HCL Expands Tablet Range By Launching ME X1 For Rs 10,490

HCL has further expanded its tablet range in the Indian market by launching a new budget tablet called ME X1. The tablet runs on the Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) operating system and its price is Rs 10,490. This is also the cheapest tablet from the company so far, the other tablets from HCL include ME AE7-A1 (Rs 10,990) and ME AM7-A1 (Rs 20,990)

The device has a 7 inch (800x480 pixel resolution) WVGA capacitive touchscreen and runs on the Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) OS. It is powered by a 1GHz ARM Cortex A8 high performance low power CPU and has 512MB of RAM. The internal memory of the device is 4GB which can be further expanded up to 32GB with a microSD card.

The tablet has a 2 megapixel front facing camera that can also record videos. It comes with support for Flash and also supports full high definition (1080p) video playback. On the connectivity front the tablet comes with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and 3G (enabled with a USB modem). The device also has a mini USB port, a microSD card slot and a mini HDMI port.

It comes with a number of pre-loaded apps (like Think Free Office) and users can also access the ME app store for downloading even more apps. The device has a 3500 mAh battery which should provide users with a full days worth of battery life (depending on the usage).

The overall specifications of the tablet are average but that is understandable considering the price at which it is offered. If we talk about competition, HCL ME X1's competitors in the Indian market includes iBall Slide (Rs 13,995), Reliance 3G tab (Rs 12,999), Beetel Teletech's Beetel Magiq (Rs 9,999), Mercury's mTab (Rs 9,499) and S Mobility's Mi-720 (Rs 11,990).

The new tablet from HCL joins the band-wagon of the numerous budget tablets that are already available in the Indian market. As a matter of fact, the tablets segment is fast becoming like the mobile phone segment where there is something for everyone. And with the recent launch of 'UbiSlate', the common man's tablet, the day is not far when a vast majority of people will own a tablet.