Does cheap android tablets work?

My wife was given an HCL Me tab. I don't think it even qualifies as "cheap" within the meaning of this thread. It has been nothing but trouble. It has been back to HCL to get the phone-sim hardware working, it has to be hacked to get Google Play (Market) and other google stuff such as Maps, and now it has become unbootable. It is awaiting the attention of an Android expert. Wife has rather given up on it, and I don't have the enthusiasm for Android digging.

this rules out HCL Me tab. thanks :)
 
I recently bought this tablet DOMO Slate N8 3RD Android 4 ICS Tablet with 1.2GHz CPU, 5MP Camera, 3200Mah Battery, Capacitive Screen - Super Slim! . Buy Best DOMO Slate N8 3RD Android 4 ICS Tablet with 1.2GHz CPU, 5MP Camera, 3200Mah Battery, Capacitive Screen - Super Slim! at Lo from some indian company Domo. It is decent for its price but I could feel it lagging sometimes and the display is not great(visibility from angles is not good and of course resolution is low). It does work though.

Micromax Funbook has similar config except camera being a huge upgrade in case of Domo. Also not much positive feedbacks for Micromax as well.
Micromax Funbook | Tablet | Flipkart.com

However overall looking at all the options till now I think if buying a 6K tab also results in a disappointment then why not buy a cheaper one for half the price.
 
I have an Olivepad and had $#!+loads of trouble with it. To begin with, the touchscreen got misaligned. Went to their service center (outsourced to a crappy company in Jayanagar). They took 2 months with some escalations to the RSM to get it 'fixed'. Only to realize it was not fixed at all...just moved the issue to the bottom of the screen. Went to their other service center (slightly better than the first one) who fixed the issue by changing a lot of hardware. This resulted in the IMEI number getting changed causing the MapMyIndia app to stop working as its license is tied to IMEI number. This app was one of the reasons why I had gone for the tab in the first place. The battery also became mysteriously weak. Started the dialogue with Olive again on how to fix this and they just did not respond...when they did, they asked me to ship it to their Gurgaon center so that they can take a look at it...WTF!!! couldn't they just setup another installable with the new IMEI number???

Anyways...that just put me off the whole tablet idea...now it just lies there half dead most of the time...my 4-year old uses it sometimes to play angry birds or I use it as a remote for Foobar...but thats it...

Moral of the story: Stay clear of these el-cheapo tabs...the odds of you getting a VFM device is hugely stacked against you...instead go for a well-known/well-tested one like Samsung, Motorola, even NotionInk...or iPad...if you don't need the latest...go for one of the older generation...they might work out cheaper in the long run...
 
Looks like cutting edge Indian Desi products are just like everything else manufactured in the last 50 years ... sorry to hear the feedback about hcl and olive. But I am honestly not surprised and actually anticipated this when I looked at them on the shop floor.

--G
 
any one having experiance on using micro max funbook ?

I brought it around couple of months back and so far it looks like a good investment. I use it mostly as a wifi remote :lol: for xbmc/foobar and some occasional gaming for my 3 yr old daughter. The charge stays for about couple of hours and viewing angle is not so great but no complaints as looking at the price you can forgive all these draw backs. I brought for around 5.6k.

Thanks
 
I cannot recommend Nexus 7 strongly enough. For $200, you will get a tablet that is only a bit more expensive that some of the ones you are considering, and you will get a genuinely great tablet, that too running the latest Android - Jelly Bean. The value for money is incredible and it has one of the best display screens and overall build quality you can get, even when compared to other $500 tablets. I have the 16GB version and am an extremely happy customer. It literally redefines "cheap android tablet".
 
Looks like cutting edge Indian Desi products are just like everything else manufactured in the last 50 years ... sorry to hear the feedback about hcl and olive. But I am honestly not surprised and actually anticipated this when I looked at them on the shop floor.

--G

The so called desi slate manufacturers manufacture NOTHING here. Most[all?] are made in China. Some claim that they are made according to their specifications and that they do the QC. Some don't even claim that.
 
Apparently, they just import OEM stuff and sell under their brand name. Even if they just do a rigorous quality test locally, they can succeed.

Lack of business ethics? Why are they not smart enough to realize that some QC will help them create a great brand image?
 
Friends,
For some days I am thinking of buying a Android based tab for the following purpose

1. Control the foobar on my htpc over wifi using the foobar app or the web browser something that I have to do now by using another laptop.
2. Should serve as a handy tool for ligh internet work like chekcing emails and social networking sites over home wifi.
3. 3G support either in built or via dongle would be nice to have for those times when the need is on the move.
4. Power to play youtube videos (non HD) may be nice to have.
5. GSM Calling will be nice to have

I found the following typical cheap Made in China type tablets online and below are their features. If anyone has any prior experiance in owning or using low priced tablets please pour in your suggestions.

7" Google Android Tablet Netbook PC ePad MID MP3 MP4 | eBay
price is 3149
VIA8650 800MHz CPU.
Android 2.2 operating system.
RAM 256MB, 2GB flash memory.
7 inches high sensitive resistive touch screen, 800 x 480
Four direction g-sensor.
WiFi: IEEE 802.11b/g.
External 3G function.
Webcam: 1.3 MP
Built-in Battery: 7.4V/2600mAh
Support OFfice documents and PDF.
14mdz87.jpg


Another one for 4.5K but with powerful processor
Orkia 7" Android 4.0, Tablet PC Better than HCL me , Micromax Funbook, BSNL Tab | eBay

Features:

Product Type: Tablet PC
Screen Size: 7 inch
Operating System: Android 4.0 ice cream sandwich
Processor Type/CPU Type: ARM Cortex A8
CPU Manufacturer: AllWinner
CPU Speed/Processor Speed :1GHz - 1.5 GHz
RAM/ Technology: DDR3
RAM Memory: 512Mb DDR3
Hard Drive Capacity: 4GB
SD Card Expansion: Micro SD Memoey card Expandable up to 32GB
Keyboard Touch Screen:Touchpad Technology capacitive touchscreen

Additional Features/Functions:

HDMI 1080P, supports HDMI 1.4
G-Sensor: Multi-way- 4 directional
Audio: 3.5 mm headphone jack
Games :3D games
Software: Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, MSN, Android market, Skype, Google mail, Google maps, Quick office
Language English, Arabic, Bulgarian, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Spanish, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Inonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romance, Russian

Battery & Power:

Battery Type 4000 mAh battery
Battery / Run Time(up to) Video: 8 hours, Wi-Fi: 6 hours;Surfing : 8 hours Standby: 80 hours
Power Device Type AC Adapter
Voltage Required 110V, 220V

3D :
Support 3 D movies play, and 3 D video TV output

$T2eC16dHJI!E9qSO9)YiBQSe,zHlWg~~60_12.JPG

It would be great if someone shared his or her first hand experience with it.
 
In my humble opinion, please don't buy any of the India tablets and pls stay away from the Chinese ones for sure. Given the nature of Android OS and the hardware associated with it, even the expensive tablets starts giving minor issues in long run. Then you can imagine what would be with cheap tablets....The Android OS and hardware compatibility is not matured yet to be stable enough like iPads...Jelly Bean is suppose to be addressing this issue and as per the review it close to iOS in terms of stability and smoothness.

As somebody said Nexus 7 is a great options and so does Kindle Fire line if you are up for some ROM installation...or wait for some more time there is will be more sub $200 tablets hitting the markets soon...there is even rumors we might get a <$200 iPad mini...

Or better see if you can buy a second hand Samsung/Asus/Motorolla , any day they will be much better than Micromax and HCL...
 
For excellent sound that won't break the bank, the 5 Star Award Winning Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 Bookshelf Speakers is the one to consider!
Back
Top