Augen to sell $150 Android 2.1 tablet at Kmart

[Jos]

Looking for an inexpensive and readily-available Android tablet? Augen has you covered. The little-known manufacturer is getting ready to launch the GenTouch Android tablet and it's going to be sold exclusively at Kmart for a mere $149. Specs aren't half bad for the price, either -- You'll get a 7-inch 800x480 TFT LCD screen, 800Mhz CPU, 256MB RAM, 2GB storage, Wi-Fi connectivity, SD/MMC slot (up to 16GB cards supported) and Android 2.1.

The retailer featured the GenTouch in a circular this past Sunday complete with a $20 launch discount. It will be compatible with the Android Market App Store, giving you access to thousands of games and other applications. And if that wasn't enough, the GenTouch reportedly comes with a free leather carrying case. Now, the bad news: Apparently, it is taking a bit longer than expected for Kmart to get enough products in store shelves, but if you go your local store and request a rain check using the device's SKU (811470015254) they'll honor the lower price when more units are available.

At this point we can't tell for sure what to expect in terms of quality and performance, but for the price, you certainly can't go wrong. Augen also recently released its Linux-based ebook reader, TheBook, for $89 and is reportedly readying a $99 netbook sporting a 400MHz processor and Android 1.6.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/39803-augen-to-sell-150-android-21-tablet-at-kmart.html

 

[tipstir]

Thanks for posting this. I've been at this since Monday. Everyone is so buzzed about this item. None of the Kmart in my area (only 2 stores almost 100 miles apart) doesn't them in stock. But yesterday I got my rain check. Going to be first come first call back on the rain check. The way they're going to do it is send out only those with rain checks will get them. If you're lucky then you might be at the right moment to get one off the truck when it comes to the store. Next to this would be going to Meritline and get EKEN M002 with 256MB of RAM 7" Table Replicated iTouch but double the VIS of the iTouch screen is only 3.5 VIS (visual image size) that one is only $125 free shipping. If you got the promo code it would knock off $6 bucks making it $118. Since it doesn't come from CA but from China the wait is long. Also on the Kmart Gentouch there is a $5 off coupon using this link. https://a248.e.akamai.net/f/248/475...nsysimages/kmart/__RS_CP__/KMC_EAQ_072510.pdf

 

[Flannelwarrior]

Wow, very nice! This thing sure puts the iPad to shame in terms of price, doesn't it? I'm a little bummed at only 16GB SD card support (as opposed to 32GB like my Droid), and the fact that it doesn't launch with Froyo. But the rest of the specs seem great, and pending the touch screen isn't cheap and funky, this seems like a great buy.

K-mart, though...obviously they're going for a different demographic than iPad

 

[tipstir]

It will support 32GB when that is available as most electronic gear supports up to 16GB since that's what was available at the time of testing. If you go to youtube and type Augen there are some customer videos showing the product off.

 

[tipstir]

More info I had wrote on twitter and such..

Kmart well suppose to have these units in the store by this week or next. Best to go to the store and get a Rain Check so can be put on the factory delivery list.

Why buy the expensive iPad and you can buy a couple of these for the family! That's if you can find one to purchase. Other than this the replicated ones sold in China under EKEN M001, M002, M003, M004, M005 fall under the names of LANpad, iPED, ePad, aPad, iRobot, SmartQV all sorts of name branding and pretty much trying to give you iPad but not with the same cost. Anyway this is the buzz on the net right now.

Good Luck finding one.

Specs.
Product Features
•800x480 color 7" TFT touch panel screen
• CPU: 800 Mhz
• Ram: DDR2 256mb
• Internal Memory: 2GB
• Expansion Slots: SD/MMC card slot up to 16GB
• Wi-Fi Connectivity with Full Web Browsing Capability
• Supports Ebook Formats: Text, PDF, E-PUB, HTML
• Supports Media Formats: MP3, WMA, FLAC, AAC
• Supports most popular E-Book formats
• Picture Viewer in JPEG, BMP
• Video Player
• Rechargeable Lithium Battery
• Carrying case included

Accessories Included
• Leather Carrying Case
• USB Cable (for data transfers only)
• UL Certified AC Adapter

Source Link Augen Product
Customer Review Video
$5 off Coupon on $50 or more Purchase from Kmart

None of my Kmarts in my state and the one nearby don't have these units! So I got the rain check. There are so many online community going after this unit. All the Gizmo online mags reporting about it also but again not many can find them.

 

[tipstir]

This is the one I was mentioning from Meritline (EKEN M002 Plus) Replicated one is shown here closes one I could find.

 

[Gars]

hey tipstir,
i watch your video link on the Indian tablet article
it is the same?
good looking indeed
its just lacking of multy touch
and i dont get it - it is fail/lack for OS or the device?

thanx man

 

[oldikes]

is it a multi touch screen like iDevices?

 

[Flannelwarrior]

ikesmasher said:
is it a multi touch screen like iDevices?

it's the software that enables touch, not the screen itself - that being said, yes, Android 2.1 does support multi-itouch.

 

[Guest]

I saw a video review for this tablet in YouTube about 10 minutes ago. It looks pretty cheap, and the performance is pretty crappy. Sadly, the iPad still wins.

There are other serious competition launching this year, so I'm eager for those.


Cheers!

 

[tipstir]

iPad too expensive. Most are going to get this item because it's cheaper. You can buy 5 of these to one iPad. Again this model is more in like from iTouch to iPad. There are ones that replicate the iPad but they will cost more than this tablet will. I say go for this now. Nothing else at the same price. Walmart and Target should follow soon with their cheapo price tablet just maybe in time for Back School crowd.

 

[motrin]

finally found the devise i wan't to spend my summer money on. Tho, if there's windows version for the same price i'll jump on that one !

 

[tipstir]

Don't bother to get this after the company VP had announced a major glitch in the onboard memory and storage memory was not showing the correct free space. Plus to make matters worst it he headphone jack is not the standard 3.5mm it's 2.5mm. So what they're going to do is that you contact Augen and tell them you have their product and thus they'll send at their expense a 2.5mm stereo headphone. I think they should recall these and fix the issues or just go back to the drawing board with it. Now that dead pixel problem on the LCD panel is appearing on some and back-light issues as well. I for one got my rain check on Tuesday evening it was like a mad house at the 30 mile drive one-way Kmart just to get the RC. Well in all here you got a store chain that's been around prior to Walmart and Target and now this items has brighten the store so much it has made average customer come back to it. Now with the issues of this device people are going to think twice about jumping on the bandwagon again so quickly. Who knows maybe something else will appear at your Local Walmart or Target stores to compete with Kmart disaster tablet?

 

[tipstir]

I found one at Kmart store in another state. I had decided to buy anyway. Full review with hands-on video here.

 

[Guest]

well, $500 vs $130.00

 

[captaincranky]

well, $500 vs $130.00

That isn't exactly a fair comparison. This tablet will doubtless have a TN panel screen, while Apple's product has IPS. That said, it doesn't justify all the price disparity, but it does explain away quite a bit of it.