I got an email today with a reminder about this tablet. Much to my surprise the ViewPad 7e, a tablet that I haven’t covered in nearly a month, is only just now going to ship. It’s up for pre-order on Amazon.
This is Viewsonic’s latest entry into the budget tablet market. It’s based around a cheap 7″ (800×480) screen, and it’s running Android v2.3 Gingerbread on a single core 1GHz CPU. It comes with a pair of cameras (VGA front & 3MP rear), speaker, Wifi, Bluetooth, g-sensor, HDMI out, microSD card slot, and 4GB Flash storage.
It also has a new type of touchscreen. Like its close relative, the Pandigital Nova, the ViewPad 7e has a 2-fingered resistive touchscreen. Note that it’s not capacitive, and that means that you can use a stylus. But the touchscreen also enables the use of an extra finger.
The ViewPad 7e is going to ship with a number of apps, including the Amazon Appstore, Kindle, Twitter, TuneIn radio, and more.
The ViewPad 7e is in a rather curious position. It’s an Amazon affiliated tablet which is selling for the same price as the Kindle Fire. In some ways it has better specs (card slot, cameras, buttons) but in other ways it falls short of the Kindle Fire (CPU, screen). The ViewPad 7e is going to have an uphill fight against the Kindle Fire, and its success in the market is going to say a lot about how thoroughly Amazon will dominate the tablet market.
To be honest, this tablet might actually benefit from the Kindle Fire. (No, I’m not smoking anything.) It has hardware details that can’t be found on the Kindle Fire. That means a certain percentage of buyers could discover Android tablets because of the Fire and pick the ViewPad 7e instead. They will want the cameras or card slot, or they might just prefer the design.
I posted a hands-on video of the ViewPad 7e last month, and I’ll let you decide what you think of the design. Me, I’m waiting for the Kindle Fire, which is due out in a few more weeks.
via Amazon
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How does this compare to the new Kobo Vox, do you think?
I don’t know how the performance compares, really, but the Viewpad’s specs are better.
You’re right, the specs are a bit better in that it does have the camera and so on. Hrmmm…decisions decisions because I have the Vox on order from Indigo. If the Viewsonic is reviewed favorably then it might be a choice as a Skype type of tablet for my parents.
Isn’t this the same as the Pandigital Nova?
DOH! I see you mentioned that. MOAR caffeine.
Pretty, much, yes. But the circuit board is different and I think the 7e has a better camera on the back.