Advent Vega budget tablet: video primer

October 15, 2010 5:09 pm

Categories: Computers & Accessories, Gadgets, Gadgets News Tags: Advent, Android, budget tablet, froyo, Vega, Video

We were surprised by the Advent Vega budget Android tablet we saw at the beginning of the week, which only costs £250. It runs Froyo, has a good 10.1″ screen, and is quick and responsive. We asked Adam Lockyer, the category manager to talk us through the Advent Vega. Click through for the video…

The Advent Vega has impressive battery life, but it does lack 3G, which means it does not have the Android app marketplace. However, it will be getting an Advent marketplace which, quite surprisingly, has 5,000 apps available. The other option though, is to wait until next year when a 3G model will be coming out.

What do you think about the Advent Vega? Want one, or will you wait till a 3G model turns up with the Android marketplace next year?

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Tabor56

The more i see this tablet the more i would like to buy one.
stueyuk

I like it a lot!!
Boyers

I think I will buy one of these – initially I had thought about the Samsung Galaxy Tab but since the half-wits at Samsung priced their crap at £600 (it isn't worth half that price), I won't buy their overpriced junk. I sincerely hope that the Galaxy Tab will be the dismal failure it is destined to be.
Wake up plonkers at Samsung – you have destined it to the crap-heap by your lunatic greed!
http://www.facebook.com/tito.lopez Tito Lopez

This is great. Shows what cool tech at reasonable prices should be. I want one for Christmas this year.
d0mth0ma5

Looks like i'm going to have to head to PC World on the 1st.
http://tablets-planet.com Scott Garrison

This tablet looks pretty nice

Jenniferlucyallan

Yeah, I agree. It's a good budget option, although I'd be tempted to wait until new year when it will be getting 3G and possibly then the android marketplace. if the tab is going to be as expensive is rumours say, then options like this are looking more appealing by the day.

Johnleighdesigns

Does look a good bet – For my needs I have been following both the Archos 101 and Advent Vega a while now and the Vega seems to offer slightly more CPU power which might make the better choice for multitasking and smoothness of operation and I suppose Im waiting to see a proper review of both before taking the plunge. Looks like both these tablets will be available within the next 2 weeks.
Just a side note that as always with gadgets its often tempting to hold off until its got the latest this and latest that added or you hear a newer model is due in 6 months blah blah..
But like with my canon DSLR if I kept holding on for latest I would never have got the camera and had all the use and practice I have had
H@RM

Any of you folks got hints how I can order this magnificent piece of hardware and let it shipped to Holland?

Thanks mates!
novak84

Why does the lack of 3G mean there is no Droid Market, if it has WiFi surely it can access the Droid market, i'm a little confused.

bensillis

Hi Novak

So although Android's core is open source, Google still has proprietary apps on top of this which we consider part of Android generally – Gmail, Google Maps, the Android Market. Since they're not under an open source license, Google can do what it likes with them, and currently it doesn't like giving them to manufacturers making WiFi only devices, presumably because they want to keep Android as a mobile OS (for now), so people don't associate Google with super cheap Android tablet that don't work.

It's a big point of contention, not least because Google hasn't publicly disclosed what its requirement are, and one of the arguments against the assertion the Android is more open than the iPhone. That could change with Android 3.0 though,as it sounds like Google is readying Android optimised for tablets. We shall see.

http://twitter.com/utrt Graeme Simpson

does anyone know if there's a way to get things like gmail app running on it?
i would tether to my android phone anyway if i really needed the 3G so does that not still class it as connected by 3G? haha

bensillis

Only way currently would be to install a custom ROM on it- and unless you're a hardcore Android developer that'll mean waiting on others to root the device as far as I know.

http://twitter.com/utrt Graeme Simpson

anyone actually got a proper preview of the vega yet? really wanting to find someone that's got their grubby mitts on it and thrashed it to see if it's as good as it looks
Guest

lol, “we put facebook twitter youtube icons on the home screen so customers can start using the product straight away if they don't know how to use product you get high percentage of returns” – this tells a lot about dixons customers
http://twitter.com/benanderson89 Benjamin Anderson

This does look like a very nice tablet! My mum constantly hijacks my iPad so I might try and grab her one of these. I think she'll love it!
However, I don't see this device or other devices knocking the iPad off its top spot. Yes these android tablets are great and all but all they do is the internet and a few games if the hardware can handle it – the iPad does that plus some great office productivity, creative ventures (art, music, especially with MIDI now supported via USB connection) and business functions. Lets also remember that widescreen does not equal better. Good for watching films but for everything else it makes the keyboard too small to type comfortably and means less information fits on the page at once, in portrait orientation it'll also be too tall or too slim to hold.

I really do like the look of this tablet, especially for the price but after using an iPad it just doesn't seem like a logical choice. Still, for an internet browsing device (as in, the only thing it will do) I think this is one of the best I've seen!

Advent Vega budget tablet: video primer

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