Viewsonic announces 7, 10-inch ViewPad Tablets

[Jos]

ViewSonic has decided to jump in the growing tablet market and officially unveiled two devices that are headed to the U.S. market. Offering a cheaper alternative to that of the iPad and the Samsung Galaxy Tab, the ViewPad 7 will be available sometime in November or December for $479 running stock Android 2.2 “Froyo”. It has a 7-inch 800 x 480 capacitive touch screen, 600-MHz Qualcomm processor, a 3-megapixel camera in the back, a 0.3-megapixel camera in front, a mini-USB jack, and a mere 512MB built-in storage (expandable up to 32GB via MicroSD).

The device will be able to access the Android Market and can access the Internet over Wi-Fi (b/g) or 3G if you supply your own SIM – the company is talking to wireless carriers about distribution but no deals have been announced. Meanwhile, the ViewPad 10 ups the ante with a larger 10-inch, 1024 x 600 screen, a 1.6-GHz Atom processor, a 16GB SSD and 1GB of RAM. The tablet can dual-boot between Windows 7 Home Premium and the older Android 1.6, and will hit the market in January or February for $629. The ViewPad 10 only has Wi-Fi capabilities though.

By comparison, an unlocked version of the 7-inch Galaxy Tab with 3G costs $599, while the 9.7-inch iPad in its Wi-Fi only version ranges from $500 for 16GB of storage up to $700 for 64GB.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/40941-viewsonic-announces-7-10-inch-viewpad-tablets.html

 

[flocka]

sheesh, another tablet

 

[spyx]

I dont believe in 7-inch tablets because STEVE JOBS said they were "dumb" (not literally)....lol

 

[Se7enVII]

I'd like to see more tablets come out. Hopefully it'll eventually drive prices down into the ~$200 bracket where I could pick one up as an extra gadget to play with. I have no real need for one otherwise.

 

[spyx]

Tablets are nice but i havent seen one that has quite a good handle....its hard to balance something thats greater than 7-inches on one hand (especially if your hands arent verybig) then you end up straining your fingers..... plus i dont think my boss would let me lie down on a counch to browse with my ipad...so until they come up with one with a good handle i think i will pass

 

[peperonikiller]

Dual boot? Wow I would love to get this then. Just for accessibility to the market would work great. Then being able to run windows on it as well would be sweet. I hope this tablet works out. I have an older ViewSonic Tablet with the swivel screen so it turns into a laptop, that thing is a beast despite how old it is. This company knows what they are doing with tablets tho

 

[thedrelle]

Nice to see Viewsonic jumping in. I've always been a fan of their displays. Good competitive pricing too, They'd see a great deal more buyers if they can manage to drive down the cost.

I can see where tablets can be handy, but there is an issue with portability vs usefulness. I pretty much carry a notepad with me everywhere at work, so a tablet could make a very handy replacement (and save a few trees).

 

[TwiztidSef]

I personally see the best use for these tablets being add-ons on existing desktops. Basicly a custom input for desktops.

Think something like this. http://www.artlebedev.com/everything/optimus-tactus/

Everything else i see these tablets doing, is pretty cool as well. I never thought these casual games would be so popular on these.

 

[Guest]

Glad to see more companies trying, but I don't see these competing with the ipad in terms of value, design, or really anything. Unless you are looking specifically for a windows 7 tablet. The screens on both don't seem too impressive (look at screen resolution), Also, I doubt the larger one will sport much of a battery life.

Hardware: Hard to compete with the custom design of the ipad.

Software: Windows 7 wasn't designed for this hardware. Neither was Android 1.6-2.2.

 

[zenpanda]

Indeed, it's very nice to see a quality manufacturer getting into the tablet market. Hopefully, the more players we have in that market will translate into higher quality products and lower prices for the consumers, due to increase competition. It's a win-win situation for consumers.

 

[rtfmx9]

I would like the bigger one but with Froyo on it. This doesn't make sense at all.

 

[Cryptopsy]

Pretty interesting, its going to make some more competition with Apple iPad

 

[Guest]

This is great for Apple. The more a market becomes saturated with "also rans", the more confusing it becomes for the end user who will often default to the "safe bet" and choose the iPad.

It's funny to me how TechNet and other publishers are constantly coming out with myriads of so-called iPad / iPod / MacBook "killers" and don't realize that this all works in Apple's favor

 

[customcarvin]

What the hell is this crap!?! Two incomplete packages IMO.

First we have the Viewpad 7, which sounded nice with the 2.2 Froyo and dual cams... then... WHAT!?! a "600-MHz Qualcomm processor" and, "512MB built-in storage" - Qualcomm ARM9 procs, are the slowest out of the major manufacturers, putting one of those in there is like putting in a 400mhz Texas Instruments cpu. Then they give you a measly 512MB of storage (I know with Froyo you can install to SD, but the microSDs that are preinstalled are slow, and are not good for running a lot of apps which need to make lots of read/writes)... BOO!! With those specs $479 is way overpriced!

Then we have the ViewPad 10 (touchscreen netbook) that was sounding kick-*** with dual boot, and who's specs could somewhat justify the $629 price tag... and... wait... what? Android 1.6? .... AYFKM?? 1.6? Why?

Oh well, add two more lackluster tabs to the pile of Android devices soon to come out that are deficient in some department.

What would be so hard to come out with a 7"-10" tab with AT LEAST a 1ghz CPU, a decent GPU (PowerVR 535-540), with minimum, 4gb of internal storage, dual cams, and something running 2.2 stable out of the box. Don't tell me it's cost because you can pick up a netbook with Viewpad 10 specs for $300-$400 all day long. ViewSonic IMHO almost had it right with the Viewpad 10. Almost.

 

[Johny47]

This looks exactly like an iPad=P

But that's not a bad thing, I like these 'pads' because they can almost do everything, shame the iPad can't be used as a phone aswell... but that would probably ruin sales of the iPhone big time =/

And I would try to save up for one IF you could plug a PS3 or 360 controller into it by a USB and play alot of games =)

 

[Neojt]

the 10inch is nice but for the price difference i would get an i pad

 

[Technochicken]

I thought the iPad was overpriced until I saw the Viewpad 7. It has worse hardware than most smartphones, a fairly low res screen, hardly any storage, and costs almost as much as an iPad does. Companies are going to have to do better than that if they want to compete with apple in the tablet market.

 

[hassaan]

More consumer confusion. No wonder these current non-Apple tablets are D.O.A. Why not just wait until next year when proper Android and Windows tablets are ready? Both Google and Intel have said as much.

 

[peperonikiller]

That's true, they are overpriced. But the tablet I have from them was $1700 when it first came out and it is still better than most small netbooks and for sure is still better than an ipad.. and its from I believe 2004. I'm just saying from past experience with Viewsonic tablets I would like to see them competing with Apple.

 

[Flipcharm]

Is this one coming with sandpaper sheets?

 

[Puiu]

it's not that much cheaper and the dual boot one is actually expensive. can no one make a good tablet that doesn't cost an arm and a leg?

 

[tipstir]

This looks like 7.2" 16:9 800x480 Android OS 2.1 Updated 1 Coby KYROS which was introduce 1 week ago on HSN for $199.99 or $63 delivered in you go on the 4 month no interest plan. It's powered by 800MHz Telechip, 4GB for IS, 256MB of RAM, 1920x1080p output for 1080p HDMI and true digital Audio with G-Sensor. 32GB for ES using full SDHC. Glass layer touch panel and metal housing case comes with leather case attached by 4 screws. I have one of these myself. Then you have Maylong M-150 from Walgreen's that you could have got for $94 it's now $129.

 

[frodough]

thanks to android making something like these never been so easy! since it's free there's not licensing problems and fees to deal with. all they have to do is the bring out the hardware! open source FTW!

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

Hell yes more tablets! Saturate the market! lol... I hope it will turn out to be a good thing. I'm just glad to see Windows will be on some of these tablets. Keep'em comin' and i'll be buying one within a year from now most likely. My only complaint is i'm sure most if not all of these tablets are using TN type or similar LCD panels. I'm sick of cheap crappy viewing angle panels, give us IPS and MVA panels please!!!!

 

[Recipe7]

Overpriced and lacking in many aspects compared to other tablets. The only good I see from this is the lowering of the price of the competitor's products. This can only be a good thing =D