Cynics argue tablet computers like the Apple iPad are just expensive toys. The Elonex eTouch, on the other hand, isn't expensive, but it is on sale at a toy shop. The Android-powered tablet costs less than £100 and shares shelf-space with kiddie classics like Transformers, Lego and Barbie at Toys 'R' Us.
A 7-inch version costs just £90, while a 10-inch model is priced at £150. Both pack 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and 2GB of solid-state memory, and come bundled with an extra 2GB microSD card. The larger model runs Android 2.1, powered by a 1GHz ARM 11 processor, with a USB and mini-USB connection. The smaller model makes do with Android 1.6, one micro-USB port and an ARM 9 chip.
The touchscreen is, sadly, of the resistive variety. That means the tactile experience is less smooth than the capacitive screens of devices such as the iPhone.
The eTouch is also available with different branding from smart trouser-vendor Next, but not as cheaply as this. Other bargain-bin options include the £85 Morgan and Disgo tablets, while Dixons has its own Advent Vega and Amico budget slates in the pipeline.
Toys 'R' Us may seem like an odd venue for buying a tablet computer, but it turns out today's yoof are big fans of expensive gadgets. Honestly, they don't know they're born. The eTouch is so simlarly styled to the iPad you might be able to slap an Apple sticker on the back and pass it off as an iPad, with its sloped silver back and black bezel. Your kids will never know.
If you need a more expert opinion on which tablet to buy than from a giraffe called Geoffrey, take a look at our round-up of the best Android tablets.
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Comments 39
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Anonymous 1 November, 2010 14:07
I'm unsure of weather I'd get on with a tablet. So a 10" android 2.1 running tablet for £150 looks good to me just to have a play with!
Shame about the resistive screen though. Still, I'd rather have this than an iPad...
I'm an Anti-Apple-Fan-Boy!
Anonymous 2 November, 2010 13:40
To play facebook games its telling me i have to have the latest flashplayer how n where do i get it? Please help
Anonymous 6 November, 2010 13:37
at anon comenter 2, their is no flash capabilty on android 2.1 devices, 2.2 is the 1st to do this and i have no idea if this tab will ever be upgradable to 2.2, so no facebook games for you....................to be fair playing facebook games is a bit sad! theirs loads of cool apps on the android market
Anonymous 7 November, 2010 13:22
Bought one of these and want to get a refund. Gets very hot at the side where you hold it so it gets uncomfortable after a while. Same problem if you rest it on your legs. Poor design.
Anonymous 20 November, 2010 07:13
Bought two yesterday for my grandchildren for Xmas, taken them back today RUBBISH
Anonymous 21 November, 2010 23:33
if i get one for my daughter will she be abel to go on the childrens webb sites like cbbc citv and play there games??
Anonymous 25 November, 2010 21:09
just got one today for daughter for christmas,looks ok ,as long as you take it for what it is
screen is ok you have to push hard and it responds ok,facebook ok ,it has the full google android market
plays angry birds ok,fast enough to browse the web ok
Anonymous 6 December, 2010 01:46
be warned i purchased both the 7" and 10" versions for my kids.The 10" plays avi's fine but the 7" tablet simply dosnt have the power to handle what it is claimed they will play and you will get laggy stuttery playback.I have tried a lot of avi files and even when played from the internal storage it still wont play the files correctly.I will be returning my 7" one first thing monday.Also do not listen to the shop assistants when they say these devices play flah on websites and come with google android v2.2 which allows this.Even teh elonex website dosnt have the v2.2 update so be very careful what you believe when buying these things because most of it is lies especialy regarding the 7" model.
Anonymous 19 December, 2010 11:49
this is good , very cheap and android 1.6 is OK but at Maplin you can get a 7 '' inch android 2.1 with a WEBCAM for £99 but i think since i bought it it has gone up to £159 unfornately
Anonymous 25 December, 2010 19:45
I bought a 10" version fot my son for xmas...it wont even charge up as the charging light initially came on but then went off and hasn't come on since...I think this product is pathetic so won't be buying another.
Anonymous 27 December, 2010 20:25
i got one for my christmas present and i think that it is good ... it works perfectly .... nothing wrong with it. The one thing i dont know how to do is register it so please help !!!!
Anonymous 28 December, 2010 10:07
Got one for xmas fantastic tool for money
Anonymous 2 January, 2011 23:49
I have the 10" inch model and think its fantastic it does everything and more i need it to do, it aint no ipad but if you want an ipad then go ahead and pay £500+ for one when to be honest this is the next best thing at a quarter of the price i am also and i quote "I'm an Anti-Apple-Fan-Boy!" ok it doesnt have android 2.2 YET but im pretty confident that there will be an upgrade for it soon and when there is and the price goes through the roof for this great bit of kit then you ipad wanabies will be feeling pretty sick i think, i highley recommend this to anyone the only thing that lets it down is people thinking its an ipad and expecting ipad quality when its not but it comes close in my eyes.
Anonymous 4 January, 2011 01:37
i bought 2 christmas 2010 and both are going back apps close themselves down also get very hot also and the worse thing have to reset every 20mins as they keep freezing
Anonymous 5 January, 2011 14:47
i also bought the 7 inch version and found it gets vey hot i returned it and was told that they can only replace it with another 1 as the 1 i returned had to be tested at that point i asked who would be responsible for any damage caused to me or my property should this thing decide to ignite and start a fire i was refunded on the spot
Anonymous 6 January, 2011 17:32
I have just brought one from toys r us and I gotta say for the price it is money well spent. I had previously purchased an e pad off eBay and straight away realised I had brought a pile of crap. This however is so much better in lots of ways. Although the screen is not in the class of an ipad placing a apple ipad screen protector on gives it a better feel to the screen. Tweaking the system can give the screen a more HD apperance. I also believe Elonex will bring out an update for 2.2 os shortly. Elonex give full support and they have been around along time making pc's, 10" screen and full Marketplace and 1ghz processor for £150 = a good bargain :) don't give up on this pad
Anonymous 18 January, 2011 14:50
I bought the 7" unit recently. It really is a waste of time and money. It's just far too low a spec to be of any practical use. It does play AVI files, but so slowly and juddery that it's just hopeless. The wifi receiver is poor, meaning you almost have to be on top of the router to get a workable signal. The battery life is just useless, going from fully charged to flat in about an hour. The built-in browser is slow and klunky. The touch screen is slow to respond and sometimes innacurate - touch typing is impossible because it takes about a second to repsond to each touch of the screen. Games run slowly and because this unit doesn't have a full set of motion sensors, most don't work. The 'app market' application to download other apps is slow beyond belief and keeps crashing. Most stuff just won't download at all with cryptic errors saying you don't have an internet connection, when you clearly have. On the plus side it DOES work with 3G sticks despite what they tell you. I plugged in my Huawei E170 into the USB and it worked a treat after setting it up with the correct APN, etc. Battery life was about 30 mins with that in though. Frankly, this thing isn't ready for public release in my opinion.
Anonymous 29 January, 2011 20:49
Bought one of these for my daughter for Christmas, not bad for the money. The only problam is that it keeps crashing and a don't no how to get round it. We turn it off then back off after about 1 minute it freezes again. What are we doing wrong to make this happen and what can we do to correct the problam. Please help.
Anonymous 5 February, 2011 13:47
my neighbours 10" kept freezing up, we tried the updated firmware from the elonex web site but that made no difference, he took it back to the shop who replaced it, this one works fine, we repeated the firmware upgrade and it still stable. Desperately needs better support from elonex, with a flash player or a 2.2 update top of the list, kinda pants that it's been released without flash support, being that flash is huge component of the internet.
Anonymous 22 March, 2011 21:07
Got 2 of the 10 inch versions for my kids. They are so poor as to be unusable. Touch screen is frustratingly unresponsive, apps freeze, the whole thing crashes every 5 minutes. Truly awful. I know the iPad is much more expensive, but it works beautifully. Beware - if you buy cheap, you buy twice!
Anonymous 2 April, 2011 12:04
help my elonex etouch wont let me get on its got widget problems
Anonymous 8 June, 2011 13:57
i got my dad the e-touch 7inch one for fathers day ..it is amazing, i love it + it has got everything on it, the internet, photos, music, word and everything, its so good!
Anonymous 21 July, 2011 20:58
i say got it one for my daughter and it is really good she loves it but the same as what everyone has been saying NO FLASH PLAYER and daughter needs it for her games on facebook and other wee games to. the etouch pad is only a 2.1 and get flashplayer you need 2.2 well we upgraded ours to a 2.2 and still CANT GET FLASH PLAYER so why for all the false addverstment . but its good for it price and only good for a 9 year old to use .
anonymous 25 November, 2011 21:49
Just bought the 10.1 inch 2.2 android with 4 gig inside ..
SWEET for the 150£ price tag ...
connects to wireless seamlessy.
android market is easy to use
plays most format video files mp3 , and seamlessly too ..
accepts usb sticks and sd cards ...
All round usage so far is great.. ipads are a total waste of money when this tablet can do exactly tyhe same ...and more.
no problems to report at all...
anonymous 10 December, 2011 13:39
I am 13 and really want an Ipad.. Although when i saw this i looked excatly the same but was MUCH less money than the apple ipad.All i want to know is, is it good, does it let you go on apps, does it crash and if the camera is anygood?THANKS!
anonymous 18 December, 2011 17:47
I have become a bit of a collector if tablets started with cheap imports and moved on to iPad and then iPad 2. My advice is save up your pennies and buy an iPad 2 or a top or the range android tablet. You get what you pay for expect nothing more. A top of the range machine is 4 times better, speed, screen, touchscreen, capacity. These bottom end machines are not fit for purpose (if your purpose is to type, or move things on the screen of watch video)
anonymous 26 December, 2011 14:36
bought one of these for my son for his birthday, he loves it apart from he can't chat on facebook, any suggestions?
anonymous 9 January, 2012 00:26
Bought one of these for my dgtr for Xmas, keeps going off and won't always charge, my friend also bought one for her son from toysrus ( as I did) and the same us happening(both after 2/3 days!) I will be taking my dgtrs back although my friend was told to contact the supplier and blamed misuse! (luckily the supplier has agreed to swap and also supply a carry case
anonymous 10 January, 2012 10:07
I bought 2 for xmas and can't get either of them to work. I also thought that first point of call would be the retailer not the supplier??
Also, I have now tried to connect to 3 different pc's and none of them recognise the tablet. I feel that I'm being rather thick here. Can anyone help? Please and Thanks
anonymous 18 January, 2012 20:25
im furious , i bought an e touch for my 8 year old daughter for christmas from toys r us. It does not hold its charge and is so not what i expected it to be from what the seller told me in the shop . I took the e touch back in pristine order within the month but was told to take it back home and try again to like it because it wasnt in the suppliers interest to take it back . iv got a sad little girl and a big headache and certainly will not be spending money in toys r us again .
anonymous 31 January, 2012 20:31
I AM WELL PLEASED WITH MY ARNOVA 8 ONLY THING IS I CANNOT GET IT TO SIGN IN TO RECEIVE EMAILS ANY SUGGESTIONS?
anonymous 23 September, 2012 18:18
where can i get a replacement touch screen for the 10" e tablet. looked everywhere help!!!!!
anonymous 3 October, 2012 22:32
Just bought a 10" eTouch from Toys'R'Us. I charged it as per the instructions only to discover that when removed from the mains power source after said 'Full' charge was complete, the thing would not power up! That'll be a trip to Toys'R'Us tomorrow for me then! I wish I'd read the reviews on here first before buying.
anonymous 15 October, 2012 22:27
I've just bought this from toys r us its awesome your info is incorrect it's running android 4.0.3 ICS, absolute bargain, it's the latest lnx1012 et v2 recommend defo
anonymous 26 December, 2012 11:38
bought one in nov 12 ready for xmas 12 tested it and wouldnt charge so took it back for a new one got the new one home it charged so wrapped it up for xmas. when xmas finally arrived my daughetr was so excited to open it to find the camera doesn't work, took it back to toys r us today 26/12/12 to b told they can only give me a credit note plus because when i bought the e-touch i got a £15 money off voucher to use in Dec 12 for spending over £100 they are going to take the £15 off and give me a £75 credit note i think this is appaling and i will be taking toys r us to the trading standards as this is the 2nd E-touch i have had to take back due to being faulty!
anonymous 12 February, 2013 22:48
Hi everybody. I was looking at buying my son an e touch, don't think i'll tako that risk now. Maybe someone should write to the manufacturers or go straight ro trading standards, especially when dealing with a retailer. It is always best to do a little research on product before buying. My partner bought me the archos arnova 9G3 4GB model. For the few extra £'s well worth it. Even for children. I've seen this model from £129-179. Newer 10 G model available now. I won't go into spec. My view is high spec. Capacitive touch screen(sensiitive/responsive).HD viewing. Some software installed. Works like a p.c. through your wireless router, access facebook etc. Parents techno/phobs don't be afraid of delving into settings and files as long as you dont delete anything important, the worst you will have to do is reset tablet. Battery life, i think people expect too much. Wi-fi/ web browsing drains battery considerably, best to keep plugged into mains. Instruction manuals don't tell you much in our days. Its all teach yourself by exploration. Don't be put off by the name. Archos arnova is a great entry level android tablet. 10/10,
anonymous 24 February, 2013 16:11
To register your tablet, go to the official web site and all the details are there.
anonymous 14 March, 2013 17:32
we bought 6 e touches for xmas half stopped charging straight away one would not come on at all, we got replacements for four then slowly they stopped working we did try again and again at toys are us and theydid not want to no i took one in and they said it was flat i told them it was not so i had to go home and get a charger to prove my point.
this is weeks after xmas they would not charge at all only have one charger and one e touch that works out of 6, the main problem seems to be the charging jack you have to wobble the pin about to get green charging light on, there useless dont buy one you can not get your money , ask my 6 disappointed children, i still want a refund.
anonymous 7 April, 2013 09:00
The Elonex tablet keeps telling me that I am successful first in getting free downloads then it comes up that it hasnt been successfully downloaded. Why is this happening?