Cheap Tablets - Does anyone have any experience with them?

MrMarvelous

MrMarvelous

MrMarvelous

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Hi guys. My dad is after a cheap tablet to browse the Internet on and watch movies with. I don't know anything about them but I assume they're pretty much like Android phones?

I'm basically looking for the following:

1) 7"+ screen and HDMI out (will the HDMI out on these things hook up to the T.V and play 1080p movies on it?).

2) Sim card slot so he can put his SIM card in if there's no Wi-Fi available.

3) Easily rootable/moddable to get all the crap off them.

Like I said he basically wants to use it to browse the internet and watch movies off on the big telly, so far I have the following options and i'm wondering if these are any good.

No competitors - Rilot
 
Cheaper end tablets do not tend to have high end solutions like cellular data.
Devices like the Ainol Novo 7 Fire, Venus etc,also the ainol Hero 2 (10") etc do have fantastic screens, decent processing power and hdmi out though.
Google them, very cheap for the spec imho.
 
No competitors - Rilot
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Sorry but i've read the forum rules and OcUK don't stock tablets to my knowledge? Unless i've missed something out I do apologise.

Anyway i've bought a tab called ICOO D70PROII 7" Android 4.1.1 Dual Core RK3066 1.6GHz Tablet PC for £50.50, it has HDMI out, 1GB of RAM and a 1024x600 screen but would I be able to put some custom ROMs on this thing?
 
What the hell?! When I searched for the tablets on here earlier today it said 'nothing matches your search query' or something like that, swear it didn't work before lol.
 
They usually cheap out on RAM/screens (nearly always a gen or two behind), I would nearly always advise against them unless there is a specific use case where they are applicable.
 
I have a Ainol Hero 2 (10") and think it is fantastic value for money. The screen is very bright and clear, the OS very responsive and even the in-built speakers are decent enough. The touch-screen input is great and really cant be faulted at all. The battery life is probably a little behind some that of some expensive models but if you are sensible with screen-brightness and use other power saving features it can last a really long time. The build quality is very reasonable overall and much better than I expected.

Drawbacks? Well it doesnt have GPS or blue-tooth but I have no need for those on a tablet. Its biggest weakness and only real flaw is that it really required a good wireless signal in order to keep a stable connection... I haven't used many tablets before so have no idea if this is common however it did seem a little worse than what I expected.

All in all it isnt perfect but you most certainly get a lot of tablet for your money. At the price I got it for you cant really go wrong.

*edit* Apparently it is not great for gaming either.
 
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I picked up a 7" tablet for £30 that i saw on Hukd. It was a chinese company so it took a while to come. Its good in the scheme of things, but only £30 good. The screen is reflective and hard to see in well.. light. I use it as a mouse/keyboard to control my htpc, so for what i use it for its very good. came with a camera and a wide variety of tat, but it was cheap, so i like it.
 
In my experience of the cheap tablets you dont tend to get much battery life on them so dont expect them to last very long without a charge and ever then you might not last a whole movie.
 
I recently bought an Ainol Novo Venus 7 for my mother as her laptop was on its last legs and she had no requirements for an optical drive. I'm going to do a write up on here when I pull my finger out.

Basic specs are:

OS: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
CPU: Quad Core Atm7029
GPU: GC1000+
RAM: 1GB，DDR3
Storage 16GB
Shell Material Plastic
Screen: Capacitive Touchscreen, 1280*800 High-resolution Screen
Size: 7 inch
Resolution: 1280*800 Pixels IPS Screen G+G
mavity Sensor: Yes
Visible Angle: 178°
Display: IPS
Daul Camera Front camera, 0.3 Megapixels
Back camera, 2.0 Megapixels

The design is very similar to the nexus 7 even down to the materials (soft touch back). Out of the box it is very sluggish with very poor wifi performance, however Ainol have just released a firmware update which includes Jellybean 4.2.2. It has totally transformed the feel of the thing and is much quicker and more manageable. Price is currently at £92 and is available in black or white.

The only other bad thing is the ridiculous name of the company :P
 
Aside from the typical "you get what you pay for" hardware of the cheapest cheap tablets, rooting and firmware is another issue. You may get a tablet that has decent hardware, but if nobody else buys it, you'll probably struggle finding custom ROMs for it.

I'd just spend the extra and grab the next Nexus tablet that Google introduces. You get great value with software directly from Google. Best of all worlds really.
 
That's for the feedback. I've already checked if I can root the one I bought, I can and I can also put some custom CWM (no idea what it is) ROM on there too. Again the only bad thing about it is everyone saying the battery life will be crap but that can be expected.
 
Ainol have an excellent enthusiast following, plenty of ROMs and the like - this is what persuaded me to pick up one for wifety (think it was an AuroraII) last year - good specs, capacitive, decent res and so on, and - crucially - I was able to plonk an 'anglicised' Rom on, and so on :)
 
Steve_bullockuk said:
I recently bought an Ainol Novo Venus 7 for my mother as her laptop was on its last legs and she had no requirements for an optical drive. I'm going to do a write up on here when I pull my finger out.
Click to expand...

Do you know if this will run Candy Crush :)
Mrs Dimple wants one and I'm looking at the Sumvision Cyclone Voyager 7.0" Tablet which OCUK sell but not sure if it will play such a powerful game.
My Sister had her 7" MID cheapo down here yesterday and that wouldn't load it or the Kindle reader.

Anybody else with experience of the Sumvision Cyclone Voyager 7.0" Tablet and what it's capabilities are?
It needs to run:
Candy Crush
Kindle Reader
Fast web browsing (the MID was awful compared to my S3, S1 and ASUS TF101).
 
I have an ainol novo elf 2, nice bit of kit...the newer ones in the range are obviously a bit better but im more than happy with this :)
 
Most Ainols come with IPS screens too which really helps the experience. In my opinion no tablet should come with anything less as regular tablet screens are pish regarding viewing angles.
Very tempted to upgrade my daughters Ainol Aurora to a 10" model as the 2nd & 3rd gen Ainols are very very good especially for the money involved.
 
Dimple said:
Do you know if this will run Candy Crush :)
Mrs Dimple wants one and I'm looking at the Sumvision Cyclone Voyager 7.0" Tablet which OCUK sell but not sure if it will play such a powerful game.
My Sister had her 7" MID cheapo down here yesterday and that wouldn't load it or the Kindle reader.

Anybody else with experience of the Sumvision Cyclone Voyager 7.0" Tablet and what it's capabilities are?
It needs to run:
Candy Crush
Kindle Reader
Fast web browsing (the MID was awful compared to my S3, S1 and ASUS TF101).
Click to expand...

I had the Voyager. Got it for the HDMI out, but I got crackling/popping audio when watching a video using HDMI so I returned it. For the time I had it (about a day) I tried a few things. Installed Candy Crush (plays fine), installed Modern Combat 4 (a good test, but actually played nice with no lag!). The only issue was the screen, my eyes couldn't get used to it and ended up getting a headache. Definitely not a good screen but power wise, great for the price.

I also tried these forums on Chrome and was fine, no issues with lag etc. Even on a picture heavy thread. But for long term reading like eBooks etc, I wouldn't recommend it due to the screen. I would look for another tablet with better screen/res.
 
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