Ok so I came across a little gem of a tablet. Up until this point the only “poor man’s” tablet has been the Blackberry playbook 16GB for $198. The HipStreet Titan can be purchased between $98 and $150 (depending on where you look….$150 is still good). This tablet even has the newest version of Android (4.0 or ICS or Ice Cream Sandwich)
After the continue I will break down the pros and cons of the Titan.I was a little skeptical about picking this up. I mean really a tablet for under $100!?! Honestly this is my first tablet and I have only played with the Samsung Galaxy 10″ tablet a couple times, so I do not have much to go on, but so far so good.
First off the first one I took home had a problem with the video in that the “white screen of death” came up. This isn’t unheard of with any tablet, so I returned it and have been happy with the second one ever since!
I wish there were more support for non partnered devices. While this tablet can handle all official android apps it does not have the official Google Play app available for it (and for some reason I cannot install it either). Anyway there are some great sites out there that have official apps, you just have to install them manually (really just copy them to a folder on the tablet and use file manager to open). So for people who are able to figure out how to install manually this is a small hurdle.
I have only had this device for about 2 or 3 weeks, so I have not had time to explore it too thoroughly, but I can say that I am very impressed with the capabilities of it so far. I recommend this to anyone that has kids, room mates etc and are in need of something to check emails, play some games etc, but have a small budget to contend with!
Hi, I just bought one of these tablets too. I bought it to use with an app called ‘Quizyourbrain’. I cannot install any apps. It only shows my phone available to download to and not the tablet. Have you figured out what the problem with this is yet. If I can’t download any apps to it I will be wanting to return it. Thank you. Pauline
With Hipstreet being a third party Tablet you cannot use “Play” to download your apps(I think Play needs more ram than the titan has to run…have tried to get the official android market place app to run). You would need to install it manually. I personally use drop box(link to download http://www.torrapk.com/index.php/en/dwld/24-productivity/1557-download-dropbox-apk-215) to download all my apps to and then open the drop box app and install them from there. here is a link to “quizyourbrain” that you can download and manually install http://www.androidapk.us/apps/QuizYourBrain-59805.html
I still love my Titan even though it is a bit more difficult to get apps. Better than paying $400-600….but that is just my opinion.
cheers
Play requires Google licensing to work. A lot of smaller tablet makers don’t have the capital to be partnered with Google and so leave out the Play.
Not sure if it is a fluke but my Hipstreet 7″ 16Gb tablet came with Google PLay Store disabled. I enabled it and can use it to my hearts content.
I just installed 1mobile. Has a good portion of the same apps found on Google Play (and I don’t have to set up an account with Google!)
Thank you for the 1mobile tip! Quizyourbrain is on there!
Fantastic tip about the 1mobile app! Thank you very much
I was wondering… to install the apps, can I install them to folders in the microSD card or only to the resident flash memory??? that will make me choose
Not all applications can. If you go into settings and then into manage applications open the application you want to move to the Sd card and select the option “move to sd”.
Although I have not even come close to filling up the 1GB internal with applications. I use the micro sd for movies and music etc
Since people still seem interested in this tablet, ever thought about rooting it? Apparently there’s a Market/Play “fix” out there. Though there is risk involved in trying it; from the sounds of things. In any case, the ASUS Nexus7 for $298 at Walmart, with an HD 1280×800 screen, BlueTooth 2.1+EDR, Near-Field Communication, Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, 32 GB built-in storage (expandable), and an nVidia Tegra 3 Quad-Core APU. Kinda makes the Titan (with it’s Cortex A8 CPU and 800×480 resolution) look like a GameBoy by comparison.
My only gripe with the nexus7 so far, though I don’t own one so it’s hard to tell, is the screen seems to have that cheap refresh rate look that the HipStreets have; but the resolution makes up for it a bit. I might sneak some games on to the tablet at work, and update with how it fairs.
All of this said, however, the Tegra 4 will likely make it’s way into phones and tablets shortly after nVidia’s Project Shield is released. So unless you’re looking for the upgrade, definitely hold off a bit. Have a good one!
While I agree the Nexus 7 blows away the titan I only bought it because it was under $100. still not a bad tablet really. Personally I think that the Nexus 7 is one of the best out there…..other than you cannot expand the memory on it
I’m looking for a tablet for my 75 year old aunt so she can skype her sisters. Would this be suitable do you think?
Actually, after further research, I think she’d probably want to use Google+ Hangouts (so all the sisters can talk to each other). Is this possible on this tablet?
I own a Titan 7″ which I bought less than a month ago.Personally I find it quite interesting It was already rooted and runs ICS Google play store came already built in. It runs like a dream.Actually it’s the pc7009ME. My only concern is whether it can be upgraded to jelly bean 4.2.2.
Personally I don’t think it would be wise to upgrade to jelly bean…don’t actually think you can upgrade to it as the power of the tablet isn’t too high. as for rooting did you do it yourself? I have been thinking about rooting it, but haven’t done that sort of thing and wouldn’t want to wreck it