#“A tablet I’d actually buy”
My feelings about the iPad remain little-changed since launch despite having played with one several times. Having said that, if I had lots of disposable income and bought XBox360s, PS3s or the latest laptop on a whim, I'm sure I'd have dipped my toe in. But as a must-have device, it ticks no boxes for me.
The one area where tablets make complete sense for me is with kids. When I saw them play Angry Birds or watch videos on an iPad and then when I read people's comments about tablets replacing the horrendous stack of books they have to drag to school, I finally got the tablet niche. But it'll never be the iPad for us. I want something with crazy features like USB ports and memory card slots and the ability to install whatever goddammed apps I choose and the ability to sync everything to the cloud without needing to wire it to a real computer.
So imagine my excitement when Paul O'Brien over on Modaco posted the details of the new DSG Group (Dixon's, Curry's, PC World) Advent tablet. The specs are awesome:
- Nvidia Tegra 250 1GHz SMP dual Cortex-A9 40nm Enhanced 3D
- RAM: 512MB and ROM: 512MB
- Screen resolution: 1024 x 600
- WiFi
- Bluetooth
- microSD card reader
- 1.3 MP Webcam
- Capacitive Multi-touch screen
- Android 2.2 Froyo
- HDMI out
- 1080P Video Encode/Decode ULP Audio Decode Streaming HD Video ~4x vs APX 2600
- USB x 1
- SIM card slot
- USB interface
- G-sensor
And then there is the price...................£250. Holy cow.
The video isn't a mind blower but if you have used an Android phone you can imagine the possibilities on a bigger screen.
But I had forgotten the kids again. I showed the video to my 11 y/o son. He immediately dismissed the iPad and said he wanted one of these. He realised that this plus a keyboard could replace the horror of a laptop he uses now (6 years old, big chunks of screen dead, keys missing etc etc). And the fact that Android does Flash means that all those silly online games are still playable. He was imagining taking it to his friends house to play games and watch movies either on-screen or connected to their TV. He was thinking about reading books on Kindle. He suddenly forgot all about a Nintendo 3DS.
He is now trying to figure out how to raise the cash to get one for christmas. I have to say it even has me tempted now.