10" Android 2.1 Tablets Now Shipping

[SensualPoet]

Dvalin21: thanks for the links. No, I haven't bought one yet. Until one of these has proper access to the Android Market, I am very hesitant to step up.

Spec: the 7" MID at $49 were available on eBay -- the same models that popped up in May or June. Other discussions here suggest they were not worth owning.

[jblitereader]

<edit>

[Dvalin21]

SenualPeT,

So far what I've seen is that the A81E with android is the best. Also, I saw on Youtube where there is an "third party" android market, specificly for devices that didn't come with android originally. That might make the difference, but just to go ahead and save you some trouble. I saw later on that the 10.1 android tablet was crap! It was sluggish barely responsive. Your better either A: Waiting for the 10in Google Chrome(by the way the specs are the same if you buy a Ipad with all the whistles and bells but cheaper) for $300, or go with the A81E with android. The Youtube clip shows you how to intall it on your tablet.

[cdndave]

Wow

some people really become fanboys for their tablets (not pointing fingers).

My experience with products from China has been fairly positive so far (I've been buying directly from China for the last 4 years). The 10" epads have been getting better as the firmware has been improved. Market was figured out early this morning (see http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...&postcount=356 for details if you own a Zenithink)

For reading books, watching vids and listening to music - these things are great.

Just my 2¢ worth

D

[jblitereader]

Originally Posted by cdndave

Wow

some people really become fanboys for their tablets (not pointing fingers).

Then fine go buy an ipad or something. I just think it's nice that the gentouch comes from k-mart, which has a 3 months no hassle return policy. I'm not defending it. Just telling you what I know.

My experience with products from China has been fairly positive so far (I've been buying directly from China for the last 4 years). The 10" epads have been getting better as the firmware has been improved. Market was figured out early this morning (see http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...&postcount=356 for details if you own a Zenithink)

I've had horrible experiences with products shipped from china. Sellers never responded complaints. Some worked for a few days and then stopped. Some sellers appear to not mind bad reviews because they're only selling for a short time to make as much money as possible and then disappear.

I am not saying all products directly from china aren't good. But buying stuff directly from china is a risk in itself that I stopped taking.

Again, these guys are sitting in china. Hell, that guy from vietnam that hacked into itunes to steal millions over july 4th got away with it simply by being in vietnam.

It's your money, so you can buy whatever you want from whoever you want. I'm just informing you of the risks involved.

For reading books, watching vids and listening to music - these things are great.

Just my 2¢ worth

D

Ok, I'll take your word for it. Still doesn't make up for the fact that if something goes wrong you can't make them give you another one. Heck, some don't have any warranty at all. You want to take the risk, be my guest.

[cdndave]

livingenzyme

I appreciate your dedication to your chosen device. Guys like you make the hobby more enjoyable in general. Availability at Kmart is great for folks living in the US, but for the rest of us, China tablets are the only option besides an genuine Apple iPad. I for one will probably buy a 2nd or 3rd gen ipad - once it matures and the bugs are ironed out. But until then for less than $200 I can have a device that does 95% of what I need for a fraction of the price.

I think you over exaggerate the risk involved, a few minutes of Google and forum reading will lead you to long term and honest merchants in China. When I have had issues with the stuff I've ordered from China, the merchant was very open and fair to making it right (often I've had vendors ship me new units and told to chuck the defective unit).

But like you said experiences may vary. I have had a very positive experience with direct from China

Dave

BTW I'm in Montreal Canada - not a Chinese shill

[clerky96]

Availability at Kmart is great for folks living in the US

I would buy one from Kmart in a heartbeat, but you can't find them. They sold out almost on "day one". Doesn't do any good to tell people to buy US when there are none available for purchase.

Just saw that Kmart has these available online. Guess I will try it out!

[jblitereader]

Originally Posted by cdndave

livingenzyme

I appreciate your dedication to your chosen device.

*Sigh*

You're misunderstanding me. Assume for a moment that the device I just bought is total crap. Ok? All I'm saying is buying directly from China is a very risky business. Every year, thousands of people are scammed into buying devices from China that only worked for a few days. I was one of these victims several times. The sellers sit in China. What are we going to do? The Chinese government certainly don't cooperate in issues of commercial dispute. So, the question remains. Once you've realized you've been scammed into spending hundreds of dollars on a piece of crap that only works for a few days, what are you going to do about it? What can you do about it? If the seller is some guy sitting in China, there is absolutely nothing real you can do. The closest retribution you can impose on the seller is a bad review. And even then, they will pretend to be some law firm emailing you intimidating you into withdrawing your bad review with the threat of a lawsuit. A few years ago, it happened to me. I never budged and nothing came of it. But I kept my eyes open on that seller and I did notice a lot of bad reviews disappearing after a day or so. People were actually caving into their threats.

Guys like you make the hobby more enjoyable in general. Availability at Kmart is great for folks living in the US, but for the rest of us, China tablets are the only option besides an genuine Apple iPad. I for one will probably buy a 2nd or 3rd gen ipad - once it matures and the bugs are ironed out. But until then for less than $200 I can have a device that does 95% of what I need for a fraction of the price.

It's your money, so you can do what you want with it.

It just grinds me to death to see Chinese scammers keep getting away.

It's like those nigerian email scammers that keep getting away with scamming the weakest members of our society out of thousands and thousands of dollars every time. The nigerian government has thus far done absolutely nothing at all. There have been some people who have collected some damning evidence against individual scammers. They sent those evidence to both the US and nigerian authority. Nothing have ever became of them. Why? Because the nigerian government simply won't do anything.

We are seeing the same thing with some of the east asian countries. That dirtbag hacker from Vietnam is probably living comfortably right now after stealing millions from us after he paid off some corrupt vietnamese officials.

Anyway, take it for what it's worth. Your money, your risk.

[khalleron]

Originally Posted by cdndave

livingenzyme

I appreciate your dedication to your chosen device. Guys like you make the hobby more enjoyable in general. Availability at Kmart is great for folks living in the US, but for the rest of us, China tablets are the only option besides an genuine Apple iPad. I for one will probably buy a 2nd or 3rd gen ipad - once it matures and the bugs are ironed out. But until then for less than $200 I can have a device that does 95% of what I need for a fraction of the price.

I think you over exaggerate the risk involved, a few minutes of Google and forum reading will lead you to long term and honest merchants in China. When I have had issues with the stuff I've ordered from China, the merchant was very open and fair to making it right (often I've had vendors ship me new units and told to chuck the defective unit).

But like you said experiences may vary. I have had a very positive experience with direct from China

Dave

BTW I'm in Montreal Canada - not a Chinese shill

Funny, this doesn't read as though it's written by a native English speaker.

[Dvalin21]

Dave do have a point. Mr. Lencho Lee from Wirelession was an awesome help when I received my device and it was cracked in the shipment. He didnt leave me @ZZ out, he made sure that I was at least able to repair the device, (sent me the new LCD screen, scratch that as first succesful screen replacement ). Either way, you could be in the states get a shady merchant and still not get your money back or device replaced. I just think everyone likes to have the comfort feeling from ordering from someone in the states thinking they have a better chance to get help on their devices.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Sonist

Actually, the real key will be Android 3, which will revamp Android's UI and will make it more palatable to a wider range of users.

I personally have fairly high expectations from Duarte, the Palm UI guy who was snatched by Google recently.

This.

[Noah98]

It looks to me like the Archos 70 and the Archos 101 (shipping in October) are the best of the upcoming ipad rivals. These should be available at Amazon.com. I would trust them (they have a great return policy) over taking my chances ordering something from China.

The 10.1 has a capacitive touchscreen, Android 2.2, great audio/video support, hdmi out, accelerometer, 8 gb onboard storage, 3d acceleration, and expandable memory (micro sd). It is also thin, and lighter than an ipad. For $300 it has everything that I've been looking for. The only downside is that it doesn't ship with the google apps or official market (it uses appslib instead), but those are usually easily hacked (see Pandigital Novel, Augen Gentouch, Archos 5, and Archos 7HT) in after release.

The 7 inch version (the 70, not the 7HT) is the same as the above and comes in at $275.

Link:

http://www.archos.com/products/ta/in...try=us&lang=en

[kennyc]

At Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=...eywords=archos

[Noah98]

Originally Posted by kennyc

At Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=...eywords=archos

Those are the older Archos models. Amazon doesn't have the new ones listed yet.

[kennyc]

Well that's the link to Amazon from the Archos site. If they are not available then they aren't listed there.

I am certainly looking forward to these and others in the coming months (and looking forward to my DroidX TOMORROW!!!)