Android MID shocker! Eken M003 gets 8-inch display, $230 price tag (video)
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted May 21st 2010 3:03AM
posted May 21st 2010 3:03AM
Are you a fan of off-brand MIDs, the Android OS, and dangerous bezels? You're in luck! It looks like the M003, a slightly larger follow-up to Eken's very own M001 (which caught our attention a month or so ago, mostly on account of its price) has finally reached e-tailers at home and abroad, such as China Grabber who will sell you one for a not too shabby (yet not too awesome either) $230. Keeping the Android 1.6 OS, this bad boy has been bumped up to an 8-inch touchscreen while sporting a 600MHz VIA processor, 802.11a/b/g WiFi, 128MB RAM, and an SD card slot for up to 32GB storage. They're even throwing in a 2GB SD card because they're such good sports. Available in pink, white, or black. Hands-on video after the break.
Is that beige?
@mattblade I guess the ipad has truly spoiled me as I find this HIDEOUS.
Hideous.
@barkerja Looks like they just went and pried the home button off one, too.
@mattblade champaign
@mattblade It's the magical and revolutionary Android tablet!!! The Droidlet.
It's a new breed of Tablet - The craplet.
@jellotime91 designed and made in China.
@Kalian
Hey hey now let's not insult China, some pretty amazing stuff comes from China, amongst all the junk haha.
@jellotime91
Well, if it has even one port on the thing then it's already ahead of the iPad in one department.
@jellotime91 What would that be? Much of the stuff that is designed and engineered outside china, perhaps?
@steel
eh, well, I wonder exactly what USB devices could ever be compatible with Android anyway...
Man that bezel is scary, I wont be caught near that thing.
@skeezmoe
Bezels are the Flare pants of the tech world.
@skeezmoe These manufacturers are so dumb. A 2 inches bezel for a 8inch screen? Is this a joke?
Can someone go back to .25" or 1cm bezels again? I really dislike the bezels on all these new devices, tablets and netbooks alike.
@Cy Starkman
Bezels are the cowbell of the tech world. "More cowbells, please"
Holy bezel Batman.
@Steve2000
You shall know the bezel and love it.
@Cy Starkman If you can land a small plane on your bezel, you blew it.
@Steve2000
Why do they make the bezel so freakin' big? Maybe it's for your coffee mug to sit on....
@Steve2000
THANK YOU. i was gonna post the exact same thing. :P
@Steve2000
Personally the looks aren't so bad, it's bearable for what i'd use it for (it isnt hanging around my neck or anything), but that RAM amount is a killer, the reason the g1 was so terribly slow was because of 192mb, I couldn't imagine using 128mb.
Maybe they can put android 2.2 on it and it will run so fast that it might melt the whole thing.
no wonder it's $230... just look at it.
Wow I knew there would be cheaper alternatives, but this really isn't an aesthetically pleasing alternative! Can't really see people buying this over the iPad.
@pple
Not in the first world at least. If we have been reminded of at least one thing from the Foxconn news, there are a lot of poor people who cant afford the expensive iPad's and Evo 4g's they manufacture.
Wow this thing is Uglier than your mom.
Wow, they copied the whole form factor, down to the speaker grill. LOL. The surface seems weird and not smooth.
Now, can anybody tell how much Eken pay the Chinese workers to make this?
Probably The best sales person of the day...
Huh. Bezel ain't big enough. Hope it has no USB ports or and doesn't allow it's browser to, I dunno, show PNG images. Why not. It's time to hate on PNG images now.
Chinese crap + Android = probably acceptable, definitely less buggy. The Chinese would definitely thank google for a free OS. I mean small time Hardware manufacturers can reap massive profits.
@dementedacademic LOL. This is the country that hacks into Google's servers. They couldn't care less about "thanking" Google. They just grab whatever they can, and since Android is available for free, why not.
@pika2000 China has 1.3 billion people, Im sure of them will thank Google.
@dementedacademic Then that one person should thank the linux/open-source community, not Google.
@dementedacademic
Massive profits for a $230 iPad with no music/media syncing... uh... we must have a different idea of 'massive profits'..
Apple's selling 800,000-1million iPads per month. That's only gonna go up fast, now that its selling internationally. Those would be considered 'massive profits'
@Wesscoast Doubling your profit from 100k to 200k must be massive for the person making 100k. IMO.
Hey, it runs Android, so it'll be much better than the janky UI that tends to be thrown onto these gadgets.
That said, the iPad's bezel is starting to seem a lot easier to deal with now...
@r3loaded
This is a deliberately FAT bezel to make the device look bigger than it really is. 8" display.
And to the guy who said this was designed in China, get real, this is an iPad rip off (obviously).. it was designed in Cupertino by Jonny Ives, and badly copied in Shenzhen.
horrible... just horrible.
bezel overdose
i just threw up over my keyboard
Great basis to use in my own projects (only need the internals so I don´t mind the bezel)
Great for my projects, I only need the internals so I don´t mind the package
This bezel is huge, I hate large empty spaces on a gadget. If you are going to have a large space you should fill it with something, lights, buttons, ashtray or cup holder, something. Make the bezel into a dry board and a dry marker/stylus could come with it, you can jot notes on it draw pictures. You could us it as a battery saving IM device, write your message with the dry pen on the bezel and flash it to your friend who is across the room, no need to power up the device and you have a few more juice to play your KIRF Sudoku with :)
Can Engadget please feature the system memory along with CPU speed on these low end devices? It's most important when considering ability to run apps and upgrade.
What a button
A MID with 600MHz VIA processor and 128MB RAM developed in China means another disaster and bad impression for Android novice. Did you ever try Camangi WebStation with similar characteristics? It's painfully slow and has awful resistive screen (I'm sure this one has it too.) Don't even think of wasting you money!
While I understand the NEED for a thick bezel on a tablet/pad/whatever, that thing is excessive and the color sucks.
Needs moar bezel... I like a 2:1 bezel to screen ratio. Luckily its almost there.
And I thought the bezel was huge on the iPad....