Vizio 8" Tablet review.

So I love Gadgets, hence the reason I am writing a blog now about them.  What I love most though is getting a gadget that I like for an amazing price!  Today that gadget is the Vizio 8"  android tablet.  I have wanted a tablet ever since the original iPad came out but could never justify paying $500 for one.  I already own an iMac, laptop, and an iPhone so I really had no practical reason to spend that much money for something that I truly did not need.  Regardless, deep down I still wanted a tablet.  So Christmas time rolls around and I had some Christmas money burning a hole in my pocket and so I started looking and doing research on the kindle fire and what it had to offer.  While doing so, I came across the Woot of the day at woot.com  and they had this Vizio tablet cheaper than the fire and with more features as it seemed from the description.  From what I could tell people either loved it or hated it.  Most of the people who hated it seemed to compare it to the iPad constantly in their opinions of the tablet.  First of all lets be honest comparing a Vizio tablet to an iPad is like saying you don't understand why your Kia doesn't compare to your Lexus.  The Vizio is not an iPad but it is a darn good little tablet that fills its purpose with very few issues for me.  Now if you are looking for an iPad alternative, I have to stay, stick with an iPad you just can't get any better.  If you are looking for a cheaper tablet with a lot of features, travels easily, or just to use as a media device for your home then this tablet would work great. 

My full review after the break...

My first impressions were that it felt a little heavy but the screen size is perfect for traveling without making you feel like you are looking at a screen that is too small for websites and videos.  It does have some quirky viewing angles but to be honest the only people who will notice are people sitting next to you.  I have no issues viewing it personally in my hand or lap while I use it.  The touch controls are very responsive and things load fairly quickly to only have a single core processor.  One of my favorite things about this tablet that I noticed right away are the speakers.  It has two speakers on the top and one on the bottom.  It only has two of these speakers active at one time.  So, say you are listening to Spotify, you have the top speakers working to make a great stereo sound.  Now you decide you want to put the tablet in landscape position, the speakers switch to one of the top ones and the bottom one so that way you continue to have true stereo sound either way you hold the tablet.  This is a small but really great feature of this tablet.  Also it has a built in IR and app for using it as a universal remote, something else you don't see in a tablet. 

As far as Android running on this device it runs rather smoothly and the customized UI reminds me a lot of iOS and so does the Android Market so it did not take me long before I started downloading new apps and  quickly switching between them.  One thing I did notice really quickly is the fragmentation of Android software as some apps I looked for on the Android market were listed as incompatible with my device.  I downloaded them anyway and they worked perfectly with no issues at all.  I love the fact that you can customize your android experience by adding widgets and even using different UI programs.  I tried launcher pro and completely changed the way everything looked on my screen this is a nice touch and keeps things looking new whenever you want to have a bit of change of pace on your screen.  I also like having flash on some websites with android.  Although I never really viewed very many full site pages on my iphone im sure the giant chunks missing from the screen might be more noticeable on an iPad.  While this is nice its battery usage is not, after viewing 4 trailers online the battery level dropped about 20%.  So my flash viewing will be at a minimal simply for battery saving reasons.  Speaking of battery issues I did notice that the battery didn't keep a charge for more than a day with lite use.  After doing research I found out that this is a common issue among android devices simply because android will allow apps to run in the background.  So I found some battery saving apps that help kill apps that are running in the background and that has helped tremendously.  I am wondering however why there isn't options built in to keep apps from running in the background to begin with.  Maybe I am just not versed enough in android to find this option but it is something I feel should be there.

There is also an apparent software issue that will not allow you to store apps on the SD card because the software creates a file on itself that it labels as an SD card.  I still have plenty of room left on the tablet to download programs and have had no space issues.  I would presume that the only people who would have an issue with this would be someone trying to install a large gps app that includes all the maps in it.  But all of your music movies and pictures you put on the SD card are still readable with no issues.

After having it for a few weeks now I can say I am glad I picked it over the kindle fire.  It has the full android app store which the kindle fire does not.  The bigger screen, the front facing camera, and bluetooth make this a much better choice for me than the kindle fire which does not have these options.

Since I got this tablet I find myself picking it up to view websites, checking my email, and watching shows on Hulu while I am going from room to room.  I basically pick it up instead of going to my computer for whatever I need to do.  I can definitely see a tablet replacing my day to day computing needs whenever it comes time to replace my main computer.  I will be using this little tablet for a lot of things. Also with the rumored update coming to the new android 4.0 and some of the small issues that can simply be fixed by software updates this little tablet will keep its usefulness for a while.