I finally pulled the trigger on a cheap tablet. Yes, that is it there. It isn't the nice Samsung Tab that I looked at, but it doesn't carry the added cost of the Verizon contract. I finally found one for only $60 on Woot.
The Velocity Micro Cruz T301 is also an Ingenic T301, which is how it will appear on Google Play after you get it registered. It's an 800x600 7 inch tablet and it runs Froyo, Android 2.2. Now, when you buy it, it doesn't have the Android Appstore, nor Google Play, but if you will do a little quick research using the device name, you will find instructions on how to correct that. It's terribly easy, because it basically comes rooted.
This will make the tablet more useable, but unfortunately, it won't make it fast, and that is the biggest problem with the T301. The website says that it is an 800mhz processor, but it feels more like 80. Another site says it is 528mhz and that sounds closer to the truth. Most of the apps work okay, only slowly. The screen is capacitive and seems fairly responsive, except that it is hard to tell sometimes, because the OS responds so slowly.
Now, just in case anyone thinks that I am just complaining about Android, you should know that I also have a Samsung Fascinate to play around with, and it works quickly, much nicer than the tablet, but the difference between a 4" screen, and a 7" screen is significant.
I like it for reading. The Kindle app works pretty well, and I can read my email and blogs. It can be a bit finicky though. It may kick you back to the desktop from a browser session, and it may display a connection error in email and fail to display the message. Now, I know this is some weirdness in the software, because if I hit reply it shows the message as part of the reply. Of course, this rarely happens, except when I am viewing my email newsletters that are heavy on html. I think that sort of throws a monkeywrench into the works.
The other big problem is that there are a lot of apps that won't install, most noteably, Netflix and Angry Birds, two apps that I really want to install. Now, I have both Google Play and the Amazon Appstore installed, and there is an oddity in the Amazon Appstore. Amazon does not seem to have a good grasp on the fact that these apps won't install. In fact, the Amazon Appstore shows about a half dozen apps that it has attempted to download and install, and failed. The problem is that they never go away. They sit there in a list with a reinstall button as if the third or fourth try will be the lucky charm and they will install. I have yet to find any way to remove them from the list. It feels like Amazon is mocking me.
On the other hand, apps that won't install simply don't come up in searches in Google Play. And, if I go out to the Google Play website on my desktop, then it will actually tell me that the app is not compatible with the Ingenic T301. This is a very nice feature.
This app is compatible with some of your devices.
What I wish one of them would tell me is why they won't install. Is it the resolution, the processor speed, or the version of Android that is the problem.
I've rambled a bit here, but I like having a tablet, I just wish it were a better one. Another serious lack to the T301 is bluetooth. No keyboards, which might make it a little more useful, if any of the keyboards work with 2.2.1. Unfortunately, the T301 does not seem to have sold well enough for anyone to have made an updated ROM for it. I have seen how well a device can work with Android 2.3 and I don't know if the T301 would do as well, but it would be nice to see. What I really want to do is to move the innards from the Fascinate into the T301, but that isn't going to happen.
I cannot really recommend the T301. You get what you pay for. I didn't pay much for the T301 and I didn't get much, but it was within my price range, and it works.
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