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I bought a $40 Proscan internet tablet with Android 4.4 and 512 Mb RAM and 4 Gb of Nand Flash memory and Rockchip 3026 processor.
I am pretty amazed that they have $40 tablets which opens them up for all kinds of dedicated uses that you wouldn't consider for a tablet that costs 5X as much.
For instance it is helpful as a TiVo remote (the TiVo remote with Radio Frequency and keyboard is $50). It also makes a nice Roku remote. It's good for weather and as an e-mail reader.
The poor Wi-Fi antenna and 2 hour battery life make it limited use as an all purpose tablet.I find that if I can't run the program from a dedicated app, it is too slow to run from the browser.
I know some people who have picked up these cheap tabs to use as remotes and stuff like that. Personally I'd either spring for a halfway decent tablet or not get one at all. I've tried some of these cheap knockoff tabs and like you said the wifi sucks, the screen swipe is totally inaccurate, etc.That is my biggest complaint about cheap tabs is the touch responsiveness isn't good
What's the cheapest tablet that would be good for reading email only. I'm really quite computer illiterate. If I use it just to check email do I still need to put spy ware protection on it? And doesn't that take up some memory?
I do not have a smart phone. I SUPPOSE I could get one and check email on that. But I really don't want one. Because that would cost me more per month. If I get the cheap tablet it's 60 bucks and there's no more cost, as long as I use public wifi -- at Barnes and Noble, Starbucks or McD's to check email, right? So what a good cheap table just for that?
I do not have a smart phone. I SUPPOSE I could get one and check email on that. But I really don't want one. Because that would cost me more per month. If I get the cheap tablet it's 60 bucks and there's no more cost, as long as I use public wifi -- at Barnes and Noble, Starbucks or McD's to check email, right? So what a good cheap table just for that?
You can get a cheap Android smartphone and not activate it as a cell phone, just use it for wifi. i have a few of them around here.
There are a lot of decent Android phones for under $100 that would work well as just mini wifi tablets. With an app like Google Hangouts you could make free phone calls with it on wifi.
You can get a cheap Android smartphone and not activate it as a cell phone, just use it for wifi. i have a few of them around here.
I thought about doing that first. Walmart was selling a model for net10 for $20. I figured that would be good for using as a remote or reading e-mails (although it would be too difficult to type them).
But the 7" screen for $40 has a few more uses. But the lousy wifi range is a problem.
The scratch wireless phone for $100 seems to be the best for low cost mobile communications. You can receive texts on Sprint cellular network for free, as well as talk/text on wireless. Clearly they are hoping that people will buy them with the hope of staying cell free, but then they will purchase 30 day cell passes for $15 or data passes for more. But if you can maintain discipline, or you are a die hard texter, you have mobile communications for just the equipment costs.
What's the cheapest tablet that would be good for reading email only. I'm really quite computer illiterate. If I use it just to check email do I still need to put spy ware protection on it? And doesn't that take up some memory?
I do not have a smart phone. I SUPPOSE I could get one and check email on that. But I really don't want one. Because that would cost me more per month. If I get the cheap tablet it's 60 bucks and there's no more cost, as long as I use public wifi -- at Barnes and Noble, Starbucks or McD's to check email, right? So what a good cheap table just for that?
I think this is a perfect example of where you have to make the decision to be cheap or frugal. A tablet is a purchase that should last a few years. The difference in quality between a $60 tablet and say a $100 or $120 tablet is night and day. You can oftentimes pick up some pretty nice tablets on Groupon for under $150 and we're talking quality tablets vs some childs toy tablet made in China.
I think you'll notice the touch sensitivity is terrible with cheap tablets. Some don't come with the google play market which means you can't get apps through there. Some people report htey are laggy, some are known to have problems where whatever processes the touch screen goes bad after a few months or the screen goes out. I'd say up your budget another 40 or 50 bucks and get something you'll be happy with because your going to have it for a few years.
As far as smartphones, though its not great 100% of the time you can get a boost or cricket line for $50 a month max, after paying your bill on time for a few months goes down to $35. Thats cheaper than most flip phone plans with tmobile or sprint
I think you'll notice the touch sensitivity is terrible with cheap tablets.
The 7" PROSCAN with Android 4.4 that I bought completely lost it's touch sensitivity in 48 hours. You couldn't control it, and when you tried to slide an icon, another one moved. Fortunately the store gave me my money back.
With the limited battery life, poor wifi, terrible audio and iffy touch screens, I would limit the under $50 tablets to functions where you can keep them plugged in and don't have to move them or enter data. Monitor weather station in the kitchen, monitor babies room camera, monitor surveillance cameras, monitor wi-fi household control functions, and possibly as a remote control (tied in with a chromecast with netflix).
The browser is so slow that you may want to limit yourself to just using apps.
I use old/cheap phones as wifi cams for security/baby monitor. Cheaper than the "professional" ones and does the job well enough for my needs.
Seriously, the quality of even dumb phones can be as good as the "pro" monitoring cams if you don't need zooming
edit: well, I got a bit off since I didn't use tablets, but old tablets are good for being a second screen for the computer as well.
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