Looking to purchase a Android tablet for gaming, Need suggestions.

[BloodLust]

I'm interested in buying a tablet for use of gaming via the emulators on the Android Market place. I'm just trying to get some suggestion on what would be a good tablet to purchase more or less for mobile gaming.

 

[anny34]

I think the A8 on ecargoonline can meet you requirements. Android 2.2 OS, 1.2 GHZ Processor, G-sensor,3D Game, Flash 10.1 etc...

 

[BloodLust]

I think the A8 on ecargoonline can meet you requirements. Android 2.2 OS, 1.2 GHZ Processor, G-sensor,3D Game, Flash 10.1 etc...

Have you ever tried one of these? The reviews I'm finding online are quite scary and considering this is a knock off from China really makes me worry. I'd rather spend more and know I'm getting a quality product and will work in 2 months, Not to mention has support.

 

[tae254]

Have you thought about the galaxy tab?

sent from my android tablet

 

[johnzo]

I think the A8 on ecargoonline can meet you requirements. Android 2.2 OS, 1.2 GHZ Processor, G-sensor,3D Game, Flash 10.1 etc...

this is single-touch. you'd probably want multi-touch for gaming wouldn't you?

 

[OffWorld]

I've got a little experience using emulators to play games on a low-end Android Tablet. Here's what I've found:

Frodo (Commodore 64 emulator) - games run reasonably ok, sound is choppy. On-screen controls are virtually useless because it doesn't seem to take advantage of dual-touch, meaning you can move OR shoot, but not do both at once. Similar issues using the on-screen keyboard in portrait mode.

TigerArcade (MAME Android port) - some games won't work - which is true of any port of MAME - sound is so choppy I turn it off. On screen gamepad suffers same "move OR shoot" problem.

SNES Lite (Super Nintendo Entertainment System emulator) - has played every rom I've thrown at it, excellent graphics rendering and decent sound(!), but -again- the on-screen gamepad controls only allow you to press one button/direction at a time.

Mobile C64 (Commodore 64 emulator) - painfully slow, bad sound, prone to crashing. Games were unplayable due to lag.

VICE (Commodore64 emulator) - arguably this is the best C64 emulator ever made. Just not on Android. I can run the "set-up" screens, but when it actually tries to launch the app it crashes back to the home screen. This appears to be an across-the-board issue with SDL apps on my tablet.

Most of these cheap tablets don't have bluetooth, so you're stuck with only USB for input devices. Nobody has yet found a single USB game controller that will work with Android. I ended up buying a case with an integrated mini USB keyboard which finally made the games playable. If you want to use an ACTUAL game controller, though, you'll need a tablet with bluetooth - or so I've heard there are bluetooth gamepads that should work. Alternatively if you have an Android device that either has a keyboard (like some of the phones do) and/or a trackball you'll probably have a better experience. You'll probably want Froyo (or better) for the OS, and a true multi-touch capacitive screen would also probably be preferable if you want to actually USE the on-screen gamepad.

Hardware accelerated graphics are a must, but the old game emulators don't use 3D (many Android games do, however).

Just like with a desktop computer, if your aim is to play games you're going to want as much "horsepower" as you can get. So you'd very likely be looking at a rather pricey brand-name tablet, because those are the ones with the most storage, memory, and CPU speed.

 

[BloodLust]

Have you thought about the galaxy tab?

For what I've seen those costing outright, I'd rather just purchase a Ipad. I've also heard the Tabs are a wreck and don't run games all that well in comparison to the Ipad. Now I'm basing this on reviews I've read online from some well known electronic review sites.

 

[BloodLust]

I've got a little experience using emulators to play games on a low-end Android Tablet. Here's what I've found:

Frodo (Commodore 64 emulator) - games run reasonably ok, sound is choppy. On-screen controls are virtually useless because it doesn't seem to take advantage of dual-touch, meaning you can move OR shoot, but not do both at once. Similar issues using the on-screen keyboard in portrait mode.

TigerArcade (MAME Android port) - some games won't work - which is true of any port of MAME - sound is so choppy I turn it off. On screen gamepad suffers same "move OR shoot" problem.

SNES Lite (Super Nintendo Entertainment System emulator) - has played every rom I've thrown at it, excellent graphics rendering and decent sound(!), but -again- the on-screen gamepad controls only allow you to press one button/direction at a time.

Mobile C64 (Commodore 64 emulator) - painfully slow, bad sound, prone to crashing. Games were unplayable due to lag.

VICE (Commodore64 emulator) - arguably this is the best C64 emulator ever made. Just not on Android. I can run the "set-up" screens, but when it actually tries to launch the app it crashes back to the home screen. This appears to be an across-the-board issue with SDL apps on my tablet.

Most of these cheap tablets don't have bluetooth, so you're stuck with only USB for input devices. Nobody has yet found a single USB game controller that will work with Android. I ended up buying a case with an integrated mini USB keyboard which finally made the games playable. If you want to use an ACTUAL game controller, though, you'll need a tablet with bluetooth - or so I've heard there are bluetooth gamepads that should work. Alternatively if you have an Android device that either has a keyboard (like some of the phones do) and/or a trackball you'll probably have a better experience. You'll probably want Froyo (or better) for the OS, and a true multi-touch capacitive screen would also probably be preferable if you want to actually USE the on-screen gamepad.

Hardware accelerated graphics are a must, but the old game emulators don't use 3D (many Android games do, however).

Just like with a desktop computer, if your aim is to play games you're going to want as much "horsepower" as you can get. So you'd very likely be looking at a rather pricey brand-name tablet, because those are the ones with the most storage, memory, and CPU speed.

Thanks for the input. Do you have a suggestion on certain tablet?

 

[fishstick600]

I use the galaxy and absolutely love it. Yeah its pricey but its worth it. Gaming is great on it. Some of the apps don't cake but the big 3d games scale fine

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy tablet using Tapatalk

 

[anny34]

Have you ever tried one of these? The reviews I'm finding online are quite scary and considering this is a knock off from China really makes me worry. I'd rather spend more and know I'm getting a quality product and will work in 2 months, Not to mention has support.

Yeah , i have tried, everything is fine except for one thing: i can not chating online with a webcam. no camera...
anyway, a worthwhile device!

 

[anny34]

this is single-touch. you'd probably want multi-touch for gaming wouldn't you?

It's single-touch.
I also want to buy one with multi-touch, but it seems that the one with multitouch can't hold a candle to A8
it's a 7" one with android 2.1 OS.

 

[OffWorld]

Thanks for the input. Do you have a suggestion on certain tablet?

I think fishstick600 probably has your answer for you. You're simply not going to get a full gaming experience on these low-end tablets.