back to article Orange Tahiti 7in Android tablet

IPTV Week logo The iPad is all very well, but with its 9.7in display it can be just too big to cart around. Something lighter and more luggable could be the answer. Since there’s no 7in iPad – and the BlackBerry PlayBook has very few apps – we’re left with Android and even this smaller size is still relatively rare on …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Gimp

    Pricey

    £669 TCO, no thanks!

  2. mrmond

    I feel the same as K 4, that's a ridiculous outlay for a tablet of this size,even if it's spread over 2 years. Plus you'd have to get a larger memory card.

    And why is the reviewer complaining about the lack of Orange apps. Having had a ZTE Blade and numerous SPV phones loaded down with Orange bloatware, it's a plus point to not have them.

    Now..if this comes out on PAYG at a reasonable price I might be tempted.

    1. nichomach
      Thumb Up

      +1 from me

      I still use a SanFran/Blade as my main phone and thank goodness it's rooted and has a custom ROM sans bloatware.

  3. Richard Wharram
    Thumb Down

    Far too expensive

    Even with a 3G allowance, that's a rip-off.

    You could buy an iPad 2 with 3G for £499 and then add on a GiffGaff data SIM for £7.50 a month. TCO for 24m = £679.

    Or just sneakily tether it to your phone to save money.

  4. Dotter

    ICS

    "If you want Honeycomb, the edition designed with larger devices in mind, it’s hard to find many options (though more are imminent)"

    I would hope they would have Ice Cream Sandwich on them, rather than Honeycomb if they haven't already been released.

    And there seem to be a fair few out there with Honeycomb/ICS already.

    1. big_D Silver badge

      Agreed

      And incidentally, I was in my local MediaMarkt (Germany) and the htc Flyer there had Honeycomb installed on it.

  5. dotdavid
    WTF?

    "Sure, there’s the underrated but pricey HTC Flyer with its curious stylus, but that’s still only boasting the earlier version of Android intended for phones"

    Actually, the Flyer has an official Honeycomb update now. Granted, some don't much like it, but it's there. There are also vague rumours that it will get Ice Cream Sandwich. I doubt this Orange-branded thing will get any updates; why should Orange break the habit of a lifetime and update one of their devices?

    And as others have said, TCO is a stupid amount considering how many competing options there are likely to be released this year now ICS is open-source and the cheaper manufacturers have their hands on it.

    1. 27escape

      And you can pick the flyer up for £280 in some places

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Stop

        Got my Flyer for £200 from Currys...

        Granted, it is only Wifi, but has 16GB of storage and is running Honeycomb.

        Not to mention that the modding/support community for this will be miniscule, even compared to that of the Flyer.

  6. Nick Kew

    Kindle?

    The £149 3G+keyboard Kindle is surely the ideal gadget in this size. If only it were an open platform for the apps!

  7. MrWibble
    WTF?

    Vanilla Android a bad thing?

    "Those wouldn’t work on a tablet but I’d have liked some other Orange specials. "

    I'd much rather have Vanilla Android than Orange "customisation" on anything, after all the Orange Crap I had on my San Francisco - it slowed it down something rotten.

    1. Richard Wharram

      Agreed

      The HD voice thing may have worked OK between Orange users with the same software on the same network but how likely is that to ever actually happen.

      Much better to root the thing, slap on CM7 and get a faster, more functional and frankly less ugly user experience.

  8. Critical
    Happy

    HTC Flyer has had Honeycomb for a month or more...

    I bought the HTC Flyer 3G 32GB version for around £230 just before Christmas, updated it to Honeycomb (using official releases, no bodging) and it's one of the best devices I've ever owned. The 7" format is ideal for my purposes, but I never use the stylus... that's a solution looking for a problem IMHO.

    1. David Paul Morgan
      Go

      our Flyer upgraded to Honeycomb too

      I have a Transformer 101 and my partner has the Flyer. He liked the original Sense interface, but finds Honeycomb much better. The 7" form factor seems to be better on the Intercity for reading and movie viewing. His workmates have also commented how much they like the Flyer - including some of the hardcore Fanboys!

      This reviewed product looks pretty good, as long as it's easy to remove all the Orange customization

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Huawei MediaPad

    Orange Tahiti = Huawei MediaPad

    Why miss it out? Its the require info to find more considered reviews. Upshot = mehhh, unless you need the 3G connection.

  10. davew_uk

    Underlying hardware?

    Isn't this just a rebranded Huawei Mediapad?

    1. Richard Wharram

      Probably

      How much are they normally?

      1. Kyoraki

        To put it bluntly, a lot. ~£300 on ebay is the norm it seems.

      2. Richard Wharram

        About £320

        Over here at least.

        Might be cheaper if they were available from major retailers but they don't seem to be.

        Even so, £320 + (24 * £7.50) = £500.

        Less than £669. That's for a 1gig per month allowance but that's not on contract so you can up the amount if you are away from home a bit more than usual.

        So, Orange is still ripping you off.

  11. Craig McGill 1

    That's not bad

    For all the moaning about pricing, not everyone wants to faff about and search for cheaper options like GiffGaff (or whatever it's called) - £69 upfront and then £25 a month isn't bad. I paid £250 to Carphone Warehouse for a 32GB 3G iPad 2 and that's £25 a month to Three for 15GB (which is better admittedly).

    But what's on offer here could do for the casual tablet user or for businesses who just need a few machines on the cheap upfront.

  12. Monkey

    ... And you gotta remember

    These contracts are largely aimed at people who want a tablet but can't find the lump sum to purchase one outright immediately. No matter how much real money it may be cheaper than the final cost of contract price.

    Is it a predatory practice by the retailer (Orange in this case)? Yes of course it is, but that is exactly how HP agreements have worked since day one, which this effectively is. Attractive trickle costs of a bling item, with a crap underlying deal, and it is how they will ALWAYS work.

  13. Matt_payne666

    Novo7

    or get a novo7 from china for sub £100

  14. Sandy Ritchie

    I like ZTE kit

    But I'll stick with my 1 year old 7" Galaxy tab, cost me a couple of hundred when I got it last year, and so far its cost me £40 in data costs. £20 credit on T-mobile converted to 6 months web package. And I've hammered it almost every day, downloading massive updates, games, tethering and T-mobile don't seem to give a monkeys.

    Plus decked out with its 32gb micro sd, plus the build in 16gb its a great device for watching tv/film on.

    Plus with a decent bit of battery monitoring software will run for days even used fairly heavily.

    I look forward to a decent replacement for my GT, but it will be a long time coming I fear.

    1. Snowy Silver badge

      Odd that while Orange and T-mobile are owned by the same company (everything everwhere) Orange is terrible when it come to mobile data priceing.

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