Mossberg reviews Dell Streak 7: Impossible to recommend

Dell Streak 7
Dell Streak 7

“If you could get a tablet for the price of a smart phone, and if it also worked on one of the new, faster, 4G-class cellular networks, you’d jump at the chance, right? Dell and T-Mobile hope so, and that’s why they’ve brought out the Dell Streak 7, at just $200 with a two-year service contract,” Walter S. Mossberg reports for AllThingsD.

“The Streak 7, Dell’s second effort to compete with Apple’s $500 iPad, is the least expensive tablet I’ve seen from a major manufacturer, and claims to be the first capable of 4G cellular speeds (it also has Wi-Fi). Like many planned iPad competitors, it runs Google’s Android operating system,” Mossberg reports. “It’s also the first I’ve tested using a fast new processor from nVidia, the Tegra 2, which will power a number of new tablets this year.”

Mossberg reports, “Unfortunately, after a week of testing, I found the compromises Dell made to get to that low price make it impossible for me to recommend the Streak 7. Its screen, battery life, and software are all disappointing, and vastly inferior not only to the iPad’s, but also to those on the Samsung Galaxy Tab… In other words, you get what you pay for.”

Read the full review here

MacDailyNews Take: SIDAGTMBTTS.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews reader “Dow C.” for the heads up.]

40 Comments

      1. I can’t remember the last time I reckoned but, I would think micheal dell wouldn’t be too phased as machines with his name on them sit on the desks of every federal government employee at my agency at at every other.

  1. Dell is completely stupid!! Dell says “its target audience will use the Streak 7 plugged into wall outlets and TVs through an extra-cost dock”

    WTF? They don’t even understand consumer behavior and usage!! Why would any consumer want to be tethered to a wall socket? On top of that, watch TV trough an extra-cost dock that tether your tablet to a TV too? What if you want to rewind? pause? You want to get up from your sofa to your TV just to reach your tablet to control content on TV? That kind of defeat the purpose and convenience of a tablet!! Any set-top box or DVD player, hell, even a media center PC has a remote! Apple is smart, people complained that iPad has no HDMI output when it first come out, but think about it….. What do you do every time when you want to control the content when you tablet is linked to a TV sitting on the TV stand? That’s why Apple develop AirPlay.

    Unless, Dell figures out what consumer wants or can do something with their products better… its stock price will keep dropping. Just because you built it, doesn’t mean they will come….

    1. Shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders. This is what Michael Dell said to shareholders when asked what he would do if he controlled Apple. Now MDN uses this as a retort against Dell…brilliantly, I might add.

  2. It may be impossible to recommend (can’t comment, don’t have one, can’t imagine having one).

    But it’s certainly impossible to use the name without thinking of the rest of the line from The Long Good Friday – and I don’t think “Dell Streak of Paralysed Piss” is what their marketing department wants me to think about.

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  3. Did nobody (including Mossberg) notice that this thing’s price of $200 is with a 2 year CONTRACT!?

    An iPhone costs $200 with a contract. That is NOT a real price, and neither is it for this device. If T-Mobile subsidy is no greater than for other Android phones, this device’s actual retail price is likely at least $500.

  4. Did nobody (including Mossberg) notice that this thing’s price of $200 is WITH a 2 year CONTRACT!?

    An iPhone costs $200 with a contract. That is NOT a real price, and neither is it for this device. If T-Mobile subsidy is no greater than for other Android phones, this device’s actual retail price is likely at least $500.

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