Where to find Inexpensive Android Tablets

Off-topic Chatter
1

Big fan of all the cool flashlights from our friends in China (and the US)

I have an iPad. Got the wife a BN Nook Tablet for xmas. Rooted it so it has access to all the Android stuff. (Thanks Barnes and Noble for THAT curveball!)

Has anyone bought a 7" tablet from Manafont, DealExtreme, or other Chinese importers? I see them with Android 2.2, and close to all the features a Nook Tablet has, but at around $100-125 or half the cost of many tablets.

Just curious about whether or not I want to spend the $$ to find out myself.

Edit: Any comments? Any other tablet/e-readers out there? Dang, I may have to be a pioneer and take a risk!

Pappy

2

Don't expect miracles. I wouldn't trust in such device from China. Add $100 more and buy a brand new one (Samsung, Creative, or whatever)

3

I was gonna get one of those a while back just because they're so cheap but I quickly realized you truly will get what you pay for. I ended up paying $300 for a new Transformer and the money is certainly well spent compared to the cheapo crap. Anything less than Android Honeycomb seems outdated :)

4

Nah, Ginger is more than enough for normal user :bigsmile:

5

The Ainol Novo 7 Advanced and the Bmorn V9 have been getting excellent reviews from a lot of users from slatedroid.com

They usually buy from bestmid.com or merimobiles.com.

~merimobiles.com is/are run by Canadians based in Shenzhen.


--and no I am not getting anything from the two stores, but like I read somewhere here.... I wish I was!--

6

I've had enough problems with software/firmware on consumer electronics boxes (Logitech - Squeeze, ACRyan - PlayON) that I'd be really shy about getting something that might not be perfect the first time around.

7

Thanks everyone. Sounds like a split decision. Arrgghh!

Now my wife thinks I'm going to "mess up" HER Nook by adding some of the free Android apps. Tried to show her that the B & N app store is limited. Same app for $1.99 is free elsewhere.

The iPad I use is a company-owned device and our IT guys know about all the available apps and re-rooting, etc. So, no monkeying around with the Apple product.

I'll keep checking things out. Maybe B & N will have a sale on all the returned Nook Tablets they get because of the software lockout. ;-)

Pappy

8

Just get yourself a Nook or Fire (actually a really sweet little piece), root it and throw on a good pure Android ROM.

9

Wow android tablets hit a new low price point... I wonder if devices can be any good at prices this low.

Android 4.04, capacitive display and HDMI out for $60. What's next?... using tablets as doorstops, because they are cheaper than actual doorstops? The battery is probably a little too weak... but what can you expect for $60.

10

[quote=Vectrex]

Wow android tablets hit a new low price point… I wonder if devices can be any good at prices this low.

No kidding! They are practically giving away the single core tablets. Forget gingerbread though. I’ve had a Ramos W6HD with ice cream sandwich for quite awhile now. I love the little thing. Check out slatedroid.com and merrimobiles.com for the generic tablets. Just remember the cheap ones probably won’t have access to google play (market) until you root them and the battery may be lower capacity. Google’s new Nexus tablet also looks like a deal to me. Far better than the Nook or Fire.

11

I have a Pandigital Novel E-reader and hacked it to convert it to a tablet using the Rom from pandigital forums, It works very well for the $39 dollars I paid for it at khols store a year ago when they were on clearance

12

I just picked up a Google nexus 7 tablet last night after work (since I stopped buying flashlights) and it is awesome! For 200 bucks you really can’t beat it for the power it has. I am still learning to use it as I have been an iOS user for a long time but I am starting to like this more, especially multitasking.

13

in China , Android Tablets PC price is cheap, but the quality is mostly bad, but Ainol Aurora and AINOL TORNADO are good

14

I have a Nexus 7 too, I sold my 10.1 Motorola XOOM to buy it.

While I did love the XOOM, it did everything I wanted but it was heavy and awkward in bed and thats the only time I use it.

I wouldn’t bother with cheap tablets, you get what you pay for.

15

Reminds me of a blind date I had a few weeks ago S)

16

With regards to the Xoom, sometimes a lot less.

17

I have one of these: Sorry! Something went wrong! (you’ll probably get a better price elsewhere).

It probably isn’t “budget” or as cheap as you want, but it hits a sweet spot for me. Big enough to see things on without constant resizing, still pocketable. My wife and daughter have the 4.0 version, as well. The new 4.2 seems to have good things going for it and making the 5.0 and 4.0 cheaper.

In 7” tablets I’d go with the Google Nexus(first), or Galaxy Tab 2. The Nexus has the newest OS, but the Tab has the ability to increase memory. The Tab 10” is nice too, but its costly. I’ve played w/ Fires too, and they’re nice, but I’m not a big fan of amazon “channeling”. I like having options.

There’s my two bits and a few extra. Good luck.

18

i’m on the hunt for a china android tablet also. i’m reading up on reviews and feedbacks on these tablets thru forums like slatedroid.com and androidtablets.net to get some
information from posts there.

there are some good tablets out there that doesn’t need to be costly and
gets the job done as long as expectations are kept reasonable.

just like flashlights. :slight_smile:

19

No need to go to the China sites…

I purchased a SkyTex SkyPad Alpha2 from Newegg. Currently $109.99 with shipping included. It lacks the polish of an iPad, but I really like it. It has a bare Android load; apparently shipping with ICS (Android 4) now; no rooting necessary to sideload apps.

7” Capacitive Multi-touch screen
1.2Ghz Arm Cortex processor
MicroSD slot
HDMI video out
USB OTG (allows connection of USB devices like mice, keyboards, and USB Flash Drives)

Nearly all apps I have installed on it work perfectly. Temple Run and Angry Birds run perfectly. Battery life is good, video playback is great. My biggest complaints are the single rather low volume speaker and the motions sensor. The motion sensor can be a little touchy and drift a bit which can cause issues while playing games. I’ve used this as an ebook reader using the GoBook app and have had no issues. Note that this tablet uses the Mini-USB connector, not the microUSB.

Must have accessories for this tablet:
USB OTG adaptor - http://dx.com/p/mini-usb-on-the-go-host-otg-adapter-2-pack-50944
or USB OTG cable - http://dx.com/p/mini-5pin-to-usb-female-otg-data-cable-black-129670
Mini Soundbar, if you want to watch videos on the device - http://dx.com/p/usb-powered-sound-bar-speaker-for-laptop-notebook-black-105312

As a side note; when buying a budget tablet, make CERTAIN is has an ARM processor. Non-ARM CPUs will not run the majority of apps. My first tablet had another CPU and I was unable to play most games or load most apps on the device.

20

I buy most of my computer hardware from Newegg and can second their recommendation.