Database Info

[Q] quiz: why did you return your g-tablet?

I got my g-tablet from Sears on November 2 and returned it to the store yesterday. I told them it does not have flash as stated on the box and the display is of very poor quality. I got full refund.
Why did I return it?
- Nvidia quality sucks: I had dead laptop, because of defective nvidia chip. If you don't believe it check this: Apple, Dell and HP got a class action suit against Nvidia: www nvidiasettlement com. OpenGL drivers are full of bugs they may have fixed Angry Birds, but there are plenty other bugs I'm sure.
- Nvidia does not conform to standards. No NEON instructions in Tegra. They try to play their desktop video card game, by providing custom APIs and making their applications incompatible with other ARM CPUs. So far it is the opposite - applications that run good on every other Cortex A8, does not play on Tegra.
- Nvidia keep their specs closed. I tried to get information on how to hook a hardware JTAG debugger, but all specs are opened only for partners.
- The device has the worst display I've seen. In portrait mode it gives me distorted colors even when looked at 90 degrees angle.
- The device is made by Malata and not Viewsonic. There is no track history for this company and I don't want to risk my money with unknown hardware quality (software we all know sucks)
For all folks expecting Notion Ink Adam: I'm sorry but this is going to be the same crap. Notion Ink has no proven record (neither Pixel Qi),combined with a low quality Nvidia chip, this is going to hurt.
I'm going to wait for the upcoming Acer tablet with a 10-inch screen that will run a Qualcomm dual-core 1 Ghz processor (produced on the new 28nm technology, supports out of order execution).
One good word about the G-tablet: the apx mode allows you to flash any OS, but the tablet has only 512MB internal Flash, which is not enough for dual boot.
My perfect tablet needs to be a laptop replacement: that means dual boot Android/Gentoo Linux, ability to boot every other ARM OS(windows phone,etc) from a sdcard. Also it has to have a case with keyboard and mouse pad (to be used as laptop when needed).
The TnT interface shows how clueless are Viewsonic about what the people actually need.

I bought mine about 3 days ago.. and I'm returning it today because of the poor viewing angles on the screen.. and also because of the laggy ui.. even with custom roms
edit: changed my mind and I'm going to keep mine for a while. there's a lot of great work being done with custom roms that might fix the lagginess. looking forward to notion inks announcement on december 9th!

i have had mine for about a week, the only way i'm returning it is if something better comes out within my 30 day window. it certainly does have flaws but i'm gonna give it more of a chance.

I am keeping mine because I am running Android 2.2 which doesn't take advantage of the dual-core processor, and because it is more of an accessory than a laptop replacement for me. This is definitely a hacker's unit more than an out-of-the-box laptop replacement.
-=Sent from my ViewSonic G Tablet using Tapatalk=-

To get a better one
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

Keeping mine. Roebeet has been working hard to make this tablet worth something. I have no compaints with this device while running tnt lite other than the screen viewing angles. Even still, 9 times out of 10, im holding my device right in front of me so viewing angles are not as big of factor. This device is really just ahead of its time. The hardware is there, just the operating system is yet to be optimized for a 10 inch tablet with a tegra 2 processor. Roebeets tnt lite is just a sneak peak at what this thing is capable of. Once there is a 100% stock android it will run even faster, or even android 3.0. With this thing being completely open, its only a matter of time. This is a hackers paradise. Its so new that not everyone was able to get their hands on it yet. Give this thing time, i think you will be suprised what this thing can do and regret returning it.

I'm keeping mine. With a good bit of modding its actually nice to use. The screen angles are pretty bad in good lighting but is fine in low light situations. So I just use it in landscape in good light areas. Aside from the screen and sadly the TnT software this Malta pad is great. It even has a potential to be a beast as new products are released and Tegra 2 support becomes stronger.
Anything we get until Feb of next year is going to be a bit of a mess. All the top tier companies who only want to release a 100% consumer friendly product are holding off for Honeycomb. The current releases are either mid tier companies hungry for market share, bottom of the barrel companies releasing crap, and start ups like Adam using time as an opportunity.
We're on the bleeding edge and it shows. Likely the only company thats going to put in the effort needed to make this a good experience is Adam. They're a new company with something to prove. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if the their tab ends up going for $600 and still selling well.
Bottom line: If you can put up with the viewing angles and 1 reboot a day this is a decent deal. Especially if you got it for $280 like I did .

Keeping mine and bought up Sears stock for today's sale, sorry about that anyone who shops near me. These rock after being loaded up correctly

No way I'm taking my back. After flashing to TnT Lite 2.02 it's a keeper. Now if I could only get wireless tethering to work it would be golden.

does this question really belong in development?

switt said:
Bottom line: If you can put up with the viewing angles and 1 reboot a day this is a decent deal. Especially if you got it for $280 like I did .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For $280 this tablet is a steal. There is no doubt in my mind that I would keep this tablet at that price.
However, at $417 after tax I'm on the fence about keeping this tablet. Performance wise, I can't complain. It's easily the fastest tablet on the market right now. After loading up TnT Lite with flash, this tablet is amazing. It's so much fun surfing the web. Battery life is great, this thing sips power.
but the screen, OMG the screen. It's just bad. I don't know any other way to say it. In portrait mode, it's usable but you can tell the image looks different at the top than it does at the bottom. I've found that there is really only one way to hold the tablet to get a good view and that is directly infront of you slightly below eye level.

linckraker said:
does this question really belong in development?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was my question also, but I decided not to comment as I had assumed that a mod would've moved it to general by now.
Anyways ATM I'm keeping it. My primary reason for returning it would be driven by the form factor, as I REALLY MUCH prefer 7" for tablets. Just more portable and better for reading fiction, which means IF I keep that I'll also want a complementary 7" tablet. I just find 10" to be unwieldly.
As secondary reasons I would point out the absence of various features advertised on the box itself.
Just wish that a 7" Tegra2 would come out... I'd be all over it.

Where do i get one for $280
switt said:
I'm keeping mine. With a good bit of modding its actually nice to use. The screen angles are pretty bad in good lighting but is fine in low light situations. So I just use it in landscape in good light areas. Aside from the screen and sadly the TnT software this Malta pad is great. It even has a potential to be a beast as new products are released and Tegra 2 support becomes stronger.
Anything we get until Feb of next year is going to be a bit of a mess. All the top tier companies who only want to release a 100% consumer friendly product are holding off for Honeycomb. The current releases are either mid tier companies hungry for market share, bottom of the barrel companies releasing crap, and start ups like Adam using time as an opportunity.
We're on the bleeding edge and it shows. Likely the only company thats going to put in the effort needed to make this a good experience is Adam. They're a new company with something to prove. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if the their tab ends up going for $600 and still selling well.
Bottom line: If you can put up with the viewing angles and 1 reboot a day this is a decent deal. Especially if you got it for $280 like I did .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where do i get one for 280$, see them at staples for 399$?

acuralegendz said:
Where do i get one for 280$, see them at staples for 399$?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
some sears outlet stores have refurbs for 279

I think the problem with the question of "why did you return it" is that the people who did return it are probably not scanning this forum anymore.
I've been scanning the negative comments (which are mostly valid crticisms, I might add), and I've compiled a list in my head:
- The crappy UI
- The crappy UI (important enough to be mentioned twice)
- The viewing angles, especially when watching while laying on a desk. (btw, flip the device around, so that the camera is on the bottom, and you can get around that).
- No official Flash yet, even though the darn icon is on the box.
- App compatibility issues, in particular the g-sensor issue in games.
- Lack of h264 high profile playback support (this is a Tegra 2 hardware limitation, btw).
- Performance, even with the UI mods. That seems to be more of an Android limitation, given that dual core is not being exploited.
- Lack of HDMI given that there's no dock, and a lack of accessories like a case.
- The bang-for-the-buck.
The last one is important because I have seen more than few posts from people returning the item who mentioned that they might have kept it of were $300, or if they could snag a $279 outlet device. It's not that the device is "bad", but more that you didn't want to break the bank for a device that is really not fully optimized yet. And I can understand that 100%.

roebeet said:
I think the problem with the question of "why did you return it" is that the people who did return it are probably not scanning this forum anymore.
I've been scanning the negative comments (which are mostly valid crticisms, I might add), and I've compiled a list in my head:
- The crappy UI
- The crappy UI (important enough to be mentioned twice)
- The viewing angles, especially when watching while laying on a desk. (btw, flip the device around, so that the camera is on the bottom, and you can get around that).
- No official Flash yet, even though the darn icon is on the box.
- App compatibility issues, in particular the g-sensor issue in games.
- Lack of h264 high profile playback support (this is a Tegra 2 hardware limitation, btw).
- Performance, even with the UI mods. That seems to be more of an Android limitation, given that dual core is not being exploited.
- Lack of HDMI given that there's no dock, and a lack of accessories like a case.
- The bang-for-the-buck.
The last one is important because I have seen more than few posts from people returning the item who mentioned that they might have kept it of were $300, or if they could snag a $279 outlet device. It's not that the device is "bad", but more that you didn't want to break the bank for a device that is really not fully optimized yet. And I can understand that 100%.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm FIRMLY in the $300 camp as BOTH Staples & Sears had the gTab right next to a $299 and $249 Atom based netbooks(ASUS, Acer, Toshiba and something else...). Kind of a smack in the face to be asked to pay $400 for a less functional device, although I can kind of understand part of the reason being that the Tegra2 SoC isn't quite as cheap as ALL of the other SoCs. $400 still just seems like a hype price to me, and I do feel kind of ripped... would feel better IF it had a better camera(maybe 2) and GPS builtin... ...and if I had any REAL expectations of longterm VS support and OS upgrades, e.g. next Android version...
Yes, and I'd have to add viewing angles to my list of possible return reasons from using it a bit last night(in bed) with some sideloaded apps that forced portrait mode...

gturnersr said:
I got my g-tablet from Sears on November 2 and returned it to the store yesterday. I told them it does not have flash as stated on the box and the display is of very poor quality. I got full refund.
Why did I return it?
- Nvidia quality sucks: I had dead laptop, because of defective nvidia chip. If you don't believe it check this: Apple, Dell and HP got a class action suit against Nvidia: www nvidiasettlement com. OpenGL drivers are full of bugs they may have fixed Angry Birds, but there are plenty other bugs I'm sure.
- Nvidia does not conform to standards. No NEON instructions in Tegra. They try to play their desktop video card game, by providing custom APIs and making their applications incompatible with other ARM CPUs. So far it is the opposite - applications that run good on every other Cortex A8, does not play on Tegra.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, glad you were given an opportunity to complain about NVidia.... The class action suit you're referring to was in reality a problem of the OEM which NVidia and most OEMs covered completely. My Dell laptop at work died and was replaced with a newer model in ONE WEEK. Two year old information = FUD.

I returned mine after about 2 weeks. Didn't work well out of the box and wanted something with smaller screen. I went ahead and got the Galaxy Tab instead.
But I will be checking out the Sears Outlet for the blackfriday returns to play around with it.

Because of touch screen
I got my g tablet from Sears the day before Thanksgiving and had a lot of time to play with it. I had gotten to market to work and installed several apps and had even gotten used to the stock UI. But I am extremely disappointed in the responsiveness of the touch screen. There are time you have to press very hard on the icon to open a program. And typing is a chore. Unless there is something you have to do to calibrate the screen I will be returning it Monday. Also, I thought I read that it came with a temporary plastic film over the screen, but mine did not. There was a foam protector attached to the inside of the box.
Is there anything I can do to increase the sensitivity of the touch screen? I would love to keep it - but not with the way the touch screen is working (or NOT WORKING)

cutterjohn said:
I'm FIRMLY in the $300 camp as BOTH Staples & Sears had the gTab right next to a $299 and $249 Atom based netbooks(ASUS, Acer, Toshiba and something else...). Kind of a smack in the face to be asked to pay $400 for a less functional device, although I can kind of understand part of the reason being that the Tegra2 SoC isn't quite as cheap as ALL of the other SoCs. $400 still just seems like a hype price to me, and I do feel kind of ripped... would feel better IF it had a better camera(maybe 2) and GPS builtin... ...and if I had any REAL expectations of longterm VS support and OS upgrades, e.g. next Android version...
Yes, and I'd have to add viewing angles to my list of possible return reasons from using it a bit last night(in bed) with some sideloaded apps that forced portrait mode...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tegra 2 is in the starting point of it's cost curve, so about $75 of the price is cost and correlating profit margin, since companies are not going to scale to their cost
You will find that the newer Tegra 2 devices in Q1 & Q2 2011 will all be around $500, since you will then also be paying for better displays and brand names too
The display on this device is how they were able to put a Tegra 2 in it -cost balancing. Ironically, if the OEM would have rotated the display 180 degrees when building them, it would not be an issue. Display looks as good as the Archos 101- when upside down

Advice / Opinions on GTab

So, I've been doing my due diligence before deciding...and have spent a good many hours reading up here in the GTab XDA forums. So, now I'm asking for some earnest / honest advice from the community here...
I own an Archos 70 IT currently, and it's a blast. Gonna hand it off to the wife, and want a 10 inch Tablet for myself. Do I take the chance now with the GTab...or wait a few months for the new onslaught of Tablets with Honeycomb pre-installed?
I'm wanting the Tegra2 base...and am hearing that while the GTab is dismal out-of-the-box, Devs are cranking out ROM goodness to improve on the shoddy UI, etc.
I'm pretty Flash savvy, as I also own a Galaxy S Vibrant. So no concerns there. However, having said that...I worry about the manufacturers ability to deliver once Honeycomb is released. Samsung STILL hasn't released Android 2.2 Froyo for my device!!
Whatcha think? Should I take the plunge? Thanks in advance for you suggestions!
**EDIT - Just found another similar post....so feel free not to comment - oopsy?**

I recently sold my gtablet and purchased the flat computing a10w. Its essentially a rebrand with a 1366x768 screen, hdmi, better rom. Etc. Same price too.
I couldnt reccomend the gtablet... the a10w im more than happy to.
Sent from my V9 using XDA App

I've had my G Tablet for 3 days now and really like it. I did use it before the firmware update and see a big difference in performance with the new firmware. I loaded a bunch of pictures and a movie tonight on its internal memory and all plays well. I would recommend the G Tablet, I think this is turning out to be a nice tablet.
Regards!
Ed

daml said:
I recently sold my gtablet and purchased the flat computing a10w. Its essentially a rebrand with a 1366x768 screen, hdmi, better rom. Etc. Same price too.
I couldnt reccomend the gtablet... the a10w im more than happy to.
Sent from my V9 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried to find info on this.
If it does in deed have the 1366/769 screen and an hdmi out for the same price, it might be worth a look. The rest of the specs are identical.
However, i found confilicting info. One article on it said it had the same 1024x600 and appeared to me just to be a rebranded gtab basically.
Also THIS post on xda says it just 1024x600
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=816719
Does it really come with 1G of ram? If so, thats a nice feature (along with the higer res screen).
Edit: That is the A10T so maybe the A10W does have 1366/768, not bad for the money.
Does it have dev support like the Gtab?
Not worth it if you cant root it to honeycomb this spring (like is suspect you will be able to with the gtab).
At this point i see no subforum for the flatpad so suppor alone would be an issue to make me hesitant to buy it.....

G-tablet + custom rom = awesome!
The stock firmware is horrible. I had it out of the box for 5 minutes before I loaded vegan onto it.

There are 2 models. A10t with 1024, gb ram, 8 gb internal and A10w with 1366, 512 ram and 512 internal. Roms, hacks etc from the gtablet should be 99% comatible. All that will be needed is to change the screen resolution, and to setup hdmi.u
Sent from my v9 using XDA App

If a Honeycomb tablet is your goal, then it seems that you either wait until machines that REALLY have Honeycomb on them are available, or you get one that you think should be able to run it AND has great community support AND is hackable, including infrastructure things like tools, etc.
I think that the Gtab is one of the few that makes the latter...
If you go the former way, even then, you're going to have to watch out for tabs that are so locked down (saw an article that Samsung was thinking of making their devices unrootable) that you're stuck w the manufacturer's upgrade schedule.
Jim

jimcpl said:
If a Honeycomb tablet is your goal, then it seems that you either wait until machines that REALLY have Honeycomb on them are available, or you get one that you think should be able to run it AND has great community support AND is hackable, including infrastructure things like tools, etc.
I think that the Gtab is one of the few that makes the latter...
If you go the former way, even then, you're going to have to watch out for tabs that are so locked down (saw an article that Samsung was thinking of making their devices unrootable) that you're stuck w the manufacturer's upgrade schedule.
Jim
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well said...and you nailed it on the head. After my experiences with Samsung, and the constant delays I was kind of looking forward to a product that worked as intended out-of-the-box. However, knowing the industry these days...any immediate release with 3.0 is gonna be anti-user friendly for the most part. Especially considering the big names releasing them. Seems like the good ones are gonna be tied into carriers anyways...lame-sauce.
All I've seen here has really helped me make up my mind for the GTab. Plus, I do thoroughly enjoy flashing some ROM goodness! Thanks for the info all!

Its like getting a new tablet going from vegan to tntlite and back and forth. I'm glad I have one to mess around with.
I can't even begin to think of the ways the various companies are going to screw with the newer honeycomb models. It seems like to them the dual cores are just an excuse to have 100s of things running at once and the end result is its just as slow as before.
I'm interested in flat computing. Sent them an email to ask about their lcd panel they use in the 1366x768.

daml said:
There are 2 models. A10t with 1024, gb ram, 8 gb internal and A10w with 1366, 512 ram and 512 internal. Roms, hacks etc from the gtablet should be 99% comatible. All that will be needed is to change the screen resolution, and to setup hdmi.u
Sent from my v9 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just ordered an LG screen per your recommendation in another thread and now I have to know,
Does the a10w have SIGNIFICANTLY better viewing angles than the gtab in stock form ?

daml said:
I recently sold my gtablet and purchased the flat computing a10w. Its essentially a rebrand with a 1366x768 screen, hdmi, better rom. Etc. Same price too.
I couldnt reccomend the gtablet... the a10w im more than happy to.
Sent from my V9 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you receive your FlatPad yet? I am very interested to hear your comment on the quality of the sceen.
Thanks.

the gtab has not the best screen but otherwise is a pretty good piece of hardware that should get honeycomb one way or another once it gets released. i wish it had gps, a viewsonic dock, and a viewsonic case.

It's completely possible to be happy with the Gtab but it depends on what your looking for.
I personally find it a great peice of hardware, and it along with my G2 work together very well. I find I don't need to be attatched to my PC near as much were I would look something up on my desktop because the G2 screen was just to small. The Gtab screen is fine, I showed it to my friend and he said "I don't know what the people on the forums are complaining about".
Now if your wanting a tablet that is going to be top of the line for more than a year you are going to be waiting awhile, the tablet race is going to move very fast for a year or 2 until we get to a stable level with 2-3 major competing brands.
To me the Gtab is a great tablet with plenty of hardware to hold me over for that year or 2 until I find that stable platform that will be good for 2-3 years or more.
Of course I go from buying new products (went through 3 android phones in 6 months) to using a product for 3-5 years because it works well enough for what I need.

Agreed -- paired with an Android phone, this tablet is great value for dollars...
For me, the screen is the biggest shortcoming -- but as someone else pointed out, in some ways, the reduced viewing angle could be considered a "feature" if you are worried about security (i.e. someone looking over your shoulder)
At home, that isn't a concern for me so I would prefer an IPS screen or AMOLED (as in my phone) to be able to share the tablet for video playing...but the current screen isn't unusable so I'll live with it...
GPS would have been nice -- but I can pair with my Android phone and it works fine
I doubt I would ever use the tablet as a camera (especially when I have a 5MP camera in my phone and a 10+ MP "real camera") -- so again, the weak FF camera is fine if we ever get VideoCalls working properly...
I would have preferred a full size SDCard slot to the microSDCard...or even support for SDXC (new standard)...but small gripes...
Overall, there is nothing wrong with the hardware -- and the Devs here have made the software competitive with anything out there...Honeycomb will only make it better!
As an aside, I would like to see the soft buttons on the left hand side from TNT (and TNTLite) brought over to Vegan (which mas the soft buttons on the right top of the notification bar)...The TNT soft buttons are very similar to what has been shown in Honeycomb (which had theirs in the bottom left)

CES and the G tablet

So this last week I went down to CES and was pretty supprises by all of the android tablets that are going to be released. Hands down I really think that the gtablet is one slick device. Some of the other tablets felt really cheap, screens were pretty bad, not as many options(usb, micro sd, 16gb) and as far as sofware I saw a lot of FC's on the devices I played with.
The second thing that I did was head over to the Vewsonic display and saw their full line of tables, the viewpad 7, the multiboot viewpad 10 and the Gtablet. On thing that really go me attention is that I knew more about the gtab than any of the people that I talked to. All they could say was have you done the upgrade yet? It really makes this device a lot better. My follow up was I have been running the custom roms since day one, I was even kind enough to pull mine out and boot it up for them. That was kind of funny because I no longer have the Viewsonic boot screen I have replaced it with the Nvida tegra logo and then the gtab devs logo pops up and then a custom andorid animation. After that they went right into have you seen the new viewpad 10, and that's were I found most of their knowledge was, and that's what they wanted to talk about after that.
I did ask about a dock and they said it was coming soon, I saw a different verison of the dock that has been posted in the xda forums but plugging it into the bottom of the gtablet didn't seem to make any changes, I'm guessing because it wasn't hooked up.
At the end of the show I have no regrets about buying the gtablet and buy far I would have put it against any other tablet there and been confident that it would smoke them all. It was also kind of fun to wip it out and show it off to any one that wanted to talk about android tablets. I could see a lot of vendors kind of shake in there boots when I talked about every thing I could do with it.

Awesome! Thanks for the write up. I'm glad to see that even though it was at the forefront of the pack being released, it is still a leader with all the other tablets being released this year.
Some peope were speculating that the g-tablet would be outdated by first quarter 2011... Now it seems not, which makes me happy. I don't have money to replace 2 tabs every couple of quarters.
THANKS.

greyspacealien said:
So this last week I went down to CES and was pretty supprises by all of the android tablets that are going to be released. Hands down I really think that the gtablet is one slick device. Some of the other tablets felt really cheap, screens were pretty bad, not as many options(usb, micro sd, 16gb) and as far as sofware I saw a lot of FC's on the devices I played with.
The second thing that I did was head over to the Vewsonic display and saw their full line of tables, the viewpad 7, the multiboot viewpad 10 and the Gtablet. On thing that really go me attention is that I knew more about the gtab than any of the people that I talked to. All they could say was have you done the upgrade yet? It really makes this device a lot better. My follow up was I have been running the custom roms since day one, I was even kind enough to pull mine out and boot it up for them. That was kind of funny because I no longer have the Viewsonic boot screen I have replaced it with the Nvida tegra logo and then the gtab devs logo pops up and then a custom andorid animation. After that they went right into have you seen the new viewpad 10, and that's were I found most of their knowledge was, and that's what they wanted to talk about after that.
I did ask about a dock and they said it was coming soon, I saw a different verison of the dock that has been posted in the xda forums but plugging it into the bottom of the gtablet didn't seem to make any changes, I'm guessing because it wasn't hooked up.
At the end of the show I have no regrets about buying the gtablet and buy far I would have put it against any other tablet there and been confident that it would smoke them all. It was also kind of fun to wip it out and show it off to any one that wanted to talk about android tablets. I could see a lot of vendors kind of shake in there boots when I talked about every thing I could do with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you get a chance to ask Viewsonic booth personnel about availability of Honeycomb for the G Tablet?

I didn't get a chance to go to CES but I had a feeling this is how it would turn out. The one thing that disappointed me was the lack of tegra2 tablets with better screens LOL.... I want an upgraded screen in this sucker LOL.
No biggy ... everyone still thinks my gtab is bad ass... now all we need is to get Ubuntu 10.10 running on this thing.

GaryHypnosis said:
Did you get a chance to ask Viewsonic booth personnel about availability of Honeycomb for the G Tablet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did ask about the honeycomb upgrade and I got the deer in the Headlights look, followed by a lets find so and so they will know better, and we never found so and so. But they did swipe my card and told me somone would contact me.
I did how ever put in a pitch for my place of employment to see if I could get some demo's now that the world of tablets are knocking at our door.
Buy far there was a lack of tegra 2 tablets and even with the screen issues that the Gtab has we should feel lucky because most other tablets just sucked.

cuzzinz said:
I didn't get a chance to go to CES but I had a feeling this is how it would turn out. The one thing that disappointed me was the lack of tegra2 tablets with better screens LOL.... I want an upgraded screen in this sucker LOL.
No biggy ... everyone still thinks my gtab is bad ass... now all we need is to get Ubuntu 10.10 running on this thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the one thing I'm hunting for. Whoever comes out with a Tegra device with an IPS screen is going to get my money.

REALITY CHECK: Look Ahead, Not Back!!

Roebeet has posted a thread trying to get Viewsonic moving on setting some things
straight that need to be set straight -- and that's good and I agree with it.
What it has done that I don't like, though, is that it has created negative thoughts
and backlash against what I think is the most economical, most powerful, most flexible
and most user adaptable tablet on the market -- the G-Tablet.
I sorry, but even though I agree with Roebeet and I understand the realities of
the corporate world -- I AM NOT FINISHED WITH MY TWO G-TABLETS YET!!!
I think some people bought the G-Tablet thinking that first thing you know the software
would be upgraded and they would suddenly have a fourth- for fifth generation
supertablet. Ain't gonna happen.
The G-Tablet was bleeding edge when it came out and except for the screen it did
and still does have some of the best specs out. The software left a lot to
be desired, but if you look at Version 3991 (the UAT Roebeet downloaded and
hopes they will finish and OTA) -- the latest stock is not too bad. And the alternate
ROMs are great too.
BOTTOM LINE: With or without VS support, the G-Tablet is a good tablet and
it is not dead. As long as we are all here and the devs are devving and the
modders are modding and the helpers are helping and the users are playing --
WE'RE IN GOOD SHAPE.
Yes, I eventually plan to add another tablet when I see one I think is worth
it -- BUT YOU KNOW WHAT? I haven't seen anything that particularly catches my
eye yet.
REALITY CHECK: Get that G-Tablet out and get back to whatever you do best.
VS may need prodding.....but we're still in business!!!
Rev

I am so glad you haven't given up preaching entirely, Rev. I've been thinking the same thoughts all day and just couldn't articulate them.

I kicked $5 to roebeet, just as a thank you for being so involved and proactive.
I hope he uses it for the tasty beverage of his choosing, and comes back when the stress has dissipated.

I agree that it has created some negative sentiment towards the G-Tab, that should be focused more on VS, which I think was the intent. However I think in a way it needed to be said if for no other reason to grab VS's attention, which is seems to have done.
I just wish people could separate the Viewsonic support issue from the device itself, which VS does not even build to begin with. I purchased mine knowing I was going to "technically" void the warranty as soon as I got it. I literally purchased the Gtab because of XDA. I also purchased it to watch and wait over the next several months to a year to see the dust settle on Android tablets and see who is really putting out a high end on.
I really like my Gtab and had no illusions on what I was getting. I researched for over a month before I got it. Viewsonic was not even a consideration.
On the other hand I understand the issue that is being fought here with VS. We need the fundamental software support to help the dev of the other roms and to provide the actual customer support, especially for the thousands of Wooters who purchased this and not really wanting to go the custom route.
In the end I think the post was needed, but agree that people are getting a bit too negative for really no reason. I mean why would you dump a device that you already paid for. It is not like you are hurting the company that you already purchased it from.
On a positive note you have Vegan Ginger being released today and looking down right awesome. CM7 is looking awesome, TNTLite, gAdam, etc. This is one hell of a community device.
I am not going anywhere.

Well, no supports means no updated NVidia drivers, which means a substandard video viewing experience with Gingerbread (and Honeycomb, if it comes), which would be a good reason for ditching it for a different tab. Some people can live without it, but I do watch video files on mine. And don't quote me on this, but no support also means no hope for using both cores on 2.3 and above.
Whether I stay or go depends on the price of the Transformer. If it's too much, I will live with the screen. 2.2, and the various quirks for a while longer.

I was a little concerned that a number of people were ready to jump ship because of my weekend rant - that wasn't the effect I wanted it to have.
But, if anything else, it seems to have shaken things up a bit over in Viewsonic - so it might turn out OK. Just sit tight and let's see if they run with the ball, now.
I agree that losing ongoing support (if it happened) wouldn't suddenly make your device useless. But, it is still important to have vendor updates as they have the source code and we still make mods off their releases (especially me, with TNT Lite / TwoTapsX). For example, they'd have a better chance of pressuring Nvidia to change their stance on Harmony than any of us in XDA will.

Boy, all of this really does remind be of my early Amiga days.
Look what happened there.

D Wright,
I had been through two operating systems with Heathkit and CP/M before "DOS" ever
came along!!! I remember MP/M and CNIX and quite a few others.
I can also name a pile of brands I used over the years.
Bottom line -- your happiness with whatever hardware or software you have is based
on what you do with it and not how much it costs or how long it lasts.
Rev

I don't put any weight to what most people say here. Their opinions change with the winds. Like many others, I bought my gTab after I read up in this forum with the full intent of never running stock. So I never expected anything at all from Viewsonic. In fact, I have almost erased from my memory that these tablets came with a Viewsonic logo on it since I have had a rear skin on both of my gTabs for the past four plus months. And I also haven't been running any of the TnT roms.
No matter the hardware these tablets wouldn't be as useful without the fine work of the modders and developers here at xda. While I do have a special fondness for my gTabs, I will sell one of them when the Asus Transformer is released here in the States.

I don't understand
I don't understand some people. They buy the g-tab, at a great price, with dev support like you'd never dream of getting from Microsoft or most other companies. Its all FREE and as soon as some new buzz comes out there is a rash of "I'm dumping my g-tab to go buy ...." Yesterday the g-tab was great and today it is a piece of junk???? Meh.... those are fanboys and they probably should just go buy an iPad that they can flash around Starbucks to impress their friends. Personally, I bought my first g-tab to try an android tablet to see what you could do with one. I bought the second one because there was just so much cool stuff to try. Like everything else, the day you buy it it becomes "obsolete" but if it does what you want it to do, who cares? I'm quite happy that I still have XP on my laptop because it is stable and not as annoying as the os that came after it. Ubuntu is great on my netbook. Now, if only I could decide which g-tab rom is the best!!! Trying the vegan gingerbread now to see what happens with that... Go Devs!

enigma0456 said:
I don't understand some people. They buy the g-tab, at a great price, with dev support like you'd never dream of getting from Microsoft or most other companies. Its all FREE and as soon as some new buzz comes out there is a rash of "I'm dumping my g-tab to go buy ...." Yesterday the g-tab was great and today it is a piece of junk???? Meh.... those are fanboys and they probably should just go buy an iPad that they can flash around Starbucks to impress their friends. Personally, I bought my first g-tab to try an android tablet to see what you could do with one. I bought the second one because there was just so much cool stuff to try. Like everything else, the day you buy it it becomes "obsolete" but if it does what you want it to do, who cares? I'm quite happy that I still have XP on my laptop because it is stable and not as annoying as the os that came after it. Ubuntu is great on my netbook. Now, if only I could decide which g-tab rom is the best!!! Trying the vegan gingerbread now to see what happens with that... Go Devs!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ha! I know what you mean. If I only had one gTab and didn't have the means to spend another $400 on another tablet I would definitely hold on to mine for a long time due to the great hardware. But fortunately I have 2 gTabs and can sell one off to buy the Asus when it drops and spring for the difference out of pocket.
I travel for work often and currently I take my gTab with me along with a mini keyboard. My kids use the other gTab for games and reading. So my plan is to sell off my gTab and buy the Asus with the keyboard dock to take along on my trips. The functionality, quality, and versatility of the Transformer is really appealing to me. Plus it seems several of the xda devs are also planning on buying one. In the end, I will still have a gTab in the house so hopefully I will have the best of both worlds.

my only real concern before spending the money on this tablet is the lack of nvidia support and drivers. I can live without a good stock rom, hell I haven't ran a stock ROM on my droid x since i bought it. My big concern is the fact that any gingerbread roms and future honeycomb roms aren't gonna have the proper video drivers and will always have lagging issues.
Granted video playback isn't the only reason i'm gonna buy a gtablet, but it's certainly an important feature, and a future of only being able to run froyo based roms is a little disappointing.

davidukfl said:
my only real concern before spending the money on this tablet is the lack of nvidia support and drivers. I can live without a good stock rom, hell I haven't ran a stock ROM on my droid x since i bought it. My big concern is the fact that any gingerbread roms and future honeycomb roms aren't gonna have the proper video drivers and will always have lagging issues.
Granted video playback isn't the only reason i'm gonna buy a gtablet, but it's certainly an important feature, and a future of only being able to run froyo based roms is a little disappointing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
x10000000000000

enigma0456 said:
I don't understand some people. They buy the g-tab, at a great price, with dev support like you'd never dream of getting from Microsoft or most other companies. Its all FREE and as soon as some new buzz comes out there is a rash of "I'm dumping my g-tab to go buy ...." Yesterday the g-tab was great and today it is a piece of junk???? Meh.... those are fanboys and they probably should just go buy an iPad that they can flash around Starbucks to impress their friends.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that's an unfair assessment. For $100 (speculation...) extra, or more if tax is charged, you can buy a far superior in almost every way Asus Transformer. I don't think anyone has said the gTab is junk, but it pales in comparison to the tabs being released with a slightly higher price point (USB port is not important to me ...). The gTab made me realize I really wanted a tablet, but I've also had to fight this thing to get it to work properly, and frankly I'm a little tired of the battle.
Do I want an IPS screen, higher resolution, more memory, GPS, manufacturer support, and Honeycomb for ~ $100 more? Yes, yes I do. I do appreciate all the work the devs have done here, but I'm moving on the minute a date is set for the Transformer.

Could you elaborate with details on why you are concerned about the lack of support in the future for video drivers?
(not a rhetorical question, I just haven't seen anything pointing to that yet)
Thanks

roebeet said:
I was a little concerned that a number of people were ready to jump ship because of my weekend rant - that wasn't the effect I wanted it to have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course we'd have that many people ready to jump ship. People like to be melodramatic. I've been lite-fixing people's computers for years. That's what they do. They like to exaggerate and complain.
Case in point. I read a lot of reviews online before buying the gtab. One of the more ridiculous complaints I saw people complaining about the gtab is the black area around the screen. What immediately came to my mind was (1) if there was no black area around the screen where are you going to hold the device? and (2) the ipad has a hell of a lot more black area around the screen.
I agree with you that what viewsonic is doing (total media blackout) is annoying. I still don't understand why they are so reluctant to push this device. With the hardware specs, VS is literally sitting on a goldmine with the gtab. And with just a little bit more software support, the gtab could very well be a direct competitor to the xoom and ipad2.
That said, for those of you who want to jump ship, that is your choice. I highly recommend the ipad2 or the xoom.

jvigier said:
Could you elaborate with details on why you are concerned about the lack of support in the future for video drivers?
(not a rhetorical question, I just haven't seen anything pointing to that yet)
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
posted on the nvidia dev forum
"NVIDIA is only supporting the Ventana platform for android releases going forward. At the moment we have released Froyo and Gingerbread OS images for Ventana and will release Honeycomb after Google has done so.
Andrew Edelsten
Tegra Developer Relations
NVIDIA Corporation"

sry, but I retunred my Gtab to TigerDirect
First: the software sucks, most of them are not designed for tablet and I cant even play angry bird with proper click!
Second: the battery life sucks, I read the review which saying 8 hours playing time, the truth is 8 Hours standby time!
Third: I need a good stock ROM.
I will just wait for Asus TF
100 bucks more, bettet product, better screen better support, Asus softwar support is good

goodintentions said:
I agree with you that what viewsonic is doing (total media blackout) is annoying. I still don't understand why they are so reluctant to push this device. With the hardware specs, VS is literally sitting on a goldmine with the gtab. And with just a little bit more software support, the gtab could very well be a direct competitor to the xoom and ipad2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At this point in time, I dont think this is true. It could have been true had this device had a sucessful launch. Now, all of the buzz surrounding Android tablets has been focused on Honeycomb. With nvidia indicating Harmony drivers will not be released for Gingercomb, the gtablet suffers from an almost insurmountable competitive disadvantage. (IMHO)
Mine isnt going anywhere right now, as it does what I want it to and I love what the devs are doing

i purchased my gtab in November at office depot for 400+ and the first thing i did was load vegan rom on it heck if not for ehunyadi detailed videos on YouTube i would not have purchased the tablet, i knew the screen wasn't not perfect but that wasn't the issue, i have had many problem with the gtab...small annoyances when combined turn into frustrations.
One of them being sound, i have found on vengan rom the sound was just WAY too LOUD, it seems like the volume meter worked on a Richter scale doubling the sound from level 1 into 2 now maybe it was just me but i was unusable at level one with any wired headphones, i have a Bluetooth headset/headphone that i use on a daily basis, i used to hate it that it did not auto connect and when i the headphones died or disconnected sound would not work until next reboot
I never had the luck of the "FULL MARKET FIX" that i heard so much about and boy did i try, it was basically a shot in the dark weather some apps would work or not
I would find myself making excuses for the gtab for the many annoyances and it not working as it should, not saying it wasn't a great device but i got my uses out of it and felt that it was time to move on, purchased an ipad2 it came in last Thursday and so far im happy with my decision but there are annoyances as well mainly do to the video player but im just waiting for the jailbreak
Im no fanboy if anything i dislike apples strategy (i still have my iphone 2g and is my only phone) toward leaving the 2g behind, but i believe you should have a device because of what it does for you, its funny how people are such fanatics or have so much hate for something based on the brand

Sold my TF700 for an ipad 4gen.

I'm not here to argue of which is better but i made the decision after trying so many android tablets. I love android, the widgets, home screen customization, etc. i just felt that the apps are not well optimize (this is not android fault). I really thought that JB butter smooth (even with clean rom installed which i was using) was smooth or smoother than IOS ipad 4gen, boy was i wrong. This is so smooth from the get go, no tweaking, overclocking, etc. I love android for phone (own a GS3) but after using so many android tabs, apps still need alot of work. One thing i have to say about IOS, it looks so outdated, but the apps are more fluid and more polish than android.
i have to say that what really surprise me was Windows 8 tablet. I was at bestbuy trying the new Asus vivo and was blown away by the OS. In the future depending on the apps avail it could be my first choices for tablet.

eduardmc said:
I'm not here to argue of which is better but i made the decision after trying so many android tablets. I love android, the widgets, home screen customization, etc. i just felt that the apps are not well optimize (this is not android fault). I really thought that JB butter smooth (even with clean rom installed which i was using) was smooth or smoother than IOS ipad 4gen, boy was i wrong. This is so smooth from the get go, no tweaking, overclocking, etc. I love android for phone (own a GS3) but after using so many android tabs, apps still need alot of work. One thing i have to say about IOS, it looks so outdated, but the apps are more fluid and more polish than android.
i have to say that what really surprise me was Windows 8 tablet. I was at bestbuy trying the new Asus vivo and was blown away by the OS. In the future depending on the apps avail it could be my first choices for tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I respect your decision, but I do think you stepped out of the game at the wrong time
Seeing how the Nexus 10 is given such a warm welcome, my guess would be that a lot of developers will now also create/optimise apps for tablets.
Like I said: I think the logical switch would have been the other way around, but that's just me
pS: Let us know how you like the development section for the iPad and which custom Rom and/or kernel you like the best. And what voltage and clock speeds you'll be using on your new ... Oh right .... It's an Apple

adelancker said:
I respect your decision, but I do think you stepped out of the game at the wrong time
Seeing how the Nexus 10 is given such a warm welcome, my guess would be that a lot of developers will now also create/optimise apps for tablets.
Like I said: I think the logical switch would have been the other way around, but that's just me
pS: Let us know how you like the development section for the iPad and which custom Rom and/or kernel you like the best. And what voltage and clock speeds you'll be using on your new ... Oh right .... It's an Apple
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats my point, i have been using android since i can remember. never was happy the way it was shipped out, always needed to rooted it and install customized rom to get it to work faster. Ipad is just perfect from the get go, TF700 tegra 3 overclocked or my other samsung note 10.1 with quad eynox could not run the games, apps, browser, smoothnes like an ipad 4gen. Again not bashing android but the true have to be said and i was one of the apple hater never to buy an apple product.
Second which i did not mention. with apple you don't have to worrry about quality control issues. Seems that they really inspect their devices. no dead pixesl, NO SCREEN SEPARATION, no BACKLIGHT BLEEDING, SCRATCHES from manufacture and other things. i exchanged my asus tablet 5 times until getting a decent one. From now i can only say that Nexus 10 has backlight issues in most of them.
EDIT: things i really miss, having built in hdmi, having a microsd slot, having files just plug in pc drag and drop.

....seriously man? You created a thread to tell the world you sold your infinity? Do you have nothing else to do?
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T

pierrekid said:
....seriously man? You created a thread to tell the world you sold your infinity? Do you have nothing else to do?
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well you read it, so you must have nothing else to do! Haha, just joking around.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda app-developers app

pierrekid said:
....seriously man? You created a thread to tell the world you sold your infinity? Do you have nothing else to do?
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, just like u can find plenty of thread from people who have switch from TF700 to Note 10.1

Yeah iPad 4 even the previous new iPad (3) was pretty quick and snappy, but so is the spectacular-ness of the Blackberry Playbook browser.
I own a Playbook, but I find it's GUI to be about as boring as iOS on the iPad.
Android 4.x (that's ICS, Jellybean and what ever after) GUI has more depth which I like.
Windows 8's new Start menu (Metro) GUI just looks pretty generic to me, and I already know the RT batches of Surface tablets and partner Win RT tablets are inferior by the fact that they are RT and not intel.
I've already seen folks complain about the Surface RT the same problems we see on our Android ARM tablets. So it would be wise to wait to January 2013 when Microsoft unleashes the real PC tablets, Windows 8 Pro powered by Intel i5, i7 and next gen Atom cpu.

Useless thread.

Why all the hate people? Like it or not the apps on iOS are better. iOS has been and still is smoother than any android device. This guy is not lying when he says that the iPad is good straight out of the box.
Don't be fanboys. Accept the fact that android needs work (at least on the tablet side of things).
There are times when this tablet (infinity) has passed me off, with its random freezes and hardware issue. Hopefully with the nexus 10 out, developers will start making tablet optimized apps (and hopefully soon Google makes a tablet specific section in the play store, so we don't have to guess which app is for tablets!!!).
Google really needs to set specific hardware requirements and needs to really work on smoothness. For example, screen rotation on the iPad is unbelievably smooth, it like the screen is on a pivot. While rotating it on android looks very choppy and it drops frames.
What pisses me off about iOS tho is the lack of (access) to a file system and its closed system. So still tho android all the way.

I guess to each his own because I have an ipad3 within arms reach and I choose my infinity every time. My son and wife use the ipad though so it's not completely unused. I used the ipad3.. gave it a chance, but I didn't find it to be omg smoother. I didn't find the retina display to be omg better either. What I did find is that I love the keyboard and that without it, the extra battery, and the added storage, the ipad will just sit there as long as I have a choice to pick up my infinity. Not saying you made the wrong choice, just saying to each his own. peace

eduardmc said:
Second which i did not mention. with apple you don't have to worrry about quality control issues. Seems that they really inspect their devices. no dead pixesl, NO SCREEN SEPARATION, no BACKLIGHT BLEEDING, SCRATCHES from manufacture and other things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hahahahaha, just wait until something does break.
I'm iPodless untill mid-february just because of their lousy customer support. And I've already heard it's been declared dead, so I get a 70% refund (because I paid for the additional 3 (ahem, official+2) years insurance) but not untill the thing comes back from the factory. In China. For which I have to pay the transport costs myself. And guess what isn't for sale anymore. That's right, the iPod nano 5th. I have to pay 100 euros extra just because they messed up, plus extra costs for yet another cover and such. And a new docking station, because my 300 euro Bose one won't fit anymore. FU Apple.
Asus might refuse to fix your device for free if you unlocked it, but that's a choice you make. If you open up your Xbox, you void warranty just as much because of the seal on it. Unlocking is no different, other than that it's done via software. But at least they have a decent warranty for 3 years, and you can just send it back if it breaks. They don't make you jump through 50 hoops just to get in touch with the store, because you have 'non-itunes originating music on your ipod'. At least Asus doesn't whine about something which is bloody legal here!.
Just for the record, thousands of people DID get a decent Infinity straight away. It's just that some people don't appear to be smart enough to realize that if you get two broken tablets from the same store in a short space of time, the whole shipment might be faulty. They just keep going back and getting more broken ones, and blame Asus for it...

eduardmc said:
Second which i did not mention. with apple you don't have to worrry about quality control issues. Seems that they really inspect their devices. no dead pixesl, NO SCREEN SEPARATION, no BACKLIGHT BLEEDING, SCRATCHES from manufacture and other things. i exchanged my asus tablet 5 times until getting a decent one. From now i can only say that Nexus 10 has backlight issues in most of them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really? So I guess all those reports of iPhones 5 coming out of the box all scratched up were bunk, right? I guess all those backlight bleeding topics about iPads were all made up too? I guess the yellow tinging of screens that was blamed on glue not being dry from factory didn't actually pop up?
Know what the fact is? It's all luck of the draw. I've been at this board for 4 days now, but these topics "I got xxxxx, see you later!" as if you're rubbing it in everyone's face is moronic at best. No one cares if you jumped ship and got a different tablet.

berfles said:
Know what the fact is? It's all luck of the draw. I've been at this board for 4 days now, but these topics "I got xxxxx, see you later!" as if you're rubbing it in everyone's face is moronic at best. No one cares if you jumped ship and got a different tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think this ^^ pretty much sums it up. Why the hell should we care what you've sold and/or bought? This is the Infinity forum -- go to the Apple forums and tel them how happy you are. They're bound to like it, whereas here the entire forum gets clogged up.

Man you folks are some rude people. Them man jumped ship for greener pasture, and he just wanted to share his experience. No need to be a **** about him leaving.
I gave my wife an ipad. Trust me, first impression is that its great hardware, but its not the ipad thats the problem, its Apple. The longer you use it for day to day stuff, the more you will realize how much freedom you gave up. A year from now, you r going to have wifi issues, ramdom locking and no way to fix them and no community to turn to. Anyways, good luck to you and come back and let us know how your experience with ipad goes after several months. Really looking forward to hear about it.
By the way, i offered her to buy her a newer model ipad and she flat out refused. She never wants to deal with apples bull**** again. I never loved that women more.

cbmech said:
Man you folks are some rude people. Them man jumped ship for greener pasture, and he just wanted to share his experience. No need to be a **** about him leaving.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Frankly, he should never have made this post at all. It serves NO purpose to the community, short of drumming up angry conversations. To be blunt.. you leaving is your choice, and every decision doesn't need to be shared (thank you facebook generation).