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Comment by sergiotapia | Hacker News Reader

At that price range I would buy one for each of my kids, hands down. It works for reading, internet, and some videos. Sure you might be able to play every game out there, but it's fantastic for common usage!

Specs:

$38 7" screen at 800x400 Android 4.0 ICS 1GHz single core processor 4GB storage with microSD for expansion and I'm guessing 512MB ram The $38 UbiSlate 7Ci tablet, running on Google’s Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, features a 1-gigahertz , single-core processor (the sort of CPU found in the first-generation iPad introduced in 2010). Just 4 gigabytes of storage is built in, although microSD card slots are included for those looking for more space to store apps and media. The 7-inch display offers a resolution of 800×480 pixels,

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Not to be a downer but as someone who has been on Android for a very long time, a 1GHZ processor single-core is really no fun to use at all. Especially since most apps right now are tested on 1GHZ dual core minimum ... and the mobile web is barely even fun on a brand new iPhone 5s. It's probably still worth $38, but could be a frustrating experience for a young child.

I think it's terrible for Android qua multi-tasking handheld operating system, but great for making touch computing into a commodity. You know what would be great here would be a 'stripped' version of Android (or whatever) optimized for single-task applications. I want it open enough to be hackable, but I don't necessarily need it to be a general-purpose computer all the time at a low price point like this.

It does sound nice, but I'll believe it when I see it shipping. Over the years we've heard lots of "cheap tablets coming" stories, but the final product turns out to be vaporware, or nearly useless.

It appears to be available right now

http://ubislate.us/product.php?prodid=1

It looks like it has some weird custom skin.

To help alleviate your concerns about vapourware: they have released tablets in the past at similarly lower end price points.

Those specs remind me of my old G2 which cost over $500 only three years ago. http://www.gsmarena.com/t_mobile_g2-3518.php It wasn't great but it was perfectly usable.

Hey. I still use that phone with CM Jelly Bean :) I still love it. If the specs are similar, then I don't mind getting one at $38. I can use it as a remote for Chromecast!

Depending on the size of the family, buying a normal nexus tablet for each child eventually isn't exactly ruining. (Speaking for a developed country, at least)

When each kid breaks/loses it, it is. There islets of research into whether kids should be exposed to screens at all, but yeah buying a Nexus 7 for a 5 year old is a good way to lose $200.

Excuse me, I hadn't realized that people would contemplate letting five year olds play unsupervised with tablets...

My daughter's second word was "iPad". Five years later five iP*s have survived two kids nicely. Sometimes it's not so much a matter of letting kids, but managing the fact that they will.

Shoulda kept my mouth shut.

Day after writing that, the boy smashed the iPad Mini in a snit. $200 lesson for daddy.

When I got my Nexus 4, I let my brother in law play with it while I went into the other room. When I came back, he was gone to the bathroom and my 18 month old niece was playing with my brand new $350 all-glass smartphone on my mom's hardwood floors.

It does happen.

"2-in-1 iPotty with Activity Seat for iPad: A comfortable and child-friendly potty with activity stand for iPad."

http://amzn.com/B00B3G8UGQ

My daughter's had relatively unfettered access to a tablet since she was four. She got her first laptop when she was 8. She just turned twelve, and just built a pretty fun slot machine game in Ruby.

I think I understand your point, and yes, we've been mindful of her activities and all that, but I think the converse is equally detrimental to a growing child's development.

My kids get ~30 mins per day (total, split between them) on the ipad. Maybe longer on exceptional occasions.

With that screen resolution, that's going to be pretty lousy for reading, actually.

Surprisingly, that resolution in this size isn't too bad. I had a very low-end Android tablet with exactly those display specs that I used until I decided it was worth buying a good one, and I found reading on it more pleasurable than I expected.

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