CVS Has a New $99 EPad, and I Got One!

CVS has come out with their newest electronic offering, a Craig EPad for $ 99.00. There were five of them available here at my local CVS store in Bristol, Tennessee, today. I was very surprised since the advertisement came out yesterday, judging from the response to the little Sylvania Netbooks back before Christmas. They have been almost unavailable, and oddly, the shelves at my CVS were full of those today for the first time, too.

Of course, being the techno-geek that I am, I had to have one.

Save those Extra-Bucks

If you have a CVS card, you know about the Extra-bucks that you receive for certain purchases. You can use those toward the purchase price, which is what I did today. I had over $12.00 toward my purchase price just from things I bought today, which made the purchase price around $87.00.

i-Pad envy?

I have wanted an i-Pad since before they came out. I even glued a picture of one to a notebook,(get it, a pad?) hinting to my family to get one for my birthday! Well, that didn't work! Writing a column for the Knoxville Examiner about Social Media, I am often covering i-Pad stories.

I have so wanted one, but I took solace in the fact that nobody that I knew had one. That is, until last week! I found out that my friend, Kathy Winters, had one. I almost dumped my drink on her in the restaurant! She said that she got it for Christmas and that she did love it. (That really helped!)

"E" or "I", does it matter

Well, honestly, it probably does. However, the limited amount of time I have used this one, I have been surprised by the quality. Compared to the Sylvania $99 netbook CVS has offered, this device has much more power when accessing traditional websites. I am sure, though, that an original i-Pad would be much better quality and more user friendly. The thing is, though, that I can't justify $500 for one of those, and you might not be able to either.

Easy Wi-Fi Access

One of the big complaints about the Sylvania Netbook was that the Wi-Fi access was a big problem. While I usually did not have any problems with my netbook, it could be "irritable" sometimes until you got the settings just right and said the magic words! This device hooks right up to the Internet wireless with no problem.

Mobile or not

It does seem to be able to access the traditional sites as well as mobile, but they are a little slower at times. I am not familiar with an Android OS, so that has been something of an adjustment. I do like the way that Youtube Videos look, using the entire 7" screen. The little netbook from CVS had just a small little display screen for Youtube.

Apps available

There are rumors circulating around the net that there are no applications for this Google Android tablet. There are, but they are not the ones through Google. However, there are apps you can download that will give you the same creative experience with your little Craig EPad.

Drawbacks?

While I have found Craig to be a reliable brand name for small, inexpensive appliances, I did find that the touchscreen was not quite as responsive as I would like. I am accustomed to a touchscreen Blackberry Storm. This is a minor to medium problem, and it was the main negative remark that I had read online. It is one of the older Android screens that had not been optimized for the performance that Android now has available.

Stay tuned for more as I get to know the little $99 Craig EPad from CVS. Check out my social media column at the end of the article.