New and Confused

cricketfern

Member
Oct 8, 2012
4
0
Hi all, I'm looking for some recommendations. I'm new to the world of tablets and don't know what to look for.

My son's laptop was essentially stolen (long story) But he has a desktop so I was thinking that instead of another laptop a tablet might be best. He needs it for email and the internet, maybe watching hulu or netflix. I would also like him to be able to take decent quality photos (of my new grandson) and to skype. I'm not sure what else you can do on a tablet - he probably would play internet games, but doesn't need it for Office or anything like that. Can anyone here make some suggestions of what to get him. I'm looking for something cheap - or somewhere cheap. About $100 or so. If I wait until Christmas I could triple that but I'd only want to do that if there was some new operating system coming out or some major advantage. I have an older pandigital nova that I purchased mainly for digital books, but of course, there's no camera. I know Big Lots has Proscan and Emerson both with cameras and they were cheap but I don't know if they are any good. I have also seen MID brand cheap but the same problem exists.

There is also this one:
[h=2]MID 9" Google Android 4.0 OS 1.2Ghz Tablet PC Capacitive Multi-Touch 8GB Wifi USB for $98[/h]
and
[h=2]Zeebook 7" Android 4.0 Tablet Bundle for $85[/h]
are either of these any good?

His birthday is in two weeks so ANY suggestions would be appreciated. Even if the suggestion is "no, you don't want a tablet at all."

Thanks so much for your time.
 

leeshor

Senior Member
Dec 27, 2011
6,330
1,037
Welcome to the forum

I personally wouldn't go anywhere near either of those tablets. The price alone would scare me. If that's absolutely all you can afford then the MID may do it if it's a starter tablet and your son doesn't plan on doing much more than mail and browsing.
 

cricketfern

Member
Oct 8, 2012
4
0
Why does the price scare you - too good to be true or are they bad machines?

The ad says the Zeebook list price is $299

MID list price is $199

I will say that they usually inflate the list prices but these are limited time sales.

There is also [h=2]Kocaso Ultra-thin 16G Android 4.0 9.7'' Tablet PCMID 9.7-inch Android 4.0 IPS Ultra-thin Capacitive Screen 16GB 1.2GHz Tablet PC for $169 (list price $399)[/h]
 

J515OP

Super Moderator
Staff member
Jan 6, 2011
5,172
899
I think leeshor's point was more along the line of you usually get what you pay for. Inexpensive off brand tablets tend to lack support, instructions, possibly lack of access to the app stores and sometimes fall back to Chinese if you need to factory restore them (after forgetting your password for example). Most importantly you should see if a particular tablet has an established user community (an active subforum here would be a good start) so that if there are problems you can get help.

While it is a little more money and a smaller screen the Google Nexus 7 would be a good option starting at $199 and there are sure to be sales before the holidays (Discover Nexus Devices). If nothing else you can use this as a bench mark for comparison of other tablets. If the price is significantly cheaper while offering more/better features I would be skeptical since Google is basically putting this out at cost and those other tablets would probably fall under "too good to be true."
 

cricketfern

Member
Oct 8, 2012
4
0
I just had another thought - would I find a better deal with a refurbished machine? I've always been a bit apprehensive about refurbished electronics but maybe that's better?
 

J515OP

Super Moderator
Staff member
Jan 6, 2011
5,172
899
I just had another thought - would I find a better deal with a refurbished machine? I've always been a bit apprehensive about refurbished electronics but maybe that's better?

Refurbished or used is a great way to go but I would stay with mainstream channels. Companies often offer refurbs through sites like ebay and woot so check there as well.
 

leeshor

Senior Member
Dec 27, 2011
6,330
1,037
I just had another thought - would I find a better deal with a refurbished machine? I've always been a bit apprehensive about refurbished electronics but maybe that's better?

Listen to JP, he did a great job of a more full explanation along the lines of what I was thinking. There are 2-3 other possibilities for the low cost, they fell off the back of a truck, they are counterfeit, or they are returns.

When you look at tear downs for various tablets they simply can't sell a decent tablet for that kind of money, as decent (not great) parts would cost far more than that.
 

cricketfern

Member
Oct 8, 2012
4
0
I think I want something a bit bigger than a 7ïnch. I'm going to watch for something refurbished, probably from Woot, Amazon or maybe Ebay. So what would you guys recommend? I've spent hours now trying to figure out what the specs mean and my mind is just dazed. Again, it'll be used to do email (read and answer), play games, surf, and take photos and skype. Being portable is the goal - something my son and dil can just toss in the diaper bag.

Thanks for your patience. This is a new, and overwhelming, world to me.:confused:
 

Spider

Administrator
Staff member
Mar 24, 2011
15,785
1,813
Hi, welcome to the forum. Nice of you to become a member of Android Tablets. It seems your question is receiving a number of good replies here, but the best place on the forum for "shopping" information and recommendations is the Android Tablet Discussions section. I'm going to move your thread over there for you so more folks can discuss your tablet requirements with you and hopefully make some suggestions. Good luck!
 

taffscott

Member
Oct 9, 2012
1
0
Hi all,
I am confused too, I have been looking at what tablet to buy for weeks, I can't seem to find a tablet that has everything I need.
My last winner was a Asus EeePad Transformer Prime TF201 but didn't go through with it as my past experience of Asus has been poor and It's already been out a year.

I would like the option of hdmi out and a sd slot.
Any suggestions up to £350.00?
My kids have a momo 9 which isn't bad for a cheap tablet, I would hate to spend more money and not gain anything.
thanks alistair
 

frapshake

Senior Member
Apr 22, 2011
244
35
I think I want something a bit bigger than a 7ïnch. I'm going to watch for something refurbished, probably from Woot, Amazon or maybe Ebay. So what would you guys recommend? I've spent hours now trying to figure out what the specs mean and my mind is just dazed. Again, it'll be used to do email (read and answer), play games, surf, and take photos and skype. Being portable is the goal - something my son and dil can just toss in the diaper bag.

Thanks for your patience. This is a new, and overwhelming, world to me.:confused:

Great advice to you from the Super Moderators. I would just like to give you my experience with buying a refurbished and a used tablet. I bought my Samsung Galaxy 7" Plus from Amazon, normally selling new at the time for around $400. Amazon's "Used-Like New" price was $227. This was a few months ago. I took a chance because I knew Amazon would make things right if there was a problem, which there wasn't. I use this little speedy beauty at least 5 hours every day and I love it. I also bought a refurbished 32 gig Acer A500 from newegg.com for a family member, but when I received it and tried it out, the wifi wouldn't work at all. No problem at all with returning it and getting a replacement (newegg paid for return shipping). The replacement looks like new, works like new and my family member says she loves it. I would have no second thoughts buying used or refurbished tablets from either of these companies, but I would make a point to get a well-known brand. Be sure to read customer reviews too.
 
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