Experimenting with the Hipstreet Flare 4.0

So, I bought a cheap tablet from Walmart to experiment with for BYOD. I didn't own a device for myself so I thought... why not get one since students may be bringing their own to class coming Fall 2013. Well, my first tablet experience was not good. The review on the particular tablet I bought indicated that the machine was faulty. Hipstreet tablet received fairly poor reviews. After reading the critiques, I wanted to experiment with the device for myself so I can come to my own conclusion.

Well my experience was not good with the device. I experienced some deficiency when try to type  information for my blog. The text box gets covered by the pop-up keyboard on the screen  when your trying to type. This was frustration because I could only see one line as I typed which made it hard for me to read over what I had written. This was definitely a disadvantage that could hinder students learning in the classroom using this tablet. Another problem which was indicated in the reviews that is similar to my experience was the tablet kept dropping the WI-FI signal. Wearing my teacher's hat. I began to consider the devices use in the classroom. I decided to return the device back to Walmart and save my money for a much more expensive device that I would be able to use comfortably at home and in the classroom.

As I continue this journey educational technology (JourneyEduTech), I am becoming familiar with how to integrate technology in the class for 21st century teaching and learning.

I can say with certainty that the Hipstreet tablet isn't powerful enough to handle multiple open screens, streaming music or video, or playing games simultaneously. Even the camera quality is awful. As one of the critiques said in an Amazon post "you pay for what you get", however I am not ready to part with my $115 on something that doesn't meet my basic need to surf the web and listen to music at the same time without the system slowing dramatically. I will be getting a refund!

Post a comment about your tablet experience. What brand do you possess? Also, provide some positives things about your device that makes it suitable for the classroom environment as well as some things that could be improved upon.