So I got one of the variations of this rather generic Chinese tablet and am very interested to get development on it going. Some folks over at Slatedroid (currently down for upgrades) started messing around with this tablet.
So far we have root via the normal su/superuser.apk method. There seems to be no NAND lock of any kind or no bootloader mischief going on, Either. The CPU is the same used in the Galaxy S and Tab from what I understand.
Some brave soul (username Asure on Slatedroid) also found an older kernel source for it, as well as source for some of the drivers. We've seen a couple of firmware updates going so far in the last two months or so.
These are the general tech specs for this device, and its similarly named and equipped friends (Dropad A8, Haipad M7, etc):
Dimensions: 196.5*125*14.5mm
Weight: 0.510g
LCD: Capacitive Multi-touch 2-point 7" @ 800x480
CPU: Samsung S5PV210 (ARM v7 Cortex A8) @ 1.0GHz
RAM: 512MB DDR2 RAM
Wifi: 802.11 b/g/n support
NAND: 2/4GB NAND Flash (On most models, some have no NAND or as little as 256MB)
Camera: Front Camera, 1.3MP
Battery: Dual 2250mAh batteries (also seems to change per device 'brand')
Others: USB2.0 support both normal and host mode, HDMI 1.3 output
Runs a rather generic Froyo on it. Ask me for any more info, I hope we can get more support for this going. I'd probably be willing to donate a bit to get interested (and experienced) developers going.
Is there a different thread going on about this device? Search didn't show anything.
Haven't found anything similar in XDA about it or the variants.
I'm thinking of getting it, too. Was hoping I can find more support for this device in here. Gingerbread, plausible?
This device is pretty good, but no xda support yet.
This device is basically a Galaxy Tab Wifi 4GB, as the hardware is the same.
I did a CM7 port for it. See SD for more details, XDA topic is dead
Can't believe there are no more people on XDA who have a Dropad / Haipad / Herotab. Good hardware en cheap! I hope there is a dev who can make a custom recovery for this tablet, that would make it next to perfect!
better buy a branded tablet
That herotab c8 is my second tablet that I bought it from aliexpress, yeah i know it is a lousy place but the price was much cheaper than merimobiles.
I sold back the first cheap tablet which is bloody slow and specs are very low which is under $100.
The second tablet that i bought was C8/herotab/whatever they call it. (yeah I made a mistake twice.)
Before I bought this, I read a bunch of reviews by c8 owners on youtube, including some videos posted on merimobiles. And I convinced myself that 1GHz cpu powered tablet would be great. yeah I was partially right.
Running applications + watching videos are simply awesome. avi, mkv, 1080 play flawlessly, I watch only 720p because of the file size, so watching movie on it was awesome.
cons
Unresponsive compare to Galaxy tab(i think you are going to talk about the price tag)
Compare to the crowd working on branded phone/tablet, Very few people are working on the customised rom.
And bloody heavy, yeah as a tablet half a Kg is pretty heavy.
What else.
I even planned to sell it back but now my daughter plays angry bird, watches nursery rhymes videos on it. So I leave it with her.
The worst thing is no developers at xda are interested to work on it
yes. very good machine. I just know it is generic one with many other name like Haipad M7, Dropad a8, Apad 7009. all of them have an issue in common:
either skype or fring does work on them. I am keen to know if someone has video call working on it. thanks for your input
i managed to initiate a qik videocall via wifi but it took me many calls to get a connection that didnt broke after a vew seconds.
i have installed asure's cm7 beta 0.4 + launcher pro plus with honeycomb theme and layout. works great in everyday use. after deleting the unnecessary phone related apk's the battery lasts for at least a whole at heavy use and up to 2.5 days with much standby time. im loving it. it's not perfect but it's more than you'd expect from such a lowprice device.
Hey if you want ROMS and firmware updates for this device, I think this is THE page you need
http://www.slatedroid.com/forum/139-herotab-c8dropad-a8/
(posting here because I think that GTAB users would want to know about this)
Don't get me wrong - if we can find a way to port Honeycomb, I'm all for it. If anything else, some of the apps are very nice and would be a worthy update from Froyo.
However, at this particular moment, I'm not all that thrilled with Honeycomb on the Xoom. Mainly due to SPEED. Quadrant and Nenamark scrores are definitely lower than recent mods or even stock 3991 on the GTAB, and more importantly it's actually noticeable in real-world use. Case in point: Launcher Pro. On TNT Lite 5.0.0, it's very fast - but on the Xoom, it's actually choppy. I don't have an overclocked kernel, but I shouldn't HAVE to overclock it to get the same speeds as I have on my GTAB. And Angry Birds Seasons actually slows down at times! I don't I've ever seen that on my GTAB.
My point here is that the Xoom users aren't running a speedy little OS like we thought they would be. I assume that, eventually, Honeycomb will shake out the bugs and the speed will increase, but it's NOT as fast as the GTAB or the Adam. That is actually quite disappointing, given the price point.
The hardware is very nice (ie the screen angles are better, the camera is better, the speakers are better etc.), but the software needs improvement.
so, I guess that we should get a Ipad 2 then. =) just kidding. I played around it too for a few days, I could do pretty much everything in tnt lite or vegan 7... I am also not a big fan of the look - looks very cheap and fragile compares to Ipad2. I am leaning more to ASUS transformer and the screen is stunning. I guess that I will sell it in ebay and wait for the transformer which is scheduled to release in April starting $399..
Roebeet: I just wanted to say that "THANK YOU SO MUCH" for all your work and help here. Sorry, I just sold my gtab but I am NOT leaving Android. Just try to find a good match.. it is like looking for a wife.. hahaha.
Thanks for the candid and professional assessment. We have perhaps reposed too much faith in Honeycomb without reckoning on its infancy. After all, Android 3.0 is a paradigm shift in the firmware's evolution, and such shifts only come right after a few iterations.
Makes me think that those company's launching new tablets still running Froyo may have a point...let the public get to know new hardware in a familiar milieu until the Honeycomb environment matures.
tyy10002 said:
so, I guess that we should get a Ipad 2 then. =) just kidding. I played around it too for a few days, I could do pretty much everything in tnt lite or vegan 7... I am also not a big fan of the look - looks very cheap and fragile compares to Ipad2. I am leaning more to ASUS transformer and the screen is stunning. I guess that I will sell it in ebay and wait for the transformer which is scheduled to release in April starting $399..
Roebeet: I just wanted to say that "THANK YOU SO MUCH" for all your work and help here. Sorry, I just sold my gtab but I am leaving Android. Just try to find a good match.. it is like looking for a wife.. hahaha.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are very welcome! I am continually humbled by the user community, here.
I am still waiting for "the next big thing" - the Xoom was practically a gift, which is why I own one. But the ASUS looks very interesting, the Elocity A10 (if they ever release it) or the upcoming stuff from Malata.
I'm guessing that this slowness problem is mainly on Honeycomb / Nividia itself, so any Honeycomb Tegra 2 tablet would be slower than a GTAB/Adam, if it were released today. I'm confident that it will eventually be corrected.
As for the iPad2, anyone else find it interesting that they sold out so fast? That's not like Apple. I'm guessing that they were planning an April release but moved it up due to the Xoom release and now they've run out of the limited stock they had. All these companies play the same games.
I used a xoom today at bestbuy for about 20 minutes, in my short time, I found it too be very fluid and it flew, and the verizon signal was very strong, it was loading websites pretty much instantly. I bet if I owned a xoom it may not feel as good, but I can wait, for honeycomb. How is the battery life on your xoom?
murkurie said:
I used a xoom today at bestbuy for about 20 minutes, in my short time, I found it too be very fluid and it flew, and the verizon signal was very strong, it was loading websites pretty much instantly. I bet if I owned a xoom it may not feel as good, but I can wait, for honeycomb. How is the battery life on your xoom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was in the same boat when I demoed it - it felt fast and fluid in the store. But after I had it in my hand and could compare it with my GTAB, my impression changed a bit.
Of course some for of these apps (like Launcher Pro) could just be problematic on Honeycomb. But when I see Nenamark scores that are so drastically different, then I know something's up. And Quadrant, which is not all that reliable keep in mind, is clocking in at ~1900. That around the same score as the original GTAB stock used to be.
As for battery, definitely no complaints. I haven't done any hard scores, but it wouldn't surprise me if it's in the 6 to 8 hour range.
I am leaning more to ASUS transformer and the screen is stunning. I guess that I will sell it in ebay and wait for the transformer which is scheduled to release in April starting $399..
I can't agree more with on the subject of the ASUS transformer. Even after seeing the leak of Staples selling the WiFi XOOM for 599.00, I'm still holding off for the transformer. Specs looked better and I'm sure ASUS will do their best to release a bug free product. Been a huge fan of ASUS for yrs now so I may be biased...nah. They just sell a good product.
zahir32 said:
Thanks for the candid and professional assessment. We have perhaps reposed too much faith in Honeycomb without reckoning on its infancy. After all, Android 3.0 is a paradigm shift in the firmware's evolution, and such shifts only come right after a few iterations.
Makes me think that those company's launching new tablets still running Froyo may have a point...let the public get to know new hardware in a familiar milieu until the Honeycomb environment matures.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think this is an important thought maybe we should remember. Honeycomb was built new for tablets/Xoom while the rest stay with Froyo or Gingerbread. We've come to expect that each new release brings improvements to our devices, while Honeycomb really is a 1.0 release for tablets.
"Honeycomb really is a 1.0 release for tablets..."
Exactly my point, and well put.
roebeet said:
I was in the same boat when I demoed it - it felt fast and fluid in the store. But after I had it in my hand and could compare it with my GTAB, my impression changed a bit.
Of course some for of these apps (like Launcher Pro) could just be problematic on Honeycomb. But when I see Nenamark scores that are so drastically different, then I know something's up. And Quadrant, which is not all that reliable keep in mind, is clocking in at ~1900. That around the same score as the original GTAB stock used to be.
As for battery, definitely no complaints. I haven't done any hard scores, but it wouldn't surprise me if it's in the 6 to 8 hour range.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Roebeet - are there any tools or monitors to show what an Android system is doing? For example, are there threads that are consuming too much CPU or is the I/O system really busy for some reason ... stuff like that.
i'm not sure but did motorola put any overlays on honeycomb like they have with their android phones (cliq w/motoblur)? if there is, maybe that's whats causing it to be a tad slower.
jazzmanmonty said:
i'm not sure but did motorola put any overlays on honeycomb like they have with their android phones (cliq w/motoblur)? if there is, maybe that's whats causing it to be a tad slower.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, the Xoom is a pure "Google Experience" device which means it is completely vanilla Android, just like Motorola's original Droid was a "Google Experience" phone.
Video Chat and/or BT Tether?
Does Zoom have either a working Video Chat app or the ability to use a mobile phone's data service via bluetooth or tether? If yes, can either of these capabilities be copied into a future ROM for gTablet?
Not sure this post belongs in this thread but I expect to have a Honeycomb device late next week. I can post my impressions of Android 3.0 on a different tablet, if anyone is interested.
The tab is the Acer Iconia A100. I've been looking for a 7 incher that has some class, and this one looks to be it.
Honeycomb on a 7" capacitive multitouch display (1024 x 600 pixels), Tegra 2, Nvidia GeForce GPU, 5 megapixels camera, 2 Megapixels front-facing camera, 512MB RAM, 8GB internal storage, micro-SD card slot, 1080p, Dolby Mobile sound, Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-Fi N, HDMI port, mini-USB and full-sized USB port.
Very nice form factor in a sleek minimalist design, as shown here:
http://gadgetian.com/8619/acer-iconia-tab-a100-specs-price/
A friend who's visiting Shenzhen, China, saw it (it's already released there) and asked if he should bring me one. For $296? Why ask?!
zahir32 said:
Not sure this post belongs in this thread but I expect to have a Honeycomb device late next week. I can post my impressions of Android 3.0 on a different tablet, if anyone is interested.
The tab is the Acer Iconia A100. I've been looking for a 7 incher that has some class, and this one looks to be it.
Honeycomb on a 7" capacitive multitouch display (1024 x 600 pixels), Tegra 2, Nvidia GeForce GPU, 5 megapixels camera, 2 Megapixels front-facing camera, 512MB RAM, 8GB internal storage, micro-SD card slot, 1080p, Dolby Mobile sound, Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-Fi N, HDMI port, mini-USB and full-sized USB port.
Very nice form factor in a sleek minimalist design, as shown here:
http://gadgetian.com/8619/acer-iconia-tab-a100-specs-price/
A friend who's visiting Shenzhen, China, saw it (it's already released there) and asked if he should bring me one. For $296? Why ask?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's got a Tegra 2 - this device could potentially be more helpful with development efforts than a Xoom. That's assuming it actually has Honeycomb - I wonder how they managed that?
freddroid said:
Does Zoom have either a working Video Chat app or the ability to use a mobile phone's data service via bluetooth or tether? If yes, can either of these capabilities be copied into a future ROM for gTablet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't really tested either (I don't have a data plan and I don't plan on getting one). There's no video chat OOTB, tmk.
"It's got a Tegra 2 - this device could potentially be more helpful with development efforts than a Xoom. That's assuming it actually has Honeycomb - I wonder how they managed that?"
I wondered about that myself - but apparently it does have Honeycomb out of the box. I look forward to sharing my impressions.
Pricing over in Shenzhen gives you some insight into the mark-ups we suffer in the West. Consider these prices:
LG Optimus Pad 3D Touch Screen Android 3.0 Dual-core tablet PC USD$386
Toshiba 10.1 inch 64GB Android 3.0 Tablet With Nvidia Tegra 2 USD$399
ASUS Eee Slate EP121 4GB RAM 64GB SSD Windows 7 Tablet USD$499
Asus Eee Pad Slider keyboard 3G 10.1 inch 32GB tablets USD$356
Asus Eee Pad Transformer 3G 10.1 inch 1GB RAM 64GB tablet USD$356
Asus Eee Pad MeMO 7 inch 32GB Android 3.0 Tablet 1080p playback USD$266
Asus Eee Pad MeMO 7 inch 64GB Android 3.0 Tablet 1080p playback USD$299
Motorola Xoom 10.1 inch 64GB Android 3.0 Tablet USD$380
Blackberry Playbook 7 inch 64GB SSD Tablet USD$229
HTC Flyer 7 inch 1.5GHz Android 3.0 WIFI 3G Tablet Smartphone USD$309
Maybe XDA should charter a group flight to China?
Wondering.....
I heard that Moto released an update to the Xoom, and it bumped the Quadrant scores up nearly 30%. I was wondering if the update tightened things up a bit like VS did with the GTab.
zahir32 said:
Not sure this post belongs in this thread but I expect to have a Honeycomb device late next week. I can post my impressions of Android 3.0 on a different tablet, if anyone is interested.
The tab is the Acer Iconia A100. I've been looking for a 7 incher that has some class, and this one looks to be it.
Honeycomb on a 7" capacitive multitouch display (1024 x 600 pixels), Tegra 2, Nvidia GeForce GPU, 5 megapixels camera, 2 Megapixels front-facing camera, 512MB RAM, 8GB internal storage, micro-SD card slot, 1080p, Dolby Mobile sound, Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-Fi N, HDMI port, mini-USB and full-sized USB port.
Very nice form factor in a sleek minimalist design, as shown here:
http://gadgetian.com/8619/acer-iconia-tab-a100-specs-price/
A friend who's visiting Shenzhen, China, saw it (it's already released there) and asked if he should bring me one. For $296? Why ask?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Weight 470 grams
battery runtime's gonna be short...
Elocity A10 looked nice UNTIL nvidia announce Tegra3 kal-el quad core w/NEON, and improved GPU... gtab will get me by until a realistically priced Tegra3 tablet shows up... (which rules out motorola, samsung, and asus(I'm surprised with these guys as their prices are usually great on notebooks for the specs)...)
"Weight 470 grams
battery runtime's gonna be short..."
A sharp observation. Much depends on whether this thing will come to me with the 3G module in or not. (That's not clear to me). If it's running network data, I'll have to disable that service to conserve juice - as people have done with their Sprint Galaxy Tabs. We'll see!
Don't blame you for waiting out the first wave of tech in 2011. I myself will retain my Elocity A10 pre-order up to the end of March. If it doesn't arrive by then, I'm cancelling and will turn to either the LG Optimus Pad or the Asus Slider.
I was given a xoom to use for testing at work a couple of weeks ago, and been hammering at it pretty hard.
There's only one thing about the xoom that I love and get jealous about, its not the screen, or even Honeycomb, its the 10 point multi touch.
Doing anything that uses more then one input seems to work so much smother. If there was someway to upgrade that on my tab running Vegan Ginger, I think I'd be in heaven.
I know the Viewsonic viewpad 10/ G tablet (viewpad 10: It is a name in Chinese. notice viewpad 1o is not viewpad 10s. Viewpad 10s has a Intel N445 CPU, DDR3 1Gb ram, and It run Windows 7)
G tab only has one DDR2 512mb ram but has a powerful Dual-Core ARM Cortex A9 (DDR2-667 (Tegra 250)) 1 GHz, per core from.
My questions are:
1. Can I replace a DDR2-667 1GB ram on the Viewsonic G tablet?
2. Is there anyone have installed the Android 3.0 Honeycomb on G tablet? Is it stable? Is it 512 ram enough for Android 3.0 Honeycomb?
3. Are all Android softwares run full screen on G tablet? such as, UC browser, QQ Music, Angry Bird, Some E-Book Reader, Skyfire, Skype, Sky Browser, UC Thunder, Document to Go...
Oh there is one more question.
Compare the quality (not include price)
Malata Zpad T2, T8 VS ViewSonic G tablet?
Which one is better. I know they have NVIDIA Tegra 2 A9 dual-core, but Zpad T2 and T8 they have 1Gb ram. T8 (screen is a clone of ipad) is IPS screen so IPS screen has a better viewing angle than G tablet.
After you guys reading these above. Should I wait for NVIDIA Tegra 3 which is 1,5 GHz 4 core cpu release in 2012.
dude search
The viewpad 10 is the dual boot with intel CPU, the vp10s is the viewsonic version of the advent vega with a slightly different outer case.
The Malata smb-b1004/1005 is an upcoming version which will release with honeycomb and has a better screen. It was announced/demo'd at MWC in Feb. But I don't think it is available yet. I think these are sometimes called the zPad T2.
The zPad T8 is quite expensive and is out now but with Froyo.
I think for half the price and with good developer community, the gTablet is still the winner.
I would stick with the tegra tabs. The updated gtab/Malata tab should b out soon. Those have better screen and 1g DDR. Pricing not revealed yet but. Guarantee it'll be more expensive.
I think 512 is enough for honeycomb but a gig would be great too.
the gtab is just a solid value. The best priced tablet to date, spec wise.
Honeycomb on the gtab
I had a nook color and ran Honeycomb on it just from an early dump found somewhere and it ran fine. obviously there were a few bugs but it ran very well. The gtab should have no issues when someone gets Honeycomb ported over.
To actually answer some questions:
1. Not possible without soldering, special tools and skills.
2. No honeycomb yet.
3. The vast majority work well and fullscreen. Some don't.
yeabilo said:
My questions are:
1. Can I replace a DDR2-667 1GB ram on the Viewsonic G tablet?
2. Is there anyone have installed the Android 3.0 Honeycomb on G tablet? Is it stable? Is it 512 ram enough for Android 3.0 Honeycomb?
3. Are all Android softwares run full screen on G tablet? such as, UC browser, QQ Music, Angry Bird, Some E-Book Reader, Skyfire, Skype, Sky Browser, UC Thunder, Document to Go...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wait for the tegra 3 if you want that kinda power, the tegra 3 is great, but the tegra 2 is pretty awesome for right now. Technology changes and moves so fast that by the time tegra 3 comes out ull want to wait for the tegra 4 that is already slated.
Its all personal pref.
If you are looking for a windows type system, maybe wait for a great version of the linux distro Ubunutu that is being cooked up to a full working version.
I based my decision to buy the GTab on the fact that the Tablet race is just getting started. Spending a lot of money right now to me is wasteful. I can get the best price / performance value right here and later in the year or even next year see where everything falls with the upcoming tablets. No need to spend five or six hundred for really very little, if any performance gain.
thanks for your answers
I wanted to get a discussion going about this line of 7" ICS tablets *coming soon* from Ainol. Ainol is a budget chinese brand, but has been establishing a name for itself after becoming the manufacturer of the first ICS tablet. I have played with an older Ainol model, the Paladin, which has a pretty nice build quality to it, but the crippling factor was that it used a MIPS processor that was incompatible with a number of popular apps. This line of tablets uses ARM processors, so there shouldn't be any app compatibility issues. Here are the tablets with a list of key features. I've listed in green what the upgrades are from the previous model.
Tornado $99
Screen: 800x480
CPU: 1ghz Cortex A9
RAM 1GB
Memory: 8GB or 16GB(+$20)
Camera: 0.3MP front
Micro SD slot
Mars $129
Screen: 1024x600
CPU: 1ghz Cortex A9
RAM 1GB
Memory: 8GB or 16GB(+$20)
Camera: 0.3MP front
Micro SD slot
ELF II $149
Screen: 1024x600
CPU: 1.5ghz Dual Core Cortex A9
RAM 1GB
Memory: 8GB
Camera: 2.0MP front
Micro SD slot
Mini HDMI
Aurora II $189
Screen: IPS 1024x600
CPU: 1.5ghz Dual Core Cortex A9
RAM 1GB
Memory: 8GB
Camera: 2.0MP front
Micro SD slot
Mini HDMI
It appears that they should be getting the Tornado and Mars tablets very soon, but the Elf II and Aurora II will not be available until May according to what I've read. Spemall appears to be a fairly reliable seller of android tablets. You can see them interacting with customers on their facebook page and twitter . They have posted pictures of the tablets and spec sheets on their facebook page as well. You may want to wait to order until they have given confirmation that they have stock on hand.
I like the look of these tablets. They have a nice clean modern look with a solid piece of glass covering the front. Most cheap chinese tablets are fairly ugly and have raised borders over the screen. I would find it hard to spend $189 on the Aurora II, especially since I'm expecting to see a Google/Asus tablet with the same specs coming in July for $200. However, the first three seem reasonably priced to me.
If you want to get a better idea of what these are like, check out this set of video reviews for the original Aurora. I believe they are using the same case/build style as the original Elf/Aurora on these new tablets. Really, the only difference between the original Elf/Aurora and the Elf II/Aurora II is the dual core processor. You can get the original Aurora for $169.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYHpHKIGqYk
Anybody tried Ainol products yet...
vNa5h said:
Anybody tried Ainol products yet...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've got an Elf (original model)
Its pretty nice, build quality is a bit...cheap, there's some creaks in where the bezel connect to the back plate, and this thing is unusable when its really hot.
But it does have a nice dev community and if you're not happy with that, just use some ROMs for the Aurora, they're pretty much the same, save for the IPS display on the Aurora.
But, thy buy a tablet like his nowadays, when the Nexus7 just managed to massively outclass these Chinese tablets
Sent from my Ainol Novo7 Elf using xda premium
Lesicnik1 said:
I've got an Elf (original model)
Its pretty nice, build quality is a bit...cheap, there's some creaks in where the bezel connect to the back plate, and this thing is unusable when its really hot.
But it does have a nice dev community and if you're not happy with that, just use some ROMs for the Aurora, they're pretty much the same, save for the IPS display on the Aurora.
But, thy buy a tablet like his nowadays, when the Nexus7 just managed to massively outclass these Chinese tablets
Sent from my Ainol Novo7 Elf using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the thing is nexus hasnt arrived in my country and is slated for an oct release
even if it does it will be like $300-330 for the 8gb one