Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program Alert: this is not a highly technical review, but from a laptop/desktop user unfamiliar with tablets.
The feel and handling of the new Micro Cruz T408 is excellent. Not too heavy, but substantial. The screen is clear and made of high density, scratch resistant plastic, which leaves lots of fingerprints, as does the glossy black border. The screen itself reacts to the touch rather nicely. Out of the box, the tablet is pre-charged, so you can play with it immediately. The welcome screen steps you thru a brief setup of Wi-Fi, language, time, time zone, and email accounts, if you wish. You can load more than one email address if you have multiples email accounts and when you pull up your mail they can be separate or aggregated into one.
The home screen features icons for both the Amazon Kindle store and the Amazon Android Appstore, along with games, browser, email, inkpad, Napster, Facebook, Youtube, File Manager and W-Fi settings. If you have an Android phone, which I don't, I'm sure the tablet will feel very familiar.
One note, being a Prime member, I thought I could watch Prime Streaming Videos on this, but you can't. I also understand that it is also the same for Kindle Fire. I would assume that Amazon will fix that problem shortly. At least, I couldn't get it work! As of now, the true Android App Market is not available on the Cruz, just the Amazon Appstore.
The browser works like any other browser with a pop-up keyboard on the bottom of the screen, which does take some getting used to. The speed of internet connection to web pages is relatively fast, not quite desktop speed, but more than acceptable. The text size is adjusted by spreading two fingers across the screen to make it larger and bringing them to the center of the screen to make it smaller. Pages are turned by finger movements across the page, left or right, to move forward or backward.
From what I have read, this tablet runs Android Gingerbread 2.3 operating system, which is over a year old, but I have read it may be upgradeable in the future to newer operating systems.
Having never really used a tablet, my impressions are that it is convenient and fun to use. Smaller than a laptop and certainly more portable. I already used it in the kitchen to look up a recipe and on the couch to look up an actor's name. This will be a new tool for me. I feel it is not a replacement for my desktop, but another very useful portal. If you are looking for a very portable device for music, videos, or internet, this 8" screen is more than sufficient, a little bigger than a Nook or Fire, but smaller than an Ipad. Feels nice in your hand, when reading a book. Amazon books can be downloaded directly, just like a Kindle, by using your existing Amazon account.
I have used a friend's Ipad and find the Ipad certainly a bit more user friendly, but the $499 cost is more than double the cost of the Cruz.
UPDATE 11/28/11
After spending some time with the T408, I have observations. The battery life is great, if you don't use the wi-fi and connect to the internet. If you surf the web a lot, the battery drains fairly fast, maybe two hours or so. I installed an 8gb micro SD card, which gives you plenty of storage, and I understand you can put in a 32gb or 64gb card also. I tethered the T408 to my computer with the provided cable and was able to manage files. The most "profound" observation is that this not a windows computer and you have to learn a whole new way to function and may take a while to figure it out. Also, it is not a replacement for a desktop or laptop for certain functions, like printing or using a keyboard to type a document. A 8" tablet is not a replacement for a 20" monitor. I still like the Cruz T408, but with the sales going on now, there is a lot of competition out there in this price range.
UPDATE 12/12/11
It is rather frustrating that the operating system limits access to certain websites, like Android Market and many applications. This is the case with many if not all tablets, but this has got to change or people will not buy them.
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