Best 7 incher out now?

[Underdog]

Hey guys! Been looking for a 7 inch tablet mainly for use whilst traveling - watching films, browsing the net etc. I've been waiting for Samsung to give a UK release date for the galaxy tab 2 7.0 for ages but there is still no news (although tonight is the London Samsung Mobile Unpacked event which i suppose Samsung could give a release date for it then...?). I can get a Galaxy tab 2 7.0 imported from the US for about £200 ($325) but this kind of defeats the whole selling point of it being a cheap tablet! Basically is there anything else on the market now or in the very near future that would be a better option? My requirements are micro SD slot, front facing camera, brand name, around £150 ($250).

Rumors of the supposed Google/asus nexus tablet sound promising but as im leaving the UK for a years travelling in july i dont know whether i can wait until it comes out Where should i be looking to keep updated on this?

Thanks!!

 

[userbe1155]

Hi heck out ramos r17 pro. Chinese but dual core cap screen 16 gb flash, 1 gb ddr etc much cheaper than samsung & should fill your needs, not sure about camera quality mp but worth a look no doubt. Even to dissmiss. In stock now ar redtabletpc.com

Sent from my M9701 using Android Tablet

 

[Underdog]

Well for the first time I had a good go on the samsung galaxy tab 7 plus (to give me an idea what the galaxy tab 7.0 2 might be like) and I was definitely disappointed, first up a 7 inch screen is too small for me and nothing seemed to run smoothly on it. I tried out the galaxy tab 10.1, 7 plus and 7.7 and they were all very jerky opening and closing apps, anything that needed Internet took a long time to work, selecting things on Facebook was surprisingly difficult (actually took me ages to sign out on one of them, ended up just closing the browser), couldn't connect properly to google play store despite a strong wifi connection etc. Overall I expected a lot more from these devices, had a play on the iPad 3 in the same shop and everything was smooth and snappy, all the apps that used the internet worked absolutely fine loading up nice and quick.

This has definitely put me off a samsung tab now, the ones in the shop had barely anything on them and even with all that free memory nothing ran smoothly. Im not sure if the second gen sammy tabs are going to be significantly better with the modest upgrades (and downgrades!), will definitely want a thorough go on one before I would even consider it now.

Anyone know of any 9-10 inch tabs being released in the near futures?

 

[MA83]

ASUS tf300 is out - 1.2GHZ Tegra 3; basically an extremely overhauled tf101; $379 new on Amazon. ASUS Infinity should be out in a couple of months with upgrades over the Prime also.

 

[Underdog]

ASUS tf300 is out - 1.2GHZ Tegra 3; basically an extremely overhauled tf101; $379 new on Amazon. ASUS Infinity should be out in a couple of months with upgrades over the Prime also.

In the UK it costs $450 new on amazon, out of my price range but perhaps the price will come down when the infinity is due to be released and i can snap one up then

 

[MA83]

That is CRAZY! I can't believe the price difference. Well, you learn something new everyday.

 

[Underdog]

That is CRAZY! I can't believe the price difference. Well, you learn something new everyday.

On checking again that was the asus tf101 for $450! the tf300 isn't even out here yet! Hits the shelves this month a a ridiculous $650!

 

[Tom T]

Funny in a way the different experiences people have, I've found the 7 plus to be a smooth overall experience, not sure of the 7 2, but I did see it at office depot for a fairly amazing $250 but I guess one would have to see the ICS experience. I am waiting for, and hoping the Asus Memo, still exists. If it is quad core and had a digitizer, all for $250, it could well be my grail tablet. What I fear is if Asus makes the 7 " tablet for Google they may end up with a non compete, and end up making the Memo more expensive if they make it at all.
Sorry if I'm a little behind here I have been gone for a few days in a very backwards place where internet access has been more than just a luxury and even cellular access came at a steep price. Places like this still exist in the world it seems.
At an an aside, even the apple gambits at a well known gadget site had a rather flowering review of the 7 plus comparing it to the 8.9, a machine they also loved.

 

[MA83]

The word at the transformer forums is that the Memo seems to be dead. With everything ASUS is doing right now, I would be surprised if they did come out with the MEMO.

 

[Tom T]

The word at the transformer forums is that the Memo seems to be dead. With everything ASUS is doing right now, I would be surprised if they did come out with the MEMO.

I blame Amazon, if they hadn't made such an amazing success of the kindle fire google may not have felt the need to destroy the Asus in order to compete against Amazon and the originally announced memo could be hitting the market anytime now. Mediocrity should never be the price and result of success (in my humble and mostly valueless opinion I'm afraid).......its been a long day but at the very least it feels good to be home.