[Q] Gtablet Recall as opportunity? - G Tablet General

Is it possible that we will be able to get our hands on any of these recalled tablets at a discount anywhere, maybe from the viewsonic outlet website?
I have an archos 101 that I will be returning (mainly after reading all the work done by XDA on the gtablet) and I am looking to pick up a Gtablet. The only issue I have is that I don't want to pick one up today for $379 at Sears and then have them available at a deep discount some where else next week. I am ok if Viewsonic stops supporting it because I know there will be community support for a while.
Any suggestions on what I should do? Take the plunge or wait for a little?

If you see one at a discounted price, you'll be getting an excellent deal!

The problem with Staples is that they are not putting them up for clearance - they are sending them back to the vendor, even the floor models.
SEARS Outlet has been a great site for us and I would suggest that you continue scanning it every morning. But, the problem is that the chances of seeing a device near you are slim. I have never found one less than 45 minutes away from me and I've only see ones within a reasonable driving distance (1.25 hours) about three times in the last month.

roebeet said:
The problem with Staples is that they are not putting them up for clearance - they are sending them back to the vendor, even the floor models.
SEARS Outlet has been a great site for us and I would suggest that you continue scanning it every morning. But, the problem is that the chances of seeing a device near you are slim. I have never found one less than 45 minutes away from me and I've only see ones within a reasonable driving distance (1.25 hours) about three times in the last month.
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Click to collapse
I haven't seen one closer than a 12hr drive, so consider yourself lucky. I settled for the $350 sale price.

I haven't seen one on the sears outlet site at all for weeks now. When I saw it the first time I started researching and and came across this site. Then I knew I had to have one but by the time I realized that it was too late. Any chance that they will start popping up on other sites for sale after the recall?

Always check at ~9AM or 10AM ET each morning. By midday ET, whatever was there is usually gone.

roebeet said:
Always check at ~9AM or 10AM ET each morning. By midday ET, whatever was there is usually gone.
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Click to collapse
Roeby, based on Sears discussion, the Gtablet is no longer being treated as a standard product where they triage and maybe sell as refurb. This process costs Sears money and then they have to wait for compensation from the supplier. Much cheaper for Sears to simply return the product as defective. Some may slip through, but only if the product is not scanned and falls through the cracks (anything is possible).
We seem to already have apparent evidence that Sears is sending returns back (or storing for a mass return). The return rate is absurdly high, but not too many available in outlets.

I see that office depot has the gtablet for $369 in store. Does anyone think that there will be a price drop after Christmas?

It doesnt sound like Sears is following the path of others....
They still units in the stores for sale and not a word about a recall.
I picked up 2 today for Xmas gifts... 379.99 + tax + plus 5X rewards points...
Viewsonic cases were 5.99...
I think this Tablet rocks... I use mine everyday and it's 95% rock solid...
Vegan Beta 3.... With everything including the kitchen sink installed.
If anyone hasn't used Touchdown Pro and has a need, GET IT! It makes this Tablet
rock!
If I could get the VPN to connect to my work's system it would be perfect!

Dknyc79 said:
Is it possible that we will be able to get our hands on any of these recalled tablets at a discount anywhere, maybe from the viewsonic outlet website?
I have an archos 101 that I will be returning (mainly after reading all the work done by XDA on the gtablet) and I am looking to pick up a Gtablet. The only issue I have is that I don't want to pick one up today for $379 at Sears and then have them available at a deep discount some where else next week. I am ok if Viewsonic stops supporting it because I know there will be community support for a while.
Any suggestions on what I should do? Take the plunge or wait for a little?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
[email protected],
I returned my Gtab last weekend for an exchange and found out that they are now $349 although they are showing $379 on the website.

I still keep mine and enjoy it every day after I installed the Vegan ROM. It really works great. I don't see any hardware problem at all, just some fixable software glitches.
I can't wait to run Honeycomb on the gTab though!
I paid $379.99 minus a 10% "family & friends day" discount!
Cheers,
Rayan

Personally I suspect that the only real issue is the less than satisfactory stock UI and the fact that you can use it without purchasing a contract from a wireless carrier.
Even the smallest amount of tweaking (Root, LauncherPro, market and flash "Super Thread works" ) of even the stock OS yields a very responsive and user friendly device.
That said I will be watching for a second Gtab at a discount but I suspect that those who have it will keep it. If I can make this thing perform then anyone with a little time and willingness can do so also.

g Tablet Manufacturing Defect
Greetings, I have a gtablet and 3 days to return it to Sears.
If the product is being returned by Staples why should I NOT
want to return it?
I also notice that the Scheduled Dec 19, 2010
ADOBE FLASH update has NOT occured.
Listen, Thanks for all the help - I appreciate it
//ji

Greetings, this may be something and may be nothing.
Just FYI –
I talked to Mike at Viewsonic support on 20101220 3:34p PST.
He advises that Staples had an in store warranty conflict and no manufacturing defect exists with the gtablet. The update scheduled for 20101219 is posted and done so in such a way that some folks see it auto-download with WIFI and some will not for approx 24 to 48 hours.
Mike also advises that the Adobe Flash update IS NOT part of the latest update however he says it is still in the works and will be updated soon.
I am still contemplating whether to return mine or not. I have had it for 27 days and it has been absolutely fabulous and beyond my expectations less the FLASH player.
//ji

johni58 said:
days and it has been absolutely fabulous and beyond my expectations less the FLASH player.
I need INPUT INPUT INPUT.
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Click to collapse
Doesn't this speak for itself?
If it's fabulous, keep it and wait for flash.

A million Thanks -
Well VP, I always like to get an expert opinion before I proceed and you have certainly provided that, hence - I am very appreciative. Thanks //ji

What @rushless said is correct just checked searsoutlet.com and they had a G tablet for sale @ $279 but apparently it's only available for pick up and the "nearest store" was in Cupertino. But I called one of my local sears and they said they would have a good discount on open-box items. Of course that answer will vary because instore someone told me that the returns if they were like new they would just resell them with a 10% discount.
Check the searsoutlet.com between 9 and 10 am and you may find a good price for one.

Thanks. The outlet is great but the closest I've seen was a 2 1/2 hour drive. Does anyone know if they will ship it between stores? Does anyone know what viewsonic will be doing with all the returned units? They all should be in good condition and even if they update the software they still can't sell them as new? I was kind of holding out for all those returned items to show up for sale somewhere online.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

If it helps, I found the GTab for $364.00 online...
http://www.electronicexpress.com/product?prod_id=18498

Hmm. Interesting. Whats the deal with that site? I've never heard of it before. Is it reliable?
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

Related

GTab availability in the USA

Thanks to erron for pointing me to Staples!
SEARS still has limited stock, as of this writing. However, check your local Staples as it looks like they just got a shipment in:
http://www.staples.com/StaplesProdu...ctId=358070&catalogIdentifier=2&cmArea=SEARCH
My local store in PA has them in stock. I also heard a rumor that KMart and Radio Shack might be getting them next week, so you might want to keep an eye out.
have you heard if walmart would be getting these as well?
b00sted said:
have you heard if walmart would be getting these as well?
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Click to collapse
Have not heard anything in regards to WalMart. You'd think they'd be jumping on the bandwagon for the holidays, but nothing (yet). Maybe they'll surprise us, next week.
i need a place I have a credit card for to get it, we had a baby and cant budget out one lol. unless someone wants a mini 9 instead of their tab *hint* *hint* lol
Is anywhere shipping these internationally yet? It is incredibly hard to ship one outside the US. If they make it too hard I will get the advent vega
How could these retailers sell these without a solid, out of the box software package?
Sure, the retailers maybe / are clueless, but Viewsonic is not (in regards to the software issue).
Boxes still have Flash symbol on them
Storage mode does not see the microsd
No market
A lot of games and apps are broken
Storage mapping
Mystery reboots with stock FW
Boot loops
Not coming out of sleep
Seriously, I like my G (not with stock), but how does this device not fail on epic levels, since it fails "out of box"? Perhaps 95% of consumers will not be hanging around XDA- will not have a clue.
staples.com also carrying the gtablet
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App
in stock in washington state
hit submit too soon in in last post
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App
Available online for shipping
Ordered one online Monday night and received last night.
rushless said:
How could these retailers sell these without a solid, out of the box software package?
Sure, the retailers maybe / are clueless, but Viewsonic is not (in regards to the software issue).
Boxes still have Flash symbol on them
Storage mode does not see the microsd
No market
A lot of games and apps are broken
Storage mapping
Mystery reboots with stock FW
Boot loops
Not coming out of sleep
Seriously, I like my G (not with stock), but how does this device not fail on epic levels, since it fails "out of box"? Perhaps 95% of consumers will not be hanging around XDA- will not have a clue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know. I ended up returning mine because of the bad screen, but there are certainly a ton of other problems too out of the box. The return rate for these things must be off the charts.
New Info from Viewsonic s gtablet site
App Store
Please be advised that a software update is now available that provides access to an Apps Store directly from your G Tablet. Owners of the G Tablet will receive an automatic notice of the new software upgrade. Users can then simply click on the Apps Store icon from their G Tablet to gain access to 1,000's of leading Android apps. (Please note that the automatic notification requires that the G Tablet has WiFi Internet access upon power-on.)
Adobe Flash Support
The Viewsonic G Tablet hardware and firmware provides full support for the Adobe Flash Player built into the unit. At the time that the G Tablet was manufactured, the Adobe Player application was not available for this product. We anticipate that a version of the Adobe Flash Player Application will be available by December 19, 2010. Owners of the G Tablet will receive an automatic notice that the plug-in is available for download to further expand their web access and entertainment. (Please note that the automatic notification requires that the G Tablet has WiFi Internet access upon power-on.)
I just picked one up at Staples--I asked, and a manager said they had just come in on the truck last night and they were ready to be put out front yet. I mentioned how the Staples web site had said that they were in stock at this particular store, and the manager seemed to take pity, disappeared for a while, and came back with one. (Had to check me out herself, though.)
Office Depot has the Gtablet now as well. The have a working demo of the G and the Archos 7 (not 70). They are selling them now.
So far:
Kmart
Office Depot
Sears
Staples
BTW, the Viewsonic site was wrong and is one reason they pulled the information from their site. No Flash in the update.
rushless said:
Office Depot has the Gtablet now as well. The have a working demo of the G and the Archos 7 (not 70). They are selling them now.
So far:
Kmart
Office Depot
Sears
Staples
BTW, the Viewsonic site was wrong and is one reason they pulled the information from their site. No Flash in the update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
they had it in stock at staples, but the manager wouldn't sell me one, claiming that it was a black friday item.
edit: purchased one online with free ship to store. $30 off $150 coupon i bought off ebay worked. it says it will arrive by wednesday, which is sooner than black friday! at $400 - $30 = $370, which appears to be the cheapest price i've seen for it. the only comparable one is $380 at sears on black friday with the free case.
Which store has the best return policy?
Well, I'll have to consider picking up a g tablet, as it seems the tablet is much more usable with the TNT lite 2.0 rom..
So, the next question is, where should I purchase it from? I want to give it a good try for a couple weeks before settling on keeping it. While I understand the unit should easily be able to be returned due to the fact that it's "defective" in some ways, I'd prefer just not having to deal with a pita manager worst case. So, do any stores that are selling it offer easy returns? Sears seems like a "no," but Staples seems to let you return the device used/opened, if you're not satisfied with the purchase. Anyone else know about kmart/etc?
Staples closest to me had 3 when I called them on Saturday to see if they had a REAL functional demo unit and not a mockup like Sears had. They did and also told me that they had 3 in stock. (Seems that the Staples stores all semed to have gotten a whopping 3 of them.)
Sears say 9-10d or 12-15d for stock. (I guess that the busier stores get first dibs on stock, surprisingly the one really close to me and the one just a bit further are both on the shorter time to restock. I felt that the close Sears was never very busy)
I never bothered going over to Staples until Monday morning, since I was sure that I would just pick one up even if I felt it to be grossly overpriced. I still feel that this is overpriced esp. when both Sears and Staples bracketed the gTab display with MUCH cheaper (Atom) netbooks ffs! (They had 2 left in stock on monday, and then 1 of course, after I purchased mine.)
All said and done thought, this is the tablet that I've liked the best from the get go and I'm still only using the stock fw, and 11/22 update now. Web browsing is just so much better with this tablet and the virt kb more responsive such that I can use forums via browser and actually enter messages non-painfully although a bit slowly. (Buhbye tapatalk...)
The PDF version of the manual is kind of funny loads of Engrish, which is kind of surprising considering that Pandigital's wasn't too bad actually while VS' is more like Augen's...
Anybody have any experience with searsoutlet.com? I found one thats over 200 miles away from NYC and for some reason they refuse to ship.
NewbTrader said:
Well, I'll have to consider picking up a g tablet, as it seems the tablet is much more usable with the TNT lite 2.0 rom..
So, the next question is, where should I purchase it from? I want to give it a good try for a couple weeks before settling on keeping it. While I understand the unit should easily be able to be returned due to the fact that it's "defective" in some ways, I'd prefer just not having to deal with a pita manager worst case. So, do any stores that are selling it offer easy returns? Sears seems like a "no," but Staples seems to let you return the device used/opened, if you're not satisfied with the purchase. Anyone else know about kmart/etc?
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Click to collapse
SEARS can be bad - 30 days but only for hardware defects, although I heard that they might extend that to 60 days during the holidays. For Staples, it's 14 days for tech items and seems pretty flexible.
KMart might be the best of the lot at 90 days, but again you should ask before purchasing as they might have exceptions.
pkjai1 said:
Anybody have any experience with searsoutlet.com? I found one thats over 200 miles away from NYC and for some reason they refuse to ship.
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I purchased my GTab from the Outlet - they don't ship because these are clearance / closeout items that are in that specific store. The GTabs are customer returns to they should be complete but expect some possible cosmetic defects as a used item.
pkjai1 said:
Anybody have any experience with searsoutlet.com? I found one thats over 200 miles away from NYC and for some reason they refuse to ship.
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Click to collapse
Just check daily, in a few weeks I bet every store in the nation will have a pile of them, then we can snap 'em up.
Im looking to import one of these and was hoping to take advantage of the Black Friday sales. I saw the Sears catalog, but then someone else said they dont have any stock?
I can use a mail forwarder to buy it for me and then ship it to me in Australia. Looks like Staples and Sears both have them online. Can anyone please confirm:
- Do Sears and Staples currently have these in stock for quick shipping?
- Is it worth waiting for 'black friday' to buy one?

Gtab no longer listed at Staples.com?

I am planning on picking up a Gtab tomorrow at Staples, since the one near where I work has them in stock. I checked the website just out of curiousity and they're no longer listed. I know that Staples was very down on them...none on display and the first time I went in someone who works there told me that they were dissuading people from purchasing them.
Anyone know anything about their clearance policies?
I asked my local Staples about it, a few weeks back - they said that they did not have one.
If they are pulling the GTab, I should call them and see if they'd sell the floor model. I was nice enough to update the firmware for them a week back (they weren't at the latest).
In the store yesterday and in fact in this week's local sale paper for $399.
rickstone said:
I am planning on picking up a Gtab tomorrow at Staples, since the one near where I work has them in stock. I checked the website just out of curiousity and they're no longer listed. I know that Staples was very down on them...none on display and the first time I went in someone who works there told me that they were dissuading people from purchasing them.
Anyone know anything about their clearance policies?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was surprised too when I searched for it on Staples website.
Now at Office Depot
In this morning's paper at Office Depot for $399. I suspect that perhaps Staples temporarily pulled the unit because of price match concerns with Sears at $350 last weekend. I've noticed that in the past when OD had an item cheaper that suddenly the availabilty of an item at Staples went to zero. Could be that they just sold out coincident to the lower price but does make one wonder.
That said, I missed my price match by a few days but still glad I pulled the trigger and have a nice little tablet and a few days off to explore. Thanks to the efforts of folks here it works really well at this point.
i got mine from staples sunday... i'll be returning it saturday. i love the speed, but man the screen is so low quality. how can viewsonic even consider sending out such a bad screen.
so, columbia, sc location may have an open box one this weekend
madsquabbles said:
i got mine from staples sunday... i'll be returning it saturday. i love the speed, but man the screen is so low quality. how can viewsonic even consider sending out such a bad screen.
so, columbia, sc location may have an open box one this weekend
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Click to collapse
Awesome....I'll hopefully be able to pick that one up for a decent price.
i got my tablet at staples just because are sears closed down a few months ago. it kind of looked out of place to me i was thinking it was a seasonal sale

What the heck..price increase!

Just went to Sears and Officedepot...was going to run out and get one today and the price at both places went up to $399 !!
Whats up with that !
David
That has been pretty much the regular price since day 1. Now that the holidays are winding down, they are going back to their regular price.
Same here, I looked online all day yesterday and was finding them for 369.99 at Office Depot and 379.99 at Sears. Well Office Depot is right around the corner from me so I just went there and the price was back at 399.99. I had checked online earlier but did not check the price as all I was looking for was the phone number. Turns out they only had one in stock and the closest Sears did not have any, the only other closest place to have one was 3.5 hours away. I really did not mind paying the extra $20.00 as I really like this tablet. Right now I am downloading the 3389 update and hoping it improves performance a bit, although it is performing nicely compared to my slow ass g1.
Dang. Oh well I'll still get it. I forget, does this come with a microsd card? I am going up to Sears now.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Does not come with microsd. Just saw that fry's has 16gb for sale for $18 after rebate. I pulled my microsd from my phone when I first got my gtab.
Now that it works, people will pay $399. Let's see what the market will pay for a working Gtablet. Compared to Ipad or Galaxy Tab, it's still a bargain.
just saw that too, crap nuggets.... hunting down opened or returned tablet for a while now...
ByByIpad said:
Now that it works, people will pay $399. Let's see what the market will pay for a working Gtablet. Compared to Ipad or Galaxy Tab, it's still a bargain.
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Click to collapse
Well, not to be a fly in your kool aid, but technically we shouldn't really consider it a 'working Gtablet' just yet. It is a bargain FOR US compared to the iPad and the Galaxy Tab, but for non-tech folk, not so much I'd think.
TnT 3389 is nice and is indeed more usable than the previous OTA'd software but we here have still had to do considerably more in terms of getting it to a point of being comfortable with it. And even now, we're having these issues here and there (slowdown, etc). I know nothing is perfect in terms of tech.
What do you think would result from this scenario in a case where the buyer is a typical 'casual' user who just wants a device to load up apps on, read web pages, watch some video and listen to music and read their e-books on?
I think the casual user would get the Gtablet...not be able to use the market on it, not be interested in XDA or learning how to flash etc. Experience the slowdown eventually (it's bound to happen) and then return the tablet out of frustration.
The iPad imho is not worth the price in terms of it's guts, BUT in terms of the fact that it works out of the box, you have access to thousands of apps, web and media - if I were buying a tablet for my wife for example, I'd go with the wifi iPad. When the case is that you don't have to flash the device for any reason? THEN it will be a working Gtablet.
The Galaxy Tab is the middle ground....but it's also expensive for what you get and has performance issues.
I am not all debbie downer though, as I have very high hopes for TnT with an Android Honeycomb base next year, when Google Market is included at stock.
I just picked up my g tablet today from Sears. I walked in and saw the price on the dummy demo listed at 399. I asked a sales clerk about the price. He walked over to a glass case where they had a half dozen stacked up. The price on the front of the case said 379. I told him I'd take one and when he rang it up it came up as 399. He did an override and I got it for the lower price.
So far I'm pleased. I plan on rooting and flashing a different rom instead of hacking around with my Samsung fascinate.
One thing I can't stand is the stock keyboard. It sucks badly compared to my wife's ipad.
i got my g tablet from staples for 399 plus tax im still happy with my purchase. to bad are sears shut down a few months back. it was my only choice at the moment no online retailers were selling any cheaper so i just bit the bullet and bought it. im sure if you look around or wait a while the price will drop. theirs alot of tablets hitting the market now
Sears Outlet
Check Sears Outlet on a daily basis (especially in the morning) With all the non-tech people returning these, because they suck out of the box, you can get a steal for around $240...
I got mine at $149 - display model, with full warranty...
Paid 399.00 for mine at OfficeDepot week before xmas. Had a defective screen so had to take it back once they had some more in stock. Took it back and recieved $32 back cause it happen to be onsale at the time of exchange . So far I am happy with it. Biggest selling point was the flash capability, being a more advanced user and not being able to leave things stock lol flashing was just a normal thing for me. Had a screen calibration issue but thanks to another member that has been fixed. As far as I'm concerned it best bang for the buck.
Just to let you know - on office depot's website, it was showing as 369 - when I went to the store on Christmas eve to purchase one, the store display showed 399 - took it to the cashier, it rang up as 369. Also, Office Depot has a coupon floating around for $20 off over $100 good until the 31st, but I didn't find that til after my purchase. Good luck!
-m.

My Zpad Story (work in progress)

I thought I'd post my story so far in acquiring my zpad and update it as I go along.
And see if anyone else is interested in it.
January 2011
I wanted a tablet pc as soon as I saw my friend's Ipad, but thought that they would be too expensive, so I just put it out of my mind. Then while looking for a netbook for my wife, a friend of mine said he could get pc's at great prices from china. We agreed to get her a netbook through him and he told me he could also organise other cool tech like tablets, etc.
(We get ripped off really badly here in south africa, everyone is greedy here and they put up huge mark ups on tech. e.g. galaxy tab is R8000 here which is $1117 at the current exchange rate. Instead of the $650 that it currently is on amazon.com. Which is ridiculous!!!)
He is starting up an importing business from China to South Africa(where I live), I would be his first customer.
He showed me a few tablets, which either were underpowered or had a 3 hour max battery life or both. Eventually he showed me the Malata tablets, the windows one and the one that they later called the Zpad. The windows one sucked so I was interested in the Zpad. Specs looked good and the more I looked into it online the more I was keen. But it was still a lot of money.
I found out mid January that I had gotten funding for university this year, so I decided to get the Zpad. The order hadn't gone through yet for the netbook so I added the tablet (and other tech that we've wanted for a while, eg. 1GB external HDD & logitech G9x mouse, malata dock..) and paid and waited.
1st Feb 2011
Package finally arrived. When he saw the box my friend phoned me straight away in alarm. The box was tiny, way to small to house a netbook and a tablet and all the other stuff.
When he opened it, there were a few 1GB and 2GB USB drives in the box.
SHOCK AND HORROR!!!
He phoned around frantically trying to find out if he had been ripped off by his chinese supplier or not, as he had never bought from the guy before.
Eventually the guy replied, it was 20:00h in china, he says that the guy who dropped the packages off must have switched them around by mistake. He said he couldn't get hold of DHL to find out if the other guy had got the package already, or even to find out who the other guy was, as it was late there.
So now after waiting 3 weeks or so for my tablet I sit and wait, to find out where my tablet and my wife's netbook and everything else is. Are they with the would be flash drives owner? Will he give them back? Will the Chinese guy still send us new ones if the other guy doesn't give them back to him? Very stressed out.
Update:
2nd February 2011
Heard back from the supplier in China and from what I could understand (His English is a little broken, but can't blame the guy, I can't speak a worn of Mandarin) he says that they have had this problem in the past and how it works is they use a 3rd pary company to take their packages to DHL and then DHL send it, so the 3rd party guys must have made the mistake. This happened before and they stopped using that company as a result, but now it has happened again.
He says it shouldn't be to difficult to get hold of the stuff and get it sent to us, but it will take a while.
I really hope so. I'm still worried that some guy is playing on my Zpad or have taken the factory screen cover off (which I was planning to keep on, if it came with one), or even worse has sold it...
So no concrete progress, but things are looking up.
Update:
3rd February 2011
It's Chinese newyear now. So I wasn't expecting much progress today, and didn't get any. But the Chinese supplier told us he hasn't gotten the status of the parcel yet, but we should hold on to the wrong parcel we received and he will chase them up and try to get them exchanged.
Update:
4th February 2011
The supplier said that DHL are contacting the person who received our parcel and he will let us know the outcome.
Update:
18th March 2011
So, we still haven't heard from DHL, and our chinese contact hasn't contacted us since my last post. He is also no longer on the trading sites like alibaba, etc. So we think we have been swindled.
My friend here is going over to china in a few months, so he will probably see if he can find this guys, using private investigators and press charges against him (and maybe a fist or two).
My friend did take responsibility though, saying that it was his fault and he should have tested out his contact first.
He has found a more reliable contact and is waiting for a sale to go through, and then will try order it again, out of his pocket.
But I don't know if I still want the Zpad, with shipping, 3G and GPS, the tablet cost about R6500 here, which converted is about $900. Which is really expensive, but the cheapest I can get it at. I can get the Gtablet for R4313 ($600), buying through a local online business who buy from amazon.
But I don't know, there are many new tablets coming out now, so there is no longer the benefit of getting the only tegra 2 tablet, and getting use out of it before the big boys arrive. So I think I might as well look around, now that the Zpad is no longer on it's way.
I'm thinking about getting the Xoom WIFI instead when it comes out. My dad is going to Italy soon, and hopefully it will have released in Europe by then, so he can pick one up for me at a comparable price to the US $600. When it finally gets here it will be ridiculously expensive, I estimate the same price that I paid for the Zpad,($900). So if the Xoom is anything less than 650 Euros, Then I have saved money, buying a better tablet.
Then when my friend has managed to make some money back, he can refund me, rather than ordering me another one, and I will have money left over for accessories.
So, right now it is just a wait to see when the Xoom Wifi comes out in Europe, how much it will be, and if it releases before my dad gets there; sometime in May.
Yep, more waiting, but I'm happy to wait again, I feel I am getting a better deal now, and I feel more in control.
Update March 20th:
I have placed my order to get the Xoom Wifi with a local company, they will get it from the US as soon as it releases, so it will ship on the 28th/29th and I should get it in at most a week from then.
Update April 3rd:
My Xoom came yesterday, and WOW!!! It is amazing, it is an awesome resolution screen, great viewing angles, incredibly responsive, amazing battery life, has honeycomb.
The Zpad not coming was a blessing in disguise. I will still try get my money back for the Zpad from my friend to cover the cost of the Xoom, though.
Really , Really glad that I didn't get a Zpad in hindsight. I know that's a bit cheeky to say in the Gtab forum, but after waiting this long, I would want it to be perfect, and well neither tablet is perfect, but the Xoom is a lot closer.
So, this will be one of my last posts on the Gtab forum, I'll be living in the Xoom on from now.
Thanks so much for reading my story everyone.
I will update if this thread is still around and I get my money back from my friend, but otherwise that's it.
Cheers
wow, that really sucks.
I hope all works out and the Chinese supplier fixes his mistake and sends you your order.
Thats really bad. I think it's at the same level as my story at ebay... Sad.
Seems getting a zPad is just not as easy as we thought.
Ya, it is sad. But I'm optimistic. It might be a DHL mistake too, in which case they will have to fork out of it doesn't sort its self out.
Good luck getting it sorted out. I had ordered a low end DSLR Camera for my daughter for Christmas. It made it to within 15 miles of my house and then vanished at the FEDEX facility. By that point, everywhere was sold out of low end DSLR Camera, the original seller, Wal-Mart, was of no help other than sorry and refund my payment and I was left scrambling and finally had to fork over much more $$$ in order to not disappoint on Christmas morning.
The fact that you ended up with a package gives me hope. Perhaps it was just an address switch-a-roo and the other party will confess especially if he/she is contacted. The tough part is the start of the Chinese New Years which will bugger up all shipping from there for a month. Best of luck. The waiting is the hardest part.
anjenaire said:
Good luck getting it sorted out. I had ordered a low end DSLR Camera for my daughter for Christmas. It made it to within 15 miles of my house and then vanished at the FEDEX facility. By that point, everywhere was sold out of low end DSLR Camera, the original seller, Wal-Mart, was of no help other than sorry and refund my payment and I was left scrambling and finally had to fork over much more $$$ in order to not disappoint on Christmas morning.
The fact that you ended up with a package gives me hope. Perhaps it was just an address switch-a-roo and the other party will confess especially if he/she is contacted. The tough part is the start of the Chinese New Years which will bugger up all shipping from there for a month. Best of luck. The waiting is the hardest part.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's common for a lot of packages to go "missing" around Christmas time from UPS/FedEx and other carriers. I have had a few friends who have worked for FedEx and the stories they would tell convinced me to never order anything around Christmas time for delivery. At least you were able to get your money back
That's what I am hoping too. To track down whoever was supposed to get the one we got and ask them what they got instead, because they have to sign for it, so there will be a record of them receiving something... So we just have to find out if it was our stuff or not. Either way I'm sure they will be forced to return it...
We'll see what tomorrow brings.
Thanks for the moral support.
Did the Chinese supplier give your friend a tracking number? Does it match the DHL package you received? If it doesn't, then DHL is the one who messed up.
I hope everything turns out ok for you. I hate to hear stories like these. But I'm also an optimistic guy and I also give people the benefit of the doubt.
xmr405o said:
Did the Chinese supplier give your friend a tracking number? Does it match the DHL package you received?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya he did give us the tracking number and we tracked it all the way from hongkong to my friends doorstep. The mix up may have been when the agents fetched the package from him.
Have updated the original post with the latest news.
Have updated the original post with the latest news.
Updated again:
18 March 2011
If you are paying with Paypal or Credit card, get it refunded by them ...
y2k-inc said:
If you are paying with Paypal or Credit card, get it refunded by them ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We transfered to him in china.
And we can't get hold of him to ask for refund.
From all accounts the Xoom is a better tablet.
I have a ZPad and am extremly happy with it and the community work on it (pershot et al).
If I was I am buying to day it would be a Xoom and in a months time perhaps an asus based perhaps 6moths after that what ever Malata has or who every has the fastest at the time.
One thing that seems to stand out about the ZPad is that as Malata seem to manufactuer for others and the ZPad is almost their andriod reference platform*, there is an openess that one may not get from Motorola.
*from Dmesg "Machine:NVIDA Harmony Development System"
Very few HW things in the IT industry stay the best for long, even more so with emerging product lines just look at how netbooks evolved from low end devices to dual core atoms and 6hrsplus batt life in less than 6 months.
That is how I feel too.
The xoom is currently the best, and that's what I'm paying for. It isn't as open as Zpad, but it works without as much tweaking (micro SD and Host USB aside). And to be honest, that's what I really want, something stable that Just works.
I have placed my order to get the Xoom Wifi with a local company, they will get it from the US as soon as it releases, so it will ship on the 28th/29th and I should get it in at most a week from then.
Very Excited!!!
Will keep you posted. Hopefully this is where the Drama will end.
I have update the OP(original post) with the conclusion to my story.
I'm still a few hundred dollars worth out of pocket but over the moon about the outcome regardless.
Cheers

Tigerdirect Pulls the G-Tablet

Just a heads up: the Gtab is no longer on the website of tigerdirect in Canada or the US. Incidentally I doubt they sold all their stock: the local store here in London, Ontario had 5 as of yesterday (not counting the two that I returned for various hardware defects before getting a refund). Also, yesterday the TG website was showing "Buy today, ships today". Canadians should look for it for an even lower price now at places like factorydirect and XSCargo.
Maybe they are sold out?
Or maybe they started getting complaints that the software was buggy and that there was no way to fix it (the OTA updater just started working again in the last hour or so).
See my edit above. I doubt they ran out and I doubt it's a software issue because (at least in Canada) they would charge a 15% restocking fee if the item is not "defective" (which I understand to mean hardware). Having said that, given the crappy hardware I recieved not once but twice (damaged screen first time and sleep of death second time), I wouldn't be surprised if I'm not the only having hardware problems and that was what led them to pull it. Again, just speculating.
They are $280 again through woot. Search Amazon.
I bought mine from TD in Feb, I noticed they disappeared a few days after I made my purchase but then returned about a week later.. Could be they are sold out, they were selling for 299..
evilmonkey1987 said:
Just a heads up: the Gtab is no longer on the website of tigerdirect in Canada or the US. Incidentally I doubt they sold all their stock: the local store here in London, Ontario had 5 as of yesterday (not counting the two that I returned for various hardware defects before getting a refund). Also, yesterday the TG website was showing "Buy today, ships today". Canadians should look for it for an even lower price now at places like factorydirect and XSCargo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think that any of the stores have sold out. 2 months ago I spoke to the manager at the Office Depot I go to and asked their opinion of the Viewsonic Tablets and since I have gone there for over a decade they said it is the most returned product they sell. They had hopes Viewsonic would be able to fix the problem but it has been months and still riddled with problems. I just got my tablet a few weeks ago and tried to keep it stock due to warnings and possible new update "any day now". But I got so many FC's and crashes I had to put a cusotm ROM on. Thanks to TNT Lite and Vegan modders I have had only 1 FC in the 1 week of the new ROM.
Viewsonic should just send all distributers a sticker to put on the Tablet boxes that says: Sorry but you will need to get a ROM upgrade from XDA, Slate,.... to have a fully functioning tablet"
Just last night my son actually played with the Gtab and could not believe how quick and responsive it is and easily played YouTube!
evilmonkey1987 said:
Just a heads up: the Gtab is no longer on the website of tigerdirect in Canada or the US. Incidentally I doubt they sold all their stock: the local store here in London, Ontario had 5 as of yesterday (not counting the two that I returned for various hardware defects before getting a refund). Also, yesterday the TG website was showing "Buy today, ships today". Canadians should look for it for an even lower price now at places like factorydirect and XSCargo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great... just as I finally convinced myself to buy one and see the OTA updater works.
Anywhere else where we can buy those in Canada?
Sending mine for warranty already
Bought 2 gTablets, the first one is already going to warranty because one specific color (slightly off-white) is being displayed as a cyan color. sigh...
Hope the 2nd one doesn't go bust. I only had it for less than 3 weeks
TATDC said:
I don't think that any of the stores have sold out. 2 months ago I spoke to the manager at the Office Depot I go to and asked their opinion of the Viewsonic Tablets and since I have gone there for over a decade they said it is the most returned product they sell. They had hopes Viewsonic would be able to fix the problem but it has been months and still riddled with problems. I just got my tablet a few weeks ago and tried to keep it stock due to warnings and possible new update "any day now". But I got so many FC's and crashes I had to put a cusotm ROM on. Thanks to TNT Lite and Vegan modders I have had only 1 FC in the 1 week of the new ROM.
Viewsonic should just send all distributers a sticker to put on the Tablet boxes that says: Sorry but you will need to get a ROM upgrade from XDA, Slate,.... to have a fully functioning tablet"
Just last night my son actually played with the Gtab and could not believe how quick and responsive it is and easily played YouTube!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Just a counterpoint: I've had my Gtab (original) since late November, and have been on only stock since then. I did re-partition once to 2048/0, a long time ago, but the only times I've had problems w FCs was w the OOB initial firmware, and once when I installed an app (don't remember which one). The OTA update fixed the former, and doing Fix Permissions w CWM fixed the latter. I think that doing the re-partition early-on has saved me a lot of headaches, but stock has been stable for me.
Jim
I don't know if the earliertablets were better quality or not but I've also had my tab since November. Flashed almost all the roms on here and haven't had to nvflash yet (knock on wood). I did have to repartition the first time i tried bekkits cm based rom. Over the last six months have only seen one improvement after the next coming from the developers. Doesn't matter what your needs are there's a rom to fit them.
I ordered one through tigerdirect.ca and it seems to be coming from the USA through UPS. So who knows.
When they had the eBay sale last month, I picked one up. From that sale, they sold 376 of them. They may be sold out.
I actually have no trouble believing tigerdirect is pulling it due to high rate of returns. Let's admit it. For every person who wanders around and found xda, there are perhaps 10 others who never figured it out and were stuck with the stock rom. Without knowing about the repartition fix, a high number of them would eventually get FC's. The rest would be disappointed about not having google market because they never figured out how to fix market.
The gtab is a very fast and responsive tablet IFF you're willing to put some work into it. I've been fixing people's computers for years, and it's my experience that most users just don't want to bother with doing fixes.
This is the reason why I don't recommend the gtab to people. It's working just fine for myself and my elderly parents (and I'm a noobie with android modding). My elderly dad hasn't encountered a single issue other than calling me a few times to ask how to turn on the gps again (LOL).
If anything, the hype about the gtab should stop. We really don't need more whiners in our community. There should be a pinned thread telling people to go to buy an ipad.
goodintentions said:
My elderly dad hasn't encountered a single issue other than calling me a few times to ask how to turn on the gps again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't have a GPS...unless you're hooking one up externally through bluetooth.
What concerns me about the gtab is not the software issues, it's the hardware issues. From screens with dead pixels to sleep of death to problems with charger ports, it just seems like a cheaply built piece of equipment with no quality control. I wouldn't want people to get the wrong impression of android based on this tablet: I had a lot of fun playing with it and modding it. In the end, it's hardware issues that led me to return two consecutive gtabs. I'll be tenth in line to pick up the Asus Transform (after I read the reviews from the first nine early adopters )
I actually asked Tiger Direct if they were out of stock and this is their answer:
"Unfortunately the item is no longer available since the manufacturer already discontinued the item. Kindly call one of our sales representative at 800-800-8300 for further assistance in finding the comparable item."
I would say that is quite interesting. I guess it means Canadians are out of luck if we want a new unit...
So according to TD, the Gtab has been officially discontinued. Interesting...
I am not surprised to see that Viewsonic decide to discontinue the GTab. How could it compete with Asus Transformer? The other poster pointed out correctly, the GTab is rubbish with the stock ROM. People have to replace the ROM from day one and void the warranty. If I had known the price for the Transformer before I purchased the GTab, Viewsonic would have had one customer less now.
Amowagou said:
I am not surprised to see that Viewsonic decide to discontinue the GTab. How could it compete with Asus Transformer? The other poster pointed out correctly, the GTab is rubbish with the stock ROM. People have to replace the ROM from day one and void the warranty. If I had known the price for the Transformer before I purchased the GTab, Viewsonic would have had one customer less now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, but most people that bought it knew that and were planning to use a custom ROM anyway. I know I wanted to (I always use custom ROMS on all my electronics whenever possible).
But it would definitely explain why the GTab was so cheap these days.
roebeet said:
Maybe they are sold out?
Or maybe they started getting complaints that the software was buggy and that there was no way to fix it (the OTA updater just started working again in the last hour or so).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
probably .
my response from Tigerdirect.ca:
"We do apologize for the inconvenience.
Unfortunately our records indicate that this item is on backorder and should be available within this week.
You can chose to wait for the item or you may also contact one of our sales representatives at 1.800.800.8300 for further assistance finding a comparable item. Thank you for your time and patience."
If anyone knows where to find any in Canada right now please let me know.
Thanks!!

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