Nextbook Next3

“Now that they're the next big thing, there's a flood of tablets coming from every company across the board, and the Next3 is a perfect example of what most of them will be like. It seems rushed in an attempt to quickly get its foot in the door and compete in the burgeoning tablet market. It's mediocre at the very best, with nothing to set it apart from the rest of the crowd. It even lacks certain features that would have made it an average tablet—such as a stronger processor, data or Bluetooth connectivity, a sharper, more responsive display, better, more functional apps—and the features it does have usually deliver sub-par performances.As so many of the problems I had with the Next3 were software related, I can only hope that the device receives a much-needed firmware update that can ameliorate at least some of the litany of bugs and errors that so often arise. There is a section on the Next3 website for firmware updates, but it's currently empty, listing only a message that says Coming soon! Please check back again later.”

“At $199 I feel comfortable recommending the Next3 given it feature-set and usability, especially considering most similar devices like the 9 Pandigital Novel and the smaller 7 PocketBook IQ, Cruz Tablet, and Pandigital Novels all sell in the same price category of around $150 - $200.But at $299? I would not recommend it for that. Sure it comes with a cover and is larger than the 7-inchers mentioned above, but at that price you can get a device with better specs than the Next3. Even at $250 the Nook Color has a faster processor, much better screen quality (although smaller), hacks for advanced app support, increased speed, Android upgrades, and so on.The good news is the Next3 can't stay at that price for long with the Next4 scheduled to launch in Q2 2011 for $349 with a 10 capacitive touchscreen, Android 2.2, and 8GB internal memory. Compared to that and other Android devices, the Next3 is much better suited for a sub-$220 price. In that price category it becomes one of the better Android tablets/ereaders to choose from.”