Viewsonic Viewpad 7 Android Tablet Notebook

by Jason
(London)

I bought this seven inch Tablet because it has a reputable manufacturer and a thirty day try before you buy trial, but I can guarantee after a week that this is going to be returned to the store.

The most disappointing problems are that it has no Java or Flash support, OFFERS ABSOLUTELY NO INSTRUCTIONAL MANUAL to try to save you frustration learning features, costs too much without any cheaper alternatives with a service provider, uses a processor half the speed of other competitors, plus is SINGLE core unlike most contenders. There are many more gripes but let me be fair to note the pros.


My first reason of interest was the size because I wanted something I can fully navigate with one hand while my thumb can reach across the monitor, but still bigger than a cellular handset, and I was unable to find a six inch with Android. A close to satisfying compromise, but unfortunately for me this unit is a touchscreen and requires two hands to comfortably zoom into a web page like the pinch technique on the Apple iPhone.


I believe a good option or application should be installed allowing the user to enlarge or decrease the display with the volume buttons on the side and maybe one exists in the widget market (i.e. Android Market), but I think it should come as a factory option.


The edges are rounded in an appealing fashion, plus it has wireless capabilities but fails to offer 4G bandwidth, and that could be a London thing because I think no network here offers that frequency or that I know of within my last month here in England.


My next complaint is that the entire system is bundled into Google that seems to be an antitrust lawsuit waiting to happen because it MANDATES you use a current or open a new Gmail account to operate several basic components. An admirable external slot is available for both a media and a mobile card because you can use it to make fully functional calls plus it has Bluetooth.


I found the battery consumption, the mini Universal Serial Bus port added, the standard headphone input and the three international plugs that comes with it commendable, but the latter seems to be a strange misappropriation of money when most of us only need one connector plus the funds saved from the wasted supplies could of been invested in updated or better software, hardware, etc.


The little protective booklet carrier that is included is spectactular because it converts into at least three positions to stand upright in different angles without needing to hold it. My initial tests proved it worthy of multitasking without much delay, but it does hesitate sporactically plus the browser is a joke because no address bar is accessible without opening a new tab or the fact that they replaced the standard navigation buttons with something called Gestures that requires more lag. A combination of all the double work amounts to huge loss of productivity during long sessions plus a large amount of the downloads I sought seem to be incompatible with it.


I dislike the four main controls at the bottom on the console because I was unable to illuminate them at night. The virtual keyboard causes conflict on some sites by being directly in front of a area you need to type and you can attempt to switch from vertical or horizontal pane, but it remained the same on a few pages I encountered on the web.


My last suggestion I want to make is a general idea not specific to this machine but it would be superb if someone could create a program that increases or decreases all audio sound playback to one setting for all the various quality of media.

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