Opinions on Android 2.0 tablets?

[Howard_Casto]

I'm not talking the high-end ones, I'm talking mid to low end.  The ones in the 70-150 dollar range. 

Are they actually any good for anything?  Are there a lot of good apps?  What can you do with them?

I'm kind of interested in tablets as a toy, but I'm not ready to fork over the 400+ dollars to get a legitimate tablet pc like the ipad.

Opinions, suggestions ect would be appreciated as I'm thinking of asking for one for xmas.

[drventure]

I'll be following this thread.

I've been interested in a table for a while that has a few specific features.

1) a fairly straightforward power docking element (such that could be built into, say, a picture frame). The idea being that I could slip the tablet into the picture frame from the side or top and have it "plug in" to recharge.
2) WIFI only. No need for a cell connection and data plan, I'd only want to use it around the house.
3) decent web browser support. Applications would be fine, but I'm most interested in browsing the web with it.
4) a good sized screen. Pref 10" or bigger. Something that wouldn't look odd framed on the wall...

[brad808]

I'm not talking the high-end ones, I'm talking mid to low end.  The ones in the 70-150 dollar range. 

Are they actually any good for anything?  Are there a lot of good apps?  What can you do with them?

I'm kind of interested in tablets as a toy, but I'm not ready to fork over the 400+ dollars to get a legitimate tablet pc like the ipad.

Opinions, suggestions ect would be appreciated as I'm thinking of asking for one for xmas.

My guess is that within a few months a lot of tablets will be coming out with android 4.0 due to the fact that the source code was just released. Android 4.0 is optimized for tablet and phone use where Android 2.0 was made to operate on phones. The full source code for android 3.0 (honeycomb, made for tablets) was never released which is why most cheap tablets use android 2.0.

I just recently on Black Friday picked up an HP touchpad for $99 as a toy/ why not it's on sale. The tablet runs WebOS but has an android 2.0 port with 4.0 in the works. It definitely works good and I have no major complaints about it but you can tell there are certain things in android 2.0 that just aren't "right" on a tablet. The one concern I'd have about the cheap tablets is the specs of processor and ram. The touchpad has a dual core processor that was clocked at 1.2 ghz and it didn't feel lag free to me. I bumped it up to 1.5ghz using setcpu and now it feels nice and smooth. If going the cheap route I'd try and find one with at least a dual core processor in it because I imagine anything less would feel laggy.

As far as apps/ games are concerned most that I have tried work on both my phone and tablet. Most of the new good games that are coming out have nice graphics so they look good on the higher resolution screen

[Samstag]

In that range you should pick up a refurb Nook Color and put 2.3 on it.  It has an IPS screen and a decent processor and makes a really good tablet to play around with.  I've seen them go for around $130 once in a while.

A lot of the 2.0 tablets are junk.

[Howard_Casto]

Thanks guys, I'll look into those.

Kindle Fire:  Doesn't that thing have a highly modified version of android?  I want something I can hack if I have the urge/need.

Nook Color:  That's a glorified e-reader though isn't it?  I've got a dedicated e-reader with an e-ink screen.  I want something for apps and the internet.


I think my biggest problem is finding specs.  Much like when you buy computers in a real store, the specs on these things are non existant on both the box and the sign in the store.  And in the 100 dollar price window there are a metric ton of tablets hitting the market right now.  I'm just a bit overwhealmed.  Even if I figure out the kind of specs I need, how the heck am I going to explain that to the non-tech people that might get it for me as a gift?

[ark_ader]

Make sure it has at least a tegra 2 chipset, and 512mb memory, 32gb storage.

Like my hannspad..

[Samstag]

Nook Color:  That's a glorified e-reader though isn't it?  I've got a dedicated e-reader with an e-ink screen.  I want something for apps and the internet.

Out of the box it's a crappy e-reader.  After a couple of minutes of hacking it's a full android 2.3 tablet (or 3.0 if you want to experiment).  I use mine for web browsing, games, and watching videos.

I use a dedicated e-ink reader for reading.

[Howard_Casto]

Cool that's what I wanted to know. 

[SammyWI]

Nook Color:  That's a glorified e-reader though isn't it?  I've got a dedicated e-reader with an e-ink screen.  I want something for apps and the internet.

Out of the box it's a crappy e-reader.  After a couple of minutes of hacking it's a full android 2.3 tablet (or 3.0 if you want to experiment).  I use mine for web browsing, games, and watching videos.

I use a dedicated e-ink reader for reading.

Personally, I like the NC as an Ereader (personal opinion, I guess  ).  But it does really shine once rooted.  The touch screen is OK but not great IMO.  It does lack some features, most notably a camera.  But for me, it's done everything I hoped for and more. 

[404]

I've had numerous tablets and android phones starting with the very first G1 phone. Also dabbled in android development a bit.

The economy tablets that you generally see out there tend to be pretty cheap and skim on materials. Generally the hardware and software implementation on them are pretty cheap and their android implementation is pretty buggy. They also are not licensed by google so there is no google apps such as the android market, gmail, youtube, gtalk etc.

I would recommend a tablet such as these only to those that can reflash the firmware on the units and only if there is a nice variety of firmware out there developed by third party developers. A good friend of mine owns and operates http://www.slatedroid.com , an android tablet forum. If you happen to find a tablet that you may be interested in, cross reference it with some of the posts on their forums. Chances are, there is someone there that has already posted their experiences with it and there may also be some firmware there for your model tablet.

[GregD]

 In that price range you should look for a used tablet. The problems with the cheap ones are that most use a resistive touchscreen. You really want capacitive.  Maybe a used xoom, acer iconia, are asus transformer?

[Hoopz]

The economy tablets that you generally see out there tend to be pretty cheap and skim on materials. Generally the hardware and software implementation on them are pretty cheap and their android implementation is pretty buggy. They also are not licensed by google so there is no google apps such as the android market, gmail, youtube, gtalk etc.

+1

I bought one for $100 that could have been a birthday present for my stepson.  It was very painful to use.  Lag, the touchscreen was awful, etc.  I couldn't return it fast enough.

[Vigo]

I have been looking at tablets for a cheap price, have been tempted on this one:

http://www.pandawill.com/dropad-a8x-7-inch-capacitive-screen-gps-bluetooth-hdmi-8gb-black-p47544.html

The demo video and specs looks really good as far as speed and features go. The only thing that scares me is the resolution is only 800X480, but I remember reading that all Android 2 tablets need to be displayed in that resolution for the GUI to display accurately.

Also, there have been a number of tablet deals on slickdeals lately, so I am holding out for a deal. I missed out on the Kindle fire for $123 at Target. Oh, and Kindle fires do have an extremely dumbed down version of Android running in em, but they can be hacked. I hear that HP tablets with WebOS have just recently been hacked and can have Android installed. There have been a few amazing deals on those lately as well.

[NiN^_^NiN]

The demo video and specs looks really good as far as speed and features go. The only thing that scares me is the resolution is only 800X480, but I remember reading that all Android 2 tablets need to be displayed in that resolution for the GUI to display accurately.

My original Samsung Galaxy Tab has Android 2.2 and the res is 1024 x 600 which was the highest where most apps would scale correctly and the ones that don't there is an app that will make them scale correctly anyway.

I love my galaxy tab and it's a great 7" tablet (Now with 2.3) but I know you said you want 10" so but if yo are ok to go to 7" then see how much a used galaxy tab is they are great plus they do HDMI and composite output as well.

[Malenko]

I have a dell streak 7, comes with Froyo 2.2 I used DJ Steve's honeycomb 3.2 hack and its pretty gravy. Dell isnt making them any more so you can prolly get it for next to nothing.

[knave]

I second the dell streak 7, I love that thing!
I hear the Gal tab 7 is good too

If you are set on a 10" tablet the Asus Transformer is probably the cheapest well reviewed name brand tab out there. I spent some time in front of the Galaxy 10" and it's pretty sweet though for portability reasions I still prefer the 7" form factor.

I keep hearing not so pleasant things about the cheep knock offs but if you pick one up let us know.

[Vigo]

For those interested in cheapo tablets, there is a daily deal today only for 7" android tablet, $50 shipped.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Google-Android-Panimage-7%3F-Color-Tablet-2GB/190610855815?afepn=5335869999&campid=5335869999&PID=1225267&_trksid=p1468660.m2000036#ht_2146wt_964

Probably is very painful to use, but might be a good Christmas gift for Grandma so she feels high tech. 

[knave]

I picked up a referb nook color for ~$70. So far the email and web seem just fine to do a little surfing and mail at the coffee shop. Nice screen... I might try out a few flavors of Android on it later if I think it will improve upon the device.

[Red]

For those interested in cheapo tablets, there is a daily deal today only for 7" android tablet, $50 shipped.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Google-Android-Panimage-7%3F-Color-Tablet-2GB/190610855815?afepn=5335869999&campid=5335869999&PID=1225267&_trksid=p1468660.m2000036#ht_2146wt_964

Probably is very painful to use, but might be a good Christmas gift for Grandma so she feels high tech.  

For those interested in this Tablet, here is a link to all the available Custom ROMS for it.  Not sure which ROMS will work as the site is pretty confusing.

http://androidtabletzone.the-talk.net/t989-22-brand-new-roms-are-coming

[yotsuya]

For those interested in cheapo tablets, there is a daily deal today only for 7" android tablet, $50 shipped.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Google-Android-Panimage-7%3F-Color-Tablet-2GB/190610855815?afepn=5335869999&campid=5335869999&PID=1225267&_trksid=p1468660.m2000036#ht_2146wt_964

Probably is very painful to use, but might be a good Christmas gift for Grandma so she feels high tech. 

I actually saw this last night and picked it up. I have an iPad but don't have any Android devices, so I figure this would be a cheap and easy introduction.

[Vigo]

Awesome! I was reading reviews of it on Amazon, and the best review of it was from an ipad owner. He wanted something he would be ok with getting broken or stolen when he is traveling. I tend to think it is a good deal due to the fact that he didn't have any false expectations about it, while the very negative reviews were people who wanted something that can perform on an almost ipad level.

[yotsuya]

Yeah, I'm more interested in checking out how Android works, so I figure it's a $50 sandbox. At worst, I put a bunch of eBooks on it and give it to my wife as a reader.

I also might see how I can incorporate it into a jukebox or cab project, depending on how flexible it is. The one thing I don't need it to do? Be an iPad! 

[gryhnd]

I have a Viewsonic Gtablet, $279, that I've put honeycomb (3.3) on. For the price it kicks butt.

[Howard_Casto]

I saw a CRUZ tablet online last night. (The latest version)  They normally run just around 100 bucks.  It has all the bells and whistles of higher end tablets (good processor, expandable memory, capacitive touch screen ect.) but it's just a tad sluggish for resource intensive apps.  I'm leaning towards that.

I appreciate all the help thus far but some people blatently ignored the part where I said I wanted a low end tablet in the 70-150 dollar range.  Of course I know that more expensive tablets are going to be better, but I want to play with this thing.  I don't want to feel bad if I break it while hacking/tweaking/modding.  About the most I would spend would be 200 bucks and for that it better be awesome.

[Red]

I have a Viewsonic Gtablet, $279, that I've put honeycomb (3.3) on. For the price it kicks butt.

What ROM do you have for it?  Do you have a Link?

Thanks.

[gryhnd]

Howard....wasn't ignoring you, but in my case $279 was a lot better than a $600 iPawd and I thought others would also be interested as a side discussion.

In the sub-$100 range I suspect (with no empirical evidence, granted) you may be disappointed.

Red, I use gTabComb 3.3 from

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1126220

Only downside (which matters not to me) is that the camera doesn't work. It also automagically OC's the CPU, and reduces the OC as the battery level drops which is cool.

I used to use an older 2.x ROM but was not impressed. It seemed "dated".

[Dartful Dodger]

Howard....wasn't ignoring you, but in my case $279 was a lot better than a $600 iPawd and I thought others would also be interested as a side discussion.

I appreciate it. I'm in the same boat as Howard. I don't want to spend over 200, but I’d hate to buy something to play with, that for 80 bucks more, I could have had something that was practical for me.

Only downside (which matters not to me) is that the camera doesn't work.

That's a deal breaker for me.

I want it to practice building my own apps and two app ideas I have (that people would pay for), involve the camera.

Skype is getting more popular to my cousins in Europe. I may not be using it now, but next year I might be using it more than my phone.

[gryhnd]

That's a deal breaker for me.

That's just the ROM I chose, not a problem with the gTab itself. The camera worked fine in the 2.x ROM I used for a few months. There's many ROM flavors on XDA for the gTab.

[Red]

Thanks gryhnd.  I'll give it a try.

[Blanka]

Check if it is rootable. I have a Wildfire S (phone), which is not rootable. Non-rootable Android sucks big time.

[Vigo]

Excuse my Android OS noobness, but when a device is rootable, that ultimately means that it can be upgraded to a newer version of Android, correct?

[brad808]

Excuse my Android OS noobness, but when a device is rootable, that ultimately means that it can be upgraded to a newer version of Android, correct?

Means that you can get "administrative" type privileges. Change system files, use better apps, use custom roms, change partitions. Things like that.

[NiN^_^NiN]

Excuse my Android OS noobness, but when a device is rootable, that ultimately means that it can be upgraded to a newer version of Android, correct?

What Brad808 said is correct i'll give you some idea's on why people "root" their phone.

Once root you can give access to programs that need root access to work correctly (setcpu for example lets you clock the phone cpu speed up and down etc)
You can remove those apps that come pre-installed that you can't remove normally.

It allows you more freedom to do things that you can't without the access one of them is if the OS has a bug which drains your battery you can freeze the processes.

[Howard_Casto]

In terms of gaming this might change things a bit. 

Remember ONLive, the service that lets you play high-end pc games on your crappy pc?  Well now they let you play high-end pc games on your crappy android tablet!

http://kotaku.com/5866705/heres-why-you-need-to-stop-dismissing-onlives-tablet-gaming


And yes, the onlive controller IS going to be compatable with most tablets, so you don't have to use the touch interface.

[Red]

In terms of gaming this might change things a bit. 

Remember ONLive, the service that lets you play high-end pc games on your crappy pc?  Well now they let you play high-end pc games on your crappy android tablet!

http://kotaku.com/5866705/heres-why-you-need-to-stop-dismissing-onlives-tablet-gaming

And yes, the onlive controller IS going to be compatable with most tablets, so you don't have to use the touch interface.

Awesome news!  I hope the controller will work with iPad games as well.

[Howard_Casto]

It will.... their main goal atm is to get the app running in android and iOS.  Since the onlive controller is bluetooth and the ipad has built-in bluetooth it would be stupid for them not to add support.  Even if onlive doesn't make an official driver, I've got to think that developers are going to take advantage of support for a controller that is "officially supported" by the ipad.

[Red]

It will.... their main goal atm is to get the app running in android and iOS.  Since the onlive controller is bluetooth and the ipad has built-in bluetooth it would be stupid for them not to add support.  Even if onlive doesn't make an official driver, I've got to think that developers are going to take advantage of support for a controller that is "officially supported" by the ipad.

Great.  Thanks Howard for posting that.  I've been wanting a controller for the iPad for the longest time.

Will the controller work with all the older games, or just the newer games that are programmed for it?

[Howard_Casto]

Much like the icade the games will have to be programmed for it unfortuantely.  This just has do do with apple's lack of foresight.... no universal HID protocol like you see on desktop computers, which means games can't be programmed with a generic hardware device in mind. 

[RayB]

Much like the icade the games will have to be programmed for it unfortuantely.  This just has do do with apple's lack of foresight.... no universal HID protocol like you see on desktop computers, which means games can't be programmed with a generic hardware device in mind. 

At a basic level a controller could act as a bluetooth keyboard (much like our beloved IPACs). Just means no analog.

[Howard_Casto]

Even then, keyboards aren't universally supported.  The program has to be coded with a keyboard in mind. 

Don't get me wrong, it is a more acceptable protocol, but plugging one in still won't ensure it will work with all games, nor will it work with older games.