ViewBook VB730 7-Inch Android 2.2 For Sale

It’s good for $230 it’s really hard to beat the price point.

-The sound is not very loud though, but the video runs pretty smoothly and the device is actually fairly quick.

-The viewing angle is not that great.

- It appears to be a hybrid of resistive and capacitive touch screen, so using a normal stylus on it does work as well as a capacitive stylus or your finger. It does not seem to be multi-touch from using it although this is not much of a problem to me at least.

I’ve only had it for a short time but I am enjoying it so far.

Pros:
-very good price
-ability to write with a normal stylus without the lag of a resistive screen
-hdmi port

Cons:
-No google market only amazon market
-pretty bad viewing angle
-it feels fairly cheap compared to other more expensive tablets, but that is to be expected at this price point.

Conclusion:
It’s a good tablet for the price and anyone in the market for a cheap android tablet will probably enjoy it. None of its faults are a deal breaker I think. It is probably the best tablet in it’s price range from ones i have used.

I love my new viewbook 730! I am just learning Android, so I haven’t figured out everything yet (am having issues with 2 way syncing android calendar and google calendars – using more than one calendar, trying apps to work it, etc.) I have to say, though, this first experience is totally cool. I am using it as a PDA, up from my 8-10 year old little one. I love being able to actually type with more than one finger on the 7 inch screen rather than one little digit at a time with stylus only. The free writing/drawing stuff with the stylus in sketcher and notepad is AWESOME! Some really great stuff. I really think there has to be a way to fix my calendar problems (better be since that’s a HUGE chunk of why I bought it) and that aside, this does so much more than my old PDA.

Updated
Still love this thing after a month. Got Calengoo to work great once I discovered I had to enter m.google.com as the server name when setting up my accounts to sync. The only real gripes I have are there is no contacts stock/source app. I have found apps that needthat to run which would be cool…Amazon appstore does not have any basic one and there is no android market on this device fro me to get one. Really screws up the pda use for this. I found. A contact app or two that only let you work with your contacts on the internet but don’t actually have the contacts on the device without internet which is just plain stupid if you ask me. Please give us ability to access and actually use our own contacts. Otherwise, like I said, I love it!

I bought the ViewSonic 730 e_reader after checking out the nook color, and samsung 7″ tab. For nearly 100 dollars less than the nook you get a nice e-ereader plus web browser. Writing this review on the viewsonic. Buying an independent reader means you aren’t locked into the nook ereader or the kindle. I use both. This 7″ inch model is about the size of a paperback. It is slightly wider than the nook by 1/4 of an inch. Cons, the android market is prevented from downloading, but the other free ap markets work fine. I use yahoo mail, facebook, linkedIn, epiciurious, pandora, and weather aps. Web browser doesn’t like javascript heavy sites like netflix. Memory and processor do the job. Display is nice but does not allow multifinger size adjustment. Get the new kindle fire if that’s what you want. Also nobody makes cases for the viewsonic. I bought a universal neopreme sleeve. Good device for a nice price.

This is my firat experience with a tablet and I am having a lot of fun with it. I have downloaded several apps from Amazon but am a little disappointed that some apps are not compatable with the unit such as MapQuest, Yellow pages and some other biggies. I’m not sure why and I tried downloading one anyways and it did not appear on the tablet. It easily picks up my WiFi but is a little weak unless I’m in the same room as the router or at least close. It is worth the price and feels pretty sturdy.

Just received this Tablet yesterday.

I bought this model for the following reasons:
* Inexpensive (I could buy two of those for the price of an iPad)
* Doesn’t have 3G (I’m not ready to add yet another device to my wireless plan)
* Is 7″ (I wanted something small enough to be used in my car as a stereo/GPS replacement)
* Flash is supported (Yes, Mr. Apple, this is important to me!)
* Has an HDMI output and 1080p playback (I have a lot of videos and want to be able to plug on a TV when needed)

Pretty good so far. I cannot compare to any other tablet (I have only this one), but I’m tech savvy enough. I’m used to Android (I have a Droid 2 Motorola) and the learning curve was immediate. I’m a big fan of Android in general. I also have a touchscreen Netbook running Windows 7 (but I hate Windows…)

No multitouch but I don’t care at all. Screen is responsive, the 4 bottom buttons are less responsive than the screen itself. Button are well placed on the sides. Comes with a stylus, however no slots on the tablet to hold it when you don’t use it…
I’m yet to test BlueTooth.

The complains I have are not related to this tablet but more to the apps for Tablet: Still no good Skype with Video for most of the tablets for example or the USB on Tablets cannot connect to USB Harddrives (the Tablet will react as an external HDD when connected to a PC)

All in all, good product and happy with the purchase!

I got a refurbished/used model in Like New condition through an Amazon Reseller. Before buying, I did a great deal of research to become aware of its shortcomings and strengths and figured at $90, I could probably do worse. I’ve been surprised by how capable the device has been in all the strengths, and only mildly irritated by its weaknesses.

Cons first:
-As most reviewers have noted, the device does not come with the Android Market. In fact, the device is utterly prevented from installing it even through backdoor channels (I’ve not attempted to root the device yet, as there’s no “easy” way to do it; it’s all command-line business and I’ve not bothered with that yet), including downloading the APK and attempting to sideload it (gives a “Cannot Parse the Package” message). However, the Amazon App Store is growing as a stronger choice each day, and I’ve found a few other outside markets which provide all the apps that Amazon doesn’t.

-The screen is not multitouch. This can render a few apps unusable (recently got a mahjong game that requires you to go through a tutorial without a skip option, and one of the steps requires you to pinch the screen), but most non-game apps work perfectly fine with a double-tap. Likewise, the screen works well both with and without stylus. You can swipe like on most capacitive screens, while using a stylus for precision while drawing diagrams and typing.

-Some sideloading does not work; I’m thinking that ViewSonic likely lacks a few common files or such that a few apps require. Even installing these apps through alternative markets does not help. I’ve also not been able to get NetFlix to work on it.

Pros:
-The screen is great, touch-wise. It’s not flawless (the bottom four buttons for Search, Home, Menu and Back are a bit too sensitive when I draw on it), but it’s effective. I can turn it landscape mode and type on it with my fingers rapidly with ease in most cases, and I can turn it vertical and use the stylus to handwrite in what I want typed (it has a simple handwriting recognition system installed). Visually, the viewing angle is a bit narrow, and trying to show someone something on the screen can be a bit difficult without turning it all the way towards them. Likewise, the resolution could be better, but it’s workable; it’s definitely got an eReader resolution, and isn’t made for impressing people with how many pixels it can cram in there.

-It weighs just about right and the build quality was better than expected. The case isn’t rock solid, mind you, but it’s definitely better than some of the flimsy Chinese Tablets. It’s bigger than I expected, which is a plus because from some of the pictures I’ve seen from Viewsonic’s marketing, I expected the thing to be about a little bit bigger than a Palm Pilot, when it’s really roughly the size of a Kindle. Exactly the size I needed, no bigger and no smaller.

-Wifi works flawlessly for me, syncs up with everything I need without a hitch, and runs Adobe Reader almost perfectly (some odd-size documents don’t display well on it, but they wouldn’t on my computer if not for the monitor I have). It’s also handled Skype video chat with minimal problems (just make sure you close out the more memory-intensive apps before making a call).

My main reason for this purchase was to be able to get e-mail access without getting a smartphone. For the price this product met that goal. I was able to add work e-mail, surf the internet, and read books. It did freeze on occasion, but would re-start fine. Sadly I cracked the screen 6 weeks after purchase and broke it. I recommend a cover that holds the tablet and not a sleeve type. It was covered by my credit card and I’ve purchased the upgraded model for the same price. Overall, I’ve been happy with the Viewsonic products and can’t beat the price for all they do.

My husband got me the vb730 for Christmas. I’ve been talking about getting wither a Kindle Fire since it came out. I was also considering the Nook Tablet. My husband is a techie (sys admin at a local University) He and his boss did some investigating because his boss was looking for 7 inch tab for his sister. In fact they are both considering getting one as well even tho they have IPads. That was good enough for me.

I absolutely love it. It’s got al the features i could want and wouldn’t necessarily get in a Kindle Fire and not the overabundance I may have had with a Nook Tablet. It’s actually very easy to read on, that’s come from a Kindle owner. Tho I miss the E-ink I have a couple of good reading apps. I was kind of worried about going to a backlit screen but the switch hasn’t been horrendous. So over all I would and have recommended it to friends.

The only thing I don’t care for with regards to this tablet is the fact that it’s not compatible with Amazon Market. There are numerous apps I want to get that simply aren’t available thru the Amazon Appatore.