Are Barbie dolls and toy cars on the way out? Primo 73 Tablet: the gift kids are asking for
I wanted to buy a 7-inch, low-cost tablet PC for my sister’s kid. At first, I was thinking about the iPad Mini. Wow! They’re asking more than NT$10,000 (US$333) for it. Since it would be for a kid and might get broken, I didn’t think I should spend that much. I felt something under NT$6,000 (US$200) would be much more realistic.
After researching a bit, I found online that with NT$6,000, I could choose from well known Taiwanese brands, like Acer, Asus, and MSI. I could also get low-cost Chinese generic brands, but I’d be worried about the quality. I also wanted to make sure that that I could get a full warranty, so I restricted my search to well-known domestic brands.
I had narrowed it down to Acer’s Iconia B1-710, the MeMO Pad ME 172V by Asus, and MSI’s Primo 73. The Asus only has a single core, so I crossed it off the list. Since the Iconia and the Primo are both dual core, I went to Yahoo Shopping to compare prices. The Iconia was NT$4,990 (US$166), and the Primo was NT$4,690 (US$156). The Primo 73 was a bit more affordable and also has a sturdy aluminum alloy chassis, so that’s what I decided to buy.[IMG]file:///C:\Users\MOH~1.SOB\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1 \01\clip_image002.gif[/IMG]
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The box has the MSI customer service hotline phone number printed on it. I think that if you buy a brand name tablet like this, a list of maintenance locations should be a given and the warranty should last one or two years and that's just what you get with the Primo 73. Hopefully, we’ll never have to use it, though.
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Let’s check out the accessories inside. Hmm... pretty straightforward. A black warranty card, one long and one short Micro-USB adapter, and an AC adapter.
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Of course, it uses Android. After all, I’m giving this to a family member and Android is more customizable than iOS, installing Widgets is simple, and we can set up a desktop that’s easier for a kid to use. (Naturally, it also has “adult mode,” XD)
I had my niece try it out.
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Check out how light it is! She can hold it with one hand. I checked on Yahoo Auctions and it doesn’t even weigh 300g. Awesome! Too bad, I don’t have a scale, so I could show you.
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I also helped her download a few apps, including educational ones, like one for playing the piano, and of course Candy Crush. Actually, a lot of them were apps I wanted to try out myself and, sure enough, they’re even more fun than they are on a cell phone. XD
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Of course, kids will be kids, so after just a few minutes, she said she wanted to play another game. I downloaded the extremely popular Monsters University to calm her down. The color was clear and bright.
Not even thirty minutes later, she said she wanted to watch Balala the Fairies. I didn't even know the heck it was. I used the built-in Wifi to google the video for her and it played really smoothly with no lag.
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She was so into it, her eyes were glued to the screen.
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She kept checking it out, switching back and forth between games and movies. After two or three hours, the battery was still good to go. The battery life is more than long enough for my niece to watch her cartoons or for my sister to watch her soaps.
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My sister wanted me to check out how well it takes pictures, because kids love taking pictures. Cool! There’s a front-facing camera and a rear-facing one just like a cell phone, so you can take selfies, if you want.
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OK, we went outside to test the camera. She loves taking her favorite backpack with her anytime she goes out and she wanted to carry the tablet in it. It fit perfectly.
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So we headed out.
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To be honest, I didn’t like the red bag much, so I had gave her a cute kitty bag. It’s a bit bigger, but isn’t it so much cuter?
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PS: While I was getting the bag, she took the opportunity to watch Balala again. Her mom caught her on camera. Good thing the battery lasts so long.
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So we got down to business to see how good the camera is.
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Have you noticed how thin it is? It’s so thin that it's called "featherweight" on Yahoo Auctions. I measured it and discovered that it is less than 1 cm thick.
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Check out the picture we took outside.
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Not bad! The picture is really crisp. There’s a lens on both the front and back. The one on the back is two megapixels. I compared it with popular models by other brands in the same price range on Yahoo Auctions and noted that it has a really good price-to-performance ratio. It takes pretty darn good pictures.
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Check out the chassis. There’s more to the Primo than just being thin and light. The feel of the metal case is far superior to plastic ones. The sandblasted surface has a really nice matted texture. It doesn’t feel like a toy, so it makes a great gift.
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You have HDMI, USB, and headphone ports on the sides and you can expand the memory with Micro SD cards. It’s compact and beautifully crafted. The HDMI lets you show games on your TV screen, so you can play them with your kids.
I didn't include in this unboxing blog any pictures of hot babes, just photos of my adorable little niece. I’m attaching a couple of behind-the-scenes photos below. Hopefully, this blog will help you find a tablet that's just right for you. (Oh, and my niece would be tickled pink if you clicked on “Like.”) Thanks!
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