Tablet for daughter???

[blam03]

My daughter is constantly "stealing" mine or my husband's phones so she can play all the games we can access on the Market. I was thinking about getting her something where she will have all the access to all the same games & apps, but can't accidentally make random phone calls in the process.
I've seen some tablets w/Android, but they only have access to a limited version of the Market, and/or they don't have an accelerometer, which I'm assuming is what makes several games work by moving the phone around??
I'm not interested in fancy technical stuff, as that's really all Greek to me...I just want to be able to give my daughter the exact same experience on her own device instead of using our phones.

Thanks much!

 

[KeithKris]

I bought an X5A tablet as a toy for myself and was pleasantly surprised with the performance and build quality. Battery life is only a few hours, but given that you can find them for around $150 shipped now, I think it's worthwhile. Don't expect something like the ipad when you buy it, but if you can accept the shorter battery life, inferior LCD (not a wide viewing angle, picture a laptop screen from a decade ago,) and resistive (less responsive) touch screen, it's really a nice device. It seems to work great for most games. You might want to consider this unit. I found mine on aliexpress.com from a supplier with decent feedback. Look for the lowest price you can find, but beware of people offering items significantly cheaper than everyone else, often times they're scammers.

My daughter is constantly "stealing" mine or my husband's phones so she can play all the games we can access on the Market. I was thinking about getting her something where she will have all the access to all the same games & apps, but can't accidentally make random phone calls in the process.
I've seen some tablets w/Android, but they only have access to a limited version of the Market, and/or they don't have an accelerometer, which I'm assuming is what makes several games work by moving the phone around??
I'm not interested in fancy technical stuff, as that's really all Greek to me...I just want to be able to give my daughter the exact same experience on her own device instead of using our phones.

Thanks much!

 

[blam03]

Thanks! So, would a resistive screen be less responsive than what's on my Droid Eris? And, it does have access to the full Market, right? And it works with games like Labrynth (sp?) where you tilt the device to make the ball move?

Thanks again1

 

[KeithKris]

Your droid eris has a capacitive screen. You'll find that you have to push harder with a finger on this tablet, or some prefer to use their fingernail as opposed to the finger itself. The tablet also comes with a stylus which some find easier to use. It's very much personal taste, but I feel that you get used to it after a short while. Most cheap GPS units have resistive screens, so you might get a good idea from trying one of those. This particular tablet (x5a) does have the market installed, but many others don't. It does have a gravity sensor (the screen rotates depending on how you hold it,) but I haven't tried that particular game with it, so I don't know how well it will work. I'll try to remember to try it when I get home.

Thanks! So, would a resistive screen be less responsive than what's on my Droid Eris? And, it does have access to the full Market, right? And it works with games like Labrynth (sp?) where you tilt the device to make the ball move?

Thanks again1

 

[KeithKris]

Accelerometer games "worked", but the axes were inverted, so it was uncontrollable. It could just be my unit that's defective, but I wouldn't recommend this tablet for accelerometer games unless someone else can confirm that they have have a working one.

Your droid eris has a capacitive screen. You'll find that you have to push harder with a finger on this tablet, or some prefer to use their fingernail as opposed to the finger itself. The tablet also comes with a stylus which some find easier to use. It's very much personal taste, but I feel that you get used to it after a short while. Most cheap GPS units have resistive screens, so you might get a good idea from trying one of those. This particular tablet (x5a) does have the market installed, but many others don't. It does have a gravity sensor (the screen rotates depending on how you hold it,) but I haven't tried that particular game with it, so I don't know how well it will work. I'll try to remember to try it when I get home.

 

[Deleted User]

Most tablets don't have the official Android Market because they don't have 3G (cell phone reception) built-in, which Google requires. The only tablet I know that has this capability is the expensive Samsung Galaxy Tab.

 

[KeithKris]

Some Chinese made tablets do have the official market. The manufacturers don't have the legal right to include it, but they do anyway because it's hard to enforce copyright in that country. The one I mentioned, does, and there are a few other models that do as well. Even for the tablets that don't include it, it's not terribly difficult to install the official market (although as noted, Google does not sanction this.)

 

[blam03]

Thanks for all the input, guys. I went to ecargoonline and found a couple apads I'm interested in. I've put links to the ones I'm looking at down below and would like further recommendations as to which way to go. A couple questions I have are:

- Will these things arrive in English???
- If it indicates 3G access, wouldn't I need to subscribe to Verizon or something to get service and then have a monthly fee? Otherwise I can just use any existing Wifi and be fine, right?
- Please let me know which one is the best for complete Market access, and the ability to play all the games. I'm such a clueless moron when it comes to this technical stuff, so I'm afraid I'm going to end up with one that doesn't have what I want.

wholesale 7inch MID WIFI AND 3G wholesale 7inch MID WIFI AND 3G

Android 2.1 Tablet PC with Multi Touch Screen and HDMI Interface Output

7 Inch Touch Screen Android Tablet PC iPed MID with WIFI
- This is the only one that mentions the G-sensor for tilting & rotating the device for game play that I can see....

Anyway, thanks for the help - again.

Beth

 

[KeithKris]

The first one to me looks like it is the X5A. A lot of manufacturers sell the same devices with different names. If it is indeed that model, it does have multi touch, but with resistive screens multi touch is iffy at best, so I wouldn't use that as a purchasing point. (All three of these tablets will be resistive.) I'd still probably stick with the first one, but the second one looks like it could be decent as well. I'd stay away from the third one, 128mb of ram isn't very much, this one is probably running android 1.5 or 1.6, and with so little memory there's little chance you'll ever get anything newer to run on it. You can find all three of these tablets cheaper elsewhere though. Best to order soon though, they drop ship from China and take about two weeks to arrive. You'll be tight making it in time for the holidays.

Usually they will arrive set for English, but you never know. You're dealing with very cut rate manufacturers at this price. The 3g functions are on Chinese frequencies and useless in the US. I'd still recommend finding an X5A from someone on aliexpress. I know the market works, and you can find them for around $150 shipped.

 

[RedRyno]

You can get the cruz reader from "Boarders" for $139, but when I checked out it was listed a $109-$120 with tax & shipping...its not a top of the line, runs 2.0 but for a kid should be good...