Tech question for the experts re Scroll Tablets

[MG Autos (Mark)]

As title really not got a huge amount of knowledge myself re this sort of stuff and some of the specs on these devices may as well be written in Chinese as they mean nothing to me

I was watching the gadget show last week (nothing to do with Suzy Perry honestly...) and was fairly impressed by their review on the Scroll Tablet and have been after something similar to an Ipad for some time but have no desire to pay I Pad prices.

So found this on E blag which seemed a pretty reasonable price as it's an 8gb tablet and most i've found of a similar price are only 2gb http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360412933113? ... 1436.l2649

So the questions are :
1. For the experts out there, is this a good price ?
2. Would you recommend this sort of tablet for general internet surfing when on the move and occasional viewing of movies, listening to music, etc or is there a better alternative than this for similar money ?
3. Can I use this as a GPS / Sat Nav as well and if so would I need anything else such as additional software, GPS antenna or the such like ?

Any advice would be very welcome

[MG Autos (Mark)]

Any one got any thoughts at all ?????

[Drift]

I have tried the cheap Chinese tablets and they are pants to the point of unusable, they screen is cheap and was like a plastic DVD cover, it was used (we borrowed it) and to be honest it was unusable.
This one may be better but the one Ive experienced put me right off.

[cheekychick]

I would say be prepared to spend a bit more, a resistive screen is a little bit rubbish, nothing like the touch screen of an ipad if you have had a go of one, you have to apply far more pressure, it's the type of screen that you can use your nail on, if that makes sense.

Also, the version of android this one comes with is already out of date and it doesnt have GPS.

Dont get me wrong, tablets are ace, i love mine, infact i wonder if it should be surgically attached I have an android one with just wifi, if i want to use it while out and about, i just hotspot my phone, and connect through that, better than having 2 bills

[Wilberforce]

What model did you get in the end, Kylie??

Mark, try dropping fudge a PM mate; he's recently acquired a Viewsonic Viewpad i believe, and is suitably impressed with it.
Also, a few reviews to consider perhaps.

The Register: Budget tablets
The Register: High end tablets

[huggy]

just bought the wife an archos 101 16gb 10.1 screen,must say its very good for the price,cheapest i found was £181 from pixmania http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/7533023 ... table.html just installed the kindle software on it and she now has 980 ebooks on it.

[cheekychick]

i got the Asus Transformer in the end, after lots of research. It is a slightly more expensive one, and there are slightly lesser spec'd for less cash, i just happen to like the brand, and read good reviews. Whichever you get, honestly, you will not regret it, just do your research

[Retro Pedro]

Mark - like Jim said, shoot Matt (fudge) a P.M. He was showing me his set up at the last picnic, had all his OS Maps, MM apps etc, GPS tracking plus he was telling me about putting is SIM card to use as phone. Have a look at his latest ride post and see his set up in it's full glory. To be fair, like I said to Greg, I'm Retro Pedro, not Techno Pedro so it all sounded pretty good to me.
I've bought wifey one of them gizmo's for Chrimbo and was have a little look at it. Seemed quite easy to operate. To me, with the set up Matt had, seemed the ideal replacement for the lappy for laning. Battery is alledgedly supposed to last for 7 hours as against what, 2-3 hours for the lappy.

[MG Autos (Mark)]

Cheers Guy's, will have to do a bit more research and try and find a compromise between spec and budget

[yaki]

i got the Asus Transformer in the end, after lots of research. It is a slightly more expensive one, and there are slightly lesser spec'd for less cash, i just happen to like the brand, and read good reviews. Whichever you get, honestly, you will not regret it, just do your research

Ditto, love it to bits as does SWMBO and the kids, so much so that I have to prise it out of their hands

Its yet another Android tablet but am impressed with the build quality, performance, screen size etc etc etc.

It has built in GPS and use it for Sat Nav (CoPilot) and also run Memory Map for green laning as well as general Internet surfin, PowerPoint presentations, movies, music in fact pretty much everything I used to use a laptop for.

Battery life is excellent, early ones had an issue in standby with the keyboard docked, Asus fixed this FOC and all new ones for the last few months already have the fix applied.

Oh, and it was free

Well sort of, took out a new phone contract, had a phone for SWMBO and the Transformer for me (when I can get it off them)

Only downside, my laptop has a light up keyboard, wish the Transformer had one

[Drift]

The 8gig one is £150 at the carphone warehouse.
http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/mobile ... NET-TABLET

[cheekychick]

that seemed like a good price till i read the bit that said 'doesnt support the android network' thats a bit pants, and i dont think it has GPS

[Drift]

Reviews say it updates firmware so it must do

I dont think the 101 does GPS but it does bluetooth so you could pair to a gps device I should imagine?

I think its better value than the cheap Eastern copies for a basic unit.

[cheekychick]

best thing in all cases is to go and get your hands on one, have a play and see how it feels

[Drift]

[cheekychick]

whaaaaat???

[huggy]

Reviews say it updates firmware so it must do

I dont think the 101 does GPS but it does bluetooth so you could pair to a gps device I should imagine?

I think its better value than the cheap Eastern copies for a basic unit.

your right it does not have gps but you can use a mobile via bluetooth,i did a hell of alot of research on getting a good tablet for a good price, i decided on the archos 101 16gb as my wife wanted it mainly for books,roughly 10.000 books uses around 7 to 8 gig so there is still plenty of room for other apps and movies/mp3 ect,as it says it does not support the android market,well big deal,any apps on the android market can be found over the internet anyway,ive installed kindle software on it and thats not part of the pre installed apps library thats on it,the appslib software on it is just like android market anyway and has a vast amount of apps,all in all its no ipad2 or samsung galaxy but for the price its a damn good tablet.
edit
from what ive just googled you can install the android market if you feel you need it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbYKiuxeD5I
edit again
just installed the android market on the archos 101 and its all working as it should

[Rich]

i have managed to get my hands one a viewquest The Slate 2 its on android 2.1 and is a bag a sh1te i am looking in to and upgrade to 2.2 if i can find one

http://www.viewquest.co.uk/shop-product ... .php?pID=6

[fudge]

as people have said i have got one for my car and use when i am away from work
i got this one http://www.maplin.co.uk/viewpad-7-touch-tablet-511340
i am inpressed with it, nice little thing, powerfull, not the best on the market but still good.
and it now has a sim in it all the time and is a phone and online all the time as well as running memory map with it's gps, and did track me around the SE woods with ease.
and the camra's on them are not that bad as well.

[MG Autos (Mark)]

Thanks for all your input and advice Guy's. Have been having a good look over the last week and have decided (well 90% sure) I'm going to go in a slightly different direction and get a Dell Streak as it seem's to get pretty good reviews, does everything I want such as the internet browsing, GPS, music, movies, etc and has the bonus of taking my sym card so I can use it as a phone as well and save having to have several different devices each time I leave the house.
Not buying from Dell directly though as they are still a rediculous price but have found a firm that sell refurbed units with a 12mth warranty for £180 including the delivery so think i'll go with that.