Tablet advice

Grampus8

Sorry for starting another thread but, what tablets would you recommend for under £200?

RussJK

Advent Vega, then search how to mod it with modaco.

Dave101t

none, pay a proper amount!
thats like asking what decent brand new car to buy with £2000.

Grampus8

Thanks Russ.

Dave, not helpful, why bother?

biggysnax

Dave is correct in what he says but possible could have worded it better. The current range of tablets for under £400-£500 are just not that good. I have an iPad and i'm very happy with it but they're are very good alternatives out there. If you are prepared to spend more and can wait a little bit then I would suggest a HP TouchPad, have had a go with one and they are very very impressive, possibly better than the iPad.

McKneff

RussJK wrote: »

Advent Vega, then search how to mod it with modaco.

Im thinking about a tablet, and know the Advent Vega but what does the mod it with modaco mean please.
Sorry, not very techie minded.

RussJK

All depends what you want from a tablet - just got to ask what are you going to use it for 90% of the time. Even the cheapies play 720p movies and can do basic browsing and games. The Advent Vega has the same Tegra2 processor as more expensive tablets, but saves money with the screen (which isn't that bad anyway, and is still capacitive). Good battery life too.

McKneff - the modaco ROM gives the Advent Vega full access to all the google apps, and also has a load of performance improvements over the standard ROM. The Advent Vega is designed to be modded, and has failsafes built in should anything go wrong.
http://android.modaco.com/category/474/advent-vega-vega-modaco-com/

hallmark

Aspirin are quite good.

sjpkgp

I have just had to return an advent vega, partly because it would not boot up, but also partly because of my inability to get my PC to see it to download things like android market etc. I am not a true techie but quite capable and understood most of what modaco forums were asking me to do. I would have a browse of modaco forums so you reaslise what you are getting yourself into if you buy the advent. That said, others (e.g. russ, and mitchb) have had no problems with theirs and recommend the advent, so as with anything, there's good and bad. sal x

sjpkgp

Hiya,

Following earlier note about the vega, have now got the tabtech ms009 from amazon and I am very pleased with it for the price. I haven't had a full play with it yet, so have to caveat my comments.

Pros - cheap. £79. worked out of the box, no messing about, kindle, android market and all the usual pre-installed. Small/light - it is 7" and is like a big ipod touch rather than an ipad. Connected straight away to house wireless although note it doesn't like being that far out of range. Have watched youtube videos on it and plays fine and it is loud with earphones, tinny without but has USB port. Not tried the RJ45 connector/extra USB connector thing, but think could be useful if you wanted to attach stuff. Haven't tried skype yet. Have tried kindle and although it is the right size for me (and seems about the same weight as a kindle, poss lighter) screen is a bit bright - but I am sure I can alter the settings (again, needs more exploration). It has a gravity sensor so it moves to the way you are holding it (albeit a bit slowly - this could be a con for someone used to something far more responsive). Likewise, the screen is probably only so responsive - i.e there's been times when I have jabbed and jabbed again. You can get a case for it with a USB keyboard for a tenner off ebay (not tried)

Cons - you get a DS lite stylus with it, and we used it for a day and thought the stylus was scratching the screen - in reality, it was scratching the screen protector which we did not realise was on it, which I have now removed. You don't need the stylus for most things anyway unless you have fat fingers. Although it hasn't allegedly got a capacitive screen, so you can't do that apple pinch and contract, it has enough of a capacitive screen for my liking (i.e. you can flick your finger and the screen moves up and down). It comes with a US plug but an adapter is included - don't really know why people moan about this but I did have an "oh no" moment until I found the adapter. The camera is like the DS lite one (i.e. it faces you) and the quality of the pictures seem rubbish, although again, I'd be surprised if anyone is thinking this is a replacement for a camera. The main con is probably the battery life and the power cable. Battery life is much shorter than advertised, and the power cable is also quite short.

I haven't really put this through its full testing yet, I suspect it is no match for the ipad or the dearer tablets, but I bought it for my DD birthday and for £79, I think it is very good and has wowed her friends. I don't think it is a replacement for the ipad, an andriod phone, a good netbook or even the kindle (with it's long battery life) but it is something that does 70% of all four. There is a white version MS0010 also - I imagine it has the same spec but probably looks more apple like.

Took 4 days to come from amazon and the seller Wendylou was very helpful.

Hope this helps sal xx

Enterprise_1701C

Have to admit I was reading the previous post with interest until the poster mentioned the name of the seller.