We've seen our fair share of good and bad in the realm of iPad wannabes. Here's a quick roundup of the worst tablets available on the market right now. To avoid making a regrettable purchase, steer clear of these devices.
Price as Reviewed: $399.00 The Camangi Webstation was one of the first Android tablets to hit the market, but the splash it intended to make was more like getting soaked by puddle water from a passing bus. To start, we found the resistive touchscreen literally resistant to touch, making it hard to tap, swipe, or navigate the Android interface. Overall performance proved sluggish, and even the features Camangi touted the most -- media consumption -- were mediocre at best. The lack of apps in the company's app market was the final nail in this 7-inch tablet's coffin.
Lowest Price: $184.99 The Archos 7 Home Tablet is not a case of “you get what you pay for.” That’s because we’d expect even a cheap Android-powered slate to recognize our touch input most of the time and to offer a larger selection of apps. Further more, the slate offers mediocre quality and resolution for viewing even the most basic websites. But the finicky display, sluggish performance , and dearth of apps add up to lackluster experience. Some will be tempted by the low cost of entry, but we say save your money for the iPad or wait for more compelling Android tablets to hit the market. On the positive side, the tablet serves as a nice heating pad because even in idle mode, it exceeds 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Price listed on JooJoo website: $499.00 After all the hype surrounding the JooJoo as the next iPad killer, this tablet was a total letdown not only because of its confusing and counter-intuitive cloud-based Linux OS, but also its temperamental keyboard. The lack of ports and expansion options also considerably limits the device as does its wacky software. Although the screen is larger than the iPad (12 inches), the slate is an awkward size that's bound to cause wrist pain with repeated use.
Price as Reviewed: $149.00 The $149 K-Mart tablet may be affordable, but it's practically unusable. We wonder what they were thinking when they put the tiny “Home” and “Back” navigation buttons on the back of the device. On top of the design flaws, the tablet is encased in plastic and it’s obvious this device is not as sturdy as some of the others we’ve seen. The screen quality is mediocre at best and you cannot even change the screen orientation. The touch sensor is fairly unresponsive unless you whack the screen with all your might. With this slate's awful resistive screen, awkward button placement, and other deficiencies, we can see hackers and tinkerers potentially gravitating toward the GenTouch78 as a cheap Android testbed, but for general consumers, it's not worth the investment.
Price as Reviewed: $1,099.00 We thought dual screens would double our fun, but instead the Libretto was a sour disappointment. In both design and price, this $1,099 device is meant for early adopters with poor hearing and no feeling in their fingers. The back of the slate reached a whopping 115 degrees and its fan could be heard from two rooms away. The multimedia experience is well below par and the measly speaker is inadequate for use without headphones. Even more annoying, the transition for portrait to landscape orientation takes excruciatingly long. You feel a heightened sense of tension as the screens go blank during the process and the icons appear one by one as if the entire OS system is rebooting . Overall, the W105's short endurance, high temperatures, and lack of touch apps beyond what Toshiba bundles make this device more of a curiosity than a breakthrough.
