So I've been really tempted lately by all of the insane prices I've seen on 7"-8" Android tablet, with some 6"-7" models going as low as $79.99. The median seems to be about $99.99 for a tablet with the following specs:

1 Ghz CPU (I've seen some newspaper ads calling them Cortex A9 CPUs...)
512 MB-1 GB RAM
Android 4.0
Capacitive Touchscreen

And for the most part that seems to address most of the issues that I can think of that plagued cheap Android tablets in the past, with ICS being a key feature. Has anyone had any experience with the crop of cheap tablets that are out nowadays? I'm pretty much looking for a relatively inexpensive device to use to check out Android; I'm certainly not looking to use it for heavy gaming or HD video editing.

No matter how bad these might be, they can't possibly be as bad as a $60 netbook I had once that ran Windows CE...

Some good info here:

http://www.techradar.com/news/mobile-computing/tablets/budget-android-tablets-which-one-is-right-for-you-1116186

I guess it depends on what you are going to use it for. If you want to just browse the net or play some simple browser based games, then I'd say yes.

This thread has a couple (literally) of responses that may interest you:
http://www.gog.com/forum/general/android_tablets_with_google_play_store

Yes. I have one, and it works great in my opinion.

I have 5 Android tablets that range from expensive ones to uber cheap ones. I would like to say that they are all pretty good but I would keep single core SOC to 7" and below. For 10", you should invest in multi-core ones like Tegra 2 (or 3), Cortex A15, etc.

Specs sound workable, but as usual, it depends on what you use it for. One thing that you should be prepared for with these cheap-o ones though is that the screen resolution is going to suck. Remember that.

Got a ly-f1 some time ago, and it is a nice little machine. I did not expect anything out of the ordinary, but got positively surprised since the screen is good (for the price) and the allwinner a10 cpu is not too shabby either. I flashed the machine with customized ics firmware, and tested out some apps. Even found Shadowgun to be fully playable.

http://www.pandawill.com/lyf1-tablet-pc-7-inch-android-23-new-12ghz-cpu-8gb-2160p-hdmi-black-p54045.html

It is a china tablet, but a good choice as a starter.

If you just want to check out Android, then a cheap tablet can be good. They start under $60 on Chinese stores (). Personally I'd spend a little more and buy something with better specs, in particular a 1024x600 res instead of 800x480 (like [url=http://www.buyincoins.com/new_en/details/7-ainol-novo-7-mars-android-4-0-cortex-a9-1ghz-tablet-pc-8gb-1gb-ram-capacitive-product-15972.html]this for $85).

The main downsides of these low cost tablets, from what I read, are a low battery life and a TN display, but the current Chinese tablets otherwise seem pretty decent (especially compared to how they were a year or two ago).

I'd say no, because most of them can't use Google Play store. You don't need have to pony up much more to get a Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire.

Kindle Fire can't use the Google Play store either. And many of the Chinese tablets do have Play Store installed (the two cheap ones I linked to are advertised to have it, though of course that's not a guarantee).

You are right with the Kindle Fire. Of course you can use the Amazon app store with it. Not sure can you use the with these cheopo tablets.

I'd still recommend paying bit extra to get a N7. It is super cheap and very good/powerful tablet. And not just saying this because I am writing from one :)

I have a google store app that works on my ultra cheap tablet. It must be the same one you are talking about.

You can install the Amazon app store on any Android tablet (here are the instructions at Amazon.com).

The Nexus 7 is indeed a great value for money, but there's still a difference between $200 and $57 (or $85) so buying a cheaper one can be good for someone who just wants to get a feeling of what can be done with a tablet and decide whether it's worth owning one.

I dont know current prices but company called something like Ainol (they made Aurora tablet) was not bad. Still I would suggest getting something better because the cheap stuff is mostly Chinese and its a gamble. I had some serious problem with cheap tablets while my friends buying the same model were unaffected.

The 1024x600 tablet I posted for $85 is the Ainol Mars. I just found that it's $78 here (after applying code 8190eNa67X mentioned on their front page).

$78 for a tablet with 1GB of RAM and a 1024x600 display is IMO good value. (Though it's only single core.)