Hey guys
I've been looking a LOT around amazon and such for a tablet under $100. Why under $100? I need it to be under that price because there's a very high "luxury" tax applied in my country to products over $100, and it's an extra money I would rather not give to the govt because it's plain ridiculous already. Also, I'm planning on getting two of them, and I can't afford more than $150-200 on them. Why? this stupid country only gives you a "coupon" of $400 to spend online -YEARLY-, and I don't want to use it all on just two tablets, or be left with less than $200-250 to spend on other stuff I also need.
Monetary reasons explained and set aside, I'm getting the tablet for my mom, who only needs to browse the web, get on facebook, get & reply to emails, maybe some chatting and whatnot. She doesn't need much and I'm sure a simple Zeepad or something similar would do, but I'm a power user who mods almost every device that comes across his hands, so I'm using this chance to get a tablet too -if- I like the one I'm buying to my mom.
My mom's needs are... well, the basics. Maybe playing a video or two and nothing else. Me, on the other hand, want to upgrade it to the highest android version available for it (whether it be GB or ICS, or even Froyo since some come with Eclair (Eww)) and give it lots of possible uses. These include using it as a VNC viewer, remote keyboard/mouse, some development (if I get a keyboard+case for it), some gaming (ok, maybe not THD or anything but if it runs Angry Birds I'm happy XD) etcetera.
So, to resume, I'm looking for something including these specs, if possible:
3G (optional but it would be a big plus)
WiFi (must, or if not, then 3G)
600-800Mhz CPU (ARM? Adreno? Cortex? wtf?!)
A decent GPU (PowerVR? (like my Defy)?, what's a good GPU in android devices anyways?)
No stylus-exclusive (avoid if possible)
No resistive screen (I've heard they suck, and I don't want to push a screen like if it were a button (Blackberry Storm anyone? Eww xD) and be forced to use a stylus. If I can use my fingers on a resistive screen and it feels like a capacitive one, then that's okay with me )
USB host (to be able to plug in USB drives, keyboards, mices, etc)
Ethernet port optional but cool if it has one.
Tethering ability (though I think this is more OS-dependant than anything else)
Full Android Market (stupid chinese tablets)
SD card reader
Medium-small size. My whole Nook Simple Touch has the right size for the screen size I'd like (I think that's 7-9 inches?), I don't want to carry a tablet of the size of a notebook. Something that can fit a big pocket in a jacket or a pant would be cool, like the NST . This is optional but not required.
Battery life to stand a lot. Hey, my phone lasts only a day even without WiFi turned on which sucks. I've heard their batteries are like 6 or more hours, which seems okay... I'm not really sure what is "good" in this aspect.
Camera would be cool.
Phone (or at least SMS) functions would be cool, too.
And last but not least, able to be upgraded, or at least with a good hacker community stabilished. I want to be able to upgrade the tablet to other android versions (I don't mind if they're experimental) or at least compile a version for it. With this, I'm saying I don't want to be using google translate to find info on how to install another ROM in my tablet because everything comes from chinese forums and the tablet uses a random, non-standard OMFG-9372 processor nobody knows -anything- about and have to use dodgy apps or hacks to modify it, mmkay? okay.
Now, I've done my homework and these are the items I've came up with, however I'm still looking for more devices:
EEpad MID: http://www.amazon.com/Android-Table...C2/ref=sr_1_99?ie=UTF8&qid=1334592070&sr=8-99
Elsse: http://www.amazon.com/Elsse-Interne.../ref=sr_1_125?ie=UTF8&qid=1334592099&sr=8-125
Pandigital: http://www.amazon.com/Pandigital-An...H0/ref=sr_1_60?ie=UTF8&qid=1334591812&sr=8-60
Zeepad: http://www.amazon.com/Zeepad-Tablet...7Q/ref=sr_1_25?ie=UTF8&qid=1334591744&sr=8-25
Skytex: http://www.amazon.com/Skytex-Primer...E0/ref=sr_1_50?ie=UTF8&qid=1334591812&sr=8-50
Zeepad (2): http://www.amazon.com/Zeepad-Androi...1_fkmr1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1334592627&sr=8-3-fkmr1
Coby Kyros: http://www.amazon.com/Coby-MID7015-.../ref=sr_1_121?ie=UTF8&qid=1334593041&sr=8-121
"Random" brands:
http://www.amazon.com/Boxchip-Corte...0K/ref=sr_1_82?ie=UTF8&qid=1334592041&sr=8-82
http://www.amazon.com/Tablet-Intern...5Q/ref=sr_1_91?ie=UTF8&qid=1334592986&sr=8-91
Now, my thoughts:
EEpad MID: Looks good, but it has no reviews, so that detracts me from buying it. I can't find much info on the web on modifying it though.
Elsse: Seems like an asian tablet with no official Android Market, but eh, what do you guys say?
Pandigital: Looks like it sucks .
Zeepad: There isn't much info about it
Skytex: Looks cheap-o and low-quality :/
Zeepad (2): Seems to have good features and such.
Coby Kyros: Now, this, coming from Coby it makes me think of a cheap device like the MP3 players they make, but surprisingly, it has more reviews than the rest of the tablets and it's under $100. Also, it seems to be more powerful than the rest of the ones I've looked at (in the links here), and the reviews seem to be good. It makes me think if it's possible to upgrade it to 2.2 or 2.3, it would be really cool if it would.
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Sorry for the long read!... in case you want a resume, I'm just looking for two tablets: A simple one for my mom to browse the web, emails, play some games, chat and etc, and another one (or the same one if possible) for a power-user who would modify/upgrade it and use it as an IT work tool (VNC viewer, dev. tool, document editing, pdf reading, flash, some gaming, etc).
Any thoughts you guys have in relation to an android tablet to get? what's something "good" and something "bad"? I'd like to see opinions, reviews or suggestions on other tablets to look for or what other keywords should I look for in Amazon?
Thanks in advance!
- DARKGuy
Bump?
Coby Kyros is listed as "resistive" on Amazon, i'm not sure you've noticed that. I think you should check the Ainol (or any allwinner based device). They have somewhat limited community and support but it should be good for performance and gaming. Or bump the price range to 150 and look at Cortex A9 devices with reputable brands..
I agree with NightWatch71 about the tablet but not the price. I found it at around $75 in some places, but that was a long time ago so I forgot. Try looking around on Google Shopping.
Prices on Amazon change so often it's almost impossible to keep up and new manufacturers are releasing tablets a dime a dozen
This list is kept up to date tabletninja.com/finding-the-best-tablets-under-100/
A lot of the same options listed with a few new options from some newbies
Hi xda devs,
I'm thinking about buying a tablet to hang it on the wall, which wall act as a kind of weather station/alarm clock etc.
I don't need for that any powerful things, might be even cheapest chinese crap.
I have found for example something like this on dx.com:
dx.com/p/a13-7-capacitive-touch-screen-android-4-0-tablet-pc-w-tf-camera-wi-fi-g-sensor-white-148468
Do you think it's worth to buy it for that purpose? Does anybody know if it's rootable/any roms for that are available? Or maybe you could suggest me something cheap? Optimally at least 4.0 would be nice to have and 7" screen, wifi, and I don't think I need nothing more for that.
Well it could be worth it, depending how much you really want to display.
For the tablet you linked it's not easy to say as there are not many specs. It could be that it's one of the generic "A13-MID" tablets for which some custom ROMs can be found online. But I don't own one of them so I can't say how well those ROMs are applicable etc.
If you want to buy something in this class (Allwinner Processor) which is a bit more a "brand" it's a good idea to look at the tablets supported by this ROM:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1760929
It works really well (use it myself) and there is quite a big community. Just look through the tablet list if there is a model that suits you. E.g. the Ainol Novo7 Elf is a 7" tablet which could already be found below $80.
Pretty low screen resolution at 800x480, but if its just going to serve as a weather station/alarm clock then you'll probably be fine. Also wondering if all these cheap chinese tablets are actually shipping with Gapps installed since I doubt they are Google certified, yet in the screenshots I see Google Play.
My experience with cheap chinese "stuff" is that there is a higher chance that tablets have gapps than phones. Probably something about user expectations.
Hi,
I am working on a project to create kiosks (a device restricted to running only one app) for a company. I need to find a model of a tablet that runs on Android and is really really cheap, the only functionality of the tablet that is actually needed is just being Wi-Fi enabled.
I found a couple of solutions for this:
- The first one involves buying some Nook Color tablets and installing Android on them (I found a wholesale store that sells them for around 20 pounds each) but I'm not really sure about the quality that those will have.
- Another solution would be to find a company in China or somewhere that would create a custom tablet that exactly suits my needs and nothing extra, although I heard about these kind of companies I couldn't find any on the internet.
The idea is that my client needs around 50 of these things, that's why I'm looking for cheap ones. The tablets just need to have a touch screen and Wi-Fi. The Tablets will be locked to showing one single webpage which will be stored on my client's server and have the kiosk app on that page.
Could anyone recommend any really cheap tablets with just Wi-Fi or a company that can build custom ones?
Thank you!
I am a product designer looking to develop new phone case accessories for the Android market. I have been working as part of a small startup for a few months. We have mostly been concentrating on Apple products thus far; mainly because of their popularity and availability of online design guides (schematic drawings provided by Apple).
We are looking to develop more Android phones because we've had a lot of requests to expand our line. My issues is that I cannot find any reliable and accurate schematics or 3D CAD for ANY Android phones that are currently available. :-/
Can anyone point me in the right direction of where to find measurements, drawings, accurate CAD (not for rendering only) models? Where do companies get their information from? Is it worth giving Samsung a phone call or email?
Any help is appreciated! Thanks
I was looking for a larger tablet, and came across the 15.6" iDisplay tablet. In brief, it's made for stores to have a simple interactive kiosk, and is built on Android 4.2.2. It was only $45, including shipping, so I figured I'd give it a try.
Overall, it's pretty decent, but it does have a couple quirks I'd like to fix, but can't, because it's not rooted. There's no guides online, as it's such a niche brand, but I'm wondering if there's a general rooting that I can try that might work.
Here's a PDF with some hardware specs; am I out of luck?