back to article Viewsonic intros £350 7in Android tablet

Viewsonic has introduced its 7in Android 2.2-based tablet, as expected. It claimed the gadget is a world first - thanks to the device's "phone functionality". Dubbed the ViewPad 7, the tablet's full specs have still to be published, but Viewsonic did say the device will sport front (0.3Mp) and rear (3Mp) cameras; have Wi-Fi, …

COMMENTS

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  1. Antidisestablishmentarianist

    Hmm

    Looks literally like a scaled up iPhone 4.

    Is there no originality left in the world?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Hmm

      Your comment answers your question.

    2. <shakes head>

      why be original

      There is plenty of business in taking a very small slice of someone else’s pie, ( in this case the bottom slice.)

    3. JaitcH
      Happy

      There is a HUGE difference from the Lemon 4 ...

      it will make clear telephone calls unlike Lemon 4 with it's death grip antenna problems.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Thumb Down

      iPhone 4 design

      Funny, when I saw the new iPhone I only thought "Nokia released a new phone???"

    5. JaitcH
      Happy

      No originality? How about ...

      a 7-inch tablet running Android 2.2, phone functionality, front and back-facing 3MP cameras and VGA resolution display, a capacitive multi-touch screen and supports 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth and comes with a full size SIM slot. Also good for VoIP or mobile phone calls and it will have an auto G sensor that reorients the screen.

      A 10 inch version is also coming:

      http://www.reghardware.com/2010/08/23/viewsonic_android_tablets/

    6. Paul Shirley
      Flame

      Apple implemented 25+ year old ideas

      Have to agree about the originality. After all PCW magazine mocked up what future PC's might look like in the early 1980's, a glass touchscreen slab about 7" big, roughly the same form factor as an iPhone, with an icon grid interface in the artists impression...

      The iPhone isn't quite as pretty - it's originality is that round the display instead of a edge to edge glass surface. The iPad is obviously much bigger. How original ;)

      Of course Apple do seem to believe they have an exclusive license to implement other peoples ideas.

  2. Tony Barnes
    WTF?

    They could have at least tried...

    ..to make it look a bit like an iPad. I mean really, missed opportunity...

  3. Arnold Lieberman
    FAIL

    Pants resolution

    So it's got the screen of a £40 photo frame and costs £350. No thanks. Also going to be useless for reading PDFs or ebooks as it is won't have enough depth (480 vs 600 for most ebook readers).

    How is this different form the myriad of £60 Chinese ebook tablets that are flooding fleaBay?

    1. JaitcH
      Pint

      The difference between Chinese e-book tablets and ...

      main stream producers is that you can get warranty repairs and get access to the Google App store.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: How is this different?

      For a start, those all have resistive screens and run Android 1.5. And no 3G or phone functionality.

  4. LawLessLessLaw
    Boffin

    They had to make it a phone

    because Google doesn't let non-phones into the Android Marketplace

    looks a nice bit of kit, if only anyone would tell us some spec other than the price.

    No details of CPU, screen size, screen type (is it multi touch?)

  5. JaitcH
    Pint

    Iphans: Eat your hearts out - more features than Job's pad

    This is only the first of a raft of pads and tablets coming out of S.E. Asia. I guess since this will have a telephone feature it will also be allowed access to Google's App store, Flash, no censorship, etc.

    A word of caution: Don't buy any Android pad until OS 3.0+ is released as it has special pad features included.

  6. Ku...

    Its not an eBook reader

    I assume that as I bothered to read the article, its a phone and it runs Andorid 2.2, which makes it a different beast to a boggo eBook reader. I hope this answers your question....

    Viewsonic stuff is usually OK. We used their monitors at work quite a bit. I'd see one running in the flesh before dismissing it.

    You get what you pay for, you want a "real" iPad, stump up the money for one (and you won't even get a phone on it... )

    1. Arnold Lieberman

      It might not *be* an eBook reader

      I like my general purpose computing device to be capable of doing general stuff, and as this isn't going to be much use for creating media it should at least allow me to consume media in an efficient fashion. Scrolling around badly rendered PDFs just won't cut it.

      Until someone comes up with a device that's not tied to the devil's own reality distortion field I think I'll stick to my trusty laptop. This fashion for widescreen displays is nice for watching movies, but website viewing and document reading is less than optimal.

      Android shmandroid, I'd have something like a Viliv S5 but with half the weight and a sensible aspect ratio, then I can choose whether to run Windows, Linux or whatever and not be tied to a marketplace or be trapped by some megalomaniac's idea of what the web should look like.

  7. thomas k.

    form factor constraints?

    Ok, it's a flat, thin, rectangular electronic slab with a touch-screen on one surface - what, exactly, can you do to/with this form factor design to differentiate one very much from another?

    1. Cameron Colley

      I have to agree.

      When anyone suggests that these things are copying an iWhatever I can't help but recall that this is exactly how I imagined a touchscreen device would look back when mobile phones only had numeric keypads.

      OK, so having a black screen border and metallic sides is a bit of a design decision -- but blandness is always going to be part of the design of something with no buttons.

  8. Bob H
    Badgers

    Next

    I was tempted, then I realised I probably want the 10in model, especially as that one has Windows 7 and Android. Leave it running Android and turn off the phone+GPS to keep the battery topped up, then you have a laptop about in reserve when you need it.

    Bugger the iPad, that an Android+WINtel tablet really is a laptop replacement. Just hope it isn't horrendously expensive.

  9. Rattus Rattus

    I'm glad to see

    that some decent Android based tablets are finally starting to appear, but ye gods! The price! People who want an Android tablet are not the same as the ones who buy iPads. We won't pay fashion-statement prices. When something like this costs half of what they're currently asking or less, I'd buy one. The price they're asking today? Not a chance.

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