Decent 10" Android tablet for around $300? Is it possible?

[markronz]

Well, like I said in the title, does anyone have any experience with any Android tablets with a 10 inch screen, that are in the neighborhood of $300 dollars?   Anything like that out there, that's a pretty good tablet?   Seems like I might have to spend a lot more to get such a thing, but I just thought I'd ask anyway!

[Donkbaca]

What do you want to do with it?  Best bang for your buck as far as tablets go nowadays is the Nook color.

[Blanka]

Try to make 400$ and get the EEEpad Transformer. The only one outside Apple with a decent screen, in fact, it is even better than iPad's one!

[Dartful Dodger]

Try to make 400$ and get the EEEpad Transformer. The only one outside Apple with a decent screen, in fact, it is even better than iPad's one!

+1

After you buy it and realize how good it is you'll want the keyboard for it.

With the keyboard it will cost as much as the iPad but you'll have a detachable keyboard, 2 usb ports an SD card reader and 6 more hours of battery life.

[Donkbaca]

I like how the OP was, "can I get a good tablet for $300, and people are like " here is one for $500"

[Hoopz]

There is a thread in B/S/T for a Nook shipped for $235 that comes with a microSD card to run Android.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=113078.0

[newmanfamilyvlogs]

keep watching on craiglist for all the people who buy Galaxy Tab 10.1s and then decide they don't know how to use it?

[pointdablame]

There's been a few deals lately on the Acer Iconia for around $350... lowest I've seen for a Honeycomb tablet so far.  I played with one in store and it seemed pretty slick.  I sill prefer my iPad, but it seems like a nice value if you can get it at $350

[markronz]

Thanks for all the ideas guys!   When I posted this question, I was fully expecting everyone to give me options that were over $300.     But that's ok.  I sort of figured that I'd have to spend more.

The idea of going with a Nook was initially the route I was thinking.  But I went to the store and played with one, and I guess it was just the screen size that I didn't like.  I figured that if I'm going to do this, I might as well do it right!

When I was at the store I was looking at the other tablets there.  The Xoom was cool, but too expensive.   I played with the Acer Iconia for a while.  It was $400 in store, and I almost bought it right there.  But I looked online and found this comparison of the Iconia vs the Transformer:
http://reviews.cnet.com/2722-3126_7-1134.html

Looks like they are pretty close to each other, but in the end I went with the Transformer.   I liked the idea of some day getting the keyboard docking station.  Also the IPS panel I liked more too.  Sadly, unlike the Iconia, it was not in any local stores by me.  So I had to get it off NewEgg.

So I ended up going over my $300 budget (as I always seem to do) and got the Transformer for $400.   Can't wait for it to arrive!  Thanks for all the help everyone and the opinions!

[markronz]

Bleh.  I have an iPhone, I don't need a larger version of it.  I wanted something new and to try out Android.   iPad is not the only acceptable tablet.   I love apple products as much as the next guy, but most Apple fans seem to blindly follow whatever Apple comes out with.  I prefer to try other new things out there.   Apple's reign will not last forever, and the Android (and honeycomb) are definitely going to be a full competitor.

[Donkbaca]

Wait, so you got an iphone because you figured it was better than an android phone I am guessing, but then you didn't get an ipad because "you don't need a giant iphone" but instead you opted for a giant android phone?

[markronz]

Very funny.   But no, I got an iPhone 3G because back when I got it, they didn't have Android phones yet.   Or at least I had never heard of one at that point.   Irregardless, that's not the point.  All I was saying is that I have an iPhone, I know that experience.  I've played with an iPad and it's very similar. Cooler, mostly because its bigger, but still very much the same.   I have no experience with android, so that is why I got an Android tablet.   I prefer to experience all different forms of technology out there.  The android tablet I got was a honeycomb OS, which is slightly different than a normal Android phone OS, or so I'm told.   My point is that everyone just assumes that iPad is the best, and it may very well be, but that does not mean it's the only viable tablet option out there worth experiencing.   You can't just crap of an Android just because it's not an iPad.

[scofthe7seas]

Well, right now the Ipad/phones are optimized to a higher degree because they've had kind of a long time to work out all the kinks. Also, they have a much larger software base.
But, Android is catching up, and developers are getting super sick of the restraints that Apple puts on the development process. Market rate estimates predict Android phones/devices will overtake the market in not a very long timeframe.
Annnnyways, onto the topic. There are a number of reasonable priced Chinese model Android tablets out there. I can't attest to the quality, but there are reviews for these models also.

[Donkbaca]

Without getting into an android flame war... I-whatevers have three distinct advantages: 1) bigger user base - this attracts more developers; 2) vertical integration; one of the reasons its hard for tablets to compete is that Apple is very veritcally integrated, right through retail with its apple stores.  This gives them an advantage on price, since there isn't as much profit taking along the way for components, licensing or retail markups.  3) The app store - a centralized, safe place to get software that any idiot can use and understand.

The "open source" advantage is the biggest load of crap I have ever come across. People largely don't develop stuff to "express themselves" they do it largely to make money and they will conform to some censorship and are more than willing to jump through hoops to have access to a a bigger market to make money.  If people cared that much about "open source" we would all be running linux.  Don't give me that "i am running linux" BS, the overwhelming majority of people don't, and have no interest in it.  Read the reviews, every tablet has the same headline "Is this the gizmo that will give the I-whatever a run for its money?"  The answer is always no, its either more expensive, has inferior guts, or has a major content disadvantage.  Those are just facts.

Generally the argument between the I-whatevers and the I-wananbes is this: The I whatvers are doing a lot of cool stuff RIGHT NOW, where as the I-wanabes sell on some promise that at some point in the future, they will be able to do things the I-whatevers can't.  Its about what something does versus what it can do.  I used to buy the "what it can do" stuff, until I realized that what I care more about is what it does right now, because by the time the what-it-can-do stuff gets realized, if it ever does, the thing is a couple generations behind

[AtomSmasher]

Haha.  It's always entertaining to see how passionate fanboys get either for or against apple products.

[newmanfamilyvlogs]

I'm just glad I have a choice between products 

[Donkbaca]

yeah, and for most people, the nook color will do whatever they want a tablet to do: e-mail, flash, web browsing, games.  I just think its silly to spend i-pad type money for something that isn't as good as an i-pad.  Its like buying a zune when you could have bought an ipod.

[Blanka]

The EEEpad IS better than an iPad, so I don't mind to spend equal money on the bundle with the docking keyboard.
- Widescreen IPS panel with higher resolution.
- Decent mediaplayer with HDMI out
- Runs MAME without obscure Jailbreaking crap
- Accepts USB input devices
- Already has a keyboard for gaming
- Has a good office suite that is actually usable thanks to a keyboard.

It still has some hickups in its OS eye-candy, but I don't give a ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- about that. Still looking for a way to turn it of on iOS like OSX and Vista allow you to.

[Blanka]

I don't like their computers.  I do like their phones and the ipad. 

 

I ONLY like their computers. And the one that you might not guess. They make the best computer that is almost perfect for anybody: The MacMini. So small you can paste it under your table to render it invisible, yet very powerful, even the 3D power is OK for most stuff. I never saw a more elegant powerful low-energy computing solution with a great OS like the Mini offers. I don't like the people who dress their tables with an overdose of 27inch iMac testosterone using it for email and surfing, or "serious" photographers telling how awesome it is to use a machine with crap colour-accuracy and 0-options to calibrate it.
Give me my MacMini with a decent NEC PA271W anytime....

[CCM]

yeah, and for most people, the nook color will do whatever they want a tablet to do: e-mail, flash, web browsing, games.  I just think its silly to spend i-pad type money for something that isn't as good as an i-pad.  Its like buying a zune when you could have bought an ipod.

I love my Zune...

And isn't the Transformer about half of what an Ipad 2 costs?  So, in reality he didn't spend Ipad type money.

[CheffoJeffo]

And isn't the Transformer about half of what an Ipad 2 costs?  So, in reality he didn't spend Ipad type money.

About $100 bucks less than the "comparable" (e.g. 16Gb, WiFi only) iPad2 (which lacks in the areas that Blanka describes, although I don't see the lack of a keyboard as an issue).

I haven't *loved* an Apple product since my beloved Apple ][+. While my family was loving their iPods, iMacs and iPhones, I was avoiding them with a vengeance.

But I loves me my iPads (currently have 3 in the house) and have returned all other tablets so far.

[Dartful Dodger]

I develop apps for Blackberry, iPhone and Android.

The reasons that iPhone people are saying Android can't compete with iPhone, are the same reasons Blackberry users said iPhone couldn't compete with Blackberry.

Android is by far the easiest operating system to develop for. As far as tablets go this is the first year it's releasing tablets and it already has hardware options that are better than the iPad.


2 years ago Blackberry was the only smart phone we were developing for. Last year we were developing the same apps for Apple and Blackberry. This year we’re only developing for Android and Apple. Clients don’t want to pay extra for us to develop for Blackberry.

One client just switched to Android devices to avoid the nonsense with submitting apps to the App store and dealing with the corporate licensing for internal apps.

[Donkbaca]

Cool, then answer me this question.

Here are three major advantages the ipad has with regards to apps:

1) market penetration, you are probably more likely to make apps for the ipad than you are for the android.  If it is easy to port them over, then perhaps you make apps for both.  What does this mean?  That there unless android becomes more popular than the Ios, which isn't happening anytime soon, there will be apps on the Ipad that are not available on the android.  That is my guess, doesn't make sense to develop an exclusive app for a second place OS.

2) The app store, hands down easieist software buying experience anywhere, ever.

3) The problem with bringing android apps to markets, other than an app store, is this: there are too many android devices and platforms.  So, who cares if your android tab has a super great screen, unless there are apps that take advantage of this, that advantage is useless.  There are several versions of android running around, they are not perfectly compatible.  On top of that you have several devices, all with different hardware specs.  This means that if I am an app developer, in order to have the most sales, I am designing my app around the most vanilla of all android devices.  Whereas, with the Ipad you have one device you are designing for.  Makes a huge difference.

[CheffoJeffo]

2 years ago Blackberry was the only smart phone we were developing for. Last year we were developing the same apps for Apple and Blackberry. This year we’re only developing for Android and Apple. Clients don’t want to pay extra for us to develop for Blackberry.

Seeing this a lot and, as a long-time Blackberry user (before phones were smart), it saddens me, but RIM has so totally dropped the ball. We have dropped the development that we had planned for BB this year.

[Hoopz]

2 years ago Blackberry was the only smart phone we were developing for. Last year we were developing the same apps for Apple and Blackberry. This year we’re only developing for Android and Apple. Clients don’t want to pay extra for us to develop for Blackberry.

Seeing this a lot and, as a long-time Blackberry user (before phones were smart), it saddens me, but RIM has so totally dropped the ball. We have dropped the development that we had planned for BB this year.

Gizmodo or Engadget linked to a great article about RIM last week or the week before.  Very interesting read.  I remember using a Palm IIIx (I think but I don't remember now) to check stock quotes around 1997/98 that used RIM technology/modem.  Very interesting to see how quickly a company can lose it's vision.

[Dartful Dodger]

Cool, then answer me this question.

Here are three major advantages the ipad has with regards to apps:

1) market penetration, you are probably more likely to make apps for the ipad than you are for the android.  If it is easy to port them over, then perhaps you make apps for both.  What does this mean?  That there unless android becomes more popular than the Ios, which isn't happening anytime soon, there will be apps on the Ipad that are not available on the android.  That is my guess, doesn't make sense to develop an exclusive app for a second place OS.

2) The app store, hands down easieist software buying experience anywhere, ever.

3) The problem with bringing android apps to markets, other than an app store, is this: there are too many android devices and platforms.  So, who cares if your android tab has a super great screen, unless there are apps that take advantage of this, that advantage is useless.  There are several versions of android running around, they are not perfectly compatible.  On top of that you have several devices, all with different hardware specs.  This means that if I am an app developer, in order to have the most sales, I am designing my app around the most vanilla of all android devices.  Whereas, with the Ipad you have one device you are designing for.  Makes a huge difference.

Answer:

I develop apps for Blackberry, iPhone and Android.

The reasons that iPhone people are saying Android can't compete with iPhone, are the same reasons Blackberry users said iPhone couldn't compete with Blackberry.

Here were three major advantages the Blackberry with regards to apps:

1) market penetration, you are probably more likely to make apps for the Blackberry than you are for the iPhone.  If it is easy to port them over, then perhaps you make apps for both.  What does this mean?  That there unless iPad becomes more popular than the Blackberry OS, which isn't happened in less than three years, there will be apps on the Blackberry that are not available on the iPhone.  That is my guess, doesn't make sense to develop an exclusive app for a second place OS.

2) The Blackberry store, hands down is the easiest software buying experience anywhere.

3) The problem with Bringing iPad apps to the market, other than the strict app store guidelines is that there are too many medias on the iPhone device. So who cares if your iPhone can take photos, play music and videos. People just want to make calls send texts and check emails with their phone. The iPhone does too much and there are too many options. Whereas, with the Blackberry you have only a few functions you are designing for.  Makes a huge difference.

[Dartful Dodger]

Seeing this a lot and, as a long-time Blackberry user (before phones were smart), it saddens me, but RIM has so totally dropped the ball. We have dropped the development that we had planned for BB this year.

Cheer up Cheffo,

BB will be adding an Android emulator to its OS.

So your BB will still be able to play our new Android apps long after we've stopped developing for iPhone.

[Donkbaca]

Here were three major advantages the Blackberry with regards to apps:

1) market penetration, you are probably more likely to make apps for the Blackberry than you are for the iPhone.  If it is easy to port them over, then perhaps you make apps for both.  What does this mean?  That there unless iPad becomes more popular than the Blackberry OS, which isn't happened in less than three years, there will be apps on the Blackberry that are not available on the iPhone.  That is my guess, doesn't make sense to develop an exclusive app for a second place OS

.

You can't compare phones to tablets. They are two different markets.  Aside from that the Iphone marketed itself as something distinctly different from the blackberry; as a consumer device.  When it first came out it was an ipod with a phone and a few apps.  That is something that people overlook, the thing is also an iPod, the most succesful portable music device, ever.  The blackberry always marketed itself as a business-first device.  Even as Apple overtook them in phone sales, they tried to hold on to that business niche.  The ipod interface is much more simple and itnuitive. The iphone was a completely different device compared to the BB.  Smartphones and tablets coming out now, are basically copying the iphone/ipad with minor tweaks: bigger screen, better camera, etc.  They offer nothing in terms of experience or interface that is different from the Ipad.  Sure there are some things they may do better and some capabilities they have that may be superior, but they fail in one key area; content, and content is what matters most.  Its why people bought VHS over betamax, why HD DVD caved to Blu ray, its why laser discs never caught on.  Heck, its the main reason people buy PC's instead of Mac's.  Its all about what you can actually do with the device, not what the device could theoretically do if properly supported.

2) The Blackberry store, hands down is the easiest software buying experience anywhere.

I respectfully disagree, i tunes and the app store are by far the most consumer friendly experiences, a couple of taps and you are done.  

3) The problem with Bringing iPad apps to the market, other than the strict app store guidelines is that there are too many medias on the iPhone device. So who cares if your iPhone can take photos, play music and videos. People just want to make calls send texts and check emails with their phone. The iPhone does too much and there are too many options. Whereas, with the Blackberry you have only a few functions you are designing for.  Makes a huge difference.

This makes no sense.  So you are comparing medias to completely different form factors, hardware specifications and operating systems?  Seriously?  You are seriously doing this?  What does medias have to do with making an app?  Are you saying, that if you wanted to, say, make a photo app, that having a music player on there to somehow complicates this?  Now you are just being silly. On the android, if you are designing a photo app you have to keep in mind different cameras, different resolutions that are displayed on the screen, different speed processors, different os platforms, etc....  You are saying that that problem is analagous to having multiple capabilities on the same device?  Really? Seriously?

I am not saying that the android can't compete with the Ipad, I am just saying that these are real problems and advantages that the ipad has RIGHT NOW, and in order for android to be succesful, it has to be BETTER than apple at all of these things, or offer up something compelling that consumers would be willing to pay for that Apple doesn't  because apple has a huge head start and all things being equal I think most consumers would choose the Apple product.  

If for 50 bucks more you can get a device that has 10 times the content available on it, all else being equal, why would you chose the device that has less support?

You know what?  Nobody cares about the strict app guidelines.  Really, I don't care.  All I care is what is available on the phone.  The app guidelines is a developer issue that consumers really don't care about, and the hundreds of thousands of apps available show that a lot of developers don't care either.  Is it a complication?  A pain in the ass for people that make apps?  Sure.  Is it preventing great content from reaching the consumer?  No.

The whole laissez faire, open source, no restirctions thing is just something that consumers really, really could care less about.    

[knave]

I don't believe that more content available is that big of an advantage for the ipad. If the ipad had one million apps and android has one hundred thousand that's still 999,975 more than I'll ever download. I don't care as long as the apps I use are available.

[AtomSmasher]

I respectfully disagree, i tunes and the app store are by far the most consumer friendly experiences, a couple of taps and you are done.  

A couple of taps, then connect your phone to your computer, fire up itunes, sync phone with itunes, and you are done.  It's baffling to me how some apps require you to connect to itunes to download and install.

[kalars123]

I am not saying that the android can't compete with the Ipad, I am just saying that these are real problems and advantages that the ipad has RIGHT NOW, and in order for android to be succesful, it has to be BETTER than apple at all of these things, or offer up something compelling that consumers would be willing to pay for that Apple doesn't  because apple has a huge head start and all things being equal I think most consumers would choose the Apple product.  

See and that's where your "sorta" wrong I and I would guess several hundreds of millions of other people will purchase anything else as long as it's NOT an apple product.  I have hated apple and Steve Jobs pretty much since the beginning, Apple is like the Sony of the PC world, they want to tell you want you can and can't do with the hardware you bought. I'm sure there aren't many people that remember this but there was a time when if you wanted to do something simple like upgrade your ram on your mac, you HAD to buy it from apple and they made sure they didn't give you a reach around either. It was a closed and overpriced PoS system and frankly it still is.  Apple/Steve Jobs will find any way to screw you out of your money while at the same time giving you no choice's on what you can do with the product you purchased except for the ones THEY are willing to give you.  I never have and never will buy an Apple product, and should I ever have the opportunity to meet Steve Jobs I will punch him square in his face.

The whole laissez faire, open source, no restirctions thing is just something that consumers really, really could care less about.      

And this?, this you are COMPLETELY wrong on I and everyone I personally know bought Android devices for this very reason, several of those people Iphone converts, people want choices period, and if a device or product gives me a choice of what I can and can not do with it, I will take it any time even if it's significantly inferior to the "cool" product at the time.

[Donkbaca]

A couple of taps, then connect your phone to your computer, fire up itunes, sync phone with itunes, and you are done.  It's baffling to me how some apps require you to connect to itunes to download and install.

I don't know of a single app that needs to do that 

See and that's where your "sorta" wrong I and I would guess several other million people will purchase anything else as long as it's NOT an apple product. 

I realize that, how is that Zune working out for you? 

Aside from that you are right.  Steve Jobs is a total control freak regarding his hardware.  His philosophy is that there is one, optimal way to do things, so his main goal is perfection in design.  Along with philosophy is the idea that there is one way to do things.  That's why he won't support flash, HTML is better.  He doesn't see why he should support flash if HTML 5 is better.  That being said, you know that you are in the minority right?  Most people never mess with their hardware, heck a good chunk of people pay the Geek Squad folks over at best buy to come over and install RAM in their PCs.....

[newmanfamilyvlogs]

I handle around 160 cell lines at work with Verizon as a carrier. Basically pretty consumer-like set up on them: pop/imap for email, occasional VPN access. No enterprise servers or automatic type provisioning.. As far as initial setup goes, in my experience setting up an android device is much simpler than an iphone. The iphone interface does seem to be much more simple for people to grasp, but it's very frustrating that you have to set up a credit card on every account, even if you only want/need free apps. I think across some 50-60 android/iphone devices I've deployed in the last year or two, we've purchased perhaps 9 apps between all them, everything else has been free.

But between both phones, where is the love for physical keyboards? Swype is neat, autocorrect is 70% wonderful, but really, why are there only a handful of devices with keyboards?

[kalars123]

I realize that, how is that Zune working out for you? 

Aside from that you are right.  Steve Jobs is a total control freak regarding his hardware.  His philosophy is that there is one, optimal way to do things, so his main goal is perfection in design.  Along with philosophy is the idea that there is one way to do things.  That's why he won't support flash, HTML is better.  He doesn't see why he should support flash if HTML 5 is better.  That being said, you know that you are in the minority right?  Most people never mess with their hardware, heck a good chunk of people pay the Geek Squad folks over at best buy to come over and install RAM in their PCs.....

Don't know ever had a Zune, when that came out I had a Windows mobile phone that already did MP3's no need to purchase something else when I have something that already does it.

I know I'm in the minority now 10 years ago that wasn't the case, but it is now, and it just irks the living hell out of me how people can so easily be turned into sheep.  I worked in Best Buy services "black shirts" before it became the Geek Squad, if someone came in with some simple easy problem i just told them how to fix it on their own and sent them home without charging them "got fired for it eventually".  I just couldn't in good conscious charge someone $25 to JUST look at their computer and them a min 1hr at $50 "in other words even if it took us 5mins we told the customer it took at least an hour" for something they could do at home with a couple clicks.

[AtomSmasher]

A couple of taps, then connect your phone to your computer, fire up itunes, sync phone with itunes, and you are done.  It's baffling to me how some apps require you to connect to itunes to download and install.

I don't know of a single app that needs to do that 

The guy next to me at work was occasionally complaining about this for his iphone 4.  He finally jail-broke his phone to avoid the annoyance.

[Donkbaca]

Hmm. That's odd had 2 iPhones over the last three years, never did that to get an app.

Th reason there are no keyboards on phones is that it makes the phone too bulky

[CCM]

At the end of the day... who gives a ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---...  Iphone/android..ipod/zune....ipad/transformer... blah blah blah

If it fits your budget and it does what you want it to do, then buy it.

[newmanfamilyvlogs]

Th reason there are no keyboards on phones is that it makes the phone too bulky

Doesn't have to be bulky.


And besides, the Droid 3 is only 13mm thick. The iPhone 4 is 9mm. I wouldn't call that a terribly huge difference for such a generous keyboard:

[newmanfamilyvlogs]

I was specifically addressing the concern that having a keyboard made the phone to bulky. I'm not sure I understand what you mean.

[Donkbaca]

Oh yeah, not bulkier, its just 50% more bulky.  People don't want a keyboard on the face because they would prefer a larger screen.  They don't want a keyboard because they don't want the bulk.  Its pretty simple.  Smart phones are huge.  Think about the fact that prior to the smartphones, one of the main goals of cell phone design was to minimize size.  A iphone is way bigger than say the motorola RAZR that people had used 5 years ago. 

The extra bulk isn't worth it to me.  Its not like I am composing huge amounts of content on my cell phone, nor would I want to.

I am with PBJ on this one.  I am not a fan boy, I am not like holy crap! The Ipod Thought just came out! Its like the touch, but you don't touch it.. you THINK  it!.... I am not claiming that the Iwhatevers have are superior in every way, I am just saying that as a total package RIGHT NOW the Iwhatevers are the superior product.  Personally I know people that have both android and IoS products.  There are many more people that have android products that would switch to IoS in a heartbeat, the people I know that have an IoS device that wish they had gotten an android device is a much, much smaller. 

Sure in the future the andriod may produce a suprior product, so when I get my next tablet/phone in the future I may consider it, but there are real advantages that the IoS devices have that the androids have to overcome, so its not a given that they will eventually become the market leader.

Yeah in future Hyundai may make a better car than a Porsche, but I'll keep driving my porsche to work because right now its the better overall experience.  Have fun showing off how well your Hyundai goes in circles.