Cheap Android tablets - Experience so far!

[traction]

A bit of background first, as I said I would never buy one!

I wanted to be able to read the magazines without being online so the only way to do this was to buy a tablet so they could be downloaded, it's also a gadget and great fun.

 

Where do you start!

There are so many cheap tablets to choose from it really is a pain to find one that won't be too rubbish.

Having looked at the Pocket Magazine web site it lists Hornby and BRM magazines as both having the iPAD and Android app to choose from.

 

I don't have anything related to Apple and wasn't going to buy an iPAD just to read magazines!

 

Now the pocket magazines web site if you click on the Android app link takes you to Google Play(this was Android Market) so there was my first must have, I had to be able to have access to the full Google Play web site.

This is important as there are a number of these cheap tablets that don't allow access, yes they come with alternatives but for the biggest selection and to make sure I could access the magazines you really do need one that has access to Google Play.

 

Next thing I looked at was screen size and cost, I wanted the bigger 10" screen to make it easier to read the magazines, the 7" screen is slightly bigger than an Ereader so reading books would be fine but for magazines could be a problem.

 

As I know nothing about Android I needed some reviews and they are hard to come by with these cheap tablets, there are a few but not many, so I went to Amazon as they seem to sell lots of these cheap tablets and one stood out amongst all of them as there is a 7" model and 10" model it also has full access to Google Play which is pre-installed.

It also comes with the very latest Android operating system installed.

There are over 225 reviews for this tablet and it still has a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars to me it can't be that bad if that many people have reviewed it.

 

Amazon NATPC M009s 7"

 

While looking through this I actually found the exact same model but with 1GB of ram and 16GB of internal memory, the price difference made me go for that one.

I could have gone for the 10" model but would then have only had 512mb ram and 4GB of internal storage.

 

Amazon NATPC M013s 10"

 

OK both have a slot for a Micro SD card so they can both have more memory, but I still wasn't too sure.

I also wanted something that was fairly small and more portable and having had a play about with the iPAD and Samsung Galaxy tab these are fairly big items.

 

I went for the 7" model which I also bought with the case/keypad which for just over £9 really is a bargin and works very well, they also do this for the 10" version.

 

Amazon 7" case/keyboard

 

I ordered it from Amazon where it was supplied and delivered direct from "Wendy Lou" delivered the following day!

In the box is the charger, a USB to micro USB cable and a Female USB to male micro USB adapter.

 

The Keyboard has a standard USB plug so this plugs into the adapter which plugs into the tablet.

Instructions are very sparse and I had to guess what most of the buttons do, but Googling soon bought up the answers.

Such as slide the closed padlock to the open padlock symbol to unlock it

 

First thing the screen is a capacitive type which means it's more responsive than the resistive types, it's also very clear, sharp and the colours look good.

The auto rotation also seems to work well.

 

 

As can be seen it's in the Case with Keyboard.

Press on the Browser icon and go to Pocket mags select the magazine you want and then select the Android application, a pop up window will ask to stay with the browser or go to Google Play.

I just selected Google play, follow the instructions to download the Apps, which you do have to Pay for a few quid each although they both come with the magazine, the BRM one comes with April's edition.

 

 

Once this is done the magazines will download onto the device.

 

 

Press read to read the current edition or the Library button to pick one of the downloaded editions.

 

 

You will see in the abvoe photo next to the battery meter and time there is no wireless connection, I have turned this off so that you can see that you still have access to the magazines without being online!

 

 

The photo above shows the magazine on the full 7" screen.

You can't read the writing but a double tap zooms in, not enough though but using the two fingers to open the picture up it zooms in even more as below,

 

 

To read the article you just run your finger across the screen to move the article about.

The 10" screen would be much better for reading magazines but I still think you would need to zoom although not as much.

 

The tablet has a Mini HDMI socket on the side, it doesn't come with this cable but I picked one up to try with my LCD TV

This works very well.

 

 

You still can't read the article but again zooming in allows things to become clearer.

 

 

 

I have downloaded the free Youtube app and you can see the Google Play Store app.

I have played music videos and movies through these two apps onto the TV and it works very well and automatically gives full screen.

You can also in the settings on the Tablet turn the screen off after a time limit, this is great as the Tablet screen goes blank but what ever is playing keeps playing on the TV.

 

If you don't mind a bigger unit then for reading magazines I would probably go for the 10" screen I don't know how much difference the 512mb of ram to my 1GB of ram will make probably not a lot if just reading magazines.

Also it's worth noting (I've not actually measured or checked) that these cheap tablets, although they are 10" screens they seem to be more widescreen.

Unlike the iPAD and Samsung models which give a more square screen, which could effect how a magazine reads.

I can't compare as I've never seen oneof these cheap 10" tablets and until you have them side by side it's hard to tell.

 

I have to say that this tablet and case/keyboard has cost me £124.01 + P&P

The 10" version from Amazon would cost £141.80 with the matching case/keyboard + P&P

Whats not to like when a top flight model would be anything from £300 -£400+

For that sort of money it really is a fantastic bargin, I don't think I will be using it loads hence not wanting to spend 3 or 4 times that amount on one of the top flight models.

Overall I can thoroughly recommend it from my experiences so far.

 

Hope it proves useful to you.

 

Cheers

 

Ian

 

EDIT:-

 

Forgot to mention, you will need to set up a FREE gmail account to use the Google Play site.

The wireless connection set up was dead easy and straight forward, connected no problems at all.

There is no 3G with this tablet but you can buy and use the 3G dongles that are available.

I have looked and most of the HUAWEI dongles are all compatible.

I have downloaded another app which is a file browser as the file structure in Android is bascially hardwork, I need to read up more, but as yet there doesn't appear to be much about for this new version I.C.S. ( Ice Cream Sandwich)

 

Cheers

 

Ian

[APOLLO]

Interesting findings as I may be getting one soon. Thanks for posting.

 

Brit15

[Jol Wilkinson]

Very informative.

 

I would like a 10" version but am informed that you need good memory capacity as Apps can use quite a lot. 16Gb or 32GB seems to be a good idea.

[big jim]

must admit when i saw the thread title i thought you had been clicking some of the dodgy email links some people had been getting since the site hack!!

[traction]

must admit when i saw the thread title i thought you had been clicking some of the dodgy email links some people had been getting since the site hack!!

 

Thought about that myself now adjusted!!

 

 

Very informative.

 

I would like a 10" version but am informed that you need good memory capacity as Apps can use quite a lot. 16Gb or 32GB seems to be a good idea.

 

This one comes with 16GB already installed, I have just checked and it says there is 13.42Gb Capacity so the Andriod O.S. must be using a fair bit.

Then with all of those apps you can see and the three magazines I've downloaded I still have 12.74GB of available space to use.

I've read that this should be able to take a maximum 32GB micro SD card.

I don't have any memory cards for it as yet so can't say what the maximum size it will be able to handle though.

Personnally I prefer to use smaller sized cards but have a number of them, nothing worse than having everything on one single card and then loosing or damaging it!

 

Cheers

 

Ian

[the banker]

Reading this on my 7" natpc 009s bought from Amazon. Brilliant bit of kit for the money. IMHO. Also use it a lot with the Kindle app. It also fits in the jacket pocket which an ipad doesn 't!

[BoD]

I would like a 10" version

 

You can get tablets for that too.

[JohnR]

This thread has made me interested in the idea of digital subscriptions - running out of space! Can someone explain exactly how you get these, and can you subscribe? I had a look on Google Play, and can see the Hornby Magazine app, but it appears to be £1.49 - is this per issue?

[traction]

That price is just for the app.

 

Hornby app £1.49

BRM app £1.99

 

Some apps are free some you have to pay for.

The BRM and Hornby app you have to pay for, but both come with a free issue.

 

Once you've bought the apps then you won't need to buy them again.

 

The digital edition of the magazines cost:-

 

Hornby:- £2.99

BRM:- £2.49

 

Yes you can subscribe have a look at this link:-

 

Pocket Mags web site

 

Click on the magazine of choice and it will give you prices for a 6 or 12month subscription

 

Cheers

 

Ian

[Ramblin Rich]

You can get tablets for that too.

 

Genuine LOL moment, requiring a few moments to explain to SWMBO - glad I did not read at work!

[M Graff]

Something to consider is the resolution on the screen.

I use an Acer a500 Iconia 10,1" tablet and it has a wonderful screen resolution, making reading a true bliss!

[traction]

A further update,

 

I have read that the case/keyboard that I bought may cause problems and not work correctly.

 

The tablet is sent direct from the supplier "Wendy Lou" if you click on the store front for this supplier they do supply the same case/keyboard but with the mini USB plug already fitted so no adapter needed.

 

I believe the problem can be with using the adapter and the older operating system.

 

Saying this I just ordered the one shown on Amazon that comes with the standard USB plug and use the adapter that comes with the Tablet and all works fine, this may be because the newer tablets have the new Android ICS operating system.

 

Just wanted to let anyone know just in case there are problems.

 

I have also found some ICS instructions:-

When you click on the link it will ask to save or open, probably best to open first to make sure all is ok then save, it's just a word document.

 

ICS Instructions

 

Cheers

 

Ian

[pharrc20]

Hmmm sounds interesting I have been thinking of getting an Android tablet for a while now and this one looks pretty impressive.

 

Cheers Paul

[AndyB]

I took an Android tablet. Now I can see my 3 PO.

 

 

I'll get me coat.

[shortliner]

I have no idea if this is any good but I had this link today and it seems reasonable

http://www.ebuyer.com/344245-scroll-extreme-tablet-pc-54242

[traction]

Hi Jack,

 

One of the Scroll Excells was reviewed last year on the Gadget show and did very well.

The only issue now is the lack of Andriod Market ( Google Play) it no longer supports it.

 

It does come with other alternatives, but I'm not sure if you can still get the BRM or Hornby magazine apps via these alternative sites.

 

Cheers

 

Ian

[roundhouse]

Many Android tablets that dont have the full spec of front and rear facing cameras, apparently dont comlpy with Google Android specifications and hence dont have the permission to have Google market / Play on them (so I have read eslewhere).

 

However there are often ways of installing Google Market / Play on the internet.You just need to search for the tablet that you have (dont even need to Root / jailbreak them to do so in many cases)

 

I did this with my Archos (also sold as Arnova) tablet that I use to display photos and viseo on the laylouts aty shows.

 

I know have full access to all the apps that I have on my phone including the ones already paid for.

 

 

Just be carefull if you are thinknig of getting a Kindle Fire from the USA - it uses a modified version of Android and is heavily locked down to the point you need a USA credit card and address to install even the free apps.

 

Ian

[BlackRat]

I read the title and thought it was something to help cure me piles!!

[The Stationmaster]

I read the title and thought it was something to help cure me piles!!

 

I'm still waiting for a certain Mod to put in an appearance and let us know if they're any good for that terrible pain in his diodes...

[colin penfold]

Hi Traction

 

You mentioned needing to move the image around on screen to see everything.

 

Does the app not allow you to rotate the image?

 

If not, most laptops allow you to rotate the screen by ctrl + alt + arrow key hopefully your tablet will too.

 

The magazine page proportions are much more like the screen when turned through 90' this means you can fit the whole page on screen at greater magnification

[traction]

Hi Colin,

 

You just turn the whole tablet round and the image automatically turns.

 

The writing is still too small to read though, but does mean a little less scrolling.

 

You can see below the screen rotated along with the magazine.

Between the time and battery meter in the lower right hand corner you can also see the WiFi connection is on this time.

 

I have pressed the screen once which dims the main image and brings up the pages as small thumb nails below you can scroll through these and select which one you want just by tapping the screen.

 

 

If you quickly double tap the screen it zooms in which is shown below.

 

 

This orientation of the screen does seem to reduce the amount of zooming in required along with having to scroll the image about so much.

for the main large pictures the landscape orientation seems to be better though.

 

 

***NOTE*** The Amazon market seller WENDY LOU has sold out of these tablets with the 16gb of storage memory and 1gb of system ram although they will be back in stock on May 11th from a different Amazon seller (Electroniceze) for anyone who's interested.

Wendy Lou has got some with 1gb of system ram and 4gb or 8gb of storage though.

 

 

Cheers

 

Ian

[colin penfold]

I knew I was treading dangerous ground trying to help with technology . Even luddites call me old fashioned!

 

I use the method I described with my laptop, to read the model railway mags I am gradually scanning to save storage space and to enable text searching

[dave_long]

Another one to consider would be the Ainol Novo 7 (careful how you put that in google!) The new versions are very good, the Chinese are putting out some very good products, they might be a little rough around the edges some times but its a decent bit of kit. There is a novo 8 which is 10" too.

 

Heres a few but there are more, http://www.play.com/Search.html?searchstring=Ainol&searchsource=0&searchtype=allproducts

[PaulRhB]

I assume these tablets can download iplayer programmed to watch later then too?

[John_Hughes]

I picked up a Versus 7" tablet cheap (well, free, actually...) a week or so ago and it seems perfect for what I need (which isn't that much, as it happens).

 

It comes with Kindle, BBC iPlayer and various other apps already loaded, and the price was perfect!