Budget Android tablets....worth the buy?

gino_76ph

Hi there!

I am looking for cheap budget Android tablets. in the past few months since the dawn of the Ice Cream Sandwich OS we have seen the rise & rise of UK-based or China-made/sourced tablets vying for our wallets.

But my main problem with this tablets is...are they dependable and is the quality really that good? are there enough 3rd-party accesories like cases or screen protectors?

As of now companies such as Disgo, Storage Options and AndyPad are selling Android ICS tabs which have specs that are almost similar. it might be good buying stuff from them because they are (i think) UK-based so you can actually talk to someone for customer or tech support and warranty are covered unlike China-made ones.

All i want is a standard 7" that i can check my Facebook, Twitter, watch movies or Youtube and quickly check news or weather while i'm in bed or out and about without having to "carry" or hold my big 13" laptop. budget is £100-ish and must have the latest ICS OS, 1GHz processor and 512MB RAM and has Google certified products like Google Play, Maps, Search, etc. .

Any advice please?

prowla

My advice is go and play with one in one of the shops and see if the screen is big enough.

Richard_T_

Its not just the screen size thats important, the screen resolution is also a very important factor to consider, ive seen some low resolution tablets with resolutions that look like the screen is behind a mesh.
Also worth considering is to make sure that its a capacitive screen, ive seen a low res resitive screen tablet in staples recently running android 2.1

gino_76ph

I know of a UK-made Android tablet that cost only £179 but the problem is it only has 512MB of RAM which might not be enough when it comes to running apps that are designed for Ice Cream Sandwich. It's got an almost excellent customer support and forums/discussions section though.

I have scoured Amazon UK & Ebay and the below £100 Android 4.0 ICS tablets category i found where better than the one above i mentioned (inlcuding the usual 1GHz processor, iGB of RAM, capacitive 5-point multi-touchscreen, Full 1080p HD capability, etc.) problem is it has no bluetooth and the customer support are the one likely not based in the UK and you would probablly have problems with returns & warranty.

I have seen Tabtronics, Ainol/Ainovo, Arnova, Andy Pad, etc.

so, what's it gonna be?

bris

You get what you pay for, the cheap ones are the ones everybody complains about. People have a shot of an Ipad and expect a cheap tab to be as good. I am not saying the cheap ones are bad, but they do have limitations with the screen resolution, memory and touch sensitivity that is way below what people expect.

wba31

Was given a ViewSonic by work to try out, not sure what android it was running, idea was that 3 team members would each trial it for 30 days. Within a week it was back with the IT department with a big fat no.
It was cheap and heavy, when it went to sleep, it was actually turned off, every time we had to turn it on again we had to go through settings to reconnect to 3G network, full screened apps and presentations were just a small square in the middle of the screen.
Needless to say we are most likely getting something now at ipad prices. I have experience of the ipad, and it's great. I have no experience of competitors, but understand that some of them are very good. I do believe you get what you pay for most of the time

jaydeeuk1

7"
http://www.futeko.com/products/TAB018.php

10"
http://www.futeko.com/products/TAB011.php

There you go. Ignore the stupid name, for the price it is excellent.
If can afford another £30 or so for the IPS version, then I'd go for that.


You might struggle to find a cheapo tablet with bluetooth though... not sure why, only adds a few pence to the cost.

JMurph

Jaydeeuk thanks for posting a link to an actual product! Any more suggestions gratefully received, I'm off to search for any reviews of the futeko thing. As you say, bluetooth shouldn't cost much but doesn't seem to be too common on these cheaper tablets.

PS. love your AP quote!

SnowWhiterThanWhite

My DD had just ordered this:

http://www.ebuyer.com/370688-yarvik-gotab-zetta-tablet-pc-tab466euk

Her friend has one and it seems pretty decent.

It also comes with 2 year warranty.

HTH

JMurph

SnowWhiter that looks like it has a good spec, just can't find any clear reviews on it. Any others any knowledge of this tablet?

SnowWhiterThanWhite

JMurph wrote: »

SnowWhiter that looks like it has a good spec, just can't find any clear reviews on it. Any others any knowledge of this tablet?

I started this thread before I made the decision to buy:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3983601

They also have this for sale on Amazon, http://www.amazon.co.uk/BRANDEV-9-7-Capacitive-Flashplayer-Installed/dp/B00779NZ2C/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&coliid=I18W9DAGMJNKSY&colid=2BA14UZTNG9CX