I'm getting into Android app development lately. I downloaded the sdk and all that, learning from http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/write-google-android-application/ and I got to about step 6, setting up AVD (Android Virtual Device)

However. There's a problem, when I try and start it (on my horrifically outdated machine) it takes, ballpark, about 30 minutes just to boot up the Android Device, and when it finally does load, it's laggy like heck.

Are there any good tricks to speeding up performance and bootup speed on an AVD? In terms of device settings, I set it to have 1024 MiB of memory, because I read on stackexchange that that sped it up, however, that was probably a bad idea on a machine that only has 1G of RAM.

So you're swapping a ton. Reduce that to no more than 512MB and you'll be in much better shape.

OK, I'll give that a try.

Try the x86 version - it is *way* faster: http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/installing-the-intel-atom-tm-android-x86-emulator-image-add-on-from-the-android-sdk-manager/

But there's really no substitute for a real device. If you have one, running & debugging on it is super easy and painless. Remote debugging with a device is better supported than the emulator, heh

ah, ok. I'll be sure to check that out. The biggest thing for me about not getting a device is that I'm not interested in a monthly bill - is there an equivalent to Apple's iPod Touch, but with the Android OS, as in something that can run all the apps and have wifi and all that, but no native calling/texting support?

Just get a phone without a contract, or a tablet.

Alright, tablets are probably pretty expensive but I'll definitely see if I can get something without a contract.

$200 will get you a 7" tablet like the Kindle Fire or Galaxy Tab 2 (which has ICS and is much better than the Fire), or $400 will get you a high end, unlocked Galaxy Nexus ( https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=galaxy_nexus_hspa ), or there's something like the Galaxy WiFi (similar to the iPod Touch)

The alternative is to hop on craigslist and find something used.

OK, thanks. I'll probably check out craigslist.

Just buy a used phone that takes a SIM card (such as a T-Mobile phone), and don't put in a SIM card. I've actually purchased an Android for exactly that purpose, and I have the same sort of setup - no SIM card. Unfortunately, I haven't done much dev because I've only done work with Adobe Flex, and my phone isn't compatible.

*AHelper would have pointed to the $99 HP Touchpad and put ICS on it, but then again, HP's old CEO killed everything

The Touchpad was only $99 *because* it was killed. If it hadn't been killed, it never would have been $99.