Yeah, I hear that. It was a Christmas gift.
I saw a 10" off brand android for $77 on Amazon the other day. I almost put one in my cart.
I suggest looking at one that can run a custom firmware. Its easy as hell to install on many of them these days. That way you never have to worry about "the company" doing something stupid or having something installed you can't uninstall.
I had a really old Amazon Fire 7" that I had put a custom firmware on. That was a long time ago and the tablet kind of sucked. Maybe that is a option for the one you have. I remember the amazon one being a PITA to root but maybe its easier now.
I left my cs/ee career 20+ years ago, I have not kept up with any of the tricks to modify today's hardware. In fact I tried to minimalize my exposure - desktop and laptop, no cell phone or other toys. Then I got a kindle for Christmas ~2017 ... loved it for reading breaking news and videos. Used it unmodified for about 8 years, then opened this new kindle (another Xmas gift from ~4 years ago) and while pissing and moaning about kindle's junk silk browser someone here suggested side loading ... I was able to sideload Google play and then other apps with a bit of help from poal. Other than that, I'm somewhat of a newbie to that world of customizing todays stuff.
Not sure if I want to get too deep into real customization at this point, I'd feel I'd have to try to stay current with new features/developments in that world and ... I've kind of had my day (career) chasing technical innovation already. Guess I've had my fill, just want to live a simple life being a news junkie now, conversing with others who have similar interests.
Well, I suggest grabbing a older/used Surface Pro then. They can run Linux (or you can leave windows on it). They have a detachable keyboard so you can use it like a tablet but they also run a "full" OS so you don't have to worry about your stuff getting randomly wiped/disabled.
My Wife has a Surface pro 7 that she loves (Make sure to NOT get the X versions, they use embedded windows and I am not sure if you can modify the OS).
The battery life is like 12 hours+ depending on what you do and they are great for travel.
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