最近，如果你曾留意过药店柜台后面的架子的话，可能已经发现，在一堆超强感冒咳嗽糖浆和廉价的耳塞中，还摆放着一些与周围环境不协调的商品——廉价平板电脑。尽管有时这些低端设备的名字有些不着边际，但其市场在迅速膨胀。目前，在苹果（Apple）iPad、亚马逊（Amazon）Kindle Fire等产品的带动下，平板电脑市场规模已达290亿美元，而我们前面所说的这些廉价产品都在这一市场的低端互相残杀。下文即介绍其中一些最貌不惊人、默默无闻的平板电脑，过去你肯定没听说过它们的大名。

    A report Friday that the Kindle Fire costs a few dollars more to make than its $199 selling price is drawing renewed attention to Amazon's adherence on the "razors and blades" theory. That theory has been around for a long time and has been much discussed with the rise of new technologies over the past few decades. Whether it will work for Amazon is an open question, but the odds may be against it.

Maylong M-150

    俗话说，一分钱一分货。Maylong M-150就是一个证明。去年，该产品在沃尔格林药房（Walgreens）仅售99美元。这款平板电脑搭载安卓系统（Android），其7英寸（18.8厘米）的触摸屏性能不够稳定，400 MHz的处理器能力有限，内置256 MB RAM、2GB的内存， WiFi功能极不稳定，经常掉线。太差劲了。待机时，电池续航时间为2~3小时，使用时只有屈屈1小时。

Maylong M-150

    You get what you pay for. The Maylong M-150 proves this to be true. Sold at Walgreens last year for $99, this Android-based tablet has a 7-inch and temperamental touchscreen, a weak 400MHz processor, 256MB RAM, 2GB of storage and WiFi that often sputters. The most egregious deficiency? Battery life between two and three hours on standby -- and a paltry one hour while in use.