Android tablets are getting better, especially if you do a little research before you buy. That said, consider this post all the research you need for Fujitsu’s new tablet bound for Japan. The Stylistic M350 is overpriced, underpowered and underdone – if it were a loaf of bread, it wouldn’t need a few extra minutes in the over ad a swift chuck into the nearest garbage can. What inspires this complete lack of confidence in the new tablet? Read on, Android enthusiasts, and cringe.
At first glance, the Stylistic M350 looks like your basic low-end Android tablet. A 7-inch screen with 1024×600 resolution is’nt anything great, but it isn’t bad either – that the default resolution for a “reader sized” 7-inch tablet. 1GB of RAM is more than you’ll see on similar devices, but a 1Ghz processor is significantly less. Gingerbread runs on board, which is disappointing, but nothing new. It looks like Fujitsu added almost nothing on top of some basic handwriting recognition – even the default Gingerbread background (which isn’t sized right for the screen) is shown off. Fujitsu didn’t even charge up the device fully or remove Android’s telephony apps: you can see an empty cellular signal icon, even though the tablet is limited to WiFi and Bluetooth connections. Forget about Google apps or the Android Market.
But the really laughable thing about the “Stylistic M350 Professional Android tablet” is the price: 38,400 yen. If you haven’t been keeping up on your Japanese-American exchange rate, that’s roughly $455. Yup – $455 for a tablet that’s barely better than a no-name model you might find on a Wallgreens shelf in shrink-wrap packaging. If you’re still interested (hint: you shouldn’t be) you can revel in the exciting six hour battery life, 8GB data capacity and MicroSD card slot.
[via Notebook Italia]
Don’t understand their pricing. I can get a 10.1 galaxy tab on Amazon for under 400 dollars with better specs than this unit. Major FAIL, Fujitsu.
Fujitsu probably only intends this for the Japanese market and has priced it accordingly. The Japanese market for electronics is like a closed off ecosystem that works independently from the rest of the world. Only a small percentage of international smartphones, tablets and computers ever find a release here (basically just Samsung, Apple, HTC and LG) and imports are often quite expensive. The budget range android tablets are extremely hard to find and most tablets are controlled by the 3 big phone carriers which means the prices are a little noncompetitive. Even 1st gen galaxy tabs go for over 30,000 new so overall 38,000 yen is a relatively low price for a new tablet here. Generally you’d only find a better deal by buying 2nd hand.
Unfortunately while this attitude has worked for dominating what used to be the 2nd largest market it is also why most of the Japanese manufacturers have failed do expand internationally in IT related fields.
I’m Japanese, and I admit that this tablet is somewhat low-end model. But the pricing of 38000 yen is actually an affordable price in Japan. Before the yen exchange rate went up so high in the last few years, it would be about $400 or less. Also,Japanese handwriting recognition function is a plus since surprisingly small number of people can use English here. Well, I will wait for stylisticM532 for the time being. It’s light and waterproof, which has been kind of a standard element in Japanese cellphone for hot spring loving Japanese population.