Curse of the Cheap Tablet pc
There are many retailers stocking tablet computers today, in fact most of the large supermarket chains have their own budget android tabs. This is obviously due to the overwhelming demand for these touch screen devices. The issue arises when huge companies that deal in volume just like Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda start mass ordering tablet pcs, let me explain why…
As we all know technology is moving at an extraordinary rate, it is hard to keep up as a consumer but what about as a supplier? Well let me tell you it is even harder, you need to make sure you are up to date and not selling out of date tech. So the issue with these large supermarkets is that by the time they have placed an order for 10,000 units of a 7 inch tablet pc and the stock has arrived it is out of date!
From ordering there will typically be a 2 – 3 week lead time for the tablets to get made in a factory, then because of the quantity it is not viable to send with air mail – so the tablets are loaded onto a ship. About 4 -5 weeks after the ship leaves China it will arrive in the UK with these “new tablet pcs” give it another 2 – 3 weeks before the products are available in the shops and you can see these Tablets are almost 3 months out of date before they even get onto the shelves (or website) .
Even if the tablet technology is not out of the date, the price will be.. when these large chains make an order 3 months in advance they obviously pay the price for components etc at that time. 9 times out of 10 when the ship arrives the component price is lower, this is how smaller, agile companies like ourselves can adapt to the market price very quickly. We don’t buy in huge bulk and although it may sound counter intuitive, this is why we can pass you the savings.
Let’s take a look at one of the latest offerings:
Sainsbury’s:
Sainsburys have a couple of lower priced options available, their entry level tablet is £89.99 which is the Prestigio Multipad 7” Pro. At first glance this looks like a nice bit of kit, well priced and well designed..
I have had a play with the above mentioned tablet pc and in all honesty it is not too bad, apart from the software and components are dated. The processor is the main down fall, it just does not produce enough power for the app hungry android device. The other piece of information you may want to consider is we have the JexTab Phantom in black or white for £67.99, this has a similar spec – although we like power and so have stuck a much newer processor in ours.
If you compared the devices side by side you will see they are similar. The specs are pretty much like for like apart from processing power and the all important price. If you bought a Phantom instead of the over priced Prestigio you would save yourself £22 and have more tablet to show for your money.
As you can see your money goes a lot further with Jexaa, to look at the latest range of Tablet PC ‘s simply click here. If you want to have a look at the Phantom video on You tube here.
I hope this post has enlightened you a little more about the world of tablet computers.
All the best
Josh
