Precisely 3 months after its nationwide announcement and launch, BSNL is all set to commercially launch its much awaited Penta tab. This was declared at the telecom consultative committee meeting by G C Pandey, Senior General Manager, BSNL-Indore. The tab which could not reach consumers due to insufficient stock will now be launched on June 15, 2012 in Indore.
Apart from the tab BSNL is all geared up to introduce services like FTTH (Fibre to the home) and WiMax for its customers in the near future. Also 40 new towers for 2g and five for 3G would be set up as a part of developmental activities by the service provider. Basically BSNL aims to build on its perception as a reliable provide and woo young customers at the same time.
Available in 3 versions the BSNL Penta is pegged to give stiff competition to Governments’ own little baby Aakash Ubislate 7. Though we have earlier profiled each variant of Penta – 3 Android powered Tablets including two 7 inch resistive screen based tabs (WiFi and 3G) and one 8 inch capacitive touchscreen – let’s take a look at how BSNL Penta T PAD IS 701R- the cheapest of the lot is placed with other low cost sub 8k tablets launched in the market recently.
Compared: Sub 8k Tablets
| Description | BSNL Penta T PAD IS 701R | Aakash Ubislate 7+ | HCL ME U1 | Attitude Daksh | Micromax Funbook | Kobian iXA tab |
| Screen size | 7 inch | 7 inch | 7 inch | 7 inch | 7 inch | 7 inch |
| Touchscreen | Resistive | Resistive | Capacitive | Multi-touch Capacitive | Capacitive | Resistive |
| Operating system | Android 2.3 GingerBread | Android 2.3 GingerBread | Android 4.0.3 | Android 4.0.3 | Android 4.0.3 | Android 2.3 GingerBread |
| RAM | 256MB RAM | 256MB RAM | 512 RAM | 512 RAM | 512 RAM | 512 RAM |
| Processor | 1 GHz Core Cortex | 700Mhz Cortex A8 | 1GHz Cortex A8 CPU | 1.2GHz Cortex A8 | 1.22 GHz Cortex-A8 | 1GHZ iMAPX210 |
| Storage internal/external | 2GB/32GB | 2GB/32GB | 4GB/32GB | 4GB/32GB | 4GB/32GB | 4GB/32GB |
| Front facing camera | 0.3MP | VGA front camera | 0.3MP | 0.3MP | 0.3MP | 0.3MP |
| HDMI/USB port | Yes/Yes | No/Yes | No/Yes | Yes/Yes | No/Yes | No/Yes |
| Battery | 3000mAh | 3220mAh | 3600mAh | 4000mAh | 2800mAh | 1450mAh |
| App store | Google Play Store | No | MEApp Store | Google Play Store | Google Play Store | Google Play Store |
| 3G | Yes via dongle | Yes via dongle | Yes via dongle | Yes via dongle | Yes via dongle | Yes via dongle |
| Network | Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi + SIM | Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi |
| Phonecall | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Audio/video playback | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Weight | NA | NA | NA | 300gms | 360gms | 341gms |
| Price | Rs 3250 | Rs 2999 | Rs 7999 | Rs 5399 | Rs 6499 | Rs 3999 |
