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Android tablet for less than $200 Permalink

submitted on March 9, 2011 by YanBz in "Products / Gadgets"
Brett Arends at Wall Street Journal writes how he converted B&N's Nook into a fully functional Android tablet

The Nook Color, which was designed mainly for reading books and magazines, is about half the size of an iPad or a Xoom. It weighs about 30% less. It runs on WiFi, but not 3G. It has an absolutely superb screen. And, once you've unlocked the software, it runs many Android applications, from email to news readers TweetDeck to, yes, Angry Birds.

It even, ironically, runs the Kindle app from Barnes & Noble's rival Amazon.com. So I can now use my Nook Color to read Kindle books.


Read more:
http://online.wsj.com/article/.....84360.html

Nook Color @ B&N:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nookcolor/index.asp

Tablet deals:
http://www.buxr.com/tag/Tablet
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  • 106744
    lootango
    professor
    4 1
    Posted by lootango on March 9, 2011
    		[reply] Vote_plus 1 Vote_minus 0
    I have the Nook Color, and use it as my Android tablet just about every day. I love it. The screen is great, it's fast, and yes, I play Angry Birds (and Fruit Ninja) on a regular basis. By far, the best deal if your in the market for a tablet but don't want to spend the $$$.
  • 106754
    CouponNut
    professor
    7 2 3
    10 3
    Posted by CouponNut on March 9, 2011
    		[reply] Vote_plus 2 Vote_minus 0
    I finally received my $99 - 7" tablet from one of the Buxr deals here and I must say, its fabulous! This $99 wifi tablet has 2G internal memory, can take pics and video and the 3G Android operation is identical to my expensive Nextbook without the the Borders eBooks. This is going to be the kiddies first Ipad and I know they will love it! I suggest checking out all options before investing in any Ipad or wifi tablet. My colleagues can't believe how wonderful this $99 Ipad is, worth the wait from CHINA!
      106783
    • YanBz
      admin
      Posted by YanBz on March 10, 2011 [reply] Vote_plus 0 Vote_minus 0
      Do you recall what deal it was? Does it have color screen?
      • 106838
    • HouTex
      admin
      Posted by HouTex on March 10, 2011 [reply] Vote_plus 0 Vote_minus 0
      Was it this one - http://www.buxr.com/deal/7inch.....book_76621 ?

      It's still available at $99, the specs are here - http://www.dinodirect.com/e-bo.....tbook.html
      • 106854
    • CouponNut
      professor
      7 2 3
      10 3
      Posted by CouponNut on March 10, 2011 [reply] Vote_plus 0 Vote_minus 0


      Here is a pic of that fabulous 7" Ipad for $99 with the snail mail delivery, but worth the wait!
      • 106862
    • CouponNut
      professor
      7 2 3
      10 3
      Posted by CouponNut on March 10, 2011 [reply] Vote_plus 0 Vote_minus 0
      • 106870
    • CouponNut
      professor
      7 2 3
      10 3
      Posted by CouponNut on March 10, 2011 [reply] Vote_plus 0 Vote_minus 0
      Weird I can't see this pic I posted here.
      • 106878
    • CouponNut
      professor
      7 2 3
      10 3
      Posted by CouponNut on March 10, 2011 [reply] Vote_plus 0 Vote_minus 0


      Top pic of 8.5" Nextbook & Bottom pic $99 7" Ipad
      • 106904
    • YanBz
      admin
      Posted by YanBz on March 10, 2011 [reply] Vote_plus 0 Vote_minus 0
      You are trying to embed a "pdf" and "bmp" file which from what I see doesn't work. Try converting it to "jpg", "png" or "gif"
  • 106860
    mooncow728
    professor
    1 1
    9 1
    Posted by mooncow728 on March 10, 2011 [reply] Vote_plus 0 Vote_minus 0
    Beware of that one! The one I received was a piece of junk and I posted a link in the comments of the deal of other people complaining of the same problems. I can not return it for my money back but have instead been offered a $20 gift card if I mail it back and I have to pay for return shipping.
  • 106868
    CouponNut
    professor
    7 2 3
    10 3
    Posted by CouponNut on March 10, 2011 [reply] Vote_plus 0 Vote_minus 0
    I personally disagree with you because it is comparable to my Nextbook which cost 3 times the amount of this one. This Ipad operates with 3G Android which is the exact same one Nextbook runs and all the apps are identical. And the big PLUS is this 7" Ipad is faster than my 8.5" Nextbook. I like the USB & ethernet cable connector so I can download from my desktop computer the apps I want. And this Ipad has camera capabilities with instant editing and can take short video stints. This is great for on-the-go where free wifi is available reading emails, etc. If my colleagues love this, I know the kids will enjoy it too because of the preloaded games available. Speaking on a professional level, this is my third variance for purchasing an Ipad. No complaints & friends & family all want to get in on this deal. Super buy!
      106872
    • orangearrows
      professor
      2 3
      Posted by orangearrows on March 10, 2011 [reply] Vote_plus 0 Vote_minus 0
      Is the OS Android 1.6? Or is it higher?

      I would go with the NOOK Color since the Android upgrades on it have been tested and tried by many. It runs Gingerbread (Android 2.3) - which is super.
      • 106877
    • CouponNut
      professor
      7 2 3
      10 3
      Posted by CouponNut on March 10, 2011 [reply] Vote_plus 0 Vote_minus 0
      3G Android
      • 106880
    • orangearrows
      professor
      2 3
      Posted by orangearrows on March 10, 2011 [reply] Vote_plus 0 Vote_minus 0
      If you go to setting - scroll all the way down - click on "About Phone " - under firmware version it will tell you about the Android OS version. That is your OS.
      • 106884
    • mooncow728
      professor
      1 1
      9 1
      Posted by mooncow728 on March 10, 2011 [reply] Vote_plus 0 Vote_minus 0
      It is Android 2.1.2 or so it says. It connects to an Android marketplace that for sure is not the US marketplace as I've messed with a friends phone several times and its not the same. The marketplace it has on it does not have all the same apps that I've seen before plus it has some things that are able to be downloaded for free that are not supposed to be free. It sort of remind me of a version of Installous on the Iphone if you are familiar with that. I also tried to manually install an app but it gave me an error but I can't remember what it was. Apps from the US marketplace will not install on this device. Also the MicroSD slot on mine is broken and will not allow the card to stay in place. I push it in and feel the "click" but the card just pops right back out. I have a Wireless-N dualband router at home that I get good speeds and no issues with other devices but this one constantly gets disconnected. It also says I'm out of range frequently when I stand right next to the router. When charging the battery area gets extremely hot and does not pose an issue yet but I can see it doing so in the near future. My screen randomly goes black while I am using it and I've disabled the dimming feature. There are so many things that are not good with this thing but these are the main points. I don't doubt that some of them are fine but the one I got was definitely defective and the company will not stand behind their return policy. I also saw numerous other people in the forums with the same problems. I'm just letting people know to watch out for this. You may get a good one or you might get a piece of junk like mine.
      • 106887
    • CouponNut
      professor
      7 2 3
      10 3
      Posted by CouponNut on March 10, 2011 [reply] Vote_plus 0 Vote_minus 0
      Sorry to hear that yours didn't live up to your anticipated expectations. Our household is super happy with this Ipad and lightweight & compact. Well for one thing, after test driving 2 different others, all three of the ones we have are exactly identical and operate the same exact way. Of course the closer you are to WiFi, the faster the speed, but even in our 3 level home, we get a great connection.
      • 106898
    • mooncow728
      professor
      1 1
      9 1
      Posted by mooncow728 on March 10, 2011 [reply] Vote_plus 0 Vote_minus 0
      It was not that it did not live up to my expectations. My expectations were very low. I expected the thing to turn on and to let me put a Micro SD card into it and thought I could download apps. I didn't expect anything else to work and I did not care how fast it was. The thing couldn't even do that. As I said before I can't use a Micro SD card with it at all, the app store isn't legit. It does turn on at least but for $100 that's not a good deal.

      That's great that it works well in your 3 level home. That doesn't make much sense to me though considering I live in a tiny 1 bedroom home. Sitting 6 feet from my router on my couch I lose signal. Standing a foot away from the router I lose signal.

      I should add that this is by no means even as good as the first generation Ipod touch. I still have one of those and it seems blazing fast compared to this tablet.

      Maybe I just have too many electronics and that's why this thing seems like such junk to me, or maybe I just received a defective one. In any case though I know that I am not the only one after reading forums on Dino Direct. There are a lot of tablets that are dropping in price. I don't know how many times I've seen them for $100-$150 in the past week. In my opinion I would go for a different one and run like hell away from this one. But that's only my opinion so take it for what it's worth.
      • 106901
    • CouponNut
      professor
      7 2 3
      10 3
      Posted by CouponNut on March 10, 2011 [reply] Vote_plus 0 Vote_minus 0
      Well I can empathize with you, seems like you got a bad one. These day any electronic item shipped needs special care in packaging & handling.
  • 106886
    webbyone2010
    professor
    Posted by webbyone2010 on March 10, 2011 [reply] Vote_plus 0 Vote_minus 0
    So, should I get it?
      106888
    • CouponNut
      professor
      7 2 3
      10 3
      Posted by CouponNut on March 10, 2011 [reply] Vote_plus 0 Vote_minus 0
      webbyone, it took almost a month to receive from China. I ordered on 2/9 and received 3/7 and signed a registered mail receipt from the post office. The other thing is, I paid via paypal which is your best bet. Paypal is a third-party payee, but they also provide guarantee to the buyer against the seller for non-receipt of goods and for dissatisfied customers. I paying paypal if vendor offers the option. All around, I'm a happy customer, even with the wait. Its a great value for the beginner!
      • 106906
    • YanBz
      admin
      Posted by YanBz on March 10, 2011 [reply] Vote_plus 0 Vote_minus 0
      I would not buy it if you can't easily return/exchange it and it appears there is a chance you get cant junk. I would personally go with Nook, just wait for a sale
      • 106907
    • CouponNut
      professor
      7 2 3
      10 3
      Posted by CouponNut on March 10, 2011 [reply] Vote_plus 0 Vote_minus 0
      Thats a good point Yan! I'm an advid Ebay buyer, so I know how returning mail order stuff is very costly or you cannot return the item to the Seller.
  • 106987
    josetring
    master
    Posted by josetring on March 11, 2011 [reply] Vote_plus 0 Vote_minus 0
    nooooooookkkkkkk!!!

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