BeBook Live

“The BeBook Live is one of many Android tablets that won’t break the bank, but also don’t offer you the latest, or most appropriate, version of Android. On the plus side, you do get access to Android Market, along with the Google essentials meaning that out of the box the experience is better than some other cheap rivals. But BeBook otherwise don’t add anything to the mix: there is no real additional functionality or services that they supply, so it really is a case of buying the hardware and getting on with things. That might work for some and given the low price, some of the compromises made are to be accepted. The fact that it will churn through HD video is a bonus, as there seems to be a good degree of power on offer here meaning it will tackle a range of media challenges and keep you entertained. The inclusion of Android Market from the off would see us put the BeBook Live above the likes of the Creative ZiiO 7 or older batch of Archos tablets, although both those offer great media support. However, all these cheaper tablets suffer with the pace of change here: with the forthcoming run of 7-inch Honeycomb devices, we can only see a slide in the attractiveness of tablets of this type. Archos' new Android Honeycomb tablets look to be cheaper still, but we're yet to see what they really offer. The strange situation with battery charging and the overall quality of the screen leave us feeling a little jaded with the BeBook Live experience. Effectively you get what you pay for here and as a cheap connected media player with Google Android goodness it is ok, but it may well become obsolete and dated very quickly.”

“The BeBook Live Android 2.2 'Froyo' tablet is a fast and responsive 7in tablet that is light enough to take out and about and sufficiently good value that we can forgive it the limited screen resolution and general lack of polish. One of the better budget tablets we’ve tried.”

“The BeBook Live is hard to recommend. It’s more expensive than an e-reader, with a battery that’s nowhere near as good, and doesn’t perform anywhere near a high end tablet, with no 3G and a low res screen. It’s perfectly functional, but really, it doesn’t do anything you can’t get from your phone – in fact, chances are your mobile’s running a newer version of Android than Froyo. Tablets are still a relatively niche category, seeing as they’re a completely superfluous luxury product. While we applaud companies like BeBook for trying to make them more affordable, the experience is so far removed that even the most generous of hearted would struggle to say it’s succeeded.”

“As a potential iPad and Kindle rival, the BeBook Live falls short on both fronts. Battery life is weaker than either, while the display is arguable less comfortable for ebook use than an E Ink panel and is generally far less impressive than the IPS LCD screens we’ve seen on recent tablets. Conversely, the browsing, Android Market flexibility, email support and multimedia playback makes for considerably broader flexibility than the Kindle, and the price is nearly half what you’d pay for an entry-level iPad.”