Cheap & Nasty Android Tablets: Recommend your piece of c#$p!

Heya guys

I've noticed a bunch of cheap model Android tablets posted around the forums, either as a once of deal or a sale through the sales section. After checking around the web to see what the variety is like, I wanted to see if anybody could recommend a specific model, vendor or website that I might grab one?

I'm mostly after the following, largely as a cheap ebook reader:
- 7 inch screen.
- 4 - 8gb storage.
- 2500mah+ battery (be nice to get 4 - 5 hours per charge).
- Capable of charging off MicroUSB.
- MicroSD slot supporting 16 - 32gb expansion.
- $100 - $150 dollar price range.

Doesn't have to run the latest version of Android or play high-res videos but snappy OS response times, good battery life and a sub $150 dollar price tag would be just lovely

Any recommendations?

 

cant go past the ainol novo7.

played with a few here in honkers and theyre really impressive (and cheap, for what they are).

that said, in my view its worth spending the extra for something decent. second hand first-gen galaxy tabs can be had for under $300 and are still great. i use mine more than my xoom simply due to its size and better battery life.

 

Had a play with my girlfriends A500 and didn't like it. 10 Inch is too big to use as an ebook reader and considering the huge price difference, I wouldnt feel so bad about losing/having stolen/breaking a $150 dollar unit vs. a $300 - $400 dollar unit.

 

i agree, ten inches is too big for most situations.

seven inches, however, is pretty much perfect for me.

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blackberry playbook/original galaxy tab fall into this category at decent second-hand prices.

remember most of the el-cheapo tablets have 800x480 screens, this is rubbish. you dont want less than 1024x600

 

800x480 on a 7" inch would looks nasty as an e-reader . I've seen the resolutions on a lot of those Chinese made 7" tablets and they look very pixelated. I would rather spend more on something better, like a Galaxy Tab 7 (or the 7.0 Plus if you had more money). Or wait for the local Kindle Fire. 1024x600 on 7" would be the minimum I would get. 1280x800 is what I want over 7.7" (or 5.3", which is what I have)

 

I got a Ramos W6HD and have been very impressed with it directly out of the box. Its extremely quick, largish res (for the .cn tablets) and runs 4.0.3 natively from the manufacturer. It's NOT a MIPS, thus all android apps work on it perfectly!

I paid $99 for it about 3 months ago (after a $50 intro discount)... I think you can still get them for under $150 all up.

 

This seems like a pretty decent upgrade on the novo7. Didn't think about the resolution come to think of it.

 

That Ramos looks pretty nifty. How well does the 1080p playback work? What do you mean by 'not a MIPS'?

 

I got a Suli SL-7 from here a while back. Updated it to 2.2 and it's quite useable for browsing, reading, tv/movies and the odd angry birds. Claims it can play 1080p but i only managed 720p without it skipping. Has micro sd input, usb port and it's capacitive touch! Only $80.

 

http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/27/cobys-budget-minded-ice-cream-sandwich-tablets-go-on-sale/

 

A kindle with eink is such a better proposition for an ebook reader than a cheap tablet.

Coming from someone with shiny galaxy tab 7.7 and still use my kindle daily.

 

Guy at work just got a Onda vi40 which seems pretty decent for a cheapy.

Thats a 9.8" one but it seems better than other cheepies I've used.

They have a 7" version here the vi10

Seems pretty cheap and decent spec...

I updated the firmware on the vi40 which made it much smoother and more stable. It seems Onda are providing regular updates for bug fixes which is promising.

 

In what ways do they differ, generally, from the more expensive versions? Less apps? Less features? Not as many hardware options?

 

http://www.dealextreme.com/c/tablets-1409

It may be DealExtreme, but they have a stack of options. Cheap options.

The things you need to check is size of screen vs. RAM vs. CPU.

Slow crappy CPUs with larger than 7" screens with low mem (say 512MB) will yield a poor user experience.

Enjoy.

 

thats not what she said.



as for the el cheapo tablets. you do get what you pay for.

 

I picked up one of Kogan's 7" Agora Tablets when they first launched ($130 at the time - now $200 WTF?).

I posted a quick review in the thread.

It was cheap and fun to mess around with as the first device I rooted. Now it pretty much exclusevely lives in the kitchen for displaying recipies as I don't really care if I splash hot oil on it.

I don't think I'd pay the $200 they're asking now for it.

 

I bought a Hyundai S800 tablet in China last year about $200.

Has a 1Ghz A8, 8" capacitive touch 1024x768 screen, about 4 or 5 hours battery life, micro SD, HDMI, USB host, 1GB DDR, and 8 or 16GB internal memory.

Runs Gingerbread with a Honeycomb skin, it's not bad for the price, plays angry birds just fine

Rooted it fine with gingerbreak although I find I don't need any of the rooting features did it more for fun.

 

I have one, with the rom updates and a few modded ones I have had a blast learning the basics of android and use it as a reader everynight that can also check email, web, friendface etc.

 

I'd Advise against getting a basic or paladin though, both have MIPS cpus, and won't run a lot of apps.

I've got a basic, runs android itself ok, could do with some more ram though

I hear the Aurora is pretty good with it's IPS screen etc.

 

Sounds fairly good, where would one pick up one of these?