There's no good reason for you to "recognize" the names of either Sylvania or Polaroid on a tablet. These names don't belong on tablets any more than if you saw one labeled "Kleenex". I believe any consumer electronics so labeled does so under license, The products are produced by an unidentified company and the "brand name" is put on the product. It's very misleading, just don't think you bought better quality because the reputation you're thinking of belongs to a different company. Sylvania makes light bulbs and Polaroid made cameras before it went bankrupt. A new buyer is using the name. Edit - Ooops, PS to OP I have a few Acer products and have had very good experience with them, they seem to make good stuff. I'd have high expectations for their tablet. This post was edited by snidely on Sat, Jun 22, 13 at 17:25

For those looking for a "router" for sharing data over cell services, there are additional alternatives to using a USB dongle with a portable router: - A "mobile hotspot", a combined cellular "modem" and router in one small package. Offered by the major carriers. Cost- wise, it's like having another phone, you pay to buy the device and have a (usually 2 year)contract with monthly access and data usage charges. - Most smart phones can operate as a mobile hotspot. Also called "tethering". The advantage with this is that there's nothing additional to buy and (at least with some carriers) no contract is necessary. You can turn it off and on as you wish, and apply usage to the phone plan you already have. The disadvantage is if you're not plugged in, the steady stream of cell data and wifi usage will eat through your battery life. I don't know if a tethered connection can be encrypted. It's convenient for occasional use, with my carrier, it's $ 20 per month prorated for the days it's turned on, so it's like 70 cents per day.

Hi Jamie! my DH who is a former puter wiz (changed fields) got one this past weekend. he wants it for an ereader and internet thru wireless @ home & hotels. he hacked his and is happy w it for only $100. you will need to add an SD card. he is using it as his kindle since the one i bought him i took over LOL. he likes it, it is in no way a substitute for a laptop. we have a collection of those. it's ok for light browsing, magazine & newspaper reading etc...it was dh's way of heading me off from going down the iPad3 path LOL and trying to stear me to an ASUS or Acer tablets that are coming out soon... ~ liz

I know my suggestion isn't per the parameters you said you wanted, but I just wanted to say that my niece and nephew, who are about that age, have the 7" Kindle Fire tablets and love them. I know they aren't as trendy or fancy as the 10" Apple ones, but they love them. You can buy a new HDX 7" for under $200 and the 8.9 inch is under $400. My experience with tablets is limited to the Nexus 7, but I got it for free, so I have no idea how much it costs. I do think it's good and has handled anything I've thrown at it. I've treated it as a laptop, so it's had a dozen or more internet tabs up, taken pictures, and had a couple of games up, all at the same time and have had no issues with lag time or other problems. Not that this really makes a difference, but when I was deciding between getting a Fire and Paperwhite from amazon, I bought both to play with. I opted for the paperwhite, because of my needs and dealing with amazon was so easy. They even said I could keep the charger I ordered for the Fire, but gave me my money back for it.