The One 'Do I Buy This', 'What Do I Buy', 'I'm Looking For' Thread

[pdsst9]

Hello,

I was hoping someone could recommend a tablet for me. I was looking at a Nook Color, however once I saw the various tablets available I thought I may be able to find a tablet in a similar price range that had more options. My uses would be:

E-Reading
Web browsing (including flash for YouTube)
Ability to download apps
7" screen size
Price range of $250-350

I do not consider myself incredibly tech savy, so I'd rather not have to root the tablet, however I am certainly capable of following simple instructions.

Any suggestions?

 

[Tillan]

Thanks xaueious, Ill keep looking around. The Vega looks interesting, but I feel like 10" will be to big, and the Amico does not seem to be much fun. For portable sitting around/browsing/working etc my dell works fine (with a 8.9" screen) but its just to big to pocket comfortably. Ive tried using smart phones with 3 and 5" screens, but always found them to be so small i end up cursing them, and reaching in my bag for my laptop anyway. So I want a 7" tablet for the smart features, while carrying around a small cheap phone for phone calls. Basically I want my portable gear to consist of:
A cheap phone for phone calls/texts (which I have)
A 7" tablet for quick internet/email/Instant messaging and skype calls while standing/walking/running etc (smart phone features)
A netbook for sitting in a comfy chair and doing actual work at. (which I also have)

In this scenario (at least in my eyes) a 10" tablet doesnt make sense considering I already have a 8.9" x86 device I can put to sleep all day and take out and use when needed.

 

[Fuganater]

@Fuganater I actually do not know what you can get in your area. The gTablet would be a decent choice if you can get your hands on one. It might be easier for you to get the Archos 101 IT, even though I think the gTablet is a better choice if you do not mind the hassle of installing custom firmware though.

Thanks xaueious. I'm just looking for the best hardware for that price. I'm fine rooting it and I will be getting it from Amazon. (I have a DPO address so I can order anything from online.)

Questions:
Does it work with Skype? (Video calls)
Are there any tablets that have the same good specs like the gtab and have dual cameras?
I keep seeing things about Andorid 3.0... will this device supprot that?

 

[axeten]

Hi there. A friend of mine has a Telstra and Optus tablet and i'm now very interested. I worked in a reatil store just over 3 years ago but these things didnt exist (Australia is a little behind the rest of the world)
Anyway.... I see there are heaps of options available online but now have no idea what to get.

My only real needs are:
Wifi
android 2.x software with the ability to upgrade
7inch or maybe 10 if its recommended

Lastly, My friends ones take mobile phone sim cards so you can use pre paid internet when out on the road but not many seem to have this option. Are there any that have a USB connection so we can plug in my partners iphone and use the internet tethering like you do with a laptop?

Looking at spending under $350 online.

Thanks

 

[avic77]

Ok i promis this is my LAST question:
Obviously waiting for the newest Kyros 7026 isnt considered a good idea since we just dont know enough about the device and honestly i dont want to have to be waiting for updates and developments to be able to use the thing.

My husband is concerned about rooting something and voiding a warenty. If i broke the thing he says we will have a $300 paper weight but if I want the Nook Color he will get it for me and follow the directions to root it.

So if I increase my budget to around $250.00 which is the best value and will have the longest life without becoming obsolete and why? Also which is easiest to root, update, etc. I dont speak tech talk so please keep it simple for me

Nook Color
Archos 70

These seem to be 2 you suggest frequently.

 

[Eggtastico]

hey, hope you can help.
Im UK based - budged is about $200/£150

Would like Capacitive - dont mind resistive but not stylus based
would like 3g capabilities - either simscard or with a 3g dongle
would like to connect to a market place
would like working USB
would like android 2.2 - but dont mind android 2.1 or even 2.0 if I get a more
functional pad

Bonus likes in order:-
GPS
Flash
HDMI
Bluetooth (not important if I have usb)
rotating thingy sensor

Im guessing I'll have to take a punt on a chinese slate as there is nothing
in the UK I can find. (Nook is £300 in UK, gTablet £400)

Im technically minded, so can do some hacks, etc. if there are guides about.

 

[TechieJ]

Ok, I am new to the whole Android thing and this will be my first Android device. Here is what I'm looking for:

7-8" capacitive display
Android 2.2+ (I would like the ability to update as new OS's come out - I do realize that at some point the newest OS wont be supported on this device tho)
Full Android market
Wifi
Bluetooth
USB
SD expansion (not needed if there is at least 32GB built-in, but would still be a plus)
GPS

Pluses:
Gyro
HDMI out

Uses:
eReading
Web Surfing (including flash sites)
Email
Navigation
Learning the Android OS & platforms (will soon be supporting them at work, but I'm a geek and I like gadgets, so I wont wait until they give all of us 1 device to share and learn from)


I am a Windows & Linux admin, so I am comfortable with hacking / rooting, etc as long as I have general directions that will help me out (part of the reason for this is to learn!). I am looking at purchasing anytime between now and mid-May, so if something good is coming out in the next couple months, I can wait. My price range is up to $400.. could be a little more if some other cool features are involved or its just not possible to get what I want right now in that price range. I dont really care about name brands, but I do want a quality tablet. I think that about covers, it so let me know what your suggestions are! Thanks in advance!

Jason

 

[CHeliz85]

I am a complete noob to android, I do have some knowledge in computers though, and my fiance is a computer whiz. I bought the Velocity Cruz Reader R101 because I thought it looked cool and I really wanted a tablet. I am now returning my Cruz and looking for something that I can do more with. I did not like the reader apps that worked on the the Cruz, the pdf reader looked horrible and was very difficult to read and it took forever to load pages, and if I used the browser for htm's I had no way to bookmark my spot so anytime the program closed or it turned sidways and the screen direction changed it went back to the begining and I had to scroll all the way to where I was in the book. I did like the sound of the FBReader, unfortunately it does not open any of the epub books on my reader and I could find lots of post with other people having the same problem with the program but no solutions. It is also crappy when playing youtube video's through the downloaded app.
So anyway I am now looking for a new tablet. I really liked the size of the Cruz, its 7", so I think I'd like to stick to a 7-8". I definitely want it to be able to play flash, it must have a good compatible ebook reader (ie, text clear and easy to read, able to quickly turn pages or scroll (no pages), and it must have a way to bookmark your spot!), and I'd really like it to have a good selection of compatible games, like the ones available for the iphone (Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja, Plants Vs. Zombies, etc).
What's making it so hard for me to find a good tablet, is that I'm on a tight budget. I really can't aford to spend more than $200.
Is it even possible to get a tablet that does what I want it to do in my price range?
Two tablets I've been looking at but can't find any good reviews for are the aPad A8, and the Cyberus 7" Tablet Pc. I found one video review for the Cyberus one but nothing else and nothing at all for the aPad A8, so if anyone knows if these are good tablets please let me know.

 

[xaueious]

@pdsst9 If you are not tech savvy but can follow instructions, the Archos 70 IT is the right choice for you

@Tillan I really am not familiar with your market. But at 7", I wonder if the Dell Streak is going to be released in your region. You might also have a variant of the Huawei Ideos S7. If a device can make phone calls, it will be priced like a phone, so keep that in mind.

@Fuganater Android is not currently compatible with Skype video calls. There are alternative clients. Yahoo messenger is one that I know works, and there may be others. This probably wont see an upgrade to Android 3.0.

@axeten Android tablets are typically not upgradable unless you follow one with a highly active development community. As such, you are looking at Tegra 2 tablets such as the Advent Vega, Viewsonic gTablet, Notion Ink Adam, and Malata T2. But I am not sure if you can get those. There is also the Nook Color, but I am not sure how you can get your hands on one in Australia.

@avic77 I do recommend these frequently - one to modify, and the other works better as is. I do have these listed in my guide as well, which no one reads

In terms of voiding the warranty, there are guides available for returning both devices to factory state (for the most part, anyway).

@Eggtastico The cheapest capacitive tablet is the Rockchip RK2818 Wopad/Milkpad/Suli SU-7/RockTouch. It does do what you need, but this thing is cheap.

@TechieJ I would get a Dell Streak 7 or Galaxy Tab with that budget depending on how much tinkering I want to do. Those are both out of your price range, but are the only tablets that come to mind that do everything you want. You could just get the eLocity A7 and get it to hook up to bluetooth GPS, but firmware updates depend on the dev community. And it only gets you single-touch capacitive.

@CHeliz85 You should have tried out some of the custom ROMs on that Cruz Reader unit. This is actually the first time I have heard of the Cyberus unit before. But that Marvell unit isn't much better than the Samsung in the Cruz Reader overall. Unless you are willing to spend at least $250 for a Nook Color and be patient with the Android upgrade, you probably can't play any of those games. You could get a WITS A81E, but I personally think the extra $50 is worth it for the Nook Color.

 

[axeten]

@axeten Android tablets are typically not upgradable unless you follow one with a highly active development community. As such, you are looking at Tegra 2 tablets such as the Advent Vega, Viewsonic gTablet, Notion Ink Adam, and Malata T2. But I am not sure if you can get those. There is also the Nook Color, but I am not sure how you can get your hands on one in Australia.

I meant upgrade/update the android software. Not the actual tablet hardware if thats what you mean. Do you know if any will allow internet tethering via an iphone USB connection?
I'll check out the ones you mentioned.
Thanks

EDIT: Well, I just spent hours and hours reading/searching and deciding and my partner comes home from work and says "7" is too small i want something bigger"............. I was stoked. So 10 inch it is. Looking at the archos 10". Do you know how much RAM this has? their site doesnt say.... Anything different you recommend that is able to go online via the iphone USB cable?
Budget up to $450 now...

 

[Eggtastico]

Thanks Xaueious, any opinion on the herotab?
I can do with out some features for a more responsive touch
+ they are around $215 on aliexpress

Im aware it can a bit of gamble ie being DOA or bait & swap, etc.
http://www.androidtablets.net/forum/members/xaueious.html

 

[avic77]

Xaueious I read your guide but I am seriously illiterate in computer tech talk. My husband did finally sit down last night and look at all the information I printed out. He seems to think the Nook Color will be the better tablet since it has more ram and the processor isnt much slower then Archos. Both have postives and negitives. Whatever i get i will probably be happy with as long as it isnt laggy or glitchy.
So looks like Monday I'll be the proud owner of a Nook Color
I'm going to go away now. bye bye
Thank you for all your help!!!!!!!!

 

[TechieJ]

Xaueious,
Thanks for your input. I think I've worked out a way to not need GPS in the device, although it would still be a plus. But if taking that out widens up my options and/or lowers the price into my range, that would be fine. I liked the Elocity 7 right up until I saw that it wasn't multitouch... I guess that is important for me as well. I have an iPhone, so I am used to that and really like that way of interfacing with the device. So, without GPS, what would you suggest?

 

[gokieks]

Hi All:

I have what I think may be a somewhat unique set of requirements for a tablet, and I was wondering if people here might have some suggestions.

Background: I work for the IT department of an university, and we currently have a setup where next to the door of each classroom there is a networked device from a proprietary vendor (the previous version of the RoomWizard) which tracks the scheduling and availability of the room. But, the arrangement is not to our satisfaction - the amount of support we've received from that company is negligible, and the devices are neither particularly attractive nor very user-friendly, and thus we're looking to replace them. In the interest of having something that we have much more control over, the idea we're looking at is replacing them with tablets running our own custom "app", which will allow us to duplicate and possibly the functionality of the RoomWizard devices. Now, Android is the obvious choice for the platform to run it on, because it's available on a wide range of devices and is much easier to load custom applications on than, say, an iPad (not to mention will probably be less likely to be ripped out of a wall and stolen).

With that in mind, here is what I think we want:

Screen: 7" or 10", most likely. Larger would be better, but I think a 800x480 7" would be big enough. A capacitive screen would definitely be ideal though, as our experiences with various resistive screen devices have been less than stellar in terms of touch response.
Internal hardware: CPU speed and RAM amount really are not major concerns, as the device will only be used to run one not very power-intensive app. Wi-Fi is a must, and though 802.11n is not strictly necessary, it would be nice to have.
OS: I'm not all that familiar with the differences between different versions of Android, but our needs here are pretty basic - we need to be able to easily install our own apps (so any device that needs to be rooted first would not be an option). Android Marketplace access is not important.
Price: The lower the better obviously, but $350 is probably the upper limit.
Other: Since these are devices that we expect to use for quite some time, it would be nice if it's from a somewhat respectable manufacturer that will be around for a while, but that's more of a minor concern compared to the hardware needs.

I've been doing a bit of research on this, and the best option that I've found has been the Archos 101. However, it's been out of stock on months now, without any indication that it will be available again. Most of the other tablets I've found are either too expensive, or come off as looking extremely cheap in terms of construction quality. So if anyone have any ideas, it would be very much appreciated.

 

[hopkins85]

Hello.

I am looking for the following.

Be able to read pdf drawings on site.

Email, internet, 3g

Have a decent sized screen 8 inch min.

Add and edit documents.

Be able to show customers photos of previous installations. Like a mobile portfolio.

Any recommendations would be great.



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