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Hi peeps been looking around at the android tablets on the market and wondering if i should take the plunge?.Thought i would ask here as you guys probably have more experiance than most.Can you recomend a couple?, i'm not looking to spend a fortune just want something that covers most bases and doesnt struggle to run the usual suspects.HDMI out would be a plus but any ideas you can offer or just give me ideas on what not to buy.Any helps good, thanx in advance.
I have a smoldering interest in a tablet as well but I will continue to hold off as my Lenovo X61t and Windows Phone compliment each other pretty well and I don't "need" one.
However, I have taken note of the Archos' that were just released. The general feeling is that they feel cheap in build quality but the price and performance is right there. This is engadgets take on the two tablets they have.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/24/archos-70-and-101-internet-tablet-review/
I have used the Samsung Galaxy S and it is a nice device. Gotta be honest though, nothing seems to be "more complete than the ipad", just in terms of docks, jailbreaking, best apps, etc.
There are so many 'knock offs' in this category, let us know what you find!
I agree in the upset front, it's a great piece of kit but I refuse to spend that kind if money. Have found plenty of cheap ones, and I don't mind the price tag but most are just a bit gutless lol. But yeah likewise bring the info if you find something good.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
Back again, on the subject off cheapo knock off tablets have you seen the a-ok pad lol now don't laugh. I could be persuaded to gamble on something as (shall we say rough) if it ticked the right boxes. Anybody heard if them? Any horror stories?
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
Buying a new tablet
I'm in the market for a tablet, and have taken my sweet time for the last 3 months researching and looking for the best one to buy. I've done my fair share of research and now i'm asking you: Should I buy the ASUS Transformer Prime with the dock, od should i wait for samsung/htc/moto/lenovo/acer... next-gen tablet? My fear is you see, that I'll buy The Prime, and that it won't be supported by some software develeopers, and left out in the cold with some apps, or not on par with the next-gen 2012 tablets. I want the best hardware specs, possible future windows 8 compatibility, preferably tegra device, 3g isn't a must, nor GPS but preferred. I don't mind waiting for a few more months since this would be my first tablet, wich i don't really need. NO IOS/IPad talk please, android tablet only (but like i said, with a possibility of win8 in the future). Any reasonable advice is more than welcome, and thank you all very much in advance!
IIRC Asus Prime will begin getting ICS/4.0 Jan 12th.
With that said, I would definitely play around with one before buying. Numerous reported issues that can't really be fixed through OTA's or software. (GPS, WIFI, light bleed, glass/screen loose from rest of tab).
Typical Asus if you ask me, crapshoot on quality.
Also depends on what you want in a tab. If you don't really want to play around/mod/customize then I think the Ipad 2 or hold out a couple of months for an Ipad 3 would be your best bet.
If you have to have an Android you have one of two options. Wait for more quad core tabs to be released, or start looking at what's available now.
Samsung 7.0 Plus is probably the best out for 7"ers.
For the 10"ers it's a toss up right now. Galaxy Tab 10.1 has good support, decent performance, light, easy to hold, good screen, great speakers (for a tab). It's cons to me are the Tegra 2 isn't up to snuff with Honeycomb OS.
The HP Touchpad is a great buy for the OS and specs, and can also be ported to Android (Still need to play with one)
Asus Transformer TF101 is also a good buy but again a crapshoot on quality but can be had for a good price.
The new Moto Xyboards are getting good reviews but they are overpriced for what they are, are only sold through VZW and were "technically" outdated before they were even released. Also locked bootloaders are never fun if flashing kernels are your thing.
Right now I'm looking at getting another tab so I guess you could say I'm in the same boat as you. I have an OG Galaxy Tab 7 on the way b/c I got it cheaper than cheap and just wanna play with it.
Considering picking up an 8" Xyboard also.
ETA: I probably won't pick up a Xyboard however until they come down in price or a WiFi only version is offered.
The SGT 7.7 also sounds promising. Decisions decisions.
First of all, thank you for the fast and torough reply... And yes, sweet sweet decisions
I forgot to say that I'm in the market for a 10" minimum tablet, don't want smthng smaller 'cause i allready have an SGSII so I'm covered for mobility.
As for ASUS's build quality, like I said I never owned a tablet so I definately will try out/play with one for a couple of hours before purchasing, and watch out for the screen bleed on an ips display. But currently most of my pc's componens (2xmobo, 2xgraphic cards, and a lappy) are ASUS made and i must say i'm more than satisfied with them, and as I recall, when I was buying my SGSII there was talk about screen burn-in, overheating and wifi problems too, but I haven't had a single one with my device. Besides that, I don't really need GPS or 3g in a tablet so it's not a dealbreaker with me on The Prime.
The problem is: I wouldn't buy any other tablet now existing in the market, mostly because of the Tegra3 chipset The Prime has, so if I'm paying a hi-end device (around 700$) i want the latest and fastest performer in the ring. And yes, in my book that is android only, as i find apple's devices a bit limiting sometimes (without any fanboyism, I come from a long line of iphones before my android). The things I'm worried hardware-wise are: the amount and speed of Prime's RAM (1gb od ddr2), possible wifi signal problems, screen bleed, and that it's topheavy when docked (a minor thing really). I love that it has a full USB 2.0 port, so you don't need a jack/ adapter of some kind (e.g. like on a SGSII microUSB to full USB). Not really worried about the one speaker layout eather, altough i was a bit dissapointed since the TF101 had a stereo layout, but still, not a dealbreaker (hey, it's still a tablet)...
Now you may laugh at this seeing your sig, but in my mobile history (25+ phones) the worst were accually motorolas (v3 being the worst of the lot, but than again A925 was more than excellent) I'm not so fond of HP either, last month i sold my DV6 3020em, (that's the i7 touchscreen version for Europe since i'm european), and i can say it was utter rubbish, overheating, shoddy build quality, squeaky, noisy fans, you name it... That's why I sold it, but it had a touchscreen which was more than handy, and that's why i want a tablet, I just might look a bit more into the HP touchpad after all.
Acer is great quality for it's price, really great. But I only had Acer's laptops, and the Iconia tablet is as ugly as a bullfrog from chernobyl, so I wouldn't want one.
Tf101 is ugly too by my standards, too big as well, but the looks aren't so important if it was an excellent performer, which none of the now available androids are compared to The Prime (at least not on honeycomb).
I played with samsung 8.9 a few days ago and I can report is't a great little device, thin, capable, satisfying all in all, but i'd like a bigger screen, and a real keyboard and it's not a tegra device (I play a lot of games so i'd like the tegra zone, as chainfire's plugins don't support all tegra tweaked games)
Now I do like to install a new ROM every few weeks on my SGSII but i srsly don't think that will be the case on a tablet (except Win 8, when it comes out).
So i guess the question remains: should i wait for Samsung's next gen 10.1 answer or just go with the prime now
P.S. sorry for my poor english
cavkic said:
First of all, thank you for the fast and torough reply... And yes, sweet sweet decisions
I forgot to say that I'm in the market for a 10" minimum tablet, don't want smthng smaller 'cause i allready have an SGSII so I'm covered for mobility.
As for ASUS's build quality, like i said i never owned a tablet so I definately will try out/play with one for a couple of hours before purchasing, and watch out for the screen bleed on an ips display. But currently most of my pc's componens (2xmobo, 2xgraphic cards, and a lappy) are ASUS made and i must say i'm more than satisfied with them, and as I recall, when I was buying my SGSII there was talk about screen burn-in, overheating and wifi problems too, but I haven't had a single one with my device. Besides that, I don't really need GPS or 3g in a tablet so it's not a dealbreaker with me on The Prime.
The problem is: I wouldn't buy any other tablet now existing in the market, mostly because of the Tegra3 chipset The Prime has, so if I'm paying a hi-end device (around 700$) i want the latest and fastest performer in the ring. And yes, in my book that is android only, as i find apple's devices a bit limiting sometimes (without any fanboyism, I come from a long line of iphones before my android). The only thing I'm worried hardware-wise is the amount and speed of Prime's RAM (1gb od ddr2), possible wifi signal problems, screen bleed, and that it's topheavy when docked (a minor thing really). I love that it has a full USB 2.0 port, so you don't need a jack/ adapter of some kind (e.g. like on a SGSII microUSB to full USB). Not really worried about the one speaker layout eather, altough i was a bit dissapointed since the TF101 had a stereo layout, but still, not a dealbreaker (hey, it's still a tablet)...
So i guess the question remains: should i wait for Samsung's next gen 10.1 answer or just go with the prime now
P.S. sorry for my poor english
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Don't jump the gun on the Prime until stock has settled in, right now retailers are price gouging due to low availability. The Prime should be $500 for the 32GB, $600 for the 64GB, not $650-700 for the 32GB.
I have a Transformer and an Iconia Tab A100, and I can tell you from first hand experience that the build quality isn't nearly as bad as the above poster is making it out to be. I actually like the finish on both the original Transformer and the Iconia series a lot, and the Prime seems to be a winner also. Another thing to consider for both ASUS and Acer is that they keep their Android releases relatively 'vanilla' except for a few bloatware-type apps of their own, unlike Samsung and HTC, who just can't help themselves but smear TouchWiz and Sense over everything they produce.
The only real reported issue with the Prime appears to be the GPS accuracy, but at least to me, it's a non-issue, since I disable GPS and bluetooth on everything.
The Windows 8 bit is yet to be seen, porting a device to another OS is something you can hope, but never hold your breath for. We've yet to see how Windows 8 distribution is going to work and remember that even if you do install Windows 8 down the road, it doesn't mean that you'll be able to run all windows-based programs, since mobile devices use ARM CPUs, and everything written for windows right now is made for x86 CPUs, so it will be up to each third party to rewrite their programs for compatibility.
Although I would never write out a company with pockets as deep as microsoft, they have proven time and time again that they are unable to compete in the mobile segment, so I don't see Windows 8 with as much hope and awe as many others do. (Especially since Ice Cream Sandwich is the first Android iteration we can really call "excellent")
TL;DR - If you can find a Prime for a decent price, then it's an amazing device to be had for a very reasonable price. If you plan on waiting, then checking out the upcoming Iconia A700 isn't a bad idea either if the dock isn't that important to you.
littleemp said:
Don't jump the gun on the Prime until stock has settled in, right now retailers are price gouging due to low availability. The Prime should be $500 for the 32GB, $600 for the 64GB, not $650-700 for the 32GB.
I have a Transformer and an Iconia Tab A100, and I can tell you from first hand experience that the build quality isn't nearly as bad as the above poster is making it out to be. I actually like the finish on both the original Transformer and the Iconia series a lot, and the Prime seems to be a winner also. Another thing to consider for both ASUS and Acer is that they keep their Android releases relatively 'vanilla' except for a few bloatware-type apps of their own, unlike Samsung and HTC, who just can't help themselves but smear TouchWiz and Sense over everything they produce.
The only real reported issue with the Prime appears to be the GPS accuracy, but at least to me, it's a non-issue, since I disable GPS and bluetooth on everything.
The Windows 8 bit is yet to be seen, porting a device to another OS is something you can hope, but never hold your breath for. We've yet to see how Windows 8 distribution is going to work and remember that even if you do install Windows 8 down the road, it doesn't mean that you'll be able to run all windows-based programs, since mobile devices use ARM CPUs, and everything written for windows right now is made for x86 CPUs, so it will be up to each third party to rewrite their programs for compatibility.
Although I would never write out a company with pockets as deep as microsoft, they have proven time and time again that they are unable to compete in the mobile segment, so I don't see Windows 8 with as much hope and awe as many others do. (Especially since Ice Cream Sandwich is the first Android iteration we can really call "excellent")
TL;DR - If you can find a Prime for a decent price, then it's an amazing device to be had for a very reasonable price. If you plan on waiting, then checking out the upcoming Iconia A700 isn't a bad idea either if the dock isn't that important to you.
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Tnx for the reply, and I have to say I think you misunderstood me. I don't think I said anything bad about acer's or asus's build quality just HP's (and only the perticular model of the DV6 I had), just that they're a bit on the ugly side, but that's totally a subjective stand, and irrelevant to anybody else.
As far as Prime's price goes, it should be available in Croatia, about 2hrs drive from my home in 10days for less than 700$ with the dock for the 32gig version, which is not a bad pricetag considering where I live, and I'm ready to give that kind of money for it. The dock is accually something i like about the Transformer, and it would probbably be a dead heat between TF101 just because of the dock) and the Sammy 10.1 if it weren't for the prime.
GPS, like I said, I don't mind. The SGSII has a great GPS reciever which i hardly ever use, maybe 6 times since i got it in july.
As far as ARM windows goes, I know what to expect from it , nothing special, but it would be nice to have that option when it's available
So you are happy with the TF101 and the Iconia? But would you recommend buying now the Prime if I'm happy with the price? I should mention I probbably won't buy it before ICS, and I'll try to get a hold of a stock ICS one when it's out after Jan. 12. because I want to make sure i missed the first version shipment
I believe you about Motorola. Until my Droid X I have ALWAYS hated Motorola. I never had a phone that worked right after some wear and tear and always had problems. From before smartphones thru the Droid 1, 2, and 3. (Went through multiples of those). I'm also a Samsung and HTC fan.
I've never had a problem with Asus computer components myself, w/ that said, there are quite a few complaints when it comes to the TF201 on quality. With that said, you, as I'm sure you do, have to take into account the dissatisfied ones are always going to moan and groan much more and louder than the happy customer.
I guess I just wish it was like cars when it comes to Tablets and would love for them to let me take the exact tab I'm looking to buy for a test drive. (Not leave the store but just open the box and get a good look at it and test everything to make sure I'm getting what my hard earned money is paying for).
I really want a TF201, but I'm going to wait til a few more Tegra 3 tabs come out. I really think Motorola would have hit a homerun if they would have put a quad core in their Xyboards and kept the price what they're charging now.
The three tabs I'm really torn between right now are the Xyboard 8.2, TF201, and Samsung 7.0 Plus. But man we are so close to seeing quad core as the new standard for tabs so the other part of me just wants to sit it out and wait.
So true what you said about the sitting and waiting for the quad core as the new standard, but on the other hand, HOW BAD DO WE WANT ONE!?!
Personally for me it's no competition between the Prime and other tablets, the Prime is just on another planet.
This morning the store answered my email saying that the Prime will be available mid january (in about 10 days) and said that maybe they could reserve one for me because of the small supply, but said the price may be different depending on the usd/euro stocks, but under 700$ for the 32gig version with dock...
Still I'm not planning on buying one before a test drive like you said (mostly to check for screen bleed). And yes, I took into account the moaners which is true like you said again...
I think I wathched every single review/comparison of the tablet on youtube, and read at least 10 reviews online, and it's all mostly positive.
I'll update as soon as i get my hands on a test one, hopefully in about 10 days.
So, I've been doing my due diligence before deciding...and have spent a good many hours reading up here in the GTab XDA forums. So, now I'm asking for some earnest / honest advice from the community here...
I own an Archos 70 IT currently, and it's a blast. Gonna hand it off to the wife, and want a 10 inch Tablet for myself. Do I take the chance now with the GTab...or wait a few months for the new onslaught of Tablets with Honeycomb pre-installed?
I'm wanting the Tegra2 base...and am hearing that while the GTab is dismal out-of-the-box, Devs are cranking out ROM goodness to improve on the shoddy UI, etc.
I'm pretty Flash savvy, as I also own a Galaxy S Vibrant. So no concerns there. However, having said that...I worry about the manufacturers ability to deliver once Honeycomb is released. Samsung STILL hasn't released Android 2.2 Froyo for my device!!
Whatcha think? Should I take the plunge? Thanks in advance for you suggestions!
**EDIT - Just found another similar post....so feel free not to comment - oopsy?**
I recently sold my gtablet and purchased the flat computing a10w. Its essentially a rebrand with a 1366x768 screen, hdmi, better rom. Etc. Same price too.
I couldnt reccomend the gtablet... the a10w im more than happy to.
Sent from my V9 using XDA App
I've had my G Tablet for 3 days now and really like it. I did use it before the firmware update and see a big difference in performance with the new firmware. I loaded a bunch of pictures and a movie tonight on its internal memory and all plays well. I would recommend the G Tablet, I think this is turning out to be a nice tablet.
Regards!
Ed
daml said:
I recently sold my gtablet and purchased the flat computing a10w. Its essentially a rebrand with a 1366x768 screen, hdmi, better rom. Etc. Same price too.
I couldnt reccomend the gtablet... the a10w im more than happy to.
Sent from my V9 using XDA App
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I tried to find info on this.
If it does in deed have the 1366/769 screen and an hdmi out for the same price, it might be worth a look. The rest of the specs are identical.
However, i found confilicting info. One article on it said it had the same 1024x600 and appeared to me just to be a rebranded gtab basically.
Also THIS post on xda says it just 1024x600
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=816719
Does it really come with 1G of ram? If so, thats a nice feature (along with the higer res screen).
Edit: That is the A10T so maybe the A10W does have 1366/768, not bad for the money.
Does it have dev support like the Gtab?
Not worth it if you cant root it to honeycomb this spring (like is suspect you will be able to with the gtab).
At this point i see no subforum for the flatpad so suppor alone would be an issue to make me hesitant to buy it.....
G-tablet + custom rom = awesome!
The stock firmware is horrible. I had it out of the box for 5 minutes before I loaded vegan onto it.
There are 2 models. A10t with 1024, gb ram, 8 gb internal and A10w with 1366, 512 ram and 512 internal. Roms, hacks etc from the gtablet should be 99% comatible. All that will be needed is to change the screen resolution, and to setup hdmi.u
Sent from my v9 using XDA App
If a Honeycomb tablet is your goal, then it seems that you either wait until machines that REALLY have Honeycomb on them are available, or you get one that you think should be able to run it AND has great community support AND is hackable, including infrastructure things like tools, etc.
I think that the Gtab is one of the few that makes the latter...
If you go the former way, even then, you're going to have to watch out for tabs that are so locked down (saw an article that Samsung was thinking of making their devices unrootable) that you're stuck w the manufacturer's upgrade schedule.
Jim
jimcpl said:
If a Honeycomb tablet is your goal, then it seems that you either wait until machines that REALLY have Honeycomb on them are available, or you get one that you think should be able to run it AND has great community support AND is hackable, including infrastructure things like tools, etc.
I think that the Gtab is one of the few that makes the latter...
If you go the former way, even then, you're going to have to watch out for tabs that are so locked down (saw an article that Samsung was thinking of making their devices unrootable) that you're stuck w the manufacturer's upgrade schedule.
Jim
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Well said...and you nailed it on the head. After my experiences with Samsung, and the constant delays I was kind of looking forward to a product that worked as intended out-of-the-box. However, knowing the industry these days...any immediate release with 3.0 is gonna be anti-user friendly for the most part. Especially considering the big names releasing them. Seems like the good ones are gonna be tied into carriers anyways...lame-sauce.
All I've seen here has really helped me make up my mind for the GTab. Plus, I do thoroughly enjoy flashing some ROM goodness! Thanks for the info all!
Its like getting a new tablet going from vegan to tntlite and back and forth. I'm glad I have one to mess around with.
I can't even begin to think of the ways the various companies are going to screw with the newer honeycomb models. It seems like to them the dual cores are just an excuse to have 100s of things running at once and the end result is its just as slow as before.
I'm interested in flat computing. Sent them an email to ask about their lcd panel they use in the 1366x768.
daml said:
There are 2 models. A10t with 1024, gb ram, 8 gb internal and A10w with 1366, 512 ram and 512 internal. Roms, hacks etc from the gtablet should be 99% comatible. All that will be needed is to change the screen resolution, and to setup hdmi.u
Sent from my v9 using XDA App
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I just ordered an LG screen per your recommendation in another thread and now I have to know,
Does the a10w have SIGNIFICANTLY better viewing angles than the gtab in stock form ?
daml said:
I recently sold my gtablet and purchased the flat computing a10w. Its essentially a rebrand with a 1366x768 screen, hdmi, better rom. Etc. Same price too.
I couldnt reccomend the gtablet... the a10w im more than happy to.
Sent from my V9 using XDA App
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Did you receive your FlatPad yet? I am very interested to hear your comment on the quality of the sceen.
Thanks.
the gtab has not the best screen but otherwise is a pretty good piece of hardware that should get honeycomb one way or another once it gets released. i wish it had gps, a viewsonic dock, and a viewsonic case.
It's completely possible to be happy with the Gtab but it depends on what your looking for.
I personally find it a great peice of hardware, and it along with my G2 work together very well. I find I don't need to be attatched to my PC near as much were I would look something up on my desktop because the G2 screen was just to small. The Gtab screen is fine, I showed it to my friend and he said "I don't know what the people on the forums are complaining about".
Now if your wanting a tablet that is going to be top of the line for more than a year you are going to be waiting awhile, the tablet race is going to move very fast for a year or 2 until we get to a stable level with 2-3 major competing brands.
To me the Gtab is a great tablet with plenty of hardware to hold me over for that year or 2 until I find that stable platform that will be good for 2-3 years or more.
Of course I go from buying new products (went through 3 android phones in 6 months) to using a product for 3-5 years because it works well enough for what I need.
Agreed -- paired with an Android phone, this tablet is great value for dollars...
For me, the screen is the biggest shortcoming -- but as someone else pointed out, in some ways, the reduced viewing angle could be considered a "feature" if you are worried about security (i.e. someone looking over your shoulder)
At home, that isn't a concern for me so I would prefer an IPS screen or AMOLED (as in my phone) to be able to share the tablet for video playing...but the current screen isn't unusable so I'll live with it...
GPS would have been nice -- but I can pair with my Android phone and it works fine
I doubt I would ever use the tablet as a camera (especially when I have a 5MP camera in my phone and a 10+ MP "real camera") -- so again, the weak FF camera is fine if we ever get VideoCalls working properly...
I would have preferred a full size SDCard slot to the microSDCard...or even support for SDXC (new standard)...but small gripes...
Overall, there is nothing wrong with the hardware -- and the Devs here have made the software competitive with anything out there...Honeycomb will only make it better!
As an aside, I would like to see the soft buttons on the left hand side from TNT (and TNTLite) brought over to Vegan (which mas the soft buttons on the right top of the notification bar)...The TNT soft buttons are very similar to what has been shown in Honeycomb (which had theirs in the bottom left)
hello, I've been recently looking at tablets. I want something pretty decently nice, with honeycomb (which you can put on this), and just generally nice specs. But my real question is, is this thing a piece of complete crap? it's off brand for things i buy usually, but I've seen generally good reviews. I've also been looking at the Transformer and the Xoom. Thank you all for the help.
considering that you can get one on Ebay for under $250, I would say yes, it's most definitely worth it.
Even with Froyo roms, it's a very useful tablet that will probably do the things that you want it to do. Yes, the screen angles are not ideal, but they are acceptable (in my opinion)
Put it this way, is buying a transformer, or Xoom for almost twice as much going to be just as useless when the newest tablets come out for Christmas?
I believe that it's a question of perception. What do you want to use it for?
and who knows, when Ice Cream Sandwich gets released, it may be easier to port to the G-Tablet than Honeycomb.
Well the transformer is only $150 more.. ill look up a comparison between the two. That was the other one I am still honestly considering
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
gobluewolverines4 said:
Well the transformer is only $150 more.. ill look up a comparison between the two. That was the other one I am still honestly considering
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
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I guess my point was, is the transformer going to be just as obsolete when the new tablets arrive? Nvidea is releasing a new tegra platform, that will basically make anything running on a tegra2 old hat. This would include the Xoom, Transformer, Iconia, as well as the G-Tablet, Adam, Vega, etc. These things depreciate faster than a car driven off the dealer's lot. Originally what, $450 when they were released? I bought mine for $300 (with a few extras) on Ebay. now they are retailing for $250 in Woot deals and Tiger Direct, while used ones on Ebay are plummeting down to nearly $200. When the new Tegra devices are released, I suspect that a G-tablet can be bought for $100 used.
What I mean, is why not save the $150 now, to put toward a better tablet down the line...The g-tablet will at least give you a less expensive introduction to the android tablet world, while still being a quite useful tool.
I would just hate to see somebody spend more money on a similar tablet that will cause them buyers remorse in 3 months or so. Of course, if you have the cash to burn, then go ahead and buy what you really want...for most people, that's an iPad...jk
TJEvans said:
I guess my point was, is the transformer going to be just as obsolete when the new tablets arrive? Nvidea is releasing a new tegra platform, that will basically make anything running on a tegra2 old hat. This would include the Xoom, Transformer, Iconia, as well as the G-Tablet, Adam, Vega, etc. These things depreciate faster than a car driven off the dealer's lot. Originally what, $450 when they were released? I bought mine for $300 (with a few extras) on Ebay. now they are retailing for $250 in Woot deals and Tiger Direct, while used ones on Ebay are plummeting down to nearly $200. When the new Tegra devices are released, I suspect that a G-tablet can be bought for $100 used.
What I mean, is why not save the $150 now, to put toward a better tablet down the line...The g-tablet will at least give you a less expensive introduction to the android tablet world, while still being a quite useful tool.
I would just hate to see somebody spend more money on a similar tablet that will cause them buyers remorse in 3 months or so. Of course, if you have the cash to burn, then go ahead and buy what you really want...for most people, that's an iPad...jk
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Wow. Very excellent explanation. I see now. Yes I will probably soon be purchasing the g tab!
PS: screw the ipad
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gobluewolverines4 said:
hello, I've been recently looking at tablets. I want something pretty decently nice, with honeycomb (which you can put on this).
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Honeycomb is not completely functional on the gtab (as of now). It is missing the Honeycomb specific drivers from Nvidia (aka full hardware acceleration, high def video).
If you really care about Honeycomb you should get the transformer IMO.
Although, I am quite happy with froyo based ROMs
Others are right in saying that quad core Tegra 3s are around the corner, Tegra 2 prices might drop by the end of the year. Given how Nvidia and Viewsonic acted regarding the gtab, I foresee support for Tegra 2s dropping drastically as newer hardware gets released.
Yeah the almost fully functioning honeycomb on here is fine for me. Should be ordering my g tab this week!
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Hello, I wrote a quick review for some guys that I work with. I am sure there are many reviews of the gtablet, but...
Here are my conclusions so far;
This thing is about the same size as the Xoom, and thicker than the IPAD. It is definitely not as sexy.
The screen is OK. It is not a high quality screen like you find on the other devices.
The processor is great, and the memory is sufficient. Things move pretty quick.
The ROM out of the box REALLY sucked. I was hoping to just deal with it, but Google had not approved the tablet so there were NO Google apps at all. Not acceptable. It took me a couple of hours to learn (last night till around 1:00am), but I replaced the stock ROM with a hacked ROM with everything I wanted.
This thing is really just a big Android phone with no phone or GPS.
I loaded up my Sony Reader software, downloaded all of my books, and then imported them into a DRM capable reader that is better.
Although there are some ROMs that support Gingerbread screens, I think I will stick with this 2.2 (or is it 2.3) Android feel.
What will I use it for?
Reading ebooks, PDFs (Scientific American, Maximum PC)
Google apps – maps, search
Kayak, hotels.com apps
Games (mostly for the kids) – I got Android Market to work
Web Browsing / some forum reading (via Tapatalk)
Personal email reading and contacts (no work email will be set up)
Maybe occasional Skype and Gotomeeting (camera sucks, so mostly audio)
News and weather
Of course, with the exception of reading the ebooks, I would always use the Macbook Pro if it were available.
So the speed and memory makes this all possible, but the experience (screen, size, build) is not equivalent to the expensive tablets.
Biggest complaints?
No GPS
Screen is not easy to see at an angle
I needed to root the thing to make it useful, which means I now need to stay on top of that and update it manually
The 10.1 device is a bit bigger / bulkier than I expected – the weight is the same as the ipad I believe.
I “can” watch videos on it (even 1080p), but moving the files would be a drag… it uses a microSD card that I would need to pop ion an adapter, or I could use the USB connection. Maybe I can find a way to do it with wifi or Bluetooth.
No USB charging… WTF??? It comes with a separate adapter that has to plug into the wall…
The screen is a 1024x600 which is similar to most pads, but it is really inferior to the Macbook Pro, and there is just something that is “fuzzy” about it.
Biggest positives?
Cheap - $269 delivered (no tax or shipping)
Fast
Should do what I want…
Next Steps…
See how much I actually use it for anything other than ebooks. If I do end up needing it more than I think, I would consider the Asus Transformer or something else new in the next year or so.
Hope this helps,
R
gobluewolverines4 said:
hello, I've been recently looking at tablets. I want something pretty decently nice, with honeycomb (which you can put on this), and just generally nice specs. But my real question is, is this thing a piece of complete crap?
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The screen is complete crap.
You should look hard for something with a better screen around $300-$350. If you can find it, get it.
And I *like* my Gtab - but its really just for kicking around and messing with roms and android. The screen really is killer bad unless you use it only at night, head on
Honeycomb works, and works well, as well as you could hope for unsupported xda rom hacking - ie, no netflix, no Hardware acceleration, occasional stand on your head workarounds, and the possibility of sudden death... well, ok, not that last one.
Bottom line: if you can find it for $100-$200, and want to play with roms, and tweak, and screw with it a lot to get it to be as good as a $400 one except for the horrible screen that cannot be fixed, YES, this is your tablet.
If you want a tablet to take out of the box and use, with rom updates from the manufacturer, and a screen you can read ebooks off of, this is NOT your tablet. Even for free.
So should I just get the transformer? Ah so many decisions!
Well I'm literally about to go to fry electronics and ill test out some there. Thanks !
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
gobluewolverines4 said:
So should I just get the transformer?
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For $400, I'd say yeah.
Better screen, 1Kx800 resolution, 2x the ram. Yeah, looks like that's all worth $120.
Oh... and a GPS too.
Oh, and Honeycomb 3.1 from Asus. Plus lots of XDA love it seems.
gobluewolverines4 said:
So should I just get the transformer? Ah so many decisions!
Well I'm literally about to go to fry electronics and ill test out some there. Thanks !
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
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I think the main question is what you want the tablet for or what to do with it.
A cheap $250-300 laptop has so much more computing power and practical use than any tablet...just a bit bulkier.
The tablet market will have much more offerings and better with faster cpus and such..just have to wait a bit.
I bought my gtab from woot 4/2011 for $275. I have installed several ROMs on it. They all are pretty good with their own pluses and minuses.
I'm currently on Flashback 5.4 HC: it looks nice and works well. Gmail, Talk - w/o video; G-Voice, Maps, Lattitude, Earth etc all work. You Tube works; a bunch of games works. The big screen is better than the phone size screen. Nice quick weather apps. Nice calendar.
What it cannot do is replace the screen and functionality of my desktop for real work.
If you can find a cheap Gtab and play with ROM's, flashing, androids quirks etc - jsut for the fun of it, then get a gtab. Fully flashable with great recovery process. Almost 99.99% Non-brickable. Get a used one for play and test.
If you want a decent a functional tablet w/o hassle, get an I-pad2.
I have read many complaints about the viewing angle of the screen, but I have had my tablet for months and I have no complaints. It has replaced my planner for work and is great for watching movies, not sharing with my neighbor.
I feel this is more of a general "lets get your opinion/feel" but ive experienced in the past, any topic that has any question in it, gets moved to this section.. So im posting it here.
I'd like to get people opinions (and experiences if any) on the Asus Padfone. I've been eyeing the HTC Amaze, but there have been a few issues reported with it, and with new tech being released this year, im also considering other devices. The Padfone caught my eye due to its apparent versatility. (Especially since the HTC One series has been a massive letdown with the non-existent mSD card slot)
Though there do seem to be some things lacking with this device, such as the camera (apparently, the HTC one has an independent processor which speeds it up) for example.
Also the fact that its 3g and not 4g/LTE seems to be a step back (tho this isnt an concern for me, but could be later).
Anyway.. Thoughts? Concerns?
Not worth buying
I'm considering getting one. I'm from the Netherlands so 3G is just fine for me!
Pricing is rumoured around €699 euro here, pretty steep though... That's without the dock (which will set you back another €150 I bet)
I love the idea of having everything in one place (on your phone) and basically click it into the tablet for typing during class or watching/reading something.
Jam it into the dock for longer writing sessions... I can see this being a very useful combination for me personally. I'm not sure the average user will find this a useful gadget though.
Downside is that you really have to use the phone all the time and I'm not sure how well everything works softwarewise when you load the phone into the dock, screensize wise etc, etc.
Its just that I got a Gnex that I love so dearly
PokeiShoW said:
Not worth buying
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Care to elaborate?
newbie thoughts on the padfone
Last July 2011, I posted this thread on another forum and look at what happened in the interim - the Padfone!
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"Looking for serious multi-purpose (non-existent yet) tablet
I am a newbie. I have been communicating with a variety of tech publications incl Walt Mossberg, WSJ. But no serious response. I do not own a tablet right now but want to propose features that can be incorporated to the current crop. You folks can chime in (with respect) if you think my ideas are plausible.
Full disclosure. Currently, I am not a fan of the crop of tablets in the market today. What is out there (regardless of brand) are just pure "gadgets" for me. I do not do social networking nor games. I realize that I am in the minority in the high-tech populace.
I will consider a tablet with the configuration below to trim my techie equipment inventory. I believe this would be a truly PORTABLE, POWERFUL, SINGLE COMBINATION alternative to having (1) a communication/convenience/entertainment" device (tablet) AND (2) a PC for serious professional computing work, should I need to do some.
Samsung Galaxy-like form factor (or maybe even slightly larger or heavier)
Full Cell phone call capable (CDMA/GSM) - 3 or 4G thru BT (either on ear device or car's BT wireless communicator) - not just Google Talk or Skype
Web-access wireless card (a/b/g/n)
BT enabled to pair with my car's BT audio system wireless connection to play music stored in the tablet and other BT capable devices (tech already available)
Semi-full size BT keyboard/case (tech already available)
Available USB2 or 3 port/s
Available docking device to connect to an external larger LCD monitor, full-size keyboard, printer, optical drive, external HD, etc (?) to really replace my office/home notebook
Enough processor power (Intel/AMD dual core or higher), storage to support a full PC OS (Windows 7/8 or Mac OS), Internet Browser (IE9, FF5, Chrome, Safari, etc) and APPLICATION PROGRAMS AND DATA!
Sufficient battery life (replaceable) with AC/DC charging/connectivity capability
???????
Do you think this config for a tablet system has market and production potential? Or better yet, is there one already out there? I know that the technology to accomplish all of these exist already. It just takes somebody to put it all together.
Your professional insights are greatly appreciated."
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Since the Pf is not in our shores yet and I have been sick and tired of the all the unboxing, first videos from Barcelona, Taiwan specs and availability, I just implore ASUS to get their act together and stop the teasing and give us the US model! Regardless how a bunch of folks have trashed it, I on the other hand WANT ONE NOW. I realize that this desire is sight unseen, performance and quality unknown and not all the specs I listed above are in the model available everywhere else, I believe the concept of 3 in 1 is a brilliant one. I may not be as techie as you folks but for my use and from prelim videos and specs, what ASUS has done is phenomenal.
I would greatly appreciate your more techie input as well as marketing intel (US availaibility, specs, price, carrier, etc.). BTW, I still refuse to buy and do not want any of the tablets available today. Thanks.
The mechanism to insert the phone into the tablet looks like its the first thing to break rendering the whole concept useless.
But i have not hold it in my hand, anyone have some info on the build quality?
Dark3n said:
The mechanism to insert the phone into the tablet looks like its the first thing to break rendering the whole concept useless.
But i have not hold it in my hand, anyone have some info on the build quality?
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It's possible, it depends if the "door" needs to be closed before it will output to the tabdock. Plus, im sure alot said that about flip phones and sliding phone. My Touch Pro 2 is still going pretty strong, and it has a sliding keyboard.
Something id like it know is with the Keyboard dock, is it 'closeable'. As in, can you dock the tablet to it, then "close it" like a laptop so you can transport it as one piece?
first try... and probably last
very difficult positioning for Asus. They're trying desperately to innovate more that the competition to get a strong foot in that market.
However, this solution might not be fully interesting for a lot of people... If its a failure, they'll have lost a great deal of money that could have been used to make up for the difference with the latest ipad...
If this will be a failure , atleast the price will drop fast ( something like Evo 3d -50% )
addiz said:
If this will be a failure , atleast the price will drop fast ( something like Evo 3d -50% )
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Why do you think it will be a failure?
it's something new and different let's see how people will act after buying it
Has a lot of potential...
Has a LOT of potential if marketed correctly.
I have a original ASUS Transformer TF101 with keyboard dock for eight months now and I can say its an amazing machine. The performance is just right, the battery lasts forever, almost stock ICS, lots of updates.
I have the only combination of devices that can compete with the full Padfone setup: a modern smartphone (Samsung Galaxy Note) and the mentioned Transformer, with full tethering support. If the Padfone system can have a significant price advantage, the consistency it provides (the Note have Android 2.3.6) can make it a winner.
Feels way to expensive.
$1 gets you a reply
yes the hinge closes like a laptop
problem: the hinge only opens around 90 degrees so you won't get a great viewing angle unless you are at a similar level.
when the latch of the tablet station opens to release the phone, it stops the phone being bent outwards, so you have to pull up and thus, not breaking the connector.
not having 4g is a big downer for me. I was going to get this and might still but seriously, uk is getting 4g this year so I doubt I'd want this when it gets released.
The price of phone + 10" screen is Euro 699.
I think it will not be a success.
Why? (iPhone 4S + New iPad) is only Euro 199 more than the phone and a dummy screen.
Moreover, if you're going to carry around a dummy screen, why not carry a REAL tablet??
tytung2020 said:
The price of phone + 10" screen is Euro 699.
I think it will not be a success.
Why? (iPhone 4S + New iPad) is only Euro 199 more than the phone and a dummy screen.
Moreover, if you're going to carry around a dummy screen, why not carry a REAL tablet??
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beeecause with a iphone and ipad, your data is in 2 places? So if you edit something on your ipad, you have to take steps to also update it on your iphone.. Plus, itunes.. thats always a disadvantage.
I see the appeal, and 200 bucks More isnt small.
Lyian said:
beeecause with a iphone and ipad, your data is in 2 places? So if you edit something on your ipad, you have to take steps to also update it on your iphone.. Plus, itunes.. thats always a disadvantage.
I see the appeal, and 200 bucks More isnt small.
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I thought it's no need to take any steps? As long as your iPad is online at home, whatever you do on iPhone outside is automatically synced, as shown in the iCloud launching videos.
199 euro is small, when you compare a screen+ battery, with a fully functioned retina display iPad.
sounds good
tytung2020 said:
I thought it's no need to take any steps? As long as your iPad is online at home, whatever you do on iPhone outside is automatically synced, as shown in the iCloud launching videos.
199 euro is small, when you compare a screen+ battery, with a fully functioned retina display iPad.
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Well, i wont get apple products. If i were to get two devices, both would be android. Im sure it would be similar, but i don't like messing with clouds either, that's just a gimik to eat up your limited "unlimited" data package. Especially when your talking about my case of 400+mb PDF files.
I'm not completely sold on it, but it seems like a good idea, plus ive not yet seen official pricing on it.
Not that benchmarks mean much.. but...
ASUS PadFone gets benchmarked: a mere teaser of what's to come
Hey XDA,
My beloved Omnia 7 has sailed off into my sister's hands, and I was left stranded on an island of sadness, phoneless.
But no matter, as the power of the intertubes brought me here, and much other places.
I am looking for a savior budget phone.
And I found one.
No, folks, it's not a WP7 device as you may have anticipated, ala the shining turd that is the Nokia Lumia 610 (or some other
generic, faecal device). I have ventured to the lands of china and have explored options I would have not dared to before due to fear
of SARS, rape, and being casually ripped off by scamers.
And guess what, brotha? It appears like the Hero 9300+ is my guy.
Yeah, yeah, I know. A clone, not to mention a modified one. But if this is a turd, it's a sparkling one, worth a whole $200 dollars.
Some specs (the most important + drawbacks):
-CPU: MTK6577, two cores running at a generic 1GHz. Seems like a piece of ****, but one that flies pretty fast. Antutu scores look rather promising.
-GPU: SGX-531. The old cousin of our modern SGX-540's and 544's. Not bad, not great. It does the job for me given I can play
generic time wasters like Dead Trigger at a solid 30fps with next to no lag.
--OS: Android 4.0.4 (marketed off as 4.1 JellyBean; the developers thought they could fool us English folks by editing the SDK during ROM creation, har har har. ******s.)
-RAM: 512MB. This may be a problem given ICS takes up what, 300MB? Plus I want to run a launcher (Why? Because **** you, that's why) which will take up additional memory space.
-Camera a world class piece of ****. 5MP marketed as 8MP, records video at who knows what resolution. (I will be installing another ROM for this bad boy which will enable 1080p recording unless you guys have better suggestions how to pimp this thing up).
BEST PART: Gorgeous 5.3 inch display.
Anyways, that's that for specs.
Price is $210, with Fedex delivery, from Pandawill (Safe? Not safe? Hm, got PayPal covering my ass anyway).
THE ULTIMATE QUESTION:
Is there anything around this price that beats the **** out of this but has a display which is not too small?
Am I making the right decision here?
Thanks matey for giving this your two cents. It's all appreciated.
LINK:
http://www.pandawill.com/i9300-smar...oid-40-mtk6577-1g-ram-3g-gps-wifi-p66034.html
I highly doubt you would find another phone that isn't from china that has those specifications and price tag, however, I still wouldn't buy the phone because...well it's from china and not of a legitimate/recognised phones manufacturer. I would instead pass this phone and maybe save up another 100 dollars and get a phone of similar specs (maybe not the same screen size) from htc, sony, samsung etc. just for the security, support, safety and the mods
jman2131 said:
I highly doubt you would find another phone that isn't from china that has those specifications and price tag, however, I still wouldn't buy the phone because...well it's from china and not of a legitimate/recognised phones manufacturer. I would instead pass this phone and maybe save up another 100 dollars and get a phone of similar specs (maybe not the same screen size) from htc, sony, samsung etc. just for the security, support, safety and the mods
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Click to collapse
Hey matey, thanks for the reply.
I don't think I can agree with you more. This is a huge risk and I know it, although review have been rather positive (which, I must say, is encouraging).
Given the price point and the fact that I need a phone ASAP, I am not so sure I can bang out another $100 bucks for an imaginary phone with similar specs; I mean, this thing performs closely to the galaxy nexus- a ~$500 device. I also found out that Chinese phones are going to be blessed with new quad and oct core processors in Q4 2012 and Q2 2013, respectively. Going to be an insane jump, but I bet they will be price accordingly.
Thanks for your response nonetheless, I'll definitely go ahead and snoop around for brand devices right now.
Israeleet said:
Hey matey, thanks for the reply.
I don't think I can agree with you more. This is a huge risk and I know it, although review have been rather positive (which, I must say, is encouraging).
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Glad to see you coming around in your mindset... imho, buying some Chinese knockoff is only asking for trouble. If it were my decision to make, I'd find a friend with an old Android you can use and buy a real phone with a warranty, a little support, and some quality behind it. The specs may be one thing, but if I know Chinese knockoffs, everything about the case/finish/etc will be absolute junk.
I'd rather use a non-Android for a while, personally...
SparkyXI said:
Glad to see you coming around in your mindset... imho, buying some Chinese knockoff is only asking for trouble. If it were my decision to make, I'd find a friend with an old Android you can use and buy a real phone with a warranty, a little support, and some quality behind it. The specs may be one thing, but if I know Chinese knockoffs, everything about the case/finish/etc will be absolute junk.
I'd rather use a non-Android for a while, personally...
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Click to collapse
I was actually looking into WP7 devices earlier because my previous device was one. I am sad to note that nothing compares other than an old Samsung Focus (much like my Omnia) from the US for $170. I mean, it's not too bad, but I feel it's time for an upgrade. I snooped around other shops, nothing comes close to the Hero, but your suggestions have shaken me up a bit. I'll be wary as this online buying thing is no game of tag- they can disappear on you.
What did you eventually purchase?
I have X710D and did have a bad experience with the seller, but eventually found another seller who I have now purchased many phones from with great success.
In relation to Chinese phones, I have to say walk with care as many fiddle the OS version number and it always pays to ask as many questions as possible prior to purchase. If there are features that you want then ask for confirmation, if they don't know then treat this as a warning about the seller.
Quality: I have no problem with the quality of build of Chinese phones. I do however have an issue with some stupid design decisions - like the 3.5mm headphone jack on the X710D - can't take standard headphones.
Just found out that the X710D has stopped manufacture, so hope that a better design is coming.
9300+ looks promising.
Hi all.
I too was in the market for a new phone and purchased a 9300+ from a site called Android for cheap and I can tell you it's a great phone. It's zippy and handles anything you can throw at it. I'm running wp8 custom on mine and it looks beautiful on the big screen. I'd recommend this phone to others as have I already. Gaming on it has no lag and due to the multi touch screen its really responsive.
I've had mine for 3 months and I think when I eventually purchase a new phone it will probably be a newer model of the same phone..... If they are still in existence then lol.
All in all its an awesome phone. I don't think you will be disappointed
Sent from my 9300+ using xda premium