Next fashions budget 10in Android tablet

UK clothing retailer Next has quietly begun offering a 10in Android 2.1 tablet. The £180 gadget packs in 8GB of Flash storage, a 1GHz ARM processor, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi connectivity, one or two USB ports depending on which spec list you read, a Micro SD card slot, and a headphone socket. Next Tablet The LED-backlit screen is …

[Anonymous Coward]

Never mind the AliBaba link...

http://www.diytrade.com/china/4/products/7397227/10_iPad_copy_E10_with_latest_Android_2_1_OS_Tablet_PC_MID_can_print_apple_logo.html

"iPad copy", "can print Apple logo"...

<chuckle>

[TeeCee]

USB ports.

The confusion on spec here would also point to it being the YeeWay device. In the pic of that you can clearly see one full size USB "A" port and an adjacent USB on-the-go (both master and device) port in mini-usb format.

So it's got two USB ports, but as one of them's labelled "OTG" and is a different type this may have confused a few people.

[Andy Barker]

1GHz?

And if it is like other tablets that look 99% the same, it actually has a 800MHz processor rather than a 1GHz processor.

Still a nice looking tablet with reasonable support / updates (depending on variation you get). Elonex doing the same unit.

[Andrew 63]

Errr...

... It looks like an iPad :S

[Geoff Campbell]

I've got one of those.

It is truly, absolutely, biblically horrible. I only bought it for a laugh, so I wasn't too disappointed, but the response from the "touch" screen is completely unusable - inaccurate in position, completely ignoring 50% of pokes, and the view is like looking through a smoked window at a computer in another house.

Still, it's convinced me that Android will work for a tablet, so now I'm just waiting on one with decent hardware.

GJC

[Anonymous Coward]

@Geoff C

If its an ZT-180/Zenithink boarded ePad/aPad/iPad - update the firmware to latest release [100830 as of 25th] and you'll be pleasantly suprised.

[Mitch Kent]

+1

The updates do vastly improve the accuracy, and they are coming out thick and fast. Yes they rushed it out early - too early - but they are catching up quick and in the meantime we have it in our hands.

[Geoff Campbell]

Interesting

I shall, thanks for the tip.

GJC

[aj87]

epad, apad... cheap knockoff

Looking at the images it looks just like the same device as the 'epad' we brought of Amazon to use for testing Android software on. Its rubbish.

[Tigra 07]

RE: aj87

Just as we could point out the ipad is an expensive rip off?

[My New Handle]

Dope!

To be a ripoff the iPad would have had to come after this device.

Do try harder next time.

[Tigra 07]

So very wrong

"To be a ripoff the iPad would have had to come after this device."

No, it would just have had to be created after another pad, which it did

Try reading next time

[Anonymous John]

Want one!

Nothing more to say really.

[Anonymous John]

No I don't.

Not after reading Geoff Campbell's comment.

[SlabMan]

Next

So, it will be slightly overpriced, very cheaply made, shiny in the shop but disappointing when you get it home, and will fall apart after a week. You'll be fobbed off when you try and get a refund, and you'll renew your vow to never, ever again shop at Next. Until next time.

[James Foreman]

Hmmm...

I saw a guy on the MTR here in Hong Kong using what looks like one of these this evening - but with a 3G dongle stuck in the USB port. Like a ghetto iPad, I suppose, if you're really drawn to cheap shiny black plastic.

[Shane McCarrick]

e-Pad?

Ebay have a myriad of similar products- with far better screens and processors (the 1.06GHz Arm 11 seems to be making an appearance). Do a search for Android+tablet+10

Then again- you risk getting whacked with customs and duty.......

?

[Mage]

So

Now St Jobs can sue them.

Does he still own the Next name?

Some buyer in Next just doesn't get gadgets... Or maybe they know their market better than we do.

I for one welcome our Gadget toting Clothes shops, as that's about all that's left in the Shopping Centre apart from Tesco and HMV

[Dabooka]

If I didn't know better....

I'd say you were from Sunderland.

[Nick Kew]

Since Apple is now a Fashion company ...

... we should not be surprised in the least to see a fashion retailer flogging lookalike products.

[xj25vm]

Title

OK, so in the UK, can you buy any other 10 inch tablet (iPad excluded) on the high street, right at this point in time? Haven't heard of any other one, so good or bad, cheaply made or not, at least you can buy it now.

It has real usb, an ARM processor, Android, and it costs way less then the iPad. I'd say, until we have better alternatives in the shops, these are all good points. It's a good start. Let's have other options available to choose from, and will talk about it then. In the meanwhile I'm happy at least Next is offering one. The media seems to be full of *planned* devices - but nobody is actually selling them yet.

[John Smith 19]

Surley

Not enough bling for the ghetto.

[Chris Byers]

Had one for a few weeks

You really get whet you pay for here. It is cheap, it is cheerful, but it does one thing wonderfully well. It allows you to dig around and experiemnt with Android in a real world (not SDK) environment. There are plenty of forums and custom ROMS to play with, and you will really get a feel for how Android works and how to 'fettle' it without borking your own prized Android handset. If you look around on Ebay you will seem many 'shanzhai' (Chinese knock offs\cheap imitations) Android tablets out there. I even got a 7 inch Android 2.2 tablet with GPS built in (£150) and now have a large touch-screen sat-nav\media player for the car. The Next device is surprisingly robust for an all plastic shelled device as well!!

Go symbol because you get what you pay for and it gives a bit more once you've scratched the surface.

[Stuart Halliday]

Almost....

So only a 3 hour battery life and a resistive screen. Not very good is it?

I want one with 5 hours, a capacitive screen and 3G thank you.

After using resistive screen on my phone, I would rather flush my head down a toilet than buy another device with one!