Recommended tablet for me?

[ROBOCRIPPLE]

I have an iPad 2 from 2011, which served me well up until about 2 years ago, when it started to slow down and crashed apps. Before the start of the new year, Apple admitted they were slowing down old iOS devices with later updates to conserve battery consumption, and I was ticked off. So, I jailbreak it, downgraded it from iOS 9.3.5 back to 6.1.3, and jailbreak it again, and now it is running as fast as it did before. I was happy with my old iPad again!

I normally used my old iPad to look up game guides for years. When I opened a page in wikia and allrecipes in any web browser available for iOS 6, the pages did not load properly. I was ticked off. Also, I can't get the latest versions of any browser or any other app and some of the apps that I've used before such as PlayStation second screen require a higher firmware than 6.1.3.

I guess it's time to retire my old iPad for good. I paid good money for it back in 2011, and I haven't used it very often over the years, which is why I want to keep using it for just about anything. It could be a neat digital photo frame...

Now I'm shopping for a new Android tablet. One that isn't too expensive, but functional in just about every aspect. I'd also like to be able to run a Linux-based desktop OS on it via that VNC method. I already have a Windows tablet with WACOM stylus compatibility, but one of my concerns is battery life, and ARM processors are just more power-efficient.

I looked at the GPD XD. I like that it is portable and has built-in controls so that I can play retro games on the go with good emulators and play some Play Store games with a proper controller on the go without adding much bulk in my bag/pocket. But 2GB of RAM? Android 4.4? Does it support a fairly recent version of Android? How about Cyanogenmod/Lineage OS?

I also looked at the NVIDIA SHIELD K1 tablet, but I don't know where I can find it at no more than $200; I can't buy one at the NVIDIA store anymore.

Any tablet you'd recommend that is currently available and is new or compatible with a fairly recent firmware even with Lineage OS/Cyanogenmod? Even a budget Chinese smartphone would do.

 

[svim]

I have no viable suggestions to buy as you do list some pretty specific requirements. The one matter I will comment on though is don't expect the lowest price tablet you find to be of much use to you. It will absolutely NOT meet your expectations -- models with lower amounts of RAM will have frequent performance issues and when it involves minimal amounts of storage memory you will be constantly dealing with 'out of storage' issues. Invest in something that just does what you want, not one you're always struggling to keep running.

 

[ROBOCRIPPLE]

How about Chromebooks? I thought about picking one up. One that isn't very expensive like the Pixelbook is, but still has a touch screen as well as the ability to run Android apps.