The NextP12-8G is a 7-inch tablet featuring the Android Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0 operating system, and, at $69.99, is currently flying off the shelves of the local *mart store.
It features:
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
800 x 480 resolution
Google Play App Store
Ebook Store
Internal Speaker
8 GB internal storage
5 GB Cloud storage from Sugar sync
Micro USB
Micro SD Card Slot
3.5mm Earphone Jack
Microphone
The Good
If you're looking for a relatively inexpensive, light-weight, wireless device to check email, find an address, and to otherwise screw off on the various social networks, then the NextP12-8G is your huckleberry. It's convenient to have in your bag when you have some time to pull it out, grab some public wi-fi, and spend catching up with your contacts in a cursory fashion. And the Google App store makes downloading and installing the various apps such as Facebook® a snap.
The Bad
All that being said, as versatile as the NextP12 is, don't mistake it for something that will enable any kind of substantive productivity. Sure, you can get online with it and download all the latest apps such as Evernote and Google Drive, and, it if you go balls-to-the-wall and possess a very high tolerance for frustration, you could probably make it work for you.
The NextP12 doesn't just have a nasty habit of jumping out of an app back to the desktop, thereby destroying any momentum you may have had, but a little over half way through fiscal year 2013, and, already it is obsolete technology. I had wanted to install the Blogger app to help upload and publish to my pages, but the device is not compatible with the latest build. Same goes for Foursquare, as well as a host of other "hot" apps that the P12 just cannot utilize due to age.
As a writer on the go, I maintain several blogs and social media; an always-on lifestyle is a requirement for me, and, since I have not yet achieved an independently wealthy economic status as of yet, I have to keep my electronic purchases on the budget-minded side, but the wireless device in question is not something you should buy if you're serious. The NextP12 is more along the lines of something you purchase for your seven year old and hand over to him to play Angry Birds in the backseat while you drive over to Grandma's.
The Truly Horrific
Oh and better make sure that your child is ADD, and, that trip to Grandma's is under an hour because a gnat has a longer lifespan than the fully charged battery life of the NextP12. Even if you switch off wi-fi, sync, animated wallpaper and email notifications, which are notorious energy drainers, the longest time you can go with the fully charged juice is approximately 45 minutes. Call me naïve, but somehow, I expected that a wireless device that packs so much potential (and is already obsolete 8 months into the year) would have a much longer battery life. Guess the joke's on me.
The NextP12 is disappointing, and, probably the only saving grace about it is that as inferior as it is, it can still get you online at home assuming it is the only device in your electronic arsenal whose internet connectivity still functions. My PC's on-board ethernet adapter stopped functioning, and now I get to enjoy the random Blue Screen of Death because when one component on a motherboard goes on the fritz, it pretty much thrashes the entire system. But then this is what we as a society get when the bottom line is built-to-fail electronics by design, rather than as a bug.
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