[android] Cheap (but decent) 7" tablet for student software development

[sonofsanta]

Our IT Teacher is after five or so cheap Android tablets to use in software development with students on site with MIT App Inventor (née Google App Inventor). We don't want to cheap out entirely - none of these pulled-out-the-bin-at-Foxconn's-factory models - but the current Nexus 7 is a bit pricey at £200. I know that the 2012 Nexus 7 could be had for £100 inc. VAT around Christmas, as I got one for my Mum, but I can't seem to scare any up around that price now.

 

Is anyone using tablets like this to know of a decent model? Is the Hudl going to be our best bet, or can someone get stock of the original Nexus 7 at around the same price? (I'd rather a Nexus device to avoid the Tesco crud and for the updates, but it was my understanding that the Hudl wasn't too far from vanilla - please do correct me on this if I'm wrong).

 

I tried searching the forum but there were so many results plus the market seems to change so quickly I don't think a 6 month old thread would be relevant anymore!

 

EDIT: Alternatively: is rooting the Hudl going to be a good option? I know it can be rooted, and I'm happy to learn (read: tell technician to learn), I'm just concerned about ongoing support and faff with a rooted device on CyanogenMod or what-have-you.

Edited February 20, 2014 by sonofsanta

[featured_spectre]

Tesco Hudl is the safe bet, good quality, good to use, best price for what you get really.

[pooley]

Dabs have the 2012 Nexus 7 for under £100 ASUS Refurb Grade A Nexus 7 NVIDIA Quad Core 1GB 16GB 7 inch Android 4.1 (ASUS-NEXUS7-REFURB) - dabs.com

 

*Edit* Just noticed it's a refurb. But if it's only for Dev stuff ?

[VeryPC_Colin_M]

What about a Learnpad Octavo 8" tablet for £149 or an Archos 70 Cobalt for £60? (ex VAT pricing) Cheers, Col

[sonofsanta]

Refurb might be alright, especially at that price.

@VeryPC_Colin_M - Archos looks a bit too far off the cheap end (low res screen, slow dual core), I'm a firm believer in avoiding the very bottom of the market for any given device as I know how much ends up getting sacrificed to shave off the pennies and pounds. LearnPad looks very skinned and primary school from what I can see, the closer to vanilla the better so it's more realistic, I think (this is for GCSE & A-Level)

[Danp]

I had the same task set to me this time last year and bought the model before this

 

Acer Iconia B1-710 Tablet PC - Tablets | Ebuyer.com - £106.49 inc

 

Does exactly what is needed

[VeryPC_Colin_M]

I bought my mum one of these for Christmas and haven't looked back ARCHOS 101 Platinum by ARCHOS Sold plenty of the Titanium 101 too. These have great IPS screens and double quick CPUs, look great, have a decent amount of I/O, and would be within the budget; or is it a no to Archos? Is 10" too large too? I know from experience that these are great value for money. The Cobalt is probably a little underspecced yes.

 

The Archos 70 Titanium meets the spec needs and is £90 http://www.archos.com/gb/products/elements/titanium/archos_70titanium/specs.html?#a

Edited February 20, 2014 by VeryPC_Colin_M
addition

[sonofsanta]

I bought my mum one of these for Christmas and haven't looked back ARCHOS 101 Platinum by ARCHOS Sold plenty of the Titanium 101 too. These have great IPS screens and double quick CPUs, look great, have a decent amount of I/O, and would be within the budget; or is it a no to Archos? Is 10" too large too? I know from experience that these are great value for money. The Cobalt is probably a little underspecced yes.

 

The Archos 70 Titanium meets the spec needs and is £90 ARCHOS 70 Titanium by ARCHOS

 

No problem with Archos, no, had one of their MP3 players back in the day (although I probably can't judge a company's 2014 tablets based on a 2003 MP3 player)

 

I'll ping them over to the Head of IT and see what he like the look of. The Titanium 101/97s look like they're a bit pricey - I reckon that if no decent alternative presents itself at the same price point or thereabouts, the Hudl at £120 will probably get the nod, quad core and 1GB of RAM seems a good baseline. The Titanium 70 and 80 are options at ~£100/£125 each then.

[featured_spectre]

Remember the warranty and such like when making the choice. Tesco isn't exactly the best at the warranty returns as they want you to go in store to a tech team etc before hand, and trust me when I say, my 4 year old daughter knows more about problems with any tablets than they do.

[VeryPC_Colin_M]

True! The Archos warranty is RTB with a 3 week SLA... so if one does go wrong, prepare to pay for the carriage and be without for a month.

[sonofsanta]

Talking with the teacher in question, he's reckoning the refurb Nexus 7 is looking the winner atm - it's a good price for it and refurb is no issue given how much they're going to be pulled out (couple of hours a week for the relevant lesson for one term a year).

 

Not surprised at Tesco tech support, there's a mock Tesco Value joke poster in there somewhere

 

Cheers all!

[Jollity]

Maybe too late to be of use, but another idea for anyone else who see the thread. I bought a nook HD for my own use. I think the hardware is pretty decent: no camera, but a nice screen. The software is far from vanilla and a bit odd, but I am planning to replace it with Cyanogen Mod. They have stopped making them, so I think they are a bargain at the moment at £79, though not many places stock them any more. Edited February 27, 2014 by Jollity