Pros and Cons of The Dell Streak 7 High Value, Low Battery Life

 In January 2010, computer giant Dell Inc. introduced its first tablet PC, the Dell Streak, at the World Economic Forum in Davis, Switzerland. During the weeks and months to follow, overall The Dell Streak did not receive rave reviews. Many users found it to be a bit more like a smartphone that a tablet, yet too heavy and expensive to replace their regular smartphone.
This past February, Dell released the Streak 7 after over eight months of development. The one pound Streak 7 is a small tablet that comes equipped with the Android 2.2 operating system. It has 16 GB of memory and runs on T-Mobile’s speedy 4G network. It also comes in at a pretty low cost. The price starts at just $199.99 with a two year T-mobile contract, which is one of the lowest prices you’ll find, and the Wifi version is just $298. It furthermore comes equipped with a built-in camera and can run Flash videos.
There are however a few areas where the Dell Streak 7 falls short.
1. For the software, it uses the Android 2.2 OS that wasn’t designed with tablets in mind. Since the release of the Dell Streak 7, Android has produced their first version that is specifically designed for tablets, called Honeycomb. Unfortunately, the Dell Streak 7 does not support Honeycomb, but has recently been made eligible for an upgrade to Android 2.3. Problem solved.
2. The display could stand some minor improvements. The screen quality is much lower than the iPad 2. This can make the text fuzzy, and degrades the quality of photos and videos. It does come equipped with the powerful Tegra 2 processor which supports HDMI. The resolution is fairly decent however, and there are worse displays out there.
3. The battery life is sub-par. With regular light usage you might expect to get a maximum of six hours out of it, which is on the average side for a tablet. Watching movies back to back you can expect just over 3 hours.
Conclusion:
While the Dell Streak 7 is a pretty solid device, it requires a few improvements before it can knock out other competing products. The OS upgrade definitely helps here. In spite of its minor shortcomings, it is nonetheless a sturdy product that will get the job done when you’re on the go. Android flexibility, Nvidia Tegra 2 speed and power, and a big bright display all make the Dell Streak 7 a pleasure to use, and it’s a bargain at the current price
Visit the Amazon Dell Streak Store for a great selection of Dell Streak Computer Tablets and Accessories.