Are cheap tablets worth it?

Discussion in Computers, Electronics & Gadgets started by rossonomous • Apr 11, 2014.

  1. rossonomous

    rossonomousActive Member

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    What do you think about cheap tablets?

    I got an email from an offer website that has a 7" android tablet for £40 down from £120 supposedly. The tablet is unbranded and the specs don't look fantastic. Personally, I would never invest such a small amount of money into something that I will regularly use. I would rather invest more for something branded, more reputable and more robust.
     
  2. mikelouis

    mikelouisActive Member

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    Sometimes it is a simpler if you just buy an expensive tablet and you can be sure of the quality. I have a Samsung tablet and I have never had an issue so far and it is one year so far. I have friends who have bought cheap tablets every five months now that is a problem.
     
  3. deathbyprayer

    deathbyprayerActive Member

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    Well, you can't tell for sure, I mean some cheap tablets are good some of them are just crap. I suggest you go for the slightly expensive ones with well known brand names like Apple or Samsung, that way you can be sure of the quality.
     
  4. lindbergh

    lindberghWell-Known Member

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    If it's unbranded, it may be one of those knock-off or imitation tablets. They're not worth your money. I think these gadgets have a very short warranty period because they depreciate pretty fast. One of my office mates bought a tablet worth 50 bucks and used it for only 5 months before it stopped working. If you want cheap tablets, go for Lenovo or Asus. They're cheap (not as cheap as the knock-off tablets) but are a lot more durable.
     
  5. clairebeautiful

    clairebeautifulActive Member

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    I say no, absolutely not. The biggest problem is going to be app compatibility and then how quickly it runs. Non-brand electronics tend to run slow, and have terrible compatibility with the apps you want to use.

    I mean, if your only point was to have a few little games for a small child on it, or use it as an e-reader that you knew you could easily get books on, that would be one thing. But if you want something versatile and you'd actually use it every day, I think you will find that it is worth it to pay for a brand that is current and compatible with the rest of your electronic life.
     
  6. Magicman94

    Magicman94Member

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    I would avoid the cheapest ones like the plague.

    The cheapest ones usually come with only 8GB of memory, some of which is already going to be taken up by the OS. Durability is another issue with cheap tablets. But most importantly, I'd stick with a national brand as opposed to one of the cheap no-name brands out there today.
     
  7. Annabell

    AnnabellActive Member

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    To be honest, it's a false economy.

    You buy a cheap tablet for forty pounds, and it works. For a while. And then you buy another when that breaks down. And another when that breaks down. Within a year you've gone through so many cheap tablets that you might as well have just bought one of the more expensive ones.
     
  8. ohiotom76

    ohiotom76Well-Known Member

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    They are a waste of money. I bought one a couple years ago, a Lenovo A1 tablet, for about $150 - down from the original price of $200, and it was pretty useless within weeks of me getting it. It was already running an old version of Android (Gingerbread) which meant that I couldn't even run some basic apps on it, like my Banking or my Cable Provider's app. Plus it was very slow, the screen was very dim, and I found myself reaching more for my laptop instead. Not to mention it is yet one more device you need to keep charging everyday. Plus when emails would come in, I would hear my computers beeping, then my phone, then that damn tablet. I don't need 4-5 notifications from separate devices every time I get some mail.

    I would just save the money and put it towards a nice laptop when the time comes for you to upgrade, or if you have an unexpected emergency where your computer dies on you sooner than you were expecting it to.
     
  9. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    Of course cheap tablets are not worth it, because I have read reviews of those cheap tablets, and most of the reviews that I've read complain about the issues that they have been having with it, and some say that it has eventually stopped working after a few months. So just save your money so that you can buy a better, branded tablet.
     
  10. maxparker0

    maxparker0Member

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    The only tablet I would be comfortable buying would be an iPad. If I want to buy a product which I would use daily and is very important then I would invest good amount of money to buy a premium one.
    P.S - My uncle had bought such tablet and his son dropped it in a month. And that was end of it!
     
  11. isabbbela

    isabbbelaWell-Known Member

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    I would never get a replica on a perfume I love. Even though perfume is expensive, I have a habit of having them and I don't care about the price. Perfumes last several years for me since I only use a little bit every day. I only use tiny little drop behind each ear and that's enough for me. If you think about the price and how long you're going to wear it I don't think it's expensive. Several stores like Sephora and Nordstrom are always having great sales on the best perfumes. I last got a perfume by Lanvin and I paid really cheap and it's one of the best perfumes I have ever smelled. And to be honest I have smelled the replicas before and I find that not only their smell is not identical and some not even similar, but you need more product to get the same effect, doesn't have the same lasting power and contains a lot of alcohol. To me if you do the math afterwards you would notice you pay almost the same for a lower quality item.
     
  12. DrRipley

    DrRipleyExpert

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    There might be a few gems in the cheap tablets market here and there, but I think you'd have to dig through a lot of comments to see which ones might be worth it. I personally think it would be much better to just get a branded one so you can be sure of the quality you are getting. However, if you don't plan on using the tablet for much more other than browsing online, then it surely can be worth it since you presumably won't be using that much power anyway and it would be much more impractical to spend a lot for a gadget you're just going to use to browse sites.
     
  13. lovemwaf

    lovemwafActive Member

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    I would say that it is a waste of money because some of these things are not really tried and tested. If you buy one of those cheap tabs, you do not really know what to expect from it. But some of these high quality tabs have an image to preserve and so they are really good or at least do what they say they will do.
     
  14. Sly14Cat

    Sly14CatActive Member

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    I'm not too sure. A while back I was considering getting a $50 tablet. But honestly the non-name brand ones just don't seem worth it. The specs aren't good enough to do much outside of the simple things like calendar or playing a simple game. If you want to do something on your tablet, I would go for something that costs at least $200 with a refund option to make sure you're getting your money's worth and can return it if you aren't.
     
  15. Jessi

    Jessi<a href="http://www.quirkycookery.com">QuirkyCooke

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    It really does depend on what you need it for and whether or not the specs fit those needs.

    So while you said the specs on this one didn't look that great and it's probably not for you, it could be perfect for someone else who just wants a cheap tablet for quick browsing or game apps for their kids.