ViewSonic ViewPad 10e: Brilliant screen on a budget

EXCLUSIVE: Android tablet with IPS display

ViewSonic ViewPad 10e: Brilliant screen on a budget

11 October 2011 16:16 GMT / By Chris Hall

The ViewSonic ViewPad 10e is the latest Android tablet to be revealed by the Taiwanese company. The 10e joins the existing and recently spotted ViewPad 7e at the affordable end of the company's tablet line-up.

Affordable tablets have to make sacrifices along the way and usually it's the screen that suffers. However, in the case of the ViewPad 10e you get a 9.7-inch IPS display with a 1024 x 768 resolution. The inclusion of IPS (in-plane switching) should mean the display offers better viewing angles than other tablets positioned at the affordable end of the market.

It gives you the same aspect, resolution and pixel density as the iPad 2 and we have high hopes for the performance, as this technology has been lifted from the company's monitors. It also boasts 400nits, so should perform better than some rivals in brighter conditions.

Sitting at the core of the ViewPad 10e you'll find a 1GHz Cortex A8 processor, 512MB RAM and 4GB of internal memory. This can be boosted by microSD card via the slot on the bottom.

External connectivity offers you that memory slot, mini HDMI, Micro-USB and a 3.5mm headphone jack, whilst internally you'll get Wi-Fi b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0. There is no GPS.

There is a forward-facing 1.3-megapixel camera, but no sign of a camera on the back. ViewSonic isn't the first to take the rear camera off their tablet: Archos has made the same move with its G9 tablet, which helps keep the price down.

The dimensions also look impressive as it is only 9.1mm thick (241.6 x 188.6 x9.1mm) and the weight of 620g makes it easily portable. There is a 5400mAh Li-Poly battery inside.

On the downside, however, you'll find that this isn't a Google certified device, so there is no sign of Android Market or the associated apps like Gmail. However, ViewSonic does bundle the Kindle app so you're all set to deploy the device as an ebook reader from the off and it will come with the ViewScene 3D we saw on the ViewPad 7x recently. 

James Coulson, European marketing manager of ViewSonic Europe told Pocket-lint: "We are very excited about this product as it is the culmination of ViewSonic's experience in the tablet market to date and continues our core belief of bringing an affordable high quality Android tablet experience. A slim 10-inch tablet with a high quality IPS display, available this side of Christmas at a value orientated price point under the ViewSonic brand, we know will be attractive to anyone considering any mobile tablet purchase."

No word on exactly what that pricing or availability is as yet, but we'll be looking to get our hands on the ViewSonic ViewPad 10e as soon as we can to let you know whether that display is worth getting excited about.

Full tags
Tablets, Viewsonic, ViewSonic ViewPad 10e, Android

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