Looks like a great Android tablet deal for NZ buyers

I just spotted this NZ$398 ‘iPad killer’ on the d-Shop.co.nz site. There are an increasing number of these low cost Android tablets coming onto the market. What caught my eye about this one was the very enthusiastic review by d-Shop.co.nz owner Don Hill.

Okay, you can get your top-end Samsungs, iPads, Blackberry tablets and countless other brands that claim to be the best. But wait, here is a magnificent 8in tablet with the fastest CPU we have seen at 1.2GHz.  And not only is it a tablet — it’s also an excellent ereader … The touchscreen is resistive but we guarantee you will never find one better than this. It is dazzlingly fast — so fast you will have no trouble with full-screen video feeds off the YouTube desktop screen and Flash 10.1 via Android 2.2. You are welcome to call me to see this one. I have no hesitation in saying you will not find anything better at this price. The sound is very loud for a tablet. It’s a beautifully designed tablet with all the usual ports including HDMI and USB.

Just so you know, I’ve known Don for more years than either of us would care to admit. He’s been following the tech market and reviewing tech gear for just as many years so knows this market really well. He’s specialising in well-priced Android and eReaders and I see he plans to introduce some of the good independent eReader products that we hear about but don’t see much of in this part of the world, such as PocketBook Global, Cybook and of course the BeBook product line that Don’s been doing for a while.

This forthcoming Android-powered eReader from PocketBook looks very nice (pic above). It’s an eReader but it’s also a full 800MHz Android tablet that looks like it will be ideally suited to educational use.

And later in the year, Don expects to see the first devices with the promising Mirasol displays, a new breed of screen that combines the readability and long battery life of eInk screens with the rich colour and speed of LED/LCD displays.