4 ms·

Here's a link for anyone who feels like exploring the wonderful world of cheap generic Chinese tablets: http://www.dealextreme.com/c/tablets-1409 http://www.de

Here's a link for anyone who feels like exploring the wonderful world of cheap generic Chinese tablets: http://www.dealextreme.com/c/tablets-1409 http://www.dealextreme.com/c/tablets-1409 Or cheap generic Chinese anything, for that matter.

MatthewPhillips 14y ago
Heh, I see a LOT of Android 2.2/2.1 and even a few 1.6 devices on that page. Most of the ones claiming 4.0, if you look closely at the pictures, it's not the 4.0 interface (some of them have the old search bar from the 1.6 days). I don't know if the pictures are just wrong, but I certainly wouldn't trust them with my money. The few that did claim 4.0 and did have accurate pictures, the specs were pretty poor and the price wasn't that low.
- polshaw 14y ago
  dealextreme really aren't at the cutting edge of things in this market. They are trading on the fact that they have 'brand-awareness' and trust and that people assume they are the cheapest. Reality is they have a bunch of out of date stock that people in china wouldn't buy. If you want to explore this wonderful world, i'd look at the manufacturers first. Ainol (worst name ever) are the dominant force in the market IMO. The novo-7 fire is basically a nexus 7 with a microSD slot, for (in the west) ~60% of the price.
meritt 14y ago
Your implied negative standpoint, with the products are "cheap" and "generic" and "Chinese", is rather naive and amusing. The entire point of this article is the fact that these products are indistinguishable from the same ones with a HTC, Samsung, HP or Apple logo emblazoned on the device. Hardware will truly be dead when people realize just how much they're paying for the brand name and nothing more.
- rimantas 14y ago
  > is the fact that these products are indistinguishable > from the same ones with a HTC, Samsung, HP or Apple Thats very very very far from "fact". In fact, reality is just the opposite.
- caublestone 14y ago
  I wish that were true...but look at the fashion market. It seems a portion of the populous will pay for brand name goods at a premium that keeps these brands at the top. I suppose that's why Goodwill exists in accounting.
- patdennis 14y ago
  I wasn't implying that they're bad. They're sub $200, made in China, and don't have brand names.
- ctdonath 14y ago
  As noted by another post above, take one of these products, bump the specs to something tolerable (say, 16GB instead of 4GB etc.), do some real quality assurance tests/screening, ship it halfway around the world, put a reputable name on it (so customers can trust they're getting something worth getting), add a sensible markup, set up a tech support hotline, and that $45 slate is now $200 - right about where decent tablets are now. "brand name and nothing more" isn't nothing. It's why people pay Apple $649 for an iPhone 5 consisting of $167.50 in parts - there's more to a product than just parts, there's assuring you'll end up with more than just $167.50 in parts.
freshhawk 14y ago
Anyone know of any good review sites useful to someone interesting in buying some? I imagine there is huge variation in quality among the tablets on that page.
- polshaw 14y ago
  There really aren't any proper reviews of stuff like this; there may be some by people on YT that scratch surface, but there can be small issues that don't get a mention[1]. Your best bet is to ask on android tablet forums, and/or stick to the most common devices (eg. ainol). To be honest i would say get an ainol novo7 elf2/aurora2 (tn/ips), or a used v1, or an a-n-7 fire, which is like the nexus 7 but uSD. 1. eg- i had a tablet that didn't autorotate, despite having all the right sensors, and also that made electronic noise with the headphone port (only) when nothing else was going on for a while.
polshaw 14y ago
As i stated in a reply to a sibling, DX aren't a great place to go for these. Start looking at ipadalternative, merrimobiles, pandawill. but do your own research WRT the sellers reputations.
drivebyacct2 14y ago
Someone ought to try the Allwinner tablets before trashing them. There's nothing wrong with them. At all. That SoC is also powering an enormous number of jumpdrive-sized Android sticks that turn your TV into a big XBMC-capable screen. It's mesmerizing to take one of these sticks, plug it into a TV and then Airplay/uPnP-play content on it from my mother's phone, or my Dad's desktop/server PC, or my phone/tablet/laptop, and have everyone's phone instantly be a remote for it.
- moepstar 14y ago
  >> That SoC is also powering an enormous number of jumpdrive-sized Android sticks that turn your TV into a big XBMC-capable screen. Do you have any pointers to these? I'm feeling pretty intrigued now :P
  - drivebyacct2 14y ago
    This guy has a short* list: http://www.j1nx.nl/list-allwinner-a1x-devices http://www.j1nx.nl/list-allwinner-a1x-devices You want set-top boxes category. Also, I'm waiting for this (1) because it will do hardware accelerated decode in Linux as well as Android. (1) it's not allwinner, but: http://www.ovalelephant.com/p-2079-new-android-tv-box-amlogic-m3-1gb-ram--Xbmc-1080p http://www.ovalelephant.com/p-2079-new-android-tv-box-amlogi...

MatthewPhillips 14y ago

Heh, I see a LOT of Android 2.2/2.1 and even a few 1.6 devices on that page. Most of the ones claiming 4.0, if you look closely at the pictures, it's not the 4.0 interface (some of them have the old search bar from the 1.6 days). I don't know if the pictures are just wrong, but I certainly wouldn't trust them with my money. The few that did claim 4.0 and did have accurate pictures, the specs were pretty poor and the price wasn't that low.

polshaw 14y ago
dealextreme really aren't at the cutting edge of things in this market. They are trading on the fact that they have 'brand-awareness' and trust and that people assume they are the cheapest. Reality is they have a bunch of out of date stock that people in china wouldn't buy. If you want to explore this wonderful world, i'd look at the manufacturers first. Ainol (worst name ever) are the dominant force in the market IMO. The novo-7 fire is basically a nexus 7 with a microSD slot, for (in the west) ~60% of the price.

meritt 14y ago

Your implied negative standpoint, with the products are "cheap" and "generic" and "Chinese", is rather naive and amusing. The entire point of this article is the fact that these products are indistinguishable from the same ones with a HTC, Samsung, HP or Apple logo emblazoned on the device. Hardware will truly be dead when people realize just how much they're paying for the brand name and nothing more.

rimantas 14y ago
> is the fact that these products are indistinguishable > from the same ones with a HTC, Samsung, HP or Apple Thats very very very far from "fact". In fact, reality is just the opposite.
caublestone 14y ago
I wish that were true...but look at the fashion market. It seems a portion of the populous will pay for brand name goods at a premium that keeps these brands at the top. I suppose that's why Goodwill exists in accounting.
patdennis 14y ago
I wasn't implying that they're bad. They're sub $200, made in China, and don't have brand names.
ctdonath 14y ago
As noted by another post above, take one of these products, bump the specs to something tolerable (say, 16GB instead of 4GB etc.), do some real quality assurance tests/screening, ship it halfway around the world, put a reputable name on it (so customers can trust they're getting something worth getting), add a sensible markup, set up a tech support hotline, and that $45 slate is now $200 - right about where decent tablets are now. "brand name and nothing more" isn't nothing. It's why people pay Apple $649 for an iPhone 5 consisting of $167.50 in parts - there's more to a product than just parts, there's assuring you'll end up with more than just $167.50 in parts.

freshhawk 14y ago

Anyone know of any good review sites useful to someone interesting in buying some? I imagine there is huge variation in quality among the tablets on that page.

polshaw 14y ago
There really aren't any proper reviews of stuff like this; there may be some by people on YT that scratch surface, but there can be small issues that don't get a mention[1]. Your best bet is to ask on android tablet forums, and/or stick to the most common devices (eg. ainol). To be honest i would say get an ainol novo7 elf2/aurora2 (tn/ips), or a used v1, or an a-n-7 fire, which is like the nexus 7 but uSD. 1. eg- i had a tablet that didn't autorotate, despite having all the right sensors, and also that made electronic noise with the headphone port (only) when nothing else was going on for a while.

polshaw 14y ago

As i stated in a reply to a sibling, DX aren't a great place to go for these. Start looking at ipadalternative, merrimobiles, pandawill. but do your own research WRT the sellers reputations.

drivebyacct2 14y ago

Someone ought to try the Allwinner tablets before trashing them. There's nothing wrong with them. At all. That SoC is also powering an enormous number of jumpdrive-sized Android sticks that turn your TV into a big XBMC-capable screen. It's mesmerizing to take one of these sticks, plug it into a TV and then Airplay/uPnP-play content on it from my mother's phone, or my Dad's desktop/server PC, or my phone/tablet/laptop, and have everyone's phone instantly be a remote for it.

moepstar 14y ago
>> That SoC is also powering an enormous number of jumpdrive-sized Android sticks that turn your TV into a big XBMC-capable screen. Do you have any pointers to these? I'm feeling pretty intrigued now :P
- drivebyacct2 14y ago
  This guy has a short* list: http://www.j1nx.nl/list-allwinner-a1x-devices http://www.j1nx.nl/list-allwinner-a1x-devices You want set-top boxes category. Also, I'm waiting for this (1) because it will do hardware accelerated decode in Linux as well as Android. (1) it's not allwinner, but: http://www.ovalelephant.com/p-2079-new-android-tv-box-amlogic-m3-1gb-ram--Xbmc-1080p http://www.ovalelephant.com/p-2079-new-android-tv-box-amlogi...