Tablets Across The Border

[ginooooo]

and maybe sold in Bura. Looks worth the price.

http://www.viddler.com/explore/engadget/videos/3863/

[TwentyBaht]

Yes, the Ainol device is quite a unit. Sold out in December in the US at $99 each. And, with ICS.

It is a Chinese architecture and manufacture. And, will be much in demand in China.

I am active in a forum of both users and resellers of inexpensive Chinese tablets. They post as unable to get the Ainol tablet. And, post as to the anticipated limited production of the Ainol tablets.

But, also post that other Chinese manufactures are working at cloning the Ainol. ... Chinese manufacturers cloning other Chinese manufacturers???

The newest and most widely available of the sub $100 US tablets are just coming out. Using, an Infotmic chip. About, twice as fast as the old 8650 chips. And, these tablets have already reached the resellers. Eken is a well known large Chinese manufacturer of these tablets.

It will probably be a few months before any Ainol clones hit Tachilek. They might be at the IT Center in Chiang Mai first. The newest Infotmic devices are scheduled to arrive there this month, I'm told.

Cheers

[ginooooo]

Disappointed in my Blackberry Tablet. Maybe it will be better with the new 2.0 and will give it to a family member there or sell it to a Blackberry phone user. Always been suspicious of the quality build of Chinese builders but with these cheap tablets on the other side of the boarder, they are getting some good attention in other countries. I thought showing the device at CES was a big step in getting some credibility.

[kartman]

But be careful how you pronounce the first letter or you may get more than you bargained for when you ask 'i want an Ainol' .

Edited January 14, 2012 by kartman

[TwentyBaht]

ginooooo,

Yes, the CES was a good showcase for the Ainol. But, some people complain that they have yet to receive the $99 Ainol bought in December. So, limited production probably. And, a bold claim that it already runs ICS.

For sure, the tablet market in China is beginning to rocket. A huge consumer base for these inexpensive tablets. And, many companies. Both cloning and manufacturing.

And, there is good value in those tablets.

But, they are what they are.

And, it takes some ROM flashing for the westerner to get the most out of them.

But, that done, they can be quite useful. Surprisingly, so. I have used one of the VIA 8650 7" tablets ($70US) for several months now. For, internet when traveling. And, have flashed several updated ROM to it. The performance improvement is significant.

And, will buy one of the newer Infotmic tablets in a couple of months. When the new ROM for them are a bit more mature.

You can Google "Slatedroid" and "Uberoid". Quite a bit of information about these tablets. There are young dedicated programmers doing ROM versions on these forums.

Cheers

[sceadugenga]

To me tablets are all about battery life, they are a genuinely portable piece of kit and need to offer around a day's battery life before they would get my attention.

Performance is important but I'd be more interessted in something that does a few things well, like the iPad, than a product that tries to masquerade as a NoteBook.

[ginooooo]

While I prefer high quality expensive "toys", never bought an Apple product just because to do anything with an Apple product, you have to buy THEIR accesories, use THEIR Itunes, THEIR connections, etc. And pay a premium price. Their IPAD is the best but no flash support. But you can thank the developers for their apps to make Apple to do so much. Maybe also I do not like Apple because I had 3000 shares of them for a long time at 18, got out and up they went. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

[sceadugenga]

I too have never had an Apple product but may make an exeption with the iPad.

Lack of Flash may cause a few minor inconveniences but generally it is a fairly ordinary product.

http://mashable.com/2010/04/29/steve-jobs-flash-is-no-longer-necessary/

[OneZero]

Pardon my ignorance (it will show by my questions), but I am not familiar with many of the technical terms used by "twenty baht" & others in this thread.

A few quick questions:

1. What is "ROM Flashing" & why is lack of it important?

2. Based upon the cheaper price of a clone from over the border, what is the one to look for? Why? When?

3. Related to question #2, and comments above, is it better to wait a few months for a "ainol clone" that has "infotmic", and why? ie, What specific features should I be waiting for and to specify from the sellers?

Obviously you can see I don't recognize the meaning of "ROM flashing", "ainol" & "infotmic".

Thanks for advice.

[cmjantje]

Yes, the Ainol device is quite a unit. Sold out in December in the US at $99 each. And, with ICS.

It is a Chinese architecture and manufacture. And, will be much in demand in China.

I am active in a forum of both users and resellers of inexpensive Chinese tablets. They post as unable to get the Ainol tablet. And, post as to the anticipated limited production of the Ainol tablets.

But, also post that other Chinese manufactures are working at cloning the Ainol. ... Chinese manufacturers cloning other Chinese manufacturers???

The newest and most widely available of the sub $100 US tablets are just coming out. Using, an Infotmic chip. About, twice as fast as the old 8650 chips. And, these tablets have already reached the resellers. Eken is a well known large Chinese manufacturer of these tablets.

It will probably be a few months before any Ainol clones hit Tachilek. They might be at the IT Center in Chiang Mai first. The newest Infotmic devices are scheduled to arrive there this month, I'm told.

Cheers

These Infotmic and WM8650 chip tablets are already on the market.

Chinagrabber.com sells the Ibex, which has the Infotmic or Cortex chip. These tablets, originally 3 to 400 dollar are now availabel for half the price. I have an Ibex and it is a very good tablet. Aliexpres.com sells the WM8650

For both the WM8650 an Infotmic is alternative firmware resp. Ueberoid and Tim's rom.

With Aliexpress be aware of the many clones who Say they are the tablets but are absolutely not. I had the experience.

[TwentyBaht]

OneZero,

Yes, all this is a bit confusing. Because, tablet formats are new.

There are the expensive devices manufactured by Apple, Samsung, and others.

And, the inexpensive Chinese designed and manufactured tablets. The Chinese tablets will run the Android operating system. This OS is simple, but first requires some practice with it. Same, as any new operating system.

And, the Chinese tablets are intended primarily for Chinese markets.

So, to get better use of a Chinese tablet (i.e., Google Market for applications), updating the Android OS is useful. Flashing the ROM of the tablet is the way to do this. For lack of better words, it's kind of like reinstalling Windows on a PC.

As far as which tablet to look for? Well, a hard question. Because, the devices from China are evolving. And, as they continue to get better at manufacturing, and as the CPU chips (Infotmic, Samsung, Via) get cheaper, then new tablets evolve. Now, at a pace of about six months apart.

And, right now, the Infotmic chip seems to be the price favorite. But, Via has announced a new chip. So, we will see.

For sure, i-Pad is "the tablet". And, Chinese tablets will not be on par. But, for around $100 US, the Chinese tablets yield quite good value. More so, when the ROM is updated.

Cheers

Edited January 19, 2012 by TwentyBaht

[OneZero]

TwentyBaht,

Thank you for this excellent explanation. I was heading up to Mae Sai Friday 20Jan for a 90 day report. I have no other items I need to purchase by crossing the border. But I thought perhaps I might do so if now was a good time to try to purchase one of the clones. Based upon your excellent advise on how they are evolving, & the fact that I don't absolutely need one now, I think I will wait at least 6 months, perhaps a year. Thanks again.

[TwentyBaht]

OneZero,

Glad to help.

[ginooooo]

Most expensive will not be the best. JMO.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/17/redpad-android-tablet-china/

[sceadugenga]

You could get an iPad for yourself AND the Mrs for that much.

[TwentyBaht]

ginooooo,

Thanks, for posting the Engadget read about the Chinese "RedPad".

Quite interesting. (And, a bit amusing.)

So, now, we know the next generation of worldwide marketing. ....... "Patriotic" tablets!

[CP3]

Those that selling there are low model that serve the needs.

If you need a better one, get Capactive screen, 5points touch, A10 chip..You will see a lot of differences. price will be abt 180usd though

[cmjantje]

OneZero,

Yes, all this is a bit confusing. Because, tablet formats are new.

There are the expensive devices manufactured by Apple, Samsung, and others.

And, the inexpensive Chinese designed and manufactured tablets. The Chinese tablets will run the Android operating system. This OS is simple, but first requires some practice with it. Same, as any new operating system.

And, the Chinese tablets are intended primarily for Chinese markets.

So, to get better use of a Chinese tablet (i.e., Google Market for applications), updating the Android OS is useful. Flashing the ROM of the tablet is the way to do this. For lack of better words, it's kind of like reinstalling Windows on a PC.

As far as which tablet to look for? Well, a hard question. Because, the devices from China are evolving. And, as they continue to get better at manufacturing, and as the CPU chips (Infotmic, Samsung, Via) get cheaper, then new tablets evolve. Now, at a pace of about six months apart.

And, right now, the Infotmic chip seems to be the price favorite. But, Via has announced a new chip. So, we will see.

For sure, i-Pad is "the tablet". And, Chinese tablets will not be on par. But, for around $100 US, the Chinese tablets yield quite good value. More so, when the ROM is updated.

Cheers

Not quite true,

There are also (very) expensive Chinese clones. It is all about the used material.

The Chinese clones were absolutely Not only for the Chinese market, but to give an answer to the expensive original (Ipad). Also brands like Samsung, Asus and all the new brands are giving these answers.

Ipad is absolutely not The Tablet. It is a known fact and it is also written already many times that, if there was no Ipad, Samsung was the Thing. Ipad has too many limits (have to use their apps etc.)

Infotmic is out. The factory closed in 2010 and all you find with this (very good) chip is old stuff.

WM8650 is very slow and outdated too.

In my humble opinion, the best tablet to buy now, without spending too much is Samsung. One of the few companies who also gave their source code free so more apps can be added and upgrading is a whistle.

[ginooooo]

Sad situation. http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/business/2012/02/06/grant-china-sour-apple.cnn

[Lizard2010]

Sad situation. http://www.cnn.com/v...-sour-apple.cnn

Yes Stan was detained for a while on another asignment in China.

If we worried about what is happening all over the world we would not buy anything.

That is life unfortunatly.

[JimShortz]

Can you buy the Ainol tablets there? I would like more!

On a recent trip to Hong Kong I bought myself an Ainol Novo 7 Paladin. This is no Ipad killer, but a great little Android tablet for $100. It came with Android ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich) v4.01 installed and a bunch of useless (to me) Chinese language apps. In the state I bought it the browser was incredibly laggy, YouTube didn’t work, there were very few installed apps that I would use, etc. – it was near useless…

I have been struggling following instructions through various forums so i have tried to put them togeether in a digestible form (for novices) on a blog. I make no claim to originality in these instructions, rather I have been putting together advice from people more knowledgeable than myself into a form that even I can understand. Here’s how I got it from there to ICS v4.03 with a fully installed and working suite of English Language Apps: http://kevinpugh.wordpress.com/2012/02/25/my-ainol-novo-7-paladin/

[CP3]

doubt they have ainol there..mostly i saw are low end china made. You can try to order online and get it deliver to Thailand for free. I heard 4.01 has some issue. 4.03 is much better. Try ainol aurora, a lot of ppl said it is good. I ordered one probably arrive tomorrow or so

[TwentyBaht]

JimShortz,

Compliments to you on your tablet mod. And, thanks for posting. Looked at the the kevinpugh blog you linked. Very good tech there.

And, running the latest Android version on a $100US tablet is quite an accomplishment for Ainol. Considering, other much more expensive tablets do not.

As information, or humor, the name "Ainol" is used to specify the tablet on the Chinese website. But, the English website uses the name "Ainovo". Joke is maybe an English speaking marketing manager, upon first seeing the tablet, smiled and suggested the change.

Cheers

[maidu]

am interested in buying something for personal use: my needs: just writing text (like notepad or word) and perhaps using it like an ebook reading device. Simple. What and where to purchase - near Chiang Rai?

[sceadugenga]

If you're writing a lot of text you need a decent keyboard.

Keep your eye on places like PowerBuy at Central Mall for their NoteBook specials.

Some of the little Lenova's come a lot cheaper than a name brand tablet.

[OneZero]

If you're writing a lot of text you need a decent keyboard.

Keep your eye on places like PowerBuy at Central Mall for their NoteBook specials.

Some of the little Lenova's come a lot cheaper than a name brand tablet.

FYI: I saw a Lenovo tablet in Power Buy Sunday 04March for 9,990 Baht. The tablets were right at the entrance to Power Buy.