ViewSonic ViewBook 730 Reviews
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kcmjr.... October 2nd, 2011
ViewSonic ViewBook 730 Review
I recently purchased a Viewbook 730 for my son to use. I spent quite a bit of time reviewing the sub $200 tablets before selecting one. My son is 12 so his requirements were not very heavy duty.The specifications verse the price were reasonable. I paid $145 via Amazon.com.
The ViewSonic ViewBook 730 is a 7" tablet running Android 2.2. It has a single core, Cortex A8, 1 GHz processor. It also includes a VGA (0.3 megapixel) front-facing camera, 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, a Mini HDMI (Type C) port, and 8GB internal memory. External storage is via a micro SD slot that accepts up to a 32 GB MicroSD or MicroSDHC card. It also has a mini USB port for interfacing to a PC.
The Android 2.2 operating system is acceptable but would be would be nice if it were 2.3 or at least upgradeable. So far it does not appear to be.
The built-in applications are usable and not difficult to learn. It comes with a standard suite of apps such as email, browser, etc.
The screen is a hybrid resistive/capacitive type, not a fully capacitive one. This party accounts for the lower price. I'm not sure about the exact differences, some reviews list it as capacitive but it is in fact resistive.
There is no access to the Google Android market but instead it comes with access to the Amazon Android Store. The number of apps is lower but most of the more popular ones are there. They also have a "free app a day" so you can get paid apps for free by keeping an eye on whats available.
The only issue I've seen to date is that it does tend to lock up an awful lot. Apps that are deemed fine for use seem to work OK. Ones that are incompatible cannot be downloaded from the App Store. You can enable an option to load 3rd party apps so Android apps can be downloaded and installed from 3rd party sites. These seem to be the biggest cause of lockups.
All in all the tablet is plenty responsive. The screen is clear and functional. The 5000 mAh battery lasts a good long time, 4 to 6 hour typically. A stylus is included but there is no place to store it so you have to really keep track of it.
So far I'm happy with this tablet. It's actually designated as an e-book reader but it functions well as a general purpose tablet PC. It feels good in your hands, not cheap or plasticky. The charger port is a micro sized port. I have a concern that it could snap off and it will NOT charge through the USB connection (which is very unfortunate).