Recently there was an uproar in India about the delay in the launch of iPhone 4 in India, but it was not a one off incident. In fact, most manufacturers who have presence in other countries usually delay launching their products here.
Similar is the case with tablet computers. Despite a virtual rain of tablets in recent times, many of these devices have officially not been launched in India. An interesting fact here is that you can still buy these products thanks to online shopping websites.
We did some research on a couple of these websites like Shop Your World, 20 north and so on in order to find out the availability of popular and most anticipated tablets, which although they have not been made available in India, are still available for purchase.
The working of these websites is simple. Users are required to place an order for the product they want. The product is then ordered from abroad and dispatched to the node office of these websites, which in turn dispatches the products to the buyer sitting here in India.
Using these services it is possible to get these products in India without them having been launched here.
Motorola Xoom
It is probably one of the most anticipated tablets of this year. Based on the Nvidia Tegra 2 dual core Processor and Android Honeycomb operating system, this 10.1 inch tablet offers a mix of features and performance.
Xoom is famous because supports Flash and has exceptional battery life of 10 hours, as claimed by Motorola. The device has 32 GB of internal storage and along with that an external memory card slot is also provided to expand its memory by another 32 GB. Xoom has a 5 megapixel rear camera capable of recording 720p HD video and a 1.2 megapixel front camera for video conferencing.
The tablet is a WiFi-only device and does not support 3G, but considering 3G data costs it is a good idea to stay indoors connected to a high speed network. The Xoom also has USB ports via which it can be connected to USB powered peripherals like keyboards, flash drives and so on.
The Xoom costs about Rs 38,000 and this includes the price of shipping and duties levied on imports.
Dell Streak 7 inch
The Dell Streak 7 inch WiFi-only tablet is by far the most powerful small tablet available. Powered by a 1 GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 dual core processor, it leaves less room for competition with bigger tablets while giving better performance and portability. Its 7 inch display allows this tablet to be easy on the pocket and meanwhile enhances mobile usage.
A 3G version of this tablet is also available, but that comes locked with service providers so it won’t work in India unless you get it unlocked. It has Android 2.2 Froyo as its operating system and comes with 16 GB of internal storage, which can be further expanded by 32 GB. Streak 7 has a 5 megapixel rear camera capable of recording 720p HD video and a 1.3 megapixel front camera for video conferencing.
Being a smaller device, the Streak has less battery backup — limited to 4 hours. It costs approximately Rs 22,000.
Viewsonic G tablet 10.1
Viewsonic Gtab 10.1 has an Nvidia Tegra 2 dual core processor and a 10.1 inch capacitive touchscreen. It features Android Froyo 2.2 operating system, but the software has been optimised for use on a tablet so users will not face any problem while using it.
The Gtab has 16 GB of onboard memory besides a 16 GB expandable memory slot. The rear camera is missing from the Gtab, but it has a 1.3 megapixel front facing camera.
Users will have to pay a price comparable to that of Dell Steak 7 for owning this device. It costs about Rs 22,000.
Asus EeePad transformer Tab
This product has a much hyped design, which allows it to be converted to a full fledged laptop with the help of the optional keyboard and trackpad docking station. Apart from adding the trackpad and the keyboard, the dock works as an additional battery and port. Although the docking station is an additional accessory we are sure it will justify its price.
The Eeepad also features the Nvidia Tegra 2 dual core processor, Android Honeycomb and 10.1 inch capacitive touchscreen. It has 32 GB of internal storage and 32 GB of memory expansion capacity. The Eeepad has a 5 megapixel rear camera capable of recording 720p HD video and a 1.2 megapixel front camera for video conferencing.
One of the best things about Eeepad is that its dock, rather than just adding functionality also adds a bigger battery to the device, making it run for almost 16 hours on a single charge.
To buy the Eeepad users have to pay approximately Rs 33,000 but the docking station costs an additional Rs 14,000.