Norm Reviews: The Viewsonic G Tablet for $280
Tablets are too expensive right now for what they are. Or most of them are anyway.
$500 for a device which does far less than my 1yr old $200 netbook just does not make sense. More than that, they are a secondary, larger, smartphone. If you are getting a tablet, you probably have a large-screen smartphone (or you might have a blackberry, in which case a tablet does make more sense), and that phone does pretty much everything that a tablet can do, albeit smaller.
But what about $280? That's the price of the Viewsonic G Tablet these days. This thing is as powerful as an iPad 2, with Nvidia Tegra processing (basically, a high powered integrated processor/graphics chip) and with a big and pretty 10.1' screen (and, I will admit, a lot of bevel).
The look and feel.
It looks elegant and feels very sturdy, not like a cheap knockoff at all. The back of the case is made of a sturdy plastic the materials overall feel good. On to the most important part: the screen. There is good and bad here. The good is that the screen looks great, especially in landscape mode. The bad? Viewing angles. They are pretty bad, which means that in portrait mode specifically, you end up with some odd distortion looking from the top to the bottom of the tablet if you are holding it place in your lap. Basically, if you are looking for an e-reader, look somewhere else. However, the screen is great in landscape mode, so the internet, movies, and apps all look very good.
Software and Speed:
Basically, the installed software does not really work. First, the good: the TapTap browser is, hands down, the fastest browser I have ever seen, on anything. Really. It's amazing. I don't know why a custom webkit browser from a small Asian monitor manufacturer is the best in the world but.. it is. If I could get that browser, I would.
But the bad.. well the bad is bad. Basically, the screen does not respond immediately when you tap it. This is just not acceptable. You tap, and then 1/2 a second later, something may happen. This would drive you crazy in pretty short order...
But wait! There's More! There is a very easy (very very easy according to my brother) way to install a strong stable copy of Android 2.3 called Cyanogen. More than that, for the modders out there, this tablet can be overclocked up to 1.4gHz, which would make it the fastest tablet out there.
Conclusion:
I have played with the iPad (not the 2 granted) and the Samsung Galaxy Tab. Other than the slightly uglier design (especially the huge bevel), and the viewing angles, this is just as good if not better. But really, this is a price play. Personally, I will not be buying one because I love my little Acer One netbook ($200, 3.3 lbs, 6-cell battery, 10.1 screen, Win XP Pro, 160gb.... and a keyboard... yeah, it blows tablets out of the water in terms of capabilities), but I do see the cool factor in using a tablet to browse the internet etc -- big capacitive touch screens are fun to play with.
Right now, this is the best tablet for the money, as long as you have some basic computer skills and can install a clean copy of Android 2.3 (and perhaps soon, Android 3.0).
$500 for a device which does far less than my 1yr old $200 netbook just does not make sense. More than that, they are a secondary, larger, smartphone. If you are getting a tablet, you probably have a large-screen smartphone (or you might have a blackberry, in which case a tablet does make more sense), and that phone does pretty much everything that a tablet can do, albeit smaller.
But what about $280? That's the price of the Viewsonic G Tablet these days. This thing is as powerful as an iPad 2, with Nvidia Tegra processing (basically, a high powered integrated processor/graphics chip) and with a big and pretty 10.1' screen (and, I will admit, a lot of bevel).
The look and feel.
It looks elegant and feels very sturdy, not like a cheap knockoff at all. The back of the case is made of a sturdy plastic the materials overall feel good. On to the most important part: the screen. There is good and bad here. The good is that the screen looks great, especially in landscape mode. The bad? Viewing angles. They are pretty bad, which means that in portrait mode specifically, you end up with some odd distortion looking from the top to the bottom of the tablet if you are holding it place in your lap. Basically, if you are looking for an e-reader, look somewhere else. However, the screen is great in landscape mode, so the internet, movies, and apps all look very good.
Software and Speed:
Basically, the installed software does not really work. First, the good: the TapTap browser is, hands down, the fastest browser I have ever seen, on anything. Really. It's amazing. I don't know why a custom webkit browser from a small Asian monitor manufacturer is the best in the world but.. it is. If I could get that browser, I would.
But the bad.. well the bad is bad. Basically, the screen does not respond immediately when you tap it. This is just not acceptable. You tap, and then 1/2 a second later, something may happen. This would drive you crazy in pretty short order...
But wait! There's More! There is a very easy (very very easy according to my brother) way to install a strong stable copy of Android 2.3 called Cyanogen. More than that, for the modders out there, this tablet can be overclocked up to 1.4gHz, which would make it the fastest tablet out there.
Conclusion:
I have played with the iPad (not the 2 granted) and the Samsung Galaxy Tab. Other than the slightly uglier design (especially the huge bevel), and the viewing angles, this is just as good if not better. But really, this is a price play. Personally, I will not be buying one because I love my little Acer One netbook ($200, 3.3 lbs, 6-cell battery, 10.1 screen, Win XP Pro, 160gb.... and a keyboard... yeah, it blows tablets out of the water in terms of capabilities), but I do see the cool factor in using a tablet to browse the internet etc -- big capacitive touch screens are fun to play with.
Right now, this is the best tablet for the money, as long as you have some basic computer skills and can install a clean copy of Android 2.3 (and perhaps soon, Android 3.0).
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