Bad Experinces So Far

[Thundersley_Male]

I am looking at buying a tablet, but know little or nothing about them, it looks as though it could do some of these things that i would like to do. But so far i've not had very good experiances with them.
My ex wife brought her step son an Archos 10 inch tablet for Christmas. (The step son has Downs) On trying to set it up for him we were unable to find the shopping bag and could not download any appts for it. So that is going Back to the shop she brought it from today.
On Boxing day we went to Maplins and purchased another 10 inch tablet for him. Took that home and after a while ( to let it charge) we tried again agin to put some apps on to it and this time we again could not see a shopping basket/bag also we got an error that said it could not load Android tablet 4.0 or something similar. I think that was also an Archos. Took that back to Maplins one of there Techs had a look at it and said that was faulty as well. So he now has to wait until around Wednesday for a new one.

What I would like to know from this forum is:
Should we have seen a shopping basket/bag on both of these tablets?
Is it fairly common for new Tablets not to work?
If we were not meant to see a basket/bag how do you download apps?

 

[Tom T]

Unfortunately you are being confused by a metaphor. With these types of devices there is an app store, which I suppose is an actual store, that is accessed by an app itself. In an attempt not to be confusing you can think of it as a web site where software is offered for sale but instead of accessing it through a browser it has a dedicated application. Google's Play Store should come installed and you should see an icon on the desktop which should allow you to browse and purchase apps.

Sent from my Galaxy Note 10.1

 

[Thundersley_Male]

I don't actually remember seeing a "Google Play Store" icon on either machine.
On trying to access it via the internet we kept getting a message "you haven't accessed the Google Play Store app(white shopping bag app icon)
on your device" That didn't make any sense as that it what I was trying to do.
The other thing with this is: on starting up both of these Tablets they both opened up straight away. When I have brought new PCs/ Laptops they always have to go through an initialisation process before you can use them, I expected the same to happen here, should it have happened?

 

[LLLeeggzzz]

No on starting the tablet it usually shows the time and a little lock. Touch the lock and slide it to the unlocked lock. There are several stores to get apps. Google store and Amazon store. Both have a lot of free apps that your son will enjoy. I'm hoping the next tablet works for you. They are great educational tools besides being fun.

 

[leeshor]

I don't actually remember seeing a "Google Play Store" icon on either machine.
On trying to access it via the internet we kept getting a message "you haven't accessed the Google Play Store app(white shopping bag app icon)
on your device" That didn't make any sense as that it what I was trying to do.
The other thing with this is: on starting up both of these Tablets they both opened up straight away. When I have brought new PCs/ Laptops they always have to go through an initialisation process before you can use them, I expected the same to happen here, should it have happened?

That's very strange. Go to settings - account and delete whatever Google account you find, restart and add the account back. Android tablets are supposed to, (at the minimum) ask for you to set the date - times - Google Account and a few other things.

You may want to go through ALL the settings to see if something rings a bell.

 

[Thundersley_Male]

My son has now got the replacement Tablet from the last one, and that worked absolutley superfine. So now i know that is ok i just have to make my mind up as to which one to go for, for myself. Has anyone got any tips on what I should be looking for when buying one.

 

[BamaPanda]

My son has now got the replacement Tablet from the last one, and that worked absolutley superfine. So now i know that is ok i just have to make my mind up as to which one to go for, for myself. Has anyone got any tips on what I should be looking for when buying one.

Buy a name that has shown to to have good quality and support after the sale ....Onda, SmartQ, Ainol & Teclast are a few.
Make sure it has 4.1.
Make sure it has Google Play installed.
Get at least a dual core ...such as an RK3066. If you are a bit more adventuresome, try the one of the new A31 Quad cores that are just now coming up. Ainol and Onda would be my choices. The new V972 and Novo 9 are surely bargains.
Get a 9.7" ..unless you are big into games and movies; then get a 10.1. The 9.7" actually has more screen than a 10.1 and has been shown to be a better all around format.
Buy from the more reputable supplier, such as Merimobiles or McBub, even then knowing your risk in buying direct from China. If you wish to spend more, there are firms like Top Notch Tablets that would be closer ...but often they have fewer choices.

Hope that helps.

 

[Natey2]

Has anyone got any tips on what I should be looking for when buying one.

Yes, see http://www.androidtablets.net/forum/showthread.php?t=50277 for things to be aware of when looking for a tablet.

 

[Heinz]

Buy a name that has shown to to have good quality and support after the sale ....Onda, SmartQ, Ainol & Teclast are a few.
Make sure it has 4.1.
Make sure it has Google Play installed.
Get at least a dual core ...such as an RK3066. If you are a bit more adventuresome, try the one of the new A31 Quad cores that are just now coming up. Ainol and Onda would be my choices. The new V972 and Novo 9 are surely bargains.
Get a 9.7" ..unless you are big into games and movies; then get a 10.1. The 9.7" actually has more screen than a 10.1 and has been shown to be a better all around format.
Buy from the more reputable supplier, such as Merimobiles or McBub, even then knowing your risk in buying direct from China. If you wish to spend more, there are firms like Top Notch Tablets that would be closer ...but often they have fewer choices.

Hope that helps.

We are having trouble with McBub. Had bought 2 tablets from them, the last one defect, and having a hard time to have it replaced.