With adults becoming seemingly more accepting of their children owning a mobile phone along comes the next big craze to put on their Christmas lists; a low budget tablet for gaming, socialising and viewing videos. It is big news that Tesco has released a low cost tablet, the Hudl, just in time for the Christmas rush and not long after Argos undercut them with My Tablet. Both, an attractive proposition to someone like myself, a mother who is not yet ready to let my son have a phone of his own but whom is keen to allow him to familiarise himself with technology.
I feel at this point I should highlight I am a true believer in outdoor play/learning and activity for my children but I also want them to be up to date with technology and feel children can learn a lot from the use of games including problem solving, increased coordination and concentration. Of course like everything, moderation is key!
Have you herd of Tweenies? They are the newly defined children’s consumer group aged between 9 and 14. They are between childhood and teenage years and have a very detailed attention span. Boredom is not an option in the eyes of a Tweenie! The dramatic and vast rise of games like Minecraft, Angry birds, Style me Girl and Dress Up Prom Night has given rise to a large demand for tablets and mobile phones among this age group. However, if most tweenies put an iPad on their Christmas list I think Santa would have a choking fit!
John Waldon, Argos managing director says “millions of people have bought tablets in last year but still around 75% of the UK population are without one. We know that tablets will feature heavily on the Christmas lists this year” Seeing this gap in the market several players have come onto the market, Kindle Fire being a big hit last Christmas.
It is estimated that 230m tablets are expected to be sold in 2013!
So what of the new players?
Tesco Hudl retails at £119 however if you use the Clubcard boost system you can double your Clubcard vouchers value and can buy it for just £60 worth of club card points! You can even have it delivered with your groceries so it’s hassle free too. It features a 7 inch screen and 16 GB storage space but you can store up to 32GB extra via microSD card. It has a 1.5GHz A9 quad-core processor with 1GB of RAM. You can purchase it in one of four colours: black, blue, red and purple.
Also with a 7 inch screen Argos have released a low-end £99 tablet by own brand Bush to undercut the Hudl called My Tablet. My tablet is available in two colours: pink or silver. But sadly it has half the storage of the Hudl at only 8GB, which would soon be filled with apps. However like the Hudl can have an additional 32 via microSD card. It features a 1.6GHz processor and 1GB RAM so not quite as nippy as the Hudl either.
So what are the key differences between Hudl and My Tablet?
Aside from Hudl having a better quality quad-core processor, double the storage and a better quality camera, according to PC advisor, the Hudl has a higher screen resolution and better pixel density and also a higher quality LCD panel meaning more vibrant colours, better contrast and viewing angles. Hudl is alleged to have a larger battery life also.
Both run on Google Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean OS and have full access to Google Play store and can run any of the 850,000 standard Android apps.
Also it is useful to know that Jelly Bean allows you to set up multiple accounts making it easy for families to share the tablet and it has parental control capabilities as well. A very important buying factor for many parents.
In conclusion, it is tempting to buy into the low budget tablet market because of the very attractive price but be careful you are not disappointed with a mediocre experience compared to the original benchmarks set by Apple’s iPad. Do your research, read reviews and ensure that the device has the right features for your needs. See pcadvisor’s top 10 best tablets 2013.
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