my pictures in SkyDrive and access them that way, there's plenty of cloud services you could use (Dropbox, Box, etc.)

 

[IntrepidB]

Actually there are a lot of 4:3 tablets besides the ipad mini, this is why I want reviews from some people that own one of those.

For instance, at first I was tempted to get the Acer Iconia A1, which I could get for about 40% cheaper than the ipad mini.
Acer Iconia A1 Review | Expert Reviews

However, after some research I found out that the screen is not that great, hard to see outdoors and bad view angle.

What I'm looking for is something in the price range of the A1, but with a better screen (fast processor or 3g connectivity are not required).

 

[The_Traveler]

Requiring the aspect ratio to be 2:3 doesn't account for the issue that you may want to show pictures in both landscape and portrait ratio and flipping the tablet every time is more distracting than a slight margin.
And you might actually crop an image to 4x5 or 1:1 or somewhere in the middle.

Relax.
Nothing in life is perfect.

 

[Big Mike]

I agree with Lew, don't lock yourself into a specific aspect ratio screen. A little bit of black on the sides of a display image, isn't going to hurt.

 

[IntrepidB]

I checked other tablets that are not 4:3 and the ones with good screen quality are almost as expensive as the ipads. Anything below 250USD had very poor screen in my opinion.

I think I'll get the new ipad mini next month, has the aspect ratio I want, the best tablet image quality and high resolution. Too bad I'm paying for a lot of processing power that I won't need. Wish another brand would make something with a similar screen for half the price.