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What is the cheapest Android tablet (preferred 2.2, 7") availible? — Parallax Forums

What is the cheapest Android tablet (preferred 2.2, 7") availible?

MicrocontrolledMicrocontrolled Posts: 2,461
edited 2011-04-20 15:36 in General Discussion
Hi,
My brother is looking into the ever popular Android tablets, but he has have a very low budget. I was wondering what the best deal on a tablet of this type would be, and where I could get it. I found this one here: http://www.sinadeal.com/item/VIA-WM-8650-7---Tablet-PC-Android-2-2-Camera-WIFI-3G-Flash-10-1-MID-epad-134180/
but I don't know if that is the cheapest or even if the site is legit. Any information would be helpful.

Thanks,
Microcontrolled

Comments

  • lanternfishlanternfish Posts: 366
    edited 2011-04-19 18:02
    Remembering of course "you gets what you pay for". Sometimes you have to pay that little bit more for something that is likely to last the distance.
  • UnknownUnknown
    edited 2011-04-19 20:46
    I've been investigating different business plans and I found a place that sells cheap electronics like that. The stores in the U.S. mark the same products up a lot. I go on the web and google the parent company. While there are individuals that blackmail companies there are also complaints on the web about different sellers. There is no easy way to know what the truth is about quality until you've dealt with one of these companies. What is the failure rate of these products? 1 out of 5? 2 out of 5? Some rating systems for products that legitimate online retailers use are statistically dishonest and there is a built in obsolesence for a lot of products. Xerox copiers are using plastic gears so we've gone through a lot of copiers at work due to the fact the plastic gears break over time. We also have a co-worker at work who left his iPod on the dash of his vehicle only to find it not working the next day. Apparently humidity may play a factor. Some products are only designed to last two years because the companies are coming out with new products and it will be time to get the upgrade.
  • TubularTubular Posts: 4,717
    edited 2011-04-20 01:06
    They are selling out the Samsung Galaxy Tab's (7", 2.2) to make way for the larger 10.1" versions. These are now under $400 outright unlocked.

    There must be cheaper available, but these are the "standard"

    You might like to check out Sparkfun's IOIO as well (in development)
  • iDaveiDave Posts: 252
    edited 2011-04-20 01:55
    These links may help you on your quest, my young padawan....

    http://bit.ly/fKYMkc

    Another smart option is the Barnes & Noble Nook Color which is around $200 or less which CAN be hacked to run android. A link for a good overview of that process is:
    http://www.nookdevs.com/Softroot
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,260
    edited 2011-04-20 02:00
    I was almost tempted by the Ebay DoD yesterday, an Android 1.6 for $99: http://cgi.ebay.com/New-MID-70003-Google-Android-7-Touchscreen-Tablet-PC-/290555741053?pt=US_Tablets&hash=item43a678c37d but your Sinadeal offer with Android 2.2 is much better if legit.
  • markaericmarkaeric Posts: 282
    edited 2011-04-20 02:24
    You'll find that the internet is full of cheapie android tablets like the one posted. About that specific one - it seems to be branded as a VIA product which is a reputable brand, yet a search on their website shows no such product. Scrolling further down reveals that the device is actually called MID - they're all over eBay. I've done some homework on these tempting devices, but found several major issues that made me turn elsewhere.

    First of all, they generally use a resistive touch screen instead of the capacitive type. That might be ok when all you need to do is simple taps, but swiping gestures like you would use for scrolling is quite tedious, and is significantly more prone to user input errors as contacts might not be registered if you're not pushing down hard enough. Trust me, that can be frustrating.

    Secondly, most of these aren't Google approved devices, and therefore aren't supposed to be loaded with Google software (such as maps, and market). The tablet you posted claims to have Market installed, but I learned that unless they have a certain wireless carrier emulator hack, the full contents of the Market will not be displayed. It *might* be possible to install said patch on this device, but there's no certainty.

    Customer support.. It'll be unlikely that you'll be able to get any from the manufacturer. And I don't mean just in the case of warranty repairs, but also software support. I have a feeling you won't be getting upgrades to the newer releases of Android (Gingerbread [2.3], Honeycomb[3.0]). This one also appears to have a custom UI instead of something more standard such as ADW. Find a few youtube videos of these devices in action, and you'll see how crummy they generally perform. Theoretically, you should be able to change this, but it's hard to say how easy or difficult it would be. Since you won't likely be getting any significant manufacturer support, the next place to turn to would be community support. However, there isn't much community interest in these devices either. So you get what you get - and that isn't very comforting.

    More on this particular unit - It doesn't say what processor it uses, but it's most likely an ARM11 which would leave a lot to be desired in terms of performance. Also, 256MB of ram for Android 2.2 is quite low. Looking at the available ram on my device which totals 512 shows only 300MB free despite only have 3 services and a couple of applications running. 256MB would be gobbled up in no time, especially with what seems to be a poorly coded UI. Unfortunately, these devices probably serve better as paperweights than functional tablets.

    So what's a good choice? If you really have to stay in the sub $100 range, you'll probably be stuck with something that has similar specs to the one you posted, but you can have one that is from more reputable brands such as Pandigital or Archos - which at least shows some signs of life in the hacker community (check http://forum.xda-developers.com/). I personally have a 7" Barnes&Noble Nook Color which is normally priced at $240, though they recently had them on sale for $200(!).. Build quality is good, screen is excellent (higher pixel density than an iPad), specs that are comparable to >$400 units. It also has a HUGE hacker following, and was the first device to run the preview build of Android 3.0.. Do a quick search, and you'll find just how popular this device is. If you can afford it, you'll find that it's the biggest bang for your buck, and you won't be disappointed. There are builds of all Android versions from 2.1 and up. "Hacking" it is as simple as loading up images onto a microSD and booting from it, which can then be copied to internal storage, or simply run off the SD at the expense of some performance. Viewsonic also dropped the price of their 10" recently to $280 - I can't really comment on it, but I'm assuming it'll become quite popular with that price.

    Hopefully that'll help with your purchasing decision a little bit.
  • BeanBean Posts: 8,129
    edited 2011-04-20 05:38
    Yeah, I have the color nook too. My brother in-law rooted it for me. He said it was pretty easy to do.
    I really like it. Only wish it had a camera, but for $250 I'm not complaining.

    Bean
  • jaegjaeg Posts: 156
    edited 2011-04-20 06:31
    I have a rooted Nookcolor too and I love it. The battery life is pretty good and the first time I saw the screen resolution I was just wowed. There are certain games that can't run on it however but that may be true about other tablets too.
  • Jessica UelmenJessica Uelmen Posts: 490
    edited 2011-04-20 09:31
    I'll also put my vote in for the rooted Nook Color. Besides some minor mysterious resetting issues, it's been running really well for me. Plus, you get to root it yourself, which gives you a certain amount of geek cred right there. Plus, you can easily update to newer Android versions (I'm planning to try to put Honeycomb on it this weekend).

    I use it all the time for reading comics, and the resolution is absolutely amazing. Just wish Marvel would support Android with their mobile comics app. Email and web surfing is pretty nice too. The keyboard could be better (wish you could stick with the original Nook one) and sometimes auto-correct doesn't work, but that's really just a minor inconvenience.
  • WBA ConsultingWBA Consulting Posts: 2,935
    edited 2011-04-20 10:08
    I spent 10 months looking for a cheap Android tablet and the "you get what you pay for" is definitely true with the $100-150 units on eBay. Be very cautious about those. In my research I found a lot of reasons to avoid them.

    I will put another vote in for the Nook Color. I just got one for my birthday and absolutely love it. I will also be doing the Honeycomb (Android 3) root soon when I have a chance to give me a few more apps that are missing from the stock Barnes and Noble Android version.
  • Bill HenningBill Henning Posts: 6,445
    edited 2011-04-20 15:36
    I have two:

    "A-Pad", around $110 incl s/h... resistive touch screen, Android 1.5, I updated it to 1.9... worked fine for months, then the battery stopped taking a charge. About 2h of web browsing

    "Cruz T301", bought locally for $170+tax, capacitative touch screen, Android 2.0. Excellent battery life, about 10 hours of mixed use browsing the web, reading e-books, wife playing Soduko; significantly faster than the Flytouch (real name of "A-Pad" I have)

    I just wish that it had physical "Back" and "Home" buttons, Laputa reader is a pain without them.

    The A-Pad had a better default PDF reader, I am still looking for a fast one so I can carry reference PDFs with me. I find a tablet handy even near my large computers for PDFs.
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