ViewSonic Now Has A Competitor In The Tablet Market

The new waves in the market have been created by ViewSonic and it’s first 7-inch tablet with Android 2.2 or Honeycomb as its backbone. Named the ViewPad 7, it is available now at many online retailers including Amazon (£269.00) and is very similar to the Linx Commtiva N700 we reviewed back in December last year. ViewPad is said to support Android’s Google mobile service applications so that Youtube, Gmail, Voice search etc are easily available at a customer’s disposal. Along with this, it also has access to the Google Android Market place where 200,000 applications and games are readily available with enough variety to suit anyone.

Weighing around 380 grams and measuring 0.45 inches in thickness, it holds a dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 chip with dual cameras – 0.3 megapixels on the front and 3 megapixels at the back with auto focus but lacking a flash. The dual cameras are expected to help you with a better experience of video conferencing and captures the most amazing moments in just a split of a second. The other interesting features on board are its high-resolution of 800 X 400 Pixel display screen, multi-touch panel, Bluetooth, and expandable memory with Micro SD slot, which means practically unlimited storage space and it is 3G ready.

The Viewsonic 7 also sports a built-in G-sensor, ambient light sensor and an accelerometer. Putting some light on the other features you would be surprised to point out the HDMI port and HSPA+ support which makes the tablet well deserved for the 7 inch experience of the Honeycomb. Where the ViewPad is successful is in supporting Document-to-go application to view and make changes in your files while in a hurry (Ms Word, Ms Excel, Ms Power point and PDF files), it also gives a hand to travellers with a GPS and E-Compass, and can function as a Sat Nav if you purchase the appropriate software from the Android Market.

The drawbacks to the ViewPad 7 are a quite bothersome, like the slow speed of the processor, poor screen brightness adjustment for reading an e-book and short battery life. Although it can be also used as a phone, the size of the device makes this useful in emergency situations only unless you pair it with a wired or bluetooth headset.