I was thinking that a Generic Android Tablet Discussion thread would be a good idea. No matter the brand , maker size etc. Talk about them here.
Im debating between the Archos 101 and waiting to see if the Moto tab is good.
Whats Out There
I have been keeping a keen eye out for the variety of higher end tablets and here is what I have sort of come up with so far:
Samsung Tablet (7")
Motorola Stingray (10")
Viewsonic viewpad (7")
LG Optimus pad
SteamTV Elocity pad (7")
Archos Family of pads (3"-10")
They all have there merits, and the minor things that make them not so great. But here is a list of the gamot of features you can look for. Some of the tablets have alot of them, some have none, its basically what you want to do with it:
3G
WIFI
GPS
Bluetooth 2.1 or 3.0
Capacitive Screen
USB port(s)
(Micro) SD card slot
HDMI
G-Sensor
Accelerator meter
Geomagnetic sensor
Light Sensor
Front Camera
Back Camera
Google Apps Integration
NVIDA Tegra 2 versus 1GHx CPU w/ GPU
1024 x 600 resolution versus 800 x 480
RAM
Disk Space
Version of Android (2.2 now 3.0 later)
-MW
I know they are poppping out of the woodwork now. My biggest thing is that the majority are really expensive. Like the new Toshiba announced today is $540. THat is why Either the Cruz or Archos will match all my criteria. But the nice thing is that there seems to be a ton of different options.
Toshiba Folio 100
10.1-inch capacitive touchscreen
1024 x 600
Android 2.2 (Froyo)
NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor
16 GB internal storage (32 GB available SD expansion)
Adobe Flash 10.1
1.3 MP front-facing camera
Mini-HDMI
USB 2.0
Bluetooth 2.1
WLAN (802.11)
Mobile broadband (available Q1 2011)
I've been disappointed with the IFA ones as almost all of them have 3G which means here, onerous data contracts or ridiculous prices w/o.
Archos underwent feature regression(e.g. no GPS), and has some whacked prices for the 70 & 101. The rest seem kind of useless to me too small and at least the smallest two don't have any way of expanding storage which makes them kind of useless as anything other than a portable music player.
The Viewsonic is the Olivepad one? Didn't seem to be all that great.
Toshiba Folio MIGHT have been nice, but that Tegra will likely make it expensive.
...just too many hawking 3G and not enough that have useful extras like higher res cameras, GPS, mics, and maybe bluetooth... i.e. I'm just meh'ed by IFA offerings... Witstech A81-E is still looking good and they just got another new fw release 8/31...
Good catch, forgot the toshiba one. Here is what I am looking for a tablet:
3G (mainly so I can have google apps)
7" Display
Capacitive screen (OMLED prefered)
1024 x 600
Android 2.2 upgradeable to android 3.0
front camera
1 GHz CPU (perferably the tegra 2)
GPU (if no NVIDIA CPU)
front camera (dont care about a back one)
A-GPS
Bluetooth (at least 2.1)
WIFI B/G/N
USB
8+ GB internal storage
SD card slot is nice but not manditory
HDMI is nice but not manditory
Which matches up with the samsung tab, but the British price I found had it at over 600 British pounds, which converts to over 1000 US dollars.
-MW
mothy said:
I know they are poppping out of the woodwork now. My biggest thing is that the majority are really expensive. Like the new Toshiba announced today is $540. THat is why Either the Cruz or Archos will match all my criteria. But the nice thing is that there seems to be a ton of different options.
Toshiba Folio 100
10.1-inch capacitive touchscreen
1024 x 600
Android 2.2 (Froyo)
NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor
16 GB internal storage (32 GB available SD expansion)
Adobe Flash 10.1
1.3 MP front-facing camera
Mini-HDMI
USB 2.0
Bluetooth 2.1
WLAN (802.11)
Mobile broadband (available Q1 2011)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Damn that is expensive.
Im mainly looking for a ereader, web surfer, watch some videos on trips, and check my gapps when on wifi.
Check out the stream tv elocity pad. No 3g, but no gps ether. the reason why everyone puts on 3g is because it's the only way to get google apps on it, until google changes their requirements for google apps.
-MW
Sent from my Android for Telechips TCC8900 Evaluation Board (US) using XDA App
My wishlist is 2ghz processor at least 50gb harddrive maybe even (dare I say it) windows 7. I would like my tablet to replace my laptop. Android just isn't ready yet.
I saw talks of honeycomb [url="http://phandroid.com/2010/09/02/android-3-5-honeycomb-to-be-on-samsungs-next-generation-of-tablets-in-2011/]"here[/url] on the samsung tablet. That might be nice . Or that isn't going to be outdated in a few months
Asadullah said:
My wishlist is 2ghz processor at least 50gb harddrive maybe even (dare I say it) windows 7. I would like my tablet to replace my laptop. Android just isn't ready yet.
I saw talks of honeycomb [url="http://phandroid.com/2010/09/02/android-3-5-honeycomb-to-be-on-samsungs-next-generation-of-tablets-in-2011/]"here[/url] on the samsung tablet. That might be nice . Or that isn't going to be outdated in a few months
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think a 2Ghz CPU, as of right now, is over powered for android. I have a Gentouch78 tablet that runs at 600MHz and it seems to run OK. My 1GHz nexus one has had no issues, and I have it multi tasking several apps at once sometimes. It will get really hot, especially when I toss the car charger on it while its doing all that, but never seen it slow down to unresponsiveness. As for the HDD space. I dont use mine much for multi media, so 50gb would be overdoing it for me. Just the ability to have an SD card slot would be enough for me, that right there is 32 gb.
Now dealing with the android OS itself, this is where things are starting to get wierd. You have 2.2, which is really a phone OS, you have 3.0 which is really a tablet OS, and so the current samsung tablet is supposed to be 2.2 and will get 3.0, but now this 3.5 is where it gets confusing. Some of the stuff I have been reading is stating that 3.5 is going to be an entirely different OS completly, or at least have an entirely different usage beyond that of a tablet or cell phone. And that you will have to buy an entirely new piece of hardware to use it because samsung already said their current tablet wont get 3.5 when it comes out, but i twill get 3.0. This is making me think that 3.5 may be the google chrome OS, which from what I am hearing I am not a total fan of. So basically, the idea as I understand it, is that the hardware will just be the input/output device and all the applications will be stored on teh cloud as well as the work being done will be done on the cloud. This is all nice and dandy until either 1) everyone gets on all at once and bogs down the system or 2) the cloud or network goes down and the device is worthless. Thats why I like android right now. If you have no data connection you can still do work. Now some things on android that do run off the cloud, like the GPS, if you need to reroute and you loose the data connection, since all the work is done on the back end you cant get anywhere until the data connection comes back.
Since Android is a full fledge Linux OS I think it can do whatever you need it to do, you just need to port the apps over. So i think it can replace a laptop, but there will always be certain things that make a laptop easier to use that are unrelated to the android OS, like a real keyboard. With phones, for instance, I still feel more comfortable texting on a physical keyboard on my blackberry then I do on the virtual keyboard on my nexus one. Now can I develope a web page, photoshop some images and toss them on the web page, with android? If they ported the apps over then sure why not, the physical keyboard will just make it easier. But as soon as you start talking windows 7 you are changing the entire hardware requirements (ARM CPU versus an x86 CPU) which will allow you to run your favorite web development software and photo editing software, and now your 50gb of disk space will be all chewed up with the OS and applications but no room for media, and with the new hardware requirements the price goes up (not like the samsung tab isnt expensive either) but then the bottom line is its still awkward to use because of the lack of a physical keyboard.
Now I am just using web development/photo editing as an example, simplier tasks, like email and web surfing, will require less and are easily done on the android OS. But the bottom line is to use the right tool for the right job, outline your requirements and find a solution that best fits your needs. I believe that android will be a decent laptop replacement if all your doing with your laptop is surfing the web and sending email but if your trying to do less casual stuff, like photo editing and web development, then android right now is obviously not enough, but in the future it might be. It goes back to the age old question, does hardware push the software industry, or does software push the hardware industry?
-MW
Here is the Archos 101 in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZD4Mdkt40g
You can see all the new Archos line in action here:
http://archosfans.com/
Nice...
@mothy: They're all very nice and all..but taking out the GPS is like taking a step back.....Price is nice, but I'm sure there'll be cheaper WITH GPS before too long.
marcelol said:
@mothy: They're all very nice and all..but taking out the GPS is like taking a step back.....Price is nice, but I'm sure there'll be cheaper WITH GPS before too long.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maybe..but for me I have no use for GPS on a tablet....but that is just me. Just like all new technologies price points will get better with maturity of product.
Hello, I am newbie in using (or just having) android tablet and I am seeking one that will suits me. I found this one
Code:
gpccn.com/picshow.asp?id=31&fl=Tablet%20pc
and like it.
I want
capacitive multitouch screen
fast CPU
7 to 10 inch screen
HDMI, USB, G-sensor etc
It looks that this device have all of this, but it has just 512MB nand and it has 1366x768 and I dont know if nand will be enough and if there will be any use for such high resolution if there is no possibilities for using market
What do you thing? Is there anybody who knows this company? Anybody with tablet 1366x768?
Thanks for any reply
ondrapopik said:
Hello, I am newbie in using (or just having) android tablet and I am seeking one that will suits me. I found this one
Code:
gpccn.com/picshow.asp?id=31&fl=Tablet%20pc
and like it.
I want
capacitive multitouch screen
fast CPU
7 to 10 inch screen
HDMI, USB, G-sensor etc
It looks that this device have all of this, but it has just 512MB nand and it has 1366x768 and I dont know if nand will be enough and if there will be any use for such high resolution if there is no possibilities for using market
What do you thing? Is there anybody who knows this company? Anybody with tablet 1366x768?
Thanks for any reply
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm.... looks like they took a screenshot of an android VM running on ubuntu and photoshopped it into their device. If they don't have any pictures of the tablet in action, I'd be really dubious...
Finally I ordered this one, so will post some review when it arrives.
So I tested tablet I ordered few weeks ago and realized that this is the same device as Advent Vega. I test quadrant benchmark and got 2200 points without any customization of rom.
Screen is nice and response is fast. I can recommend this one.
ondrapopik said:
So I tested tablet I ordered few weeks ago and realized that this is the same device as Advent Vega. I test quadrant benchmark and got 2200 points without any customization of rom.
Screen is nice and response is fast. I can recommend this one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you tell us where you got it from please? Thanks.
Itaintrite said:
Can you tell us where you got it from please? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found it on alibaba.com ( w w w . alibaba. com/product-tp/111757797/Nvidia_10Inch_tablet_PC_with_Capacitive.html ) or you can try web I posted before
(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.