Review Tuesday: Onda V820w Windows 10 + Android 4.4 8 inch Tablet

ONDA V820w

8" Windows 10 &

Android 4.4 Tablet PC

This past tax season I wanted to find other options in terms of computing for (side)work purposes. My aging fleet of machines run mostly on Windows XP which is a relic these days. After playing with my Windows phone and Surface Pro for a year I looked into the tablets. 

Windows 10 tablets have the computing capability of a regular PC or laptop while being compressed into a convenient mobile size. I previously reviewed an inexpensive Windows tablet HERE. So why go on and test another? While you have the computing power of a Win 10 machine you're limited by the amount of applications available. Sure, you can work on docs and spreadsheets, but most of the cool Android or Apple apps are not available. To add convenience, why not have dual operating systems?

I had been looking for a dual OS tablet with certain minimum requirements for my needs when this showed up:

ONDA V820w 

• Android 4.4 + Windows 10 Tablet PC 
• 8 inch 1280 x 800 IPS Screen
• Intel Z3735F Quad Core 1.3GHz 
• 2GB RAM 
• 32GB ROM
• HDMI output
• WiFi 
• Bluetooth 4.0

 ...and it was under $80! I also opted for the slim-line case (which makes it look like I'm using a small iPad) and a case with built-in Bluetooth keyboard. I have a Bluetooth mouse already (which I will review next week) so I was set. 

It arrived from China in about a week. I was surprised when it arrived in a very padded envelope. I suppose I was expecting a box for more protection, but there was no need for concern. It was in perfect operating order. 

Time to test this thing out! Windows 10 devices find and use Bluetooth devices exceedingly well and it was no exception with this tablet. Otherwise, this is just like any other Win10 machine. You click on one icon on the desktop and you switch to Android 4.4. It's a few moments to boot between operating systems. Android starts up fast and runs well. Apps work perfectly and smoothly. I was even able to play Dredd vs Zombies and Mortal Kombat X on this machine. And they play perfectly!

A couple drawbacks. The Bluetooth keyboard you can get for this set up is pretty small and I find myself misspelling things A LOT. If you are interested in this tablet you better like white because they only offer that color. I suppose that's so that you can pretend you're using an iPad, but that's not something I care about. Check your requirements, 2 gigs of RAM and 32 gigs of ROM were all I required at this time. If you need more, you'll go through this machine in no time. You can, however, add up to 128 GB in storage via micro SD slot. You can fit a bunch of docs and comic books with that much space! The built in speakers are on top of each other, on the bottom of the tablet. If you have it sitting on a desk or table it could be muffled or can buzz and there won't be stereo sound effects. If you use headphones, use regular ones because cellular headphones seem to lose some sound, especially during the games.

I call my little experiment a success. Since I have only used 7 inch tablets in the past, this 8" screen (1280 x 800) seems luxuriously big to me. It's crisp, clear, colorful and bright. The dual OS set up is relatively easy to get used to and use. I find myself using the Android side more, and switching to Win10 for docs and blogging. For the price I am really thrilled with this tablet.

This is where I got mine from:

http://www.dealsmachine.com/best_288724.html

From the Onda website:
http://www.onda-tablet.com/onda-v820w-8-0-inch-ips-screen-win8-tablet-ram-2gb-bluetooth-4-0-hdmi.html