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HP Delivers a Big-Name, 7-inch Android Tablet For $100: Comes With Compromises
Ars Technica reports that HP is back in the $100 tablet market, and this time with a tablet that's intended to be priced there instead of just a fire sale. The new offering lacks Bluetooth and GPS, among other features you might wish for in a tablet, and the screen is surrounded by a hefty bezel, but manages a pretty good list of features. Ars summarizes: "For $100, you can't expect much of the spec sheet. The HP 7 Plus has a 7-inch 1024x600 IPS display, a 1GHz quad-core Cortex A7 processor (made by a company called "Allwinner"), 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage, 802.11 b/g/n, a microSD slot, and a 2800 mAh battery. The biggest downside HP could have fixed at this price point is the software: it's only running Android 4.2.2. Android versions are free, HP." Having an avaialble microSD slot beats some more expensive options, too.
I'm wondering how much it costs to add bluetooth to a device. I mean... them bluetooth headsets have it in, hell even the dinky little $12 'bluetooth speakers' you can park next to your iThing have it in...
What in the world possessed them to release a device that doesn't have bleutooth?
Allwinner is the king of tablets ... http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1287293
:D ) and such for similar price.
The Cubieboard is also a popular RPi alternative with faster CPU (and sweet sweet SATA
In my opinion Allwinner is more credible than HP these days since they actually seem to believe in their own market... whereas HP is practically at the point of execs jumping out of windows (Or the modern equivalent of selling the company out for peanuts).
The problem with these tablets and other computing devices is all of digital restrictions, proprietary drivers, and similar that they are being shipped with. You can't replace the wifi chip even if you wanted to and if HP uses a particular chipset that there is no driver for the latest version of android your shit out of luck. There is no source code. You can't fix the problem yourself or depend on a community to do so for you.
I'm going to call out the companies we should all be boycotting for these types of practices:
HP, Dell, Lenovo/IBM, Toshiba, Apple, and Sony.
These companies are including digital restrictions on the wifi card slot (laptops), locking boot loaders (tablets), and/or using proprietary technology (such as non-standard wifi cards, etc), etc. These practices are preventing people from switching operating systems, upgrading to the latest release of an otherwise supported OS, and much more.
See fsf.org/ryf for a list of products that aren't crippled. The list is small, but growing and you can find a lot more non-crippled devices from ThinkPenguin as well (not all RYF certified, but not crippled in any way either, and completely free software friendly/RYF'able).
last Christmas.
It's similiarly specced to the HP. Something like this:
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.u...
To be honest, it kinda sucks compared to an iPad but makes for good presents. What makes it suck is android more than the hardware, tbh. Android and software bloat by the manufacturer. HP won't be any different going by past computer purchases.
Allwinner is the Intel of ARM chip these days, they're a Chinese National ARM chip manufacturer, they produce in volumes that allow them to get the chip in under $7 for the dual core models. The quad core models are pretty competitive as well. They're in pretty much every Hobbyist robotics kit (check out the PC Duino) and are quite reliable, and have been for years... I won't disagree that it's a silly name, but they did win basically the entire (all) of the low end Android market. So it's pretty accurate. Nobody else can compete on price.
moox. for a new generation.
Android 4.anything will do just fine. What makes this almost a joke device is the screen resolution of NotEnough x NotEnough. Seriously... 1024x768 was a reasonable desktop resolution fifteen to twenty years ago. 600 vertical pixels in 2014 is an unforgivable sin unless you're putting them on a watch or a contact lens or the head of a pin or something else uselessly small to start with.
"Oh no... he found the
thinking the same thing, 100 buck tablets with similar specs are all over the place, and having just bought bottom of the line HP laptops I am not sure that having that logo silk screened on a generic Chinese table means anything
I have two tablets just like this. 1024x600 IPS screen. Large bezel. uSD slot. No BT. No Cameras. No GPS. But, they have a well supported SoC (they are fully supported by CyanogenMod), twice the internal memory, and cost me just $89 (each) two years ago.
Heck, for $109, you can get the Nook HD which has a vastly better processor, screen, and has BT. Why not step up to the Nook HD+ for $129? It's got an amazing screen.
Who would buy this thing?
Some? There's fucking millions. I sometimes think everybody in China has his own brand.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
That's a long post by an AC, for sure.
It is a UK company that licensed the Chinese to manufacture unlimited copies. This is how all ARM chips are manufactured, under license. ARM Holdings does not have any manufacturing capacity outside of basic R&D.
The chips are so cheap because they're produced en masse, there's nothing shady going on here, besides the fact that the country put up the capital to kick start the project. Which isn't illegal anywhere. Mexico's petroleum industry was nationalized in the 1970's and it's worked out quite well.
moox. for a new generation.
They're aware (one of the editors replied on Friday). However it's a long weekend in the US, so don't expect anyone to be around to replace it until Tuesday.
Why would I buy a weak HP tablet for $100 when I can have a better tablet for $90?
http://www.pandawill.com/cube-...
Cube (well-known Chinese manufacturer) tablet with same features as HP plus: built-in BlueTooth, GPS and 3G. Only $90, shipping included.
You don't need a gmail account to use an Android tablet. They work fine without it. Of course if you want Google Play, Gmail or other Google services then you would need an account.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
In the Android 2 era, you needed a Gmail account to use Android Market. A Google account can be tied to any e-mail address, but using a non-Gmail Google account would result in a message "chester@example.com does not use Gmail" followed by a Gmail sign-up form. But as of Android 4, any Google account works with Google Play Store.
All our company smartphones are Motorola Moto Gs running latest Android.
Not one single phone has a Google account, they all connect to the company exchange server via activesync for email, calendar and contacts
If Android is "the wrong OS for tablets", then what's the right OS for tablets made by companies other than Apple?
> Arstechnica wants GPS in a tablet? I suppose that's good if you want a substitute GPS device, but I'd still prefer dedicated units for a car.
Why not just use your cell phone?
Perfect use for a tablet. I also attach pontoons to my car and go boating.
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
These sound remarkably like the cheap Chinese tablets you can find on DealExtreme. I was wondering when a big brand was going to start slapping their name on them.
The $100 price-point is actually a bit of a deal, since that's basically what that 'tier' (The quad cores and 1024 displays) costs from DealExtreme, but I presume you're getting HP warranty and support with these. So not bad!
I bought four different 7-inch tablets in their $65-$80 price range during a half-off sale last May. My favorite is the ICOO ICOU7W.
Its specs:
800x600 screen, the 4:3 aspect being one of my favorite features, because I use it primarily for reading.
1.0GHz Allwinner A13 (Single core)
512mb of RAM
Mali-400 GPU @ 350MHz
8gb of internal storage, plus a microSD slot. (They all have microSD slots)
802.11b/g/n
Front-facing camera
Android 4.0.4 (I could probably update it, but haven't felt the need.)
3000mAh battery, 2A DC fast-charge jack*
On sale, I paid a whopping $36.45 for it. ;)
Only bad things I can say about it are no OTG on the USB port, and no bluetooth...but mostly it's the missing OTG that's a letdown. There's also no GPS which is a little bit of a bummer. Only one of the tablets I bought had GPS; the Erani E70. For some absurd reason, the MK808 'Android TV' stick I bought for $25 also had GPS. (I mean, really?!)
*It's funny, because under full load-- playing HD video, screen brightness up all the way, using the wifi, etc. --normal USB can't actually charge faster than you're discharging... So the 2-amp DC jack is handy for when you're using it in bed or something. I have no idea if the USB port is capable of fast-charging from fast-charge capable ports... I haven't tried it, but I just got a 10,400mAh portable USB battery from Jackery... If it can't, I'll have to make a USB to DC jack, so I can fast-charge through the DC jack using the 2-amp output USB port on the Jackery battery.
Friend: "The NIC is misconfigured..." Me: "No prob, I'll just telnet in and fix it." *Silence*
Go to Alibaba.com. The place is FILLED with similar specced tablets in the sub $100 bracket. Most of them are Allwinner devices with a similar res screen and form factor. I suspect that all HP is doing is bulk ordering a bunch of these, putting its badge on the front, applying some quality control and polish to the product and throwing it out at a higher price.
I have a huge problem with the fact that Android Tablets and by extension Chrome Books, require the use of Google Services.
I have a huge problem with your spreading FUD and ignorance. First, chrome books are not an extension of Android, they do not run Android. So that basically invalidates your entire comment right there, as the reader has discovered that you have no fucking idea what you're talking about. Second, you do not have to use Google services (Not Google Services, it is not a proper name, you are confused) with your Android device. Right out of the box you can add third-party sources, enable debugging, and sideload another market.
You have no idea what you are talking about and no one should pay attention to what you are saying.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"