anyone looking for a cheap tablet?

[watskyhotsky]

sorry if this seems a bit off topic, id post in the tablet section but i love the OV community and thought id share this.

A lot of my friends want a tablet to compliment their OV or optimus One phone and i thought of them as a small sub set of a larger statistic, maybe what I want to show would have more of an impact in this forum than in a tablet forum.

anyways, if youve seen the nextbook 7 premium at Big Lots and thought about buying it based on specs, read on

Thoughts on Tech: E-Fun NextBook 7 Premium Android tablet. My Thoughts


the OV community are very budget conscious ( or else we would not have gotten a OV on Virgin Mobile, am i right??) , and as such, we know how to get the best bang for the buck, so if you are looking for a companion device to the OV and want something cheap that will work well, read my link. if you have no budget and want something expensive, this clearly isnt for you.

 

[watskyhotsky]

i picked up mine for 50$ NEW on craigslist (the guy got it as a gift, never opened, just sold it) thats the only reason I took the plunge.

well worth it, and if i had known how good it was, i would have no problem buying it new for 130 in store.

I tether to my Triumph when im out, and on wifi when at home.

to Mods and admins, I believe my reasons for posting here are valid and in hopes to only help the OV community. if you believe it should be moved, please just delete it instead.

 

[LeslieAnn]

Everything I have seen lately has been you don't want anything less than a Kindle Fire or Nook Color. Anything cheaper is mostly just junk. They either fall apart, break the first time dropped or just plain work horribly.

If you are looking though, Asus has a new one coming out in a month or two (supposedly).
7in, Tegra3, $250, it put everyone's jaws on the floor at .E.S. when it was announced. Effectively putting just about every other tablet announced there to shame before they were even available. It also, may work like the Transformer.

If you can wait and afford it, this is the tablet you want.

 

[bdfull3r]

When you buy a cheap no name tablet, you get a cheap no name talent. Its not to say its crap, but most of them aren't worth the plastic they are made with. Unrespoinsive, awkward designs, shoddy performance, weak internals. For what people want to do with a tablet, play games and watch HD content, its better to save a little and get more power.

Kindle Fire is a dual core tablet for $200 with the support of the largest online retailer in the world. The Nook tablet goes for $250 with a 1.2 dual core and the support of the largest book company in the world. The blackberry playbook and the HTC flyer are also cheaper tablet options that are more then powerful enough with community and OEM support.

Support is huge

 

[watskyhotsky]

leslieann and bdfull3r

your points are valid, which is why i was so surprised this tablet was so good considering its place in the market. its definately NOT for someone who has 200 to spend on a kindle fire. that was also the point i was trying to make.

 

[LeslieAnn]

leslieann and bdfull3r

your points are valid, which is why i was so surprised this tablet was so good considering its place in the market. its definately NOT for someone who has 200 to spend on a kindle fire. that was also the point i was trying to make.

Let us know how you feel in another 2 months.

 

[bdfull3r]

leslieann and bdfull3r

your points are valid, which is why i was so surprised this tablet was so good considering its place in the market. its definitely NOT for someone who has 200 to spend on a kindle fire. that was also the point i was trying to make.

How useful is it without market though? Amazon is a poor mans substitute.

 

[watskyhotsky]

How useful is it without market though? Amazon is a poor mans substitute.

dunno if you read thru my link. it has full android market in custom rom, good cpu and gpu, quite powerful and capable.

hell, you have to root and rom the OV to do anything useful with IT anyways as well so dont bash the tablet for needing a rom.

 

[mjs2011]

Leslie, I couldn't disagree more. I picked up a Dropad A8 about 4 months ago and couldn't be happier. Great support too. I'm currently running ICS on it.

All in all, it cost me $170.

Sent from my VM670 using Tapatalk

 

[LeslieAnn]

Leslie, I couldn't disagree more. I picked up a Dropad A8 about 4 months ago and couldn't be happier. Great support too. I'm currently running ICS on it.

All in all, it cost me $170.

That doesn't look to bad spec-wise, how is build quality, that has been a major issue with cheaper ones. Thing is, you aren't far from a Kindle Fire, so it should be decent. We aren't talking about a $100 tablet.

It still lacks bluetooth, I really wish more would include that.

 

[watskyhotsky]

That doesn't look to bad spec-wise, how is build quality, that has been a major issue with cheaper ones. Thing is, you aren't far from a Kindle Fire, so it should be decent. We aren't talking about a $100 tablet.

It still lacks bluetooth, I really wish more would include that.

that dropad he mentioned has similar specs to the one i was talking about in the first post, the one I bought

1ghz cortex A8 reference cpu.
GPU that is capable of major games like Modern Combat 3, so its around an Adreno 205 and definately more capable than the OVs adreno 200.
512 mb ram (least mine shows that in system info apps)
4gb internal storage, 1 for OS and 3 for user. new rom formats it to 1gb for os and 1 for apps, the last two are "sd card" and a real sd card is "external SD" in android.
5 point capacitive touch screen with no axis flipping or snapping. 480x800 7 inches.
Android 2.3 stock. cmon how many of the "cheap chinese" tablets came with that. its not 3.0 or 4.0 but its a good usable OS with nothing really broken and its nice and stable and definately more forgivable than 1.6 donut shippin on the CVS tablets.

taken as a whole, what you GET for what you PAY (130 new, 50-80 used) its pretty nice. for someone on a budget.

i really like mine, its almost unibody except for a small line around the edge. looks VERY similar to a kindle fire with 4 capacitive buttons on the button like the Galaxy Tab. also the left and right sides are slight wider, maybe a little over 1/8 inch on each side (more bezel) but it fits into every kindle fire case I was looking at in store.

pic of it

http://pinoytutorial.com/techtorial/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/nextbook-premium9-1024x682.jpg

the stock launcher looks horrid but once replaced with launcher pro the homescreens become a heck of a lot more usable.

after installing a DROID3 build.prop, every high end game from the market works. even without the build.prop all apps show up and most work, even netflix. gameloft games didnt boot into the game though.


i guess i have to write this HERE because you guys seemed to comment without reading the linked-to page in the first post ;P

THESE are the reasons I was suggesting it as a cheap tablet, becuase it has good support and its CHEAPer than kindle fire (some of us dont have that much, heck, thats why we sprung for the OV in the FIRST PLACE right??? cuz we like a damn good deal?)


*edit, seems the pic i linked too is the "Nextbook Premium 9" a 9 inch tablet. It looks extremely close to the 7 i have, and that launcher and home setup is how mine came too.

 

[rukin5197]

I couldn't agree with Leslie Ann more.
I have a kindle fire, but I'm in no way a reader
Literally five minutes out of the box, I rooted it and put cm7 on it. On top of that, the popularity is getting devs attention. So within the first few months, there was miui, cm7, and cm9.

Sent from my Amazon Kindle Fire using Tapatalk

 

[LeslieAnn]

that dropad he mentioned has similar specs to the one i was talking about in the first post, the one I bought

{cut}

i guess i have to write this HERE because you guys seemed to comment without reading the linked-to page in the first post ;P

THESE are the reasons I was suggesting it as a cheap tablet, becuase it has good support and its CHEAPer than kindle fire (some of us dont have that much, heck, thats why we sprung for the OV in the FIRST PLACE right??? cuz we like a damn good deal?)

You're right, I didn't look at the specs or the picture on the one you posted.
Every review I have seen on anything much less than $200 has been junk, every single time. I have read so any reviews and complaints on them, I don't even look at them anymore. I looked at buying a cheap one just for temporary and to play, and even then, I was disappointed in what I saw, and I expected it to be disposable. I get it, some people can't afford the better ones, but almost universally, the people buying them end up having to replace them with something better sooner than later. At which point they could have just gotten something much better from the start.

Reminds me of my customers who (against my recommendation) repeatedly buy the cheapest new computer, then wonder why it's junk. If you only knew how much low end computers I replace every year you would freak. I cringe every time a customer says they just bought a new Acer/Gateway/Hp/Compaq/Dell. I already know in 2-3 years it won't be worth fixing. Meanwhile I have customers on other systems 4 and even 8 years old, that are still working just fine, and cost them almost nothing more.

As for the specs, specs aren't everything.
I work on computers and networks for a living, I can show you so many examples it will make your head spin.

 

[PWC Realtor]

My mother bought an OV last June and for Christmas I bought her a Vizio Tablet in lieu of upgrading her to a Triumph.

8" inch tablet with Google Apps and Android market for $165 including a leather case. I almost upgraded her to a Triumph but it was more expensive and can't wifi tether without rooting (and unfortunately you can't remotely tech support cell phones yet).

 

[bornagainpenguin]

Have you been to Slatedroid yet? This review makes me think you'd fit right in there.

Thanks for sharing, I'll have to keep an eye out for this tablet now.

Sent from my LG-VM670 using Tapatalk

 

[zires]

What the OP said is fine and good...but I have been through the cheap tablets and I have the best cheap tablet out there. The nook color. I bought it back in August for $180 and cringed when I saw it for $116 around Christmas time. I got people good deals on it though so I feel good.

@watskyhotsky, Is it possible to post a video of this thing in action? Also where did you find this for $50?

 

[mjs2011]

That doesn't look to bad spec-wise, how is build quality, that has been a major issue with cheaper ones. Thing is, you aren't far from a Kindle Fire, so it should be decent. We aren't talking about a $100 tablet.

It still lacks bluetooth, I really wish more would include that.

You bring up a good point. I did a lot of reading on the Dropad before making the purchase. I even knew what ROM I was going to flash before it arrived in the mail. I think if you do your homework before trying to save a buck, you can usually come out happy.

 

[bornagainpenguin]

@watskyhotsky, Is it possible to post a video of this thing in action? Also where did you find this for $50?

He said he got it off Craigs List, I think.

Sent from my LG-VM670 using Tapatalk

 

[watskyhotsky]

yeah craigslist. but i see them on there a lot between 50-80

i also did research and made sure a good full root rom and a way to get android market were available before i bought anything.

(reviewers do NOT care for these when they get free copies of bigger tablets to test. the most they will say about these is the specs and slide thru some home screens on the stock rom and get it over with. in reviews for instance, no one mentioned anything about roms or android market for this tablet, that stuff was all found by digging through the seedy underground of XDA and other forums)



someone asked for a vid? took one.

my Triumph has a much better camera but the ICS rom doesnt have the camera working yet. so recorded with Optimus V lol


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqbyNqkl5aw

 

[zires]

Thanks for the vid...but how about some gaming? BTW...put ICS on my nook color and it is awesome!

yeah craigslist. but i see them on there a lot between 50-80

i also did research and made sure a good full root rom and a way to get android market were available before i bought anything.

(reviewers do NOT care for these when they get free copies of bigger tablets to test. the most they will say about these is the specs and slide thru some home screens on the stock rom and get it over with. in reviews for instance, no one mentioned anything about roms or android market for this tablet, that stuff was all found by digging through the seedy underground of XDA and other forums)



someone asked for a vid? took one.

my Triumph has a much better camera but the ICS rom doesnt have the camera working yet. so recorded with Optimus V lol


Nextbook 7 Premium - YouTube