Update: It's up for sale yet again today, Saturday, May 7th.
Woot.com, Internet's favorite a-deal-a-day site that I personally religiously check daily, is offering up an Android tablet deal today that may be hard to pass up for those looking for a beefy, yet budget, Android tablet.
The very hackable ViewSonic gTablet, which sports a speedy dual-core 1GHz Tegra 2 CPU, a 10.1" 1024x600 TFT display, a front-facing camera, 512MB RAM, 16GB ROM, and USB host capabilities, is sitting there for the next 12 hours (or until it's sold out) for the very low price of $279.99 + $5 shipping.
Considering the gTablet is currently listed on Amazon for 1.57, and the best deal we've seen to date was Sears at $350, the Woot deal is quite a steal. Add the fact that gTablet is one of the easiest tablets to root and customize with a variety of available ROMs, you've got yourself a very decent Android tablet with hardware specs that fly and a price that doesn't bite.
Oh, and read the product description - it's hilarious, as always (I'm saving it here because it'll disappear when the deal expires):
OF COURSE YOU CAN TRUST A CORPORATION
Lots of people have tried to compare the ViewSonic gTablet with an iPad. We want in on that too.
There are already plenty of side by side comparisons to help you decide between a ViewSonic gTablet and an iPad. But why should you have to go to some other site? Weâre selling it today, arenât we? Of course weâre going to be
totally biasedthe most completely objective and fair. So, in the interest of making you spend money, hereâs our highly informative point-by-point break down that we researched without any sort of bias whatsoever.Checkpoint One: Style
Itâs well known that the iPad makes you look cooler, as long as you already look cool when you take it out. But did you know that the ViewSonic gTablet saves you serious money, which lets you invest more in the science of looking cool? But then again, trying to be cool is so uncool⦠isnât it? Aw, this question's too hard, letâs call it even.
Winner: Draw unless you actually work at an Apple store. They probably donât want you hanging around with a ViewSonic gTablet.
Checkpoint Two: Media
Like a six year old who wonât eat meat thatâs touched the peas, the iPad very specifically supports Apple files and doesnât care that the files you find tend to use .avi most of the time. You can buy it from them or get to steppinâ. On the other side of the spectrum, this ViewSonic gTablet supports DivX, H.264, WMVnatively, as well as WMA, MP4 and MP3, MPEG and AAC. Thereâs also a front camera and about ten hours of battery life. And is that a faint smell of lemon each time you click the play button?
Winner: ViewSonic gTablet unless you also prefer Betamax and HD-DVD. It takes all kindsâ¦
Checkpoint Three: Connectivity
Thanks to the amazing strength of irritating corporate leadership, the iPad uses a network that can often annoy you by not finding the cellular data network for long stretches of time. The big empty spaces can really make you wonder why youâre actually paying for their service in the first place. So the ViewSonic gTablet bypasses all that and only supports Wi-Fi to begin with. It doesnât even pretend itâll find a cellular data network! Even better, thereâs no mandated monthly connection fee, except maybe the coffee youâll have to buy in order to keep the table while you surf.
Winner: ViewSonic gTablet unless you donât live near a ahem nameless coffee shop. And these days, how is that even possible? They own more land than Queen Elizabeth.
Checkpoint Four: Bluetooth
iPad: has Bluetooth.
ViewSonic gTablet: also has Bluetooth, but doesnât wear it as well.Winner: iPad unless you think Bluetooth is a standard or something.
Checkpoint Four: Finding Magnetic North
Want to stand on a street corner trying to hold your tablet steady while people stare at you like youâre some sort of idiot? Only the iPad offers a built-in digital compass! Alternatively, you could also just buy a teeny analog compass and put it on your keychain.
Winner: iPad unless, you know, you donât take a tablet computer when you go for a hike.
Checkpoint Five: Expandability
Much like their lovely one-piece iPhones, Appleâs iPad is built around one simple premise. If you ever run out of room, you can buy a new iPad any time you want. How simple! How easy! Thatâs nothing like the crude design of the ViewSonic gTablet, which for some stupid reason includes a Micro SD slot, a Mini USB port, and a standard USB port, all combining to let you add and subtract data at any time like a sucker.
Winner: ViewSonic gTablet unless you use âI have to go home and sync tonightâ as an excuse to get out of a terrible date.
Checkpoint Six: Apps
Connect to the iTunes store to download new games over that cellular data network that may not actually work! Thatâs the iPadâs method, and itâs whatâs made the iTunes store so profitable for them. Of course, the ViewSonic gTablet canât use that exclusive technological boutique. Thatâs why it comes with Angry Birds preinstalled. Also, thereâs Pandora, the Kindle app, Color Note, and you can connect to the G-market if you ever need more.
Winner: ViewSonic gTablet unless you only want a tablet forsnicker productivity.
Checkpoint Seven: Flash
iPad users know from experience what that little brick icon means. Thankfully, the feud between Apple and Adobe seems to be cooling, because you can at last download and install some additional app to give you access to the Internet youâve been missing, as long as you donât mind viewing it through that app exclusively. Isnât that good design? On the other hand, weâve got the ViewSonic gTablet and⦠Oh, look at that! Nothing to install, it just works! How simple!
Winner: ViewSonic gTablet unless youâre convinced that everyone will be using HTML 5 by summer.
Checkpoint Eight: The Guts
Want an iPad? Be ready to use OS X and iTunes, or Windows XP, Vista or 7 with iTunes, or possibly some future operating system and iTunes. Sort of like when your best friend got married to that horrible person you canât stand, iTunes is going to be there always. Every. Single. Time. Whereas the ViewSonic gTablet doesnât judge your choice of MP3 players. You can even use it with Linux if you really wanna. Itâs cool. Do what you feel.
Winner: ViewSonic gTablet unless youâre a marketing VP. âBrand lifestyleâ is so much easier to sell.
Adding it up, we see that⦠oh! What a surprise! The ViewSonic gTablet is todayâs clear winner! Heads up, all you people who have no interest in iPads, because weâre
arbitrarilyscientifically confirming your bias. Why not take a victory lap by buying a ViewSonic gTablet today? Think of it as a chance to say âSorry, iPad fans. Today you just donât measure up.â⦠but check back later, iPad fans, because eventually weâll have iPads again. And when that day comes, weâll have 100% factual data proving you correct! Um, completely unbiased data, of course. No agenda here.
So, who is picking one up?
Source: Woot - thanks, Jonathan and Mike