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Which cheap tablet?
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Eater Sundae
31-12-2011
We are going to buy 2 tablets.

We are pretty sure that one will be an iPad for my wife - a basic one, small GB and without 3G. This is an easy choice as she's been seduced by one her brother has.

The other will be for me. I do not want to spend iPad type money on a unit which I will primarily be using for basic web browsing. This is proving to be a harder choice. I've tried reading up on the cheap ones, reading reviews etc (which vary massively). I don't even know which technical features I need. So I thought I would explain the uses to which I will put it, and see what advice I get.

I use an Asus Eee at present, and notice a couple of inconveniences, 1. I cannot get Street View and 2. most web pages do not fit the page width

So, my new tablet will do the following:
1. Be able to view Google Maps, Google Earth and Street View
2. Be able to view Bing Maps and aerial photos
3. Have access to Apps (Android? What are the benefits of higher revisions - 2.1, 2.2, 3.x etc? - does a step up suddenly unleash a facility I need that is not on earlier versions?)
4. Do I need "Flash"? What does it matter if I don't have it?
5. My phone (Nokia 5800) is on Virgin Mobile's Pay As You Go. If I get a tablet with Bluetooth, would I be able to use the Virgin systems data allowance of 25MB per day at 30p, for (very) occasional access when away fron home? (This is probably more to do with the Virgin contract than the tablet). If I couldn't use it to link via my phone then I wouldn't need bluetooth. If I could then it would be a nice to have, but not essential as I can use my phone on its own at a pinch. (I do not need 3G on the tablet, as there's no way I'd make use of it to justify the cost of a sim and contract).
6. Be able to fit web pages to the screen width (using Opera, maybe?)
7. Expansion either by micro SD and or USB, and the ability to take the odd downloaded film or TV programme on holiday. Otherwise I don't expect to meed much storage. So I presume solid state storage would be adequate - I would not need the capacity of a hard drive.
8. To do what I want "Out of the box", or with straight forward Apps downloads. I'm not interested in playing with root directories etc.
9. Wi-Fi
10. 7" or 8" screen tablet.

Sorry about the scattergun approach re questions, but I thought some people in the know would be able to easily answer (at least some of the) questions which I would otherwise spend ages trying to research and still not understand it properly.

I've seen several tablets in the £60 to £100ish range on the eBuyer and Amazon sites and wonder if anyone can comment on them in terms of my needs. I understand that I will be getting what I pay for, and do not expect a super dooper machine for the money, but will any of them do what I want? Thanks.
John259
31-12-2011
One other factor you might regard as extremely important - whether the screen is resistive or capacitive. Capacitive is considerably more expensive but generally regarded as highly preferable for touchscreen usage.
Sniffle774
31-12-2011
You mention google maps etc, do you ned GPS as well or just straight forward 'viewing' only ?
Eater Sundae
31-12-2011
Originally Posted by John259:
“One other factor you might regard as extremely important - whether the screen is resistive or capacitive. Capacitive is considerably more expensive but generally regarded as highly preferable for touchscreen usage.”

I will be happy with resistive. I've played with both, and resistive would be adequate (based on the ones I've played with).
Eater Sundae
31-12-2011
Originally Posted by Sniffle774:
“You mention google maps etc, do you ned GPS as well or just straight forward 'viewing' only ?”

No, I don't need GPS, just the ability to view thwm
Eater Sundae
31-12-2011
These are the sort of thing I am considering.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...pf_rd_i=560798

http://www.ebuyer.com/287638-scroll-...ablet-pc-53511

Also, the Archos 7 is a similar price, although earlier version of android.

Will any of these meet my needs as set out in post#1?

Any other recommendations of similar kit? Thanks.

Edit: Also, if any option is kown to be "not buggy", that would help.
c4rv
01-01-2012
Out of those two I would go with the scroll. But to be honest if you are happy with resistive screen then I would spend an extra few quid and get a flytouch 3. The 10" 1024x60 screen makes for easier reading.
Eater Sundae
01-01-2012
Originally Posted by c4rv:
“Out of those two I would go with the scroll. But to be honest if you are happy with resistive screen then I would spend an extra few quid and get a flytouch 3. The 10" 1024x60 screen makes for easier reading.”

Thanks, I'll take a look
Westminsterflye
04-01-2012
will a cheap tablet like this still run iplayers (and or TV Catchup)??
spendleb
04-01-2012
Be careful with the Archos tabs, I just returned the 101 as it was frustrating beyond belief, laggy, jerky controls, some apps just failed to run or caused it to crash, poor resolution etc
clonmult
04-01-2012
Originally Posted by Westminsterflye:
“will a cheap tablet like this still run iplayers (and or TV Catchup)??”

Depends on the processor.

If its running an A8 (or Tegra, etc.), with the ARMv7 instruction set you'll probably be okay. Anything running an ARMv6 probably won't. Thats assuming that they're all flash based.

Haven't tried TV Catchup on mine (Vega), but have had iPlayer working perfectly (sunday morning, watching the grand prix, etc.)
spendleb
04-01-2012
Originally Posted by clonmult:
“Depends on the processor.

If its running an A8 (or Tegra, etc.), with the ARMv7 instruction set you'll probably be okay. Anything running an ARMv6 probably won't. Thats assuming that they're all flash based.

Haven't tried TV Catchup on mine (Vega), but have had iPlayer working perfectly (sunday morning, watching the grand prix, etc.)”

Funnily enough the BBC iPlayer doesn't work on my Motorola Xoom.
clonmult
05-01-2012
Originally Posted by spendleb:
“Funnily enough the BBC iPlayer doesn't work on my Motorola Xoom.”

Wierd, it should work fine. Although I admit I haven't tried it on mine since migrating to Honeycomb last week.

Previously I rarely bothered with the iPlayer client, always ran it through the BBC website using Opera Mobile.
grumpyoldbat
05-01-2012
Originally Posted by clonmult:
“Wierd, it should work fine. Although I admit I haven't tried it on mine since migrating to Honeycomb last week.

Previously I rarely bothered with the iPlayer client, always ran it through the BBC website using Opera Mobile.”

MIght it be because the BBC haven't included the Xoom's 1280x800 screen resolution in their compatibility matrix?
Eater Sundae
12-01-2012
Originally Posted by Eater Sundae:
“We are going to buy 2 tablets.

We are pretty sure that one will be an iPad for my wife - a basic one, small GB and without 3G. This is an easy choice as she's been seduced by one her brother has.

The other will be for me. I do not want to spend iPad type money on a unit which I will primarily be using for basic web browsing. This is proving to be a harder choice. I've tried reading up on the cheap ones, reading reviews etc (which vary massively). I don't even know which technical features I need. So I thought I would explain the uses to which I will put it, and see what advice I get.

I use an Asus Eee at present, and notice a couple of inconveniences, 1. I cannot get Street View and 2. most web pages do not fit the page width

So, my new tablet will do the following:
1. Be able to view Google Maps, Google Earth and Street View
2. Be able to view Bing Maps and aerial photos
3. Have access to Apps (Android? What are the benefits of higher revisions - 2.1, 2.2, 3.x etc? - does a step up suddenly unleash a facility I need that is not on earlier versions?)
4. Do I need "Flash"? What does it matter if I don't have it?
5. My phone (Nokia 5800) is on Virgin Mobile's Pay As You Go. If I get a tablet with Bluetooth, would I be able to use the Virgin systems data allowance of 25MB per day at 30p, for (very) occasional access when away fron home? (This is probably more to do with the Virgin contract than the tablet). If I couldn't use it to link via my phone then I wouldn't need bluetooth. If I could then it would be a nice to have, but not essential as I can use my phone on its own at a pinch. (I do not need 3G on the tablet, as there's no way I'd make use of it to justify the cost of a sim and contract).
6. Be able to fit web pages to the screen width (using Opera, maybe?)
7. Expansion either by micro SD and or USB, and the ability to take the odd downloaded film or TV programme on holiday. Otherwise I don't expect to meed much storage. So I presume solid state storage would be adequate - I would not need the capacity of a hard drive.
8. To do what I want "Out of the box", or with straight forward Apps downloads. I'm not interested in playing with root directories etc.
9. Wi-Fi
10. 7" or 8" screen tablet.

Sorry about the scattergun approach re questions, but I thought some people in the know would be able to easily answer (at least some of the) questions which I would otherwise spend ages trying to research and still not understand it properly.

I've seen several tablets in the £60 to £100ish range on the eBuyer and Amazon sites and wonder if anyone can comment on them in terms of my needs. I understand that I will be getting what I pay for, and do not expect a super dooper machine for the money, but will any of them do what I want? Thanks.”

I'm bumping my own OP, to tell you what I finally did, and to thank everyone who tried to help.

I kept reading Reviews on Amazon and elsewhere, to try and understand what the different machines could and couldn't do, and what were the differences between the different versions of Android.

In the end I was so confused about what each one could and couldn't do I gave up trying to work it out, and just bought one that got a majority of goodish reviews, from a seller (Wendy Lou) who also got good reviews. Then I waited for it to arrive, to then find out if it would meet some or most of my needs.

I ordered it on Thursday night, and it arrived Saturday morning. Excellent!!!

Re my wish list, above:

1, 2 & 3. All OK. Still not sure if a later version of Android would be better, but no issues so far.

4. It has Flash 10.1, it claims. Street view and you tube both appear OK.

5. It does not have bluetooth, so cannot tether to a phone, unless I buy a dongle. However, I now understand that my PAYG Virgin tarrif does not allow tethering, so I couldn't have done it anyway. This is not a problem, it was just a thought that it might have been a "nice to have". if it were available.

6. Pages can be made to fit anyway, so didn't need to add Opera. (Although I did, just to compare usability of different browsers).

7. I ordered a micro SD card, but that has only just arrived so not tried it yet. Haven't tried watching anything yet.

8. So far, yes.

9. Yes, and linked in to my router easily, and works all over the house.

10. 7".

Now this works OK, I think I'll take the plunge into the inner workings of my Asus Eee PC, to see if I can upgrade software enough to overcome some of its limitations. There's plenty of guidance on forums, but I don't really know what I am doing so could finish up with a folding, plastic door-stop.

Again, thanks to those who tried to help.
never say never
12-01-2012
im a bit late! sorry but what do people think of the toshiba thrive?
darkjedimaster
12-01-2012
I have just ordered myself a Ainol Novo 7 Paladin for £90 off ebay (UK Seller). It is a no frills no camera Capacitive tablet, it does play HD video & while it hasn't got full flash support as yet, both Ainol & Google are working on a firmware update to fix this issue. It is also fully certified by Google & comes with Android 4.

I only want it for train journeys & to use while I am away from home, so should be fine for them purposes .

The video of it does look pretty good

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C81vt...feature=relmfu

I will post a full review once I get it.
alanwarwic
13-01-2012
Methinks you need to check 'Settings Easter'.

If it does not show bluetooth anywhere methinks it is thus omitted from the kernel and none will work.
It is no doubt the same for 3G. None will be supported if omitted.
From my PC I can now install apps from the marketplace with it now being a recognised 3G device..

darkjedimaster - Is not 'Certification' just a made up term? Unless you are plagued by adwords?
When I looked at the Ainol devices it appeared that the modding community had re-compiled the ROM to add English where needed. If it works well it matters little.
Biffo the Bear
13-01-2012
I'd keep an eye out for second hand Transformers on ebay now the Prime has been released.
darkjedimaster
13-01-2012
Originally Posted by alanwarwic:
“darkjedimaster - Is not 'Certification' just a made up term? Unless you are plagued by adwords?

When I looked at the Ainol devices it appeared that the modding community had re-compiled the ROM to add English where needed. If it works well it matters little.”

Tbh with you alanwarwic, I have no idea about the Certification wording, but as long as it does what I want it to do, then all good. I am still going to save for a Asus Transformer though as that really does look the nuts.
alanwarwic
13-01-2012
Seems its the Android 4 compatibility program. (CTS)

If enough apps run you are thus allowed access to the market.
Yours has a MIPS CPU , not ARM.
darkjedimaster
13-01-2012
Originally Posted by alanwarwic:
“Seems its the Android 4 compatibility program. (CTS)

If enough apps run you are thus allowed access to the market.
Yours has a MIPS CPU , not ARM.”

Yes I knew that about the processor but didn't know about the CTS. So thanks for that information , as long as I can view videos & use facebook whilst on train journeys, then that tablet would be perfect for me. I am also going to purchase a case with built in mini usb keyboard and a 3G router. Eventually I plan on getting the Transformer, but this should do me for the time being.
swindonvillage
14-01-2012
Also looking for a cheapish tablet.

Seen this :

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Yarvik-Slim-...=2KI9XP2SGCKVI

The Yarvik Tab450 @ Cica £200
Cant find any independant reviews on it anywhere?

Can anyone help, just looking for good performance and good app compatilbily/availability. And can it do Flash/Iplayer?
bananaman_007
14-01-2012
My vote goes to the Blackberry Playbook, got one last week and it is a fantastic device for the cash.

Oh just noiced you are looking at £60-£100 which riles out the playbook,

For what it is worth i bought a cheap tab and it was a waste of money, slow and did not display anything correctly. I would try and find that bit extra if you can for the Playbook,.
far2cool
14-01-2012
I've got a HP touchpad which is very good, picked it up for £150
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