Office Depot -- Nuvision 7" Tablet $29.99 expires: 2/18/2017

I’m sure everyone knows that the Amazon Fire Tablets are on sale for $39.99, but here’s a tablet with similar specs (almost identical, to be honest). It does not have a rear camera, if that matters, and has a little bit better battery life.

I can’t vouch for the quality, of course, but it seems like it would make a nice little control console for HA and Harmony Hub. Additionally, it can be used to mirror to Chromecast if you have one, unlike the Fire Tablet (due to Amazon’s proprietary Fire OS on top of a 4.3 Android distro).

http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/572963/NuVision-HD-Wi-Fi-Tablet-7/

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And it is running Android 5.0 rather than a 4.x older version. Plus there.

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In for 1!
Had to add $5 to the order to get free shipping, bought coffee lol.

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Would this work for a wall mount to run Smart Tiles on?
Mike

@siam, yep. It should be perfect for running the Smart Tiles web app. It’s got a Quad core processor and only 1 GB of RAM, but should be pretty snappy and responsive running the web app.

It also has bluetooth, the fire tablet dosn’t. with bluetooth you can use some pop buttons or other bluetooth devices. I may get one.

Is there a way to set this so it is always on? Or an easy way to wake it up?
Mike

The 5th generation Fire Tablets do have Bluetooth. I picked up 3 of the 7-inch ones when they went on sale again a couple weeks ago.

Now, I wish I would’ve waited. So, I picked up 2 of the Nuvision, and if they are reliable, I’ll more than likely return 1-2 of the Fire Tablets due to Amazon hobbling the OS and not giving owners root access to their own devices.

I didn’t realize the 5th gen had bluetooth. Good to know. This tablet will sit above my coffee bar, and I will use it with smarttiles. can watch videos etc and control my house all while making coffee. Life can’t get much better :slight_smile: I don’t really need the tablet (alexa everywhere) but it is still nice to see overview/batt status etc.

I was dumbfounded last night when we had an internet outage and I couldn’t yell at alexa to turn lights on and off. First World Problems… I have them.

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LMAO, I’ve been waiting for that first big internet outage too. Luckily, none yet!

I’m gonna be using it the same way, basically as a universal remote (Harmony, Smartthings and Chromecast), control center (Smartthings and/or Smarttiles), or connect to Alexa with the Alexa Listens app to give her voice commands without yelling across the house to my Echo positioned in the kitchen.

Life is definitely good. :slight_smile:

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You guys see any noticeable different between the nuvision and this one? Just asking because I wasn’t considering buying the RCA because it comes with marshmallow 6.0 and was looking to use it with lannouncer.

RCA Voyager with WiFi 7" Touchscreen Tablet PC:

Technical Specifications:
1.2GHz quad-core processor
1GB DDR of system memory
7" touchscreen, 1024 x 600 resolution, virtual keyboard with Swype
Built-in 802.11 WiFi and Bluetooth v4.0
Additional Features:
Front 1MP webcam with microphone, auto-focus and digital zoom
microUSB 2.0 port, headphone jack, microphone jack
16GB onboard storage memory, additional memory via microSD card slot
Built-in speaker
Rechargeable battery
Weighs 0.61 lbs; 7.3" x 0.49" x 4.5" dimensions
Software and Applications:
Android 6.0 OS (Marshmallow)
Google Play (for applications)
Android Music Player
Media Formats: popular media formats

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It looks like the RCA might be a better deal. For $7 more, you get Android 6.0 (increasing compatibility with current apps) and you also get twice the on-board storage (16GB instead of 8GB).

Additionally, the camera is much better than the 0.3MP one that comes on the Nuvision, but neither camera comes anywhere close to what would come on phones from 5-10 years ago. So don’t expect to use it for pictures.

I think the RCA would be great for what we want to use it for. I’ve been using an Amazon Fire Tablet 7 for the same purpose, and it’s working fine. The only problem I’ve had is it dropping the Bluetooth connection, which sort of makes Lannouncer unreliable on it.

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Not to impressed with the nuvision, Oh well it will work for smarttiles. unfortunately my bluetooth scale app will not run on it. I may have to look at tinkering to get it to work. I have to remember that you get what you pay for.

So, I received mine as well. I’ve opened one of them and started playing around with it. I am not impressed either, and also have to remember that I got what I paid for.

The Good:

  • So far, it has run everything I needed without issue.
  • It’s not super fast, but it’s not slow either. The apps I wanted to run seem to load as quickly as they do on the Fire Tablet 7.
  • I am able to run in Kiosk mode (with an app) and limit usage to Harmony and Alexa Listens.
  • It was cheap.

The Bad:

  • It was cheap. :slight_smile:
  • I cannot find any way to add additional user profiles. This comes loaded with Google services, so I’m not sure if that is related or not. But there is no apparent Add User functionality anywhere. This isn’t really a deal breaker for me, since I can just lock it down using Kiosk mode.

The Ugly:

  • Battery life is horrible. The battery life on the Fire Tablets is bad, but this is actually worse. Both devices were fully charged and left to sit for 9 hours with WiFi enabled during sleep.
  • The Nuvision Tablet 7 dropped to 88% with Bluetooth disabled.
  • The Amazon Fire Tablet 7 dropped to 94% with Bluetooth Enabled (for voice notifications to Echo using Lannouncer and Shouter).
  • Storage space is horrible. Fresh out of the box, the Nuvision has around 2.5GB free to use. The rest is used by the OS and assortment of Google apps pre-installed.

The tablet is actually doing what I expected, and performs well as a unified remote. Alexa Listens functions decently, except for issues with the app itself (like false triggers).

All-in-all, it was a disposable purchase that seems to be worth the money spent. My main disappointment lies in that it doesn’t magically outperform the Fire Tablet which has basically the same specs (so that I can return them and save $20). This, I know, was an irrational expectation.

The RCA Voyager 7" is now $34.98 at Walmart or $39.98 with keyboard case.

Unless it has changed with an update, there was an issue with the RCA tablets and ST. I remember people grabbing them last year and having a lot of problems.

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Yeah. I also read about phantom failures after around 6 months of light use also.

[quote=“deeznutz, post:11, topic:68968”]… it comes with marshmallow 6.0 and was looking to use it with lannouncer.
[/quote] LANnouncer works great for me with Marshmallow.

If you buy 4 (+ a $5 add on item) you get them for about $25 each after their $20 off code and 4% from TCB. Not a bad deal.

I love having these mounted for easy access and having them linked to Echo Dots for filtered event announcement makes it seem like a automated home. Every room should have a mounted tablet.

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So right now I’ve got them scattered around the home in the main bedrooms, kitchen and main TV/entertainment areas. So far it’s been hella convenient and feels a bit more “organic” than using my phone because the tablets are quasi-dedicated to each family “hub”. Combined with Harmony Hub, Firesticks and Chromecast (though, Chromecast is a bit inflexible), each entertainment center has multiple remotes and HA control.

I’ve also linked tablets to Echo Dots for area-based notifications, and each tablet has Alexa on it in some form. The Fire Tablets have their native Alexa and the other Androids have the Alexa Listens app. The Firestick has native Alexa also. This greatly extends the Alexa coverage throughout the house with only having one Dot dedicated to each floor, and without the concerns of having “always listening” devices in bedrooms.

The most amazing part, though, was how simple and cheap it was to get setup with Alexa, Harmony Hub and Smartthings being the ruling triumvirate (for now).

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