Budget Tablet Recommendations

[GB72]

Looking for some tips on a good budget tablet. I bought a Blackberry playbook but am finding the limitations of the operating system too great, basically nothing runs on it which is a pity as the tablet itself is a quality bit of kit. So, I want to go to an Android tablet. I mainly use it at the moment for net browsing, emails, a few games, music etc. Ideally any new one will take SD cards so as I can increase memory. Also do not need a massive screen, the 7 inch screen on the playbook has been fine. I see plenty on Amazon for under £100 but not sure if any are any good, sure I have seen some people say that these ones can perform as well as things like the Galaxy Tab, Google Nexus etc but without the cost associated with the label.

 

[kev_off_the_tee]

Not sure of the models, but Tesco had some in for £89.99 that you could try

 

[fundy]

Tesco were selling the Archos 80 for £50 at xmas which was very very cheap, may still be a few being sold on on ebay at close to that price (tesco back at £100 and sold out last i looked) but they seem to be getting decent reviews since

Otherwise pretty sure Brendy has posted some recommendations on other similar posts if you have a quick search

 

[RichardC]

I can recommend the Nexus 7. Always going to be bang up to date as far as OS (until newer models are release)

 

[fundy]

GB, this was Brendys post in late Oct that I mentioned!

posted on this thread: http://forums.golf-monthly.co.uk/showthread.php?46681-Advice-on-cheap-PC-tablets&highlight=tablet


Re: Advice on cheap PC tablets

Ahh, my favorite subject at the moment (getting bombarded with requests in work so have been trialling and researching a lot of these).
There is a company in China names Ainol (no sniggering at the back) who make a range of tablets ranging from cheap and cheerful basic internet tools to full on ipad/nexus rivals. The Playbook kind of played itself out of the market as it has less support for its operating system.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_...rds=ainol+novohe cheaper models like the Paladin, elf and tornado will do a child rightly, decent screens and running recent/current versions of Android. The Aurora, Aurora II and Fire/flame (uk/chinese model names) are the higher specced and the fire/flame being the newest and actually beats the Nexus in a head to head spec list. Only people with too much money buy Apple or Samsung tablets, they dont even have the capability of adding extra sd card memory etc.

For what its worth, I bought my daughter an Aurora earlier this year and apart from the slightly plasticky volume button, it is a fantastic little tablet for what it cost new. I bought it from a company called Dracotek and their customer support has been brilliant (it was dropped and is currently being repaired, replacement screen? £18 quid, beat that Apple!

 

[GB72]

My only concern is Brendy's recommendation is that the Ainol tablets do not have the certification to run the Google Play app (I think). What I want to avoid is the problem of not having access to a decent app store (this is the same problem that the Playbook has even though it is capable of running android apps now)

 

[SyR]

I can recommend the Nexus 7. Always going to be bang up to date as far as OS (until newer models are release)

Agreed, I have one of these and I'm very happy with it. It's the perfect size for me to take on my commute and it's rich with features and apps.

 

[chris661]

My only concern is Brendy's recommendation is that the Ainol tablets do not have the certification to run the Google Play app (I think). What I want to avoid is the problem of not having access to a decent app store (this is the same problem that the Playbook has even though it is capable of running android apps now)

I got one for HID and you can access the google play app/store, although some of the content seems limited. All in all it is a decent spec tablet for the money and comfortably does what she wants it to. Although I have a yearning to get a galaxy tab.

 

[MGL]

I thought you could do something called "Rooting" the device to get the Google play access??? Not sure exactly what it involves though!

 

[user2009]

Got a Galaxy Tab 2 recently, very good device and some good deals around at the moment

 

[GB72]

I thought you could do something called "Rooting" the device to get the Google play access??? Not sure exactly what it involves though!

Trouble is I am not the most IT literate person. Would like to be able to switch it on and get going without searching the net for ways to run Google Play. This is part of the problem with the Blackberry Playbook, there are some convoluted ways of getting android apps running (that is the only way I could get a Kindle reader going on it) but it is alot of hassle and limits what you can do.

 

[tagnut69]

I bought the wife a tab2 for £150 just before Xmas, Samsung were giving £30 cash back and a 8gb card when registered

 

[Oddsocks]

I can recommend the Nexus 7. Always going to be bang up to date as far as OS (until newer models are release)

Got the nexus 7, it is awesome!

 

[GB72]

Anyone got any experience of one of these or able to translate some of the technobabble

http://www.amazon.co.uk/NATPC-ULTIM...TF8&colid=1XS9UM8CM3IFL&coliid=I2N5TNXVITGFM3

So far it seems to tick the boxes in that is is cheap (like the idea of the Nexus but still nearly £200 for a decent one), runs the official Google Play Store so plenty of apps, works with the kindle reader, upgradeable mememory with Micro SD cards and a reasonable display for the price. Reviews seem decent and hard pressed to find a down side yet.

 

[Hacker Khan]

Boots own brand paracetamol. Bargain.

 

[palindromicbob]

I got HID a ainol tablet. Got her the Fire which feels very nice to use and has metal rear casing but like Chris I found the app stores limitations frustrating. A lot of apps I'd use on my phone for instance aren't supported. Doesn't bother her mind you and a bit of reading shows it to be quiet a powerful device for those with the know how to crack them open.

Personally I think to operate with minimal limitations you need to go for a major brand. The Kindle Fire is actually a nice bit of kit for the cost but the limits of amazons interpretation of android OS. Nexus has limited memory expansion but offer a good android experience.

Personally want the Samsung note 10.1 myself.

 

[StrangelyBrown]

Got the nexus 7, it is awesome!

Me too, great piece of kit.

 

[brendy]

Apologies, only just seen this,
Ainol stuff does indeed run the google play store, wouldnt be much use without it really, no rooting etc involved.
There is also a 10" hero and newer hero 2 being release, it looks awesome value.

The one you linked Greg is ok but lacks an IPs screen and the native resolution is a bit low. The difference would be night and day with a premium brand, even the ainol better models all have the ips screen.

 

[GB72]

Apologies, only just seen this,
Ainol stuff does indeed run the google play store, wouldnt be much use without it really, no rooting etc involved.
There is also a 10" hero and newer hero 2 being release, it looks awesome value.

The one you linked Greg is ok but lacks an IPs screen and the native resolution is a bit low. The difference would be night and day with a premium brand, even the ainol better models all have the ips screen.

Cheers Brendy,

I have taken a punt on one of these anyway. For what I want to use it for it does not seem that I can go far wrong with it at £80.00. Cheap as chips but for a bit of net browsing, a few games, some social media and as an ereader it seems a bargain. Problem is that I went looking for a cheap one then did my usual trick of looking at one that is a bit more expensive then thinking 'well why not spend £150 instead of £120' then started looking at the £199 options and it was getting silly so I stuck to my guns, stuck to my original budget of under £100 and hopefully this will do the job well enough.

 

[brendy]

Dracotek are doing refurbs for 99
http://www.amazon.co.uk/AINOL-TAB-N...1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1358866638&sr=1-2

I have some cheap tablets and one of the ainol aurora tablets in the house and a samsung galaxy note 2 phone, the display of the aurora is right up there, when viewed from any angle as you would with a book, it is crisp and vivid, cheaper screens are non ips and go white from 30-40 degrees angle.
For kids, cheaper ones are great value, if you want to use it yourself, I would advise going with the slightly better ones.