Please stop with all the crap 7 inch Android tablets already

[Ravynmagi]

ASUS, HP, and Lenovo all have sub $200 7 inch tablets coming out. They all seem to have rather low end processors and screens. All of them being only 1024x600 resolution, most not even IPS. And all these are priced between $150 and $200.

I don't get what these guys are thinking. Why in the world would anyone spend nearly $200 on a tablet that is much worse than the Nexus 7 that has been out over half a year already? Why do they think just being $30 to $50 cheaper is going to make their crap tablet compelling? I guess they'll find some suckers for this.

I don't mind so much that they are making these crap tablets. But that they aren't making higher end Android tablets.

It's 2013 and it still seems to be impossible to find anything that is better than the Nexus 7.

Why is there no 7 inch 1440x900 IPS tablet with a quad core processor (or dual A15), 2GB of RAM, micro SD slot, micro HDMI out, and stereo speakers? Why does this not exist?

B&N has the 1440x900 IPS panel on it's 7 inch Nook HD. Amazon Kindle Fire HD has nice stereo speakers. It's like my choices are fast stock Nexus 7, great sounding Fire HD, or high DPI Nook HD. Why can't I just have it all? I'd pay more money for a good 7 inch tablet.

 

[s44]

It's 2013 and it still seems to be impossible to find anything that is better than the Nexus 7.

Note 8.0

But yeah, I have no f'in clue what HP thinks it's doing. I assume Lenovo believes it can tap a Chinese market.

 

[thecapsaicinkid]

The Acer Iconia has a poor screen but is 2/3 of the price and considerably less fragile than the Nexus so serves as a decent kids tablet.

 

[Red Storm]

People have been putting out crappy products in every industry since forever.

 

[Ravynmagi]

People have been putting out crappy products in every industry since forever.

I realize that. But I would think HP, Lenovo, and ASUS wouldn't be the types to want to scrap the bottom of the barrel with the no name Chinese brands.

 

[gorcorps]

Yup

It's a damn shame the Nook HD is held back as just an ereader as that's one of the best screens I've seen on a tablet. I'm sure there's full roms for it by now but still...

 

[Red Storm]

I realize that. But I would think HP, Lenovo, and ASUS wouldn't be the types to want to scrap the bottom of the barrel with the no name Chinese brands.

While obviously us tech literate folk know the difference between good and bad when it comes to gadgets, most do not, and so they are likely to buy things just because they're cheaper.

 

[ponyo]

Samsung Tab 2 already beat them to the punch. I have no idea what these other companies are thinking. $99 tablets here we come.

 

[BladeVenom]

I agree. If they don't have a higher resolution screen now, they are competing against the $99 Chinese tablets, and not against the Nexus 7, Fire HD, or Nook HD.

They should be offering something better than the Nexus 7. There's plenty of room to market a tablet between the $199 Nexus 7 and a $500 iPad with Retina display.

I don't even get why anyone is buying the horribly low resolution iPad mini for $329. Why don't they compete against that, with a superior resolution.

 

[s44]

I don't even get why anyone is buying the horribly low resolution iPad mini for $329. Why don't they compete against that?

Note 8.0
Note 8.0
Note 8.0
Note 8.0
...

 

[ultimatebob]

Yeah... that new HP tablet looks lame.

Even if it wasn't, I'm still holding a grudge against them for killing off Palm and WebOS.

 

[QueBert]

I don't even get why anyone is buying the horribly low resolution iPad mini for $329. Why don't they compete against that, with a superior resolution.

I'd like a higher resolution screen. But I want smaller than 10 inches and I want the best apps. So that only leaves the iPad Mini.

Lower resolution with amazing apps > 1080p with crap apps imho.

 

[shortylickens]

Something I learned a long time ago is theres no point to a low-powered tablet. If you are gonna go that route you need to decode HD video and play 3D games.

OR, go really low end and get a dedicated reader.

 

[BladeVenom]

I'd like a higher resolution screen. But I want smaller than 10 inches and I want the best apps. So that only leaves the iPad Mini.

Lower resolution with amazing apps > 1080p with crap apps imho.

Android has 675,000 apps.

 

[BladeVenom]

Note 8.0
Note 8.0
Note 8.0
Note 8.0
...

What's the price on the Galaxy Note 8?

 

[QueBert]

Android has 675,000 apps.

And they're mostly crap, even the good ones aren't close to as good as iOS tablet apps. Numbers mean nothing, I'll take 100 great apps over 675k of junk. Not even taking into consideration the majority of those 675k apps don't have tablet versions.

 

[gmaster456]

Android has 675,000 apps.

With Few really good tablet apps. Reality is reality. I LOVE android but for my tablet I went the an iPad because of the tablet apps. If android was more mature in that area I would have gone there in a heartbeat. That's the only reason. Plus I could get the mini for around $280 new and the iPad 3 64gb Verizon version for $490 new.

 

[Riceninja]

i've been waiting to see flagship 1080p 10inch tablets from all these manufacturers at mwc, but its been disappointment after disappointment.

looks like everyones just fighting for low end scraps

 

[Mopetar]

Why can't I just have it all? I'd pay more money for a good 7 inch tablet.

You're in the minority. Most people don't know any better and will just get whatever is cheapest.

Imagine that you need to purchase a hair dryer. Odds are that, like me and probably 99% of other posters on this forum, you know next to nothing about hair dryers. So you go to a store and check out the hair dryers. There are a lot that are fairly cheap, but there are a few that cost quite a bit more. As long as the price isn't too outrageous for you, you won't be bothered to learn enough about hair dryers to determine why the more expensive models are more expensive and if they might actually be worth the added cost. You'll just buy the cheapest one, or maybe a slightly more expensive one if you recognize that it's the same brand as the microwave that you've had for ten years that's worked out okay.

Those companies really can't make a living selling a product that most of the market wouldn't touch. Apple owns the high end and no one else has been able to compete against them in any real sense. To make matters worse, Google has carved out their own little segment of the market and has decided that they don't care about turning a profit on sales, so no one else can really compete in that segment either. So the only where left to go is down. Push out something similar at a lower price and pick up all of the customers who don't care enough about tablets to figure out whether the $170 Lenovo is better than the $200 Nexus.

 

[God Mode]

Excess components. It gets sent down the chain thus crappy products at every price level.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

jesus christ i was just thinking the same thing when i saw that new red garbage hp just crapped out. 1024x600, really? we all stopped buying netbooks because that screen resolution is unusable. all these new crap tablets come with junky mediatek processors so they may perform even worse than last years.

they need to come out with quad core 8 or 9 inch tablets for $250-300

 

[WelshBloke]

And they're mostly crap, even the good ones aren't close to as good as iOS tablet apps. Numbers mean nothing, I'll take 100 great apps over 675k of junk. Not even taking into consideration the majority of those 675k apps don't have tablet versions.

As an aside, how does the ipad/iPhone app thing work for the ipad mini/iphone5?
They both have roughly the same resolution, do they both use the iPhone apps or is the ipad mini arbitrarily set to use tablet apps because it's marketed as a tablet?

 

[Roland00Address]

they need to come out with quad core 8 or 9 inch tablets for $250-300

Even this is a race to the bottom, they are making quad core a7 processors

I rather have a dual core a9 processor at 1.6 ghz then a quad core a7 at 1.2 ghz. Yet the later will be pushed to consumers for it is quad core.

 

[MrX8503]

As an aside, how does the ipad/iPhone app thing work for the ipad mini/iphone5?
They both have roughly the same resolution, do they both use the iPhone apps or is the ipad mini arbitrarily set to use tablet apps because it's marketed as a tablet?

Well the mini is basically a smaller iPad 2, so there's no difference in apps there.

As for the iPhone 5, I assume Devs code it to fit both the 4 & 5. Apps are full screen for both iPhone 4 & 5 and there's only 1 download for the end user.

For tablet/phone apps, it may be universal and is indicated by a "+" sign. If this is the case, there's only 1 download. A universal app doesn't mean blown up phone apps, they're real tablet apps.

 

[Bateluer]

Note 8.0
Note 8.0
Note 8.0
Note 8.0
...

What's the price on the Galaxy Note 8?

And the availability?

See if Sammy's Tab 3 lineup is worth a look in a few weeks.