Best Alternative To Ipad? – Le Pan TC 970 Review

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Hey Ronviews.com readers,

We wanted to take a brief look at the Le Pan TC 970 after seeing a bunch of cheap Android tablets in stores recently. Initially we assumed it would be just another low quality tablet especially since it was from a manufacturer we never heard of “Le Pan”. Further investigation showed that the actual manufacturer is Matsunichi, a well known Chinese manufacturer. So is the Le Pan TC 970 tablet a cheaper alternative to iPad? Let’s find out in this Le Pan TC 970 review

Basic Features

• A crisp 9.7 inch lcd that supports 720P playback.
• It comes with a 2 gigabyte miscroSD card (expandable to 32 gigabytes)
• Wifi, GPS and Bluetooth are also included
• Full Adobe Flash 10.1 support allows you to view web pages in full detail
• Front facing camera and mic for video chats
• Lightweight, only 1.6 pounds and .48 inches thick, similar to the ipad

What We Liked:

• Really nice screen with vibrant colours.
• The viewing angle of the display is impressive.
• Multi touch supports various gestures such as pinch to zoom on photos
• Excellent build quality
• The 1 ghz processor is fairly fast, handles web pages and video content with ease
• Android Market support means that there are tons of apps available.
• In addition to Market, the built in google web apps such as gmail, calendar and contacts sync automatically (One of the features we love about Android in general)
• Definitely a good device for users of google services
• A Cheap alternative to iPad that works well

Not everything is perfect though – these are some drawbacks

• The speakers aren’t that powerful and lack bass. You might want to use headphones for music.
• There is no rear facing camera so you will be limited to voice calling.
• The screen finish is NOT matte, so limited use in direct sunlight as it is very hard to see in such conditions.
• The screen is easily smudged with fingers so we would recommend using a screen protector with it.
• The Battery is not user replaceable; not unusual for a tablet, still it would be nice if you could change the battery further down the road.
• The maximum microSD card size is 32 gigabytes. This may be a problem if you want to carry many movies with you. (You can get a cheap microSD card here)

In Summary

We didn’t know what to expect with Le Pan (Matsunichi), a manufacturer we never heard of.  It is a pretty capable tablet with good build quality with a 6 hour+ battery life. We liked the Le Pan TC 970 overall, it has similar features to the ipad. It is one of the most affordable 9.7 inch tablets in a market currently flooded with poor quality tablets. We would recommend the Le Pan TC 970 to anyone looking for a cheaper alternative to iPad.

Check out more details here.

We want to know, what is your favorite iPad alternative?

Update: We also have an Acer Iconia Review