Android Tablets

[TheGreatSatan]

What's your opinion on these Android Tablets (http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-APAD-7-TFT-MID-Touch-Screen-Wifi-Android-OS-LAPTOP-/270596035130?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Laptops_Nov05&hash=item3f00c7d23a)?

It only has 128MB of RAM and a 1GB hard drive!! I've seen 2GB ones too.

It says I could use an external 160GB drive or a 16GB SD card. I know if you have a flash drive and you save data to it from a Windows PC, it cannot be read from a Mac. Will my flash drive work in a Droid system?

[crenn]

That's not an aPad. It's got a VIA made processor in it and also there is no Android 1.7.

This is an aPad (http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Apad-IRobot-Google-Android-16GB-UMPC-MID-Tablet-EbookOZ-/260630655459?cmd=ViewItem&pt=AU_comp_laptop&hash=item3caecc31e3) with 16GB NAND flash inside. We haven't tried connecting either a USB HDD or USB flash drive to it, but I believe it will work fine! Android is just linux ;P Also saving data to a flash drive and it not working on a Mac? Providing the flash drive is formatted to FAT, it should work no hassles.

[TheGreatSatan]

I think I'll wait for the Lenovo Ideapad U1 hybrid

Iki2ohoVyeI

[BuzzKillington]

Ya, those cheapy chinese tablets are a joke. I wouldn't waste the money on one.

[crenn]

Ya, those cheapy chinese tablets are a joke. I wouldn't waste the money on one.
My father did xD

[TheGreatSatan]

........and.......?

[crenn]

They work fine! I'd take one of those cheap chinese knockoffs compared to an iPad.

[TheGreatSatan]

Did he get one of those 2gb ones?

[Oneslowz28]

Did he get one of those 2gb ones?

This


That's not an aPad. It's got a VIA made processor in it and also there is no Android 1.7.

This is an aPad (http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Apad-IRobot-Google-Android-16GB-UMPC-MID-Tablet-EbookOZ-/260630655459?cmd=ViewItem&pt=AU_comp_laptop&hash=item3caecc31e3) with 16GB NAND flash inside. We haven't tried connecting either a USB HDD or USB flash drive to it, but I believe it will work fine! Android is just linux ;P Also saving data to a flash drive and it not working on a Mac? Providing the flash drive is formatted to FAT, it should work no hassles.

[TheGreatSatan]

I know it Linux basically, but how can 128MB be enough? That sounds rediculously slow

[Oneslowz28]

I would imagine it would be. These are designed for web surfing, Facebooking and reading ebooks. Not for gaming, graphics intensive programs or things like that. It will do video, web, and similar things well but anything beyond and I think it will slow to a snails pace.

[TheGreatSatan]

I know the new Evo phone has a 1GHz proc, but how much RAM? That would be a good way to compare it.

[crenn]

Put it this way, my Motorola Dext has twice the RAM. Is it slow? Sort of, because of the fact it doesn't fully close programs, it eats up RAM like nothing else, however I've had it play movies fine. Currently it's been returned for repairs (the screen developed a crack which seems to be a manufacturing fault) but I'll be testing it more vigourasly once it gets back.

But yeah, these things are designed mainly as eBook, web surfing, etc. Nothing too heavy. Although the aPad has a DSP (apparently) so it can decode upto 720p. Although with the resolution of the screen, it's not really an issue.

[TheGreatSatan]

I ordered 2. One from each of the two main companies I saw.

One has a 600MHz VIA proc, 128MB RAM, and a 2GB HD (SD expandable to 32GB) (White)

http://www.liquidation.com/shared/auction/images/photos/24075/widget/24074863_widget.jpg

The other is a 600MHz proc, 256MB RAM, and 2GB HD (SD expandable to 32GB) (Black)

http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/1/3/7/5/2/7/0/webimg/386472106_o.jpg

I'll do a side-by-side review in August

[OvRiDe]

Should be interesting to see!

[crenn]

Got links to the sellers you bought it from? I'm a little suspicious....

[LiTHiUM0XiD3]

trust me... i just got a MID 7 inch ipad clone running android... its horrible..... laggy slow and **** wireless range... :) i have 2 variants.... 1 is a ipad clone.. the other is a tablet.. the tablet runs windows CE 6..... and its fast... but half of it i cant get outa chinese.... so try typing.. its interesting lol.... and the mid ipad one as i said runs android... 128Mbs of ram.. with 2Gb storage... its sucks..

[TheGreatSatan]

Well, I'll post a review and maybe give 'em away in a contest after that??

[TheGreatSatan]

OK. One came from China and the other from California. I actually got the China one first.:eek:

This will be in my review too

I played with the China one for about an hour. i was trying to plug in my network password when the screen got real fuzzy and black. It reminded me of the old Starry field screensaver from XP, but darker. That's it. I think it's dead. I just sent the seller an email.

The one from CA seems to be fine. The battery was dying, but it did let me enter in my network password. The screen isn't all that responsive. It even has a touch screen calibrator, but that doesn't really help. The on screen keyboard is kind of annoying too. You have to switch between letter and number entering screens. It has an SD card slot which I put an 8GB card into with about 80 songs on it. There's a lone speaker on the back that's actually not that bad in my living room. It also doesn't know it's not a cell phone. I guess that's the problem with putting Android (a Cell phone OS) on a computer. When you make a setting change, it reports back as 'saving changes to your phone'. Weird.

The most annoying aspect, one which will kill it for me is that fact that there is only one way to scroll through your files. You have to slide your finger across the screen to have all your files move. Usually this is the cool part of having a touch screen, except the responsiveness is horrible. EVERY DAMN TIME it thinks I'm selecting an item. It might move a little, but then instanly grab the last thing I touched. I was scrolling through my music and it kept selecting the last song my finger grazed and started playing it.

There will be more, I'm sure. I think I see why an iPad seems sooo much better, but like 5 times the price.

[x88x]

There will be more, I'm sure. I think I see why an iPad seems sooo much better, but like 5 times the price.

Or maybe just a product that was developed in its own right, not just thrown together in a week as a clone of a new device?

[TheGreatSatan]

I'm sure that's most of it. There is another Droid tablet (http://cgi.ebay.com/Google-Android-7-quot-notebook-3G-Tablet-PC-UMPC-WiFi-/280533435364?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item41511883e4) that's about $400 that may be better, but not worth the risk. I think I'd buy and iPad before I'd drop the money on that. At some point I'm going to be backed into a corner and HAVE to admit that Apple is better

[x88x]

I hate to judge something on aesthetics alone, but that new one you linked also looks suspiciously like an iPad...call me skeptical, but I'm guessing that one would be the same.

[slaveofconvention]

Hell, only 13 years ago, I bought a AMD K6-200 system with 32MB of RAM and at the time that was HUGE because almost all systems came with 8 or 16MB at the time. It wasn't that long ago machines with 32GB of RAM were cutting edge so there's no real reason why something with four times that shouldn't be fast - it all comes down to the software setup...

[crenn]

And the software on most of these setups are very poorly thrown together. That's why for the aPad, it's ideal to use custom firmware. It's faster and works a lot better.

[TheGreatSatan]

They're both Android so I'm wondering about if they can be rooted like the phone can be.

[Kayin]

You know, admitting Apple is better based on the fact that the market is glutted with half-functional implementations of an absolutely brilliant OS isn't the best way to give them a victory. Let's get a fully working one in before we pass judgement.

[TheGreatSatan]

I'd like to review the Archos tablet too

[Mark_Hardware]

I said something about this on another thread, but this (http://www.notionink.in/adamoverview.php) slate is the one I think I'm excited to see.

[XcOM]

i'm getting the dell streak in a few months,

really looking forward to that!

[BuzzKillington]

The extra inch you get from the dell streak doesn't seem all too worth carrying a separate device on top of your cell.

EDIT: Just found out it IS a phone. Makes sense. Too bad it's ATT or I may have been interested. :/

[TheGreatSatan]

Apparently Asus (http://www.asustablet.com/) is making one too

http://www.asustablet.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/asus-windows-tablet.jpg

[x88x]

Hmmm, 7" 1024x768 64GB nVidia Tegra powered tablet with 3G, 802.11a/g/n, and A-GPS? For $500 from Asus? Running Android? ...HELLS YEAH! :D

[TheGreatSatan]

I'd rather have the W7 one