What $300 or less buys in a tablet

Prices of consumer tablets are now falling as device makers try to pull buyers away from Apple's iPad, which is priced starting at US$499. Some tablets pursuant to this agreement $300 may sacrifice features, however are good for basic activities like web browsing, video playback and casual gaming.

These tablets run older versions of Android, nevertheless are powerful enough for Internet access and video playback. They have Wi-Fi capabilities and fast ARM processors, and to tell the truth go a step beyond the iPad with Flash capabilities and USB ports. For all that, the inexpensive tablets may not rate high on overall quality, as experienced by blogger Lorrie Jollimore with a 7-inch tablet purchased from China. Reliability is always in question, so top-line tablets just as the iPad and Samsung's Galaxy Tab should remain a primary choice, especially for those who use tablets much of their home or business activities.

Wal-Mart is offering the Vizio Touchscreen Tablet with an 8-inch screen for $298. This tablet, which runs on Android 2.3, offers access to Android Market, which many cheap tablets with Android 2 don't offer. This device hereafter will be part of the Vizio Internet Apps Plus ecosystem, where all Vizio Blu-ray players, tablets and smartphones will share a common interface. Details on that program are but to emerge, nevertheless for now the tablet can be a universal digital remote control, and communicate with Vizio TVs and Blu-ray players. The device has a 1GHz processor, camera, micro SD slot and an HDMI port.

Even cheaper tablet?

Want an even cheaper tablet? Pandigital is offering three Android tablets -- Planet, Nova and Star -- starting at $159.99. The tablets include 7-inch screens and offer access to B&N's e-book store, however the screen supports a lesser resolution, so books may not look as good as on B&N's Nook Color. The tablets use a speedy ARM Cortex-A9 processor, which is as well the processor design behind Nvidia's dual-core Tegra 2 chip. They have access to the GetJar app store, from which thousands of applications can be downloaded, even Angry Birds. The tablets can be connected to high-definition televisions through HDMI ports.

The Nova version has Android 2.3, during the others have Android 2.2 The tablets can be upgraded to new Android versions as they become available, the company said. The company's galactic ambitions go furthermore, with plans to announce a tablet called SuperNova at once month. Furthermore details about the tablet were not without warning available.