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Old 05-24-2012, 11:36 AM   #1
jj2me
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Posts: 820
Karma: 8820388
Join Date: Dec 2008
Device: Sony PRS-505, -350; Kindle 3 3G, DX, PW 2; various tablets
8GB Creative ZiiO 7" tablet, $110, or $120 w/ case & screen protector

Creative 8GB ZiiO 7" bundle for $120. You need to apply the coupon code to get the $50-value accessory bundle for $10 more.

N.B.
- resistive, not capacitive touchscreen. Not multi-touch.
- non Google Certified (have to use Amazon appstore or Creative's, or sideload .apks, like people do with the Fire)
- single core, 512MB RAM.
- Android 2.2.

Unique (audio and video) features I appreciate (they market this as an "Entertainment Tablet"):
- apt-X bluetooth codec. When paired with their WP-300 apt-x bluetooth headphones, the sound is excellent. This site tests a Sennheiser headphone with apt-x, and says that when they pair to an apt-x source, the sound is "all but indistinguishable from using the cord." Apt-X is the best consumer bluetooth codec available.
- lots of video format support, the best I've found. Of course I can't test all the formats and video players, but most reviews say something like "plays any video I throw at it." I take 640x480 MP4 videos on a micro SD card taken directly from an old Sandisk V-Mate recorder (it's like a VCR but records to memory cards instead of VHS tapes) and just put it in the ZiiO and play using the in-built Creative video app.
- Creative X-fi music enhancers.

Handwriting is less useful because a) no palm rejection, b) only supported in their Notepad app (or more accurately, I haven't found any other app that will take handwriting), c) their Notepad app doesn't share to Evernote or anything useful, d) some lag. But I still use it sometimes for quick notes.

Oh yeah, reading. I like the in-built reader (ePub, don't know what else it supports), mostly because it's so easy to change brightness by just sliding your finger up/down vertically along the right edge. I believe another app does this too, maybe Aldiko? But I haven't found a pressing need to install that app. ezPDF displays PDFs just fine, though you can't do multitouch zooming on the ZiiO. For .mobi's, I use the Kindle app.

Anyway, I recommend you read reviews over on Amazon and decide if it fits any of your needs. It's definitely not a top-line device, yet it has a few top-line features. For reading, I'd have to rate the $139 sale-priced refurb Fire as offering more for a similar price. I hate the ZiiO's unlit touch buttons, because they're not very responsive (they're resistive), hard to see in the dark, and in a different order from my phone's (though the order probably makes sense on a tablet). I also had a lot of freezing (reading customer reviews, only some people experienced this). But since the last update, I've had no problems so far in about an hour of use.

Last edited by jj2me; 05-25-2012 at 02:25 PM. Reason: Corrected link
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