Android isn’t just for cell phones anymore. I have been overly impressed with my Android based telephone – to the point where I have been looking for reasonable applications for the new Google operating system. I have been on the search for an Android based tablet and finally bought one.
I received my Android tablet about a month ago. It has a 10 inch touch screen with built-in wireless. Mine is equipped with 4GB of storage and 512MB of memory, all being driven by a 1GHZ processor. If you’re not a geek, let me tell you these are pretty impressive specs; especially for something under $200.00.
For those who don’t know, a tablet is a self contained laptop computer without a keyboard. Tablets have touch screens with on-screen keyboards. My tablet device is approximately the size of a children’s hardbound book. Although data storage is limited compared to a PC, the operating system and application files consume a smaller footprint.
My sole purpose in buying a tablet was to learn a bit more about Android and at the same time see if it will handle some of my day-to-day business applications. As soon as it was unboxed I realized that it was much more than a novelty. My initial test proved this was something to be reckoned with.
The evening I received my new ZeniThink tablet I immediately brought it home and started using it with various business applications I had been researching. That is until my fiancée’s six year old son found it. Since then it’s been bouncing around the house with various games and kids’ websites loaded onto it. I’ve even found Alison, my fiancée, surfing the web on it.
For under $200.00 this little device fits the bill for entertainment and home use and allows internet surfing from an armchair without firing up a laptop. If someone were to put the tablet in front of me and tell me to write my book or article on it, I would probably say “no.” Though a keyboard can be plugged into it, my little device can’t keep up with my typing speed.
In our house, the ZeniThink ZT-180 tablet has been tossed around, dropped, slapped, and bounced. With all that, it hasn’t stopped working. The LCD screen is glass and I fully expected it to break after falling into the hands of the six year old. If this doesn’t prove it’s durability then I don’t know what will.
Curious me decided to open the device up and see what makes it tick. I fully expected to see a hard drive, removable components like memory, and some serviceable parts. Instead, I found a couple circuit boards, a battery and a screen. Everything is glued and soldered in-place. If it breaks it can’t be fixed. Certainly it can’t be upgraded.
What a neat little tool though for under $200.00. It will not replace fully fledged laptops or computers; however, it will fill the gap in homes that need a second computer for fun. In most homes, PC’s are used for pleasure 90% of the time anyways so these could potentially make their way into your home in the near future.
Android devices are available online through stores like eBay and Amazon. One morning I watched HSN sell thousands of units for $250.00 each. My prediction is that brick and mortar stores like Radio Shack and Best Buy will soon be selling them too. Keep your eyes open for Android based equipment and don’t be afraid to try them. If a six year old boy can adopt it, I’m sure anyone can.
(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner. You can text him at (978) 413-2840 or call him directly at (978) 919-8059.)