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Popular Gadget | Viewsonic ViewPad7| After announcements today from Samsung and Toshiba, it’s high time we had a decent touch-and-feel with the Viewsonic ViewPad 7. We’ve been following the 7-inch Android 2.2-based tablet for a few weeks now. It’s based around Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processor (QSD8250 , clocked at 600MHz) so expect network operators to offer it – it can make phone calls thanks to the silicon. There’s no UK release data as yet but October seems to be a safe bet, with a price point of “less than £350.”

It’s pretty speedy in terms of operation and we were impressed at how quick things were despite the underclocked processor. The capacitive multitouch screen is responsive, even if it seems a little grainy for our liking. The device has a standard-size SIM slot housed under a flap alongside a micro SD slot. There’s also a 0.3 megapixel VGA front facing camera and a 3 megapixel one on the rear. Other connectivity includes Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS.

We really like the ViewPad 7 – it certainly seems well finished and isn’t too heavy. For an Android tablet it really seems excellent. However, we can also see the argument that £80 more will get you an iPad. But the Dell Streak is even more than that and, as such, we think it’s fairly competitively priced.