ViewSonic Intros 7-Inch ICS Tablet for $170 USD
ViewSonic looks to take on Amazon's Kindle Fire with a sub-$200 7-inch tablet of its own... with Ice Cream Sandwich to boot.
This week during CES 2012, ViewSonic introduced a new 7-inch tablet that aims to take on Amazon directly with a price point of $169.99 USD, thirty dollars less than the Kindle Fire. The device will also sport Google's latest Android OS, aka "Ice Cream Sandwich," and several options you won't find on Amazon's highly popular tablet.
"ViewSonic is committed to delivering advanced technology designed with the consumer in mind," said Michael Holstein, vice president of business development, ViewSonic. "Featuring the latest Android operating system, along with leading apps and services for entertainment content, the ViewPad E70 continues the ViewSonic tradition of bringing feature-rich products to new markets."
Based on a minimal list of details, the problem ViewSonic's tablet may have when compared against the Kindle Fire -- at least in the hardware aspect -- is the SoC. The 7-inch ViewPad E70 will use a presumed single-core 1 Ghz SoC whereas the Kindle Fire currently sports a zippier dual-core OMAP4 SoC provided by Texas Instruments and clocked at 1 GHz.
The other drawback is the available storage capacity of 4 GB; the Kindle Fire comes packed with 8 GB of storage (although 6 GB is available for actual storage and the other 2 GB is used for the apps). However, ViewSonic's tablet provides a microSD card slot for adding an additional 32 GB of storage -- the Kindle Fire painfully lacks this very important feature.
Also on ViewSonic's side is 1080p microHDMI output (although the tablet's display is 800 x 480), allowing users to display content on an HDTV directly from the tablet. But given that the ViewSonic tablet only uses a single-core SoC and doesn't have the multimedia backing of Amazon, the 7-inch ViewPad E70 might be a tough sell. Then again, the tablet will come with Amazon's Appstore for Android and Kindle for Android, so there's still hope.
"Integrated apps and services provide easy access to leading multimedia, entertainment content, and thousands of mobile apps offered," the company said. "One of the most portable and affordable tablet products on the market, ViewPad E70 is designed to meet consumer demand for a tablet that delivers on both quality features and value."
The ViewPad E70 will be available for an ESP of $169.99 in late 1Q12.
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atleast they have a good aim in the tablet industry, Make it Cheaper. not ideal specs, but it shows what they want to achieve.
Great price. Its certainly moving into a price point which will open tablets up to a whole new group of users.
There is no reason not to buy the $250 Transformer Prime that's coming out.
It's interesting that before the Christmas shopping season ended the only "good" cheap tablets were the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet. Barely two weeks later Asus announces their 7" Tegra 3 tablet and now Viewsonic reveals this.
If Asus and Viewsonichad released these products before Christmas, just imagine how that would have impacted Amazon's and B&N's tablet sales. If I had I bought a Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet and then read about these upcoming products, I would be request a return RMA immediately.
These 7" ICS devices make the ereader tablets look like a joke.
go viewsonic!
Asus and Viewsonic did not want to directly compete with Amazon and B&N during the holiday rush. People had already set their minds on a particular tablet at that point, and the addition of several news ones would have simply fallen between the cracks hurting their credibility in the future, which happens to be right now. Thanks to postponing their release, the fever over the Kindle and Nook has died down and now people are open to exploring new options, which is why Asus and VS are choosing to step into the spotlight and get some attention.
With tax, it would not be that good of a deal vs Kindle Fire... unless it has front and rear cameras, mic, usb/bluetooth.
the bad (vs kindle fire)
resolution: 800x480
1ghz single core
4GB storage
the good
microsd external storage
1080p microHDMI output
android OS ice cream sandwich
price $170
price after tax $187 (around)
how about shipping fee?
Amazon kindle fire is $200 (no tax for me, in CA) free ship
With tax, it would not be that good of a deal vs Kindle Fire...
To me, what makes it a WAY better deal is that you get true Android ICS, not some silly overlay that requires rooting to get around. I know it's not hard to root, but Amazon and B&N will keep making it more difficult.
Just because it's ics doesn't mean a good experience. Underwhelming hardware specs could mean a choppy 1080p playback, lower graphics capability for games, and shorter battery life. As a basic ebook reader or light gaming/video use this will eat into the KF's market share.
Thing is the kindle fire (and nook color/tablet) are already out. Much like other CES announcements about low priced tablet options we don't know when they will translate from words/paper to something in your hands. You might be waiting till 3-4Q/12 when many other options hit the shelves. Promise the world but just don't say when you'll deliver isn't a new theme but it is a common disappointment.
Too many buttons.
Do not want.
"display is 800 x 480"
Seriously ?
You have got to be kidding me :-)
I'd not buy it if it was $99.
Yeah, it might be a bit cheaper, but the lower specs don't make it worth it. What manufacturers need is basically a kindle fire specs, with front facing camera for skype (low qual is fine), a memory card slot, and full blown ICS. Price it at $250 because of the added camera and mem slot, and you will beat down the kindle fire in a heartbeat!
It sounds like the upcoming Transformer Prime 7" might give us just that (and with quad core to boot)... but I don't think that is due out till Q2 or later? Correct me if I'm wrong there.
Also, to the person commenting on all of these devices not coming out until after Christmas - of COURSE they didn't come out till after Christmas. They want to get as many people to buy the full price stuff they are trying to unload before releasing new and cheaper products. My friend wanted to buy her mom a mid-grade tablet for skyping. I told her that really she should wait till February, but she ended up getting the Galaxy 9.8 tab. I think it's a great choice for her - but she probably could have paid much less in the next couple months for the same specs because of all the new stuff coming out. These companies aren't stupid, they know how to get their money out of old products. People will buy it just because it's christmas and they don't want to wait.
Also, isn't ICS more for phones? I really like honeycomb on tablets.
Also, isn't ICS more for phones? I really like honeycomb on tablets.
ICS is made for both. It's the product of the fact that they didn't want two different OS's causing fragmentation. Just like how iOS is for both iPhone and iPad. One OS makes it easier for programmers to make their apps compatible with both types of device.
I haven't had the pleasure to work with ICS myself, but I actually don't care much for Honeycomb. The interface isn't as intuitive as Gingerbread and below (in my opinion at least). I have a thunderbolt and when my mom got a Dell Streak, even I was having issues getting everything set up.
This way with ICS being made for both, I would assume that methods of doing things and the overall experience will be so similar, it will be easy to go from device to device.
too expansive, china branded 7' tablet with 1.5Ghz A8, 8GB SSD, 512MB RAM,3G support only cost less than USD100
Proof
ht tp://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?&id=14460924380