I was excited to get a G-Tablet in the recent Woot sale. Unfortunately, as I have noted in other threads, when I got it, it wouldn't run through the original NTP-WiFi configuration procedure out of the box.
I wiped it and installed VEGAn 5.1.1 and got on with the process of evaluating it.
Am I the only one with touch screen sensor issues? It requires massive fingertip hurting pressure to hit the 'L' key and many of the touch areas along the edge that is adjacent to the Home/Menu/Back buttons. Sometimes I need to press so hard to register a key press, I think that it will crack the LCD. It really impacts my happy factor with this device.
The Market fix isn't as complete as my Archos 70. I saw the thread on changing device type=olympus. I can't vi the /system/build.prop without getting / set to read/write. Too much of a hoop to jump through right now. If I could vi the file, no problem. Still, it is an annoyance.
Weight. I knew it was heavier, but wasn't prepared to the reality of dealing with the mass of this unit.
Screen view. Even with an iPad screen protector on, the color and view angles are annoying. It was unusable to me for reading and regular use before the screen protector went on. Now it is better, but still subpar compared to the A70.
I want to love the gTablet for its technical superiority and future upgrade path to 2.3 and potentially beyond. My Archos device will never be better than FroYo.
However, even though I know it is 'better' I just can't stand actually using it. I feel that the gTab needs to go to flEaBay, since Woot doesn't do refunds.
Anyone else feeling this way?
Touchscreen callibration app should fix your touch issues... I had the same problem and that solved it.
Yeah, I have the app and tried it. Not much real difference in my experience. :\
I just ran it again, and it is weird. Some areas of the screen work just fine (launcher pro dock when in desktop/finder mode for example). then, when on virtual keyboard, those same pixel areas don't sense well. Might be a keyboard issue, though it seems to be the same with BetterKeyboard and Android keyboard.
I don't know, I want to like this thing, but feel disappointed. Same way with the Samsung Captivate, which i returned after fighting with it for a month.
tenet420 said:
Touchscreen callibration app should fix your touch issues... I had the same problem and that solved it.
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Click to collapse
+1. Screen cal should help. Anyway, don't have that problem with TNTL 4.2.5.
BoulderGeek said:
I was excited to get a G-Tablet in the recent Woot sale. Unfortunately, as I have noted in other threads, when I got it, it wouldn't run through the original NTP-WiFi configuration procedure out of the box.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everyone has been saying the stock rom isn't very well made since day one.
I wiped it and installed VEGAn 5.1.1 and got on with the process of evaluating it.
Am I the only one with touch screen sensor issues? It requires massive fingertip hurting pressure to hit the 'L' key and many of the touch areas along the edge that is adjacent to the Home/Menu/Back buttons. Sometimes I need to press so hard to register a key press, I think that it will crack the LCD. It really impacts my happy factor with this device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, touch screen calibration app should do the trick. Also, you can create a blank file name calibration.ini in the root of your sdcard2 and then reboot. Don't touch the screen while it reboots. This file will tell the device to recalibrate the touch.
The Market fix isn't as complete as my Archos 70. I saw the thread on changing device type=olympus. I can't vi the /system/build.prop without getting / set to read/write. Too much of a hoop to jump through right now. If I could vi the file, no problem. Still, it is an annoyance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To me, it's not much of a hoop. Took me all of 30 seconds to do this.
Weight. I knew it was heavier, but wasn't prepared to the reality of dealing with the mass of this unit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm an engineer researcher at a material science lab. We build and crush to test our own toys. Sometimes, we have to carry (by hand) objects that are hundreds of pounds heavy. I guess the weight of the gtab isn't really bothering me that much. But again, it's only .3 lb heavier than the ipad, so if you have a problem with the gtab then I'm sure you'll have the same problem with the ipad.
Screen view. Even with an iPad screen protector on, the color and view angles are annoying. It was unusable to me for reading and regular use before the screen protector went on. Now it is better, but still subpar compared to the A70.
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Again, not an issue for me. I'm a heavy reader, meaning I go through several books a week. Been using the gtab to read ebooks on my train ride commute.
I want to love the gTablet for its technical superiority and future upgrade path to 2.3 and potentially beyond. My Archos device will never be better than FroYo.
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Click to collapse
I don't just want to love the gtab. I love my gtab.
But then again, you really have to consider my past I guess. I was born in a house with a dirt floor, grew up with a black and white small tv (14 inch or so, can't remember). And even then, the tv worked only sometimes.
It just seems to me that so many people (Americans) complain about things that, to me, are moot points. For $285, the gtab is a steal based on what it could do.
And to me, the gtab is more than just a toy. Before, I was carrying my laptop around, which weighs a ton (exaggeration here). Nowadays, I sometimes leave it in the office or at home and just carry the gtab around. I'm expecting my experience to be even better once the case with the usb keyboard arrives.
Yes, I'm one of those that has no problem jury rigging something to make my experience better.
However, even though I know it is 'better' I just can't stand actually using it. I feel that the gTab needs to go to flEaBay, since Woot doesn't do refunds.
Anyone else feeling this way?
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Click to collapse
Some people want their devices to work straight out of the box. And some people want their devices to just work powerfully and don't care about the luxuries.
I've recently converted 100% to electronic books. I've sold over half of my library collection on amazon. I often run into people who are absolutely against ebook reading. The #1 reason that most people seem to have against ebooks is that they want the smell and feel of paper while they read. That's their opinion, and it's ok. They are free to like or dislike whatever they want.
But to me, I read a book for its contents, not what it's written on. I don't care how a book feels or what it smells like. I love zombie novels, and I don't care if it's on paper or plastic.
I guess I have the same attitude with my gtab. This really is a powerful piece of device. It runs fast, the screen is uber sensitive (on my device at least). The battery life is up there with the ipad. Completely hackable (a must in my book). And it's incredibly lite weight. Again, I speak as someone who work hands on with his projects. Funny story, someone the other day made a face and asked me what happened to my hands. I looked down and for the first time I actually noticed all the scars and Calluses on my hands. Amazing how boy friend hasn't complained yet.
Anyway, the #1 reason why I like this device is because it's freakin' cheap. Even if I break it in a year, or if I decide to buy something else in a year, I wouldn't feel the pain in my stomach the way I'd feel if I had bought a xoom or ipad.
Anyway, to each his own I guess. And that's ok.
You should either get a xoom or ipad. I've borrowed them from friends and played with those. They are very nice and fits your needs quite well.
Edit.
And my elderly dad just told me he wanted one to surf the net while on the couch and have a 10 inch screen gps. Just bought one for him. Hopefully will arrive soon. Also already ordered a gps receiver and a car mount. My elderly dad's far sight vision is great. Better than mine. He could see things at a distance that I can't see even with my glasses on. But his near sight vision is beginning to slip. So, the gps I bought him a couple years back aren't that helpful nowadays. Hopefully, this 10 inch one will be better. I'm also hoping I could talk to him via video conferencing when he goes back to (insert a random country here). So, I better start showing him how to use a touch screen. It was hard enough to get him to understand and use the mouse...
I wouldn't mind a little tactile feedback or lighting for the 4 side touch buttons. They are hard to find in the dark. Some small protusions on the buttons themselves, or on the side of the case would also have been nice, like the bumps on a keyboard on the f and j keys.
Haha, the 4 buttons in the dark issue was bothering me, too. I guess I stopped noticing it once I have it memorized. Just last night, I was reading before I went to sleep and noticed that I could press with 99% precision the buttons. So, yeah, it's not a problem for me anymore.
1. I have had "edge" problems that went away when I put a different wall paper up. Try a non-live wallpaper.
2. The Olympus fix works. It just breaks the web site seeing your tablet. Get Root Explorer and it takes about 2 seconds to mount /system rw.
3) I guess the screen is a personal preference thing. I like mine better since I put a urethane screen protector on. Really keeps the fingerprints off of it for the most part and the angles don't bother me.
4) The unlit buttons are a pain in the dark. I put some clear paper reinforcement stickers over mine so they have a little feel in the dark. They are almost invisible from any distance away but you can feel them. These are the little sticky holes you put on loose leaf paper when the holes have torn out. Oh, the other think you can do is get button savior in the market. This gives you nice onscreen buttons (although you know VEGAn has home, menu and back buttons on the status bar). Now the other problem is I tend to hit the buttons when I am trying to grip the tablet. There is a non-free app called remapper (I think) that can turn them off (or repurpose them) but I have not tried it.
I don't disagree about the gtablet being a good value.
it's just slightly worse at everything than my existing Archos 70 tablet. So, for more money and double the specs, I didn't really get any appreciable improvement. Perhaps that's what I should have stated.
If I had no Android tablet, I'd be completely happy with my my VEGAn Tab.
However, i can't justify two tablets, and surprisingly, i don't think the gtablet is going to be the keeper. I'm just surprised that is the case.
I just did a factory reset, and will take pictures tonight for flea bay.
On the screen sensitivity issue, the one-touch app didn't work for me, and I was considering returning my tab. But then I did the calibration.ini trick, and the difference is amazing.
dfin13 said:
On the screen sensitivity issue, the one-touch app didn't work for me, and I was considering returning my tab. But then I did the calibration.ini trick, and the difference is amazing.
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Good to know. Thanks.
It may not keep you from selling it, but it sure will help the person who buys it from you
dfin13 said:
It may not keep you from selling it, but it sure will help the person who buys it from you
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I think that guy is sitting in the cube adjacent to mine. He's been playing with it all day. Reinstalling the apps that i lost by resetting to factory.
you guys do realized that vegan roms have the same buttons on the notification bar.. for just this reason.. to take the place of the side buttons at night.
I was personally about to sell my gTablet about 48 hours ago. I was having tons of lock-ups, market issues and was pretty frustrated.
I decided to start all over and reflashed to stock - did a lot of research here and just about have it working perfect with vegan 5.1.1 now. No lockups with flash, olympus thing fixed my market issues - it is simply an awesome tablet. I have had an ipad for a year and really like this in comparison.
If you don't want to put in the effort to modify the build.prop to fix the market it might not be for you though. It was not hard in retrospect but without any context it takes a while to really get familiar with some of the the things you are doing. I ended up using ADB to edit it - using root explorer sounds much easier.
I personally enjoyed getting it all setup right at the end of the day and learned a lot. For the price this thing is a heck of a tablet.
Also wanted to thank everyone for the hard work figuring out these fixes and ROMs - very impressive community!
My take on this is that these fixes should take like 2 minutes to do. Very easy. The problem is that new users are intimidated by complicated instructions. Take the olympus fix for example. Took me less than 30 seconds to do. But because of the way people talk on here a new user would have to read thru 3 pages because nobody was willing to give a straight answer.
Granted, I'm verbose but I figure if you read the first part of the olympus thread and you knew what edit build.prop and change one line on it meant you wouldn't need or read the long detailed instructions.
There has to be a balance between talking to people who are Android fluent and helping ramp up new users, in my opinion.
goodintentions said:
But again, it's only .3 lb heavier than the ipad, so if you have a problem with the gtab then I'm sure you'll have the same problem with the ipad.
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You mean .05 .lbs heavier than the iPad, right? Or were you referring to the iPad2, which is .22 .lbs lighter than the GTab?
I think it's important for people to realize that the GTab COULD weigh less and be thinner, as could the Xoom, but then where would the SD card slot and USB ports go? I think the edges would have slight bulges in them to accomodate the ports. I'm actually fine with the weight of the G-tab...If I noticed a difference of 100 grams, then I'd have to seriously consider working out harder.
As for the other annoyances from the OP...I guess some seem legitimate, but I haven't noticed touchscreen sensitivity issues, etc. Mine is fast and stable and works great. Aside from the screen viewing angles, I love the GTab.
One last thing to note...I just spent a week using my GTab on vacation, and also used my daughter's iPad quite a bit, too. I know this is totally subjective, but the iPad seems more like a toy than anything else. I liked the screen, but otherwise was not impressed overall. I burned several movies from DVD to my GTab and it worked flawlessly. After surfing, playing games and watching 2 movies, I had 50% battery life left. Not bad!
wd5gnr said:
Granted, I'm verbose but I figure if you read the first part of the olympus thread and you knew what edit build.prop and change one line on it meant you wouldn't need or read the long detailed instructions.
Sorry if that confused you.
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Click to collapse
My first impression of the olympus thread was "what the hell?" sure I knew what you were talking about but for someone who's new to android and rooting something as simple as editing the build.prop could be the biggest stumbling block.
I know I have the reputation for hating newbies after my wooters thread. And thats fine. But people need to pay attention to their instructions to see if they make any sense to a newbie. Belive it or not i'm actually very friendly toward newbies. And believe me, the initial instructions in that thread make no sense to a newbie.
I am in the process of compiling everything into easy step by step instructions for the technical illiterates. Viewsonic gtab for dummies. I'll launch my website hopefully sometime next week.
lostpilot28 said:
You mean .05 .lbs heavier than the iPad, right? Or were you referring to the iPad2, which is .22 .lbs lighter than the GTab?
I think it's important for people to realize that the GTab COULD weigh less and be thinner, as could the Xoom, but then where would the SD card slot and USB ports go? I think the edges would have slight bulges in them to accomodate the ports. I'm actually fine with the weight of the G-tab...If I noticed a difference of 100 grams, then I'd have to seriously consider working out harder.
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It's my experience that people will complain about anything/everything if something does not cost much.
Related
i was just wondering if anyone has or is getting a gen8 archos tablet and if so are there any developers working on it?
Crimton said:
i was just wondering if anyone has or is getting a gen8 archos tablet and if so are there any developers working on it?
Click to expand...
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I have the Archos 101 but I am not a developer
petter11 said:
I have the Archos 101 but I am not a developer
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so how are you liking it? have you already put the market on? any noticable bugs or quirks worth mentioning? thanks
it took me 1 day to absolutely go from "hmm, not sure this is what i wanted" to "holy ****, this is the best tablet yet".
it's a thing of beauty if you are willing to dig in with the gapps kit and getting all the apps that i love on my Desire onto the tablet.
it's fantastic. any specific questions you'd like answered, let me know.
Can you please give more details about it?
What about the screen? Does it look OK with market apps, cause it has bigger screen resolution. Does it look nice or blurry? I 've seen Archow with win7 and it's terrible.
Speed? Updates? Any good resources for roms (other than XDA)?
Sorry for botherning but I 'm interested to get one. Santa Claus promished it to me (LOL).
I'd be interested in what you have to say about it - particularly battery life.
Looking @ getting the Archos 70 for the wife, and the 101 for myself.
Sorry archos I went ahead and got a g tablet. It's not perfect but with a little work its a good tablet and cm6.1 is already in beta for it.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
i made a video of my 101 hooked up to my TV, have a look:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYAyQQk2C78&hd=1
the device is great. speed is great, the design is great. for some examples, movies look fantastic, Angry Birds looks incredible. it does have a little lag once in a blue moon, but usually because i'm pushing it too hard.
we're still waiting on 2.2, but other than not having flash websites (who cares?), you wouldn't know it. when we get 2.2, this is gonna scream.
the battery life is the best i've experienced in a device lately. i can go at least 2 days with normal use. apparantly, it's been tested by some dude on Star Wars 2. it played 3 times over before the battery died.
i rarely plug it in.
was wondering how is the screen quality? view angles? both in landscape or protrait? have the folio 100 for a few more days, 760g feels a bit on the heavy side after some hours of use. build quality? color gamut and sharpness on the screen?
how does the 101 do in this matter?
i looked at the Folio just before i bought the 10". i found the screens on both to be identical. what moved me over to the Archos was the fact that the Folio out of the box was force crashing left and right. the salesguy and i both laughed and i walked away.
otherwise, the screen quality is very good. is it quite as good as the iPad? no. but, i have not had any headaches trying to read and watch on it.
anotherdroid said:
i looked at the Folio just before i bought the 10". i found the screens on both to be identical. what moved me over to the Archos was the fact that the Folio out of the box was force crashing left and right. the salesguy and i both laughed and i walked away.
otherwise, the screen quality is very good. is it quite as good as the iPad? no. but, i have not had any headaches trying to read and watch on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
never expected it to be like the ipad, but if u say that it is identical as the folio, then the quality is not what i would prefer but still good enough for me.
can you try the skyfire browser on it? How is the video streaming?
Quick review of my Archos 70
I've had my Archos 70 for about a week now. One of the lucky ones. I'm really happy with it but there are a few quirks that I hope will be sorted out once 2.2 is released for it. Here's a few of my thoughts on it.
1. I like the screen. I've read people complain about the viewing angle but it's fine for me. I wish the resolution was a higher but that really only comes into play when using the web browser and viewing high resolution images.
2. There is definite issue with the soft buttons that needs to be fixed. I don't run into it all that often but it does make using alternate launchers/book readers a little annoying. Basically the soft buttons are unknown to some apps. It's not actually limiting the screen area like status bar is. usually full screen apps are the issue. The kindle app for instance chops off the bottom line of text which makes reading books hard. The Nook app on the other hand has no issues because you can set your own margins.
3. Swype works really well in portrate mode. The best way to "type" on one of these things. If I need to write a forum post or anything more than a few lines I'll pick up the archos. I can't stand the keyboard on my IPad so to me this is a HUGE benefit. The only downside is in landscape mode the soft buttons overlap the side a bit which makes hitting the period and back buttons a little hard
4. My android phone has a track ball and I wish this had one. About the only feature I miss from the ipad is the hold over a word for zoom in on a text field that allows you to place the cursor where you want it the track ball fixes that on the phone but not so much without it. My finger is not precise enough for cursor placement. The stock keyboard does have arrow keys but Swype does not. (I did figure out that if you hold down the power button an option comes up to modify the soft buttons to include arrow keys but it's really large.)
5. The bottom left corner gets pretty hot but it's not unbearable. That's the only part of the device that I noticed that. Plus when in portrate mode the side with the camera is a little heavier.
6. This thing is great for reading. The nook app works really well for me
7. It feels great in your hand. Just the right size and weight.
8. No compass. I wasn't expecting it though. Ipad does have one (since I've kinda compared the 2 in this already)
9. Google maps works great and wifi triangulation works well.
10. The screen does not get as dirty as fast as the ipad. I'm constantly cleaning the ipad as the fingerprints can really get in the way of viewing. I don't find that to be a problem with this device. The bezel does attract fingerprints but a microfiber cloth cleans that right up.
11. This thing needs froyo and root I've gotten way to used to having root and being able to control what the device does. Maybe over thanksgiving I'll have some time to look into it. Right now you must manage tasks on it and clear up memory or the thing will lag a bit. Some of the autokillers I've not found work for me. I guess if you've never seen 2.2 with a tweaked android internal memory manager they would be ok for you but not for me Luckily the task app it comes with is pretty good.
12. Even though it won't charge thru USB the included charger comes with the most common plug styles and allows you to swap them out. Really nice.
13. Battery life is pretty amazing but I think they toggle off wifi when the screen is off no matter what. I want to keep wifi on so I get email on it. Could be fixed with the firmware upgrade.
14. Video playback is nice and smooth and the audio player is pretty good as well. I did try some mkv files at 720p (not sure of the full specs of the media but could find out) and did get some slow down in the video in high motion areas. You could tell as the audio/video sync would go out then come back. I was also using the mini-hdmi->hdmi cable to put it on my tv when that happened. I've not tested any other videos yet. I don't have a lot of digital video hanging around these days.
15. I'd recommend getting a case. Kindle 2 or nook cases seem to work. A screen protector is also a good idea. I've been really careful with mine and i've still managed to somehow scratch the screen. I can only see it at specific angles in certain light so it doesn't detract from actual use but still you hate to have a scratch on a pretty screen
I'm very happy with the device. Once we get froyo I'll be even more ecstatic. I've not seen the need to grab my ipad once since I got it so that's sayin something.
http://twitter.com/#!/_mrbirdman_/status/5054131584634881 oh snap! and that coming from the guy who first rooted the droid x.
That hurts me. Sh...t.
How can I recall my letter to Santa... Anyone???
Just so you guys know, the A70 and A101 are available on the Archos.com store.
Only the 8GB version of each so far. They've been up for under an hour now, but I'm sure they've taken a ton of orders, so better get it quick if you want it.
Crimton said:
http://twitter.com/#!/_mrbirdman_/status/5054131584634881 oh snap! and that coming from the guy who first rooted the droid x.
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Click to collapse
That's a deal-breaker for me! I was all set to order too. Archos, I hope you're reading this!
Next!
Billy
mmhh..
didnt they say that it will be almost imppossible to root the droid x too??
it will get rooted..just like the ps3 got "jailbroken" lol (i hate when people use the that term) but may be it will take years..lol
I've had one for a week too, definitely wanted a 7 incher since I prefer to have extra portatility. Everything is working great and Froyo update will only make things better.
Altough rooting etc is a nice thing to mess around with the device, I dont feel like it is a necessity for enjoying the device.
At the end Android devices pretty much let you do everything you want out of the box and it's not like I thought that AOSP roms were the best things on earth either (back to sense rom on Desire).
Once Froyo is here with Flash support and Froyo ap2sd, the device will have all I want and I wont change my mind wether a root shows up or not (we know it will eventually).
Leviuqse said:
mmhh..
didnt they say that it will be almost imppossible to root the droid x too??
it will get rooted..just like the ps3 got "jailbroken" lol (i hate when people use the that term) but may be it will take years..lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The X was rooted almost immediately (or even before launch?), but they haven't broken the bootloader encryption yet, so basically all that gained them at first was the ability to manipulate the filesystem outside of /data. Custom ROMs/kernels have been a bit of a chore. I haven't watched the progress too closely, but last I remember they've been able to get everything but kernels working, and even that may have progressed.
So I've "rented" a g-tab. I normally wouldn't do this, but being the geek I am, and having no previous experience with actual use of a Tablet (who has? Besides iPad owners....), I picked up a g-tab with every intention of returning it.
Sears offers 30 days, no restocking fee so what do I have to lose? Well first of all, more questions as to is this something I actually need and can use. I've got an Evo, which is plenty big to me for a cell phone. However at home, I don't have a laptop except my work Dell (Slooooooooooow) and my wife's 17" Dell (huuuuuuuuuuge). So the tablet was mainly to give me a more pleasant internet experience at home, with use of all my Android apps at the same time.
I can say that after only a day of use, it definitely fits that need. I like the formfactor, the 10" is perfect for website browsing w/o the need to zoom. The hardware is quick, I've experienced (actually) no crashes. All the software I've tried has worked, except I still am missing a few apps in the market here and there. Strange.
So on to the screen.... my god is it really bad if you aren't looking directly at it. However, at home, that is the only time I would be using it; on the couch, looking directly at it. Any other use, such as right now sitting at my desk at work I have to nearly lean over it for me to feel like I'm seeing an accurate picture. It sure is great for privacy reasons, no one is going to be able to see what you are looking at over your shoulder.
Given the 30 day return policy, as of now I am planning on taking it back. However it surely has won more respect from me than I thought it would. (Thanks to the Dev Support @ XDA of course). If the screen weren't so bad? It would be a 100000% keeper. It may still win me over, but for now there are many other tablets coming out that could be worthy. As long as they boast similar hardware specs, memory and GPU/CPU wise, and have better screen technology, I would be very pleased with any of them given they are the 10" form factor.
I was previously looking at the 7", Samsung Tab; which from playing with in the store is very very nice and everything appears to just *work*. However I just don't see myself going to 7" when I can see the benefits of 10". If I needed something portable, that'd be the exception. Jobs was not accurate at all in his statement on the smaller form factor tablet, there is definitely a use/need for it.
This may be a little funny, but...flip it upside down. The screen is perfectly visible when upside down. As many other have said, Viewsonic seem to have installed the lcd screen the wrong way. I wonder how difficult it would be to correct this..
kevin24lg said:
This may be a little funny, but...flip it upside down. The screen is perfectly visible when upside down. As many other have said, Viewsonic seem to have installed the lcd screen the wrong way. I wonder how difficult it would be to correct this..
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Click to collapse
I noticed this. Hardly a workaround though as then the buttons do not feel as natural where they are, and I have hit the power button on error a few times.
Ugh..
kevin24lg said:
This may be a little funny, but...flip it upside down. The screen is perfectly visible when upside down. As many other have said, Viewsonic seem to have installed the lcd screen the wrong way. I wonder how difficult it would be to correct this..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Odd, text is much sharper and clear for me with the camera at the top which I assumed is right side up....of course what is up on a tablet?
Hello all,
Apologies if this has already been answered already, but I am VERY tempted by the G-Tablet. LOVE the idea of sticking the customs ROMS on there.
I understand that the ROMS are by no means perfect, and I am fine with that. They are ever evolving and I am fine with changing ROMS now and again and trying out new things.
The only thing that has prevented me from making the purchase is the negative reviews of the screen that I have heard - particularly in portrait mode.
Is it really THAT bad? What is it like in portrait? And landscape?
Does anyone have any video or pictures or links to show what the screen looks like, particularly in portrait mode and in landscape too?
Should the screen be the thing that prevents me from buying it? Is it that much of a deal breaker?
Any video, comments or pictures would be greatly appreciated.
I really want to jump on the G-Tablet band wagon, but if the screen is that bad then I guess I will hold off.
Thanks in advance.
I use mine for, among other things, reading digital magazines and comics. In portrait mode the screen is pretty bad and has a 3D sort of effect at certain angles. In landscape mode it looks best when you're viewing it straight on and as your angle gets higher it looks lighter in color, the lower your angle the darker it gets. But I read everything in landscape mode anyway so this doesn't bother me.
For me even with the screen issue, using VEGAn rom beta 5.1, I love this tablet. It's something that I have been enjoying for over a month now rather than other folks "waiting" for something better and not having a tablet at all.
I also have an iPad (company issued) which I hardly ever even turn on (only when I want to keep my little kids busy with the Netflix app).
Once you experience the freedom and the fantastic custom roms our xda folks cook up I'm sure you'll fall in love with this tablet too. With all of the folks that complain about the screen in these forums, almost all of them have still kept their gTabs. That should tell you something.
Search youtube and there's a video showing the gtablets viewing angles. To me its not a deal breaker. I mostly use the tab in ladscape mode even while I'm ereading. Portrait mode is ok but its not a dealbreaker either. I think the tab is fairly price with what you get.
I loathe the screen.
If you happen to have a netbook, there's an easy way to replicate the GTab experience for reading comics or magazines. Just run an app on your netbook to open up the graphic, then flip it 90 degrees (so that it's in portrait) and look at the viewing angles. Notice, in particular, the significant changes if you tilt it slightly to the right or left. That's exactly what happens on the Gtab. On my Mini10v, you have to flip it 90 degrees counter-clockwise, so that the keyboard is on the right side.
I actually think a netbook is slightly better because the refresh is 60 Hz, whereas the refresh on the Gtab is (we think) 50 Hz.
gogorman said:
Hello all,
Apologies if this has already been answered already, but I am VERY tempted by the G-Tablet. LOVE the idea of sticking the customs ROMS on there.
I understand that the ROMS are by no means perfect, and I am fine with that. They are ever evolving and I am fine with changing ROMS now and again and trying out new things.
The only thing that has prevented me from making the purchase is the negative reviews of the screen that I have heard - particularly in portrait mode.
Is it really THAT bad? What is it like in portrait? And landscape?
Does anyone have any video or pictures or links to show what the screen looks like, particularly in portrait mode and in landscape too?
Should the screen be the thing that prevents me from buying it? Is it that much of a deal breaker?
Any video, comments or pictures would be greatly appreciated.
I really want to jump on the G-Tablet band wagon, but if the screen is that bad then I guess I will hold off.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most people are simply comparing the G Tablet screen to the typical smartphone screen or iPad.
Personally, I dont THINK the screen is meant to be used in portrait mode for anything more than looking at apps and reading. For THOSE uses, it is fine (imho). You can read ebooks, comics, even websites with it as well as use most apps. It tickles your eyes (some people say it hurts theirs) if you try to use it with low on screen light things like gaming and watching movies...but I find it more similar to my eyes trying to adjust to 3D, it doesn't hurt but you can tell it's not going to work for very long because it feels awkward. I don't wear glasses.
The angles also aren't great compared to a cell/smartphone. I don't have a problem with this because I look at it head on, and when I put it on it's stand, I angle it at around 90-100 degrees, the same as my notebook and it looks fine.
Just keep in mind that the screen is comparable to a netbook/notebook, in which case you wouldn't be flipping that on the side to look at anything, nor would you be looking at it comfortably at extreme angles.
Forget sitting in your chair and glancing at it on a desk, that won't work. Nor picking it up and holding it at anything close to 180 degrees in your hand (like you MAY hold your cell). Think of it as a touchscreen netbook without a keyboard and you'll find it to be perfectly acceptable (I think).
Should the screen prevent you from buying it? That's hard to say. I don't think it's a deal breaker by any means (otherwise I would have returned mine), but that is in my opinion, and this sort of thing is really up to the user/buyer to decide. I wouldn't spend $100 more for a "better" screen, so automatically this may be a defining factor between the types of buyers we are.
The angles are NOT good, however when I'm actually actively using I never notice how bad they are as I'm looking directly at the screen and not from an angle. I've even used as an ereader in portrait mode and have not had problems. i.e. I really only notice it when I have it ont he table or desktop and check to see how flash progress, etc. is going and even then I can usually make out the important bits as it seems to be only colors for me that appear washed out while black and white show up as usual -> mostly text which is what I want to see anyways...
I've had mine since the monday before Thanksgiving. I'm keeping it because a) there's nothing else as good/fast/powerful out ATM, b) Notion Ink seemed kind of hazy and I'd like to see how long that they survive, etc.
Try an Office Depot or something and see if they have an actual demo unit. Staples HAD demo units, but Sears just had a mockup...
(I've also had/have an Augen Gentouch78, Pandigital Novel(white), Nook Color, and gTablet. The NC screen is much better, but again I don't notice the viewing angle unless I'm specifically looking for that as I'm always looking directly at the screen when actively using... caveat: I don't watch videos generally, so maybe this is where it becomes important to some people... better screens are always nice though, and I lust after the PixelQi'ed Notion Ink Adam for outdoor/sunny use... but not @ $500 and their uncertain future...)
[EDIT]
Forgot to mention, but when I used it as an ereader I was holding it in portrait orientation which is how I prefer to orient devices when using them as a reader, assuming that they even support landscape mode to begin with. I'm using my NC purely as a reader ATM since it's batt runtime isn't all that long v. the gTab, and my crappy 128MB uSD wasn't able to boot the unit, and I just don't feel like manually rooting it which is no big deal ATM as I'm mainly using it as a reader. When it gets warmer I'll change my mind I'm sure and it'll be serving more portable tablet duties as well as reading... just have to order some 8GB class 6 uSDHC cards now... already ordered case for NC which I have yet to do for gTab, but I want to buy a bluetooth GPS/logger before anything else ATM, which is looking to cost more than I expected for such a simplistic device(no display, just couple LEDs, GPS chipset(MTK v2 3329), and some memory & storage)...
[/EDIT]
I've had mine for about a month now and I am currently 200 pages into "Teach Yourself Electronics and Electricity"
I read it in both portrait and landscape mode and the angles aren't too bad.
I wouldn't jump out and use it in landscape mode permanently or anything, but I can live with them.
Compared to an iPad, Galaxy Tab and the B&N Nook Color, the screen is very sensitive to the vertical viewing angle (in landscape mode), with solarization effects kicking in once you are off-axis.
This is a netbook screen as mentioned above.
If you are using the tablet in landscape mode and holding it in your hand, then you can adjust easily and automatically to make sure the viewing angle is optimal.
The screen is bright and the colors are vibrant. I enjoy using my tab this way as a couch-based internet/video terminal. The experience can be as good as the iPad (with the benefit of added flash).
However, when held vertically, depending on which way is up, the viewing angle sensitivity can be so great that each eye sees different levels of solarization - giving a subjective effect similar to that from red/green 3D specs...
Also, the solarization effect is not symmetrical when you look at the screen from above/below the viewing axis, with the screen giving acceptable-ish results if looked-at from above, but miserable results from below. Thus the device seems to be optimized for use on a stand/dock sat on a table and viewed from above. (This seems consistent with the original TnT console UI mode).
This all sounds terrible, and the screen definitely IS now the weakest part of the package - but despite that, the overall experience of the Gtablet is VERY enjoyable - just check out the forums.
Accordingly, the screen cannot be THAT bad...
You really need to see one in action and decide for yourself. It is VERY subjective....
Well I bit the bullet and made the purchase.
Managed to find one at a Sears Outlet 2 hours away for $296 total.
Thanks to all for the replies.
The next question is: Which ROM do I put on there? I know that each of them have their own pro's and con's but is there one I should put on there to start with to see how it goes (when initially replacing the Tap'n'Tap UI)? Is one more stable or feature packed than another?
Again, any input would be GREAT!
Thanks!
I use (as do many) TNT lite. It's based on the stock Veiwsonic but It is worlds better than stock. TNT lite development is very active.
I haven't but you can try them all.
gogorman said:
Well I bit the bullet and made the purchase.
Managed to find one at a Sears Outlet 2 hours away for $296 total.
Thanks to all for the replies.
The next question is: Which ROM do I put on there? I know that each of them have their own pro's and con's but is there one I should put on there to start with to see how it goes (when initially replacing the Tap'n'Tap UI)? Is one more stable or feature packed than another?
Again, any input would be GREAT!
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are two "good" (i.e. well supported, active user community) ROMs right now - TNT Lite and Vegan ROM. Both have significant user communities here at XDA numbering in the many thousands. Personally, I think Vegan ROM is the fastest, smoothest experience currently on the G Tablet. It has a few bugs (mostly the media issues on the external SD card - if you don't have one or don't use it much for that this is not an issue). TNT Lite is just a stripped down, sped up, much improved version of the stock ROM that came with the device. But still not quite as lightweight or zippy as Vegan in my opinion. CyanogenMod 6.x seems to be less supported right now, because most of the work is going into making CyanogenMod 7 work properly.
In a few weeks time, Vegan should be ported over to running on top of CyanogenMod 7. And in a few weeks time, hopefully, CyanogenMod 7 itself will be stable and awesome. There's a lot of great development activity going on right now, so stay tuned.
Loved android hated the screen!!
Having owned both a gtab and an iPad I have to say that in the end the screen quality killed owning the gtab for me. The viewing angles make it impossible to lay the gtab on a table like I can do with my iPad. I hate the locked down nature of the iPad and wanted to love the gtab but in the end I couldn't justify owning a device that frustrated me that much. I look forward to the next batch of honeycomb tablets and anticipate purchasing one. (lol that the iPad autocorrect capitalizes the word iPad properly)
gogorman said:
Well I bit the bullet and made the purchase.
Managed to find one at a Sears Outlet 2 hours away for $296 total.
Thanks to all for the replies.
The next question is: Which ROM do I put on there? I know that each of them have their own pro's and con's but is there one I should put on there to start with to see how it goes (when initially replacing the Tap'n'Tap UI)? Is one more stable or feature packed than another?
Again, any input would be GREAT!
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll refer you to this thread where it's being discussed.
I never went to Vegan out of fear of the install somehow borking the tablet. I really can't bother with all that NVflash nor partitioning nonsense. CWM is as deep as I every want to go and so far between stock, tnt lite and cyanogen that's all I've ever had to do...load cwm, wipe data and cache, wipe dalvik and slap on a new/different ROM.
Speed means nothing to me if there are any frustrating or super noticeable, "get in your way" bugs, and from what I saw of TnT lite 4.1 it had nothing super noticeable and didn't lack any features I want/needed...in fact, nothing 'broke' in TnT lite 4.1 which is why that's what I recommend over all others.
Just remember to always, no matter what....wipe your cache and data. Many users will tell you it's not necessary but believe me when I say, it's better to do that than end up with some magic number or uid error because I've read about very bad experiences from people who just try to upgrade to a different OS. Some of these incessant errors seem to require APX mode or full re-flashes back to original - doesn't sound good, does it?
I may be spared out of being thorough or just dumb luck (knock on wood!!!!), but the fact is I've been spared.
I would recommend in addition to getting input from people in this and the other "what ROM is best" thread, to go read through the various ROM threads themselves. Check youtube to see how the various ROMs look and check screenshots, stuff like that to see what you may light.
Lastly, if you plan to try "on" different ones, I recommend Appbrain to help you get apps back on your tablet in an efficient manner, as long as you have access to the 'proper' market.
Appbrain allows you to sync your apps to a server, from there you can manipulate them - hard to explain but try it and see. And if a ROM causes Appbrain to ID the tab as something different every time, you can simply copy your app list to everything it uses. Appbrain simply checks your tab for what you have/don't have and looks up the apps 1 by 1 in the market, allowing you to install the newest versions possible till you're back in business.
A secondary backup method is to instruct Astro to backup your apps, then you save the folder with those apps to your SD card or your PC so you can sideload them manually when you're done swapping the OS.
Good Luck!
Hey man! This thread inspired me to make a video about! I had a lot of questions that no one seemed to answer in the videos they posted, so I figured I'd add to the community! Hope it helps some people out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO1XyVK6cms
I searched for a few days all over the internet before I ended up getting the gtab... I almost got the herotab mid816, but I'm glad I spent a bit more, I ended up getting a lot more back.
Pros: AWESOME TOUCH RESPONSE, blazing fast (after a new rom), multi touch works good, lots of Modding options
Cons: small viewing angle, android standard buttons on the side don't light up, slow stock rom, expensive dock (55$)
This is my first android tablet but I do have 2 android phones. This thing destroys my phones in speed! This thing is crazy fast! I plan to write a better review when I get home, but for now I must say I really like this g-tablet. I plan on uploading some app packs or at least do some compatibility tests for people! Later g-tabbers.
dispozable said:
I searched for a few days all over the internet before I ended up getting the gtab... I almost got the herotab mid816, but I'm glad I spent a bit more, I ended up getting a lot more back.
Pros: AWESOME TOUCH RESPONSE, blazing fast (after a new rom), multi touch works good, lots of Modding options
Cons: small viewing angle, android standard buttons on the side don't light up, slow stock rom, expensive dock (55$)
This is my first android tablet but I do have 2 android phones. This thing destroys my phones in speed! This thing is crazy fast! I plan to write a better review when I get home, but for now I must say I really like this g-tablet. I plan on uploading some app packs or at least do some compatibility tests for people! Later g-tabbers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Funny that after all of the hubbub of new tabs coming out, the Gtablet still seems the best option for modders (total cost considered).
Actually, from everything I read, this was the best (cost effective) option for anybody wanting Android. It just so happens that a new ROM is required if you want to enjoy the speed. I think that if you are in the lookout for honeycomb, you really need to consider this one.
I just did not want an iPad.
I hated it out of the box and thought I had wasted money then I installed tnt lite and love it
I have to admit that even with its shortcomings its looking more and more like a bargain compared to the prices of the new stuff coming out. I'm very happy with mine and i am really surprised by how much i use it now.
I hated it out of the box and thought I had wasted money then I installed tnt lite and love it
I think that for the non-iPad crowd, the G-Tab will end up being the best value for a Honeycomb tablet this year. With the exception of a better screen, there's not much else to want compared to the other Honeycomb tablet announcements. Yes, a GPS would be nice, but I don't seem to miss it. I plan on holding onto the G-Tab until the next round of tablets with quad-core Tegra III's come out.
I have to thank the developers here that are really breathing life into the device and putting money in Viewsonic's pocket; as I believe that if it weren't for the existence of other ROMS, the G-Tab would have long since disappeared.
Thanks guys!
tysonkam said:
I think that for the non-iPad crowd, the G-Tab will end up being the best value for a Honeycomb tablet this year. With the exception of a better screen, there's not much else to want compared to the other Honeycomb tablet announcements. Yes, a GPS would be nice, but I don't seem to miss it. I plan on holding onto the G-Tab until the next round of tablets with quad-core Tegra III's come out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree that this is the best cost efficent option. I am using the enhancement pack and everything runs great and I can't wait for honeycomb. I just with the screen was a bit better.
Ive gotta say, though I like the tab (running vegan tab) it does seem more sluggish than my froyo dell streak. Also, I find the screen responsiveness pales in comparison to my ipad. Those two things may be related.
If the screen wasn't so bad, this would be a great tablet. But I'm pretty particular about screens (particularly IPS vs. TN panels), and this may not bother other folks as much. If you can live with the screen or don't even notice what's wrong with it, you've got a great device for an excellent price compared to the competition.
I was very hesitant to mess with the original, as it upgraded as soon as it connected to my wireless wifi. But the Marketplace did not work, so I took the plunge a couple weeks back and put the TNT and the Clockworks and its been great ever since. I wish I could find some info on all the menu items in Clockwork. I discovered by accident to "fix the permissions" was via the Clockworks. I discovered by accident where the backup files "live" on the sdcard so I could copy them to the computer. When I do a restore, there are about 4 choices, but I can only speculate as to what each would overwrite or upgrade. When it formats or does a "restore" I don't exactly know what I am restoring.. I know there is a lot of capability in Clockworks, but have not been able to find one location that has a good tutorial.
I have to smile as I read all the "new" pads coming out on Engadget, et.al., and they have similar hardware, except gps, as the Gtab, its almost a "secret" gem, and with the upgraded ROMS on this site, its a real jewel...
****
The part about the screen that really bothers me is the fingerprints. Bought a screen protector just to see if it helps. The angles do not bother me as much and kind of like the guy next to me in the airplane not seeing what I am doing...
jhermit said:
The part about the screen that really bothers me is the fingerprints. Bought a screen protector just to see if it helps. The angles do not bother me as much and kind of like the guy next to me in the airplane not seeing what I am doing...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought a two pack of microfiber cloths from Target dollar spot. They work great!
rain-x
jhermit said:
The part about the screen that really bothers me is the fingerprints. Bought a screen protector just to see if it helps. The angles do not bother me as much and kind of like the guy next to me in the airplane not seeing what I am doing...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read in a different post if you use rain-x it cuts down on the smudges. I wonder if the anti-fog works better. I have not tried it yet but it sounds like a good idea.
Yes, I was going to try the screen protector first since it was only $11 shipped and others have had good luck with it. If that doesn't do it, then Rain-x will be my answer. I would prefer not having to apply Rain-x every few weeks...
I was hesitant of the rain-x method, but I tried it 2 days ago. It did wonders and highly recommend trying this out. I have not redone the process yet. Just make sure you really let the rain-x dry to a haze before wiping clean.
I have had very little fingerprints at all.
Thread link:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=892959
Might as well just wax the screen with car wax if people are using rain-x.
Update:
I do now use Rain-X on my tablet about once every two weeks (twice so far) and there is no fading or any kind of bad response from the tablet. I have gone through a few roms and now have a stable and fast one running 2.2. All in all I really like this tablet. I got my hands on an iPad and I felt like a traitor and an iRetard. I keep asking "Where is the back button? Where is the menu button?" After about 10 minutes I gave up and decided the trade wasn't worth it
Untill they have Android working on an iPad (stable, not just booting) I'll pass and stay with my G-Tab.
Sent from my G-Tablet 2.2 using Tapatalk
I was near an Office Depot today and stopped in to see if they had the G Tablet on display. Sure enough there it was very close to the front of the store in an Android tablets display. I had never seen the device in person before and based on what I have been reading I was expecting to see literally the worst screen I have ever seen on a device. Imagine my surprise when I hit the power button and was presented with what was in my opinion a very nice display. Sure if I changed my viewing angle to an unnatural position it started to look worse but it's a tablet! I'm literally always going to have it directly in my line of sight. When used in this manner I thought it looked great!
I have bought and returned an iPad 2 due to terrible backlight bleeding. One thing that struck me as much better about the G Tablet screen was that it was much less pixelated than the iPad 2 screen. Web pages were sharper as was the overall interface. In my opinion the viewing angle issue has been greatly overblown.
This unit on display was running in the classic mode and even then it was quite sluggish. I'm not sure if this should be attributed to the fact that Viewsonic's ROM is simply awful or if this particular unit had an issue. Regardless I'll be rooting and installing one of the preferred ROM's on my device anyway so performance will not be an issue.
For $279 this is looking like quite a value, can't wait to receive it!
Nice to read this. I was also expecting to see a really crappy display that blacks out the second you tilt your head a fraction. Really glad to hear that this isn't the case.
Now I'm about to stand on my head to get a shipping email. Ain't gonna happen until at least Monday.
Good lord. I wasn't this anxious for Xmas when I was a kid ;->
Metal_in_Silk said:
Nice to read this. I was also expecting to see a really crappy display that blacks out the second you tilt your head a fraction. Really glad to hear that this isn't the case.
Now I'm about to stand on my head to get a shipping email. Ain't gonna happen until at least Monday.
Good lord. I wasn't this anxious for Xmas when I was a kid ;->
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are funny but I get you nothing like the anticipation of a new tech toy. You will love gtab particularly thinking about how much you paid for such a fun device.
The screen is fine in landscape mode as you indeed will position it at a natural angle and everything will be fine. Just so I am clear, by natural, I mean you don't really position the display perfectly flat in front of your eyes, you tend to look at the screen having your eyes positioned higher than the screen (unless your the kind of person who enjoys having his arms in the air). This is when colors are the most uniform from top to bottom. if you were to raise it or lean it back too much so that you end up positioning your eyes lower than the bottom of the tablet, you get past the screen's viewing angle.
This is only problematic in portrait mode (which I seldom use). For example, if you rotate your tablet so that the top is now facing left, you then need to position the tablet to your right a little to get the same color uniformity as you need to keep both your eyes over the top of the tablet.
If they made xooms or ipads with this screen for 300$ in addition to the 600$ "perfect screen", I would chose the 300$ one as you easily get used to it.
To put it in perspective, the touchscreen is not sensitive enough on a tiny area at the top left corner of my g-tablet and I have trouble taping things there (where the home button is located on VEGAn tab and the battery icon on gAdam). Comparatively, this is by far a worst problem than the viewing angle in my mind.
I think it looks bad, when I have it laying down I can't see a thing. When I show friends something I wonder if they can see it. It's not the worst but it could be much better
(Devil's Advocate)
I've had my GTAB since November and I do love the device - it's a modder's dream since it's very difficult to fully brick. Got mine used on the cheap and I feel that the hardware itself is solid. Except the screen.
You are 100% correct that it's fine when using spot-on in landscape, but tilt it ever so slightly down and solarization begins. And, in portrait mode, even the slightest tilt will change the screen image significantly.
I didn't really notice this flaw at first. It really took me at least a week or two of using it for various things before it became noticable. Trying to play a game where you need to move the device around a lot, playing a video when it's flat on the table and you are looking at it from an angle. Or reading comics in portrait mode.
The iPad1, for all its faults (and there are many), has a fantastic IPS screen that eats the GTAB's for lunch. I have a SmartQ R10 with the same screen and that's what I use for reading comics... not the GTAB. I think the screen has been the #1 hardware issue here in XDA since the forum opened - so much so that there are several threads on trying to get a replacement screen that would fit.
Here's a post I made over at Slatedroid comparing the GTAB angles with a Xoom and an R10: http://www.slatedroid.com/index.php?/topic/15865-screen-angles/. Those pictures are very accurate.
Not trying to kill people's excitement - just understand what you're getting - it's still a GREAT bargain and a great device. But the screen angles can be a problem, depending on what you use it for.
As for the question on speed -- imo, 3389 (and even the latest 3588 release) are still a bit sluggish, as you mentioned. Several alternate ROMs out there will improve speeds significantly as they are using newer drivers that Viewsonic has yet to incorporate into a released firmware.
I should think that those of us who don't plan to watch videos or play games will be quite satisfied with it.
Thanks for the comparison pictures -- that was a great service to those of us on the fence The viewing angle issue, while noticeable, now seems tolerable to me. I'm torn between grabbing a Xoom tomorrow or ordering a G-tab from Tigerdirect tonight (kicking myself for being such a wuss and not getting it from Woot...). Aside from the screen, my biggest concern is that the G-tab will never get Honeycomb, and if it does, whether or not the lower resolution will make it incompatible with tablet apps. I love Android, but I don't want to use the tablet as an oversized phoneless phone for too long.
Decisions, decisions ...
roebeet said:
Here's a post I made over at Slatedroid comparing the GTAB angles with a Xoom and an R10: http://www.slatedroid.com/index.php?/topic/15865-screen-angles/. Those pictures are very accurate
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From those pictures I doesn't look that bad. Sure IPS has better viewing angles, but most people use a TFT monitor on their computer at home, and they dont complain. There is a down side to IPS and its the refresh rate that can cause ghosting. Plus think of it as a semi security feature, it will be harder for people to look over your shoulder and see what you are up to.
Google seems to be really bent out of shape with getting AOSP out for 3.0 - my guess is that Moto is really paying them them a nice sum to keep the Xoom as the ONLY HC device around.
If one Harmony based device gets HC, someone will probably manage to port it to ours. We just need that first device to get it. But that may not be for a long time. And agreed on the screen, but keep in mind that the Notion Ink Adam has the same screen so if they manage to port it, then the GTAB will likely get it.
LowSky said:
From those pictures I doesn't look that bad. Sure IPS has better viewing angles, but most people use a TFT monitor on their computer at home, and they dont complain. There is a down side to IPS and its the refresh rate that can cause ghosting. Plus think of it as a semi security feature, it will be harder for people to look over your shoulder and see what you are up to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed - the bottom line it what you plan to do with the device. Spot-on landscape mode looks like just like a netbook screen, because that's exactly what's in the GTAB.
docprego said:
I was near an Office Depot today and stopped in to see if they had the G Tablet on display. Sure enough there it was very close to the front of the store in an Android tablets display. I had never seen the device in person before and based on what I have been reading I was expecting to see literally the worst screen I have ever seen on a device. Imagine my surprise when I hit the power button and was presented with what was in my opinion a very nice display. Sure if I changed my viewing angle to an unnatural position it started to look worse but it's a tablet! I'm literally always going to have it directly in my line of sight. When used in this manner I thought it looked great!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
People like to exaggerate. I don't know why, but they like to do it. It's also because this unit doesn't cost as much as, say, the ipad.
My brother, someone who always wants the newest and greatest, came over to visit today with his 2 kids. I let the kids play with the device because they were curious. My brother started criticizing it after I told him how much I paid for it. First, he criticized it for the small internal sdcard. I had to tell him that the ipad has the same amount of internal space. He then accused the battery of not lasting long enough. I had to tell him that actually it's right up there with the ipad. He then picked it up and said it was too heavy. I told him that it only weighed .22 lb more than the ipad. Not to be outdone, he claimed that .22 was too much more than his ipad. He then said it must be really really slow. I brought it over to him and showed him that it was running just as fast as his ipad. He started playing with it and then he said "aha, it doesn't have 3g."
The point is he had never seen the gtab before. Actually, he had never heard of it before. Yet, he didn't like it at all. It was obvious he was desperately looking for reasons not to like it.
I did notice that even though he was looking for every reason to criticize it he never noticed the screen being "bad". So, obviously the gtab screen isn't really that bad. People online who are bashing this device describing the screen as the worst thing ever to have existed (or something like that) are just exaggerating because they are looking for a reason to bash the device.
It's no different than a typical netbook or laptop screen. Why the bloody hell is it a life and death issue all the sudden?
goodintentions said:
It's no different than a typical netbook or laptop screen. Why the bloody hell is it a life and death issue all the sudden?
Click to expand...
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Because with a netbook / laptop screen, you are looking at it at the same angle 90% of the time. A tablet is a different animal - you have it flat on your desk, or in portrait mode reading a book, or moving it around if you're playing a game. It's not at the same landscape mode / angle all the time. Completely different device.
Here's a perfect example: I was playing that evil and life-draining game Angry Birds earlier today. On my Xoom tablet, I have a tendency to play it where the screen is leaning back slightly on my palm, as that's comfortable for one handed play. Screen is fine. But on the GTAB, when I play it that way the screen solarization can be seen - I have to force it to be more spot-on to my line of sight, but that's not as comfortable in my hand.
That's the difference, and why it's not really that noticeable until you really start using it day-to-day for a long period of time.
Don't get me wrong. I notice it, too. It just doesn't bother me like it supposedly bother other people. But then again, I was born in a house with a dirt floor and grew up with a 4 inch black and white tv, so I guess my standards aren't as high as yours.
Thanks for the link to the comparison roebeet. I think I can live with that. One of my (major) pet peeves is having a co-worker peer over at what I'm doing, makes me want to do a Three Stooges eyepoke. This should actually work in my favor as:
1) I won't have to outen some nosy body's eyes when I check msgs
2) Will probably save my job and/or a lawsuit one day (see #1)
Still excited and bouncing in anticipation LOL it's been ages since I've played around with mods on a device. Really looking forward to it
Metal_in_Silk said:
Still excited and bouncing in anticipation LOL it's been ages since I've played around with mods on a device. Really looking forward to it
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Just ordered mine, in the same boat as you Tigerdirect the estimated arrive date as the 29th, but Memphis tends to get things a little quicker *fingers crossed*
goodintentions said:
Don't get me wrong. I notice it, too. It just doesn't bother me like it supposedly bother other people. But then again, I was born in a house with a dirt floor and grew up with a 4 inch black and white tv, so I guess my standards aren't as high as yours.
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In my house, my kids call me "the cheapskate". I set new lows for standards.
And at least you had a TV - I used to make dioramas with cartoon cutouts in them to make my own cartoon shows. And I liked it!
dfin13 said:
Just ordered mine, in the same boat as you Tigerdirect the estimated arrive date as the 29th, but Memphis tends to get things a little quicker *fingers crossed*
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Lucky you! You'll be modding and playing Angry Birds while I'm still waiting on a shipment confirmation
Srsly, this is gonna be some fun. The screen doesn't suck as bad as I thought it would and playing with the various mods will be a very welcome distraction from doing ppls taxes
roebeet said:
In my house, my kids call me "the cheapskate". I set new lows for standards.
And at least you had a TV - I used to make diarrheas with cartoon cutouts in them to make my own cartoon shows. And I liked it!
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Now THAT was an interesting mental image
dfin13 said:
Thanks for the comparison pictures -- that was a great service to those of us on the fence The viewing angle issue, while noticeable, now seems tolerable to me. I'm torn between grabbing a Xoom tomorrow or ordering a G-tab from Tigerdirect tonight (kicking myself for being such a wuss and not getting it from Woot...). Aside from the screen, my biggest concern is that the G-tab will never get Honeycomb, and if it does, whether or not the lower resolution will make it incompatible with tablet apps. I love Android, but I don't want to use the tablet as an oversized phoneless phone for too long.
Decisions, decisions ...
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When I played with the xoom up close I noticed the bad viewing angles too. At that price unacceptable but at the price of the g tab understable they already gave you quite a lot for little money, costs had to be cut somewhere. Xoom should be top notch. I started to buy it until I saw the viewing angles and build. The SmartQ awesome. I actually need another tab for work with a different operating system but did not find the ipad engaging enough. I hate the slow rate of trickle with these tabs.
Looking at the last picture unless they were swapped the xoom looked washed out to me. SmartQ held it's own in every picture.
Metal_in_Silk said:
Now THAT was an interesting mental image
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Darn spell check screwed up. But maybe I should have left it - it was a more interesting response!
edirector said:
When I played with the xoom up close I noticed the bad viewing angles too. At that price unacceptable but at the price of the g tab understable they already gave you quite a lot for little money, costs had to be cut somewhere. Xoom should be top notch. I started to buy it until I saw the viewing angles and build. The SmartQ awesome. I actually need another tab for work with a different operating system but did not find the ipad engaging enough. I hate the slow rate of trickle with these tabs.
Looking at the last picture unless they were swapped the xoom looked washed out to me. SmartQ held it's own in every picture.
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Yeah, it's a bit washed out once the angles go past a certain point - I think it's just the nature of a TFT screen and probably can't be avoided. But slight angles (which you can't really see in those pics) are very good on the Xoom.
And x2 on the GTAB comment. At less than half price, it's still a bargain. We don't have HC either, but that's something that's potentially fixable, at least.
As for the SmartQ R10, the angles are great but it's a slow-as-molasses device (Telechips CPU with Android 2.1, only) - works fine as a cbz reader, however. What I'm still waiting for is an IPS screen paired with a Tegra 2 chipset. They are coming this year, allegedly.