I was looking for a larger tablet, and came across the 15.6" iDisplay tablet. In brief, it's made for stores to have a simple interactive kiosk, and is built on Android 4.2.2. It was only $45, including shipping, so I figured I'd give it a try.
Overall, it's pretty decent, but it does have a couple quirks I'd like to fix, but can't, because it's not rooted. There's no guides online, as it's such a niche brand, but I'm wondering if there's a general rooting that I can try that might work.
Here's a PDF with some hardware specs; am I out of luck?
Related
I am picking up a tablet for Christmas this year and I have been looking at quite a few. I was hoping that some people here would be able to help me in my decision.
I can only spend around 200-250 dollars, so I-Pad, Galaxy Tab, Xoom, Etc... are out of the question.
I have been reading up on the Amazon Fire for the past couple of months and was about convinced to get it mainly because of the price. However, it does have some limitations that I wasn't too excited about (No physical volume keys, no front facing camera, lack of customization, etc...)
Yesterday I decided to look at some reviews of the HP Touchpad on google and on Amazon and the reviews are mainly positive. It appears to have a lot of the features that I am looking for, and the fact that I will be able to load Android onto it as well is a plus.
What I really am looking for is everyone's opinion on if I should go ahead and get the touchpad even though it looks like WebOS might not be around too much longer. With what it has now, is it still a decent tablet that I can count on for daily use? I know at the beginning it had some freezing problems - have those been cleared up with updates for the most part?
Any advice would be appreciated, as I will probably be making the purchase within a few days.
PS. If anyone has any other suggestions on other affordable, quality tablets, I am open to those as well.
Thanks everyone!
Dbarker 2 said:
I am picking up a tablet for Christmas this year and I have been looking at quite a few. I was hoping that some people here would be able to help me in my decision.
I can only spend around 200-250 dollars, so I-Pad, Galaxy Tab, Xoom, Etc... are out of the question.
I have been reading up on the Amazon Fire for the past couple of months and was about convinced to get it mainly because of the price. However, it does have some limitations that I wasn't too excited about (No physical volume keys, no front facing camera, lack of customization, etc...)
Yesterday I decided to look at some reviews of the HP Touchpad on google and on Amazon and the reviews are mainly positive. It appears to have a lot of the features that I am looking for, and the fact that I will be able to load Android onto it as well is a plus.
What I really am looking for is everyone's opinion on if I should go ahead and get the touchpad even though it looks like WebOS might not be around too much longer. With what it has now, is it still a decent tablet that I can count on for daily use? I know at the beginning it had some freezing problems - have those been cleared up with updates for the most part?
Any advice would be appreciated, as I will probably be making the purchase within a few days.
PS. If anyone has any other suggestions on other affordable, quality tablets, I am open to those as well.
Thanks everyone!
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Click to collapse
I would say the touchpad even at $250 is a better deal. The 10" screen is a much more pleasurable viewing experience for movies. The hardware is up to par with honeycomb tablets like the xoom but what really mkes this tablet special is the shear number of devs who have this tablet and will tirelessly work to keep it up to date in the future. It will probably continue to be updated long after the xoom has been EOL'd. It is somewhat ironic that a device declared dead by its manufacturer will haveso much interest and so much going on.
The Android version this tablet runs is CM7. It isn't like any other cm7 port (except the HD2) which had to have drivers written from scratch. Now that they have been written, porting new android versions will be a piece of cake.
I emphasize development a lot but if you really want to know what the future for this tablet will look like, cruise on over to the HTC HD2 forum and look how many ICS builds they have. That should give you an idea.
I highly recommend the touchpad, I love mine and wouldn't want any other tablet.
Sent from my HP Touchpad using Tapatalk
Dbarker 2 said:
With what it has now, is it still a decent tablet that I can count on for daily use?
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Click to collapse
Absolutely.
webOS- It's definitely reliable, very polished- you will probably use it more than Android. I use it all the time when I'm at work.
Looking at pdfs, sending emails, filling out applications and talking to people at the same time.
The TouchPad is really the
· only true productivity tablet
· only productivity tablet in the the $250 range.
· most affordable Android tablet
If you're looking for something long term, you might want to consider another tablet, spend more, you'd be making an investment.
But if you're looking for something short term- a Now-Tablet.. definitely go with the TouchPad, it will last you for about just as long.
Thanks for the responses guys. That was just what I was looking for. I really am looking for a good mix of productivity and entertainment, and the Touchpad appears to have all of that.
It looks like I will most likely be ordering one off of Amazon in the next few days. Thanks again!
Hey guys
I've been looking a LOT around amazon and such for a tablet under $100. Why under $100? I need it to be under that price because there's a very high "luxury" tax applied in my country to products over $100, and it's an extra money I would rather not give to the govt because it's plain ridiculous already. Also, I'm planning on getting two of them, and I can't afford more than $150-200 on them. Why? this stupid country only gives you a "coupon" of $400 to spend online -YEARLY-, and I don't want to use it all on just two tablets, or be left with less than $200-250 to spend on other stuff I also need.
Monetary reasons explained and set aside, I'm getting the tablet for my mom, who only needs to browse the web, get on facebook, get & reply to emails, maybe some chatting and whatnot. She doesn't need much and I'm sure a simple Zeepad or something similar would do, but I'm a power user who mods almost every device that comes across his hands, so I'm using this chance to get a tablet too -if- I like the one I'm buying to my mom.
My mom's needs are... well, the basics. Maybe playing a video or two and nothing else. Me, on the other hand, want to upgrade it to the highest android version available for it (whether it be GB or ICS, or even Froyo since some come with Eclair (Eww)) and give it lots of possible uses. These include using it as a VNC viewer, remote keyboard/mouse, some development (if I get a keyboard+case for it), some gaming (ok, maybe not THD or anything but if it runs Angry Birds I'm happy XD) etcetera.
So, to resume, I'm looking for something including these specs, if possible:
3G (optional but it would be a big plus)
WiFi (must, or if not, then 3G)
600-800Mhz CPU (ARM? Adreno? Cortex? wtf?!)
A decent GPU (PowerVR? (like my Defy)?, what's a good GPU in android devices anyways?)
No stylus-exclusive (avoid if possible)
No resistive screen (I've heard they suck, and I don't want to push a screen like if it were a button (Blackberry Storm anyone? Eww xD) and be forced to use a stylus. If I can use my fingers on a resistive screen and it feels like a capacitive one, then that's okay with me )
USB host (to be able to plug in USB drives, keyboards, mices, etc)
Ethernet port optional but cool if it has one.
Tethering ability (though I think this is more OS-dependant than anything else)
Full Android Market (stupid chinese tablets)
SD card reader
Medium-small size. My whole Nook Simple Touch has the right size for the screen size I'd like (I think that's 7-9 inches?), I don't want to carry a tablet of the size of a notebook. Something that can fit a big pocket in a jacket or a pant would be cool, like the NST . This is optional but not required.
Battery life to stand a lot. Hey, my phone lasts only a day even without WiFi turned on which sucks. I've heard their batteries are like 6 or more hours, which seems okay... I'm not really sure what is "good" in this aspect.
Camera would be cool.
Phone (or at least SMS) functions would be cool, too.
And last but not least, able to be upgraded, or at least with a good hacker community stabilished. I want to be able to upgrade the tablet to other android versions (I don't mind if they're experimental) or at least compile a version for it. With this, I'm saying I don't want to be using google translate to find info on how to install another ROM in my tablet because everything comes from chinese forums and the tablet uses a random, non-standard OMFG-9372 processor nobody knows -anything- about and have to use dodgy apps or hacks to modify it, mmkay? okay.
Now, I've done my homework and these are the items I've came up with, however I'm still looking for more devices:
EEpad MID: http://www.amazon.com/Android-Table...C2/ref=sr_1_99?ie=UTF8&qid=1334592070&sr=8-99
Elsse: http://www.amazon.com/Elsse-Interne.../ref=sr_1_125?ie=UTF8&qid=1334592099&sr=8-125
Pandigital: http://www.amazon.com/Pandigital-An...H0/ref=sr_1_60?ie=UTF8&qid=1334591812&sr=8-60
Zeepad: http://www.amazon.com/Zeepad-Tablet...7Q/ref=sr_1_25?ie=UTF8&qid=1334591744&sr=8-25
Skytex: http://www.amazon.com/Skytex-Primer...E0/ref=sr_1_50?ie=UTF8&qid=1334591812&sr=8-50
Zeepad (2): http://www.amazon.com/Zeepad-Androi...1_fkmr1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1334592627&sr=8-3-fkmr1
Coby Kyros: http://www.amazon.com/Coby-MID7015-.../ref=sr_1_121?ie=UTF8&qid=1334593041&sr=8-121
"Random" brands:
http://www.amazon.com/Boxchip-Corte...0K/ref=sr_1_82?ie=UTF8&qid=1334592041&sr=8-82
http://www.amazon.com/Tablet-Intern...5Q/ref=sr_1_91?ie=UTF8&qid=1334592986&sr=8-91
Now, my thoughts:
EEpad MID: Looks good, but it has no reviews, so that detracts me from buying it. I can't find much info on the web on modifying it though.
Elsse: Seems like an asian tablet with no official Android Market, but eh, what do you guys say?
Pandigital: Looks like it sucks .
Zeepad: There isn't much info about it
Skytex: Looks cheap-o and low-quality :/
Zeepad (2): Seems to have good features and such.
Coby Kyros: Now, this, coming from Coby it makes me think of a cheap device like the MP3 players they make, but surprisingly, it has more reviews than the rest of the tablets and it's under $100. Also, it seems to be more powerful than the rest of the ones I've looked at (in the links here), and the reviews seem to be good. It makes me think if it's possible to upgrade it to 2.2 or 2.3, it would be really cool if it would.
---
Sorry for the long read!... in case you want a resume, I'm just looking for two tablets: A simple one for my mom to browse the web, emails, play some games, chat and etc, and another one (or the same one if possible) for a power-user who would modify/upgrade it and use it as an IT work tool (VNC viewer, dev. tool, document editing, pdf reading, flash, some gaming, etc).
Any thoughts you guys have in relation to an android tablet to get? what's something "good" and something "bad"? I'd like to see opinions, reviews or suggestions on other tablets to look for or what other keywords should I look for in Amazon?
Thanks in advance!
- DARKGuy
Bump?
Coby Kyros is listed as "resistive" on Amazon, i'm not sure you've noticed that. I think you should check the Ainol (or any allwinner based device). They have somewhat limited community and support but it should be good for performance and gaming. Or bump the price range to 150 and look at Cortex A9 devices with reputable brands..
I agree with NightWatch71 about the tablet but not the price. I found it at around $75 in some places, but that was a long time ago so I forgot. Try looking around on Google Shopping.
Prices on Amazon change so often it's almost impossible to keep up and new manufacturers are releasing tablets a dime a dozen
This list is kept up to date tabletninja.com/finding-the-best-tablets-under-100/
A lot of the same options listed with a few new options from some newbies
Hi xda devs,
I'm thinking about buying a tablet to hang it on the wall, which wall act as a kind of weather station/alarm clock etc.
I don't need for that any powerful things, might be even cheapest chinese crap.
I have found for example something like this on dx.com:
dx.com/p/a13-7-capacitive-touch-screen-android-4-0-tablet-pc-w-tf-camera-wi-fi-g-sensor-white-148468
Do you think it's worth to buy it for that purpose? Does anybody know if it's rootable/any roms for that are available? Or maybe you could suggest me something cheap? Optimally at least 4.0 would be nice to have and 7" screen, wifi, and I don't think I need nothing more for that.
Well it could be worth it, depending how much you really want to display.
For the tablet you linked it's not easy to say as there are not many specs. It could be that it's one of the generic "A13-MID" tablets for which some custom ROMs can be found online. But I don't own one of them so I can't say how well those ROMs are applicable etc.
If you want to buy something in this class (Allwinner Processor) which is a bit more a "brand" it's a good idea to look at the tablets supported by this ROM:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1760929
It works really well (use it myself) and there is quite a big community. Just look through the tablet list if there is a model that suits you. E.g. the Ainol Novo7 Elf is a 7" tablet which could already be found below $80.
Pretty low screen resolution at 800x480, but if its just going to serve as a weather station/alarm clock then you'll probably be fine. Also wondering if all these cheap chinese tablets are actually shipping with Gapps installed since I doubt they are Google certified, yet in the screenshots I see Google Play.
My experience with cheap chinese "stuff" is that there is a higher chance that tablets have gapps than phones. Probably something about user expectations.
I bought a Nextway Fast 9 X from spemall.com as shown here:
http://www.spemall.com/Nextway-F9X-...PS-Screen-2G-Ram-1-5GHz-4K-Video-Black_g.html
After fully charging the tablet I started using it and it froze. I then restarted it and its froze a total of 5 times. Its had errors with the launcher, when opening the apps tab all the images would look like the background but pixelated.
Here is a link to the pictures i took: http://s1232.beta.photobucket.com/user/xstingstreetx/library/Defective
Next, I was able to disable some things for the tablet to run properly without crashing. However, this thing score terrible on benchmarks and is VERY slow moving. The processor is actually 1.08Ghz not 1.5.
I was able to root it thanks to Bin4ry see here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1886460
Video by Bin4ry see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7EpkrCq1gfM
I was able to overclock on the stock kernel and such to 1.152 stable.
I was hoping someone could help to develop ROMs, Kernels, etc to make this thing work better.
Any and all ideas or feedback is appreciated.
Things that I didnt notice when I bought it is: I dont believe there is bluetooth or GPS
Also the GPS and blutooth either does not exist or possibly the software in the tablet just doesn't work with it.
xstingstreetx said:
Also the GPS and blutooth either does not exist or possibly the software in the tablet just doesn't work with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so you bought a non-brand cheap chinese tablet and now you want someone to develop a ROM for it ?
edit: wait. that is not that cheap. why on earth would you buy a non-brand tablet with a budget at 200$?
krankdroid said:
so you bought a non-brand cheap chinese tablet and now you want someone to develop a ROM for it ?
edit: wait. that is not that cheap. why on earth would you buy a non-brand tablet with a budget at 200$?
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Click to collapse
Well no other tablet has competitive specs that I found. However I didnt know this tablet wasn't a 1.5 Ghz quad core as listed on the sellers site.
xstingstreetx said:
Well no other tablet has competitive specs that I found. However I didnt know this tablet wasn't a 1.5 Ghz quad core as listed on the sellers site.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if something sounds to good to be true. it probaly is..
sad to say the chances of someone making a ROM for non-brand products is pretty slim, since most ROM are created on the basis that a device is widely bought and used. Of non-brand phone and tablets there are such a variety that developing for them makes no sense.
Get your money back if you can, and get a branded device. For 200$ you can get a Nexus 7.
if you want the same size and format of the one you got, look around for what samsung, acer, asus, hell even what Point Of View have to offer..
Sorry, but you won't like it -
The main disadvantage of buying a no-brand device is although it may work better the known brands, in case of a fault (software or hardware), you're on your own.... Not many users have flashed/fixed/used this device. So if you brick it, get a bootloop or find a bug, not many can help you.
Not speaking about the variety of ROMs...
I've been there.... I've bought a no-brand phone and after a year it's main PCB failed. I couldn't find a replacement part and had to throw the device away.
Anyway.....
Use the device, enjoy and don't brick it
Sent from my digital submersible hovercraft.
xstingstreetx said:
Well no other tablet has competitive specs that I found. However I didnt know this tablet wasn't a 1.5 Ghz quad core as listed on the sellers site.
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Click to collapse
If the moderators will give me permission, I can give you a link to where there are 4 custom ROMs for this tablet. I have installed the BETA4 and it better utilizes the Retina Display (unless you have bad eyes, and there is one geared for that one as the defective one you are using does). I honestly don't know if your problem can be helped with software, but it might... I can also give you a link to the newest stock ROM and a Windows app to install it. I would rather get permission first to post 2 direct links... one is to Arctablet (and you can do a Google or DuckDuckGo search and find it by the way) and the other one is to a tablet distributor who was good enough to create download links and instructions on how to use the hokey Chinese installer. The question is though, is your problem hardware or a botched ROM?
It does not have Bluetooth or GPS. My Archos outdoes it in that way, but it is a true quad-core retina display and mine works very nicely... nicer now that I have the better use of the resolution available. Its wildly vivid. I honestly can find no real issues other than a few I had from not wiping the thing before I flashed it (oddly it suggested I not do so... which caused me grief w/Google Play eventually). It comes rooted, and if you have one of those that are like partly-rooted or whatever some call it, do a factory reset and it will come back fully rooted. The ROMs of course are all rooted. I have a cheap 10.2", which honestly if I had not had something else would have given me ulcers, but hey... I only paid $14 for it from Quibids (including bid prices), so I can't complain. This one cost me around $150 with a few extras, so a little grief I can handle. But so far... those are interesting words... so far, it is actually very impressive. My daughter has a boyfriend who is an Apple fanatic, and he's kind of fixated on it from certain similarities to what he is coveting these days.
I have it going at 1.2ghz (quad-core), although I have gotten it up to just under the 1.5ghz it claims (1440). It will do it, but I wouldn't bet on its stability. It comes at 1.0 preset from manufacturer, but is easily changed with the cpu app of your choice. I use Setcpu... works for me. It has 2gb ram... can't complain.
I read some arguments on the cameras, but I don't see it... I took some pics tonight of my daughter on her way to a costume party... they are the best thing I have this side of my Kodak. I'm sure it takes better video than the Kodak though. Anyway... its responsive, sharp, and does what I want. You have to buy a Bluetooth dongle for next to nothing to have Bluetooth though for some bizarre reason it shows its there. The one page that I mentioned gives advice along with pics on how to do some interesting mods to it. It is capable of more than they shipped it with. I am sorry that you are having troubles with yours... I don't know if you still have yours or not. I've only had this a few weeks. If you are interested, let me know... and if the moderators allow it, I will post links.
I hate that you have had such grief with yours. If I can help, I am willing.
Hi,
I am working on a project to create kiosks (a device restricted to running only one app) for a company. I need to find a model of a tablet that runs on Android and is really really cheap, the only functionality of the tablet that is actually needed is just being Wi-Fi enabled.
I found a couple of solutions for this:
- The first one involves buying some Nook Color tablets and installing Android on them (I found a wholesale store that sells them for around 20 pounds each) but I'm not really sure about the quality that those will have.
- Another solution would be to find a company in China or somewhere that would create a custom tablet that exactly suits my needs and nothing extra, although I heard about these kind of companies I couldn't find any on the internet.
The idea is that my client needs around 50 of these things, that's why I'm looking for cheap ones. The tablets just need to have a touch screen and Wi-Fi. The Tablets will be locked to showing one single webpage which will be stored on my client's server and have the kiosk app on that page.
Could anyone recommend any really cheap tablets with just Wi-Fi or a company that can build custom ones?
Thank you!