Best 7" Android tablet for around $250? (WiFi, play, app, plan)

[wrcousert]

I'm getting a tax refund in about a week and I'm planning to buy two Android tablets with part of the money. My budget is about $500 for both.

So far, it looks like the Nook Color is about the best I can find in that price range.

Can I do better?

Things I like about the Nook Color:

1. 1024x600 display. Most other 7" tablets only have 800x600.
2. 512mb RAM - twice what most other 7" tablets have.
3. It has a capacitive touch display, like iOS devices.

It doesn't have any cameras. I'd like a tablet that has two - front and rear - for video conferencing and augmented reality apps. I'm not planning to use it for photos.

It's also missing an HDMI port. I'd like to hook it up to my HDTV for video apps.

Can I find a tablet that does all this for less than $300? One that isn't mail ordered from some unknown Chinese company?

[EscapeCalifornia]

Is the Nook really a full Android device? I thought it was just a book reader.

[lifelongMOgal]

Nook Color to become a real Android tablet with January update? (Updated) | VentureBeat

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20039617-1.html

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/03/...ndroid-tablet/

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by lifelongMOgal

Nook Color to become a real Android tablet with January update? (Updated) | VentureBeat

Nook Color Android hacks are being sold on eBay | Crave - CNET

The $200 name-brand Android tablet - Google 24/7 - Fortune Tech

Very interesting. I've always felt that a tablet would be just a toy for me, there's no way I'd pay $500+++ for one. But at $250, it might be tempting.

[Danknee]

There is not a tablet with better hardware specs than the Nook for under $300. That said, the Nook is not a full Android tablet without being rooted and flashed with a custom ROM. Basically you write an image to an sd card, reboot the Nook with it in and you will be up and going in about 10 minutes.

I have a Nook Color and I would recommend CM7 if you are going to root it. I am using the version 22 nightly build and it has Bluetooth enabled plus almost everything else you'd expect with Android. The Bluetooth range is much shorter than my phone's, but it is enough to stream BT audio to my car stereo (my main use for it). The Nook doesn't have GPS, but I am able to tether my Evo's GPS through an app called TetherGPS. This enables Google Maps to work flawlessly.

Android 3.0 is OS built for tablets and their is a pre-release version for the Nook, but it is still rough around the edges. I'm sure someone on XDA will release a version for the Nook based on the official 3.0 release that will be smoother.

If you want a polished release the Xoom has better hardware and is a more polished released. The downside is that it costs more than twice as much.

[wrcousert]

Thanks! Then a Nook Color it is.

Hopefully there will be a few more choices when it comes time to replace them. Maybe an NC2?

[fastninja500]

test out the Pandigital Novel. My wife and I were choosing between the Kindle and the Nook. She wanted an e-reader and was leaning towards the Nook because she's used her officemate's and liked it, except it was not colored. So we were looking at the Nook Color next. But the browser on the Nook was kind of clunky.

Then we chanced upon the Pandigital Novel over at BJs wholesale club. It was $149.00, with an internal 2 gig sd card and it has an external sd card slot into which I put it a 16 gig card (for movies). We bought it, intending to try us it for a few days.

As is, without hacking/rooting, it proved so useful for it's intended purpose (e-reader, web surfing using wifi, music player, watching a movie) that we decided to keep it. In fact, I went back to BJs yesterday to get another one for myself because I couldn't pry it off of my wife's hands when I wanted to read, but they had sold out.

By the way, you can buy/lend books via Barnes and Noble. My wife and her officemate (Nook) are lending each other books all the time.

[Danknee]

Originally Posted by fastninja500

test out the Pandigital Novel. My wife and I were choosing between the Kindle and the Nook. She wanted an e-reader and was leaning towards the Nook because she's used her officemate's and liked it, except it was not colored. So we were looking at the Nook Color next. But the browser on the Nook was kind of clunky.

Then we chanced upon the Pandigital Novel over at BJs wholesale club. It was $149.00, with an internal 2 gig sd card and it has an external sd card slot into which I put it a 16 gig card (for movies). We bought it, intending to try us it for a few days.

As is, without hacking/rooting, it proved so useful for it's intended purpose (e-reader, web surfing using wifi, music player, watching a movie) that we decided to keep it. In fact, I went back to BJs yesterday to get another one for myself because I couldn't pry it off of my wife's hands when I wanted to read, but they had sold out.

By the way, you can buy/lend books via Barnes and Noble. My wife and her officemate (Nook) are lending each other books all the time.

600x800 resolution and a resistive touchscreen are the deal killers on that for me. Those are also being rooted and flashed with custom roms (android), but the processor is slower and it has 1/5th the internal memory of the Nook color.

[Sayantsi]

Low res screens and lack of processing power are two things I hear you need to be wary of with the low-priced Android devices, so its something to think on imo.