Buying a Tablet Computer

[awaken DM golem]

I'm relatively clueless about this stuff.


I've been offered :shanghai-ed" a Boss Electronics tablet, like what Walmart sells online for cheap.
Except this one has Android 2.2 and a wireless keyboard.

[spoiler]Boss Electronics 7" Touchscreen Tablet PC:

    * 7" color TFT touchscreen, 800 x 480 resolution
    * Android 2.0 OS
    * Built-in 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi
    * Internal memory: 2GB
    * 128MB DDR2 RAM
    * Boss 7" tablet PC supports Kindle, YouTube and Data Viz Office Suite
    * Built-in stereo speaker and microphone
    * 1 x USB 2.0 port
    * TF card expansion
    * 2-cell polymer battery, 1800mAh
    * Boss 7" tablet PC includes mini USB to USB adapter cable, ear buds, instruction manual and quick start guide
[/spoiler]

What can I do with this sucker , and possible upgrades ??
 

[altpersona]

check android boards for info on it.

i dont know that they have a forum for it, but i use xda for my android phone. them or sdx.

[awaken DM golem]

Believe it or not, I'm trying to leapfrog phones altogether (!!).

I used wireless too much at job(s), and massively preferred wired access.
Nowadays wi-fi is near ubiquitous just about everywhere I go.

And google just bought up some motorola/android goodies, today.


"xda ... or sdx"
I'll hafta check it out, but from a point of relative ignorance.
Is this anything like the Firefox app (free too) ?

[altpersona]

xda and sdx are free, websites/forums.

[awaken DM golem]

Thanks.


(my) Ignorance is not Strength.

[awaken DM golem]

Turns out, Android is getting the most amount of hacking related attention right now.
News stories and all. That's too much weenie filter tagging.

Plus Sears is selling basically the same thing for $99 now.
Get a wireless full size keyboard and save near the same as the total.
I still like the concept, but I'll pass/wait for now.

It's funny how fast some of this stuff falls.
{ ... insert it's entirely predicted by the singularity crowd / I ought to know better smiley face ... }

[awaken DM golem]

Hold my breath for a month, and all  breaks out.

India (!) is selling basically what I was looking at,
for $35 subsidized and $65 to the "rich" people.
Wow.
Plus Kindle and Nook are in a shoot out.
I figure everybody else will respond for X-mas sales.
They'll all check their data after and something really sweet
will come out in late winter / early spring.
Can't wait = I can wait that long.
(whatever)

Heck I could get free 3G now too.
Next year is gonna be fun.
 

[X-Codes]

Yeah, nobody thought the iPad would succeed when it was first released.  That said, when it DID succeed, every other computer manufacturer busted ass to get their own tablets on the market, and they pretty much all universally suck.  The iPad is absolutely murdering all of them.

It's going to be another few years before a decent competitor finally shows up to take on the iPad, so until then get a Kindle/Nook or maybe one of those little Netbooks (you know, those tablet-sized laptops).  Or an iPad.  When I finally get steady employment, I'm going to save up and pick one of the above up to copy all my textbooks and whatever leisure reading I like with my university's book scanner and turn them into whatever format I need to to make them nice to read.

[awaken DM golem]

That's about what I'm thinking.
I'm'n'a jump into a <$200 netbook, and wait for better tablets.

If Windows 7 can "talk" to Android,
and someone gets a good iPad emulator going
I'll get in then (and cheap).

I'm seeing stand alone Terabyte hard drives for less than $100.
What am I gonna do ; watch movies while I try (and usually fail) to pick up chicks ?!