xinarena

I finally got a tablet for myself. I jump on the Android wagon again. This time round, I did it mainly because of the price factor. Initially, I wanted an iPad but my wife already had one and for a second tablet I wanted something different and cheap. The obvious choice was to get a Android tablet but which one?

There are China made Android tablets that are dirt cheap. Really cheap! Just over a hundred Sing dollar, you can have a 7" ICS ready tablet. 1 factor that rule out the China tablets for me is the quality. Yes, they are cheap but from the web there are many people grumbling about how unstable their China tablets are and most importantly having problems downloading apps from Google Play. If Google Play is a problem then, what can I use the tablet for with limited apps?

Searching around in the web on Monday I found a shop website selling popular Samsung Tab 2 10.1 for SGD $650 and Samsung Tab 2 7" for SGD $505. I was quite tempted as retail stores are selling them at $798 and $598 respectively. I decided to get Tab 2 10.1" screen as I find 7 " kind of small for web surfing. I contacted the shop to check for stock availability and they confirmed that they have a couple sets left. After work, I decided to check out Challenger store before I make a final decision. There I was surprise to find other good deals. Acer A200 and Motorola Xoom 2 are on sale. Acer A200 is selling for SGD $399 and Xoom 2 for SGD $499. I play around with the 2 tablets. Acer big minus point is that it is rather heavy(700g) but it is ICS ready. Xoom 2 is lighter at 599g and has 3G capability. However it is still running on honeycomb 3.2.2. Comparing Xoom 2 with Samsung Tab 2,  their specs are similiar. The major difference for me is that Samsung Tab 2 is able to make phone call, SMS and MMS. These are not important to me as I will not be using these function. However, I would have to wait for ICS update for Xoom 2. Motorola has promised ICS for Xoom 2 which is due to roll out in Q3 2012. Now is already Augest so I guess the update should be ready in a month time the most.  The deal was too sweet for me to pass. I got my Xoom 2 for SGD $538 including screen protector and a tablet cover.