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My wife keeps asking me what I want for Christmas, and honestly, I think I want a Tablet. I don't really know why, but I love my HTC Hero so damn much that I think I would really like a larger, more powerful version (that can play 3D games, watch movies on, etc). I have seen a bunch of relatively inexpensive Android based pads on ebay, such as the Zenithink ZT-180 as well as many other cheaply made (looking) iPad clones. I'm not above getting one of these providing they actually work and don't just fall apart immediately.
Does anyone had any experience with these devices? How is the build quality/Android implementation? Is it worth getting one, or is it really worth the enormous price for the Samsung Galaxy Tab?
Thanks in advance!
Zeb
Doublepost I realise, but just to add another note, I've just been looking at the Archos 7 Internet Tablet, and it looks really good! Android 2.2, good build quality, capacitive touch screen (rather than resistive), multi touch, accelerometer... It definitely seems to tick all of the boxes! Only downside is the lack of Android Marketplace on the device (which I have read can be kinda hacked to add this separately).
Anyone tried one of these? Definately looking like the right device for me, as a lot fo the others don't support multi-touch, or they have resistive screens, etc. Plus Archos is a brand I know and I am confident that still means something.
Any comments or suggestions?
Zeb
I was just reading a Mobile magazine that compared a TONS of PADs. The one that struck my fancy was the "KMART" brand which is a 7" Android 2.1 800mhz tablet for about $149.
Thats dirt cheap and would probably get you where you need to go quite easily. Sure it isn't Froyo 2.2, but anyone with a Nexus knows that there isn't much different between the two.
EDIT: Found the Magazine, Maximum Tech, by Maximum PC. The Kmart PAD is a rebranded GenTouch78.
800×480 color TFT touch panel screen Resistive touch
CPU: 800 Mhz
Ram: DDR2 256mb
Internal Memory: 2GB
Expansion Slots: SD/MMC card slot up to 16GB
Wi-Fi Connectivity with Full Web Browsing Capability
Supports Ebook Formats: Text, PDF, E-PUB, HTML
Supports Media Formats: MP3, WMA, FLAC, AAC
Supports most popular E-Book formats
Picture Viewer in JPEG, BMP
Video Player
Rechargeable Lithium Battery
Carrying case included
http://www.talkandroid.com/7788-k-mart-offering-gentouch78-tablet-for-150/
Its listed as $179:
http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/p_10151_...o=1&blockType=G1&prdNo=1&i_cntr=1287775848825
@Above: My Co-Worker has an Archos (older one I think with 1.6 on it) and I've installed the Market and Maps and stuff no problem. If I remember correctly it was just a matter of downloading the APK and installing it.
The Archos listed in the Magazine is the Home 7 Tablet with Android 1.5... and a newer version released by the FCC called the Archos 32 with Android 2.1. No listing of it having 2.2 unless it has been updated since publication. It does say expected in October for about $150.
-800mhz A8
8gb of storage
3.2-inch 400x240 screen (yuck)
Great info! Thanks a lot! I have had a look at the Gentouch device, but the screen wasn't really what I was looking for, but then again, it is dirt cheap! Nice to hear that the Archos devices can be sideloaded easily enough, how did you find the overall build quality of the two?
what's the intended use?
You have to keep in mind that
... Gingerbread tablets will get released, soon
... Android is a mobile OS at the moment, which means not as powerful as the real Windows, thus only good for browsing the web, watching a movie, checking mails, but no work
... if you want to do some work you'll need Windows sooner or later (just take a look at Office, there are some apps for Android, like Documents to go, but it's not useful to create documents, rather view and do some minor changes
... if you want to take notes, then there is no possibility with Android at the moment. Lack of hardware (pen or keyboard), lack of software (like OneNote), lack of tools (like Handwriting recognition)
... really interesting tablets get released soon, regarding Android: Notion Ink Adam with great hardware and included software which should make their Android stand out from the android used on smartphones, regarding Windows 7: HP Slate, regarding WebOS: HP WebOS slate, regarding MeeGo: unknown
So better tell us your intended use.
If you just plan to do the same with the tablet you currently do with your smartphone, then take the cheapest tablet running Froyo.
I would use the tablet to do much the same things as I use my laptop for currently. Watching movies, listening to some music, playing the odd game and browsing the internet.
Admittedly, not having ANY productivity suite is a big downside, I hadn't thought about this really, but is there no app to remote desktop to a PC in the house? If it is possible to RDP/VNC to another PC, then this is no issue at all, if there isn't, surely one is on the way? I really don't want to pay the premium for a device powerful enough to run Windows 7 and have a lot of overhead taken by the OS, I don't think I need something as complex as a "full" OS like that. Plus I REALLY love android!
Watz up all, 1st time poster but I've been lurkin arounds these forums awhile now. The andriod pads are a geat idea for people with out the phone. I have a zio its does the job and actually does it pretty well.I would defiantley get a andriod touch pad but ONLY when there is a Ps2, N64 emulator! Like i said even my cheap zio does i all.
l8er
PocketCloud is a great RDP app.
Still, just wait a few weeks, there aren't really great media tablets out there yet.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
I am in the market to buy a new tablet but I have been looking between archos and a viewsonic. I want to stick with a 10 inch screen but I would like to get the most bang for my buck right now my spending limit about 400 dollars.
I am aware that the g tablet has a nvidia dual core processor which is fairly appealing. However I wanted to get some input from people that have had hands on experience with those tablets. Are there any new tablets I should hold out for or what would you people suggest thank you for your help.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
I own both and will probably sell one of them. I'm still deciding, but leaning in favor of the Gtablet. I plan to post a full comparison on my blog (http://www.blendblog.net) where I reviewed the Archos 101 already.
A quick summary though is as follows:
GTablet performs much better. I've not had to worry about memory whereas on the Archos I've often had to manually kill apps to get the device to stay responsive.
The Gtablet is built better. The screen is slightly better, viewing angles are bad on both but the Archos screen feels like you are tapping on cheap plastic wheras the Gtablet feels like solid glass. The tradeoff is that the Gtablet is MUCH heavier, and bigger.
Both of them have very good speakers.
The fiddle factor with the Gtablet is much higher, but if you are here you probably know that. You must root and rom the device, although that is not a tough thing to do. However, I have spent countless hours with mine trying to get it to wake from sleep correctly, an issue many have. I finally figured out a workaround that fixes the issue at the expense of battery life. It seems that some units just have issues waking from sleep, I may still exchange mine because of this.
Build consistency seems to be a bit sketchy on both fronts. The aforementioned sleep issue has bitten me on the GTablet and my Archos has been RMA'd (their support was excellent though) due to a huge stuck blue pixel in the display that was horrible looking.
Archos has one big leg up on the Gtablet and that's video support. It will play anything I throw at it (I did have to buy a $15 AC3/MPEG2 codec package though). The stock video player is much sleeker as well integrating movie descriptions etc. With the Gtablet you are left with the usual hodgepodge of Android video players that don't work with everything etc.
Google was somewhat right in saying Android wasn't ready for "primetime" but I have to say, I find these devices very fun to play with and use on a day to day basis.
I am definitely leaning towards keeping the Gtablet and selling the Archos when I get it back from RMA. The speed advantage of Gtablet is noticeable and with this excellent hacking community in place I feel like there is a much better chance of it being relevant (Honeycomb?) going forward than with the Archos.
I hope this helps!
Sean
Grabbing VitalPlayer pretty much cleared up the problem of the G-Tab not supporting MPEG-2 or AC3, and it's free. YMMV.
VitalPlayer on Appbrain
Where are the codecs for g tablet to match Archos ???
This lack is confusing given the fact that we know tetra 2 is superior. It would seem that xoom will support many popular video codecs when it comes out in Feb!
Archos vs
I own both tablets, and can say without reservation that the G tablet is superior in many ways. It is a much more solid build ( although about 8 oz heavier)
The G tablet is much faster with the Custom Roms. I have had a number of Archos devices, and have been pleased with them, but after owning the G tablet, with its open nature and ability to modify, I will never opt for such a closed off device like the Archos again. Don't get me wrong- it is a good device, but it lacks the potential of the G tablet.
I have the gtablet running Vegan 5
I have no problems playing videos at all using vplayer, rock player and even es explorer has a pretty good player. I played with 101 archos not bad but looks cheap next to the g tab, also as a long time fan of NVIDIA I knew it was going to fast!
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
I haven't used the Archos, but I was in your exact position a little over a month ago, ultimately I choose to check out the G-Tab because I could pick one up locally and return it in 30 days if I didn't like it. I have to say that at first I wasn't pleased with it overall, but that changed as soon as I started flashing some of the amazing ROMs available here on XDA. I'm not new to flashing my devices, but even if this had been a first time experience for me I doubt I'd have had any problems. Follow steps carefully and you can't go wrong, if you have a question it's most likely already been asked by someone before you, so just search the forums and you'll find the answer quick enough. Long story short the G-Tab would be a real dog of a product if it weren't for this amazing community of developers, but because of them I think it's got a future, a fairly bright one at that. I love my G-Tab more and more everyday, and as of now I do not regret purchasing it.
snipestech said:
I have the gtablet running Vegan 5
I have no problems playing videos at all using vplayer, rock player and even es explorer has a pretty good player. I played with 101 archos not bad but looks cheap next to the g tab, also as a long time fan of NVIDIA I knew it was going to fast!
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine's running the same configuration. Do you have anything with audio encoded in AC-3 Dolby Digital? I ripped all my DVD's to my media server using h.264 for video but leaving the original surround sound audio in place. On the Archos I could play those files with the $15 MPEG2/AC-3 plug-in. I have not been able to find a video player yet that does this for my Gtablet (tried ES and Rock amongst others) but I haven't tried the VitalPlayer that theindependent recommended. I'll post back when I get a chance to try that player, it may solve this issue somewhat.
Sean
Same here... Once I did a little more research I found that the Archos 101 had the exact same viewing angle issues with a crappier plastic feeling screen. When you couple that with 256 meg ram and Single Core design it was a simple decision for me.. I figured if I couldnt have an iPAD equivilant screen then I would go with what is future proof. The only real option is the 7inch which every states viewing angles are good - but was still concerned with the future use of the hardware and resale value (at that time). Dual core Tegra's in about 6 - 12 months will hold their value significantly higher than a 256 meg / single core device. By then I see better screens coming out and will upgrade then.
Till then... Im loving the decision - I also agree I was very upset the first few hours until I got the custom rom, kernel, launcher and other apps all up and running..
geoffreywolter said:
I haven't used the Archos, but I was in your exact position a little over a month ago, ultimately I choose to check out the G-Tab because I could pick one up locally and return it in 30 days if I didn't like it. I have to say that at first I wasn't pleased with it overall, but that changed as soon as I started flashing some of the amazing ROMs available here on XDA. I'm not new to flashing my devices, but even if this had been a first time experience for me I doubt I'd have had any problems. Follow steps carefully and you can't go wrong, if you have a question it's most likely already been asked by someone before you, so just search the forums and you'll find the answer quick enough. Long story short the G-Tab would be a real dog of a product if it weren't for this amazing community of developers, but because of them I think it's got a future, a fairly bright one at that. I love my G-Tab more and more everyday, and as of now I do not regret purchasing it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
stiphy said:
I own both and will probably sell one of them. I'm still deciding, but leaning in favor of the Gtablet. I plan to post a full comparison on my blog (http://www.blendblog.net) where I reviewed the Archos 101 already.
A quick summary though is as follows:
GTablet performs much better. I've not had to worry about memory whereas on the Archos I've often had to manually kill apps to get the device to stay responsive.
The Gtablet is built better. The screen is slightly better, viewing angles are bad on both but the Archos screen feels like you are tapping on cheap plastic wheras the Gtablet feels like solid glass. The tradeoff is that the Gtablet is MUCH heavier, and bigger.
Both of them have very good speakers.
The fiddle factor with the Gtablet is much higher, but if you are here you probably know that. You must root and rom the device, although that is not a tough thing to do. However, I have spent countless hours with mine trying to get it to wake from sleep correctly, an issue many have. I finally figured out a workaround that fixes the issue at the expense of battery life. It seems that some units just have issues waking from sleep, I may still exchange mine because of this.
Build consistency seems to be a bit sketchy on both fronts. The aforementioned sleep issue has bitten me on the GTablet and my Archos has been RMA'd (their support was excellent though) due to a huge stuck blue pixel in the display that was horrible looking.
Archos has one big leg up on the Gtablet and that's video support. It will play anything I throw at it (I did have to buy a $15 AC3/MPEG2 codec package though). The stock video player is much sleeker as well integrating movie descriptions etc. With the Gtablet you are left with the usual hodgepodge of Android video players that don't work with everything etc.
Google was somewhat right in saying Android wasn't ready for "primetime" but I have to say, I find these devices very fun to play with and use on a day to day basis.
I am definitely leaning towards keeping the Gtablet and selling the Archos when I get it back from RMA. The speed advantage of Gtablet is noticeable and with this excellent hacking community in place I feel like there is a much better chance of it being relevant (Honeycomb?) going forward than with the Archos.
I hope this helps!
Sean
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great summary! I expect video support to get a lot better once Nvidia finally releases final drivers. Kind of have too, with all the T2's coming out soon.
In a nutshell, if higher def video is not 90% of the reason you are getting a tablet, the Gtablet is a FAR better choice than the Archos 101. Also, the Archos 101 has a few glaring problems besides a much slower chipset:
1. 230mb of device app space. Gtablet has eight times more space
2. 256mb ram (contant performance battle unless just using for video)
Have both Archos is light and thin, a little bit flimsy, but is a great pmp/ereader especially when on the road. Gtablet is a beast though runs circles around the Archos in regard to performance and flexibility. As a long time Archos supporter I think this my last device from them.
I just installed VitalPlayer from the market, thanks theindependent for the pointer.
It does play AC-3 so my ripped DVD's are fine. I have a 720p video though and it can't keep up, it stutters. The Archos 101 played it just fine.
Hopefully as rushless said, there will be updates to the driver so that hardware acceleration for hidef video can be added.
There are 2 other features the GTablet are missing that I forgot about:
1) No mini-hdmi output port, instead it has a docking station port. I would get more use out of mini-hdmi although the UI on the Archos is very bad when plugged into a monitor as I menitioned in the review on my blog.
2) The kickstand, while somewhat cheesy, is a nice feature on the Archos device.
One plus for the Gtablet (for me at least) is it uses the more standard mini-usb type plug instead of the micro usb plug of the archos. Most of my other devices are miniusb so I prefer this.
I think to sum things up I'd say that if you want a video player and e-reader that can do a nice amount of computer like things I'd go Archos. If you want a computer that is an ok e-reader (just a bit heavier) and can do some video go Gtablet!
Sean
I was seriously considering the 101 until I found this device. I think so far (only 1 day) it is a win.
As far as kick stand I am using a Garmin GPS suction mount for a windscreen on the back it works well.
Stuggy said:
I was seriously considering the 101 until I found this device. I think so far (only 1 day) it is a win.
As far as kick stand I am using a Garmin GPS suction mount for a windscreen on the back it works well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you show some pictures of that? I have a Garmin Widescreen GPS, I ould like to see how you have it setup with the g-tablet.
Sm0k3d 0uT said:
Can you show some pictures of that? I have a Garmin Widescreen GPS, I ould like to see how you have it setup with the g-tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I get home I'll do it. It is basically the mount on the back of the g-tab (choose a location to determine tilt) and then the ball rests on the surface of desk or you can hold it using that.
How were you able to get Vplayer to run?
I've been able to install fine but when I run it I am unable to open any videos, same from a file explorer with the open with menu. Thanks!
snipestech said:
I have the gtablet running Vegan 5
I have no problems playing videos at all using vplayer, rock player and even es explorer has a pretty good player. I played with 101 archos not bad but looks cheap next to the g tab, also as a long time fan of NVIDIA I knew it was going to fast!
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should also consider what you will want in the future their are many new tegra 2 powered devices coming out soon for a reason, the g tablet already has the same hardware but the developement is ahead of all other tablets on the market. I have the g tablet and wouldn't consider any other device thanks to the devs on the forum making it the best tablet available right now.
Sm0k3d 0uT said:
Can you show some pictures of that? I have a Garmin Widescreen GPS, I ould like to see how you have it setup with the g-tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have some pictures here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=10099907&postcount=10
RojasTKD said:
I have some pictures here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=10099907&postcount=10
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine looks just like that - same suction mount. Sorry I didn't upload. And I think I got the idea from that post although I probably would have tried it in looking for a stand method.
I just got my Archos 101 back from RMA.
One thing I noticed that is a big plus for the Archos, at least in my setup is that when it is powered down it "sleeps properly." After 20 hours of sitting on my desk powered down it still has 95% battery life. My GTablet on the other hand won't wake up from sleep properly. You can follow the travails I and others are having on this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=855821. If I leave my GTablet on for 20 hours it will be down to around 15% battery life. That's without my workaround to keep the CPU on when the screen is off that fixes the broken wake from sleep (but does slightly increase this battery drain).
Now maybe I have a defective unit, and I am contemplating returning it still. Can anyone else comment on what they see battery life wise with their GTablet when its sleeping. Preferably someone without the wake up problem my unit has. To test just charge it up, leave it "sleeping" overnight with the screen off and when you wake up the next morning report what the battery life is. The Archos only loses about 1% every 4 hours, the GTablet is losing 4% every hour!
FWIW, Archos support was awesome, I live in the US Virgin Islands and they at first tried to send it UPS which is "international" for us and a cluster to deal with. Because of this the UPS tag that was generated had it going to Pennsylvania (yes this is a common occurrence with UPS and the USVI). I called them immediately and they halted the shipment, then sent it to me USPS Express mail so I had it in 2 days! The replacement unit was in perfect shape.
Sean
I broke the screen connector and it's probably not worth trying to replace it.
So I'm thinking of getting a new phone. I'd rather not replace it with the same phone as then it'd feel like I outright wasted money, I'd rather pay a little extra for something either better or a more recognisable brand that's thus easier to get parts for.
I'm thinking of the HTC Wildfire S. It actually has a GPU on it, which could be nice for playing games. However I've heard some of the mid sized Samsungs could be a better option in terms of build quality. The Wildfire S also only has a 600mhz CPU which isn't any better than my Blade, but I know that's not necessarily an accurate measure of performance(old PPC processors vs intel for example). Screen is lower resolution too, but it's hard to get a screen as good as the Blade's.
I mainly need a Smart Phone for web browsing, checking facebook etc. It could have been the ROM(though I did get through like 5 of them) but I found Facebook at least to be incredibly slow and in general web browsing wasn't a very smooth experience.
There weren't many games that worked either. I'd like to at least be able to play Sonic CD for example, as I hear it's a pretty good port. If there are any cheapish phones that come with attachable controls(at least I've heard they may exist) I'd probably prioritise that over anything else since I can just use emulators in that case.
Looking at no more than €150, I'd rather go less if possible. I need something just a little bit better than the SanFan. Same size would be nice as I just bought a carry case for it, but a little bigger could be handy too.
Hey everybody I'm in the market for a new computer and I'm getting a laptop for several reasons. Anyway I am looking to be able to build aosp ROMs from source for my galaxy nexus. I have been told I should get something with at least 4gbs of ram. How much HD space should I get? I will be putting Ubuntu on it when I get it. I've been looking online at some different models, not sure if I see anything I like or can afford lol. Price range BTW is like $300-500. Maybe a little more. Thanks in advance for any insight
Well, my standard question is "why a laptop"? You could build a very decent desktop for that price. I understand needing portability - but what kind of power needs to actually be portable? Desktop + Chromebook (or other low-priced solution) could even possibly be squeaked out, very nearly in that price-range. You could skip a video card in the desktop at first, and if you don't play video games probably wouldn't miss it too much.
Anyway, if you still really want a laptop, I'd ask you to think exhaustively about what you'll do with it. Any video games? Anything that needs a good GPU? AMD still has some good deals when it comes to laptops without a dedicated GPU (if you don't need one) - and at your price point will outperform any integrated Intel ones. You can get a laptop with dedicated GPU in your price-range, but it really depends on what you need.
I don't think HDD space is a huge issue - I'd want at least 350-500Gb,but could make due with less. It depends on what you're going to put on it. I know some people can tear through terabytes with HD video collections. If you plan on having a lot of "collection" type data, an external solution might be best - and/or a backup disk, always good to have.
At your price range, I'd look for sales, "scratch and dent" deals, and used machines.
I had an Inspiron for a while and I and everyone I've know who had one ended up with problems / failures. On a whole, a desktop is likely to be around longer - since failures are inevitable and at least you can easily access and replace them I a desktop.
I'd probably check out Craigslist if I was you - see what people are selling locally (since shipping will add quite a bit)
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Hi Everyone. I am considering picking up a Shield K1 16gb off craigslist and was wondering if everyone thought it was worth buying today? They retail around 200. I have a shield tv and love it. I am very familiar with Android rooting, roms, etc. but want to know if this device is still holding up for everyone? I would almost exclusively use it for streaming (Netflix, Plex, Google Play) and maybe some occasional gaming but that isn't my priority. I currently have an iPad Air but want to use this with Miracast.
For those that own it, let me know your thoughts or if I should consider something newer. My primary concern is lag and if it feels slow to use nowadays.
If you don't care about the battery being low, sure!
However if you have the money, you could opt for the Pixel C, its pretty much better in every way.
Still running well. Has some quirks. Each update has improved speed and stability.
On my network, the device's Wi-Fi direct interferes with other devices, so I have to be sure it's off when not in use.
If you only stream video any decent tablet will do. But I'd highly advise getting an OLED screen. True blacks. Nothing beats OLED!
For instance, the Samsung s2 Tab 8".
The Nvidia Shield, on the other hand, is the best for its value when it comes to gaming. Especially emulating other platforms.
Its battery SOT is rather poor. About 3 to 6 hours (heavy tasks).
Stable AF, no issues with the games, streaming between a PC with a Nvidia is a blast, and great battery life for the task its built for.
No other tablets around the corner that can beat it.