RAMOS W9

A bargain tablet PC at under $200 suggested retail, the Ramos W9 has just enough features to make it a decent choice for first-time users. It’s a particularly good solution for those mostly seeking to replace typical PC functions such as emailing and reading ebooks.

For connectivity purposes, the Ramos W9 tablet includes WiFi, 3G and Ethernet. Unfortunately, the operating system is only Android 2.1 and the ARM Cortex microprocessor is quite slow. Hard drive capacity is 2 GB and hardware is limited to a stripped-down list of USB, HDMI and microphone ports. On the plus side, the Ramos W9 does include full access to Android Market, not at all requisite on Android 2.1 tablets. And though a nice mobile TV app is included, this is only for China-based users – quite a tease.

As with many inexpensive tablet models, the Ramos W9 gets minus points for the responsiveness of its 7” resistive screen, while the 800x480 resolution isn’t highly impressive for high-definition video viewers, either.

In the end, the Ramos W9 is touted as an inexpensive alternative to big-name tablets and it succeeds in this aim if the user doesn’t look beyond the price tag. The W9 is a decent enough tablet, but can only be recommended to first-time and lighter-use users.