ViewSonic ViewPad 10Pro and ViewPad 7x hands-on redux (video)

ViewSonic ViewPad 10Pro and ViewPad 7x hands-on redux (video) - General Topics

ViewSonic ViewPad 10Pro and ViewPad 7x hands on redux (video)
We've already fiddled with ViewSonic's two new tablets at Computex's pre-show event, but we decided to hit the booth earlier today to get a closer look at the ViewPad 10Pro's BlueStacks Android virtualization on Windows 7, as well as the ViewPad 7x's funky UI. Starting off with the bigger slate, you'll see in the above video that the Android implementation isn't as good as it sounds -- ViewSonic says it wants to offer an Android experience "similar" to that of actual Android devices, but alas, we beg to differ with the virtual Android's laggy performance plus its odd bugs. The reps assured us that the final product will be much smoother, but then we were further let down by the fact that Android Market is absent. The reason? It's simply because from ViewSonic's point of view the 10Pro's focus is on Windows 7, so the company decided that it wasn't worth all the hassle to obtain a Google Mobile Services license. To sum it up, this whole Android "feature" is very much just a gimmick, and it doesn't look like running native Android on Oak Trail soon will do much good, either.
On a brighter note, the dual-core ViewPad 7x fared way better than its bloated brother. This world's first 7-inch Honeycomb tablet ran surprisingly smooth, and we were glad to see SPB's contribution here with its Shell 3D Android launcher (which we reviewed with much praise a little while back). We managed to get ViewSonic director Max Liu to give us a brief demo of the 7x after the break, and to be frank, the more we look at it, the more we want it. Here's hoping that this tablet will be priced right.
Oh, and did we mention that ViewSonic had a few real Gouldian finches on the show floor? Check out them birds after the break.

Related

Huawei S7 / Cruz e-Reader / Cruz Tablet comparison

Back in July I bought the Augen Gentouch 7/8 from K-Mart and while I could see the promise of the Android tablet, the overall device was really nothing more than a toy. A fun toy to be sure, but I could tell there was nothing serious about it. On top of poor build quality (I have gone through 2 of these), the touch screen was awful, there is no factory/vendor support, and the lack of hardware features made it not much more than a very basic e-reader. My cell phone is also an Android, I got my HTC Incredible the first week they were out and have flashed and reflashed it.
So, this past weekend I picked up the Cruz e-Reader ($199 @ Best Buy), the Cruz Tablet ($299 @ Best Buy and the Huawei S7 ($299 @ Best Buy). Out of the box the Velocity Micro Devices seemed to have a very strong product, form, fit and design was solid and sexy, although I found them to be a little on the heavy side (The Cruz both weigh in at 1 lb, and the Huawei is 1.1 lbs.).
The eReader was just horrible. The Touch Screen was unresponsive and inaccurate, the software was way too much for the processor, and there was no market capability. Add to that the lack of a planned upgrade path for the OS and this device is dead on arrival. Buy a Nook or Kindle for $20 less and you will be much happier.
The Cruz Tablet is a much better device, the capacitive screen is responsive and light, and the device seemed pretty snappy. I was nervous at first because the two devices on the floor at Best Buy both seemed to have a glitch that made their unlock screens non-responsive, but mine seemed ok (at first). The lack of the Android Market was only slightly mitigated by Cruz Market, but this is going to be a big hole for people as more apps are released. Also, after much exploring I found a post by Blazing Wolf that finally identified the processor. Turns out it is a MIPS processor, which means Android is a port, something that is sure to make ROMs and other mods scarce. Again, in the end I was disappointed in the device. Yes, it has a capacitive screen, but no camera, no Bluetooth, no phone capability. And oh yeah, 3rd morning I had it when I turned it on the capacitive screen stopped responding completely, same as the two I saw in the store.
So that brings me to the Huawei S7-104. The resistive touch screen is the most responsive one I have ever used. No, it is not as nice as my HTC Incredible, but it is very easy and quick. TWO 2 Mp cameras, one front and one rear, again, not great cams, but that is what the 8 Mp in my phone is for, right? Bluetooth, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, 3G wCDMA and GSM capable and GPS. Fully working Android Market via WiFi without activating the phone. All this for $299? Are you even kidding me? Right now it comes with Éclair 2.1 update 1, but since it has the 768 Snapdragon Processor I know it is only a short matter of time before a snappy Froyo ROM is cooked up for it. Finally, all of this for $200 less than the 3G version of the Samsung and $300 less than the Wifi version. Oh yeah, this little device rocks!

One week with a Xoom / Honeycomb

(posting here because I think that GTAB users would want to know about this)
Don't get me wrong - if we can find a way to port Honeycomb, I'm all for it. If anything else, some of the apps are very nice and would be a worthy update from Froyo.
However, at this particular moment, I'm not all that thrilled with Honeycomb on the Xoom. Mainly due to SPEED. Quadrant and Nenamark scrores are definitely lower than recent mods or even stock 3991 on the GTAB, and more importantly it's actually noticeable in real-world use. Case in point: Launcher Pro. On TNT Lite 5.0.0, it's very fast - but on the Xoom, it's actually choppy. I don't have an overclocked kernel, but I shouldn't HAVE to overclock it to get the same speeds as I have on my GTAB. And Angry Birds Seasons actually slows down at times! I don't I've ever seen that on my GTAB.
My point here is that the Xoom users aren't running a speedy little OS like we thought they would be. I assume that, eventually, Honeycomb will shake out the bugs and the speed will increase, but it's NOT as fast as the GTAB or the Adam. That is actually quite disappointing, given the price point.
The hardware is very nice (ie the screen angles are better, the camera is better, the speakers are better etc.), but the software needs improvement.

so, I guess that we should get a Ipad 2 then. =) just kidding. I played around it too for a few days, I could do pretty much everything in tnt lite or vegan 7... I am also not a big fan of the look - looks very cheap and fragile compares to Ipad2. I am leaning more to ASUS transformer and the screen is stunning. I guess that I will sell it in ebay and wait for the transformer which is scheduled to release in April starting $399..
Roebeet: I just wanted to say that "THANK YOU SO MUCH" for all your work and help here. Sorry, I just sold my gtab but I am NOT leaving Android. Just try to find a good match.. it is like looking for a wife.. hahaha.

Thanks for the candid and professional assessment. We have perhaps reposed too much faith in Honeycomb without reckoning on its infancy. After all, Android 3.0 is a paradigm shift in the firmware's evolution, and such shifts only come right after a few iterations.
Makes me think that those company's launching new tablets still running Froyo may have a point...let the public get to know new hardware in a familiar milieu until the Honeycomb environment matures.

tyy10002 said:
so, I guess that we should get a Ipad 2 then. =) just kidding. I played around it too for a few days, I could do pretty much everything in tnt lite or vegan 7... I am also not a big fan of the look - looks very cheap and fragile compares to Ipad2. I am leaning more to ASUS transformer and the screen is stunning. I guess that I will sell it in ebay and wait for the transformer which is scheduled to release in April starting $399..
Roebeet: I just wanted to say that "THANK YOU SO MUCH" for all your work and help here. Sorry, I just sold my gtab but I am leaving Android. Just try to find a good match.. it is like looking for a wife.. hahaha.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are very welcome! I am continually humbled by the user community, here.
I am still waiting for "the next big thing" - the Xoom was practically a gift, which is why I own one. But the ASUS looks very interesting, the Elocity A10 (if they ever release it) or the upcoming stuff from Malata.
I'm guessing that this slowness problem is mainly on Honeycomb / Nividia itself, so any Honeycomb Tegra 2 tablet would be slower than a GTAB/Adam, if it were released today. I'm confident that it will eventually be corrected.
As for the iPad2, anyone else find it interesting that they sold out so fast? That's not like Apple. I'm guessing that they were planning an April release but moved it up due to the Xoom release and now they've run out of the limited stock they had. All these companies play the same games.

I used a xoom today at bestbuy for about 20 minutes, in my short time, I found it too be very fluid and it flew, and the verizon signal was very strong, it was loading websites pretty much instantly. I bet if I owned a xoom it may not feel as good, but I can wait, for honeycomb. How is the battery life on your xoom?

murkurie said:
I used a xoom today at bestbuy for about 20 minutes, in my short time, I found it too be very fluid and it flew, and the verizon signal was very strong, it was loading websites pretty much instantly. I bet if I owned a xoom it may not feel as good, but I can wait, for honeycomb. How is the battery life on your xoom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was in the same boat when I demoed it - it felt fast and fluid in the store. But after I had it in my hand and could compare it with my GTAB, my impression changed a bit.
Of course some for of these apps (like Launcher Pro) could just be problematic on Honeycomb. But when I see Nenamark scores that are so drastically different, then I know something's up. And Quadrant, which is not all that reliable keep in mind, is clocking in at ~1900. That around the same score as the original GTAB stock used to be.
As for battery, definitely no complaints. I haven't done any hard scores, but it wouldn't surprise me if it's in the 6 to 8 hour range.

I am leaning more to ASUS transformer and the screen is stunning. I guess that I will sell it in ebay and wait for the transformer which is scheduled to release in April starting $399..
I can't agree more with on the subject of the ASUS transformer. Even after seeing the leak of Staples selling the WiFi XOOM for 599.00, I'm still holding off for the transformer. Specs looked better and I'm sure ASUS will do their best to release a bug free product. Been a huge fan of ASUS for yrs now so I may be biased...nah. They just sell a good product.

zahir32 said:
Thanks for the candid and professional assessment. We have perhaps reposed too much faith in Honeycomb without reckoning on its infancy. After all, Android 3.0 is a paradigm shift in the firmware's evolution, and such shifts only come right after a few iterations.
Makes me think that those company's launching new tablets still running Froyo may have a point...let the public get to know new hardware in a familiar milieu until the Honeycomb environment matures.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think this is an important thought maybe we should remember. Honeycomb was built new for tablets/Xoom while the rest stay with Froyo or Gingerbread. We've come to expect that each new release brings improvements to our devices, while Honeycomb really is a 1.0 release for tablets.

"Honeycomb really is a 1.0 release for tablets..."
Exactly my point, and well put.

roebeet said:
I was in the same boat when I demoed it - it felt fast and fluid in the store. But after I had it in my hand and could compare it with my GTAB, my impression changed a bit.
Of course some for of these apps (like Launcher Pro) could just be problematic on Honeycomb. But when I see Nenamark scores that are so drastically different, then I know something's up. And Quadrant, which is not all that reliable keep in mind, is clocking in at ~1900. That around the same score as the original GTAB stock used to be.
As for battery, definitely no complaints. I haven't done any hard scores, but it wouldn't surprise me if it's in the 6 to 8 hour range.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Roebeet - are there any tools or monitors to show what an Android system is doing? For example, are there threads that are consuming too much CPU or is the I/O system really busy for some reason ... stuff like that.

i'm not sure but did motorola put any overlays on honeycomb like they have with their android phones (cliq w/motoblur)? if there is, maybe that's whats causing it to be a tad slower.

jazzmanmonty said:
i'm not sure but did motorola put any overlays on honeycomb like they have with their android phones (cliq w/motoblur)? if there is, maybe that's whats causing it to be a tad slower.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, the Xoom is a pure "Google Experience" device which means it is completely vanilla Android, just like Motorola's original Droid was a "Google Experience" phone.

Video Chat and/or BT Tether?
Does Zoom have either a working Video Chat app or the ability to use a mobile phone's data service via bluetooth or tether? If yes, can either of these capabilities be copied into a future ROM for gTablet?

Not sure this post belongs in this thread but I expect to have a Honeycomb device late next week. I can post my impressions of Android 3.0 on a different tablet, if anyone is interested.
The tab is the Acer Iconia A100. I've been looking for a 7 incher that has some class, and this one looks to be it.
Honeycomb on a 7" capacitive multitouch display (1024 x 600 pixels), Tegra 2, Nvidia GeForce GPU, 5 megapixels camera, 2 Megapixels front-facing camera, 512MB RAM, 8GB internal storage, micro-SD card slot, 1080p, Dolby Mobile sound, Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-Fi N, HDMI port, mini-USB and full-sized USB port.
Very nice form factor in a sleek minimalist design, as shown here:
http://gadgetian.com/8619/acer-iconia-tab-a100-specs-price/
A friend who's visiting Shenzhen, China, saw it (it's already released there) and asked if he should bring me one. For $296? Why ask?!

zahir32 said:
Not sure this post belongs in this thread but I expect to have a Honeycomb device late next week. I can post my impressions of Android 3.0 on a different tablet, if anyone is interested.
The tab is the Acer Iconia A100. I've been looking for a 7 incher that has some class, and this one looks to be it.
Honeycomb on a 7" capacitive multitouch display (1024 x 600 pixels), Tegra 2, Nvidia GeForce GPU, 5 megapixels camera, 2 Megapixels front-facing camera, 512MB RAM, 8GB internal storage, micro-SD card slot, 1080p, Dolby Mobile sound, Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-Fi N, HDMI port, mini-USB and full-sized USB port.
Very nice form factor in a sleek minimalist design, as shown here:
http://gadgetian.com/8619/acer-iconia-tab-a100-specs-price/
A friend who's visiting Shenzhen, China, saw it (it's already released there) and asked if he should bring me one. For $296? Why ask?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's got a Tegra 2 - this device could potentially be more helpful with development efforts than a Xoom. That's assuming it actually has Honeycomb - I wonder how they managed that?
freddroid said:
Does Zoom have either a working Video Chat app or the ability to use a mobile phone's data service via bluetooth or tether? If yes, can either of these capabilities be copied into a future ROM for gTablet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't really tested either (I don't have a data plan and I don't plan on getting one). There's no video chat OOTB, tmk.

"It's got a Tegra 2 - this device could potentially be more helpful with development efforts than a Xoom. That's assuming it actually has Honeycomb - I wonder how they managed that?"
I wondered about that myself - but apparently it does have Honeycomb out of the box. I look forward to sharing my impressions.
Pricing over in Shenzhen gives you some insight into the mark-ups we suffer in the West. Consider these prices:
LG Optimus Pad 3D Touch Screen Android 3.0 Dual-core tablet PC USD$386
Toshiba 10.1 inch 64GB Android 3.0 Tablet With Nvidia Tegra 2 USD$399
ASUS Eee Slate EP121 4GB RAM 64GB SSD Windows 7 Tablet USD$499
Asus Eee Pad Slider keyboard 3G 10.1 inch 32GB tablets USD$356
Asus Eee Pad Transformer 3G 10.1 inch 1GB RAM 64GB tablet USD$356
Asus Eee Pad MeMO 7 inch 32GB Android 3.0 Tablet 1080p playback USD$266
Asus Eee Pad MeMO 7 inch 64GB Android 3.0 Tablet 1080p playback USD$299
Motorola Xoom 10.1 inch 64GB Android 3.0 Tablet USD$380
Blackberry Playbook 7 inch 64GB SSD Tablet USD$229
HTC Flyer 7 inch 1.5GHz Android 3.0 WIFI 3G Tablet Smartphone USD$309
Maybe XDA should charter a group flight to China?

Wondering.....
I heard that Moto released an update to the Xoom, and it bumped the Quadrant scores up nearly 30%. I was wondering if the update tightened things up a bit like VS did with the GTab.

zahir32 said:
Not sure this post belongs in this thread but I expect to have a Honeycomb device late next week. I can post my impressions of Android 3.0 on a different tablet, if anyone is interested.
The tab is the Acer Iconia A100. I've been looking for a 7 incher that has some class, and this one looks to be it.
Honeycomb on a 7" capacitive multitouch display (1024 x 600 pixels), Tegra 2, Nvidia GeForce GPU, 5 megapixels camera, 2 Megapixels front-facing camera, 512MB RAM, 8GB internal storage, micro-SD card slot, 1080p, Dolby Mobile sound, Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-Fi N, HDMI port, mini-USB and full-sized USB port.
Very nice form factor in a sleek minimalist design, as shown here:
http://gadgetian.com/8619/acer-iconia-tab-a100-specs-price/
A friend who's visiting Shenzhen, China, saw it (it's already released there) and asked if he should bring me one. For $296? Why ask?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Weight 470 grams
battery runtime's gonna be short...
Elocity A10 looked nice UNTIL nvidia announce Tegra3 kal-el quad core w/NEON, and improved GPU... gtab will get me by until a realistically priced Tegra3 tablet shows up... (which rules out motorola, samsung, and asus(I'm surprised with these guys as their prices are usually great on notebooks for the specs)...)

"Weight 470 grams
battery runtime's gonna be short..."
A sharp observation. Much depends on whether this thing will come to me with the 3G module in or not. (That's not clear to me). If it's running network data, I'll have to disable that service to conserve juice - as people have done with their Sprint Galaxy Tabs. We'll see!
Don't blame you for waiting out the first wave of tech in 2011. I myself will retain my Elocity A10 pre-order up to the end of March. If it doesn't arrive by then, I'm cancelling and will turn to either the LG Optimus Pad or the Asus Slider.

I was given a xoom to use for testing at work a couple of weeks ago, and been hammering at it pretty hard.
There's only one thing about the xoom that I love and get jealous about, its not the screen, or even Honeycomb, its the 10 point multi touch.
Doing anything that uses more then one input seems to work so much smother. If there was someway to upgrade that on my tab running Vegan Ginger, I think I'd be in heaven.