7" Android Tablet computer

This thread:

Ordered cheap 'n cheery 7" tablet for mobile photo viewing

got me started to look at cheap Android tablet computers.

I know the Google Nexus 7 is the target standard - 16GB WiFi only version can be had for $199 shipped from the Google Store, and the 32GB @ $249 - the only drawback I can see is the Nexus 7 does not accept microSDHC card expansion - so probably the 32GB would be the smarter choice - but an extra $50 for 16GB is almost 4X the price of a 16GB microSDHC class 10 card!

Out of interest I looked at cheap 7" Android tablets - just to see what was out there.

First there were the really cheap ones with 800x480 screens and single core CPUs 512MB RAM and 4-8GB flash (but most of these will take microSDHC (TF) expansion up to additional 32GB) these with shopping were mostly <$80

BUT for photo type usage one ought to consider 1024x600 screens perhaps 1GB RAM and perhaps even dual core CPU

For web surfing WiFi 802.11 b/g/n -"n" is very fast and therefore very desirable - fortunately most cheap tablet will support "n" - but there are always exceptions - so "g" is a minimum - I have come across one tablet that only offered "b" - I even wrote to check it was not a mistake - it wasn't.......

Discovered some of the newer models had IPS screens - obviously far superior for photos than the usual cheap TN - the two notable models were:

Ainol Novo 7 Crystal

Cube U9GT4

both have dual core processors 1GB RAM and more to the point Android 4.1, and prices only around $100 shipped - now we're talking! The Ainol is pretty well known and popular new introduction - the Cube seems nicer in that it has an aluminum body - but it may have a fatal flaw in not having HDMI - for now these are probably the cheapest 7" Android 4.1 tablets that use 1024x600 IPS screens, I have found.

Then I got a little more ambitious and looked to see how much 1280x800 IPS screen version were - still restricting myself to 7" models and Android 4.1 - and I found much to my surprise -

Ainol Novo 7 Venus

Cube U21GT (4.1)

Ainol Venus has a quad core processor at 1.6GHz - 1GB RAM 16GB flash can be found for as low as $134 shipped (note: there is a Venus Lite - which uses a slightly slower quad core processor - but it is hardly any cheaper)

Cube U21GT is only a dual core processor @ 1.6GHz - 1GB RAM 16GB flash - it has the more attractive aluminum body and does have HDMI this time, low priced at about $122 shipped - CAUTION there are Android 4.0 versions out there.

I'd be grateful for any input, or experiences regarding the quality of these models and any other models worth considering.

Thanks

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Vincent
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