How have you not considered the Kindle Fire?!? At $200 with an app range far greater than yours, I think it's a way better bet. I'll let someone else list the specs and since I don't have it myself, I'll refrain from giving a review but from the online reviews I've read, it seems to be the best sub 250 tablet.

 

If I were you I'd stay away from anything that isn't Android or Apple as they pretty much dominate the market and probably will for a while until Microsoft eventually catches up. If you're only interested in web browsing/document viewing you could probably get away with the Blackberry but in terms of any further use and even online resources you will probably find that Android/Apple far surpass the Playbook.

One of my friends has an HP touchpad that runs on Android that I am very impressed with and he paid 225 iirc.

But, yeah, I'd really recommend just searching Android tablets on Amazon or something and find something that has good reviews/specs and is in your price range.

 

Some of my friends have gotten some dodgy Chinese branded stuff (running Android) for sub-$250 which are surprisingly powerful. For $60 you can get something that well, runs. For $200 you can get something which competes against $500 tablets. Not sure the actual "brands", but you could consider that.

They're pretty bad QC wise though. A mate had to send one back to China twice due to dodgy screens. They did replace it though.

But yeah, I'd stick to Apple or Android.

 

I have one of these 7 inch OEM pads too and you buy what you see. Forget any kind of Android OS updates. If you know what you need them for that's ok but if you really want something with guaranteed support forget it.

 

-Yes you can update android OS on tablets with new releases.

-The point of apps are that they are terribly convenient. I don't want to open my browser and go on espn to look at the score for a game, I'd rather open an app that only has the score and is faster to load. Not only that, I can set up the app to give me notifications when someone scores. Small stuff like that.

But if you don't care too much about a large variety of apps, then I'd suggest keeping the blackberry. I doubt there's anything technically superior by a significant amount in that price range.

 

As someone who recently got the Kindle Fire, I'm going to have to vouch for it.

Once you get into rooting and running custom ROMs, you unlock your devices potential exponentially and really get it working beautifully. Rooting and flashing ROMs is not a simple process, and it does demand technical know-how and dedicating some time to learn it. That said, I did it over the course of an evening and wouldn't mind helping you out if needed.

I just think Android and iOS have the biggest selections, and more importantly the biggest communities that can help you out with your device in any problems you might run into.

The biggest downsides of the Fire are: Only 8GB of storage, no camera (not a down side for me, but dunno bout you.), No 3G.

The pros: 200$ is dirt cheap considering iPads/Galaxy Tabs and shit run 600$ and more. If you disregard the downsides you are basically getting equivalent devices, the Fire is amazing once you root it and get access to the Play Store (the Amazon Store is kinda limited unfortunately :/), has great technical specs, has an amazing screen, and the development scene for it is flourishing right now, my current ROM is an amazing ICS port.

---------- Post automerged at 01:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:52 PM ----------

Just saw this and I want to reply on all the points you raised.

The Fire /is/ a bit on the limited side when you stick to the stock ROM and don't root it, but there's no fun in an android device if you don't root it anyway, so that goes for all Android devices and not specifically the Fire.

Camera is really bullshit, nearly all phones have cameras today anyway. Don't see why you'd need it on your tablet.

It isn't a eReader, it only carries the Kindle brand name so Amazon can capitalize on Brand Recognition. Obviously, you have the Kindle app, but it ain't any different from any other tablet on the market (iPad also has one.)

Internet browsing is fine, the stock browser is actually pretty good, but I've switched to a different one that better works on ICS on my ROM.

 

It also doesn't have a microphone. So no video chat, and that's a huge negative for some people.

Aziraphale: Can you root it and still access amazon features like cloud storage and amazon prime? Because those are major plusses.

 

Yes, since those kind of things aren't Kindle-specific but Amazon account specific. So no problem. Some custom ICS ROMS still don't support Hardware Accel (and subsequently, 720p) so Amazon Prime is a bit iffy but there should be a working kernel in a few weeks.