Looking for tablet recommendations

[surgerush]

I know this question has probably been asked a couple hundred thousand times, but it's hard to look up something to exactly what my needs would be. I've been looking around a lot, but I want to make sure I'm not missing anything, or if one of the ones I have been looking at are a bad idea. This would be my first tablet.

I have pretty much a $300 limit, $350 if it's from Walmart or Sam's Club (I have a $50 gift card) . The cheaper the better, but a LITTLE over would be ok too.

10 inches would be awesome, the closer the better, 7 wouldn't really be a deal breaker though.

I want something that has decent development, I like to root and rom and stuff. Nothing crazy, just something.

HDMI port would be awesome, but again not a deal breaker if it doesn't.

Dual core would be a big plus, but as long as it isn't crazy slow, wouldn't be to important.

I don't need the best by any means, I just want something decent.

So far, what I have been looking at are
Acer A500 ($329 walmart)
Archos G9 ($249 staples)
Kindle Fire (I would flash CM9 or something on it) (like $200 everywhere)
Sony S1 ($291 sam's club)

If you could let me know which of those you think would be a good choice, which would definitely NOT be a good choice, or if you know of any others that I would be better off with, any help would be great.

 

[Nwotnot]

10 inches would be awesome, the closer the better, 7 wouldn't really be a deal breaker though.
I want something that has decent development, I like to root and rom and stuff. Nothing crazy, just something.
HDMI port would be awesome, but again not a deal breaker if it doesn't.

Dual core would be a big plus, but as long as it isn't crazy slow, wouldn't be to important.

The Onda Vi40 I have fits the bill, and has a 1.5GHz processor, currently stable at 1.2GHz.

9.7" IPS screen, rooted as stock and, so far, regular updates.

XDA have a section on Allwinner processor based tablets, and Slatedroid has a specific forum where Onda have started posting. (Chinese company)

People have managed to full market access with modding some files, though I think they say it now comes with the market/Play. Mine did, though I see posts where people still want it: maybe previous ROM versions. Check the forums and see what people are saying.

Like most others, I can only write what I know, so you should search around and see what people are comparing this to and, importantly, whether it's supported by a reputable supplier in your country.

I hope others chip in. Good luck in with your searching!

David.

 

[breadnatty08]

Can you find the original Asus Transformer on sale anywhere? It may still be $400, but perhaps it's on sale now that the Prime is out. I'd definitely recommend that one. Failing that, the Acer isn't bad. Is the Thrive down in price? I'd check it out too, though it is a bit of a tank. (if you want 7", I'd check out the HTC Flyer. It's dated, but a solid tablet)

 

[surgerush]

Thank you, I am doing a lot of searching. I'll definitely take a look at your recommendations. Looks like the acer A500 is sold out at all my walmarts.

If anybody else has any input it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[surgerush]

OK, so I don't think the Onda Vi40 is sold anywhere around here. The transformer and thrive seem to still be pretty much $400. Best Buy has the transformer for $350, but that is just out of my range.

Any suggestions on what I SHOULDN'T get from my list?

 

[ouch1976]

I've made this suggestion to others asking about tablets...go to the Tablets section of the AF and see which ones have the largest amount of threads and posts. This is a good starting point because you can get an idea of what's being talked about.

But, most of the big name makers (Acer, Asus, Sony, Toshiba, Lenovo) all came out with a 10", Tegra 2, 1GB ram tablet model last year. The differences will be in weight, screen brightness, speaker clarity, cameras, and available ports. But to me, they're all the same thing.

I have the Lenovo Ideapad K1 and I like it...but it's not rooted and there is very little developer support. But, I bought it for $280 and it comes with 32gb of storage so it's a good value.

I hope this helps.

 

[surgerush]

Yeah so I ended up going with the acer a200 (I kept saying A500, don't know why)... I just figured for the price I'd be better off since they are all pretty much outdated already anyways. Thanks for the responses

 

[surgerush]

Ok, so after playing with this tablet, I'm somewhat happy. Seems like a nice tablet for the most part, especially for the money... But how much better would a galaxy tab 10.1 or a Asus transformer be? The specs seem very similar... Do either of the other 2 provide a lot more performance wise? Basically, do either of the other 2 justify the extra $70 they cost? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[caterham09]

have you looked at the htc flyer. It may seem like the wrong choice to some but i have a lot of experience with it and I love it. My brother bought one a couple months ago and i have used it for quite a few hours and here is what i can report.

It is a pretty fast device despite only being single core. It loaded up web pages very quickly and had no problem switching between apps. It does have some noticeable stutter on the home page if you are doing a lot of things with it ( although the one i used was a 16gb wifi model with gingerbread)

The battery life is awesome. I used it for like 5 hours and it still had a decent amount of charge left on it. I would put money on it lasting the whole day for someone who uses it a decent amount.

It has a pretty decent camera from what ive seen. I took one picture with it and it came out pretty good. The videos though are excellent. It autofocused very quickly and had no problem in a lower light situation.

It is extremely durable as well. My brother isnt the most careful person and he has dropped it several times and it has only come away with some minor scuffs. Except for the one time he dropped it and it landed on the corner part of the top plastic and it now has a small crack.

The screen is a beautiful display from what ive seen. While it isnt as good as the screen on the new ipad or the galaxy tab 7.7 it still has high resolution and recreates colors very well.

Speakers are unfortunately on the back ( like every tablet ) but they are very loud and aren't to bad on quality even when playing a youtube video.

This is a tablet you should really consider for around $300 at best buy