If you’re looking for a cheap Android tablet under $200 (we got a list here) you can always count on one thing: it will be from an unknown manufacturer and it will probably be crappy. This doesn’t mean that you can’t get a decent tablet for a little bit over 200 bucks. The best testament to this is the Viewsonic Viewbook 730, announced a while ago (follow link for full details), that just surfaced on Amazon.com for only $229. If you look at specs you’ll see it’s very similar to last year’s Samsung Galaxy TAB 7, which still sells for at least $100 more than the ViewBook 730.

    And that’s not all, the Viewsonic ViewBook 730 is not only cheaper, but also features a stylus helped by the RiteTouch handwriting recognition technology, making it a more suitable tablet for students who want to take notes of all kinds. Access to the Amazon App store ensures you’ll have plenty of apps to choose from and install on the 8 GB of internal storage, expandable via microSD cards.

    Looks are not made to impress

    Looks are not made to impress

    If you’re looking at reasons not to buy this cheap Android tablet it’s got some: OS is version 2.2 Froyo with no way to know if it will ever be upgraded and there’s no access to Google’s Android Marketplace. The rest is pretty straightforward, and the price is just right as you actually get what you pay for, if not a little bit more.

    ViewBook VB730 7-Inch Android 2.2 Wi-Fi/BT Tablet - Black