[HALP] About to buy a $38 tablet... Worth it?

[Eug]

Dunno about that particular model, but generally the screens on those absolutely suck.

First off it's 800x480 which is big negative for browsing, but more importantly, the viewing angle is almost guaranteed to be terrible. That's the main reason I didn't get the Acer A110, which is Nexus 7 sized but comes with a microSD port and is cheaper. Actually, the Acer A110 has a much better screen than most of those el cheapo Android tablets, but I still thought it sucked.

To put it another way, I'd rather use my 4.3" phone (RAZR HD) than surf on a crappy 7" screen.

EDIT:

BTW, I have regrets with the Nexus 7 as well. The speaker on it sucks. However, otherwise it's OK. If you're in a coffee shop, you'd be using headphones anyway, so the speaker is irrelevant in that context.

 

[Ravynmagi]

You guys might have talked me out of it. Would the nook color at $69 be much better? I don't really need super fast speed...

The Nook Color has similar specs, but a far superior screen (maybe a better GPU as well). It would be better. But you'll need to root the device and add Google Play and a launcher to make it useful, maybe a custom ROM. The Nook Color is a pretty durable device for messing around with thanks to it's ability to boot from the SD card slot, practically impossible to brick the thing.

It's still going to be pretty slow and not very good with Android 4.0 and later due to it's limited memory. But the 1024x600 resolution IPS display is a huge step up from the 800x480 TN display that $40 tablet has. So you'll actually be able to read the websites you are visiting, even if they are slow to load.

I still think a Nexus 7 would be the best way to go. You won't have to hack or mod it, the quad core processor and 1GB of RAM flies with Android 4.2. It's ready to go out of the box. But I don't think the Nook Color would be too terrible a choice, much better than the first choice, and if you want to learn how to load custom ROMs, seems like a good beginner tablet to do it on.

 

[Midwayman]

You'll like it for the first couple of days while its still new and then hate it for the rest of the time you own it as the crappiness overwhelms you. Nexus 7 is the cheapest tablet you should buy.

 

[fustercluck]

Damn I was hoping this was a Wacom-type tablet.

Anyways, it seems like a waste of $38 if it's a POS. Save up and wait for another deal on a better tablet, deals are always around the corner.

 

[lenasmith]

You won't have much to lose, go for it.

 

[Zaap]

You guys might have talked me out of it. Would the nook color at $69 be much better? I don't really need super fast speed...

For $70 a Nook Color is worth it for what you want. I wouldn't pay more, but for that price, it's decent for the simple tasks you want. No, it's not a speed champ, and no it's nowhere near as good as a Nexus or other more modern tablet, but it's not that bad.

A decent experience absolutely requires custom ROMing it though, at the least root/sideload. The stock B&N software is pure garbage, and purposefully limiting. Luckily, the Color was very simple to ROM.

I'd stay away from cheaper tablets. Beyond all the other problems cited here with them, the biggest I've seen is poor, absolute shit battery life. It'll do you no good to supposedly save money on a tablet that you can't untether from a charger for more than 1 hour. Most of the el-cheapo Chinese knockoff tablets are notorious for terrible batteries that often lose charge even when the screen is off. You'll likely get to the coffee shop and your 'freshly charged' cheap-o tablet is already near death.

You'll actually get more enjoyment out of setting $40 on fire and watching it burn than to deal with some of the truly awful tablets out there.

 

[Eug]

Yeah I forgot to mention that. I tried one that would get maybe 2 hrs screen time,vs say 3X as much with a good name brand tablet. Enough for a coffee shop visit though.

BTW, even the $200 Acer has poor battery life. Better than the sub $100 tablets, but worse than the Nexus 7.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Luckily, the Color was very simple to ROM.

Exactly.

I would say go Nook Color if you want to learn how to hack around on Android. If you just want a good stock experience then you have to go for something else.

What I learned with the NC has helped me with all my later Android devices.

 

[thecapsaicinkid]

Dunno about that particular model, but generally the screens on those absolutely suck.

First off it's 800x480 which is big negative for browsing, but more importantly, the viewing angle is almost guaranteed to be terrible. That's the main reason I didn't get the Acer A110, which is Nexus 7 sized but comes with a microSD port and is cheaper. Actually, the Acer A110 has a much better screen than most of those el cheapo Android tablets, but I still thought it sucked.

To put it another way, I'd rather use my 4.3" phone (RAZR HD) than surf on a crappy 7" screen.

EDIT:

BTW, I have regrets with the Nexus 7 as well. The speaker on it sucks. However, otherwise it's OK. If you're in a coffee shop, you'd be using headphones anyway, so the speaker is irrelevant in that context.

The Chinese tablet I bought my daughter had a way, WAY better screen than the Acer Iconia B1 she has now. Shame the usb port literally fell out of it. The hardware was considerably better than the Acer for less money.

 

[Mopetar]

It's $38. Take the plunge and let us know what you think. See if you can borrow a friend's Nexus 7, iPad, or other tablet so you can provide some contrast. If it's not a complete pile of misery, I'd pick one up for $38, because why not?