Right now there's a bit of speculation among tech enthusiasts that the HTC Flyer is about to be discontinued. This stems from the removal of the product page from Best Buy's website, as well as Best Buy's recent price reductions and near-fire sale pricing. But what about the Flyer's near-identical twin, the HTC EVO View 4G?
Interestingly enough, our favorite 7-inch tablet has also seen its fair-share of discount pricing from various vendors, even going as low as $229 off-contract. This is in spite of an initial on-contract price of $399.99.
And Sprint certainly seems to be trying to rid itself of its current EVO View inventory. Open up the Sprint Zone app on your phone, for example, and you'll see an advertisement for the View for as low as $249.99, along with the digital pen reduced to $49.99 from an initial $79.99.
Are all these price-cuts due to Sprint and HTC's plans to EOL the EVO View, right around the same time it's getting its promised Honeycomb update? Or are these in response to comparable yet cheaper tablets made by Amazon and Barnes and Noble? Of course, everything right now is pure conjecture, but if the EVO View does get killed off soon, I can only hope that HTC has plans for a quad-core monster to take its place.
I have been trying to find the HTC Flyer for the last two months at Best Buy! Ever since they lowered the price on the tablet I have not been able to purchase it there! They did the samething with the HP Table. When a hot item gets marked down like that it seems like they refuse to sell it at a loss to them!
Well it stands to reason, since Sprint n others are getting out of the WiMax in 2013. You’ll see a lot of others come down in price n new ones popup, yep looking forward to the ‘dual quad-core’ MONSTERS myself.
Does this mean I SHOULDN’T have bought the View 4g on eBay for $240??? I really hope it has more to do with the relatively low prices of the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet….buyer’s regret has to be the worst feeling ever… other than regular regret lol
Why do you have regret? Its still an awesome tablet, and when it gets Honeycomb, it will be that much more awesome.
I paid $399 for mine and would do it again, I use it for work and pleasure, it is so more usable than a netbook. I use the pen less than I thought I would but when I do use it, it works great. Pictures for work need no copy just a mark or 2 via the scribe, no hunting on a saved web page for the info it was saved for scribe marks it perfectly. I have no plans to honeycomb it, gingerbread and ADW ex launcher work perfect it is laid out like my Evo phone just more real estate. I will buy a 10″ tablet with ICS and quad core computing when they arrive but it will be more like a toy and status badge.
My main concern is the single-core processor. I have the E3D, and even THAT’s dual core.. How does having a single core processor affect upgrading etc?? I want this tablet to last me a while, but I’m worried that the single core will only allow me to use Honeycomb fully, but once ICS comes out, it won’t be able to handle it (or so I’ve heard). So how much of an effect does the single core have on the overall performance/lifespan of the tablet? (and is it better to have a 1ghz dual core or a 1.5ghz single??)
I really need an answer to my second Q John!!! lol greatly appreciated
Well I definitely think we’re seeing HTC and Sprint trying to rid themselves of inventory. I don’t think they’re discontinuing the line but just making room for the next models. This would explain why you don’t see much inventory at retailers like Best Buy. We have them being offloaded to ebay and web retailers. Just today I saw another offering for the View 4G at dailysteals.com
Even though I think these models have reached their EOL, I still bought the View, because for $230 its a great product. It may be only a single core, but its a zippy 1.5GHz. The device feels much better in my hands than any other 7″ offering (except the new Samsung). I have enough confidence in the dev world to know that ICS will be available for this eventually.
Here’s some reference Ricardo: http://compreviews.about.com/od/cpus/a/dualcore.htm
But honestly, the answer is that it simply depends. It would take a side by side bench mark comparison of devices to know which is best. Dual core processors out perform similar speed sing core processors with certain tasks, but then again the same holds true for a slightly faster single core processor.
Overall I’d have to say that you’d find similar performance in 1 Ghz dual core vs 1.5 Ghz single core on an average of applications.
I own the View and it’s a great Tablet. I also own the TouchPad, which is dual core. With both running at the same clock speed, the TouchPad is a little snappier. Not by much.
Nearly all apps are singled threaded. They just don’t make use of the extra core(s).
IF ICS is made available for the View, it will run it just fine. According to Google, if it can run HC, it can run ICS.
I wouldn’t count on ANY tablet lasting much past 2 or 3 years though, because the batteries will wear out and aren’t going to be practical for most people to replace. At $240, if it lasts 2 years, I think that’s reasonable. I figure once the battery is dead, it’ll work just fine as an alarm clock or picture frame, always plugged in
Sprint will be supporting WiMax at least until 2015, and will be selling WiMax devices at least until mid-2012, likely for all of 2012.
In other words, by the time WiMax is dead, the View will be too.
If nothing else, it works fine as a WiFi only tablet, and for less than the cost of the Nook Tablet, you get something a good bit nicer.