How much do you really need to pay to get a foot in the door of the tablet computing world? This week we take a look at some of the budget slate options. We haven’t tested any of these; our only experience at the low price end has been a 7-inch Android 1.6 OS ChiPad model, which frankly wasn’t too exciting and was very slow. However, in these cash strapped times we are sure that, for the money being charged, some of these machines will be of value to somebody; more recent versions of Android will certainly help, and we would suggest the newer the better. It is appreciated that the price of an iPad2 or HP TouchPad is not within easy reach for everybody, so let us look at some of the options.In addition to the above linked budget report, the guys at TechRadar also offered up this review of 14 of the best Android products. A further budget focused collection available wholesale comes from PandaWill, showing off a huge range of machines with OS’s based on Android 1.6 through to 3.0. This collection of Chinese manufactured product is quite mind boggling so do look very carefully at the specifications, which are generally listed in quite a detailed way.
Just for the record, our own recommendations would start with Android 2.2 at the very least – preferably higher. Don’t forget that it wasn’t until version 3.0, Honeycomb, that Google were actually prepared to call it a tablet OS. We believe that something larger than a 7-inch screen is important for easy of navigation – whilst 7-inch certainly offers ultra-portability, so does a phone! Ideally you will also want Bluetooth for better connectivity and if you are using your machine whilst out and about you will definitely want, or be able to add, 3G reception capability (if it doesn’t come as standard check if you can add this via a 3G dongle, which means that you will need a USB port for starters!). You will want WiFi for sure, you may want a USB port or two, you may also want HDMI for connection to a larger TV screen, and you should certainly look for the ability to link with the Android Market in order to obtain the best range of apps (this isn’t as standard as you might think).Whilst this post isn’t intended to be an exhaustive guide, the one other key area that separates the “men from the boys” in terms of tablets is the screen. It’s not all about size, as they say, but quality is important! Ideally, in our opinion, you want to aim for a capacitive screen rather than resistive. Capacitive, without wanting to go into all the physics of things, is operated by the heat generated from your finger, and is best illustrated by the screens used on Apple's iPhone or iPad products – smooth, highly responsive, and easy to operate. The lower priced alternative is resistive technology which, as its name implies, requires more pressure to work. Working on small screen areas can often be more successful with a stylus - fine for typing out a word or two, but not for extensive text entry. A standard stylus will not work on a capacitive screen.
A word of caution: some sites do try to shy away from the fact that they are using resistive screens by shifting the goal posts to talk about the LCD display technology. TFT (Thin Film Transistor) and IPS (In-Plane Switching) are both LCD technologies, but do not tell you whether resistive or capacitive technologies are being employed, even though, as an example, LG’s low-power IPS LCD technology can be found in both the iPhone 4 and the iPad. Try not to get blinded by tech-speak!Do detail to yourself at least what you want this machine to do for you. Tablets are great “couch surfers”, and to be fair most of the machines here will do that. However, you may expect your purchase to do much more, such as be a replacement for your laptop or notebook. If that is the case you will certainly need to add a keyboard and maybe even a mouse. These will require Bluetooth and/or USB connectivity.
Bearing all of the above in mind, there has been a plethora of tablet announcements this last week, beginning with Lenovo and its IdeaPad K1; another well-known name in electronics, Panasonic, also came to the fore with an altogether more rugged looking tablet; Viewsonic offers us another 7-inch tablet – this Viewbook sticks with Android 2.2 and comes in at $230 (a moderately competitive £142.50).On the “very budget” front, Play.com offers us the Disgo Tablet 6000 for £70; you could chance your arm on a Romanian offering from Evolio; or this very basic looking 7-inch slate for just £56 called simply M002; last and almost certainly least from a price point perspective, you might want to throw your hard-earned at this Android 2.2 7-incher for less than £50!
It would be great to hear your feedback for non-Apple tablets: what’s good and what’s not – why not mail us at PIND.editor@gmail.com
Finally, do keep checking back to see what will be featured in our next edition, PIND 62. Details of our next edition will be added to this link during the course of the week. For an RSS feed of PIND, copy this link into your feed reader; and for the GenesisNews Print Daily, take a look at the link and take out a free subscription!
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