Tablets under 9"

[munky871]

I have been searching for a tablet I got some suggestions of the Acer A100 but I cant find anyone in town that has it. So my question is what are some other good tablets that are arount 7" or 8". I don't really want to spend anymore than $600 I would prefer to stay around $500 if possible.

I looked at the Dell Streak today, is it any good?

 

[munky871]

By the way I really only plan on using the tablet for net surfing, hiking GPS and to watch content on my TV via HDMI cable. I just noticed the dell doesnt seem to have any kind of HDMI or anything.

 

[alphawave7]

Go Acer...3.2 and solid hardware, Skype, Netflix...does it all!

 

[SEMIJim]

IMHO a tablet PC will not make for a good hiking GPS. I've got a Vizio VTAB and, while the GPS in it is nice--nicer than I expected, honestly--I'd hate to be hauling that 8" tablet around on a hike.

I'm happy with my VTAB, so far. But with only two days on it, and it being my first tablet, I can't really recommend it, per se.

Jim

 

[Walkop]

I really don't see how a tablet would be that much trouble. Stick it in your pack when you don't need it; you don't need to be carrying it constantly, right? Those 7-8" tabs aren't too hard to use.

Anyway, to the OP:
I would strongly suggest against getting any tablet that still has 2.1-2.2 if you want to get any more updates, because I seriously doubt they will be supported. If it doesn't have Honeycomb (3.0-3.2) or Gingerbread (2.3) stock, then I doubt it'll get the next major update (Ice Cream Sandwich) which promises a lot as OS's go. I would never buy a tab, especially when we're so close to launch, that doesn't have the latest OS support.

If you don't really care about thickness, I'd definitely say to go with the A100. Not that it isn't thin - just compared to the GTab 8.9. Look around - check online dealers. If you can't find one, just check eBay
You won't be able to beat the pricing, that's for sure. It even has the Tegra 2 Processor!

 

[SEMIJim]

I really don't see how a tablet would be that much trouble. Stick it in your pack when you don't need it;

Serious hikers are all about weight and space. You'd be amazed at the lengths to which they will go to reduce the weight and size of what they must carry. Compared to a dedicated hand-held GPS, even something as large as a Garmin Montana is much smaller and lighter than the A100 you're talking about. (Not-to-mention tougher, I would guess.)

Jim

 

[munky871]

Thank you very much everyone for all the help! As far as hiking with the tablet goes I wasn't planning on buying one with the soul purpose of taking it hiking, it was just one of the uses that appealed to me. Again thank you everyone for your input