Which tablet? I'm keeping an eye on iPad alternatives, would like to know which ones seem promising.
-ERD50
Momo8 Business Edition from Ployer
McBub: Low-Priced Ployer MOMO8, USD 149.99, Ployer MOMO8 Business Edition Tablet PC - 8 inch 8GB Android 4.0 1.5GHz Capacitive 2160P HD 3D Movie (CN109156)
I bought from here, although price is higher now. Other places have it closer to $130.
Apparently Ployer brand is a reasonably well known Chinese manufacturer.
I didn't really research it much, and just bought it based on 1 guy's youtube video reviews because I needed to get it here and set up for my daughter's B-day, so definitely do your own due diligence on this. I am sure I could have gotten more for less had I shopped around, but $145ish for a tablet, case, and extra media cables was good enough for me. Direct ship from Shenzen China 2 day air IIRC.
I like the 8" screen size - more compact and portable than ipad but way bigger than any phone. I played with the tablet a lot while setting it up and installing games and apps for DD, but prefer the netbook by far for surfing and typing. I don't know what ipads have, but this one has an HDMI output so you can watch 1080p movies, netflix, youtube, etc on your big screen or play angry birds on a 50" (lol). This fills the exact need we have of going to a beach house rental or hotel and not having an easily portable media player to watch HD content on demand for free. And it has a microSD card slot, so if I want to turn it into a 32 GB device, I pop in a $25 microsd card. Otherwise it is roughly like an ipad from my limited experience with both devices. Ipad screen does look better - viewing angle on Momo8 is a little weird - seems like it looks better from one orientation than another. Runs android market/PLAY of course, so tons of free high quality apps and great google integration (calendar, mail, maps, etc). Battery is similar to ipad - 8ish hrs without wifi, 5-6 with per the specs although I seemed to get 4 hrs with wifi and battery still around 40% so ymmv.
I have only used an ipad1 for probably 1-2 hrs total, and was unimpressed. I mean it looked great, interface was simple (like android), just slow and laggy when web surfing. Pages didn't render well occasionally. Since I never managed to get sucked into Itunes, but instead use all things google, the android platform makes everything easy for me. I also like being able to customize the OS and install new OS roms if I want to experiment (or as new versions come out). If I did itunes, I imagine ipad would be a more competitive choice.