Generic android tablets?

[vitalshot5]

Has anyone purchased or used any of these Generic/chinese Mid android tablets....any thoughts on how well they work?

[CJH]

If I was going to be buying an Android Tablet right now, I think I would wait and pick up a Kindle Fire for $199 in mid November.

[Shack]

They probably work just fine. Probably use the same components?

Chances are though you will have to bring them to their ROM and install Android to make them just like the Name Brand. Android is pretty obtainable and open so they may even come shipped with it installed?

I have done this with GPS based china mobile devices using Windows CE. Basically taking a $50 evil bay knock off and turning it into a the latest Tom-Tom or Garmin. It's not the easiest and the time to figure this out kind of out weighs just buying a name brand one, but once learned it is pretty simple. Basically if you have a reason to create more than just one it is worth it.

[MN Mike]

I had a Toshiba Thrive( android tablet ) for a few weeks, when it worked it was ok ( a few lockups every now and then ) but when the unit would go to sleep or hibernate, it was a pain in the rear end! Sent it back and now I'm waiting for a Lenovo tablet with Windows 7.

Mike

[Lowblazah]

Has anyone purchased or used any of these Generic/chinese Mid android tablets....any thoughts on how well they work?

You get what you pay for. The android OS is solid...but the cheap hardware will provide you with some headaches. So long as your understand that going into it.

[Bigbartguy]

I've got 2 Kindle Fire's on pre-order.

I love my Iphone and would love an Ipad - but just cant stomach 500-700 for one. Fire at $199 is def. more my price range.

I think you can get cheapie China tablet and tweak/install different software on it to convert to 'full' Android, etc but then some buttons are goofed and it will have some hiccups. But I'm not big programmer guy though so dont take this to bank

We order tons of stuff thru Amazon - swimming pools, toys, sled gear, furniture, tools you name it. No tax, free shipping, arrives in couple of days at most. and way cheaper than I can find locally. I'm a big fan of Amazon, hoping the Fire will live up their rep w/ me so far.

[fisherman-andy]

+1. Stay far away from cheap android tablets with ZERO support. Likely the hardware pretty outdated or poorly constructed along with the version of Android. Rooting it or updating may not bee 100% possible. Stick with the mainstream brands.

[Valv]

x2 Stay away from them. I bought a $ 99 Maylong just for the fun of it, I returned it after 3 days. The unit had a 500mhz processor and 7" screen, it was so slow it was painful (most phones now have a 1ghz). Many and videos could not be played unless were reduced of quality.

Also the Android OS was protected and you could not download from Market unless you were going to root the machine and download a custom ROM.

Money wasted in my opinion, any 4.3" phone can work much better than the POS.

You can try it yourself, check the Walmart web site. You can return it to any store if you are not happy.

[vitalshot5]

Thanks for the replys guys...I have looked into the Kindle Fire but i've found some downfalls with their options...1st there is no camera...second there is no microphone so no voice recording or skype....third it is wifi only so no plug in connections(a definate problem in northern minnesota). Anyone have any inexpensive tablets that work?

[pureinsanity]

ViewPad 7e

check it out.

[bobbymalone]

third it is wifi only so no plug in connections(a definate problem in northern minnesota).

unless you are still using dialup, it shouldn't be too hard or very expensive to set up a wifi network whether you are in a twin cities suburb or northern minnesota.

if you are running dialup, well, good luck finding a tablet with a 56k modem. come to think of it, good luck finding a tablet with an ethernet plug. i thought those ipaddy things were all wifi.

[upnorth]

No wifi, comon people we have moved up some from the stoneage up here