At this point, it seems that everybody wants a tablet. The only thing standing in the way is cost. Google changed the price game with its $200 Nexus 7, but the tablet’s manufacturer, ASUS, is going to go even lower with its own device.
In a strange post-CES reveal, ASUS announced a new cheap tablet for those who think the Nexus 7 is still a little too much. It’s called the MeMO Pad, and it will retail for $150 when it launches in the U.S. in April. The device will be launching in other territories this month.
As you would expect from the price, the MeMO Pad doesn’t offer the latest technology. Instead, its specs are really just a modest offering that’s intended to get the job done. The tablet features a 1024×600 display that’s powered by a 1GHz CPU and Mali-400 GPU. It also has 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage. The storage can be expanded up to 32GB via microSD. As for Android, the MeMO Pad is rocking 4.1, or Jelly Bean.
It’s strange that ASUS didn’t show off its latest tablet at CES, but the company may have held off on this device since its CES presence was focused primarily on its upcoming lineup of slates. Besides, a cheap tablet wouldn’t have set the world on fire at such a press heavy event like CES. It was probably for the best to wait until after the event to unveil it.
As stated, U.S. consumers will be able to pick up the MeMO Pad in April. Those looking for a basic tablet experience could do much worse, but they could also do much better. ASUS’ own Nexus 7 is only $50 more and features much better specs. If $50 is deal breaker, however, the MeMO Pad should serve your mobile computing needs just fine.