Augen Tablet gentouch

[jblitereader]

So, I finally got my hands on the new augen tablet not 1 hour ago on my way home. After dealing with my own road rage because of some dumbass crashing into another dumbass during rush hour traffic causing an almost 2 hour delay, the tablet is now plugged in and is charging right now. I will try it out later tonight.

Who here has tried this device and what do you guys think?

[clintbradford]

Reviews are mixed ... Please let us know how it goes!

[jblitereader]

I've read many reviews. Before I do my own review of this device, you need to keep in mind that I am not as hard to please as most people out there. For example, I read an average of 4 books a week just during my commute to and from the city everyday and I absolutely don't care about the font of my book. But it appears that there are a lot of people who would rather spend $400 just so they could have good looking fonts. I'm also speaking as a techie, so when I see a problem I look for solutions instead of bitching about it.

(1) The buttons!

Most reviews online I have read so far complain a lot about the position of the buttons. They say that they couldn't remember which is where and all of that. Well, it took me all of 10 seconds to adapt to the positions of the buttons. And after the first 10 seconds, I was using the buttons with ease. It is located on the back of the upper right hand corner, so for my right hand from right to left the buttons are back, home, search, and menu. May be I'm just more flexible than all of those morons who complained about the buttons, but I find those buttons very easy to use. In fact, after using them for about 20 minutes, I found myself not even thinking of where which button was. Only after 20 minutes or so it was as natural for me as the keyboard.

(2) Delayed reaction.

Another very common complaint about this device is that it is not like the ipad where the reaction to your touch is almost instantaneous. The augen tablet always has about half a second to a second delay everytime you press a button or drag something from one place to another. My response to all of those morons is what exactly did they expect from a device that only costs 1/4 the price of an ipad? Again, I really don't mind about the slight delay.

(3) Resistive instead of capacitive touch screen.

In one of my past professions I had to use a panasonic laptop with a resistive touchscreen. It was one of those military laptops made to resist impact and all of that. Anyway, I'm quite used to using a resistive touchscreen. Remember that this is just my own personal opinion. I really don't mind the resistive screen. In fact, I have several devices with capacitive screens and I have to say that I actually prefer the resistive screen.

But if you can't stand resistive touchscreen, then this device is not for you.

And personally, I think people who complain about resistive screens are spoiled.

(4) App store doesn't work.

It's been announced that even though android is open source, the license ain't. Augen hasn't been able to obtain a license from google, so for now you can't buy apps from the app store.

Well, again, this is no problem for me. I've never bought an app and I have no intention of ever buying an app from one of these online stores.

This device is advertised as an internet tablet, and I think every app it has is already good for what is advertised.

(5) Speaking isn't that great.

I agree, the speaker sucks. That said, I know of no device this small with a better speaker. If anyone can point one out to me, I'll be very grateful. Besides, when I'm out in public, I tend to use headphones.

(6) Screen size is too small.

Believe it or not, there are some reviews that complain that the 7" screen is too small. My comment about that is you should have looked at the specs, dumbass.

(7) Wifi...

... works just great.

(8) Map app.

I particularly love the map app. Anyone here knows how the hell the device knows my exact location? Is it because of my ip or does this device actually has a gps?

(9) Battery life.

I charged it up all the way and have been using it unplugged for a combination of youtube, email, this forum, and movies for about 3 hours now. I'll get back to you on this.

Edit.

Other reviewers have complained that they only get about 2 hours out of the battery. I think what's helping me is that I've turned my brightness way down. I really don't need it to be that bright.

*****************

Over all, For the price of about $160, it delivers what I paid for. Remember that this ain't an ipad. Don't buy this product thinking you're going to get an ipad replacement. But for the price, I think it is worth the money.

That's just my view on it after about 3 hours of usage. I'll get back to you after I've explored it some more.

[jblitereader]

So, after a combination of update patches and hacks, The device appears more responsive and also works faster... that's after a very late night...

I know it's nothing like the ipad. But after working with it all last night, I really think it's got a lot of potential if you're willing to go through with all the fixes. Personally, I don't recommend doing any hacking to most people, but if you know how the device works a lot better. I'm growing more fond of it by the minute.

Oh, and if you're willing to hack, the app store works...

[jblitereader]

I've managed to find fixes for most of the problems that plagues this puppy. And the more I fix it, the more I grow fond of it. When I first got it a few days ago, I really didn't intend to keep it. But now, I seriously am considering keeping it. The only 2 serious things I can't figure out how to fix without major hacking are the google app store and the mac address issue. In fact, as of now I don't have a clue how to fix the mac address problem.

Anyway, I'm in the process of writing a comprehensive review of this puppy and make a wiki-like page for all the fixes to the known problems. I'll post them on my website in a couple days I guess.

I really do think this device has potential.

[jblitereader]

I've written a comprehensive review of the tablet at http://livingenzyme.webs.com/augengentouch78tablet.htm

At the bottom, I've created a list of problems and fixes. I've also included some apps for download to fix the problems.

[hrickh]

So, have you tried to connect this to a Linux (Ubuntu, or other) machine?

Personally, I would be interested in how any firmware updates are done using Linux, since I have no access to a Windows machine.

R.
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[jblitereader]

Unfortunately, I stopped using linux a few years back just for the sake of convenience. If you really want me to, I can install ubuntu onto a spare partition and test it out

[hrickh]

Originally Posted by livingenzyme

Unfortunately, I stopped using linux a few years back just for the sake of convenience. If you really want me to, I can install ubuntu onto a spare partition and test it out

No need for that. Just that I've seen enough written up about the firmware updates for this that I was wondering.

I would imagine that if it's treated like any other mass storage device, it shouldn't be difficult.

R.
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