CherryPal launching a 7" Android tablet for $188

California computer manufacturer Cherrypal has introduced a 7” Android tablet for under $200 that they say is intended for the “sub-iPad market”.

"The CherryPad is neither an iPad killer nor an iPad clone, it's a completely different product designed for a different market," said Cherrypal CTO Max Seybold. "The screen of the CherryPad is only 7-inches big, the processor is slightly less powerful, and the CherryPad comes with Android 2.1 and not Apple's iOS."

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The hardware in the tablet doesn’t seem terrible for the price. It will use a Samsung ARM11 800 MHz processor and run Android 2.1, with an upgrade to 2.2 available later this year. The display is a widescreen, resistive-touch model with 800x480 resolution. Memory and storage are a bit light with 256 MBs of DDRII RAM and 2 GB NAND Flash, but a microSD slot is available for expansion. Wireless is, of course, built-in, but the card is only 802.11 b/g.

The company claims that they keep their costs low because they are “frugal with non-product related” costs. They also say that low-cost isn’t necessarily synonymous with low-quality.

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"Early user tests confirmed the CherryPad user experience has been extremely positive. Users appreciate full access to the Android Market, its powerful processor, battery run time, and high quality," Seybold said.

The tablet will not be available in mainstream retail channels, however. Cherrypal reportedly chose to sell online through Zecozi.com which bills itself as a, “a community-driven marketplace for conscious consumers, that enable users to shop with friends and come together in real-time with the community to collectively define sustainability.”

This doesn’t look like a bad product, but I’m always suspicious of hardware that is released at such a low price. I find that manufacturers have a tendency to cut corners to the extent that it makes the product annoying to use. That said, I hope my conceptions are completely unwarranted in this case, and that CherryPad is indeed releasing a quality, affordable product.

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