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Bad Black Friday Buy: $75 Sylvania 7″ Android Tablet at Toys R Us

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Black Friday is a good time to find great deals, but you need to be on the lookout for doorbuster deals that are actually overpriced, underwhelming piles of garbage.

Such is the case with the Sylvania 7″ Android 2.2 Tablet that Toys R Us is offering as a Black Friday doorbuster deal. The leaked Toys R Us ad claims that this tablet is 50% off, dropping the price down to a very tempting $75.

This sounds like a great deal right? Everyone wants a tablet these days, but if you buy this tablet be prepared for complete disappointment. If you are planning on buying it as a gift, stop and get your recipient pink bunny pajamas instead.

Toys R Us Black Friday Tablet Bad Deal

The Toys R Us 7" Android Tablet is a Bad Deal.

The Sylvania 7″ Android Tablet that Toys R Us is offering on Black Friday is very similar to the other tablets Sylvania has sold during Black Friday and at outlets like CVS in the past, which is to say it sucks. Below you can find out why you shouldn’t buy the Sylvania tablet at Toys R Us, including my hands on experience with a Sylvania Android tablet.

When you think of tablets, you should think of the iPad, Kindle Fire, Nook Tablet and other Android tablets. These tablets all focus on making it easy to use them without lag and frustration. On the other side of the aisle, you have the Sylvania 7″ Android tablet which has no access to an app store, sluggish performance and an OS that is outdated and designed for phones, not tablets. Combine these base problems with actual usability issues, and you’d be better off burning your $75 instead of giving it to Toys R Us.

Sylvania 7″ Android Tablet Mini Review

I had the displeasure to go hands on with the $99 Sylvania tablet that was sold last year on Black Friday and couldn’t believe how bad the experience was. My friend had purchased it looking for an ebook reader and something to surf the web with while he traveled, but was disappointed in what he got. I’ll share my impressions below. I wanted to give you a hands on review, but the tablet no longer turns on. This isn’t surprising given the issues I saw while I used it.

  • The device feels cheap in your hand
  • You have to use a stylus to interact with the screen, no fingers like your smartphone.
  • WiFi had trouble connecting (His only solution was to completely hard reset the device to get it working again. Something he did often)
  • No access to the Android Market (You have to go find apps to install on your own.)
  • Frustratingly slow and cumbersome to use.

Ultimately I was happy to put it down and walk away.

You can watch a review of the Sylvania 7″ Android tablet form last year, which highlights many of the complaints I shared above. The reviewer glosses over some of these, and hopes that the company will fix them, but I recommend against buying a gadget on hope for fixes or updates.

The biggest problem here is that Toys R Us and Sylvania know that there are a lot of shoppers who want a tablet, but don’t want to pay for an iPad. If you look at the Sylvania 7″ Android Tablet reviews on Amazon you’ll find a number of users in that same boat, but as A. Lee explains in his review, “AGAIN, I didn’t want a flat screen that was $500 + , but I DID want one for simple usage….this piece of crap doesn’t come close to being worth $1 nevermind the amount I paid.”

Having used a Sylvania tablet for several minutes, I can tell you that this is a horrible deal. Even if you want very basic features, you will not be satisfied with this tablet. You will be much better off getting a Kindle Fire for $199 or going for a refurbished Nook Color direct from Barnes and Noble for $149. Do you need to spend more money? Yes, but it is worth it in so many ways.

Whatever you buy on Black Friday 2011, please don’t buy this tablet.

31 Comments

31 Comments

  1. 1f13rg3g3

    11/29/2011 at 2:43 pm

    great product  … more for the money.
    I run my business off the tablet

    • Tech Girl

      11/29/2011 at 2:44 pm

      great insight ….

    • Amanda_mcarter

      12/27/2011 at 5:49 pm

      I cant make it stay connected to the internet???? Any Suggestions???

  2. Itslulu2u

    11/29/2011 at 4:28 pm

    When I saw the Toys R Us Deal I was dissappointed because I had just purchased an Ipod Touch from Best Buy for 195.00(with a 50.00 Best Buy Gift card). I saw the low price and goggled it. After reading the comments I FEEL GREAT! I know I made the right choice!

  3. Ox

    11/29/2011 at 10:11 pm

    I agree- not worth the money.  I paid $75 for this at CVS a few months ago and wish I had saved my money.  The card reader doesn’t work most of the time which means I can’t even install apps.  The WIFI frequently drops out too.

  4. Daguil5656l

    12/05/2011 at 6:18 am

    i just bought one two weeks ago… has been working like a charm best buy ever… i guess cause i got the express plus and came with 2.2 os instaled… ive installed angry birds, and a bunch of other apps all have been working perfect…

    • Summrgrl1028

      12/12/2011 at 6:09 am

      How did you get angry birds on there? I can’t figure out how to do it. Thanks

    • Blue

      12/25/2011 at 7:53 pm

      What did you go to to find angry bird and installed.

    • Cats_1998

      01/12/2012 at 5:15 am

      How did you get angry birds?  I can’t figure it out either

  5. Katelyn Kunkel

    12/05/2011 at 7:36 am

    Terrible. I now have a black line on the middle of the screen and i havent dropped the tablet ever. It has a mind of its own.

  6. Hawkicompufix

    12/05/2011 at 11:10 am

    People need to remember that this is not an Ipad or a Samsung Galaxy Tablet.  It does a great job of doing what it was designed to do.  I have had no issues with mine at all.  Installed Google Android Market using the link I provided above and I have been able to install any app that I have attempted to install with no problem.  If the card reader is not working on your unit why not call Sylvania and discuss this with them.  Every Manufacturer has products that have defects at some point and most are more than willing to work with you on getting it fixed. 

    • Nate Carmesh

      12/05/2011 at 10:03 pm

      i think you are right people are so techno-ignorant that they think everything has to be a ipad or more or less a ipad is the par for every comparison of a tablet. I read someone one say i cant believe this android tablet doesnt have pinch. i only had to reply thats not a android thing that started on the I-line…

    • Carlos DeJesus

      12/21/2011 at 11:55 am

      Thanks so much Hawk..could you breifly describe how to download the android app on this devise…Thanks

  7. Nate Carmesh

    12/05/2011 at 9:55 pm

    the thing is this tablet doesnt suck your just a below average non technological people. you can fix every problem this tablet has on your own. You can edit the files directly on a pc to fix the sensitivity issues and make it multi touch.. You can install android market very easy. You can do tons of cracks and feature installs on your own by amending them to the 2.2 os… you can even make it about 4x faster…

    • Arman

      02/24/2012 at 1:21 pm

      It has a resistive screen. There’s no software upgrade for that. It has no USB port. There’s no software fix for that, either. Bottom line: not a good deal.

  8. Nate Carmesh

    12/05/2011 at 9:59 pm

    my tablet after tweakin it and making multitouch scored 1648 on quadrant… about 1100 more then what it had stock…

    • Laura

      01/11/2012 at 11:47 am

      I’d love to be able to say that I love this tablet, would you consider sharing your expertise?  

  9. Matrix2525

    12/07/2011 at 9:44 pm

    I have an Ipad and by no way is it an ipad but for the price you can’t go wrong with it. trust me

  10. Miw333

    12/09/2011 at 7:19 am

    I’m gonna buy one for sure!

  11. Keywatr25

    12/26/2011 at 8:26 am

    I bought one for one for christmas and it will not even stay on or can we see the mouse at all  Completely frustation

  12. Danotpa969

    12/26/2011 at 12:19 pm

    i cant get the volume up enough to hear it. any suggestions?

  13. Johnhhhh55

    12/28/2011 at 6:02 am

    Decent device for its price

  14. Cannbarnett

    12/28/2011 at 7:57 pm

    I bought 2 for each my kids for Christmas, they turned on when we first opened the box and put them on the charger. They have not turned on since. I have emailed and called the 800 number several times and no response. Needless to say my kids not happy.

  15. Sandravta

    12/29/2011 at 12:01 pm

    I bought one for my two daughters and both of their tablets constantly switch the view from horizonal to vertical and vice versa. I did the calibration on it thinking it would fix the problem but it hasn’t. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to fix it?

  16. Janashusa

    12/30/2011 at 12:17 am

    I bought one for my daughter for christmas within 24 hours it would not turn on I returned it and recieved another one.  This one will not stay connected to internet and it is almost imposible to download any app’s I feel bad because this was her big gift I am going to return it and get a kindle fire for her instead for the extra cost at least I know it will work and she won’t have to get fustrated

  17. Lenaseso

    01/05/2012 at 8:16 am

    Hi there,
    I also bought one table Sylvania at Toys R Us. I can´t install Internet 3G Modem. Can anyone help me explaining how to do it ? I´m felling myself so frustrated !

    • Amelia_loto

      01/17/2012 at 12:56 pm

      if they have the 30 day return you better get your money back, because I bought mine from cvs.com and it wasn’t even a month and the thing just went black no noise I mean nothing… I was out of state in order to call them but they gave me the 30 day too late deal so I was referred to sylvania for the problems…. and out of $80 not even worth a buck… 

  18. Tttedison

    01/23/2012 at 6:02 pm

    Be careful ,as i had my since christmas 2011,and the screen shattered and is now totally useless.

  19. john

    06/27/2012 at 3:02 pm

    Bought two of this product last christmas(2011). Turning this thing on seems to be mission imposible. sometimes the screen is on, some times is not. one of them the screen was on for less than 30 minutes since then we can not get it to turn on. Repeated calls to the toll free number go unanswered. please think before you waste your money.

  20. Teri

    10/02/2012 at 8:21 am

    Okay for my mom who is not a high tech person. She plays Words With Friends, surfs the Web, and Solitaire. She likes it. Have had to reset from scratch one time. Does anyone know where the space bar is on the keyboard when you chat in WWF?. Overall, I think it was worth the money. You can’t expect an iPad for the price.

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