Tuesday, December 10, 2013

What would you say would be a good inexpensive tablet to get?

There are a few things to consider. When they produce cheap tablets they leave out things.  Here are important questions.
1. What version of Android does it run?
Android 4.0 is too old.  Minimum should be 4.1, preferably 4.3 Stay away from the Amazon tablets (my opinion)
2. Does it have Google Play?
If it doesn't, it means the computer couldn't conform to Google's minimum standards.
3) What resolution is the screen?
High definition 720P is 1920 by 720.  the closer you get to that the better. Most cheap tablets don't even come close.
4) How many cores does it have?
Cores refers to the number of processors contained in its processor chip.
 Cheap ones are single core, better ones are "dual core" (two processors)  the best are "quad core" (4 processors) Minimum should be a "dual core" tablet.
5 What other things were left out to make this tablet cheaper?
No bluetooth .  No GPS.  Small battery. 

So those questions will allow you to compare tablets. The reason that I don't like Amazon tablets is that they produced a "fork" of Android in which they modified the operating system so that it is difficult to run anything other than what they want you to.  The Kindle book readers are supposed to be great but I recently worked on a Amazon tablet and I was frustrated by their Operating System. That means older versions of Google's software and then they update it when they feel like it. 

So based on that I bought George a a dual core 7" Nextbook. No bluetooth or GPS. The screen resolution was not great but it was better than the next cheapest one and it had Android 4.1 and Google Play.  Price $79 It was acceptable.

So $79 is $60 away from $139 which is the cost of a 2012 edition of a Nexus 7 running Android 4.4 with 720P HD display, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and a quad core processor.

$79 is $150 away from 2013 Version of the Nexus 7 which is the best Android 7 inch tablet available. 

So there you have it:
Minimum: Dual core cheap tablet (watch the resolution of the screen) $79
Preferred: 2012 version of a Nexus 7 $139
Best: 2013 version of a Nexus 7 (not refurbished) $229

Make sure you check your return policy.  I had to get three tablets before I got one that worked properly. They had a lot of problems with their first production run.  You don't want get a lemon. I bought mine on Amazon and their return policy was great.  It was disappointing to get the first two lemons but they kept bringing me ones until I got a good one. I was literally handing the UPS driver the old one as he was delivering the new one the next day. (I had bought it with next day shipping)

I hope this helps. 
I will be posting it on DaveThe AndroidGuy.blogpost.com because your question is an important one.

Addendum
Walmart has this for $109 online.   It's refurbished (used) but it is a good computer. One of my friends bought one for his son.  It equals the Nexus 7 2012 version and even surpasses it because it allows  additional storage space and HDMI out.

Hisense Refurbished Sero 7 Pro with WiFi 7" Touchscreen Tablet PC Featuring Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) Operating System, Brown/Black
Model#: M470BSA
(32)
7" touchscreen
1.3GHz NVIDIA Tegra 3 Quad-Core processor
8GB of storage memory
Google Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) OS
Webcams, WiFi and Bluetooth

1 comment: