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Before I purchase the Infinity (I have been taking deep breathes since July 16), I am actually waiting for the new rooCase that will fit this device. So, to help me justify this $500 purchase, please reply with your 3 Pro's and 3 Con's about this device. No need for a long drawn out review, unless of course you want to!
CAVEAT: Please do not reply to this thread unless you have been using this device for more than 5 days!
Thanks all.
1.) The screen is absolutely wonderful, I can't point this out enough. And with the IPS+ mode, it's bright enough to use in daylight.
2.) The battery life. In power saving mode, you'll easily get 7-8 hours of moderate use (internet browsing/watching films). With the dock, you'll get at least that long even with moderate/heavy use.
3.) The dock. Seriously, sometimes you just need a real keyboard and touchpad. Also, it's nice to have the capability to use USB drives and old full-size SD cards
Moving on,
1.) The infamous I/O issues. The thing stutters if you try to do anything while downloading or copying files.
2.) The camera. It's horrible. It's supposed to be 8MP but the photos look far worse than my Galaxy S3. Furthermore, you look ridiculous using a 10" device to take photos. don't bother.
3.) The "speakers". There's only one, it's on the right side (so you might cover it with your hand by accident), and it's facing the wrong way. You need headphones or real speakers to properly enjoy the audio quality this thing is capable of outputting.
ZankerH said:
1.) The screen is absolutely wonderful, I can't point this out enough. And with the IPS+ mode, it's bright enough to use in daylight.
2.) The battery life. In power saving mode, you'll easily get 7-8 hours of moderate use (internet browsing/watching films). With the dock, you'll get at least that long even with moderate/heavy use.
3.) The dock. Seriously, sometimes you just need a real keyboard and touchpad. Also, it's nice to have the capability to use USB drives and old full-size SD cards
Moving on,
1.) The infamous I/O issues. The thing stutters if you try to do anything while downloading or copying files.
2.) The camera. It's horrible. It's supposed to be 8MP but the photos look far worse than my Galaxy S3. Furthermore, you look ridiculous using a 10" device to take photos. don't bother.
3.) The "speakers". There's only one, it's on the right side (so you might cover it with your hand by accident), and it's facing the wrong way. You need headphones or real speakers to properly enjoy the audio quality this thing is capable of outputting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think you can say more than this. The thing is very fast (minus when installing apps. Downloading had been fine for me so far). The games that take full advantage of the hardware are beautiful.
The camera is okay, a little better than on my Bionic in most conditions. But, yes, you look like a total idiot using something this big as a camera.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda app-developers app
So, feel free to flame, but I was writing something in another thread about tablets and the following came to mind:
Are tablets worth what we pay for them? Or are they just a marketing 're-deploy'? Allow me to expound:
Literally just before tablets careened onto the current computer scene(I know windows failed to promote tablets years back), there existed Netbooks. What it seems to me is that Netbooks are what the Industry thought we would want, A very portable yet still completely functional computer. As if even the small laptops weren't small enough...anyway. What I think happened is these things weren't cool enough. Maybe not powerful enough either, but that point should be moot because modern hardware can support this, as proven by current tablets.
I bought a Netbook and loved it, BUT I don't do a lot of gaming, just some simple web browsing, skyping, some skript kiddie type hacking. Plus for me the ultra small design was essential due to the nature of my work/constant traveling blah blah. This thing played movies, had the latest support of my favorite *nixes and performed pretty well except for battery life(typically a measly 3-4 hours) and of course gaming. Then came tablets; they look cooler, offer touch screen capabilities which sometimes feel as cumbersome as alt-tabbing, and have much much better battery and gaming performance, with the added benefit of blending nicely with the current "app store eco-structure".
Ahh, finally my point!!!:
A trend I see rising with tablets is the ability to add a keyboard and mouse....really? So what, then you have a laptop again? Or just the ability to go from cool-tech-but-not-too-nerdy tablet guy, to an fully functional device, and back again? I don't get it, other than the obvious shift to more clever marketing and selling us yet another device. On top of that I can use a USB 2.0 anything on my netbook, or be stuck with a proprietary connecter as with the Transform or iPad. Why would we choose this other than to look cool or because it's being shoved down our throats? What I see is a device (tablet) that is less fuctional, less productive, and more money compared to the more practical, just as portable netbook. I just miss the support of my Netbook, which I only paid $200 for....
Any thoughts...like maybe I'm a crazy hippy that needs to go live in a commune?
my points why my a500 is better use then a netbook,.
portability - no one can say its not easier to carry a slim tablet with a integrated keyboard
functionality - being able to do such things as stand in the street looking through the tab with the camera and seeing augmented reality deal, offer, new location without having to open startup, login and hold a massive block of hardware to do the same, and also a whole plethora of other uses such as barcode scanning, video making ,etc etc imaging scanning barcodes to find cheaper prices with a netbook,,,.,..one handed possible? probably not
battery life, my tablet can go 2days on a single charge with medium usage, a netbook would last a few hours,
i can do pretty much anything on my a500 i can do on my laptop.
i can access and use my laptop with screen and sound from anywhere else in the world.....from my a500 tablet (phonemypc)
also most usb devices connect to my a500 i think the only thing my lappy has that my tablet doesnt is a dvd drive, but the one in my lappy is dusty as hell as i download all my movies and move them between devices to play in diff' areas anyway. and then again my laptop has no gps. and only a front camera
if my laptop im writting this message with was a tablet it would probably be a crap one lol
no gps,no touchscreen, no back camera, front camera is weak no accelerometer no hdmi port lol etc etc
Major edit:
I see your point and don't want to convolute my thoughts too much. I just think a lot of the things you mentioned could be implemented, if the money was there.
You have pointed out that I have kind of answered my own questions...
Why tablets, because the phone market was so successfull and it allows for a lot of control on the developers end of the OS, so it's easier to implement the apps, market place as apposed to a traditional PC software sales setup.
r0zj0k3r said:
I think that depends on what you want to do. with my netbook, I literally could do everything I could on my computer because they were the same OS!!! That means, compiling software, video/audio editing, skype with group video , a similar app store could be integrated into a netbook style os (see ubuntu store). The industry just doesn't want to push it, and because it was easier to shift from phones to what amount to "really big phones"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you think that the new windows OS will allow you to switch between a Tablet and your Netbook without loose of functionality?
warus1 said:
Do you think that the new windows OS will allow you to switch between a Tablet and your Netbook without loose of functionality?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it would be a great way for windows to break away from the pack, but I don't think they want to do that now. They seem to be in the same mode as everyone else, lets follow the market instead of trying really new things.
Hi Everyone,
I'm very interested in the Infinity and am currently deciding between this and the Nexus 10. I wanted to ask if anyone has experience using their Infinity for photography purposes. Is it a useful tool whilst travelling? With the USB and SD connections, it seems like it would be.
Has anyone used Photoshop Touch on it and how does it run?
I travel a lot and have a Sony NEX-6. Whilst travelling I would want to review and do some minor editing on certain photo's. I would then keep a selection of favourites from each trip on the device and transfer the remainder to a HDD. Would all this be possible with the Infinity, or would it be too slow?
Cheers,
Mike
Mikeparakh said:
Hi Everyone,
I'm very interested in the Infinity and am currently deciding between this and the Nexus 10. I wanted to ask if anyone has experience using their Infinity for photography purposes. Is it a useful tool whilst travelling? With the USB and SD connections, it seems like it would be.
Has anyone used Photoshop Touch on it and how does it run?
I travel a lot and have a Sony NEX-6. Whilst travelling I would want to review and do some minor editing on certain photo's. I would then keep a selection of favourites from each trip on the device and transfer the remainder to a HDD. Would all this be possible with the Infinity, or would it be too slow?
Cheers,
Mike
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm also photographer and traveler. I haven't used Photoshop Touch yet, but my only suggestion is to get a mouse or a nice stylus. Also, I just read the Photoshop Touch specs on the Play Store and it says only supports up to 12MP images. I have a Canon T2I which shoots at 18MP. I don't like the idea of having to reduce my photos.
adampdx said:
I'm also photographer and traveler. I haven't used Photoshop Touch yet, but my only suggestion is to get a mouse or a nice stylus. Also, I just read the Photoshop Touch specs on the Play Store and it says only supports up to 12MP images. I have a Canon T2I which shoots at 18MP. I don't like the idea of having to reduce my photos.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you use to make minor adjustments to any photo's, if anything? Also, how do you find the speed at which it reads the memory cards and transfers the photo's? Thanks
I did exactly this, works great, 64 gb class 10 micro on an adaptor to full size for the camera, pull out and straight into the tablet too check out the snaps, was great. Used quick pic for the viewer, didn't do much Photoshop stuff at all to, leave that to the pc.
Sent from my Xperia S using XDA Premium HD app
I have used the dock to transfer my images (Nikon D90, RAW but not immensely large, mind you) to the internal memory and microSD. It works well, but the programs I have used to see the pictures on screen can only use the embedded JPEG -- which, in my opinion, is inadequate to properly evaluate an image.
If purely oriented towards a backup-creating process (negating the seeming lack of digital negative evaluation options -- more on that in the last paragraph), the TF700 could fit in nicely.... Obviously, this depends on a lot of factors, such as the number of shots you make in a session, their file size, working conditions (access to regular power supply, location and climate of shooting, etc.) and availability of memory cards and so on, and so forth. (This might be obvious to you, but I'm just adding this for people who might be less experienced in the matter, purely as considerations.)
I haven't used PS Touch yet, but I've heard it said that its options are relatively limited and crude by photographers far more experienced than I am -- especially given the high standards of its desktop sibling. I use Aviary:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aviary.android.feather
although I like Photo Editor as well:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.iudesk.android.photo.editor
A good stylus will certainly help, as it keeps the screen a bit cleanlier -- the fatty smudges do interfere with clarity and rendition, especially when under harsher lighting conditions. Also, for most people, it's a lot thinner than their fingers allowing for more precise control.
I have been taken down lately with a double pneumonia, have young kids and hospital shifts to work, and had my eyesight corrected by LASER in December last year (and the eyesight is appreciably worse than my previously damn near perfect eyesight with glasses) ---- the photography has been put on hold for now. (Not for technical reasons, but I just enjoy it a lot less currently. It's a shame, I know, but it's the same with me and my then-new motorcycle. ) Therefore, I haven't looked around for a proper RAW import/conversion solution that could actually contribute to (or make some groundwork for) the workflow normally done at a desktop system. Sorry.
Mikeparakh said:
What do you use to make minor adjustments to any photo's, if anything? Also, how do you find the speed at which it reads the memory cards and transfers the photo's? Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Amazingly, Android's built-in gallery has a nice, albeit basic compliment of effects. The degree of control is less than then you might find other places, but I'm a fan of Picasa's desktop featureset and I prefer suttle changes to my photos. If you need to make changes to saturation or contrast, or go black and white then the Android app will do it.
Don't bother using Photoshop Touch. It's more for Art than Photography.
I use RawVision by caketuzz and PicShop - Photo Editor by esDot Development Studio.
It did take about 30 hoops just to be able to buy them. Dear Google, Europe doesn't use bloody credit cards.
Keep in mind the I/O issue, copying might take longer than you're used to.
Mikeparakh said:
Hi Everyone,
I'm very interested in the Infinity and am currently deciding between this and the Nexus 10. I wanted to ask if anyone has experience using their Infinity for photography purposes. Is it a useful tool whilst travelling? With the USB and SD connections, it seems like it would be.
Has anyone used Photoshop Touch on it and how does it run?
I travel a lot and have a Sony NEX-6. Whilst travelling I would want to review and do some minor editing on certain photo's. I would then keep a selection of favourites from each trip on the device and transfer the remainder to a HDD. Would all this be possible with the Infinity, or would it be too slow?
Cheers,
Mike
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just used mine for a trip to Tanzania, wanting to minimize weight and size as much as possible. Worked very nicely as a laptop replacement.
I have 64gb MicroSD Class 10 in the Tablet, and another 64gb SD Class 10 in the Dock. I used a Lexar UDMA Card reader to transfer both CF and SD cards from my Canon 1D Mark IV and my wife's Canon 7D, using X-Plorer or the built-in File Manager to handle the file copying. Worked surprisingly fast.
I used Photo Mate Professional for image review. It does use the built-in Jpeg for preview, but there is an advantage to this. When I use Bridge, I have to allow a considerable amount of time to generate the preview files, while with its using the Jpeg, they're ready for review right away. I just had to be conservative in my culling, to make sure I didn't delete otherwise good images. But it was still fairly easy to eliminate images that were clearly out of focus or otherwise not worth keeping.
I used a USB powered Seagate 500gb External HD as my second backup. It worked fine when plugged into the USB port on the Dock, and was also faster than I might have thought. All in all, it ended up being a very small and practical system.
Photo Mate Professional does have some editing capabilities, but honestly I had so little free-time (we were out shooting for almost all daylight hours, and when back at our lodges, there wasn't much time or energy for more than just the basics). I will check out some of the other editors mentioned.
The battery life was quite good, and the display was gorgeous. HD Videos from each camera looked extremely good, and played quite well, on the display.
One drawback with the Android OS - there is no recycle bin. If you inadvertently delete an image, it's gone for good. This did create some problems, and I had to leave one CF card unused for the rest of the trip, so I could recover some video files when I returned. I'll have to see if there is any 'recover' apps for Android that would do this.
PM or Email me if you'd like any additional details.
Good luck!
Don
(dlc at dlcphoto dot com)
DLCPhoto said:
I just used mine for a trip to Tanzania, wanting to minimize weight and size as much as possible. Worked very nicely as a laptop replacement.
I have 64gb MicroSD Class 10 in the Tablet, and another 64gb SD Class 10 in the Dock. I used a Lexar UDMA Card reader to transfer both CF and SD cards from my Canon 1D Mark IV and my wife's Canon 7D, using X-Plorer or the built-in File Manager to handle the file copying. Worked surprisingly fast.
I used Photo Mate Professional for image review. It does use the built-in Jpeg for preview, but there is an advantage to this. When I use Bridge, I have to allow a considerable amount of time to generate the preview files, while with its using the Jpeg, they're ready for review right away. I just had to be conservative in my culling, to make sure I didn't delete otherwise good images. But it was still fairly easy to eliminate images that were clearly out of focus or otherwise not worth keeping.
I used a USB powered Seagate 500gb External HD as my second backup. It worked fine when plugged into the USB port on the Dock, and was also faster than I might have thought. All in all, it ended up being a very small and practical system.
Photo Mate Professional does have some editing capabilities, but honestly I had so little free-time (we were out shooting for almost all daylight hours, and when back at our lodges, there wasn't much time or energy for more than just the basics). I will check out some of the other editors mentioned.
The battery life was quite good, and the display was gorgeous. HD Videos from each camera looked extremely good, and played quite well, on the display.
One drawback with the Android OS - there is no recycle bin. If you inadvertently delete an image, it's gone for good. This did create some problems, and I had to leave one CF card unused for the rest of the trip, so I could recover some video files when I returned. I'll have to see if there is any 'recover' apps for Android that would do this.
PM or Email me if you'd like any additional details.
Good luck!
Don
(dlc at dlcphoto dot com)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you Don, that is a fantastic reply, very helpful.
I'm leaning closer to this tablet everyday. Have you installed a custom ROM on yours or do you just run as it came? How do you find the speed, as this seems to be the biggest complain (Mainly with the I/O).
I don't need any strong editing software. I'm in no way a professional photographer, more of an amateur with a keen interest. especially whilst travelling. So a small Tablet solution would be useful for my travels and I plan to sell my 08' Macbook and just live off the tablet.
Mike
Mikeparakh said:
Thank you Don, that is a fantastic reply, very helpful.
I'm leaning closer to this tablet everyday. Have you installed a custom ROM on yours or do you just run as it came? How do you find the speed, as this seems to be the biggest complain (Mainly with the I/O).
I don't need any strong editing software. I'm in no way a professional photographer, more of an amateur with a keen interest. especially whilst travelling. So a small Tablet solution would be useful for my travels and I plan to sell my 08' Macbook and just live off the tablet.
Mike
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad this was helpful.
I'm purely stock ROM, JB 4.1.1 - no root, no ROM, etc.
The speed in general I found to be just fine. Working with Photo Mate Professional, moving from one file to the next, zooming in, etc., was reasonably and acceptably quick. Not instantaneous, but quite workable. When I played around with its editing function, this was slower, but I haven't done much to see if this could be optimized further with its settings options.
When WiFi was available, it functioned just fine for email, browsing, Skype, Google Voice for texting, etc. So quite serviceable as a laptop replacement for those functions.
Don
---------- Post added at 09:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:36 AM ----------
A few other comments:
As far as I can see, the various photo editors mentioned elsewhere in this thread will not work with Raw files, if you shoot Raw (which I strongly recommend if you're reasonably serious about your photography): Photo Editor, Aviary, PicShop Photo Editor, etc. They probably work just fine with jpegs.
RawVision is able to work with Raw files, but apparently has a problem with folders with a large number of files. I also used RawDroid on my trip, and it proved unworkable for the same reason - it stopped working when opening a folder with a few hundred images in it.
So far Photo Mate Professional is the best app I've found to work with Raw Files.
MartyHulskemper said:
I have used the dock to transfer my images (Nikon D90, RAW but not immensely large, mind you) to the internal memory and microSD. It works well, but the programs I have used to see the pictures on screen can only use the embedded JPEG -- which, in my opinion, is inadequate to properly evaluate an image.
If purely oriented towards a backup-creating process (negating the seeming lack of digital negative evaluation options -- more on that in the last paragraph), the TF700 could fit in nicely.... Obviously, this depends on a lot of factors, such as the number of shots you make in a session, their file size, working conditions (access to regular power supply, location and climate of shooting, etc.) and availability of memory cards and so on, and so forth. (This might be obvious to you, but I'm just adding this for people who might be less experienced in the matter, purely as considerations.)
I haven't used PS Touch yet, but I've heard it said that its options are relatively limited and crude by photographers far more experienced than I am -- especially given the high standards of its desktop sibling. I use Aviary:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aviary.android.feather
although I like Photo Editor as well:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.iudesk.android.photo.editor
A good stylus will certainly help, as it keeps the screen a bit cleanlier -- the fatty smudges do interfere with clarity and rendition, especially when under harsher lighting conditions. Also, for most people, it's a lot thinner than their fingers allowing for more precise control.
I have been taken down lately with a double pneumonia, have young kids and hospital shifts to work, and had my eyesight corrected by LASER in December last year (and the eyesight is appreciably worse than my previously damn near perfect eyesight with glasses) ---- the photography has been put on hold for now. (Not for technical reasons, but I just enjoy it a lot less currently. It's a shame, I know, but it's the same with me and my then-new motorcycle. ) Therefore, I haven't looked around for a proper RAW import/conversion solution that could actually contribute to (or make some groundwork for) the workflow normally done at a desktop system. Sorry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not a photographer but I have used ps touch with some success. I must agree that a stylus or mouse is a big help. Not to hijack, but what dont you like about your LASIK? I had it one year ago and i am happy with the results.
DLCPhoto said:
One drawback with the Android OS - there is no recycle bin. If you inadvertently delete an image, it's gone for good. This did create some problems, and I had to leave one CF card unused for the rest of the trip, so I could recover some video files when I returned. I'll have to see if there is any 'recover' apps for Android that would do this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've used Undelete before with rather good results. It's best if you have it installed before any image files need to be recovered, as it is under other OSes.
rlm0n0 said:
Not to hijack, but what dont you like about your LASIK? I had it one year ago and i am happy with the results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NP, will answer this as short as I can while not skipping stuff. If you want to know more, PM me, OK? Thanks in advance. Here goes.
I did not have a traditional LASEK or LASIK -- I had an EPI-LASIK. It involves scraping off the epithelium of the cornea, refraction surgery, and then a week of growing the epithelium back.
Two main reasons for not liking it:
1. I had a visus of 130 before -- so 30% more acuity than the average "very good" vision; came in handy in the military -- and while I knew beforehand that they cannot reach that level of refraction correction at this point in time, I'm rather disappointed with the loss of acuity in relative terms. I did win in terms of comfort: going swimming with my kids, showering, all kinds of other stuff, all without glasses -- but, for example, taking the motorcycle for a ride has been a no-no for me the past year.
OK, except for the trip to Breda (about 150 km) to get the TF700 before it retail. That was too much.
2. The dry eyes... Oh, the dry eyes...
MartyHulskemper said:
I've used Undelete before with rather good results. It's best if you have it installed before any image files need to be recovered, as it is under other OSes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I looked in Google Play but don't find any App called 'Undelete'. Did find 'Dumpster' but it has fairly mixed reviews.
Which app are you referring to, and how reliable and practical has it been for you?
DLCPhoto said:
I looked in Google Play but don't find any App called 'Undelete'. Did find 'Dumpster' but it has fairly mixed reviews.
Which app are you referring to, and how reliable and practical has it been for you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was called "Undelete"... Since Android does not have an actual "Recycle Bin" feature, the reliability is dependent on the apps' code itself. I tested it in the past, and it did dependently recover a few images for me I deleted (on purpose, of course). However...
I don't have the backup apk file anymore, it seems, but I am more than a bit disconcerted by it not being available anymore on the Play Store. (It is an app from the Google Market era, but Google transplanted everything to the Play Store... Could it have been one of the apps containing malicious code in that infamous wave back then? File recovery software is a well-known route for viruses, Trojans, etc., -- especially in the case of image recovery software, where the images' owner will probably do anything possible to recover his/her accidentally-deleted files.
Either that scenario, or the author pulled it from support due to personal reasons, I hope the latter. Luckily, with my Flashing OCD at the time, the period of data harvesting would have been limited at best.
Hello there,
in september 2012 I bought my first tablet, a LC-Power MIRA-1. Shortly after, on the 19th I posted a [Q] post here because I had a few questions. In the following weeks, some replies back and forth, more quirks came to light.
In short, I was semi-happy with the MIRA-1 (everything was fine save a few situations where the single-core tablet speed could not really keep up, for example, starting firefox and the keyboard, it always froze 2-3 secs "firefox is not responding. close/wait?")
Still, I do believe, I learned some valuable lessons about android and others with the MIRA-1 or thinking about getting one were helped too.
Fade in today.
I recently bought the new LC-Power SINA-1. It cost me 200EUR (Germany). In comparison, the MIRA-2 (which is like the MIRA-1 with an extra camera and a smaller rechargeable battery) still costs 160 EUR
I found the new SINA-1 to be a very interesting product, especially considering the price.
I came here to write my own review. I am in no way affiliated with LC-Power and I do not get a dime for writing this.
My motive for writing this and yes, maybe even advertise, is very simple. First of all, xda-developer has helped me before and I'd like to give back. More importantly however, I believe in tablets that do not cost an arm and an leg as well as the android (modding) community. I would very much love to see the LC-Power tablets get the attention they deserve...
Thank you for keeping with me so far. Let us begin!
Technical specs for the new SINA-1 tablet:
CPU: ARM Cortex A9 Dual Core 1,5GHz
GPU: Mali 400 QuadCore 250MHz
RAM: 1GB DDR3
Memory: System 1GB + 16GB NAND Flash (+ MicroSD up to 32GB)
Display: 10.1" IPS 5 Point Touchscreen, 1280x800
Networking: 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0
Cameras: 0.3MP front, 2MP back
Connectors: micro-HDMI out, micro-USB host, micro-USB connector, 3.5mm headphones jack
OS: Android 4.1
Want to know more? google it
As I mentioned before, the tablet costs 200 EUR (Onlineshop, Germany, Dec, 15th 2012)
Material and built quality:
The first impression is very good. The tablet feels solid, has a certain weight to it, but is not too heavy.
The front appears to be glas and if it is not, it must be a very hard plastic. The back is made out of aluminium. I have no doubt that both can be scratched, please forgive me for not doing the experimentation on that. However, in a few days of extensive (time) yet normal (application) use, I have yet to see any marks besides fingerprints.
Where the front and back meet I can not feel any sharp edge (MIRA-1 I could).
It is very thin (quite a bit thinner than the MIRA tablet and a bit higher as well)
Overall, I would give the material and quality very good marks. I dont doubt that it could be better in some regard, even if I can't name one right now.
Display (visual):
The 1280x800 resolution suits the tablet well. It is definately a neccesary step up from 1024x768 (MIRA). Even if I did not exactly see pixalation with the old ones, the picture is indeed better with the higher resolution. Webpages like reddit look sharp, the text in 100% zoom is not too small. Pictures look vivid and good. Videos are even better (given the source material is of sufficient resolution itself).
The viewing angles are what you would expect from an IPS panel. Frontal (no angle) is best, the more you move to the side and increase the angle, the more you lose contrast and brightness. I have seen worse and have yet to observe the "picture went negative", but viewing some content with 2-3 people should not be a problem when you dont mind sticking your heads together
The brightness (350cd/m²) is good, in fact, in a dark room you may want to lower it a bit. Even on the lowest setting it is not too dark.
The contrast is equally good, or should I say "normal". It did not attract attention, neither positive nor negative...
First tests with a bright (300W) lightsource led me to believe that the glossy display does not become a shaving mirror when you have a bright light behind you, but it is definately harder to see the picture. Especially noticeable with movies.
Due to it being winter without sun, I can not test the tablet with summer-sun-brightness outside. I fear the results will not be too good. You may want to keep that in mind if you live in africa and will be using the tablet in the sun - might be trouble. (Then again, I don't know any tablet that has a matte display)
The illumination (is that the right word?) - the background light source illuminating the display with the same brightness consistenly - is adequate. There are a few bright spots (tested with a black fullscreen per 1.0 eyeball), especially on the lower left corner/border).
It is not noticeable when looking at brightly coloured images, but it will be a nuisance when watching a movie which is very dark.
I felt that here, my old MIRA-1 did do better. There, I never noticed bright spots like this before.
Display (touch):
The 5-point-capacitive display does very well in accepting touches, even light ones. 2-point touch (zoom) works equally great and the short test with fruit ninja confirmes that 5 points can be tracked. I did not experience any noticeable lag with 1,2 or 5 points in normal operation.
If you take a paint app and draw with your finger, a slight lag can be observed, however, as I understand current technology, this is common and just the way it is.
In conclusion, the display visually is adequate. Are there better displays out there? Yes, definately. Do you get them for 200 EUR? Definately not! Do you need a better display? Well, I can not answer that for you. In my opinion, the illumination is the only real and still overlookable drawback, everything else is fine. 8/10
The touchscreen part of the display is as it should be. I can not really imagine some way to improve it. 10/10
Together 9/10
Actual Performance:
The performance is quite good and right were it should be. There are faster tablets and phones out there and if we were talking about speed in my workstation or gaming rig, I would be right there with the "FASTER!!!!"-crowd. But since I don't plan on playing skyrim or bf3, rendering 3d images or encoding hd-videos on the tablet, I dont need huge speed reserves, I want a tablet that performs well with the usual tasks like webpage browsing, playing media files and so on.
As mentioned before, this is one of the main problems I had with the old MIRA tablet. 2-3sec freezes, applications (mainly the browser) that did not react and had to be waited for. With the SINA-1 they are gone. The OS works like a charm, switching applications goes instantly, browsing webpages is fun and the waiting in the browser now is for the reason it should be - networking speed! (browsing with firefox+adblock+hackers keyboard)
Since the old MIRA did perform well with movies and the games that I tested, it is no wonder that the SINA-1 does perform equally good. HD videos work well, jumping around in them works fast, even over HDMI with 1920x1080.
And I have yet to find a game that does not run perfectly on the SINA-1. I have tested the occasional gamer games like Angry Birds, some RPGs and even some 3D shooters.
It is hard to give points for the performance. On the one hand, I am fully satisfied (10/10), on the other hand are tablets and phones being sold with much much more power, at least on paper.
Button/Connector placement:
There are only two buttons, power and volume up/down. Both are placed on the right higher side, where I would have placed them myself. They feel high-quality (they dont dangle/wiggle) and have a distinct pressure point that needs some force. This helps you in knowing when you actually pressed the button and not press buttons by accident.
The connectors are on top (right side). One exception would be the headphone jack which is on the right side above the buttons.
The USB host (where you can plug in normal usb devices) is no longer a common USB port (like MIRA had), but a micro-USB. A short adapter cable came with the tablet.
The normal USB host (where you connect your tablet with the pc to access the memory/sdcard from the pc) is also micro-USB. A longer cable came with the tablet.
I would have liked the normal USB port to stay.
Also, these two distinct different USB ports look the same. Some attention must be payed to not confuse them.
HDMI is mini-HDMI. Adapter did NOT come with the tablet. (Which would have been nice!)
Power In is 5V at 2.5A. Adapter came with the tablet (duh!) - the cable is a bit short for my taste. About the same as with the MIRA before.
Note: the tablets rechargeable battery can no longer be loaded over USB
The connectors are close together, but not too close. you should be able to connect all 3/4 with power at the same time.
The microSD slot is on the right side, almost on the back.
Speaker: The speaker(s?) is on the backside. I feel like the device is not as loud as the MIRA tablets, but still works well for watching movies or listening to music in a normal room when you are alone.
Software:
Android 4.1 is working great.
Some might argue there are a few needless apps preinstalled. For example Google Maps and Navigation on a device which has no GPS and no mobile internet built in.
But there is no real crapware either.
Google Play:
Google Play is installed and working fine. The device gets shown as "Rockchip SINA-1"
I did run into some trouble with my old MIRA-1 and some apps. A few were apparently not compatible (although I did not understand why), others that were compatible did refuse to install (I can not and will not exclude a layer 8 problem here)
All those apps work now with the SINA-1. Install is fast and there is no trouble. The 16GB memory will suffice for a lot of apps.
Battery:
The rechargeable battery is a bit less powerfull than the one in the MIRA-1 and a bit more powerfull than the one in the MIRA-2.
Still, with the higher speed and I would assume, higher resolution, more power is needed. Hence with usage, the charging level does indeed go down. Quite a bit faster than with the MIRA-1. I will have to correct my earlier estimate from 5-6hrs down to 4-5hrs.
In fact, bring your loader if you are gonna go out all day and will be using the tablet much.
Support:
LC-Power is usually quick in answering normal support emails, but they will not exactly fall over each other trying to resolve any exotic issue that might come up. Maybe if you speak mandarin and mail them directly at tech and dev headquarters in probably china you might have some luck, but I doubt that the LC-Power people in Germany, USA or UK or ... had much to say about developing the device and customizing the android (except of course, maybe some translation)
Also, do not expect regular android updates or any long time support and new android versions. 2-3 months ago I was promised 4.1 for the MIRA-1, still hasn't been released.
Connectivety:
Wireless LAN b/g/n is working as intended. I feel however, that the signal strength is weaker than with the MIRA-1 tablet.
Bluetooth: What can I say. Its Bluetooth. Its there, it can be used, it works...
Mobile internet: Only per additional USB dongle (or tether your mobile phone...)
Ethernet: Apparently there are USB dongles for Ethernet LAN out there. Havent seen one yet, but I havent looked hard either.
Modding:
So far, there has yet to establish a big LC-Power community with modders, mods and custom roms. I really really hope it will happen some time. But dont hold your breath, you are on your own. Spread the word of the LC-Power devices, lets get a high enough market share an the chances of a active modding community will rise dramatically. Or do it yourself...
So...
if you dont care about mods and custom roms, the SINA-1 is ok for you.
If you want to play around, learn android, program aps, make mods, maybe even a custom rom, feel free to give the SINA-1 a try.
If you want to download the newest custom ROM, install it per 10 step manual and prag in school about your mad hacking and modding skills, look someplace else...
Rooting:
The device does not come pre-rooted. (MIRA did)
I welcome that change to some degree. I honestly believe in not giving the run-of-the-mill users the ability to break something beyond their own (or even some specialist) capability to repair it.
Then again, I also am not fond of the tricks one has to employ to actually root a device IF someone knows what he is doing and wants to use a device to its full potential.
That being said, it was relatively easy to root the SINA-1. Instructions at the end of my review
One last sentence about the stock ROM. It is not available for download (at least I could not find it). I know of no way to reflash it or recover a bricked device. You wont find extensive help, manuals and tipps to that end. Make sure to have an appropriate backup and/or tread carefully.
I myself will investigate, if you have any insight into that topic, feel free to contact me...
Summary/Conclusion
I really like this tablet. A lot. I found it superior to the MIRA-1 in almost all aspects (especially speed, compatability, screen resolution and build quality). It has however its week points (battery run time, uneven lightning of the display).
Since it is a 10" tablet without mobile internet, it obviously was made for home usage. Browsing webpages from the couch, watching a movie while your in a room without a TV, or listening to music without bringing your stereo, add a game now and then when you are bored. This is where this tablet shines. I could imagine it being used in a work environment / office as well. And when the batterie gets low, you hook it up.
The occasional traveler should be happy as well. Get a dongle or tether it to your phone and you can surf the web in the bus/train. Hook up your headphones and watch a movie (just hope the sun doesnt shine too much). Also, dont expect the tablet to last a flight around the world without loading up...
All in all, a very decent device with a very attractive price.
So should you get it? Well, it depends...
If you have a MIRA-1 or 2 and you are really happy with them, you dont care about waiting 1-2sec for some apps. Then dont get the SINA-1
If you have ANY other single core tablet that is not up to its tasks, makes you wait for apps, annoys you in some way, yes, give the SINA-1 a try - and sell the old one for some cash...
If you are thinking about getting the MIRA-1 or 2 (or another similar single-core device), try really hard to look for the other 40 EUR and get the SINA-1. Or get the MIRA used for like half its retail (~80 EUR), but be warned about the possibility of the tablet being to slow now and then
If you have another dual-core (or more) high-end tablet, probably with a big name on it like some fruit or samsung or nexus.. Sure, buy it. whats another 200 EUR. Or dont, I dont think it will be an upgrade. Just another tablet, even if it is a decent one
the get it or dont get it reasons in the modding subsection still apply
I myself regret nothing. I watch movies in bed, I surf the web on the couch. If I am really lazy I even open up teamviewer to do 2-3 clicks on my PC without getting up. I take the tablet with me on train rides and watch a movie or surf the web with my phone tethered. And I recently started to use it at work for presentations (put my notes on it). And when I am bored, I do play a game now and then.
Mind you, I did/could have done all that with the old tablet as well. But it sure makes more fun now
End of the review---
I certainly hope that this rewritten and formated review is more informative and better on the eyes.
I think I got most of my english mistakes as well.
I hope this helps some folk decide
If you have questions, feel free to ask them here. I will try to look back now and then and answer those questions.
good day
Catwiesel, Germany
Addendum:
How to root the SINA-1
Disclaimer: no guarantee, you break it, not my fault bla bla...
First, it was not difficult. It was done by the "root with restore by bin4ry method"
step 1: enable usb-debugging and allow installing of "foreign apk's" (or whats it called in english)
step 2: get a usb driver for windows (7 x64 in my case)
step 2b: since you probably wont find a driver, modify the google drivers from the android development sdk. add the line to the google.ntx86 and ntamd64 block:
%CompositeAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_2207&PID_0010&MI_01
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
step 3: add the file adb_usb.ini at /users/[username]/.android directory with the following line:
0x2207
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
(i had to do this in my user account and in the administrator account*)
step 4: connect the tablet with your pc, make sure all drivers were installed and usb debugging is on
step 5: google, find and download the zip archive with the batch file, scripts and tools needed
(root_with_restore_by_bin4ry_v17.zip did it for me)
step 6: extract the archive, best to some easily found directory like c:\rootit
step 7: start a command line (cmd.exe) (as administrator?)
note: the actual rooting only worked for me when i started the command line as administrator
step 8: start runme.bat from c:\rootit, ch
step 9: choose method 1, wait for it to finish
(all this information was googled and very little trial and error. did not take me more than 30mins with no clue before hand whatsover)
Drivers
can you please explain how did you installed drivers?
I'm having troubles following your manual. I need sina-1 for developing but i can't connect it with adb cause drivers aren't installed correctly.
tnx for review.. I bought SINA-2 and use your method of rooting and it works.. have U tried some custom rom already? I don't know which is compatible with my device...
Does anybody know how to flash recovery or custom rom to this tablet. I have googled and nothing found. Maybe there is no recovery or custom rom for this device.
Update 9 months later
very small update after a few months of light and sporatic use:
- rechargeable batterie runtime:
I might have overestimated the runtime originally. additionally, rechargeable batteries dont get better over time...
that means that you really will be running to the charger a lot at home and should take it with you.
do not expect to be able to surf the web or watch movies the whole day without recharging.
- wireless range:
the wireless range is really really bad.
I originally stated it to be not great, but actually it is really bad.
No other device I ever had or currently have had a worse range.
expect slow transfer speeds even when directly next to the router
expect trouble even behind one wall / more than 5m away
expect no connection or unuseable for anything expect the most rudimentary stuff (getting an email) behind more then 1 wall and/or more than 5m away
--> apparently this WAS a problem with the earlier SINA-1 tablets and LC-Power will fix it. This would also mean that the newer ones should not have this problem
--> this bad wireless connection might also be a reason for the bad batterie runtime
- micro-sd:
I've had bad trouble with my 32GB MicroSD card(s) (SANDISK 32GB SDHC microSD Class 10)
the previous tablet (mira-1) took it, my even older mobile took it, the SINA-1 did not...
since my 8GB and 16GB cards were working I thought my 32gb card is incompatibel
--> A few weeks ago I could test another SINA-1 (new), no trouble with my 32gb microsd...
- Android
no new android / update has been released by LC-Power (that I can find)
- Modding:
still no real community
- Apps / Games
a few games (that might need a somewhat more powerfull device) that I can tell you are working are:
magicka, pokerstars, terraria
- built, glas, buttons
after light and cautious use over many months, the tablet can still look like new (if you clean it)
I have no scratches, no color scraping off, the buttons dont wobble. its like new
- the power-in jack
this needs a mention too, since it really is not well done. the plug fits, but will fall out very very easily.
best not to move the tablet when you have it plugged in
conclusion:
my first review still stands more or less... for its price this is a okay tablet
if the wlan is indeed being fixed and the batterie will run a bit longer for the current sold devices, this is still a good buy for ~150 EUR
since I do not really know what is wrong with the microsd issue (my tablet broken? newer tablets unaffected) I can not use it for reviewing. but be warned
HOWEVER...
there is a new LC-Power SINA-2 tablet that I will be reviewing soon...
I will post the link later
Thank you so much for sharing.
Very useful review, thank you.
Sent from my LT30p using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Front camera not supporting video calls
Hi!
I was wondering if anyone who owns this tab had any issues with incoming/outgoing video calls (via skype/facebook/ooVoo).
Fact is, I can't make video calls via any of the above software, when i try, skype just blanks out and goes to previous screen. When incoming calls arrive it does the same but it says that I have a missed call.
OoVoo on the other hand connects to video call but automatically uses the back camera instead of front.
I don't get it. Any advices/ideas?
Thx
Here you go guys This tablet got CM10.2 fully working, with stock kernel <3
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=58477955&postcount=1187
Hope this helps!
The Grüß,
H.
And Sina 2 review?
Hey not sure on any of the reasons why you wouldn't be able to do this, but I had an idea.
Replacement s10 rear camera parts are roughly $30 or so...
I would like to purchase a few of them in addition to the ones I have.
Then hook them up to a virtual / emulated phone run off my pc... So they would still be able to process the images / video as if they where connected to an actual phone...
(Not sure if this is necessary but I assume so.)
Ideally I would like them to be wireless so I'm thinking some sort of raspberry pi...
(Not sure at all though... Just sounds like a logical to me)
The purpose is simple...
Have a few replacement s10 camera small and compact to be able to use on drones place them around and use them as camera's.
As far the the technical aspect I have no idea...
Not sure what software or hardware to use...
Or if they can be used with 3rd party hardware / software.
(please let me know)
If you have another solution that's awesome, but I would prefer the route of connecting replacement s10 or any model camera as I already have a few from damaged phones etc....
Would love to here what you phone guru's have to say.
Peace
Mike.
Yes its beautiful looks
MIKE.MAN said:
Hey not sure on any of the reasons why you wouldn't be able to do this, but I had an idea.
Replacement s10 rear camera parts are roughly $30 or so...
I would like to purchase a few of them in addition to the ones I have.
Then hook them up to a virtual / emulated phone run off my pc... So they would still be able to process the images / video as if they where connected to an actual phone...
(Not sure if this is necessary but I assume so.)
Ideally I would like them to be wireless so I'm thinking some sort of raspberry pi...
(Not sure at all though... Just sounds like a logical to me)
The purpose is simple...
Have a few replacement s10 camera small and compact to be able to use on drones place them around and use them as camera's.
As far the the technical aspect I have no idea...
Not sure what software or hardware to use...
Or if they can be used with 3rd party hardware / software.
(please let me know)
If you have another solution that's awesome, but I would prefer the route of connecting replacement s10 or any model camera as I already have a few from damaged phones etc....
Would love to here what you phone guru's have to say.
Peace
Mike.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Too complicated, it is easier to just buy cameras that are already designed to work in this manner for this purpose.
Engineering your own will probably require redesigning hardware and building custom software to handle the task of using multiple cameras. All in all, way more trouble than it is worth.
Sent from my SM-S767VL using Tapatalk
Droidriven said:
Too complicated, it is easier to just buy cameras that are already designed to work in this manner for this purpose.
Engineering your own will probably require redesigning hardware and building custom software to handle the task of using multiple cameras. All in all, way more trouble than it is worth.
Sent from my SM-S767VL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks man as I've been reading and watching more about CSI to USB connectors and understanding slight more the scale of complexity this would involve... I'm starting to realize that this task is far too complex for me to crack...
Wish it was easier though, I feel like thoes cameras have so much potential.