Hi from Norfolk, England... help me find an Android Tablet please!

[Pete*G]

Hi folks, I'm Pete (hence the user name) and I'm from Norfolk, England.

I'm quite good with technology once I've actually got my hands on something, but as I've no experience with Android I thought I'd sign up and see how things go!

I'm on the lookout for a tablet for the wife for Christmas, with a budget of circa £100-£120.

What sort of thing should I be looking for?

I'm easy when it comes to the screen size - 7" would be fine even as she just wants something better than her Nokia N97 to use for Facebook, eBay, the net, email etc.

From what I've read, I ought to be looking at getting Android 2.1 or 2.2, but what is the difference in the firmware releases? I found an ebay listing (here) claiming that the App Market usually included isn't the proper Android market, and selling custom firmware with the "proper" market included... any thoughts on this please?!

All/any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[Iunderstandhatered]

anything you buy now will quickly become obsolete,the market at the moment has to find its feet, what ill do is buy a cheapo chinese version,get to know android then purchase a better one mid 2011 there are good models at the moment but they differ in os system and tech spech--it is really a christmas market at the moment--asus will have a new model out soon and dont expect a cheap copy to be too reliable or fixable if you brick it--small memory capacity at the moment and not many cross-hacking techiniques being publicised because of their newness--apple 2 expected in the new year but thats top price virtually

 

[apad.king]

Buy from a reputable seller on e-bay uk who offers a full refund as it seems many of the tablets are hit and miss. I should know as I have imported many from China to UK. Currently not selling as I had a bad batch recently so had to send them all back to China.

Also don't believe the warranties offered. Not sure how they canm offer 12 months when the market on these things moves so quickly and the suppliers come and go.

Don't touch anything with android 2.2 apart from the WITs model but even that seems unreliable.

Go for an M701/G10 Telechips with android 2.1 and where the SD card is flush to the tablet and doesn't stick out. Check with your supplier. Pay no more than £130 pounds.

If you can wait then new tablets will be out early next year which may be more reliable.

The viewpad 7" version may be a good buy when the price drops a bit as it's from a reputable company.