A couple of weeks ago, shortly before Amazon announced the Fire, I purchased a Skytex Skypad Alpha. Here are my impressions.

First, I chose the Skypad because it was the best on paper of the cheap, 7" Android tablets. I was looking for a 7" tablet for my 3-year-old son so he can watch cartoons when we're traveling. I didn't want to deal with a portable DVD player because disks get scratched and lost. I've gone down that road before and it wasn't worth it.

At $155 it was worth experimenting with. In addition to a portable media player for my son, my wife could use it.

Unfortunately, the quality seems to be off. My biggest complaint is that I can't seem to find any way to calibrate the touchscreen. I need to, because entering anything with the on-screen keyboard is impossible. Even using a stylus for the resistive screen won't let me enter anything of length without numerous errors. My WPA key was impossible to enter.

A quick summary is that Android 2.3 isn't designed for tablets. Google knows that but some of the others who are trying to make Android tablets on the cheap and avoid paying for Google's kit are turning a blind eye towards it.

For what I wanted it for -- a 3 year old to bang on and select his own videos that are loaded on a MiniSD card -- it is a solid C-. It works, but isn't great for much else and I won't be disappointed when he eventually trashes it.

However, all that was before Amazon announced the Kindle Fire at $199. There is no way I can see anyone in their right mind paying $150 or so for the Skypad when for an extra $49 you can get the Fire. If they knock the price down to $99, then yes. Short of that, I can't recommend this unit at all.