Fwd: The $20 Android tablet

(I mentioned in another post that an Android tablet had joined the family.)

Well, they got my attention.

There's a midwest computer retail chain called Micro Center which is
expanding.  In particular, they just opened locations in Brooklyn and
Queens in NYC.  The Brooklyn location is the ground floor of one of the
Bush Terminal buildings, industrial buildings that have been gradually
repurposed as industry went elsewhere.

A direct mail announcement of the NYC locations popped up in my
mailbox ysterday, including a coupon to get a 7" Android tablet for $20.

A little Googling reveal that it's an Azpen Innovation A727 Tablet -
http://www.microcenter.com/product/427032/A727_Tablet_-_Black#

Capacitive Multi-Point Touchscreen LCD 7" 800x480 Display
Allwinner A23 1.5GHz Dual-Core CPU
512MB RAM & 4GB SSD Storage
Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
Expandable up to 32GB via microSD Card

List price is $80.  The specs are mediocre, but for $20, it's an
impulse purchase.

It followed me home, and I kept it.

Right now it's mostly stock, and I haven't done much beyond adding a
16GB micro-SD card Kat bought for her Nook Tablet but doesn't use,
and verifying wifi works and I can connect to the Internet.

Next step is to root it, and can some of the built-in bloatware, like an
Office package trial version and a game store app.  Fortunately,
standard apk packages install either from Google Play or side-loaded
from an external SD card.  Early installs are Android versions of
CoolReader and FBReader, open source eBook viewer apps, and
the Nova launcher John mentioned a while back.

Mostly, it will be an eBook viewer, since I have thousands, but I'm
sure other uses will present themselves.

Longer term, what I'd *like* is a 10" Android model, with higher screen
resolution, more Honest-to-Ghu RAM and a BT or USB keyboard.  (The
FAQ for the A727 says it can't use an external keyboard, but I suspect
that may not be the case once rooted.)  Meanwhile, the A727 provides
a test bed to learn on.

I now get to dive into the deep end of the Android software pool.

Whee.

Recommendations are welcomed.  Free/open source preferred, but
payware isn't out of the question if it's the best there is at what it does.

(Recommendations on rooting are especially welcomed.  There are an
assortment of "one-click" root solutions out there, but none list Azpen
gear as supported, so I'm proceeding with caution.  The idea is to root
it, not brick it...)
______
Dennis
https://plus.google.com/u/0/105128793974319004519