X10 has begun selling a seven-inch Android 2.3 tablet for $200. The X10 AirPad has a 1.2GHz, Cortex-A8-based Rockchip 2918 processor, 4GB of flash storage, a seven-inch, 800 x 480 pixel capacitive display, a two-megapixel camera, plus an HDMI output delivering 1080p, says the company.

With the HP TouchPad suddenly going from sales disaster to best-seller after HP dropped the discontinued device's price to $99, cheap tablets are once again being promoted as the path to fight back against the iPad. With perfect timing, then, home automation vendor X10 released its X10 AirPad tablet, selling for only $200.

X10 AirPad
(Click to enlarge)

The X10 is not as large, powerful, or feature-rich as the TouchPad. On the other hand, it's supported by a huge app ecosystem for an Android platform that just keeps on growing, despite lawsuits, fragmentation, and malware.

The X10 AirPad — surely, Apple must have considered that name before settling on iPad — runs Android 2.3 on a 1.2Ghz Rockchip 2918 processor. This Cortex A8 processor, which has also shipped in the $220 Archos 7c Home Tablet, features a 600Mhz digital signal processor (DSP) that helps pump 1080p video to the tablet's HDMI port.

X10 AirPad port detail
(Click to enlarge)

The X10 AirPad offers 512MB of RAM,  4GB of internal flash. While the latter is a bit meager, a microSD slot that accepts cards up to 32GB in size, according to X10.

The seven-inch display supplies the 800 x 480 resolution that's typical of cheap tablets, but which pales next to high-end seven-inch models like the 1024 x 600 HTC Evo View 4G. However, it's capacitive instead of the resistive display offered by the Archos 7c Home Tablet, and features multitouch, X10 says.

The tablet is said to provide a 3-axis accelerometer, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, a USB port, and a USB Host and OTG client ports. Audio is supported with speakers and a 3.5mm audio jack. A two-megapixel camera is available with video recording capabilities, says X10.

X10 AirPad goes vertical

The X10 AirPad measures 0.51 inches (13mm) thick and weighs 14 ounces (400 grams), says X10. The 4000mAh battery offers six hours of movie or music playback, or four hours of web browsing, claims the company.

The Android 2.3 ("Gingerbread") distribution includes Flash Player 10.1 support and access to the Android Market, something that is often missing from lower-cost tablets. However, consumers will need to spend some time there to fill in the gaps beyond the basic, pre-installed Gingerbread apps.

Still, the X10 AirPad appears as if it might be a good deal. For example, it matches up pretty closely on specs with the recently released Marvel-Digital Mercury Pad Tablet, which went on sale earlier this month for $259.

Availability

The X10 AirPad is available now for $200 at the X10 AirPad page, which also supplies more information on the tablet.

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