Tablets are hot commodities right now–from the Apple iPad to the Dell Streak.
There's even a tablet that is a hot seller at Kmart: the low-budget Gentouch78 made by Augen Electronics Corp. has a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $199.99 but sells for $169.99 on Kmart.com.
Is a $200 tablet too good to be true? That's what WSJ's Willa Plank was wondering when she tested the Gentouch78 by Augen Electronics, a discount competitor to the iPad.Augen Electronics CEO Gary Gofman said the tablet is selling well at Kmart because it is "well-built for the common folk."
So I decided to give it a try. At first glance, the Gentouch78 looks pretty cool: It's a chunky black slate device that is easy to hold and compact enough to fit in a medium-sized purse. It is thicker and heavier than an iPad but is smaller in width and height. And it comes with a decent-looking faux leather case.
But once I turned it on, the differences were pretty stark. The graphics on the 7-inch, 800 by 480 color touch screen were nothing like the Apple's rich graphics or even the graphics on a mid-range laptop computer, and the live wallpapers included with the device were pixilated.
The processing speed of the device was also a bit slow. I couldn't transfer files like music through USB without getting an 8 gigabyte memory card. The device can take up to 16GB of additional memory through a microSD card.
The device runs on Android 2.1, but does not have access to the Android Market. Instead users have to download apps from a store called AndAppStore by Funky Android Ltd.
This store was not user-friendly and had fewer apps than the Android Market by a large margin. The store doesn't give much description to each app, and only some have a star rating. Most of the apps I downloaded were disappointing. I downloaded an app called GPS status, figuring I would get an app similar to the maps feature on my iPhone. But all I got was a nonfunctional compass.
And although the device was the perfect size for an e-reader, I was disappointed that I couldn't download paid e-books on the device because it lacked an Adobe digital-rights management software-development kit. I visited free e-book sites and downloaded PDF versions of books, but the selection was limited as many of the free books were either classical literature titles or research papers. The company says it hopes to implement the Adobe DRM SDK when it releases the next generation of the product in January.
Other typical functions like Web browsing, music listening, video and photo viewing were fine. Sound was decent, and I honestly don't need the resolution of an iPad. I could download Microsoft Word files and edit them within the Documents to Go program, which was a plus as a journalist on the go.
But using the on-screen touch keyboard was a bit tough. Many times the tablet would register a letter I didn't intend to press. Scrolling was impossible with my finger; I had to use the included stylus. I also found that I needed the stylus to press the "home" and "go back" icons, which were too difficult to press with my finger because they were too small. According the company, a new line of more sophisticated tablets of various sizes, some in similar price to the Gentouch78 and some costing more, called the Espresso line will have multitouch screens like the iPad. The next generation of the Gentouch78 will be known as the Gentouch Latte, but still won't have a multitouch screen.
Navigation buttons were also inconveniently located behind the device, so I couldn't see what I pressing. The microSD card didn't really fit in the slot, until the company told me a trick: Using the larger end of the stylus to press it in. There was also a void between the card slot and the body of the device. I almost dropped the microSD card inside the device. According to the company, that was a misalignment issue that has been fixed.
And the tablet came with a headphone port too small for my headphones. The company said newer shipments should have a 3.5 mm port. Customers with the smaller port can also email the company to get a headphone adapter.
So is the Gentouch78 worth it? I had high hopes that I would find a low-budget iPad. But sadly, the Gentouch is not quite ready for prime time; without a robust e-reader function or access to a wide range of apps, this device is essentially a clunky and slightly crippled Android smartphone. For the price - $169.99 plus a $47.99 8GB microSD at Best Buy, I'd say you might as well get an iPhone 4 instead.
Write to Willa Plank at willa.plank@dowjones.com
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