ASUS MeMO Pad ME172V-A1-GR 7.0-Inch 16 GB Tablet ( Grey )

I've been using Kindle Fire 1st generation as my comic reader. I loved it very much except one which is that there is no external memory slot. It was a little inconvenient to copy files into Kindle fire because of the slow speed and limited size. Now, with this one, I can add 32GB micro SD card to the internal 16GB space. If you pick class 10 micro SD with good card reader, the file copy is much faster.
Adding to it, I can have a video chat via skype and camera, I can still read kindle magazines via Kindle app, and it's cheaper.
My only concern is that the battery lasts 7hours compare to 8hours for Kindle fire as a spec. I'll see how different in the actual usage...
So far, I'm very happy with the tablet.

Review about ASUS MeMO Pad ME172V-A1-GR 7.0-Inch 16 GB Tablet ( Grey )

I got one of these for a friend, someone who I know isn't going to be picky about hardware specs and speed. There are a lot of entry-level Android tablets out there now, some of which are sub-$100 models. You can actually get this one in that price range if you find it on sale, but what sets it apart from a lot of others is it's actually not half bad.

On that note, a word of warning- most if not all other tablets in this price range are little more than child's toys. They tend to have very weak hardware that can barely handle Angry Birds and will lag seriously if you try to stream video. Furthermore the build quality is shoddy- they use cheap plastic and glass that affords poor viewing angle, has bad glare in bright light, and is very easy to scratch or break.

The main reason I even gave this consideration is it's made by Asus. I've used Asus hardware for a very long time- everything ranging from motherboards to graphics cards, monitors, laptops, routers, and most recently the Nexus 7. Generally speaking, their hardware is very solid in terms of performance and reliability. In fact I can't think of a single time I've been disappointed by one of their products. I figured even if this tablet was suspiciously cheap, it was probably at least decent. And it is.

First, expectations. This is not an iPad and you aren't paying $500+ for it. If you expect it to perform like an iPad, you WILL be disappointed. It's also half the price of the similar-sized Nexus 7 and of course not as nice. But for what you pay for, it's surprisingly good. Particularly, it has these pro points:

-- A lot of internal storage (16 GB), twice the Nexus 7 base model and as much as the Kindle Fire HD base model.
-- It is an Android 4. 1 Jellybean tablet. Most tablets in this price range are 2. 3 or 4. 0
-- It has a micro-SD slot, which is very noteworthy. Many significantly more expensive tablets, including the Nexus 7, do not have one (the cheapest decent one I know of is the Galaxy Tab 2 7, which is about $70 more).
-- Pretty decent hardware and chipset- it's comparable to the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7. I at first thought the VIA chipset would be considerably slower, but it's actually so similar as makes no difference. It's robust enough to run some pretty heavyweight apps, and can stream HD flawlessly.
-- Light weight, solid build. The tablet has a rubberized back that feels rugged and affords good grip. It is about the same size and weight as the Nexus 7.
-- Good battery life. .

Features:

• Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, 7.0 inches Display
• VIA WM8950
• 16 GB Flash Memory, 1 GB RAM Memory
• 0.8 pounds