There are a slew of Android tablets which are heading our way but here’s one for the more budget conscious. The Smartbook designed ‘SURFER’ is a 7 inch tablet loaded with Android 2.1. For the €179 ($236 USD) price tag the specifications are actually quite impressive, a 720MHz Telechips TTC8902 processor, 256 MB DDR2 RAM, 2GB inbuilt storage, WiFi, microSD slot, webcam, 800×480 resolution display and a 1400mAh battery all make this a compelling option for someone in the market for such a device.
On top of that, Smartbook say the tablet is cable of 1080p output via its onboard HDMI port and supports flash, although we assume this is through flash lite.
Interestingly on the Smartbook site the tablet is priced at €249 ($328 USD) although at online retailer Marktkauf its a slightly more wallet friendly €179. The sleek package comes with a leather case and is available in German now.
256MB RAM is a little light these days, as is the 720MHz ARM11 CPU.
I think I’ll wait for a Cortex A8/A9 based system with 512+MB RAM.
@PJE: From the Marktkauf site:
* Internal Memory: 256MB DDR2 memory up to 512 MB
No idea how one would actually upgrade it though.
@PJE: From the Marktkauf site:
* Internal Memory: 256MB DDR2 memory up to 512 MB
No idea how one would actually upgrade it though.
And for a Web tablet a 720MHz CPU should suffice.
I got my hands on one of those and took it apart:
http://www.kapejod.org/2010/08/smartbook-surfer-internals-ibreakit/
It’s pretty crappy, especially the software. The Linux kernel only sees 160 MB of the 256 MB. Absolutely unusable for the enduser but great for playing and hacking.
It let’s you bee root on ADB. So i managed to retrieve the com.skype.android.apk file and get skye lite beta running on my Nexus One (not being a Verizon US subscriber).