Checks When Choosing A Cheap Tablet PC

What to look out for when buying a cheap tablet. When buying a low-priced Tablet PC (see a quick list here) from one of the well-known brands, such as Apple, Samsung or Lenovo, due to how established these brands already are, as long as you check out the specific model for any common faults that may be present, chances are you're good to go. Of course, there's always the chance that something can go wrong with a tablet from any brand, but much less likely than with the no-namers, or not so well known namers. And with the well-known brands, potential problems are usually much easier to rectify.

With that said, when it comes to the cheaper, lesser known tablet brands, you should definitely be doing a lot of checks before buying to ensure you don't end up with something you really regret buying. Most of the checks are common sense really, but with how easy cyber shopping has become these days, a lot of people see something, like it and buy it. A few clicks of a mouse or taps on a screen and you've purchased a number of items without really thinking, and without doing much research.

So before you buy that tablet PC that you've never heard of, that has an amazing specification, looks great in the product picture, and has reviews that are too good to be true, be sure to dig a little deeper before committing to that last "confirm order" tap / click. Here are a few tips so you can play tablet detective for 20 minutes.

Customer Reviews

The most obvious one: Reviews. But these days its not as simple as just reading the reviews of a product, being satisfied with what you read and handing over your money. Oh no, my friend, you have to read between the lines a little. You see, the Internet is filled with fake reviews, and even websites like Amazon, where the reviews are a "verified purchase" can still be completely fake. There are many Internet marketing forums out there that have members who sell such services. So, just because the reviews look excellent, it does not necessarily mean they are genuine. Note: Always read the one and two-star reviews, if there is any.

Benchmarks / Bench tests

Whether you want a tablet that can perform well and scores impressively on bench tests / Benchmarks is neither here nor there. If a tablets scores really badly on bench testing the chances are it won't work very well when put under much stress, such as anything related to medium / heavy gaming or graphics related processing. And, of course, multi-tasking. So even if you're not a gamer or a heavy user in terms of putting much demand on the Tablet's Processor or RAM, you should still check how the device scored in the benchmark tests to ensure you don't end up with something that makes you want to pull your hair out (if you have any). One quick example of this is with a Tablet PC that is a classic example of excellent reviews Vs terrible bench-test scores.

That Tablet is the VANKYO MatrixPad Z4. With its Rockchip RK3066 processor, it can certainly do a good job of raising your blood pressure. It doesn't perform very well in any area. If you bought this tablet blind. As in, you read the excellent reviews on Amazon UK and USA (Which are predominantly fake - free product giveaways in return for a good review), and then went ahead and bought this tablet, you would definitely be kicking yourself for not doing a little more research on the product before purchase. It's basically a piece of trash wrapped in a blanket of good-looking fake reviews.

How do I check the Benchmarks I hear you say? 

Go to the product listing and make a note of the Processor name. If it isn't listed ask the seller what Processor is in the tablet. Go to Google, or whatever search engine you use and type in, for example, "rockchip rk3066 benchmark", or whatever Processor you are interested in finding out about and put the word "benchmark at the end. You will be met with lots of websites that will show how this processor performed under various tests in comparison to other Processors. Alternatively you can do the same search but look at the image results instead. There you will quickly find many easy to understand graphs and charts showing the test results / scores.

Warranty Length

How much confidence does the seller / manufacturer have in their product. A long warranty length usually shows that the producers of the tablet have spent time testing their devices under various conditions over extended periods of time for potential problems / faults, and are confident that nothing should go wrong within the warranty period. It also shows that some pride has gone into the products electrical components and build. However, you must still check out company reputations and reviews when it comes to warranties, because as we know, not all companies honour them like they should. Or at least some will dig their heels in a bit depending on the problem and the length of time that has elapsed since the purchase date.

Return Address

If you've had the misfortune of buying a cheap unknown tablet that appeared to look excellent before purchase, but then turned out to be anything but excellent when it arrived, you will no doubt have wanted to return it for a refund. It is then that some people find out that the return address isn't in the UK or USA, it's actually somewhere in Asia, such as China or Hong Kong. And guess what -You have to pay for the shipping.

Add to that the language barrier that can sometimes be frustrating when trying to communicate an issue or important information, and I think you'll agree, it can be more hassle than its worth. Needless to say, under these circumstances a lot of buyers end up not sending it back and just succumb to leaving it broken gathering dust in a drawer somewhere.

Company Reputation

Another review check really, but this time for the company itself, not just the product you're considering buying. What else do they sell. Are they a jack of all trades, selling anything and everything, not just Tablets and Tablet related accessories. If so this can be a bit of a warning sign that they don't put much pride, time or effort into the production of their Tablet PC's. It's just another product in a long line of products they sell.

If buying from Amazon be sure to have a look at their company profile page and take a look at their feedback score. Also, type the company name into Google and see what comes up. Are there complaints, are they masquerading as a UK or US company but their registered company address is actually in Asia. Have they changed their company name in an attempt to hide from a mountain of bad press and start afresh.