computers. Many manufacturers and sellers have jumped on the bandwagon this year to cash in on the popularity of the Apple iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab, Google Nexus, and hybrid reader / tablets like the Kindle Fire and Nook Color. A quick search turns up literally hundreds of devices ranging in price from about $50 on up, and B&M stores are pushing inexpensive low-end tablets in their Black Friday sales this year. Unfortunately, many of these budget offerings fall short in at least one, if not multiple, areas.
So, what can you expect from one of these low priced tablets, and what can you do to avoid getting stuck with a useless tablet / paperweight? Face it, when you're looking for a device for under $200, you're going to accept some compromises. So the first thing to ask yourself is - "What is most important to me, and what limitations can I live with?"
Under The Hood:
The current crop of sub-$200 tablets all have one thing in common: they all run some flavor of the Android OS. A lot of these cheaper tablets run Android 2.x. Unless you are buying for a pre-teen, you'll want nothing less than Android 4.0. And with that qualification, you'll need a processor with enough horsepower to run it - accept nothing less than a 1 ghz processor. You won't find any 10" pads in this price range that meet these requirements, so accept that you're going to get a 7" screen. Make sure it has a capacitive touchscreen, not resistive. 4 gb of internal memory is what I would consider to be the minimum. If you plan on spending time where you don't have wi-fi access, you should either get a lot more internal memory, or look for a device that has a slot for an SD card. Some of these devices also do not have a fully functional USB port - the Kindle Fire, for example, only allows for charging and file transfer via USB. If you have big, clumsy fingers (like yours truly!) it's nice to be able to plug in a USB keyboard into a fully functional USB port.
Features:
Now, many of these tablets don't have a camera or even a microphone. The original Kindle Fire is one of them. So if you are planning to use Skype, check for these features. Some tablets also have an HDMI port so you can connect to your TV. This is a great feature if you want to watch something on the big screen. But beware - although you can hook up a device with 800x400 resolution to your big honkin' 60" HDTV, it's not going to look very pretty. If you want to make use of this feature, look for resolution of about 1280x800, or 720p HD.
Marketing:
One more thing to keep in mind is that the big players in tablets are all trying to tie you into their ecosystem. That is, Apple wants you to buy everything from their App Store and iTunes. Amazon has customized the Kindle Fire and readers to be tightly integrated with Amazon's app store, mp3 store and video services. Nook wants you to buy from Barnes and Noble, while Google wants you to use their services. Amazon in particular subsidizes their readers and tablets heavily, hoping that they can make up the subsidy in eBook, app and video sales. Apple doesn't subsidize their tablets at all, yet iPads have probably the tightest integration of any of these devices.
Some examples:
Here are some of the budget tablets I either own or have used, and some of the strong and weak points of each.
Kindle Fire
I bought the original Kindle Fire for my daughter for her high school graduation. I loaded it up with essential apps and played with it for a week before I gave it to her. It's got a nice interface and runs smoothly - no hanging waiting for apps, the screen is responsive and while not HD it's quite adequate for the purpose it serves. It's lacking the camera and microphone that the new Kindle HD has, and thats a big minus for us. Since we're far away now, it would be nice to be able to use Skype to visit. The lack of HDMI out is not a problem for her, either. Someday, however, the fact that it has a limited memory and no way to expand it is going to be a problem. She also wishes she could add a keyboard to it. The original Fire has been replaced with a NEW Kindle Fire 7", 8 GB version for $159 that is faster, but does nothing to address the shortcomings of the original. You may still be able to find the original refurbished Kindle Fire from time to time on Amazon at a bargain price (think around $100).
Kindle Fire HD
The Kindle Fire HD 7", Dolby Audio, Dual-Band Wi-Fi. Now, here's nice 7" tablet with most of the shortcomings of the original model Kindle Fire addressed. A camera and microphone. HDMI out @ 720p. A device that even hard core iPad fanboys rave about. While there is still no fully functional USB port, it supports BlueTooth so you can attach a keyboard or other devices. And still no SD card slot, but I don't believe any Kindle will ever have one. At least it is available with 16 or 32 gb, sufficient for travel to places with little or no internet access. The screen is an awesome 1280x800, responsive 10 point multi-touch. The Kindle Fire HD 16 gb is a bargain at $199, but I would spend the extra $50 and get the Kindle Fire HD 32 gb, $249.
Idolian IdolPad+
Here's where we get to check out the "no-name" tablets! I wanted to find the best deal I could get for $100, and this is what I found. The 7" Android 4.0 Idolian IdolPad for just $89. I added an SD card and a keyboard / case, and still was at about $100. First, the good stuff: it runs every app I've thrown at it, except HULU+. I suspect that it's a problem with the HULU+ app, it just won't install on "unsupported" devices. It has a functioning USB port, micro SD slot, and HDMI out. Netflix works great. The bad news? Judging from the reviews, quality is hit and miss. I'd suggest really playing it hard for the first month to see if it's a good unit. It's also got pretty poor battery life - about 4 hours with wi-fi on. Which brings me to - the charger. The IdolPad won't charge via USB, you have to drag the charger with you everywhere you go. And though it has HDMI out, it is only SD capable. The set-up screen has tons of choices for resolution from 480p to 1080p, but the output is the same SD resolution no matter what you choose. No, it's not an iPad killer. Not even close. But for the price, I can live with its shortcomings. I use it around the house as a reader, to surf the internet, get TV listings from TitanTV.com, and as a Roku remote. Some day I'll get another tablet, and pass this one down to the kids. (Ages 2 and 6, who love this thing, by the way!)
The current crop of sub-$200 tablets all have one thing in common: they all run some flavor of the Android OS. A lot of these cheaper tablets run Android 2.x. Unless you are buying for a pre-teen, you'll want nothing less than Android 4.0. And with that qualification, you'll need a processor with enough horsepower to run it - accept nothing less than a 1 ghz processor. You won't find any 10" pads in this price range that meet these requirements, so accept that you're going to get a 7" screen. Make sure it has a capacitive touchscreen, not resistive. 4 gb of internal memory is what I would consider to be the minimum. If you plan on spending time where you don't have wi-fi access, you should either get a lot more internal memory, or look for a device that has a slot for an SD card. Some of these devices also do not have a fully functional USB port - the Kindle Fire, for example, only allows for charging and file transfer via USB. If you have big, clumsy fingers (like yours truly!) it's nice to be able to plug in a USB keyboard into a fully functional USB port.
Features:
Now, many of these tablets don't have a camera or even a microphone. The original Kindle Fire is one of them. So if you are planning to use Skype, check for these features. Some tablets also have an HDMI port so you can connect to your TV. This is a great feature if you want to watch something on the big screen. But beware - although you can hook up a device with 800x400 resolution to your big honkin' 60" HDTV, it's not going to look very pretty. If you want to make use of this feature, look for resolution of about 1280x800, or 720p HD.
Marketing:
One more thing to keep in mind is that the big players in tablets are all trying to tie you into their ecosystem. That is, Apple wants you to buy everything from their App Store and iTunes. Amazon has customized the Kindle Fire and readers to be tightly integrated with Amazon's app store, mp3 store and video services. Nook wants you to buy from Barnes and Noble, while Google wants you to use their services. Amazon in particular subsidizes their readers and tablets heavily, hoping that they can make up the subsidy in eBook, app and video sales. Apple doesn't subsidize their tablets at all, yet iPads have probably the tightest integration of any of these devices.
Some examples:
Here are some of the budget tablets I either own or have used, and some of the strong and weak points of each.
Kindle Fire
I bought the original Kindle Fire for my daughter for her high school graduation. I loaded it up with essential apps and played with it for a week before I gave it to her. It's got a nice interface and runs smoothly - no hanging waiting for apps, the screen is responsive and while not HD it's quite adequate for the purpose it serves. It's lacking the camera and microphone that the new Kindle HD has, and thats a big minus for us. Since we're far away now, it would be nice to be able to use Skype to visit. The lack of HDMI out is not a problem for her, either. Someday, however, the fact that it has a limited memory and no way to expand it is going to be a problem. She also wishes she could add a keyboard to it. The original Fire has been replaced with a NEW Kindle Fire 7", 8 GB version for $159 that is faster, but does nothing to address the shortcomings of the original. You may still be able to find the original refurbished Kindle Fire
from time to time on Amazon at a bargain price (think around $100).Kindle Fire HD
The Kindle Fire HD 7", Dolby Audio, Dual-Band Wi-Fi. Now, here's nice 7" tablet with most of the shortcomings of the original model Kindle Fire addressed. A camera and microphone. HDMI out @ 720p. A device that even hard core iPad fanboys rave about. While there is still no fully functional USB port, it supports BlueTooth so you can attach a keyboard or other devices. And still no SD card slot, but I don't believe any Kindle will ever have one. At least it is available with 16 or 32 gb, sufficient for travel to places with little or no internet access. The screen is an awesome 1280x800, responsive 10 point multi-touch. The Kindle Fire HD 16 gb is a bargain at $199, but I would spend the extra $50 and get the Kindle Fire HD 32 gb, $249.
Idolian IdolPad+
Here's where we get to check out the "no-name" tablets! I wanted to find the best deal I could get for $100, and this is what I found. The 7" Android 4.0 Idolian IdolPad for just $89. I added an SD card and a keyboard / case, and still was at about $100. First, the good stuff: it runs every app I've thrown at it, except HULU+. I suspect that it's a problem with the HULU+ app, it just won't install on "unsupported" devices. It has a functioning USB port, micro SD slot, and HDMI out. Netflix works great. The bad news? Judging from the reviews, quality is hit and miss. I'd suggest really playing it hard for the first month to see if it's a good unit. It's also got pretty poor battery life - about 4 hours with wi-fi on. Which brings me to - the charger. The IdolPad won't charge via USB, you have to drag the charger with you everywhere you go. And though it has HDMI out, it is only SD capable. The set-up screen has tons of choices for resolution from 480p to 1080p, but the output is the same SD resolution no matter what you choose. No, it's not an iPad killer. Not even close. But for the price, I can live with its shortcomings. I use it around the house as a reader, to surf the internet, get TV listings from TitanTV.com, and as a Roku remote. Some day I'll get another tablet, and pass this one down to the kids. (Ages 2 and 6, who love this thing, by the way!)
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