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Android based iPad killers....

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I spent a bit of time lately drooling/browsing through the many different android based tablets/pads there are. Why not the ipad? I don't know - I just don't particularly like the idea of being tied …

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Avery J. Parker

IT veteran, maker educator, and author of Network Ninja, 3D Printing Mastery, and AI Workflow Mastery. Business IT: Diversified Tech Solutions.

Updated for 2026 relevance: This is a classic tech tip from the original averyjparker.com blog. Tools and UIs may have changed. Prefer modern built-in security (Windows Security / current Linux distro tools), tested backups, and least privilege. For deeper admin tooling see Network Ninja and the classic archive index. New maker content lives under Projects.

I spent a bit of time lately drooling/browsing through the many different android based tablets/pads there are. Why not the ipad? I don't know - I just don't particularly like the idea of being tied to Apple.... having to acitvate with itunes - being restricted to the apple app store. I like that android is more open (in many different ways.) So... I saw a lot of cheap entries from China. None of which really impressed me much. It looks as though the real ipad killers are on their way later in the year 2010. One is the viliv x10 tablet with a 1366x768 screen, 3d graphics. SD card, usb, capacitive touch screen. (Some of the cheaper competitors are resistive touch screen which is not seen as sensitive. The cheaper alternatives also seem a bit underpowered processor wise. (Or may lack gps or the accelerometer - both of which really seem (to me) essential parts of a tablet system for all of the neat "killer app" possibilities.

Another option coming up is the Notion Ink device - the Adam Tablet. It's rumored to be coming in the third quarter of 2010. It is supposed to include the nvidia tegra 2 processor (which should support 1080p video output.)

The Adam will have the Pixel Qi Transflective liquid crystal display - which gives some really interesting possibilities:

* A full color LCD transmissive mode and a low-power, sunlight-readable, reflective e-paper mode
* A transflective mode, that will make the LCD display visible in sunlight and automatic brightness control

(Given that I would like to work outside more..... that sounds fantastic.)

Finally there is the Malata SMB a1011 android tablet. It also features the Nvidia Tegra 2 processor and will probably be produced under different names from various companies. So... right now there are a bunch of cheaper/underpowered tablets running android currently available as an ipad alternative but by the end of the year there should be some VERY good, capable competitors on the table. Bottom line - I think this Christmas is going to be the tablet pc/pad year when it comes to gift giving. While the Apple ipad is up in the $499 range, I wouldn't be surprised to see some of these excellent alternatives down as low as $200 - $250.

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