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ViewSonic ViewPad 7 tablet up for pre-order, now costs a wallet-crunching $599
Excuse us, ViewSonic, but we think there's been some sort of mistake -- your ViewPad 7 tablet is on sale at Amazon for $599, over a hundred dollars more than you said it would cost just two weeks back. Yes, we certainly understand you have to import the OlivePad rebadge from a substantial distance and negotiate with Google for its Android Market innards, but we're not exactly ecstatic about the 600MHz ARM CPU -- even with front- and rear-facing cameras on board. Given that Samsung's Galaxy Tab doesn't have phone functionality stateside, we admit there's a market for a seven-inch Froyo tablet that can do voice calls, but did you really have to take Sammy's controversial price point as well? [Thanks, onelove]
ViewSonic ViewPad 7 video hands-on
We just got a chance to mess around with ViewSonic's upcoming ViewPad 7 (one of possibly four tablets they plan to release this year), and while it is indeed a plastic rebadge me-too Android tablet, we mean that in the best sense. Let's take these one by one: Plastic: It looks and feels enough like metal / glass that we won't fault ViewSonic for the cost savings here. Rebadge: ViewSonic has an exclusive on this design for its particular markets (Europe), while the OlivePad is doing its version over in India. Me-too: This might be the biggest knock, since ViewSonic is dropping the ViewPad into a world that's going to be up to its knees in 7-inch Android tablets in a few month's time. ViewSonic wins points for an above average build quality, better than crappy LCD (it's not great, but we've seen a lot worse, and the capacitive response is just fine), passable processor (a 600MHz Snapdragon won't win any bake-offs, but it also makes Android 2.2 completely usable in our opinion), and better-than-Augen Google blessing. Check out our video hands-on after the break. %Gallery-100879%
ViewSonic ViewPad 7 official: Android 2.2 and 'full' phone functionality
We know you're positively giddy with excitement to get at this OlivePad rebadge and ViewSonic is today fanning those flames of desire with a little bit of pre-IFA PR. Made official today, the 7-inch ViewPad 7 will try to lure in Android lovers with its tasty Froyo parfait, underpinned by hardware that includes front- and back-facing cameras, 3G for both phone and data transmissions, and a full-sized SIM slot. It doesn't seem to have an earpiece so we're unwilling to grant it the claim that it offers "full" phone functionality, but we'd be more worried about the unlisted internal specs on this thing -- the OlivePad makes do with a 600MHz ARM CPU and an underwhelming 800 x 480 resolution, neither of which should be making the iPad quake in its well padded boots. Price is expected to be "no more than £350" ($543) in the UK, though all we know about availability is that review units will start showing up in October. Ah well, the wait for a quality iPad alternative continues.
