I'm trying to decide between these laptops:
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/s...ation.do?destination=review&config_id=7223366
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/s...ation.do?destination=review&config_id=7223369
http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-l412z/pd
The dv6qe is the more powerful, but doesn't look as nice as the envy or xps14z. I'm going to be doing light processing, and probably playing some games on it. I'm not sure how many, but most likely some Crysis 2, at least. I'm leaning towards the dv6qe, but I wanted to hear from anyone who's bought this laptop, or knows anything about any of them.
goto xoticpc(dot)com and check their lappys(especially sager and MSI ones)
for $939.93 u get intel 3610M(i7 3rd gen) ,nVidia GT 650M graphics card which is far better than ones u suggest and even better than nVidia gt555M,8gb ram,full HD screen. to be precise i'm talking abt this lappy
Sager NP6165
plus its quite customisable and build quality also gud
otherwise buy this Lenovo Y570 08626JU Intel Core i7-2670QM 2.2GHz, 8GB RAM, 500GB, 15.6-inch, 1GB Video card(nVidia GT 555M) for $749.00
goto lenovo site, find this lappy and apply coupon code USPY56J0531
u also get free shipping
If you're really not in a hurry to buy a laptop, I suggest waiting a month or two for ivy bridge laptops to trickle out. Otherwise, go for the dv6qe, you NEED a discrete graphics card for Crysis 2. Even though it has a AMD cpu, its more than enough...
I agree with VX117, the Ivy's are major energy savers so they should give you longer battery life and are about 10% faster than the Sandy's
As for Crysis on a laptop... you are gonna need some serious GPU power to play that game smoothly on a laptop, think at least GTX660M or higher but these cards are gonna cost ya.
The Dell Laptop you picked has an internal on-board (in processor) graphics chip, you wont be able to play crisis with that.
The other 2 have AMD GPU's onboard, i dont have lots of experience with AMD but me personal would go for Nvidia.
Good luck choosing
Related
Just came across this news that a laptop named Doel running Android has been produced in Bangladesh...and its running Android.
Here are the specs:
Doel 2102
10.0″ LCD Panel
(1024*600)
VIA 8650 800MHz
512 MB RAM
Integrated 0.3 MP
Webcam
WiFi 802.11b/g
2 USB 2.0
SD Slot for Max 32 GB
Google Android
Integrated
Price- $130
News Source: http://techspyre.com/doel-a-laptop-for-130-made-in-bangladesh/
Interesting, that price is about one month salary for the average worker. Compare that to here (USA) a computer is 3-4 days of an average workers salary. I great start to helping the 8th largest population to become digital
there are lots of those similar ones on deal extreme
all of those android "laptops" are more a Netbook than an actual laptop.
I hope they open it for the international market...may be at a higher price so that the government can further subsidize the local price and make it more affordable
AllGamer said:
there are lots of those similar ones on deal extreme
all of those android "laptops" are more a Netbook than an actual laptop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But see it is something huge for a country like Bangladesh...
If it's any good and doesn't have any mjaor problems, i would buy one.
here's a semi decent one like the one OP mentioned
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/7-resi...c-with-wifi-tf-hdmi-white-arm-cortex-a9-67193
again only 512 RAM, froyo, ARM 9, 4GB internal, 7" screen, sd card slot, 3.5mm Audio,2 x USB 2.0, 1 x HDMI, Earphone, power adapter included
another one http://www.dealextreme.com/p/8-touc...d-2-2-tablet-pc-w-wifi-tf-arm-v9-800mhz-70508
8" instead
Getting one of these is something that I need to look into
i've been keeping my eyes on many of those
waiting for a dual core model to pop up
Screw it and get a decent tablet and a blue tooth keypad, I love my gtab and with all the development going on I can have anew device in a few mins .
IM looking for a cheap but rather reliable pad for a 10yo and occasionally a 4-5yo
I would buy one, thats a heck of a deal for the average user.
Resistive screens are terrible unfortunately otherwise it's pretty decent.
Sent from my GT-S5830 using XDA App
I think that is a good price for something like that. but what is the HD space? and you cant do much of anything major with 512MB ram but its probably a descent piece of harware
Again I'd like to stress that there are scores of such tabs already available, but it is something big and commendable for a developing nation like Bangladesh.
I will be getting a new laptop In a few months primarily because mine is very outdated (4 yrs old running c2d) and it freezes occasionally but besides that I asked on another forum for laptop recommendations and someone suggested that I look at some Ultrabooks for their portability (I want a laptop that's not very heavy, less than 6lbs). I'll also need it for college, Im planning on going into animation, so I'll need it for that too.
Specs for the laptop that I'd want:
Lightweight:< 6lbs
13-15" screen
Budget: 1K-1.5K
1gb+ dedicated graphics card
Core i7 processor (multi-core)
6+ hrs battery life
The 2 things keeping me from getting an Ultrabook are the lack of a disk drive (minimal effect) and storage space as most SSD's are 256gb max. That being said what are some Laptop/Ultrabook recommendations based on my specs (The specs given are what I'm looking for, anything else is optional).
dkris2020 said:
I will be getting a new laptop In a few months primarily because mine is very outdated (4 yrs old running c2d) and it freezes occasionally but besides that I asked on another forum for laptop recommendations and someone suggested that I look at some Ultrabooks for their portability (I want a laptop that's not very heavy, less than 6lbs). I'll also need it for college, Im planning on going into animation, so I'll need it for that too.
Specs for the laptop that I'd want:
Lightweight:< 6lbs
13-15" screen
Budget: 1K-1.5K
1gb+ dedicated graphics card
Core i7 processor (multi-core)
6+ hrs battery life
The 2 things keeping me from getting an Ultrabook are the lack of a disk drive (minimal effect) and storage space as most SSD's are 256gb max. That being said what are some Laptop/Ultrabook recommendations based on my specs (The specs given are what I'm looking for, anything else is optional).
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Click to collapse
HP Folio us the best non-apple Ultrabook out there, impressive specs but the memory expansion on all of them is very limited so i would suggest a regular laptop/notebook with higher specs such as HP G-series very light with an optical drive. honestly i dont remember the lat time i used an optical drive for anything but thats just me.
ahkhands said:
HP Folio us the best non-apple Ultrabook out there, impressive specs but the memory expansion on all of them is very limited so i would suggest a regular laptop/notebook with higher specs such as HP G-series very light with an optical drive. honestly i dont remember the lat time i used an optical drive for anything but thats just me.
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Click to collapse
It doesn't have an i7, but I was able to find a laptop with the things that was lightweight and had what I wanted. For some reason I tried to stay away from HP because I keep hearing negative things about their products.
A new technology startup, Stella Mira, is entering the compact computing arena with their new device, the Pocket Console. Like many other flash drive sized mini computers we have seen lately, the Pocket Console features an Arm Allwinner A10 chip clocked at 1.5GHz, along with 1GB of Ram and Wi-Fi built on board. It also includes Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity, like the FXI Cotton Candy. And 8GB of flash storage, which is double that of the popular MK802 mini computer. Best of all it's priced at $129, which although being priced higher than the MK802, is still significantly cheaper than the Cotton Candy. The device also features 3 full sized USB 2.0 ports, 1 mini USB port, and a microSD card slot. And, of course, an HDMI port, enabling it to connect to practically any screen around. As far as software goes, the device runs Mira's customized version of android four dot zero, which is said to include a variety of popular apps preloaded such as spotify and angry birds along with support for the most popular game pads, and emulators are built right into it. Stella Mira has also announced that they will begin accepting pre orders in September for a 3G capable version of the Pocket Console. You can also buy a dock like accessory for your Pocket Console, unsurprisingly called the Pocket Dock which comes pre loaded with your favorite Linux distro (granted it can run on the Pocket Console). Stella Mira's website claims that they have built customized versions of both Lubuntu 12.04 and Ubuntu 12.04 that run "beautifully". Not much information is given of what these customized versions entail so that remains to be seen in the near future. I have reached out to Stella Mira and am awaiting more information on the Pocket Console and Pocket Dock. Until I hear back, the Pocket Console seems to be a really great contender in the mini pc market and for $129 I really don't think you could regret giving it a try, I know I certainly will.
Couple of corrections, it's not a 1.5 ghz a10 cpu it is actually a 1 ghz single core a8 cpu and mali 400 gpu. It is the board that is called an a10 as in allwinner a10.
The 1.5 ghz comes from people adding the gpu and cpu frequencies together. If you see the ebay page you will see this is how they arrive at that clock speed but it isn't actually that speed.
The 3G version is to be nearly $200 and even at $129 for basic four gig version with no extras this will be dearer than the next mk802 yet have the same specs.
Unless it sells for as good or better price than the next mk will do, the mira pc won't do as well not least because it only ships to usa and is dearer than similar spec products.
It isn't really offering anything new other than bluetooth (which new mk will apparently have) and the dock.
It is a nice design but as, when it begins shipping (and even then only to some who order early because others have to wait) there will be equally specced devices cheaper, it will need more than it has to create a lot of orders.
It certainly needs to be available in europe and start a little lower in price and to make more advertising advantage of its heatsink feature (if its promo pics are accurate it may have one).
Dave
( http://www.google.com/producer/editions/CAownKXmAQ/bigfatuniverse )
Sent from my LG P920 using Tapatalk 2
tradesteady said:
Yes, Get to know that the Android Mini PC factory will also released the 3G mini pc, and it will arm with dual core,the price not in public yet just wait and see...
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Your link doesn't show anything other than 3G modems. How does that pertain to the op's hdmi pc post?
Dave
( http://www.google.com/producer/editions/CAownKXmAQ/bigfatuniverse )
Sent from my LG P920 using Tapatalk 2
As an observation, The MK802 already does have bluetooth possibility. just not in the stock firmware. I am running lubuntu on mine, and bluetooth works just fine. And as others have already stated, all the allwinner a10 devices are really only 1.0ghz not 1.5. I don't see anything with this new device worth spending almost double the $68 my MK802 cost me.
I Welcome Discussion..
Reasons why I felt the Asus MeMO Pad FHD 10 Tablet is a better investment for me vs the LG G Pad 8.3 Tablet..
Short Version..
1) Resolution is 1920 x 1200 on both: 10 inches is better than 8.3 inches
2) Dedicated HDMI Out: Slimport & MHL Technologies need a power source to work without fail.. HDMI Out does not.
3) 32Gb of Internal Storage On The FHD 10 vs 16Gb on the G Pad 8.3: This plus 64 Gb Micro SD Card support.
4) A True Tablet UI: Icon Dock does not get rotated vertically to the right side of screen in Landscape.
5) Price: The MeMO PAD FHD 10 32Gb Version is at least $20.00 cheaper than the 16Gb (only option) G Pad 8.3..
Disagree?
Please Explain why...
Long Version..
1A) Even though the MeMO FHD 10 has a lower Lux rating you would be hard pressed to tell unless you are sitting in the middle of a grass field at high noon and the sun is right over your head.. other than that you Can see the screen outdoors..
2A) I've owned the Samsung Tab 3 8.0 & Note 8.0 along with a Nexus-7 2013.. The Samsung's had Samsung's own MHL adapter that I ordered.. it claimed to be able to charge your device while sending a HDMI signal / Picture out to your Big Screen.. That was not the case. The Tablet's still drained with use.. you needed that AC power just to get the unit to work.. if you tried not using AC and just plugging into your Tablet's USB port, the HDMI Out signal from you device to your T.V. was a no go or spotty if you were lucky. Same case for the Slimport Device I order for the Nexus-7 2013.
True HDMI Out Eliminates all of that.
You can now use the AC power to keep your Tablet charged as normal.. Have a dedicated HDMI Signal sending out information.. And in my case, combining that with a Bluetooth Game Controller I now have a Fully Functional Gaming Console.. just as if it were an Xbox or Playstation but now I can get HD games for $7.00 max instead of $59.99 max... all day play on the Big Screen without having to worry about battery drain.
3A) There is no argument here.. 32Gb without tricks is 32Gb without tricks,, with 26Gb ready for ALL downloaded Apps & Media guaranteed to work if you never install an SD Card.. vs 11.6 Gb's Available on the G Pad 8.3.
4A) It may not bother you in the least.. but I personally cannot stand the way Sub-10 inch Tablets rotate the icon dock to a vertical stance on the right side of the screen in Landscape mode.. It looks hideous to me.. Yes, there are way around it by dis-figuring icons or having none.. but why go through that? True Tablet Mode eliminates this nagging issue for me.
5A) The soon to be released ( As of this writing ) Nexus-10 2013 I am sure will be at least $399.00 for 16Gb & $499.00 for 32Gb's of storage.. with NO SD Card slot as we well know.. Sharper Brighter Screen? Yes.. worth $200.00 more for a 32Gb version to "Me" ? Nope.
The LG G Pad 8.3 with it's Snapdragon 600 heart will ( and already does ) get lots of development.. ROM's a plenty! where my Asus MeMO FHD 10 cannot even get a Thread!! ( Joking.. Not Angry at all )
And you know what? I may be getting a little old but... I can live with that!
The Asus MeMO Pad FHD 10 is one of the most Lightly Skinned UI's out there.. Coupled with Intel's CloverTrail+ Technology, it's efficient and smooth without Lagg.
I thought long and hard about my decision.. even returning the first 16Gb $279.99 FHD 10 I had.. and just stayed "Empty Handed" for a few days to go over the Pro & Cons without bias..
My Conclusion was.. You cannot get more *Bang For The Buck* than the 32Gb Asus MeMO Pad FHD 10 offers.
If you are a Flash-A-Holic ,
Buy a Nexus-7 2013.
Very Nice.. To see everyone in 100% agreement..
RaiderWill said:
Very Nice.. To see everyone in 100% agreement..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like i've said in the other thread... i agree with you.
And have hope that x86 will see some adoption on the soft dev's part since it is a more "powerful" computer architecture (1 single core can do more calculus per second than a single core Cortex A15... and probably even more than the Cortex A57 cores)
Plus the Z2560 SoC its really a great chip... even with demanding games it never runs hot ... and the battery last a lot more time than the ARM based devices.
The next gen SoC's from Intel (Z3xxx) have the power to put ARM SoC's to shame (in terms of compute "power", and probably power consumption) except for the GPU (i really don't understand why they [Intel] are going to use their crappy GPU arch...)... Its going to be very interesting to see if Intel will gain a momentum in the mobile devices...
I just hope they both keep on the market, because the winner is the consumer (and computer science)... Would love to see some Power arch devices as well and some MIPS...
Exnor said:
Like i've said in the other thread... i agree with you.
And have hope that x86 will see some adoption on the soft dev's part since it is a more "powerful" computer architecture
Plus the Z2560 SoC its really a great chip... even with demanding games it never runs hot ... and the battery last a lot more time than the ARM based devices.
The next gen SoC's from Intel (Z3xxx) have the power to put ARM SoC's to shame (in terms of compute "power", Its going to be very interesting to see if Intel will gain a momentum in the mobile devices...
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Hey Exnor.. I just wanted to clarify, This thread was not addressing you personally..
But I agree with all your points. Especially the point of the MeMO FHD 10 NEVER running hot.. no matter what you throw at it... I Love That.
it's just icing on the cake.. And I've read several reviews of the G Pad 8.3.. Let's just say my bubble was busted.. It's a great Tablet but at $350.00+ Tax it's well overpriced in today's market just like the Note 8.0 is at $360.00+ Tax for an 8" Tablet.. I don't care what the modding community does with Root & Roms for those 2 Tablets.. And they bring less to the table than the Less Expensive Asus MeMO Pad FHD 10..
RaiderWill said:
Hey Exnor.. I just wanted to clarify, This thread was not addressing you personally..
But I agree with all your points. Especially the point of the MeMO FHD 10 NEVER running hot.. no matter what you throw at it... I Love That.
it's just icing on the cake.. And I've read several reviews of the G Pad 8.3.. Let's just say my bubble was busted.. It's a great Tablet but at $350.00+ Tax it's well overpriced in today's market just like the Note 8.0 is at $360.00+ Tax for an 8" Tablet.. I don't care what the modding community does with Root & Roms for those 2 Tablets.. And they bring less to the table than the Less Expensive Asus MeMO Pad FHD 10..
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Click to collapse
Lol i know it was not address to me : ).
So u dint add the 32GB version? This tablet is a keeper: D
Exnor said:
Lol i know it was not address to me : ).
So u dint add the 32GB version? This tablet is a keeper: D
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Click to collapse
Yes I did.. When I returned the 16 Gb I decided to step up to a 32 Gb this time around..
Have you tried a 64 Gb card? I have read conflicting reports that it support it... Either way I am cool having over 50 Gb's Minimum of storage onboard is just fine with me... but if it ends up being 26 Gb's available (Internal) + 60 Gb's (SD Card) available.. I won't argue with having over 80Gb's of storage onboard as well.. :good: and you are correct..
This Tablet is definitely a Keeper.. It just brings too much to the table and has an extremely light UI, Tremendous Batterylife, HD, HDMI, O.T.G... the list goes on and on...
RaiderWill said:
Yes I did.. When I returned the 16 Gb I decided to step up to a 32 Gb this time around..
Have you tried a 64 Gb card? I have read conflicting reports that it support it... Either way I am cool having over 50 Gb's Minimum of storage onboard is just fine with me... but if it ends up being 26 Gb's available (Internal) + 60 Gb's (SD Card) available.. I won't argue with having over 80Gb's of storage onboard as well.. :good: and you are correct..
This Tablet is definitely a Keeper.. It just brings too much to the table and has an extremely light UI, Tremendous Batterylife, HD, HDMI, O.T.G... the list goes on and on...
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Click to collapse
Actually i did not tried any sdcard yet .
The internal flash is more than enough for me right now, because i only use it for OS and Apps... I stream all videos and audio from my NAS.
I would give it a try, but i don't have a 64GiB sdcard
Exnor said:
Actually i did not tried any sdcard yet .
The internal flash is more than enough for me right now, because i only use it for OS and Apps... I stream all videos and audio from my NAS.
I would give it a try, but i don't have a 64GiB sdcard
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response Exnor.. I know.. we have a Ton of Memory available I basically have 32 Gb card I've dragged from device to device that is the culmination of several years of stuff.. 1/2 a dozen Cutting Edge 3D Games 1/2 dozen Movies 90 average apps and I still have over 13 Gb's available internally and 16 Gb's of old stuff on my SD Card... So I'm not hurting for space either but I'm just curious if anyone has confirmed it working or not.. I may buy one if I spot a fair deal and give it a shot myself.. with so many new games in the works and everything now being in High Definition, It will not hurt in the long run to have a much space available as possible.. even though I also have 50 gigs of it free for the next 2 years I just cannot get into "The Cloud" for storage at all... I want my material kept locally..
RaiderWill said:
Thanks for the response Exnor.. I know.. we have a Ton of Memory available I basically have 32 Gb card I've dragged from device to device that is the culmination of several years of stuff.. 1/2 a dozen Cutting Edge 3D Games 1/2 dozen Movies 90 average apps and I still have over 13 Gb's available internally and 16 Gb's of old stuff on my SD Card... So I'm not hurting for space either but I'm just curious if anyone has confirmed it working or not.. I may buy one if I spot a fair deal and give it a shot myself.. with so many new games in the works and everything now being in High Definition, It will not hurt in the long run to have a much space available as possible.. even though I also have 50 gigs of it free for the next 2 years I just cannot get into "The Cloud" for storage at all... I want my material kept locally..
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Click to collapse
Word of caution mate, dont buy cheap SDcards... they usually are below standard and have very poor compatibility and data rates. Best OEM so far i've experienced are Sandisk, Transcend and Samsung.
I don't use the "cloud" either. Its stupid to use a service that you need constant ISP service and a fair bandwidth... People will realize this in time (i'm talking of course of mass market products, not professional ones).
I use the Goggle "cloud" just to backup text files(Docs, PDFS etc...)... for that is very very usefull, BUT i have always a redundant copy on several computers or on my Backup HDD's (not networked... never put sensitive stuff on a network).
Changing subject, this week Intel announced that they will start to manufacture ARM based SoC's for other companies (since they have the best semiconductor facilities in the world along side with Samsung and Texas (?)).
No word if Intel will return to produce their own ARM based SoC.. (like in 2000-2003) but its unlikely since they are really pushing the Atom Z3xxx series SoC out there to tablets and low end laptops.
The new Asus phone pad already uses a Z3xxx (4 x86 cores... but a Intel GPU arch :/)... would like to see how they perform.
Exnor said:
Word of caution mate, dont buy cheap SDcards... they usually are below standard and have very poor compatibility and data rates. Best OEM so far i've experienced are Sandisk, Transcend and Samsung.
I don't use the "cloud" either. Its stupid to use a service that you need constant ISP service and a fair bandwidth.
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Not to worry Exnor.. Nothing but Sandisk for years now..
Give Intel until 2020.. they will be a Major Player and possibly the *Leader* in this industry as what is known as the " Laptop / Computers" of 2013 become the Dinosaurs of 2020.. Powerful Tablets will replace these bulky concepts in the next 6 years..
RaiderWill said:
Not to worry Exnor.. Nothing but Sandisk for years now..
Give Intel until 2020.. they will be a Major Player and possibly the *Leader* in this industry as what is known as the " Laptop / Computers" of 2013 become the Dinosaurs of 2020.. Powerful Tablets will replace these bulky concepts in the next 6 years..
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I agree... Intel have made huge progress in power consumption savings. And ARM does not have a processor arch that can rival head-to-head with currently available x86 arch...
But i hope they both stay in the market, because competition is what makes new tech to be produced and better prices for the consumer
Exnor said:
I agree... Intel have made huge progress in power consumption savings. And ARM does not have a processor arch that can rival head-to-head with currently available x86 arch...
But i hope they both stay in the market, because competition is what makes new tech to be produced and better prices for the consumer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exnor.. I am quite sure neither side is ready to relent this growing market.. but Intel has to take it.. Arm most certainly will not give it away..
Hi!
Sorry I'm a little bit off topic, but I am having a problem which is simmilar to yours RaiderWill. I am trying to decide which tablet to buy and after reading your post and comparing it to my opinions and prices in my country (Poland), I am sure that Asus FHD is the best tablet for me. The only thing that keeps me from buying it is the Note 10.1. It is the same size as the Asus, has lower resolution screen (but the image is good overall), but it has the SPen and in Poland it costs as much as the Asus.
Have you considered buying /or have you had/ this tablet? What do you think about it, is it worth considering?
Thanks
I just received mine the other day, and I don't know why people are trashing the tablet. So far every app I've tried has worked outstanding and out performs my other android tablets.
Now if more people would get one so xda would create a forum for it.
I've had both. I went with the Google play edition LG pad. I felt that the Asus tablet felt sluggish at times with just the dual core Intel chip. And I think the screen on the LG looked much better. But as far as price goes, yes its overpriced. Should be around $299
What is the hold up on development for this tablet do you think?
Turbojugend said:
What is the hold up on development for this tablet do you think?
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I read a post some guys in Germany were able to root and install 4.6.2 somehow.
Misfit7 said:
I read a post some guys in Germany were able to root and install 4.6.2 somehow.
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I have the latest software 4.7.3 rooted no problem, but I meant more or any custom roms, this device has been out for a while I think hasn't it? I am wondering since it is an Intel chipset that development won't happen at all on it.
Turbojugend said:
I have the latest software 4.7.3 rooted no problem, but I meant more or any custom roms, this device has been out for a while I think hasn't it? I am wondering since it is an Intel chipset that development won't happen at all on it.
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Click to collapse
Your are correct it has been out for a couple of months. I just got mine last week and been searching like a maniac for roms. I'm thinking since it's still not as popular and the nexus it's going to take some time before we see anu development.
the Asus MeMO Pad FHD 10 is boring
The Asus MeMO Pad FHD 10 costs the same as the LG pad but it's a 10in tablet. That alone can sway you to it. However, when you look at the Asus MeMO Pad FHD 10, it doesn't blow you away. Boring
I just got my Cube talk 9x. I really like it. I know it is old about two years but for me it is new. I have been wanting an octa core tablet just because I am a nerd and just to experience it on a tablet. I do not like Samsung Tablets and certainly did not want to spend that kind of money. I already have an Nvidia K1 and I really like it for a lot of reasons but I wanted a bigger screen and an Octa core processor with longer battery life than my Nvidia. I love the Nvidia but the battery life leaves a lot to be desired.
I did not want to spend a lot of money, $200 being my limit. As you can imagine that does not buy much in larger format tablets. First I started with the cheap amazon octa cores with the Allwiner a83t and the likes of Dragon Touch. Thank God for Amazon prime returns! Those devices were just awful and the Allwinner A83t was not a good processor. I was very wary of buying a tablet direct from China. Heard some horror stories but I took a risk anyway.
Had a bad experience with Gearbest.com but had the Cube talk 9x enough to know it was a good device even though the first one was defective. Dealing with Gear best turned into a PayPal claim.
I tried Geekbuying and had a much better experience.
So now I have my Cube and I received new March 17th update. Of course I was hoping for Lollipop but no. Still on KitKat but I have to say it is very smooth. Very stable build of Android. Ram usage seems very well optimized.
So what makes this tablet special? Well for the cost only one other tablet in this size range has the same amount of ram which is the Lenovo tab2 a10. The Lenovo is nice with a 64 bit quad core cortex a53 media tek processor clocked at 1.7, full HD screen. However the Cube has a 32 bit octa core cortex a7 clocked at 1.7 and a retina screen. The Cube is made from a solid Aluminum body while the Lenovo is plastic. The Cube also has gorilla glass 2 while the Lenovo just has glass. Acer has a new 10.1" tab with a mediatek 8151 cortex a53 octa core processor and 1 GB ram and a 1280 x 800 screen. Unfortunately the low res screen and 1 GB of ram really hurt the user experience. The acer also feels cheap and is full of pre loaded apps. I bought the Acer only to return it because of the glitchy or defective WiFi and other things I mentioned.
Of course you could spend a lot more and have a super experience but I just can't justify $500 or more on a tablet. My computer costs about that much.
The Cube seems really well made. The updates after 2 years since it's release from a no name company is impressive as some of the brands I have had above barely udate their tablets. I still think Cube should release Lollipop but KitKat works well.
This tablet has the 1.7 GHz octa core processor, 2 gigs of ram, retina screen, 3g, 16 gig ROM, stereo speakers at the bottom of the tablet, 10,000 mah battery. Pretty impressive specs even for an older device. The limitations of the of the device are the 32 bit a7 cores used are better for power efficiency than performance. The newer mediatek 8151 which has the newer cortex 64 bit a53 cores perform much better while still being rather power efficient. For example the Acer with only 1gb or ram scored over 37,000 points on Anutu while the talk 9x with double the ram scored only 28,000 points roughly. Acer did a very good job of optimizing the ROM on their tablet. The Cube T9 has the newer octa core processor but it was over my price range.
However this tablet stock unrooted performs really well. There was not a lot of junk apps installed and most apps give you an option to install to SD card. Really the only drawback to this tablet is the partitioning. Seems like a common practice on the tablets from China. Not sure why. A horrible practice. You can root the device and try to repartition it but you could also brick the device in the process. The mediatek tools at not the easiest for me to use so I am not going to go there. Specially when the tablet runs great .
So I highly recommend this tablet with a couple of caveats. It is at the end of its life so it is really cheap but if you think it will be updated to Marshmallow or N you can forget it. Lollipop could happn but I would not hold my breath. The 2 gig app limit really sucks and there is no easy way to solve the problem.
So if you are looking for an amazing device for a good price I do not know of a better deal anywhere. Is the Octacore hype. Personally I don't think so. Sure there is marketing hype but the Octacore really feels snappy while the huge battery makes it last!
There are not a lot of these devices left. Seems Cube is now focused on dual boot tablets with Intel processors. I wish they would come out with a new octacore processor android tablet like the Nvidia x1 or the newer cortex a53 octa core from mediated. The t9 if you can find it would perform even better but the build quality and aluminum frame just really make this an enjoyable experience. If you want one I would act now.
Thanks for the first details of the tablet. Have you had a chance to test battery life yet?
I haven't let it run down yet. The lowest I got was to 79%. The charger and cable that come with the device are pretty much useless. Using a Lenovo 2amp tablet charger seems to charge pretty quickly. It does not have fast charge but so far it seems to charge up pretty fast and last pretty long. I will try and see if I can run down the battery to give a better approximation of the run time.