I am coming to Thailand this Sunday. I will need to buy a tablet PC so I can talk with my wife and friends back in the U.K. Last time I was in Thailand I noticed a number of unbranded tablets (as well as smartphones) for a fraction of the price of their branded counterparts. Can anyone recommend a good one? Also what is the rough (or exact, if you know it) price, and where can I buy it? Also, do they come with a warranty, and can I, as a non thai citizen, pick one up VAT free? On the other hand, are these things nasty as well as cheap, and it's only worth buying something like a genuine Samsung Galaxy? Thanks in advance for your replies.

It is kinda difficult to recommend an "unbranded" product... how to tell you which one to buy??

You ask: "On the other hand, are these things nasty as well as cheap?"

My experience says yes. The biggest problem I have seen is that the quality of the batteries is crap, and they go south very fast. After a couple of months of use they will not hold a charge beyond a couple of hours. One cheap tablet I saw had a battery explode inside, with enough force that the exploded battery bent the device and cracked the screen. The 4000 THB tablet turned out to be not such a great deal after all when it had to be replaced after only a few months.

A branded tablet will be assembled from better components and have a better quality of battery.

If you don't want to spend on a top brand like Samsung, I have seen some nice tablets from the lesser known brand "Onda".

Edit to add- another issue I see on the cheapest tablets is that they do not have access to the Google Play store- making the installation of apps extremely difficult or impossible.

Edited May 27, 201412 yr by bino

Yes, I understand the difficulty in recommending something which by definition has no name. I was hoping that someone could describe the spec and what it looks like. Also said person could tell me the price and where they bought it from. Thank you anyway for the info bino. You have confirmed what i already suspected. Kop khun khrab.

Also, I'm guessing it would make a lot of sense to buy whatever I decide from a shop like Tesco, and avoid the smaller vendors......?

Tesco is good because they have a seven day no questions asked return policy. Small retailers are ok too... if you buy a "branded" item from them because nothing is likely to happen in seven days, and if you have any problem they will simply refer you to the manufacturer for service.

I was trolling through the Onda website after posting, and saw this: http://www.onda-tablet.com/onda-v719-3g-3g-calling-tablet-android-4-2-dual-sim-dual-camera-8gb.html

As cheap tablets go, this one looks decent. It has a small single core processor, and lower resolution cameras, but to its credit it does have built in 3G (850Mhz would work with TrueMove), front and back cameras, GSM for telephone calls, an SD card slot for expansion, GPS, Dual SIM Cards, Bluetooth...

For 80 bucks (2600 ish THB) - a lot for the money and better than some unbranded tablets I have seen that cost more.

Edited May 27, 201412 yr by bino

Cheers bino, really good of u to take the trouble to find that for me. It's seems a total snip @ 2600THB. Hopefully Tesco Lotus in Surat Thani stocks this, because if it does i will be buying one! You sir, are a legend.

and before i switch my visa to a non B and get my work permit I am entitled to a VAT refund right? As long as I have a tourist visa in my passport....?

vat refunds are very small, on a 20,000 baht camera it wasnt worth the effort of leaving the country to get it.

The things to watch out for with the cheaper tablets often are:

--questionable battery

--lack of Bluetooth

--proprietary charger instead of micro USB charging

--lack of Google Play certfication

Some people don't care too much or use Bluetooth. But if you can avoid the other issues at least, it's a step in the right direction.

The Ondo tablet linked above appears to have both Google Play and Bluetooth. I do see from the specs that it does not, however, support HDMI out.

I guess I should have added also: some of the older and cheaper tablets tend to come with only 512 MB of RAM memory. For anyone who's going to install any reasonable number of apps these days, as the size of apps keeps growing, you really want at least 1 GB of RAM.

Edited May 28, 201412 yr by TallGuyJohninBKK

Cheers bino, really good of u to take the trouble to find that for me. It's seems a total snip @ 2600THB. Hopefully Tesco Lotus in Surat Thani stocks this, because if it does i will be buying one! You sir, are a legend.

You're unlikely to find this in Tesco. I see them in the tech malls in BKK.

If you're not going to be in BKK, I would consider ordering it from the website.

vat refunds are very small, on a 20,000 baht camera it wasnt worth the effort of leaving the country to get it.

Ditto. VAT refund on 2600 THB is only going to be 182 THB. You have to be at the airport with ticket in hand to leave the country in order to get the refund. Not worth the effort for such small amount of money.

As seajae said... even on 20,000 baht camera, the refund would be 1400 THB. Sure does not add up to a plane ticket.

Samsung. Unbranded tablet can be easily broken.

Another option: I-Mobile is a Thai brand that's generally available in Tescos and often has good prices compared to the international brands. User experience with their tablets and smartphones seems to be pretty good, and lots of local service and support here. Just make sure the model has the specs you think you'll require for your use.

Lotus, pantip, department store, etc

1st thing you need to work out is HOW are you going to talk. Skype etc? ( skype will not work.on some cheaper chipsets)

Then are you going to have wifi or will you want 3g?

Which network are you going to use? (Probably suggest True 3h)

Is it a tablet or a phone that you require or indeed a phablet. An idea of maximum price you want to pay etc..also check out Lazada for prices etc.

http://www.lazada.co.th/shop-mobiles-tablets/?child

Sent from my XT1032 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Edited May 28, 201412 yr by casualbiker

Stop penny pinching,remember you get what you pay for !

Most places will just revert you to manufacturer, good luck with that !

Buy something decent that will last, it will be cheaper and less hassle in the long run.