[dryster]

You see on SlateDroid that there is a growing community for the Tegra based Viewsonic gTablet. If you're not in the market for a big 10" tablet, then perhaps the new 7x from Viewsonic, recently announced, will be a good choice. I'm looking for a 7" tablet, running Honeycomb or later, with a nice flat, bright screen.

Perhaps the 7x is the ticket.

[Mister Massive]

dryster, on 27 April 2011 - 12:12 PM, said:

I think the issue at the moment, and going forward, is that there is a lot of misrepresentation in the Android tablet market, the offerings on eBay from the Chinese vendors appear to promise everything for (almost) nothing, which cannot be true. Unfortunately as I've said before, buyers do searches for "price + shipping lowest first" and marvel at the cheapest tablet on eBay providing absolutely everything according to the auction listing.

A quick buy-it-now, five weeks waiting, a tablet arriving wrapped in newspaper with (perhaps) a thin Chinese manual or a translated nightmare. No support, no App store (oops, said it, will wait to be sued by Apple) and a whole mess of frustration. Usually the stock Android 2.1 or 2.2 is what you'll be stuck with as cooked ROMs will not be available from anywhere for a tablet that fundamentally cannot be identified.

Unfortunately, people arrive at the forums after they have purchased a tablet and more than likely, even while clutching their first Android tablet, they are actually considering the next one.

So, back to the original question, what to look for in a tablet when buying. Wish list.

Name Brand, mainstream tablet with a big user base and support here on Slatedroid or one of the other unmentionable support sites.
Capacitive Touchscreen, if 7" then something around 1024x600 (Nook Color resolution)
512MB or higher RAM.
8GB or higher internal storage with expansion of 32GB. Gigabytes NOT Gigabits and actual internal storage (not free generic XD card passed off as internal storage)
Actual processor running at 1ghz or higher (not overclocked figure, not "combined" figure)
Real Dual Core. Not some misinterpretation of what dual core means as ground bait for the unwary.
Hardware buttons, full USB, high capacity li-ion battery that is user replaceable in the future.

And back to the online advertisers and ebay listers, do not immediately believe the sales pitch.

And finally, remember, the tablet you buy today, even with the most careful research, is probably not going to be the tablet you want in six months time, that's the way it is. So, don't search for the cheapest, define a budget and buy within it, enjoy and learn and eventually sell it back into the system and buy the next one.

Rinse, Repeat.

Or...

Do whatever the hell you want with your life, as long as it doesn't involve telling other people what to do (because that makes you like like a self-entitled jackass and no one will like you and you will die lonely and naked).

People make bad buying decisions, it's not the end of the world. 200 bucks should not be breaking your bank, and if it is, are you sure you should be spending your time and money on techy toys?

[geekbang]

Your tips do hit spot! Thanks OP！

[Poppyspoppy]

I have been waiting to see what developments there are in 2011 and had nearly decided to buy the Herotab m10 when I saw a chinese Tegra 2 advertised. Anyone have a view about whether they will be worth going for?

[CruzReader2.0]

WOOT has the Viewsonic gTablet 10" today for $275 including shipping. It is $302 on sale through Amazon.

[Sabine]

Hallo

ein kriterium für den kauf eines tablets ist android 2.2 und flashplayer

Sabine

[mrsburnout]

Sabine, on 09 June 2011 - 07:37 AM, said:

Hallo

ein kriterium für den kauf eines tablets ist android 2.2 und flashplayer

Sabine

google translated: http://translate.google.com

Hello

a criterion for the purchase of a Tablet android 2.2 and flash player

Sabine



Hello,

Please post your replies in English on the main forum. You may post here: Deutsch if you wish to reply in German.

Thank you and welcome to SlateDroid.


Hallo,

Bitte posten Sie Ihre Antworten in englischer Sprache auf das wichtigste Forum. Sie können hier posten: Deutsch , wenn Sie auf Deutsch antworten wollen.

Vielen Dank und herzlich willkommen auf SlateDroid.

[amg1]

ARCHOS 5 ONLY WAY TO GO

[grabbit97]

Poppyspoppy, on 06 June 2011 - 04:38 AM, said:

I have been waiting to see what developments there are in 2011 and had nearly decided to buy the Herotab m10 when I saw a chinese Tegra 2 advertised. Anyone have a view about whether they will be worth going for?

I bought a XOOM, and returned it to Costco, it really didn't do anything different from my phone (evo 4g)... Is there ever going to be a tablet run by android that will truly compete with the Ipad (which I do not want to buy)...

[mancityred]

Hi

I bought a cheap tablet Tabtech M009s from Amazon as I wanted to be able to access internet when I am abroad. Gwnerally works and does what I want. Will probably go for a more expensive tablet later. Reading this thread has given me ideas on what to look for.

[tosan]

Just bought an Upad/Zenithink ZT-180 7inch 256MB/4GB for about 100$.

My decision was based on

• price/value ratio => Doesn't hurt much if bricked while modding it.
• ongoing manufacturer and community support.
• atp_uestc
• froyo, flash + HMDI

• dryster, on 27 April 2011 - 12:12 PM, said:

  Hardware buttons, full USB, high capacity li-ion battery that is user replaceable in the future.
  

EDIT: Flash 10.1 runs, but there is no joy 'cause the performance is too slow.

This post has been edited by tosan: 27 June 2011 - 04:06 AM

[Giovanijs]

wow, thanks for the information, folks.

[spinny123]

Thx for the info.

[boklos]

i'm looking for 9.7" screen for reading

[Talor]

I'm trying to sell china tablets on my site, thanks for the tips, and looking forward more

[metermax]

I have used an EKEN M003 for the past year, and am running it with Mercury.
It has an 800x600 8" resistive touch screen, with a weird looking reflective border.

The Market has been working on it since near the end of last year, so I've been able to use it quite a bit.
I use it as an E-reader, Opera browser, and Pandora device. I installed the low res version of Youtube, and it can be used for viewing the average video.

It is very slow in comparison to say, an Ipod Touch 2G, which was my only point of comparison.
It isn't multi touch. You can't play action games on it or run emulators on it. Typing on it is cumbersome with the onscreen keyboard, due to its speed and the resistive screen. It is what it is.

I really like it!

This tablet has served for me as a proof of concept that a tablet is a viable device for content consumption. I use it every day now.

I'm frankly shocked that the American market is stuck with so many high dollar choices in tablets, over a year after I was able to buy this thing, and over a year and a half after the first Ipad.

A tablet should be a device that costs less than a laptop.
It doesn't have to have an expensive license for the OS, it doesn't have to have to include an office suite, doesn't use a hard drive, has a smaller screen, requires less battery power, and does not require as powerful a processor.
We need basically a Nook Color that's dual core.

Wish list:

- 1 GHZ or better dual core processor
- Capacitance screen, in 2 size classes, 7 to 10 inches.
- Android 2.2 or better
- Some additional physical buttons ergonomically placed on the sides, for use with games. Holding a tablet and trying to hit onscreen buttons to play an action game is pretty tedious.
- Good quality sound. A decent quality audio chip in it so it sounds OK with a speaker, but excellent with headphones.


Thanks for having this site!
SlateDroid has been the reason I can use this tablet.

Marc

[jpazgrau]

I do agree!. Of course you shouldn´t get a Ferrari to deliver pizzas. Sometimes the use you intend to give to your tablet is also an important issue to look for buying, taking into account that you should lower your expectations to the money you paid for it.

I have bought a low cost chinese tablet to start experiencing with it and to learn how to develop apps with Android, and as long as I have used it, it has worked fine, of course, is not as appealing or fast as a Galaxy Tab -My point of reference-, but it manages to do what was expected. It has a 7' resistive screen, of course not multitouch, and a VIA CPU, but it has a workable USB port in which I have tested a hard keyboard,a mouse, and memory sticks with no trouble. It claims to support a 3G Modem but I haven´t tested it yet.

The article is fine, I will take it into account when buying my next Android Tablet.

[TabletConnect]

I recently had the pleasure of testing a Nook Color that has been rooted and runs the CM7 (Android 2.3). I'll be posting a review on my blog in the next week but i have to say it runs great. You can find a certified preowned NC for about $185 if you find the right sale. I would highly recommend getting a NC and hacking it to run CM7 which will turn the NC into a fully functional Android tablet. I know there is no camera, GPS or has dual core processor. However I rather buy a NC than a Chinese tablet. If you can find one for $185, its an excellent deal.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

[metermax]

Thanks for the article!

I think I will keep an eye out for an NC. I got to try one out, and appreciate how responsive and versatile it is, even without hacking it.
But then, hacking the tablet is the point, isn't it?




Marc

[Jerry_Joe]

Sounds great...I have to agree