Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Here's a short review on the tablet. I've had it two days now. First off it comes in reasonable packaging. Bought in the UK.
Items include:-
- headphones,
- telescopic stylus
- a multi-plug for charging
- a connector to the computer
- a small manual
- there is no sd card supplied
- no flash support
- no protective cover
Firstly touch and Feel.
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Its awkward. Its resistive touchscreen which means it can be used with a stylus, fingernail or fingertip. Resistive doesn't have to mean awkward. Here's an example: you open up a function like play music, you get a scrolling list, when trying to scroll down the touchscreen selects an unwanted item and loads it. Its so tricky to get this sensitivity right. It can take a few days. Even then it still doesn't always work.
It doesn't play flash. So I tried downloading skyfire. For some reason skyfire web links refuse to take you to a non Android market place to download. I've been looking to try download it for a couple of hours. Without the connection to Android Market its really difficult to get your favorite widgets and apps. Seesmic is a fantastic little twitter for Android. I can't get it to download.
I tried finding my downloads on my Android phone which does have access to Android Market. I can't find them anywhere. I downloaded a more comprehensive file explorer and still no luck.
So the point to pick up here is downloading apps is limited to what you can find. But it does work as I've managed to load a few apps.
There's quite a few free games to download as well.
Also get the sd card in the right way(upsidedown). It goes in the wrong way quite deeply and then gets itself stuck.
It can get very hot if you don't power it off completely. This is also fiddly and temperamental.
Typing is really slow. It doesn't always register the press. It will probably get better as I get the knack of it. Portrait typing is the way to go with a device like this. The width is the same as a 3.5 inch device which is the limit for most hands.
E book reader
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I haven't tested this thoroughly but it looks ok. I'll come back later and update this review, hopefully with video. What I will say though is when people tell you a tft screen will fry your eyes after a while its true. I used the device for over 5 hours yesterday, my eyes were so sore they were burning, I had to close one to read on a normal computer screen. I could only manage 5 minutes then I gave up.
Good Points
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If you are wondering if a 7 inch screen is the way to go, this device confirmed it for me. What I was able to load and view was great.
Its so light I never thought to myself I can feel this device now its getting heavy. Its amazingly easy to keep holding it. Its thinner than my htc hero phone. Its very easy to read from.
The device is fun to use once you feel you're getting a feel for its sensitivity. Its never going to match the latest generation of smart phones or the ipad for smooth, easy to use feel.
Price is amazing. I knew I wasn't going to get a mini ipad. I bought it to ease a curiosity about a 7 inch tablet. I felt that was the perfect size for portability and the purchase confirmed that.
Its nice for viewing pictures.
It has a music player on it.
It does have a microphone on it. Also a standard headphone jack. It plays out through the headphones well.
The charge is for two hours. I haven't found this to be a massive problem. I use it at home and when I take it out its not so long.
It doesn't charge off the computer. This is a bit of a shame but there you go. So trip into work via train might require taking the charger with you.
It does have an accelerometer. Its quite slow to react so don't think ipod touch games action.
I'm glad I bought it but a bit disappointed its not what it could be. The shell is ideal, weight etc but the slowness of it can be a bit irritating. Even with full bars on the wifi it was a bit slow loading pages. Upstairs away from the router it was really slow. So downloads need to be done close to the router.
Its also not completely multi-tasking. When I had my music on it cut out when I switched to browsing.
I now know what the potential of owning a really top of the range tablet could be like. Also I can see what I would use it for and not. If I can get skyfire on it I might be able to watch flash, which will make it a lot more fun. Its certainly a curiousity soother.
I do now understand why there has been this big delay from a lot of manufacturers on their tablets. You have to get it right otherwise people will give up on the devices. It must do what its capable of well.
update 04:06:2010
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Now been playing with the device a few days now. With a lot of effort I finally managed to get a youtube app off my htc hero and onto this device. So now embedded or stand alone youtube is now possible. Its not the greatest video but it works. Its the app not the device though.
I downloaded a different e-reader and found it works with epub. Loads and loads of free books available. Switching to night mode puts the text white on black. Yesterday I was on the device all evening and my eyes were fine with normal usage.
I was thinking of getting an apple ipod touch but searched for such a cheap tablet device instead. Now I have it I would say I can live with the quirks of the device and enjoy a multi-purpose device. I'm glad I bought it instead of the ipod touch and each day I enjoy it more. But 3 stars is the right ranking as just around the corner are the 7 inch capacitive tablets which look amazing and could be a lot cheaper than the ipad. Also the one I saw from foxconn, 7 inch, has a sim card slot as well.
The one drawback with all the wifi only devices is lack of access to available Wifi points. At home though I am really enjoying the comfort of sitting in a chair or laying down and using the device.
update: 09.06.10
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Well the more I play with this device the more I like it. I found a way to get nearly all my android apps from my htc hero phone onto this device. I'll just say put 'appmanager' on your phone.
One thing I will point out and is worth mentioning, this device is for anoraks. That is to say people who like tech, fiddling and have a lot of patience. I guess its no different to a PC when it needs restoring. It takes days to get it back where you want it. Once you've mastered how to get apps on it then you are away.
This device runs best with apps. I downloaded this reuters news app and its so well laid out and really suits this mobile device.
Also downloaded a twitter app called Touiteur. I managed to download that straight from the Internet. Its an excellent app. BBC news I had to get from my phone.
I put the 'Aldiko' ereader on it and it works great. Uses a tap either left or right to turn pages. It has a day night mode for reading, which changes the font and background colours. Customisable. What I really like about it is it has access to online libraries of free books. I was reading there are 250,000 or so free ebooks!! This app has a lot of shakspeare books, philosophy books and many others. Just as an ereading device its brilliant. 5 stars. Apart from the battery power, which I think is between 2 to 3 hours depending how you use it.
I was asked about video on the device. I have got youtube running using the youtube app from my phone. As its designed for a 3.2 inch screen its not the greatest but it works. However, I created my own video really small one 320p mp4 and its not playing well on this device. It might just need more fiddling which gets me back to my earlier point. Its a lot of trial an error.
Its not a device that will have everything working as you want straight out of the box.
What I like about this device is its helped me play more with android operating system. I discovered a folders ability on it. Very useful.
Hopefully today I will do a video on it and upload that.
So if you hoping to watch these glorious videos on it, so far, that looks unlikely. For just about everything else its brilliant. For the price you are getting an ereader with perfect weight and size. An Internet device that can view web pages in a customised way that I actually really prefer to normal pc screens. I find the news is more compact. If you into micro-blogging then this is superb for that. Video is not something I would use the device a lot for. I do like to watch youtube videos though. Maybe Flash 10.1 will help with this. HTML5 well how long will that take to get onto these micro browsers?
Photos look great on this device.
What has also impressed me with this device is just how clear the screen is to read from. Internet pages are a pleasure to read. The supplied browser self adjusts most pages to fit the width of the device. Its impressive because it does exactly the same as my 3.2 inch phone. To jump from a 3.2 inch to a 7 inch screen is brilliant. I totally feel 7 inch is the perfect size. Last night I plugged it into my power socket by my bed and read from the device. The battery power is not an issue when at home. I used an extension cord to get it closer to my bed. 2-3 hours of battery life I find is enough for most days away from home. Sure 10 hours would be awesome. That will happen next year. I didn't want to wait another 6-9 months...Read more›
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