Related
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00382001000P?prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1
Is this gtablet or something different? specs look the same. I was at staples today and the manager recommended getting my tablet back as he said there is a huge recall from ViewSonic. I have been happy so far with the custom roms so not sure what to do.
Yes because they used the photo of a Viewsonic Viewtab 10 (Atom Windows/Android) tablet vs. the actual GTab (Tegra2 Android) tablet... this was confusing early on
Pulled from Engadget site
In case you missed it, this weekend Staples announced that it was no longer offering the 10.1-inch Viewsonic G Tablet because of a "manufacturing defect." Well, as it turns out, Viewsonic is claiming there's really no hardware defect at all -- instead, the manufacturer of the Android 2.2, Tegra 2-powered tablet is reporting that there's really a "user experience issue." Nope, that doesn't sound much better, but according to Viewsonic's VP of Marketing Adam Hanin, the G Tablet saw a fair number of returns because of its sluggish software experience, which was caused by the preloaded Tap and Tap Android layer. A number of issues were also caused by the lack of Flash, which Adobe hasn't yet certified for Tegra 2 (we hear that's finally coming at the end of January). "We believe it is the user experience that caused all the returns, and we are taking important steps forward with the G Tablet," Hanin told us.
So, what are those steps exactly? Viewsonic will be releasing an over-the-air software update before the end of the week and will also provide links for users to manually download and install a beta version of Flash on its support page. Naturally, we asked Hanin why the G Tablet was shipped in this half-finished state at all -- he told us that while Android and Tegra are great platforms, Google's lack of support for larger devices means that companies like Viewsonic have to "go out and put together their own software and app stores." We're not sure that's a great answer -- in fact, it sort of sounds like Viewsonic is trying to blame Google, Adobe, and NVIDIA for its own half-finished and laggy software, when it released the tablet on its accord own to retailers. Either way, we've now seen more than enough terrible "user experience" issues on the early crop of Android tablets
Wheres the apology?
Anyone else see engaget as fairly biased against the gtablet?
Engadget is biased to anything not sold by Apple. It's been like that for a while. Despite this, they're still the ones to beat as a tech blog so I just ignore the snarky condescending tone they use while reviewing any and all products that compete with Apple's and enjoy the funny commentary by writers and reader alike, as well as appreciate (for the most part) the information they share and news they break.
Endgadget(applefanboysrus.com) are A-Holes anyway, they are mad that Apple products can't pull away from Android, poor steve jobs can't catch a break, make a phone, android makes it better, make a tablet, android will own that market too.
Skyydragon said:
Endgadget(applefanboysrus.com) are A-Holes anyway, they are mad that Apple products can't pull away from Android, poor steve jobs can't catch a break, make a phone, android makes it better, make a tablet, android will own that market too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ars Technica is pretty much this way now as well, might as well change their name to Apple Centrica
Viewsonic gambled on the early release of the g tablet and lost. The software
wasn't ready. I got to blame the QA group that works for Viewsonic. They
should know people expect it to work out of box. Slow response to touches,
tap n tap ... looked nice but needed to be quicker. The lack of adobe flash
and market place also was a let down. QA should have just said, " NO ". An
made them fix the tap n tap interface and the other issues before releasing
the g tablet.
The biggest issue is the display screen for the device. They need to release
a better display with better viewing angles. If you have to call the people
that make the displays for Apples iPad .. Having the hardware of the
Viewsonic g tablet with the iPad display would ROCK ..
Time to make some donuts ...
GenBlood said:
Viewsonic gambled on the early release of the g tablet and lost. The software
wasn't ready. I got to blame the QA group that works for Viewsonic. They
should know people expect it to work out of box. Slow response to touches,
tap n tap ... looked nice but needed to be quicker. The lack of adobe flash
and market place also was a let down. QA should have just said, " NO ". An
made them fix the tap n tap interface and the other issues before releasing
the g tablet.
The biggest issue is the display screen for the device. They need to release
a better display with better viewing angles. If you have to call the people
that make the displays for Apples iPad .. Having the hardware of the
Viewsonic g tablet with the iPad display would ROCK ..
Time to make some donuts ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Screen is bad, but biggest issue by far is the alpha quality UI OOB... just doesn't fly for most consumers.
I think that flash & market support are overrated for most consumers as well. Having flash as a later update is fine as it'll eventually be released by Adobe for Tegra 2, but market? Just too many alternatives, and so far I could've done with no market at all as everything that I've installed so far is available directly from the dev as well as the market...
cutterjohn said:
Screen is bad, but biggest issue by far is the alpha quality UI OOB... just doesn't fly for most consumers.
I think that flash & market support are overrated for most consumers as well. Having flash as a later update is fine as it'll eventually be released by Adobe for Tegra 2, but market? Just too many alternatives, and so far I could've done with no market at all as everything that I've installed so far is available directly from the dev as well as the market...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gotta agree here. First thing you notice when you pull this thing out of the box is the force close issues, the clock timezone wont stay, its unresponsive and slow. In a world where people demand instant gratification, no one wants to wait for the next update or "fix" becuase it shouldnt need to be fixed in the first place. If I didnt know any better and took my G tab out of the box, I'd be running back to Sears to return it.
Acturbo said:
Gotta agree here. First thing you notice when you pull this thing out of the box is the force close issues, the clock timezone wont stay, its unresponsive and slow. In a world where people demand instant gratification, no one wants to wait for the next update or "fix" becuase it shouldnt need to be fixed in the first place. If I didnt know any better and took my G tab out of the box, I'd be running back to Sears to return it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean like having to hold your phone a particular way or you wouldn't have any signal?
No people are very patient as long as they are informed about what is happening.
My question is why should Staples apologize? I think everyone here has to admit that out of the box this device had a lot of issues. Your average consumer probably wouldn't even call Viewsonic tech support, but instead would just take it back to the store. I'd imagine the return rate was pretty horrific, so why in the world would Staples want to apologize for pulling an item that I'm sure to the non-technical appears to have hardware issues?
cshehan said:
My question is why should Staples apologize? I think everyone here has to admit that out of the box this device had a lot of issues. Your average consumer probably wouldn't even call Viewsonic tech support, but instead would just take it back to the store. I'd imagine the return rate was pretty horrific, so why in the world would Staples want to apologize for pulling an item that I'm sure to the non-technical appears to have hardware issues?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll be the first to admit the Gtab is far from perfect, but calling it a hardware defect is blatantly false.
To a non-technical person if you bought a tablet opened it up and it did say an update and then boot-looped and the only solution was to send it to Viewsonic for repair, that would make them think it was a hardware problem.
I just spent the past two days at CES and in fact spent time in the Viewsonic booth.
There are so many tablets on display that one person in my party suggested that if you threw a Coke can 100 feet in any direction you would hit a tablet...
Overall in my opinion on a relative scale the Viewsonic G-tablet is not that bad given everything I have played with. Some other tablets might be a little leaner, maybe a little tighter build quality, but the main difference I see is the display in the Viewsonic.
And yes I did play with the Motorola tablet. While it is leaner and a better built I was shocked on how hot the tablet was when the Motorola person handed it over for me to play with. The G-tablet no matter what I have asked it to do, never gets "hot".
With respect to the Viewsonic tablets introduced at CES, their smaller tablet seems cheep in its constructions. Perhaps that is due to the use of silver colored plastic. And their dual-boot tablet... It was shown running Android 1.6. We asked Viewsonic and were told reboot it to get into Windows. After a power off and power on, I was presented with a boot manager window with Android and Windows as options. But it appeared to be looking for an arrow key press to move the selection bar. Basically I don't think Windows really is useful on the tablet without a keyboard. Perhaps this is why they were showing the tablet with Android. Thus I was never able to get into Windows and try that out.
The RIM tablet is very well built but running QNX. QNX is a realtime operating system and they were in the booth with RIM. QNT is something that is embedded in a product and normally never sees the light of day with respect to the end user. To be honest I worry about the ultimate availability of applications as QNX has nothing to do with Linux, Android, Windows anything, etc. Basically RIM is starting out from scratch. Their user interface is different. Not bad, just different. My opinion, shared with others that I talked with, is that this tablet will appeal to corporations who already have a RIM infrastructure in place and have users complaining they need a tablet. Note that the device on display was WiFi only, where RIM claimed that a unnamed carrier 4G device is near release.
Did you by chance check out the Notion Ink Adam tablet?
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
vsc said:
Note that the device on display was WiFi only, where RIM claimed that a unnamed carrier 4G device is near release.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would probably be Sprint, who is already advertising the Playbook's imminent release...
Wow! You found better build quality that the gTab? Even my Nook Color seems to have poorer QA as far as actual build goes, and I TRULU expected MUCH better of B&N... defective USB port on my first one OOB, and the casing feels "loose" on returned & exchanged units... however both are better than the Pandigital Novel(white v1) or Augen Gentouch78... although neither of these had defective ports, etc. OOB...
VPAD 10(dual boot one, I presume): Only runs Android 1.6 as it's the latest version that "officially"(?) supports Android for the x86 arch...
To be honest I could find a booth for them and they clearly are not in the show directory. The bloggers are finding them but they have armies of people all over the show floor.
cadillax02 said:
Did you by chance check out the Notion Ink Adam tablet?
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Overall there is a lot of junk Android tablets at the show.
It is notable that when the basic software is the same you have two ways to differentiate product. Industrial design, build quality, etc or a software framework such as TnT. Many products simply do neither.
Another notable fact is most tablets are running v2.2 of Android, even when their writeups for their product cite Android 3.0. I was put off by this.
I returned a NookColor because it developed 16+ hot pixels in the middle of the display. At night on a plane ride they just lit up to the point I decided this is too much it goes back. B&N gave me a lot of trouble returning the device, but after three hours of standing my ground they accepted the return. I decided to take a pass on the NookColor for now. And I agree the USB connector choice could have been much better. Also why go with a unique connector in the first place?
I want to say the coolest phone at the show is the LG Optimus 2X. I want one. NOW. We couldn't get it to lag, even when doing our best to crush it. The display quality is also very good. LG won a best of show award for a display and I think it is the same one used in the 2X.
cutterjohn said:
Wow! You found better build quality that the gTab? Even my Nook Color seems to have poorer QA as far as actual build goes, and I TRULU expected MUCH better of B&N... defective USB port on my first one OOB, and the casing feels "loose" on returned & exchanged units... however both are better than the Pandigital Novel(white v1) or Augen Gentouch78... although neither of these had defective ports, etc. OOB...
VPAD 10(dual boot one, I presume): Only runs Android 1.6 as it's the latest version that "officially"(?) supports Android for the x86 arch...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How was the Viewpad 10s? Better screen?
Nope
japhule said:
How was the Viewpad 10s? Better screen?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my GTablet-TnT-Lite using Tapatalk
One of my co-workers bought back some info after the CES about the MOTO XOOM, he said that the software was very unstable and lot of FCs. He said that most hardware were ready and just google holding them up..
VSC: did you get your hands on the XOOM, was it unstable? We may need to wait for a few more months then...
tyy10002 said:
One of my co-workers bought back some info after the CES about the MOTO XOOM, he said that the software was very unstable and lot of FCs. He said that most hardware were ready and just google holding them up..
VSC: did you get your hands on the XOOM, was it unstable? We may need to wait for a few more months then...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I may be mis-reading this article:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/09/motorola-xoom-pretend-ui-hands-on-walkthrough-video/
but it sounds like they (MOTO) were showing a "fake" Honeycomb UI on the Xoom? Maybe that's why it was "unstable" ??
Jim
jimcpl said:
I may be mis-reading this article:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/09/motorola-xoom-pretend-ui-hands-on-walkthrough-video/
but it sounds like they (MOTO) were showing a "fake" Honeycomb UI on the Xoom? Maybe that's why it was "unstable" ??
Jim
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That article was kind of confusing.. Said they were running a fake UI on top of the REAL Honeycomb? How is that any different from running say, Launcherpro on top of Froyo? So we aren't running Froyo if we use a different launcher? Maybe they mean the Motorola specific launcher is unstable, I don't know..
At least they haven't put it up for sale as a totally unstable device like Viewsonic did, yet...
I imagine that by the time people can buy one of those surely overpriced, probably locked down tablets they will have all the kinks worked out. Just seeing the Verizon name makes me not want one.
So would you say the viewing angles of all these new tablets are light years ahead of the Viewsonic, tad better or the same?
Reason why I am asking... Should I wait or not on a G-Tablet with the expectation of upgrading in about 9 - 12 months.
vsc said:
I just spent the past two days at CES and in fact spent time in the Viewsonic booth.
There are so many tablets on display that one person in my party suggested that if you threw a Coke can 100 feet in any direction you would hit a tablet...
Overall in my opinion on a relative scale the Viewsonic G-tablet is not that bad given everything I have played with. Some other tablets might be a little leaner, maybe a little tighter build quality, but the main difference I see is the display in the Viewsonic.
And yes I did play with the Motorola tablet. While it is leaner and a better built I was shocked on how hot the tablet was when the Motorola person handed it over for me to play with. The G-tablet no matter what I have asked it to do, never gets "hot".
With respect to the Viewsonic tablets introduced at CES, their smaller tablet seems cheep in its constructions. Perhaps that is due to the use of silver colored plastic. And their dual-boot tablet... It was shown running Android 1.6. We asked Viewsonic and were told reboot it to get into Windows. After a power off and power on, I was presented with a boot manager window with Android and Windows as options. But it appeared to be looking for an arrow key press to move the selection bar. Basically I don't think Windows really is useful on the tablet without a keyboard. Perhaps this is why they were showing the tablet with Android. Thus I was never able to get into Windows and try that out.
The RIM tablet is very well built but running QNX. QNX is a realtime operating system and they were in the booth with RIM. QNT is something that is embedded in a product and normally never sees the light of day with respect to the end user. To be honest I worry about the ultimate availability of applications as QNX has nothing to do with Linux, Android, Windows anything, etc. Basically RIM is starting out from scratch. Their user interface is different. Not bad, just different. My opinion, shared with others that I talked with, is that this tablet will appeal to corporations who already have a RIM infrastructure in place and have users complaining they need a tablet. Note that the device on display was WiFi only, where RIM claimed that a unnamed carrier 4G device is near release.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sprdtyf350 said:
That article was kind of confusing.. Said they were running a fake UI on top of the REAL Honeycomb? How is that any different from running say, Launcherpro on top of Froyo? So we aren't running Froyo if we use a different launcher? Maybe they mean the Motorola specific launcher is unstable, I don't know..
At least they haven't put it up for sale as a totally unstable device like Viewsonic did, yet...
I imagine that by the time people can buy one of those surely overpriced, probably locked down tablets they will have all the kinks worked out. Just seeing the Verizon name makes me not want one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was a little confused by the article too, which is what I started with "I may be mis-reading...".
Jim
jimcpl said:
I was a little confused by the article too, which is what I started with "I may be mis-reading...".
Jim
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I saw that Just a general observation... Guess if it doesn't make sense it must be right! Right?
Well I was at CES also and the only thing I saw for Viewsonic was a little office and I was everywhere. Do you remember where they were? I played with the rim playbook for a bit the interface was nice then I watched for 20 minutes and I didn't see a single crash but I like that when you open different tabs in browser or media you could see all the pages that are open in small windows similar to when you have multiple pages open in Firefox on windows 7 rim playbook is a small platform.
Sprdtyf350 said:
That article was kind of confusing.. Said they were running a fake UI on top of the REAL Honeycomb? How is that any different from running say, Launcherpro on top of Froyo? So we aren't running Froyo if we use a different launcher? Maybe they mean the Motorola specific launcher is unstable, I don't know..
At least they haven't put it up for sale as a totally unstable device like Viewsonic did, yet...
I imagine that by the time people can buy one of those surely overpriced, probably locked down tablets they will have all the kinks worked out. Just seeing the Verizon name makes me not want one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was basically a demo video of Honeycomb playing in the Android video player in Honeycomb. The actual 3.0 on the Xoom was pretty much unpopulated. Empty screens and almost no apps. The only way to experience it was through the video.
All is very strong. Most of the tablets at the show have a similar display and are no better with respect to the viewing angles.
After talking to the display suppliers it would appear that in general the 10" displays have limited viewing angles (e.g. 90/50 degrees). Smaller panels (e.g. 5" and 7") have much better viewing angles (e.g. 160/140 degrees).
stanglx said:
So would you say the viewing angles of all these new tablets are light years ahead of the Viewsonic, tad better or the same?
Reason why I am asking... Should I wait or not on a G-Tablet with the expectation of upgrading in about 9 - 12 months.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
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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
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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.
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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
There is an article published on ZDnet website comparing the Android Honeycomb OS with Microsoft's Windows Vista OS. I am not an Android expert but going through the article, I find it totally biased and the writer failed to explain or give any proper technical example.
You guys can better comment on it as you understand it better, Also how do you experienced the Honeycomb OS as there has been development going on on this OS
ZDnet Article: Is Ho9neycomb Android's Vista?
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/burnette/is-honeycomb-androids-vista/2229
I have a feeling it may anger me to read that article and compel me to email the author to clear up inaccuracies or poor analogies, so I'm going to abstain.
Brandon
Yes poorly written article. His statement that win 7 is just like vista only with a few tweaks is naive'. If that were so, then how do you do a few tweaks and reduce the operating load size by 50%........ he just talking ****. Honeycomb essentially is gingerbread with the graphic controller able to convert to 10 or 12" screens gingerbread was only designed to recognize 7" screen as the largest.
The next version update may go parallel (2.4/3.1) or may not it may just be 3.1. Doesn't really matter
Like I said just a lot of gossip in the article with nothing to back it up.
Agreed. Complete hogwash from the start.
Sent from my ZX81 using a 24v Battery.
The thing is a defensive fluff piece for Honeycomb. The comparison between Vista and 7 makes sense though a lot more changed in 7 than what is mentioned.
He goes on to defend Honeycomb and considers it great, he just doesn't like the Xoom.
The Xoom is too heavy, too expensive, and too unfinished. When people ask me what to buy I tell them to check out the alternatives from others like Acer, Asus, LG, Samsung, and Sony. Unfortunately the taint of problems with the first Honeycomb tablet have rubbed off on the operating system itself.
Honeycomb has a few rough edges but it also has a lot to love.
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He does have a somewhat valid point. But again, fluff piece.
Yeah, I didn't think it was that bad of an article. His main point was that the reviews of Honeycomb have hurt its perception, so that regardless of the updates that come out for it, customers already have a preconceived notion of it as a failure. I don't think it was meant to be a technical article; it was meant to show the power of perception and the necessity for ice cream to be a success from the get-go. Let's face it, Honeycomb wasn't completely finished when it came out, hence the mediocre reviews. Ice cream should be, it will be awesome, and it will be a success.
having a pc that "runs" on Vista... I can get the analogy (even if I can't spell it....), but it is just typical media, in that he disparrages his own headline, as it is intended as a "hook".