Related
I just got my G tab!
I really had to try Viewsonic's ROM to see if it was as bad as everyone said. Unfortunately, it is!
I've tested it for 10 min but got bored.
For all G tab users afraid to root this device, let me tell you that I l'm no hacker but installed Vegan 5.1, market fix and adobe flash in 20 minutes, with zero problems.
If I had to compare it to the iPad I would say that the GTab looses in screen quality, style and accessories.
But in my opinion, at $380 the G is the better product.
Ivanthompson said:
I just got my G tab!
I really had to try Viewsonic's ROM to see if it was as bad as everyone said. Unfortunately, it is!
I've tested it for 10 min but got bored.
For all G tab users afraid to root this device, let me tell you that I l'm no hacker but installed Vegan 5.1, market fix and adobe flash in 20 minutes, with zero problems.
If I had to compare it to the iPad I would say that the GTab looses in screen quality, style and accessories.
But in my opinion, at $380 the G is the better product.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Screen viewing angles leave some to be desired, but just til it a degree or two more and you're good to go.
Accessories I definitely agree with - we need clam shell cases, we need music docks with HDMI out and built in speakers, we need car adapters.. etc.
The accessories I have/will have are:
- Griffin Technology Stylus
- Samsonite case
- Zpad dock (apx and it2steve sell these)
- Zpad case (apx sells these)
- Spare home charger (it2steve sells these, I hear they're the same as the ts LG portable DVD players: DP371,DP450,DP371B)
You're right about installing a custom ROM, it's a no-brainer. When I first got the device yesterday, I thought it was great as it was, until after a few minutes I wanted more out of the home screens. Then I found the Toshiba Launcher (ToshibaHomeMenu.apk) which is so simple and awesome.. it really changed everything. It forces you to have 5 screens, but you can tap any "dot" and it will take you to that screen. Using Multi Picture Live Wallpaper, each screen gets its own wallpaper as well. Pairing those two together, alongside Smart Taskbar.. and it's a blazing fast tablet with tons of functionality.
Had mine a few days. My phone is a DX and I never understood why people were so up in arms about a locked bootloader. I mean you can bootstrap and be good to go...
Spending the last few days working with the Gtab, props to Viewsonic/TnT for letting us do what we want with our devices and really embracing Open Source. It just makes everything easier and ultimately better.
I have to say that i was a bit skeptical about the Gtab, the second i put VEGAn on it I was hooked.
The viewing angle issue is the only drawback but it's by far a show stopper.
this kicks an iPad's butt any day.
simplyphp said:
Screen viewing angles leave some to be desired, but just til it a degree or two more and you're good to go.
Accessories I definitely agree with - we need clam shell cases, we need music docks with HDMI out and built in speakers, we need car adapters.. etc.
The accessories I have/will have are:
- Griffin Technology Stylus
- Samsonite case
- Zpad dock (apx and it2steve sell these)
- Zpad case (apx sells these)
- Spare home charger (it2steve sells these, I hear they're the same as the ts LG portable DVD players: DP371,DP450,DP371B)
You're right about installing a custom ROM, it's a no-brainer. When I first got the device yesterday, I thought it was great as it was, until after a few minutes I wanted more out of the home screens. Then I found the Toshiba Launcher (ToshibaHomeMenu.apk) which is so simple and awesome.. it really changed everything. It forces you to have 5 screens, but you can tap any "dot" and it will take you to that screen. Using Multi Picture Live Wallpaper, each screen gets its own wallpaper as well. Pairing those two together, alongside Smart Taskbar.. and it's a blazing fast tablet with tons of functionality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My other concern is that the capacitive buttons don’t light up. Sometimes it is difficult to play with it in the dark.
Despite that, I’m playing 1080p (Rockplayer) with absolutely no lag, all my favorite apps are installed and working.
I’ll probably try the latest TNT just for kicks! And this is what I love about this device: customization, freedom to change ROM’s at will, adobe flash, stunning live wallpapers and widgets
Ivanthompson said:
I just got my G tab!
I really had to try Viewsonic's ROM to see if it was as bad as everyone said. Unfortunately, it is!
I've tested it for 10 min but got bored.
For all G tab users afraid to root this device, let me tell you that I l'm no hacker but installed Vegan 5.1, market fix and adobe flash in 20 minutes, with zero problems.
If I had to compare it to the iPad I would say that the GTab looses in screen quality, style and accessories.
But in my opinion, at $380 the G is the better product.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
These are some of my favorite accessories for my tablet.
Arkon fold-up stand for iPad
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360322005774&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT
Leather Case with built-in USB keyboard
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rt=nc&nma=true&item=150539143870&si=OfmsTxZsY7QOiP6z1YvqZrojfOM%253D&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWNX%3AIT
Really nice leather case
http://www.amazon.com/CaseCrown-Genuine-Leather-Interior-Compartments/dp/B002QI0X1K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1295292368&sr=8-1
Nice protective cover for rear of tablet
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=858094
Custom leather case(s) and dock
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=854206
Sweet bluetooth keyboard
http://cgi.ebay.com/Slim-Wireless-Bluetooth-Keyboard-iphone-ipad-PDA-AP159-/320643919947?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aa7ddf04b
And these apps made it more useful to me.
Zinio (with Readers Hub) for reading electronic magazines and newspapers
Comixology for reading electronic comics
LogMeIn Ignition for remotely accessing my Windows computers at work and at home
QuickOffice for being able to read/modify MS Office documents
Dropbox for easy file transfers and sharing
There are a ton of other apps/games that also added value to this tablet for me but the above 5 are the ones I use most often.
I hope you get as much out of your gTab as I have gotten from mine.
Ivanthompson said:
My other concern is that the capacitive buttons don’t light up. Sometimes it is difficult to play with it in the dark.
Despite that, I’m playing 1080p (Rockplayer) with absolutely no lag, all my favorite apps are installed and working.
I’ll probably try the latest TNT just for kicks! And this is what I love about this device: customization, freedom to change ROM’s at will, adobe flash, stunning live wallpapers and widgets
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are some modders here that have added little LEDs next to the buttons to make them light up and others that have added a little bead next to them so you can feel them in the dark but with VEGAn you have those buttons on the status bar as soft buttons so you might be able to get by using those.
Hi all,
Maybe this is useful for some folks. I loved my original Galaxy Tab and have now upgrade to the Plus. For info, I'm using the devices in Asia (Malaysia, Singapore, China, Vietnam) mostly. The version I have is a 3G with calls enabled.
I use the Tab as my primary mobile phone. It is therefore essential that it fits into the back pocket of my jeans or pocket of my suit pants. I have paired it with a VoyagerPro+ Headset and this works perfectly for calls, audio (mono of course) and Skype. I'd say I'm a heavy user with 2-3 hours of calls a day and a fair bit of web surfing, sms and emailing.
What I loved about the Original:
Contrary to many of the reviews, I really enjoyed the fact that this was an oversized phone, not a pint sized tablet. I never felt there was anything wrong with Gingerbread as an OS on a screen of this size, in fact I really liked the experience. Icons were big, keyboards very useable particularly in Portrait and the whole thing had a solid, Tonka like feel to it. It was also really tough, having dropped it countless times, never without a problem. Another handy feature was the sim card slot; very easy to access as I often swap sims.
What I noticed immediately with the Plus:
Clearly this is a small tablet. You tend to hold it in landscape much more often. The resolution of the screen is the same, but all the icons and toggles are much smaller. This makes quick operation (e.g. whilst walking) quite difficult. If placed on a desk, this is not so much of an issue. The learning curve in moving to Honeycomb is quite steep and (personal matter of taste) the transition from home screen to home screen is a bit kitchy. The tablet feels thinner (though it's not...except at the edges)
What I am beginning to like with the Plus:
Though the operation of the device is more "delicate", i.e. more care needs to be taken about where your fingers tap, there are quite a few cool features to be had in Honeycomb. The widgets are superb. Some of the tablet tailored apps are also great, particularly Youtube notwithstanding that rotation of the screen immediately reloads the video (arrrghh!!!). It feels fast, and after a week I'm already noticing that the battery time is noticeably better. In some of the blogs, the Samsung apps which float above open apps have not really impressed the reviewers, but I have found that the dialer and the calculator are particularly useful, say if you're browsing a site and want to dial or check something.
What I miss about the Original Tab:
I hope that over time I'll have the same trust in the sturdiness of the Plus. Going back to the Original Tab, I feel the same sense as when I first bought it, namely that everything on the screen looked huge. It really feels like you were playing with Lego and now you're playing with Duplo . One of my favorite apps (smart keyboard pro) doesn't play nicely with Honeycomb and so I have lost my multilingual inputs until I find a replacement.
Wrap-up:
It's a week in with the Tab Plus. I had the original for a year. Already, I know I would not want to go back to the original mostly because I enjoy the Honeycomb features, the speed and the longer battery life. I'm still not as fast at typing on the Plus, but hopefully this will improve over time.
For anyone looking to upgrade from the original, be aware that it is may not be the quantum leap you experienced when you first got the Galaxy Tab, but provided you can get used to the smaller icons & toggles it's a good upgrade.
Happy to take questions if anyone's interested.
Cheers,
Marc
marcolamy said:
The learning curve in moving to Honeycomb is quite steep and (personal matter of taste) the transition from home screen to home screen is a bit kitchy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You might consider a third party "launcher" app (such as ADW, Go Launcher, etc) that can make your home screen and launcher feel more like gingerbread. Otherwise, happy you are enjoying your tab
take care
gary
I agree that it definitely got the pint sized tablet treatment, which is somewhat of a shame given the choice between cramped tablet or luxuriously roomy phone. It has a nice solid feel though, and I was relieved to see with the latest firmware update the Market app no longer forces a nearly useless landscape mode.
I've made icons even smaller than stock with ADWlauncher EX and locked the tablet to landscape mode. I found the stock setup way too huge and "blown up phone"-like than what I want.
My WiFi only 7+ maybe feels a bit more unstable than the 7? Netflix freezes every once in awhile, which absolutely never happened on the 7. Then again the 7 couldn't even stream half the video that's out there, so I'm not complaining.
I actually like the look and feel of the smaller icons. Yes, a bit harder to navigate but esthetically it just feels better to me.
The only thing I really miss from the original Tab is my high res embedded album art. All of the music players I've used are stretching the thumbnails rather than finding the embedded file. I'm assuming this is a Froyo vs. Honeycomb thing?
Speaking as an old school, analog geeky tech guy who was dragged kicking and screaming into the digital age, I can honestly now say I don't know how I lived my life without a Tab 7+ in my back pocket.
rtfm, how do you find yourself spending your time on the 7+? What do you use it for? When do you use it instead of a phone?
speedrabbit said:
rtfm, how do you find yourself spending your time on the 7+? What do you use it for? When do you use it instead of a phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We're still WiFi only out here in the boondocks of northern New England. No 4G and barely any 3G in the area. So the Tab for me is mostly a media consumer. I've tried to use it at work as a notepad, document viewer but it's a bit cumbersome to get everything in order for that big meeting you're going to have. But for looking at, listening to or reading stuff like I say how did I live without it?
Being an old shortwave/ham radio geek, the ability to lay in bed and stream radio stations from anywhere in the world is still a revelation to me.
I've purchased my first 2 Kindle ebooks from Amazon and read them on the Tab. I still have mixed feelings about "owning" e vs. "real" books on the living room shelves but I looked forward every night to reading a book on the Tab.
The 7+ does video where the 7 couldn't. Netflix just works (mostly).
I threw away my old big-red-LED AM/FM alarm clock and i use the alarm in the tunein Radio app to wake up every morning.
If you download the maps that you need before you go on a trip Google Maps is your GPS all set for your vehicle.
Music. I'm still waiting for the proper player to get the album art right, but it's got all my music on it.
Online news. Every morning with a cup of coffee. Read the headlines and a few stories. From just about anywhere in the world. Still for free. Simply amazing.
All of this from a little box that fits in your back pocket.
Hi, same here. I've been using Original Galaxy Tab for quite some time, and I've bought myself a 7+ last two weeks. For me, it is indeed an upgrade version of the original one, but it's not too far away. It has better speed, but it is not as fast as SII. I used SII last month and I thought they would be more or less the same in term of performance as they share the same processor. Is it related to Honeycomb? Anyway, I love the Honeycomb instead of Gingerbread on the original Galaxy Tab. Honeycomb's widget and notification bar are quite useful and eye-candy.
What I miss on the 7+ is the feeling of toughness and durability. The original Galaxy Tab feels solid and tough. Gorilla glass, and the black colour border makes the difference. On 7+, the silver border looks fragile, I accidentally scratch it last week and the paint drop is obvious at that spot. =(
One more thing, when I put it in my pocket, (yes it's my primary phone), I always mispress the power button and volume rocker. Maybe its because this time, the edge is thinner and sharper.
This will b my first tablet. So my question is the design of the plus exactly like the original because im trying to find cases and things and there's not much out there for the tab plus just wondering mine will b here Monday or sooner so just wondering
Typed by my midget minion
rtfm1777 said:
My WiFi only 7+ maybe feels a bit more unstable than the 7? Netflix freezes every once in awhile, which absolutely never happened on the 7. Then again the 7 couldn't even stream half the video that's out there, so I'm not complaining.
I actually like the look and feel of the smaller icons. Yes, a bit harder to navigate but esthetically it just feels better to me.
The only thing I really miss from the original Tab is my high res embedded album art. All of the music players I've used are stretching the thumbnails rather than finding the embedded file. I'm assuming this is a Froyo vs. Honeycomb thing?
Speaking as an old school, analog geeky tech guy who was dragged kicking and screaming into the digital age, I can honestly now say I don't know how I lived my life without a Tab 7+ in my back pocket.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had both the Wifi and 3G versions of the 7+. The Wifi version was defintiely more unstable. I already sold it. It kept having sleep of deaths.
the 3G version for some reason is rock solid.
Another thing is that I can watch Flash video on the 3G version. For some reason, the Wifi version is more finnicky playing online streaming video. I don't understand it. I tried the same sites, but got different results.
However... the 3G version for some reasons takes a hell of a long time to charge. I was charging it at 4 in the afternoon and it's now 8:20pm and in four hours or so I only got up to about 60% charge. What the hell?!
Mochan said:
I had both the Wifi and 3G versions of the 7+. The Wifi version was defintiely more unstable. I already sold it. It kept having sleep of deaths.
the 3G version for some reason is rock solid.
Another thing is that I can watch Flash video on the 3G version. For some reason, the Wifi version is more finnicky playing online streaming video. I don't understand it. I tried the same sites, but got different results.
However... the 3G version for some reasons takes a hell of a long time to charge. I was charging it at 4 in the afternoon and it's now 8:20pm and in four hours or so I only got up to about 60% charge. What the hell?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My Tab + charges in 3 hours and it was always full battery.
First tablet ever for me, bought it for the bat life and size. Needed something bigger than the 4.8 inch Viliv N5 or old Sony UX 280p. Seems my vision is getting worse with age lol, anyhows i have found the device to be very gratifying. Been an old pda user for years, so it feels like a larger smoother pda for me. Check news, facebook, watch vids and such on it. Only complaint is not neccisarily its fault (gameloft games dont run on it). Or at least the ones i playon my G2.
Sent from my GT-P6210 using xda premium
rtfm1777 said:
My WiFi only 7+ maybe feels a bit more unstable than the 7? Netflix freezes every once in awhile, which absolutely never happened on the 7. Then again the 7 couldn't even stream half the video that's out there, so I'm not complaining.
I actually like the look and feel of the smaller icons. Yes, a bit harder to navigate but esthetically it just feels better to me.
The only thing I really miss from the original Tab is my high res embedded album art. All of the music players I've used are stretching the thumbnails rather than finding the embedded file. I'm assuming this is a Froyo vs. Honeycomb thing?
Speaking as an old school, analog geeky tech guy who was dragged kicking and screaming into the digital age, I can honestly now say I don't know how I lived my life without a Tab 7+ in my back pocket.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let me update this 2 months later. One firmware update and a couple of Netflix upgrades have come and gone. The video playback is rock solid and whatever slight stability issues I noticed in the beginning are not bothering now. I'm still annoyed by the album art thumbnail issue. But as far as I'm concerned the 7+ is top of the line.
And if I've got what I need right now, why do I need ICS?
My Galaxy Tab "died" over the weekend and since I need a Tab I replaced it on Monday with the Plus.
Overall I'm liking the Plus but some thing are bugging me. The fonts and widgets seem smaller, though the screen's are the same resolution. Can't seem to make home screens I'm happy with
On the plus side the P6200 is so much faster! Also the screen seems much more vibrant.
Now if I could only get my screens sifted I'd be a happy camper.
Sent from my GT-P6200 using XDA App
GPRS/EDGE Class details
This is my first post in this forum. I am planning to finalise on Galaxy Tab plus 7.0 (GT-P6200). The Samsung India website doesn't provide exact information about the Product.
Which data class the GT-P6200 belongs> Is it Class 10 or Class 12 or Class 33?
The Exynos chipset used in GT-P6200 is same as GT-P6800?
Is the CPU Overclocked in GT-P6800?
The Tablet GT-P6200 sold in India comes with IR peer and from which country dose the company imports the Tablet (China, Korea or Vietnam)?
I'd be using it on T-Mobile US, which I know would leave me with EDGE, but I'd be getting it for the screen size and the accessories (the keyboard dock notably); I don't do much web-related (like streaming movies) so the web speeds would be fine.
My other choice is the upcoming Galaxy III for T-Mobile, and while it's a great phone, I'd love something with a bigger screen, even if the screen resolution is lower; most of the features of the GS3 don't appeal to me at all.
I've been using a tablet as my phone since Oct 2010 (Using Galaxy Tab 7 Plus now, and before I used the original Galaxy Tab...all with T-Mobile)
I just can't go back to a normal size phone at all. There are 3 main reasons:
1. Battery Life. No longer do I have to charge my phone every night, no longer will my phone die in a single day if I'm using Wifi, 4G, Bluetooth, Full brightness, etc. I've always hated that about smartphones, you have to charge it every night :\
2. Screen size. I love having the huge screen when viewing Texts. The entire left side are contacts in your text history, and the entire right side is the actual text message itself. Having so much real estate on the screen helps, especially when your typing. That big wide keyboard is great, hard to have typos using it. The screen size is also great when viewing contacts, having both sides of the screen serving a purpose is great.
3. Fits perfect in pocket. The #1 thing that people say when they see me with this phone is "How does that fit in your pocket?!", and when they see me easily slide it in my front pocket they are shocked it fits (I'm 5'4, wear skinny jeans, you'd think it wouldn't fit right?).
4. Bluetooth headset. A lot of people ask how do I put such a big thing to my ear... well, I don't. Most of the time I use a bluetooth headset... and when I don't, then yea I'll use it against my ear, no big deal. Just 5 years ago holding a phone the size of an iPhone looked ridiculous. I think It's a matter of time before 7" phones are standard.
Now I'll be honest and go over a few cons about using this as a phone:
1. EDGE. I also use T-Mobile, and EDGE is actually faster than I thought for normal browsing... but not having that 3G or 4G really sucks. Luckily I never have to worry about it when I'm home (Home Wifi), but yea when I'm out and about sometimes I can sure use high speed.
2. Size. Even though it fits in my pocket perfect, it does get a little annoying having to pull my phone out to read a text (But even if this were an iPhone I would get annoyed having to pull my phone out). Luckily, I found a solution to this... Sony SmartWatch.
Sony's SmartWatch works great with this phone, and man it's one of the best purchases I've made. I never have to get my phone out to read a text or see whose calling. Whether I'm in a pool/hot tub, or watching a movie, or in a meeting, or simply in another room, I don't ever have to whip out my phone or find it, i just glance at my wrist. That convenience is worth hundreds to me. It's waterproof (shower/wash dishes), it can find my phone (even when on silent), and it was real easy to setup.
3. Not ICS. Rumor has it it's planned to get ICS soon, but yea it sucks waiting for it. It's not a HUGE deal, like I said these are minor things, just keep them in mind.
4. Resolution. I wish the resolution was better :\ I won't bother going in detail why as it should be self explanatory.
5. Apps/Games/Web. Now I personally don't use any apps, or play games, and hardly browse the internet on this tablet (Use iPad for that), but I know to a lot of people not having ICS/4G can be a problem, to me it's not... but I just needed to mention that as a con.
Well those are the cons, but the pros (Battery) easily outweigh it, hence why I've been using a tablet as a phone since 2010. I'm actually in the process of selling this and getting the PadFone I'm just waiting on my guy in Tawain to ship it...
Feel free to ask me any question about the tablet! I was planning on writing a quick small review, sorry for the novel!
NineT9 said:
I've been using a tablet as my phone since Oct 2010 (Using Galaxy Tab 7 Plus now, and before I used the original Galaxy Tab...all with T-Mobile)
I just can't go back to a normal size phone at all. There are 3 main reasons:
1. Battery Life. No longer do I have to charge my phone every night, no longer will my phone die in a single day if I'm using Wifi, 4G, Bluetooth, Full brightness, etc. I've always hated that about smartphones, you have to charge it every night :\
2. Screen size. I love having the huge screen when viewing Texts. The entire left side are contacts in your text history, and the entire right side is the actual text message itself. Having so much real estate on the screen helps, especially when your typing. That big wide keyboard is great, hard to have typos using it. The screen size is also great when viewing contacts, having both sides of the screen serving a purpose is great.
3. Fits perfect in pocket. The #1 thing that people say when they see me with this phone is "How does that fit in your pocket?!", and when they see me easily slide it in my front pocket they are shocked it fits (I'm 5'4, wear skinny jeans, you'd think it wouldn't fit right?).
4. Bluetooth headset. A lot of people ask how do I put such a big thing to my ear... well, I don't. Most of the time I use a bluetooth headset... and when I don't, then yea I'll use it against my ear, no big deal. Just 5 years ago holding a phone the size of an iPhone looked ridiculous. I think It's a matter of time before 7" phones are standard.
Now I'll be honest and go over a few cons about using this as a phone:
1. EDGE. I also use T-Mobile, and EDGE is actually faster than I thought for normal browsing... but not having that 3G or 4G really sucks. Luckily I never have to worry about it when I'm home (Home Wifi), but yea when I'm out and about sometimes I can sure use high speed.
2. Size. Even though it fits in my pocket perfect, it does get a little annoying having to pull my phone out to read a text (But even if this were an iPhone I would get annoyed having to pull my phone out). Luckily, I found a solution to this... Sony SmartWatch.
Sony's SmartWatch works great with this phone, and man it's one of the best purchases I've made. I never have to get my phone out to read a text or see whose calling. Whether I'm in a pool/hot tub, or watching a movie, or in a meeting, or simply in another room, I don't ever have to whip out my phone or find it, i just glance at my wrist. That convenience is worth hundreds to me. It's waterproof (shower/wash dishes), it can find my phone (even when on silent), and it was real easy to setup.
3. Not ICS. Rumor has it it's planned to get ICS soon, but yea it sucks waiting for it. It's not a HUGE deal, like I said these are minor things, just keep them in mind.
4. Resolution. I wish the resolution was better :\ I won't bother going in detail why as it should be self explanatory.
5. Apps/Games/Web. Now I personally don't use any apps, or play games, and hardly browse the internet on this tablet (Use iPad for that), but I know to a lot of people not having ICS/4G can be a problem, to me it's not... but I just needed to mention that as a con.
Well those are the cons, but the pros (Battery) easily outweigh it, hence why I've been using a tablet as a phone since 2010. I'm actually in the process of selling this and getting the PadFone I'm just waiting on my guy in Tawain to ship it...
Feel free to ask me any question about the tablet! I was planning on writing a quick small review, sorry for the novel!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very detailed response... very nice. As a current user, I have been very pleased to have it as my secondary mobile phone, Secondary since it it is too bulky to carry all the time but the capabilities of the unit really had me very satisfied.
Ok, to make a long story short. I handed in my prime for RMA and got offered to alternatives , a TF700 or a samsung note 10.1.
Now , I had really ****ty experience with the prime. Primarily wi fi issues, but the performance in general was rubbish. With that said there were many aspects of the prime that l liked, Such as the keyboard and battery time.
My question is what are the known issues that with the note 10.1 and it's main drawbacks?
Keyboard isn't a must, nor is the pen, though l would love both! I could in short go for either.
It's kinda time urgent , I only have a few days to decide.
Help?
Thanks in advance!
The note is superior to tf700 in every way except screen resolution. I exchanged 3 tf700 then tried the note, the results is obvious. I only regret not taking the 3g version.
Sent from my GT-N8010 using Tapatalk HD
Could you be a bit more detailed?
There are no drawbacks as the software is more refined in every way and the hardware is solid and future proof atleast for year or two
But there only difference is the body and the screen resolution
Apart from that it is better then prime or any other tablet in the market even N10 once it gets JB the reason being the world class developement done by Samsung on the OS
The screen on tf700 was deformed, not well fixed on edges. Less ram, only 1 gb, no dualband n Wi-Fi, no Bluetooth 4, low end internal storage, not as fluent as the note. Much better battery on the note. A lot of random reboots on stock tf700, none on the note.
I have changed the 3 Asus after using each one for a few days. I admit that the resolution was great, but the note is a better tablet overall.
Sent from my GT-N8010 using Tapatalk HD
And the price to in India the prime is almost 200 dollars more expensive
the prime? Don't think it factors in as such into my question... Kinda keen on Tf 700 vs Note 10.1
I've read tons of reviews and they go both ways , but it seems the TF700 comes ahead a lot of the time. That's the confusing part. I've tested both in the store, with no clear winner. Screen on Tf is great and they both felt snappy. The pen on the Samsung was fun to use and accurate, but testet a few pens on the transformer and they were pretty good as well. Big issue is 1 gb DDR3 vs 2GB ddr2 , and Tegra vs Exynos. Kinda a bummer considering games and certain apps are tegra focused .
But the old Prime is still in the back of my mind, I\O performance etc...
BUT A BIG DRAW BACK WITH SAMSUNG, I can't plug in a HDMI and USB cable at the same time... kinda need it from time to time ( external drive and HDMI, or game controller and HDMI or...)
I think almost everyone that owns a Note 10.1 went through the same decision. And newer owners are also factoring in the Nexus 10. Obviously the people in this forum chose the Note. You'd get other opinions from forums dedicated to those devices and I suggest you ask and look in those too.
For me, the decision was easy. I dd look at the Asus forums as well as here. In the Asus forums there are tons of post of people having problems. Granted, people with problems tend to find forums. But why do you not see people here posting about problems? The few you do see are mostly folks that tried to either root or flash their units and didn't read the instructions fully. Sure you'll find an occasional legit problem post, but they are so few and far between that it's an effort to find them. That's not the case in the Asus forums.
I spent a lot of money for the Note 10.1. I bought it before any of the recent price drops. I have no buyers remorse at all.
Well good to know. I've posted a similar thread in the ASUS forum just in case, but response has been limited. The big issue l have with the Samsung is lack of ports and weaker battery compared to the ASUS. wouldn't mind a keyboard, but seen that there are dozens of keyboard folios and so on....but again one comes to the issue of battery being drained ( in this case by the bluetooth)
I'm on the fence , 50-50 so that's why I was looking for personal experience with the unit(s). I kinda missed the mark with the Prime , so don't want to mess up again.
BTW I see it mentioned a dozen places, how is the support from Samsung, ie updates etc....?
I owed a prime and had all the bad experiences. I read and read before getting another tablet and everything pointed at the infinity, so I got one. Had it a little over a week and noticed lag from time to time, but nothing major, until I bought the new need for speed... geez, it's unplayable on the infinity. I pulled it up on my note 2 and its flying. So I returned it and got the note 10.1. It flies! The screen is the only advantage the infinity have
I've owned the Transformer Prime for almost a year and I had the Transformer Infinity for about a month before I traded it for a Galaxy Note 10.1.
The memory issues with the transformers is really bad, when you use the browser it constantly hangs and gives ANRs (App not responding). It is basically unusable in the browser. I had the same problem with the Prime and the Infinity, it happens more often when you have multiple apps running.
I debated it for a long time because I really wanted the high resolution, but once I got the Note 10.1 I knew within a day that I made the right choice. Everything works as it should, everything is faster and smoother, graphics intensive games like N.O.V.A. and Dead Trigger actually run better (N.O.V.A was unplayable on the Infinity because it lagged so much). The screen isn't as good, but it isn't worth the issues you have to deal with on the Transformer line.
I used the keyboard dock on the Infinity and loved taking notes in school with it, but since I got the Note 10.1 I started taking notes with the S-Pen and I carry a bluetooth keyboard just in case I need it. I've liked taking notes with the S-Pen so much that I never even use the keyboard anymore.
As a previous prime owner of 8 months, id have to say i have no regrets
What i miss
-usb slot
-full sd slot
-hdmi
-extra battery
What i dont miss
-anr
-wifi/bluetooth issues
-slow playstore install/uninstall
-the cheap buttons on keyboard(one snapped off, too easilly)
The things i wish the note has but doesnt
-a decent port connected keyboard with, hdmi, usb, sd card
The comprimises
-usb/sd card adapter
-allcast(when sammy finally gets its finger out its bum).......stream game over wifi, while using bluetooth gamepad/keyboard/mouse
As a prevoius prime owner yourself, i think your in a position to appreciate this phrase "it just works"......and thats the main thing that makes the things ive lost bearable, trust me its a relief......another thing i like is that it feels more sturdy,
If you can find a tf700 without daily issues, then i'd say go for that, but me i wont trust their quality control on the tablet front for a while
On a side note, battery on the note, even without the extra battery is commendable..........at least 10h constant use on avarage......thats brightness dim, powersave on......by the way powersave is pretty impressive to (limit to1000mhz), no hiccups.
Just to reiterate what banderos101 said,
I'm a former TF101 owner (the original transformer from asus), and I miss the same things he misses. In addition, my transformer often had weird stutterings that may or may not have been associated with the roms I used on it (but it had them on stock too before I rooted and flashed custom roms).
That said, I don't know much about the TF700, but you probably should pick it based on what your primary usage will be. I got the Note instead of another transformer tablet because I take notes using a pen (physics is hard to type notes for) and because it has 2gb RAM. Also, the screen resolution doesn't matter to me much because it didn't put me in shock and awe when I used my friends' iPad retinas and TF700's, but maybe that's because I'm nearsighted.
DeBoX said:
Well good to know. I've posted a similar thread in the ASUS forum just in case, but response has been limited. The big issue l have with the Samsung is lack of ports and weaker battery compared to the ASUS. wouldn't mind a keyboard, but seen that there are dozens of keyboard folios and so on....but again one comes to the issue of battery being drained ( in this case by the bluetooth)
I'm on the fence , 50-50 so that's why I was looking for personal experience with the unit(s). I kinda missed the mark with the Prime , so don't want to mess up again.
BTW I see it mentioned a dozen places, how is the support from Samsung, ie updates etc....?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll come at this from a completely different perspective from everyone on this thread. I have an Acer A500. Had it for a few years. Sunday night, my wonderful children decided I needed a new tablet so they dropped my acer out of the car. Off to the store! LOL! I'm not dedicated to any brand at all. I want cheap and as much bang for the buck as I can get. My 2 contenders were the same as yours. Asus Infinity vs Samsung Note. The real question you have to ask is what do you really want the tablet for? What do you expect to get out of the experience? No matter what you read here, the Asus is a better tablet than the Samsung. It has a visibly better screen. It has more storage for the dollar. IE, the 32gb Asus is the same price as the 16GB Samsung. The processor is slightly faster, but the Asus has a 5th independent low power processor that allows it to run much less power therefore slightly longer battery in real world. Average test is about 8 hours for the Samsung, 10 for the Asus.
The Asus also allows you to add the keyboard with an additional battery in the keyboard as well as full sized USB ports etc. So if you are looking for a laptop replacement, it's hard to beat. Now, you're probably asking, why am I putting all this in the Samsung thread?
I bought the Samsung. Why? Because the #1 thing I need from my tablet is the ability to take handwritten notes in meetings and it has to be easy and fast. Bottom line is, the digitizer system on the Note is unbeatable. Period. The Asus can't touch it. The Note is a great screen versus an amazing screen. It's nearly as fast processor wise, 1.4GHz vs 1.6GHz. So while the Asus in my mind is a better tablet, the Samsung Note is better for what I need. And by better I mean, lightyears better. There isn't a tablet on the market that can touch the Note for writing. It is truly paper and pencil good. But if you don't care about that, the Asus is a little better in a lot of ways.
I get 14 hours on the note on regular use, the record being 16 (talking about screen+ WiFi active, not about stand-by). With tf700 i had 11 hours with the first one, the other 2 devices never more than 8 hours (all without the dock, i did not buy one).
mobiushky said:
I'll come at this from a completely different perspective from everyone on this thread. I have an Acer A500. Had it for a few years. Sunday night, my wonderful children decided I needed a new tablet so they dropped my acer out of the car. Off to the store! LOL! I'm not dedicated to any brand at all. I want cheap and as much bang for the buck as I can get. My 2 contenders were the same as yours. Asus Infinity vs Samsung Note. The real question you have to ask is what do you really want the tablet for? What do you expect to get out of the experience? No matter what you read here, the Asus is a better tablet than the Samsung. It has a visibly better screen. It has more storage for the dollar. IE, the 32gb Asus is the same price as the 16GB Samsung. The processor is slightly faster, but the Asus has a 5th independent low power processor that allows it to run much less power therefore slightly longer battery in real world. Average test is about 8 hours for the Samsung, 10 for the Asus.
The Asus also allows you to add the keyboard with an additional battery in the keyboard as well as full sized USB ports etc. So if you are looking for a laptop replacement, it's hard to beat. Now, you're probably asking, why am I putting all this in the Samsung thread?
I bought the Samsung. Why? Because the #1 thing I need from my tablet is the ability to take handwritten notes in meetings and it has to be easy and fast. Bottom line is, the digitizer system on the Note is unbeatable. Period. The Asus can't touch it. The Note is a great screen versus an amazing screen. It's nearly as fast processor wise, 1.4GHz vs 1.6GHz. So while the Asus in my mind is a better tablet, the Samsung Note is better for what I need. And by better I mean, lightyears better. There isn't a tablet on the market that can touch the Note for writing. It is truly paper and pencil good. But if you don't care about that, the Asus is a little better in a lot of ways.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your post, it's nice to "hear" a slightly different approach. The problem in my case is that I'm kinda looking for the Jack of all trades , pref master of all
The pen idea is really tempting and l hear people praising it to high heaven. I have an old Lenovo x 201 Tablet and loved it for years, but it's kinda big and cumbersome to lob around for short trips and meetings / classes .
I'm looking for something that can at the very least cover these areas:
Media machine ( connected to a screen)
Gaming
Productivity (notes in class+ I work as an IT consultant so quick notes at work etc. In this case both have almost equal merit. pen vs keyboard )
Stable ( regular updates)
Connectivity ( ports and connections)
Good performance
HAS TO HAVE GOOD BATTERY ( average use wifi + bluetooth + browsing and note taking + maybe a short vid. here and there)
What l don't really care about
Screen rez.
Build materials ( ok, don't want it China cheap, but don't need super hyper space age Unobtanium)
Still trying to narrow down everything l need it for.
I know I want my cake and eat it too, but let's be honest, why have the cake if you can't eat it??
To be honest that was the note 10.1 out of the box... It really doesn't need constant updates because it just works how its supposed too... I've never owned an Asus tablet but wouldn't constant updates mean it has constant problems that are trying to be fixed?
Gaming is fine, you can run the chainfire 3d app for tegra games, I run with sonic and that works fine and a few other games (NFS most wanted, GTA3, Dungeon Hunters 3 and Assassins creed 3) and have no problem...
Notes are easy to take using the pen, think back to high school with a folder, about the same size and not that heavy.
You can get an adaptor for usb connectivity - Just cant use an HDD as it requires too much power but a thumb drive works fine (mines 32gb), I have a 64gb sd card installed and I got the 32gb 3g version, forgot phone, no problem...
Performance is fine, there's no problem and 2gb of RAM makes it snappy - even when you fill it with stuff, I have around 4gb left internally and about 2gb on the 64gb sd card - no lag or stutter...
There is a HDMI adaptor you can get but haven't tried it. If you have a smart tv from 2012 then you can share your screen wirelessly and you can get the wireless adaptor that plugs into the tv set. For older versions of TV sets freeing up your usb port you can use the wireless adaptor that plugs into the tv instead of the MHL Adaptor.
Screen resolution is fine for what I need, it plays 720P movies very well and I don't care that I can't magnify the screen into infinity when viewing pics or text...
I have had no problem with build quality, mind you most people I know seem to put it into a folder for protection - don't use anything with magnets as it might affect the wacom digitiser.
The S-pen makes it easy to enter notes or data, its a shame that Samsung used a little known format for s-notes but there's ways around that too...
Battery life is awesome, I use it 8 hours a day watching movies, surfing the web, listening to music, writing, taking notes and making calls and still have around 20-25% at the end of the day...
Overall I find it fine for what I use it for, the new JB update makes it so much better....
At the end of the day you will make your decision, if you live in America you might be able to change that decision, but I like my note 10.1. It is the only tab out there that allowed me to make phone calls and that's what pushed it over the edge for me.. That and the bluetooth stylus that doubles as a handset.... :laugh:
ultramag69 said:
To be honest that was the note 10.1 out of the box... It really doesn't need constant updates because it just works how its supposed too... I've never owned an Asus tablet but wouldn't constant updates mean it has constant problems that are trying to be fixed?
Gaming is fine, you can run the chainfire 3d app for tegra games, I run with sonic and that works fine and a few other games (NFS most wanted, GTA3, Dungeon Hunters 3 and Assassins creed 3) and have no problem...
Notes are easy to take using the pen, think back to high school with a folder, about the same size and not that heavy.
You can get an adaptor for usb connectivity - Just cant use an HDD as it requires too much power but a thumb drive works fine (mines 32gb), I have a 64gb sd card installed and I got the 32gb 3g version, forgot phone, no problem...
Performance is fine, there's no problem and 2gb of RAM makes it snappy - even when you fill it with stuff, I have around 4gb left internally and about 2gb on the 64gb sd card - no lag or stutter...
There is a HDMI adaptor you can get but haven't tried it. If you have a smart tv from 2012 then you can share your screen wirelessly and you can get the wireless adaptor that plugs into the tv set. For older versions of TV sets freeing up your usb port you can use the wireless adaptor that plugs into the tv instead of the MHL Adaptor.
Screen resolution is fine for what I need, it plays 720P movies very well and I don't care that I can't magnify the screen into infinity when viewing pics or text...
I have had no problem with build quality, mind you most people I know seem to put it into a folder for protection - don't use anything with magnets as it might affect the wacom digitiser.
The S-pen makes it easy to enter notes or data, its a shame that Samsung used a little known format for s-notes but there's ways around that too...
Battery life is awesome, I use it 8 hours a day watching movies, surfing the web, listening to music, writing, taking notes and making calls and still have around 20-25% at the end of the day...
Overall I find it fine for what I use it for, the new JB update makes it so much better....
At the end of the day you will make your decision, if you live in America you might be able to change that decision, but I like my note 10.1. It is the only tab out there that allowed me to make phone calls and that's what pushed it over the edge for me.. That and the bluetooth stylus that doubles as a handset.... :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you tell me more about the wireless HDMI solution. One of the BIG issues I have with the note is the fact that it's lacking ports and there aren't any docking stations etc with both hdmi and usb . I have several really good LED TV's at home , but non have wireless DLNA or similar setups ( have to buy extra plugs etc) so a HDMI port would have been great...
Another issue is the fact that there seems to be an increase in TEGRA optimized games... somthing that's a major bummer since l actually like using the tab as a mini game console .
KoRoZIV said:
I get 14 hours on the note on regular use, the record being 16 (talking about screen+ WiFi active, not about stand-by). With tf700 i had 11 hours with the first one, the other 2 devices never more than 8 hours (all without the dock, i did not buy one).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is that 14h out of the box, or have you done some tinkering with it?
For the games run chainfire 3d... You can then run the tegra games with no problem...
Allshare cast dongle or Allshare cast hub - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2003478 & http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0089VO7MY/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00
Hello there,
in september 2012 I bought my first tablet, a LC-Power MIRA-1. Shortly after, on the 19th I posted a [Q] post here because I had a few questions. In the following weeks, some replies back and forth, more quirks came to light.
In short, I was semi-happy with the MIRA-1 (everything was fine save a few situations where the single-core tablet speed could not really keep up, for example, starting firefox and the keyboard, it always froze 2-3 secs "firefox is not responding. close/wait?")
Still, I do believe, I learned some valuable lessons about android and others with the MIRA-1 or thinking about getting one were helped too.
Fade in today.
I recently bought the new LC-Power SINA-1. It cost me 200EUR (Germany). In comparison, the MIRA-2 (which is like the MIRA-1 with an extra camera and a smaller rechargeable battery) still costs 160 EUR
I found the new SINA-1 to be a very interesting product, especially considering the price.
I came here to write my own review. I am in no way affiliated with LC-Power and I do not get a dime for writing this.
My motive for writing this and yes, maybe even advertise, is very simple. First of all, xda-developer has helped me before and I'd like to give back. More importantly however, I believe in tablets that do not cost an arm and an leg as well as the android (modding) community. I would very much love to see the LC-Power tablets get the attention they deserve...
Thank you for keeping with me so far. Let us begin!
Technical specs for the new SINA-1 tablet:
CPU: ARM Cortex A9 Dual Core 1,5GHz
GPU: Mali 400 QuadCore 250MHz
RAM: 1GB DDR3
Memory: System 1GB + 16GB NAND Flash (+ MicroSD up to 32GB)
Display: 10.1" IPS 5 Point Touchscreen, 1280x800
Networking: 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0
Cameras: 0.3MP front, 2MP back
Connectors: micro-HDMI out, micro-USB host, micro-USB connector, 3.5mm headphones jack
OS: Android 4.1
Want to know more? google it
As I mentioned before, the tablet costs 200 EUR (Onlineshop, Germany, Dec, 15th 2012)
Material and built quality:
The first impression is very good. The tablet feels solid, has a certain weight to it, but is not too heavy.
The front appears to be glas and if it is not, it must be a very hard plastic. The back is made out of aluminium. I have no doubt that both can be scratched, please forgive me for not doing the experimentation on that. However, in a few days of extensive (time) yet normal (application) use, I have yet to see any marks besides fingerprints.
Where the front and back meet I can not feel any sharp edge (MIRA-1 I could).
It is very thin (quite a bit thinner than the MIRA tablet and a bit higher as well)
Overall, I would give the material and quality very good marks. I dont doubt that it could be better in some regard, even if I can't name one right now.
Display (visual):
The 1280x800 resolution suits the tablet well. It is definately a neccesary step up from 1024x768 (MIRA). Even if I did not exactly see pixalation with the old ones, the picture is indeed better with the higher resolution. Webpages like reddit look sharp, the text in 100% zoom is not too small. Pictures look vivid and good. Videos are even better (given the source material is of sufficient resolution itself).
The viewing angles are what you would expect from an IPS panel. Frontal (no angle) is best, the more you move to the side and increase the angle, the more you lose contrast and brightness. I have seen worse and have yet to observe the "picture went negative", but viewing some content with 2-3 people should not be a problem when you dont mind sticking your heads together
The brightness (350cd/m²) is good, in fact, in a dark room you may want to lower it a bit. Even on the lowest setting it is not too dark.
The contrast is equally good, or should I say "normal". It did not attract attention, neither positive nor negative...
First tests with a bright (300W) lightsource led me to believe that the glossy display does not become a shaving mirror when you have a bright light behind you, but it is definately harder to see the picture. Especially noticeable with movies.
Due to it being winter without sun, I can not test the tablet with summer-sun-brightness outside. I fear the results will not be too good. You may want to keep that in mind if you live in africa and will be using the tablet in the sun - might be trouble. (Then again, I don't know any tablet that has a matte display)
The illumination (is that the right word?) - the background light source illuminating the display with the same brightness consistenly - is adequate. There are a few bright spots (tested with a black fullscreen per 1.0 eyeball), especially on the lower left corner/border).
It is not noticeable when looking at brightly coloured images, but it will be a nuisance when watching a movie which is very dark.
I felt that here, my old MIRA-1 did do better. There, I never noticed bright spots like this before.
Display (touch):
The 5-point-capacitive display does very well in accepting touches, even light ones. 2-point touch (zoom) works equally great and the short test with fruit ninja confirmes that 5 points can be tracked. I did not experience any noticeable lag with 1,2 or 5 points in normal operation.
If you take a paint app and draw with your finger, a slight lag can be observed, however, as I understand current technology, this is common and just the way it is.
In conclusion, the display visually is adequate. Are there better displays out there? Yes, definately. Do you get them for 200 EUR? Definately not! Do you need a better display? Well, I can not answer that for you. In my opinion, the illumination is the only real and still overlookable drawback, everything else is fine. 8/10
The touchscreen part of the display is as it should be. I can not really imagine some way to improve it. 10/10
Together 9/10
Actual Performance:
The performance is quite good and right were it should be. There are faster tablets and phones out there and if we were talking about speed in my workstation or gaming rig, I would be right there with the "FASTER!!!!"-crowd. But since I don't plan on playing skyrim or bf3, rendering 3d images or encoding hd-videos on the tablet, I dont need huge speed reserves, I want a tablet that performs well with the usual tasks like webpage browsing, playing media files and so on.
As mentioned before, this is one of the main problems I had with the old MIRA tablet. 2-3sec freezes, applications (mainly the browser) that did not react and had to be waited for. With the SINA-1 they are gone. The OS works like a charm, switching applications goes instantly, browsing webpages is fun and the waiting in the browser now is for the reason it should be - networking speed! (browsing with firefox+adblock+hackers keyboard)
Since the old MIRA did perform well with movies and the games that I tested, it is no wonder that the SINA-1 does perform equally good. HD videos work well, jumping around in them works fast, even over HDMI with 1920x1080.
And I have yet to find a game that does not run perfectly on the SINA-1. I have tested the occasional gamer games like Angry Birds, some RPGs and even some 3D shooters.
It is hard to give points for the performance. On the one hand, I am fully satisfied (10/10), on the other hand are tablets and phones being sold with much much more power, at least on paper.
Button/Connector placement:
There are only two buttons, power and volume up/down. Both are placed on the right higher side, where I would have placed them myself. They feel high-quality (they dont dangle/wiggle) and have a distinct pressure point that needs some force. This helps you in knowing when you actually pressed the button and not press buttons by accident.
The connectors are on top (right side). One exception would be the headphone jack which is on the right side above the buttons.
The USB host (where you can plug in normal usb devices) is no longer a common USB port (like MIRA had), but a micro-USB. A short adapter cable came with the tablet.
The normal USB host (where you connect your tablet with the pc to access the memory/sdcard from the pc) is also micro-USB. A longer cable came with the tablet.
I would have liked the normal USB port to stay.
Also, these two distinct different USB ports look the same. Some attention must be payed to not confuse them.
HDMI is mini-HDMI. Adapter did NOT come with the tablet. (Which would have been nice!)
Power In is 5V at 2.5A. Adapter came with the tablet (duh!) - the cable is a bit short for my taste. About the same as with the MIRA before.
Note: the tablets rechargeable battery can no longer be loaded over USB
The connectors are close together, but not too close. you should be able to connect all 3/4 with power at the same time.
The microSD slot is on the right side, almost on the back.
Speaker: The speaker(s?) is on the backside. I feel like the device is not as loud as the MIRA tablets, but still works well for watching movies or listening to music in a normal room when you are alone.
Software:
Android 4.1 is working great.
Some might argue there are a few needless apps preinstalled. For example Google Maps and Navigation on a device which has no GPS and no mobile internet built in.
But there is no real crapware either.
Google Play:
Google Play is installed and working fine. The device gets shown as "Rockchip SINA-1"
I did run into some trouble with my old MIRA-1 and some apps. A few were apparently not compatible (although I did not understand why), others that were compatible did refuse to install (I can not and will not exclude a layer 8 problem here)
All those apps work now with the SINA-1. Install is fast and there is no trouble. The 16GB memory will suffice for a lot of apps.
Battery:
The rechargeable battery is a bit less powerfull than the one in the MIRA-1 and a bit more powerfull than the one in the MIRA-2.
Still, with the higher speed and I would assume, higher resolution, more power is needed. Hence with usage, the charging level does indeed go down. Quite a bit faster than with the MIRA-1. I will have to correct my earlier estimate from 5-6hrs down to 4-5hrs.
In fact, bring your loader if you are gonna go out all day and will be using the tablet much.
Support:
LC-Power is usually quick in answering normal support emails, but they will not exactly fall over each other trying to resolve any exotic issue that might come up. Maybe if you speak mandarin and mail them directly at tech and dev headquarters in probably china you might have some luck, but I doubt that the LC-Power people in Germany, USA or UK or ... had much to say about developing the device and customizing the android (except of course, maybe some translation)
Also, do not expect regular android updates or any long time support and new android versions. 2-3 months ago I was promised 4.1 for the MIRA-1, still hasn't been released.
Connectivety:
Wireless LAN b/g/n is working as intended. I feel however, that the signal strength is weaker than with the MIRA-1 tablet.
Bluetooth: What can I say. Its Bluetooth. Its there, it can be used, it works...
Mobile internet: Only per additional USB dongle (or tether your mobile phone...)
Ethernet: Apparently there are USB dongles for Ethernet LAN out there. Havent seen one yet, but I havent looked hard either.
Modding:
So far, there has yet to establish a big LC-Power community with modders, mods and custom roms. I really really hope it will happen some time. But dont hold your breath, you are on your own. Spread the word of the LC-Power devices, lets get a high enough market share an the chances of a active modding community will rise dramatically. Or do it yourself...
So...
if you dont care about mods and custom roms, the SINA-1 is ok for you.
If you want to play around, learn android, program aps, make mods, maybe even a custom rom, feel free to give the SINA-1 a try.
If you want to download the newest custom ROM, install it per 10 step manual and prag in school about your mad hacking and modding skills, look someplace else...
Rooting:
The device does not come pre-rooted. (MIRA did)
I welcome that change to some degree. I honestly believe in not giving the run-of-the-mill users the ability to break something beyond their own (or even some specialist) capability to repair it.
Then again, I also am not fond of the tricks one has to employ to actually root a device IF someone knows what he is doing and wants to use a device to its full potential.
That being said, it was relatively easy to root the SINA-1. Instructions at the end of my review
One last sentence about the stock ROM. It is not available for download (at least I could not find it). I know of no way to reflash it or recover a bricked device. You wont find extensive help, manuals and tipps to that end. Make sure to have an appropriate backup and/or tread carefully.
I myself will investigate, if you have any insight into that topic, feel free to contact me...
Summary/Conclusion
I really like this tablet. A lot. I found it superior to the MIRA-1 in almost all aspects (especially speed, compatability, screen resolution and build quality). It has however its week points (battery run time, uneven lightning of the display).
Since it is a 10" tablet without mobile internet, it obviously was made for home usage. Browsing webpages from the couch, watching a movie while your in a room without a TV, or listening to music without bringing your stereo, add a game now and then when you are bored. This is where this tablet shines. I could imagine it being used in a work environment / office as well. And when the batterie gets low, you hook it up.
The occasional traveler should be happy as well. Get a dongle or tether it to your phone and you can surf the web in the bus/train. Hook up your headphones and watch a movie (just hope the sun doesnt shine too much). Also, dont expect the tablet to last a flight around the world without loading up...
All in all, a very decent device with a very attractive price.
So should you get it? Well, it depends...
If you have a MIRA-1 or 2 and you are really happy with them, you dont care about waiting 1-2sec for some apps. Then dont get the SINA-1
If you have ANY other single core tablet that is not up to its tasks, makes you wait for apps, annoys you in some way, yes, give the SINA-1 a try - and sell the old one for some cash...
If you are thinking about getting the MIRA-1 or 2 (or another similar single-core device), try really hard to look for the other 40 EUR and get the SINA-1. Or get the MIRA used for like half its retail (~80 EUR), but be warned about the possibility of the tablet being to slow now and then
If you have another dual-core (or more) high-end tablet, probably with a big name on it like some fruit or samsung or nexus.. Sure, buy it. whats another 200 EUR. Or dont, I dont think it will be an upgrade. Just another tablet, even if it is a decent one
the get it or dont get it reasons in the modding subsection still apply
I myself regret nothing. I watch movies in bed, I surf the web on the couch. If I am really lazy I even open up teamviewer to do 2-3 clicks on my PC without getting up. I take the tablet with me on train rides and watch a movie or surf the web with my phone tethered. And I recently started to use it at work for presentations (put my notes on it). And when I am bored, I do play a game now and then.
Mind you, I did/could have done all that with the old tablet as well. But it sure makes more fun now
End of the review---
I certainly hope that this rewritten and formated review is more informative and better on the eyes.
I think I got most of my english mistakes as well.
I hope this helps some folk decide
If you have questions, feel free to ask them here. I will try to look back now and then and answer those questions.
good day
Catwiesel, Germany
Addendum:
How to root the SINA-1
Disclaimer: no guarantee, you break it, not my fault bla bla...
First, it was not difficult. It was done by the "root with restore by bin4ry method"
step 1: enable usb-debugging and allow installing of "foreign apk's" (or whats it called in english)
step 2: get a usb driver for windows (7 x64 in my case)
step 2b: since you probably wont find a driver, modify the google drivers from the android development sdk. add the line to the google.ntx86 and ntamd64 block:
%CompositeAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_2207&PID_0010&MI_01
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
step 3: add the file adb_usb.ini at /users/[username]/.android directory with the following line:
0x2207
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
(i had to do this in my user account and in the administrator account*)
step 4: connect the tablet with your pc, make sure all drivers were installed and usb debugging is on
step 5: google, find and download the zip archive with the batch file, scripts and tools needed
(root_with_restore_by_bin4ry_v17.zip did it for me)
step 6: extract the archive, best to some easily found directory like c:\rootit
step 7: start a command line (cmd.exe) (as administrator?)
note: the actual rooting only worked for me when i started the command line as administrator
step 8: start runme.bat from c:\rootit, ch
step 9: choose method 1, wait for it to finish
(all this information was googled and very little trial and error. did not take me more than 30mins with no clue before hand whatsover)
Drivers
can you please explain how did you installed drivers?
I'm having troubles following your manual. I need sina-1 for developing but i can't connect it with adb cause drivers aren't installed correctly.
tnx for review.. I bought SINA-2 and use your method of rooting and it works.. have U tried some custom rom already? I don't know which is compatible with my device...
Does anybody know how to flash recovery or custom rom to this tablet. I have googled and nothing found. Maybe there is no recovery or custom rom for this device.
Update 9 months later
very small update after a few months of light and sporatic use:
- rechargeable batterie runtime:
I might have overestimated the runtime originally. additionally, rechargeable batteries dont get better over time...
that means that you really will be running to the charger a lot at home and should take it with you.
do not expect to be able to surf the web or watch movies the whole day without recharging.
- wireless range:
the wireless range is really really bad.
I originally stated it to be not great, but actually it is really bad.
No other device I ever had or currently have had a worse range.
expect slow transfer speeds even when directly next to the router
expect trouble even behind one wall / more than 5m away
expect no connection or unuseable for anything expect the most rudimentary stuff (getting an email) behind more then 1 wall and/or more than 5m away
--> apparently this WAS a problem with the earlier SINA-1 tablets and LC-Power will fix it. This would also mean that the newer ones should not have this problem
--> this bad wireless connection might also be a reason for the bad batterie runtime
- micro-sd:
I've had bad trouble with my 32GB MicroSD card(s) (SANDISK 32GB SDHC microSD Class 10)
the previous tablet (mira-1) took it, my even older mobile took it, the SINA-1 did not...
since my 8GB and 16GB cards were working I thought my 32gb card is incompatibel
--> A few weeks ago I could test another SINA-1 (new), no trouble with my 32gb microsd...
- Android
no new android / update has been released by LC-Power (that I can find)
- Modding:
still no real community
- Apps / Games
a few games (that might need a somewhat more powerfull device) that I can tell you are working are:
magicka, pokerstars, terraria
- built, glas, buttons
after light and cautious use over many months, the tablet can still look like new (if you clean it)
I have no scratches, no color scraping off, the buttons dont wobble. its like new
- the power-in jack
this needs a mention too, since it really is not well done. the plug fits, but will fall out very very easily.
best not to move the tablet when you have it plugged in
conclusion:
my first review still stands more or less... for its price this is a okay tablet
if the wlan is indeed being fixed and the batterie will run a bit longer for the current sold devices, this is still a good buy for ~150 EUR
since I do not really know what is wrong with the microsd issue (my tablet broken? newer tablets unaffected) I can not use it for reviewing. but be warned
HOWEVER...
there is a new LC-Power SINA-2 tablet that I will be reviewing soon...
I will post the link later
Thank you so much for sharing.
Very useful review, thank you.
Sent from my LT30p using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Front camera not supporting video calls
Hi!
I was wondering if anyone who owns this tab had any issues with incoming/outgoing video calls (via skype/facebook/ooVoo).
Fact is, I can't make video calls via any of the above software, when i try, skype just blanks out and goes to previous screen. When incoming calls arrive it does the same but it says that I have a missed call.
OoVoo on the other hand connects to video call but automatically uses the back camera instead of front.
I don't get it. Any advices/ideas?
Thx
Here you go guys This tablet got CM10.2 fully working, with stock kernel <3
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=58477955&postcount=1187
Hope this helps!
The Grüß,
H.
And Sina 2 review?