VIEWSONIC GTABLET

To enter into direct competition with the Apple iPad , ViewSonic released the gTablet. While many of this tablet’s features are comparable with the industry-leading device, the gTablet does fall short of the iPad in a few areas.

On first glance, the ViewSonic gTablet resembles a slightly bulkier iPad with a nice 10” capacitive touchscreen. However, in order to trim some price, the ViewPad G is made of plastic. On the plus side, this construction gives the ViewSonic G Tablet a low iPad-like weight of 1.5 pounds (0.7 kilograms). And while the ViewPad G screen provides 1024x600 resolution, the performance of the screen in showing video is nowhere near that of the Apple product.

Specs on the gTablet are fairly standard for a tablet in this range, including ports for mini USB, USB, micro SD cards and HDMI output. The whole thing is powered by a Nvidia Tegra 2 microprocessor and runs the Android 2.2 operating system. Software included is a good news/bad news story. Though many neat apps are included – programs for news and weather information, calendar, “grocery” and to-do lists are pre-installed – no Google apps come with the tablet. Typical desired links to Facebook, Twitter and the like may be installed by the user.

One interesting feature for the user looking to perform PC tasks on the ViewSonic G Tablet is the split keyboard in the user interface. In landscape mode, this allows the user to really touch-type with enough space for thumbs.

Performance of the ViewPad G is slightly above average and in general this tablet may be described as a bit of a poor cousin to the Apple iPad, but is quite workable for first-time users.