The best android tablet for the right price

Samsung just announced the new Galaxy Tab 2 to be priced at a cool $249. It's a 7" Android tablet with outstanding features, thin, light, will ship with Ice Cream Sandwich, Google's latest OS, ISC version 4. It is aims squarely at the Kindle Fire, but we see it affecting ipad sales as well. To be sure, it's the first full featured tablet with all the connectivity and expansion you would want, from a known manufacturer, at an extremely attractive price. Coupled with a speedy processor, a most likely, outstanding screen, 2 cameras, memory expansion, making you think twice as to: how much do you really want to shell out for a good tablet? This baby is set to ship on April 22nd. We recommend you waiting till we do a full review and for the essential price drop. There is definitely an all out price war coming and we all win. Tablets will rule! Check out full specs and more photos below:

angle view

• 1 GHz Dual-Core Processor
• 7” WSVGA (1024x600 screen) PLS TFT
• Android™ 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
• Main (Rear) : 3 Megapixel Camera
• Sub (Front) : VGA for Video Call
• Codec : MPEG4, H.263, H.264, VC-1, DivX, WMV7, WMV8, WMV9, VP8
• Playback / Recording : Full HD@30fps, HD@30fps
• Codec : MP3, AAC, AC-3, AMR, FLAC, MID, WMA, WAV, OGG
• Video playback Formats : 3GP, ASF, AVI,
  MP4, WMV, FLV, MKV, WebM
•  3.5mm Ear Jack 
•  Bluetooth technology v 3.0 
• GPS
• USB 2.0 Host 
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct 
• Accelerometer, Digital compass, Light Proximity 
• 8 / 16 / 32GB User memory + 1GB (RAM) 
• microSD (up to 32GB) 
• Size : 193.7 x 122.4 x 10.5 mm 
• Weight : 345g 
• Standard battery, Li-ion 4,000 mAh 

screen will be outstanding

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Acer Iconia 7 inch Tablet

We got our hands on a new Acer Iconia 7 inch Tablet. It ships with Android 3.2 honey comb, has front and rear Cameras, GPS, a microSD car slot for extra storage, 8 gigs of internal memory, blue tooth, wifi, HDMI and mini USB 2 port. The display is a 7-inch Multi-Touch capacitive screen, with 1024 x 600 resolution. The processor is a Nvidia® Tegra 2 Dual Core, running at 1 GHZ. Battery life is about 4 and a half hours.

What we liked: 

The tablet seems very speedy, the small form factor is nice, and the multi-touch display is very responsive and clear. The built in rear-facing camera is 5 megapixels with an LED flash that comes on in dim light (photos are fine but don't expect DSLR quality). Taking photos with the tablet does not seem as awkward or as ridiculous as with the bigger screen ones. The built-in microphone is very responsive when calling up your favorite websites (hands free, no typing!). The built in GPS is useful for car, walking or bike travel. Overall we found the tablet very easy to use. The fit and finish is very high quality, typical Acer. The included microSD card slot allows cards up to 32 gigs, making it a very versatile content player (you can load up with eBooks, PDF documents, movies, music and videos; as well as Apps). The front facing camera is a 2 megapixel, perfect for Skype video calling. We did not get a chance to test the mini USB 2 port, but apparently, it can take thumb drives and USB media readers.

What we didn't liked: 

At a retail price of about $259-$280, it cost more than our favorite cheapie tablet, the iview 760TPC (see our review on the site), and also more than the Kindle Fire. It is about $100 dollars cheaper than the ipad2 as of this writing; making it a little hard to choose if you are torn between size, capability, functionality and price. Battery life is somewhat meager, averaging about 4 and a half hours per charge. Daily charging is probably a must, sometimes you might have to charge at home and at work for your commute return. For it's size the tablet is a bit on the heavy side.

Conclusion: 

Overall, we loved the speediness of the tablet, the fit and finish is excellent, it's a quality made product. The tablet feels responsive and quick for most tasks. Most games and apps run without issues. The built in GPS works great. And the built in 2 cameras work terrifically well. This tablet is perfect for those who do not want a big full size tablet and want something with more flexibility than the Kindle Fire. The tablet works right out of the box without any tech requirements or updates. Our favorite function is the ability to recall web searches by speaking into the built in microphone, it basically eliminates the need to type your searches.

Full specs are as follows:

• Android 3.2 Honeycomb OS

· Size and weight: 0.5" deep x 4.6" w x 7" high, 14.7 oz.

· Processor: NVIDIA Tegra 2, 1 GHz

· Battery: 2-cell Lithium Polymer (Li-Polymer)

• Screen: 7 inch, TFT-LCD 1024x600 high-definition multitouch, auto rotate, capacitive screen

• Memory: 1G Ram, DDR2

· Internal Storage: 8GB

· Front Facing Webcam Pixels: 2.0MP

· Digital Camera Pixels: 5.0MP

· Wi-Fi Built In

· Bluetooth

· Speakers

· 1 USB 2.0 Port

· HDMI port

iView 760TPC Tablet Review

This is my initial review of the iview 760TPC android 7" tablet. In looking for the right tablet I went about figuring out what I would use one for. I have used an ipod touch first generation to watch movies, listen to music and play some games during my long commute to work. I do not use it to read books since I find the screen too small for that. It is fine as a pocket portable computer. Since the battery started to go, I decided to get something bigger in screen size. I do not exactly like having to constantly use itunes to load content on this device; it’s basically a very cumbersome process. I tried the Sony PSP as you can tell by my recent review of that experience, but I was disappointed that it's not really good for reading things such as PDF books. Also, it does not connect to my home network well, and watching movies on it is uncomfortable since you can easily hit a key and it goes haywire. I will still use it to play games.

Since I consider the ipad the Rolls Royce of tablets I made it a point not to get one just yet. I like to do things the hard way as a true wannabe tech geek, I guess. I have played with both the ipad2 as well as the Kindle Fire. The ipad 2 is just great, but I did not see myself carrying this rather large tablet on the train, as well as spending $500 plus for something that could easily get damaged (I would be on pins and needles everyday). The Kindle Fire is nice, but I found it quite limiting in storage and other content options. The first time I played with one, my friend Paul had very little content in it, and it seems he had some trouble getting it to play netflix, streaming smoothly from his home network.

I had heard that android tablets were not that great, my brother got the HP tablet $99 deal, but I heard that even though you can load android on that, it’s an obsolete kind of device, and I did not find one for $99.

I was extremely and pleasantly surprised when my friend Phil dropped by and gave me a great tip. It seems that there were these tablets coming out that were below $200 that work pretty well and came with the latest android OS. The only problem: They were being sold in China. I just recently had a bad experience with a package from China, the product came crushed because of the inadequate, thin, bubble wrap, and good luck trying to get a refund; just shipping it back will cost you a fortune.

            As luck would have it, good all newegg was having a sale on this thing, and after reading the great reviews I jumped in and bought one. For around $130 bucks; as my friend Mr. Nero says: “How could you go wrong”!

           

Let’s get down to the goods:

-       It’s a 7” TFT Capacitive Touch Screen (it’s multi touch but don’t expected it to be like the ipad)

-       The resolution is 800x400 (it’s not a retina display, but it can play HD files and those look fantastic)

-       512 MB of memory and 8 gigs of hardrive space

-       It can take micro SD cards up to 32GB (beats both the ipad and the Fire)

-       Comes with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) but you can upgraded to Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) version 4

-       802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN

-       2 lbs.

-       7.5" x 4.75" x 0.50"

-       It has a pretty fast processor

-       Battery life (after you tweak it a bit) is about 5-6 hours

-       3D performance is good
-  2 megapixel camera (you can make skype video calls)

-       Precise accelerometer (for the racing games)

-       Rooted Android (which means you can go to the android market and get a bunch of apps, mostly FREE, including all the angry bird games, and you can “home brew it” adding a lot of functionality)

In a nutshell, after testing it for a few days and adding all the tips and tricks and adjustments (like disabling the telephony apps for better battery life, updating to the latest android market and installing superuser and file browser), I can say the following:

It's probably not as easy to set up and use as an ipad or Kindle, but if you get it and do the little required work on it, you will be handsomely rewarded with a great little device.

It plays all the video files you can think of, you can read ebooks, PDF books and news and info from the web. Angry birds plays really well. You can also play all those newer games that would choke my old first gen ipod touch.

Since it comes with a mini USB and a mini HDMI port, you can hook it up to a HD big TV, add a mouse and keyboard and use it as a stand-alone computer. That alone is worth more that the $130. Since you go through HDMI you get both sound and video with no quality loss. Your 1080p HD video will look like 1080p HD video. The Android market and the Android apps are pretty good (you can get a lot more on the ipad, true). You can also get apps from Amazon android store, but why bother?

Since it has wifi you can check and reply to your emails, and also do some word processing and spread sheets with the included office apps.

You can watch utube videos and you can watch any flash based content on the web. Hulu restricts you to HULU plus, bummer.

      When comparing it to the ipad, the ipad is way better (but not as flexible), but you pay a lot more and it is also bigger and heavier. I find the 7-inch size very nice for travel. When comparing it to the Kindle Fire, no contest, I would get this. The Kindle fire does seem to be a bit faster since it has a faster processor, but this it a heck of a lot more flexible and it offers unlimited storage through micro SD. I have heard that when you load ICS the performance is way better, but I’m not up to that point yet. I will continue to test and enjoy this wonderful product. In future posts, I will recommend some apps and games as well as tell you about any cons I find. So far, I’m amazed about what this cheapie tablet can do. For the money it's a steal! Did I mention it comes with a free leather case? And I left my plastic protector on, so FREE screen protector as well, thanks to my friend Tim for that tip plus the help of my trusty exacto knife and a piece of thick plastic under the included screen protector, cutting it down so the buttons would not be covered.
You can buy this tablet at newegg here:

iView 760TPC Tablet at newegg

Kindle Wifi Review

First: An explanation of ebooks: ebooks are books in electronic format. Basically ebooks are files just like Microsoft Word files that you can load and read using a devise called an ebook reader. The most popular formats of ebooks are ePub and .mobi files. These are equivalent to MP3 and ACC files in music, which you use an iPod or other player to listen to. Here are some advantages of ebooks and ebook readers compared to traditional printed books (for practical purposes, I will refer to both ebooks and ebook readers as just ebooks):

• ebooks use a new technology called e-ink. The ebook's screen has no glare, so it feels as if you are reading paper, the text is crisp and crystal clear, and you can adjust the size of the text as well as the contrast to your liking. You can also rotate the screen to a horizontal position if you like.
• ebooks weigh a lot less.
• You can easily search, highlight, and note anywhere as you read.
• The readers come with a built in dictionary.
• You can carry thousands of books in an ebook reader, it's very thin and weighs very little, and it can fit easily in your purse or large coat pocket.
• Some ebook models come with a headphone port, so you can listen to music as you read, but you can also buy ebooks in audio format and listen instead of read, too.
• You can also read other documents on ebooks, such as PDFs but not as conveniently.
• ebooks are ideal for carrying your entire library of books with you, to whip out and read at a moment's notice. You can take your ebook to the beach, on vacation, or on your commute to work, you can read while on line waiting at the post office.
• ebooks come with wifi so you can connect to the internet and buy and download books in a few seconds.
• Some ebooks come with 3G network built in so you have free access anywhere.
• An ebook's battery life can last up to 2 months!, so you never have to worry about running out of power while reading that great novel.


The most popular ebooks are the Amazon Kindle and the Barnes & Noble Nook.


I'm partial to the Amazon Kindle, but I have a very good reason. For one, I have not visited a Barnes & Noble Book store ever, since my high school days. And the last time I went to the B&N online store to shop, I had a $25 gift certificate and I was flabbergasted, when I only bought two kids books that I could find for the $25, and I had to put in another $10 for the outrageous shipping and handling and so on. In contrast, I shop on Amazon all the time, amazon is known for great deals and superb customer service.

You can buy a new Kindle today here:

Now I will tell you some SECRET USES for the Kindle and other ebook readers:
• Since the Kindle can connect to your computer via a USB port and cable, you can put in any scanned document, so if you are traveling you can upload a copy of your itinerary,  keep important travel documents and notes, even a copy of your passport, and recall them quickly and easily.

• There is a lovely man named Kovid Goyal who has written an open source piece of software that practically enhances your Kindle 100 fold! The software is called CALIBRE. With it, you can manage your growing library of ebooks from different places and serve them up to all your ebook readers, phones or tablet devices.
The software is very easy to use. It works on most computers including Macs, Windows and Linux machines. In addition you can download and serve up a plethora of news articles available on the internet on a daily basis and you get to pick the time when this happens, you can also download news from around the world in many different languages, making your Kindle, a kick-ass device for 2012! Go here to get this amazing software for FREE!

• At around $79 dollars you can get the new tiny Kindle wifi "with ads". These are just ads that appear when your Kindle is idle, you will hardly notice it's there and can ignore them. (Click on that green box above to see and buy the Kindle wifi). I bought this one  for my son, so I really think it's the best value. This Kindle does not come with the little A/C box adaptor that came with my original Kindle, so you can use your computer's USB port to charge it or buy an inexpensive A/C Adapter like this one:

• I also bought a nice case and a screen protector to go with it, along with a few books.

See below for links. And this Kindle does not come with a headphone port, so if you want to listen to music or audio books get a higher model.

  JKase(TM) Custom Fit Folio Leather Case Cover for Latest Generation 2011 Kindle 4 Wi-Fi 6" E Ink Display (Black)

• The Kindle Touch model is another great option for $149, it even adds Free 3G in addition to wifi and the headphone port:

• As a parent, who would say no to a kid who wants to read?!

• B&W Kindles and Nooks are the only devices allowed in public schools; they do not allow smart phones or color tablets.

• You can rent ebooks from your local library for free from your computer at home.
• There are hundreds upon hundreds of classic books available for FREE in ebook format, such as Moby Dick, click this link and have a look: Moby Dick: or, the White Whale

• There are many great ebooks as Short Stories and writers are giving them away FREE in hopes to get you interested in their other ebooks. Here is one of the best I have read:
HUNT FOR THE CHUPACABRA (a Chupacabra Series short story)
• Amazon has built an entire eco system around ebooks making it easy to get them (without the need to use a computer) store them (in the Cloud) and read them. Many other companies will be following suit, which will make it even easier to have access to many more ebooks and read them across many devices.

ebooks are here to stay. We will still read traditional printed books, but we will do so less and less. The kids have already jumped on the bandwagon, so as they say, it's only a matter of time. I saw the same exact thing happen to records and music and film not too long ago. Look at the bright side, with less printed books, we are saving all those trees!!!!!!

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