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Sony has finally come out with its own tablet, the Sony SGPT111us/s Wi-Fi tablet, and it’s packed with features. Using its Android operating system, you can surf the net, buy apps, watch movies, read e-books, play games, and even use it as a remote control for your home entertainment center. Even with all this, it is cheaper than its competitors, but does the lower price also mean lower quality?

Here’s what we found:

Highlights:

16 gb Wi-Fi tablet (32 gb version available)
9.4-inch LED-backlit, touch screen display
Uses Android Honeycomb (3.1) operating system (ICS now available using Sony updates)
Powered by 1.2 GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor
Loaded with Sony Entertainment Pack
Built-in camera (5-megapixel rear, 0.3 megapixel front)
Ports for SD memory card (up to 32 gb), USB, and headphones
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What We Liked:

Price – Other 16 gb tablets, specifically the iPad, have a higher price; however, the Sony Tablet S price was recently dropped. (click here to see current price)
Google Play – The Android Market recently merged with Google Music to form the comprehensive Google Play. Now you can access over 450,000 apps and tons of music and movies all in one location, and then use them across all your Android devices.
Flash Player – Let’s face it, not having a flash player can be kind of annoying. With the S Tablet, you don’t have to deal with this.
Sony Tablet S Specs – You get 16 gb of memory, plus the option to add an additional 32 gb through an external SD card. Also, it has a camera, Wi-Fi, and a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, which is equivalent with the iPad 2.
Innovative Design – We’re not big fans of wrapping our tablets in bulky carrying cases (kind of defeats the purpose of a sleek design), but with the S Tablet, you don’t need one since it is quite sturdy and ergonomic on its own. It has a wedge-like shape (think a magazine folded over) that fits well in the palm of your hand, is easy to grip, and sits up at a nice angle when resting on a table. We feel comfortable carrying this thing around without fear of dropping it.
USB OTG Support - We were happy to see USB On The Go supported right out of the box. We plugged in our flash drive using an adapter and it loaded up our files right away.

Click Here To See Customer Reviews

What We Didn’t Like:

SD Card Limitations – We love that the device is SD card compatible (not present on the iPad or Galaxy), but the most confusing thing in this Sony Tablet S review is why Sony didn’t integrate this memory better into the operating system? Right now, it works for media exchanges and storing files only and not as an extension of the overall system memory (for installing apps).
Battery Life – The battery life is shorter than some other tablets, although recent system updates have improved this somewhat. We got 8 hours or so in our tests.
Proprietary Power Cord – If you want to charge the S Tablet, you have to use Sony’s unique power cord. Not a huge deal, but you don’t have the endless options of car chargers, and adapters as with other models.
Dim Display – The display is capable of showing deep blacks though it was a bit dim. We had to put screen brightness at 60% to use the tablet comfortably.
Soft Speakers - The speakers sound ok, but are a bit soft. We used a free equalizer app to boost the volume a bit, no problem after it was installed.

Conclusions:

All-in-all, we like the Sony SGPT111us/s Wi-Fi tablet (16 gb) and found it to be up to par with the most popular tablets. Every tablet seems to have its quirks and limitations, but the Sony’s are a little easier to forgive when you’re paying a substantially lower price on an Ice Cream Sandwich tablet. Even so, there’s not much to forgive; it has great specs, a nice design, and does everything that other tablets and e-readers can do, plus more.

Click Here To Buy The Sony Tablet S

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