Choosing A Tablet

[canuckamuck]

All in one is good for a tablet, but for my desktop, I want to be able to get under the hood and upgrade with the latest new bits.

But all in one makes a lot of sense to a lot of of people i imagine.

[nellyp]

I bought an Imobile Inote 9 inch for my son. We are very happy with it. The internet connection seems a bit weak at times but all in all worth the money for his use. One thing I would say is that games where you have to tilt the screen (driving games, temple run etc) don't work well on this tablet. Be aware of this if you buy one. I have no idea if there is something you can do to enable a function, but games become unplayable.

I had a quick look at an I-mobile Note 9 and irrc the screen resolution as declared on the box was 800*480, something they forgot to mention in the print ads and brochures I've seen for it. A far cry from the 2048x1536 reported with the V972.

I've only seen animated stuff on the Tab as my son is only 7, but they are very watchable. i think I would be happy with the movies, but would pay more for other upgrades

[Chicog]

All in one is good for a tablet, but for my desktop, I want to be able to get under the hood and upgrade with the latest new bits.

But all in one makes a lot of sense to a lot of of people i imagine.

If you buy a top end laptop or AIO you don't need to upgrade it with the "latest new bits"... it already comes with them.

Write it off over three years and get rid.

I have the Lenovo 27" Ideacenter with Win 8 and it flies. The only thing I've added to it is a 7 port USB 3.0 Hub.

[canuckamuck]

All in one is good for a tablet, but for my desktop, I want to be able to get under the hood and upgrade with the latest new bits.

But all in one makes a lot of sense to a lot of of people i imagine.

If you buy a top end laptop or AIO you don't need to upgrade it with the "latest new bits"... it already comes with them.

Write it off over three years and get rid.

I have the Lenovo 27" Ideacenter with Win 8 and it flies. The only thing I've added to it is a 7 port USB 3.0 Hub.

There are always more 'latest new bits', a few months down the road.

Edited February 26, 2013 by canuckamuck

[muratremix]

It seems onda is preparing 8.5mm slim V973 with same cpu / screen (only slimmer, like iPad 4). So if you are planning to buy, hold it.

[nev]

It seems onda is preparing 8.5mm slim V973 with same cpu / screen (only slimmer, like iPad 4). So if you are planning to buy, hold it.

Bloody hell after reading all this thread i had decided on the v972 and now there is a v973 Fantastic thread guys and a great read and very informative.

[canuckamuck]

If the V973 is only thinner, but more expensive, I will give it a pass.

Hopefully we will soon learn more about it

[vel_tins]

Usually, a thinner case means a thinner battery too.

That won't improve the battery life that much.

Unfortunately, most people look at the case design, number of CPU-Cores, etc. first.

First, Onda should improve the Firmware for their A31 platform.

I own a V972, great hardware...but the Onda Firmware is far away from using the full potential of this hardware.

I read in another forum, they even disabled the "Energy-saving" module.

Desperately waiting for a CM10 for the Onda.

Edited February 28, 2013 by vel_tins

[lovelaos]

If anyone is thinking of buying the Ainol Novo 9 Spark, I would advise you to wait until they solve the wi-fi problem. It really is very bad. You have to be within 5 metres of a router or it just jumps in and out (mostly out) of range. Having dome some further research (unfortunately after purchase) it is a widespread problem and in typical Chinese style Ainol are keeping very quiet about any future firmware updates.

Here is their Official Fanpage on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ainovo?fref=ts

If they do eventually fix the problem, go ahead and buy it. It is a great tablet for 8000 Baht.

Edited February 28, 2013 by lovelaos

[Pib]

If the V973 is only thinner, but more expensive, I will give it a pass.

Hopefully we will soon learn more about it

Here's a couple of websites talking the V973...one site has some detailed specs. Looks like maybe the only differences between the V972 and V973 will be the V973 will be thinner and maybe have Bluetooth built-in. One thing about Onda, they don't appear to wait too long in pushing out new models with only minor improvements where other companies might wait around a year to push out a new model.

Link 1

Link 2

P.S. Whatever you buy today will soon be replaced by a later-and-greater model...technology marches on...so, if waiting to buy the V973 you will probably only have it a month or so wait after getting the V973 before they announced its replacement (maybe the V974).

D.P.S. I still like my V971.

[Pib]

Partial Quote from my #442 Post regarding V972 firmware.

Regarding the V972 firmware being rooted or not rooted I’ve read on blogs that the original firmware V1.02 of their JB 4.1.1 firmware came rooted, but later versions of V1.2 and V1.32 do not. Guess whether a V972 is pre-rooted depends on when you bought it/what firmware version is installed. All three above mentioned firmware versions are still on the Onda.cn website as of 6:30pm/today. I keep giving this “as of” time/date because an hour from now it might change. I also read some posts where people have reverted to V1.02 and then used a Root Keeping process/App to keep root when they upgrade to V1.2 and/or V1.32.

Decided to check the Onda.cn web site for any V971 or V972 new Jelly Bean firmware releases. I noticed a hot-off-the-press/today/28Feb12 release for the V972...firmware version 1.33. What fixes/changes are implemented I couldn't say since the changes/fixes summary announced as always are too generic in nature to really clarify in comparison to the previous release. Also noticed they took V1.32 off the V972 firmware web page (apparently replaced by V1.33 but the V1.02 and V1.2 versions are still there also as of the date/time of this post). Can't tell if V1.33 comes rooted or not since the firmware update core file is an IMG file; if it was a ZIP file(s) like some of the other firmware releases have been a person can open up the zip file and look for a "su" (superuser) file to be installed in the /bin or /xbin folder on the tablet, which in the past has meant the firmware was rooted.

[vel_tins]

As a "tinkerer", I installed Ondas new 1.33 Firmware, but decided not to format, so I kept "root" from the 1.32.

The stock Browser is crappy extremely laggy/slow and freezes the whole device sometimes.

Even my slow Sanei N90 with A10 single core's browser is (a little bit) faster.

And compared to my Imobile IQ1 (dual core), the V972's browser is three times slower and the scrolling on picture-intensive pages three times laggier...

I tested Firefox, Chrome and Dolphin too....Better, but far away from the speed of the IQ1

Not sure what the problem with the V972's internet browsing is.

Otherwise, "big" apps, like XBMC are running nice and smooth.

Edited March 1, 2013 by vel_tins

[muratremix]

As far as I read on slatedroid, none of the A31 9.7" tablets are working perfect. There are performance issues, firmware bugs, battery life problem and weird click sound problem every 2-3 seconds when you play a video.

Personally I wait for 1920x1200 res. rk3188 tablets. Rk3188 is much better cpu (28nm, quad core A9 1.6 - 1.8 ghz) and rockchip sdk always improving, providing better firmwares.

[vel_tins]

Well, after the V972 became crappy slow (see two posts above), I decided to flash it again.

But this time with formatting.

What a difference in speed in responsiveness!

So never ever flash an V972 without formatting....

[guzzi850m2]

I am going to BKK on Monday on a mini holiday with my family, can anybody tell me where I can buy a V972 and what price I can expect to pay?

I haven't seen them in Pattaya.

[vel_tins]

^^

bought mine at pantip plaza = 7900Baht

Edited March 2, 2013 by vel_tins

[SinghaJoe]

I am going to BKK on Monday on a mini holiday with my family, can anybody tell me where I can buy a V972 and what price I can expect to pay?

I haven't seen them in Pattaya.

Digilife 3rd floor Pantip plaza, Pratunam

http://www.digilifegadget.com/931114/onda-v972

[guzzi850m2]

Thanks guys, I will go and check.

[Pib]

For you folks out there with a V971 Dual Core, I just noticed there are custom ICS and JB ROMs (rooted) available on slatedroid website. Here the Link...recommend you read through posts on the approx 2 page thread also. The files to download with install instructions, images, etc., are in Post #1.....and in Post #28 (dated 28 Feb) the ROM developer states the custom ICS/JB ROMs were just updated.

I just finished downloading the custom JB 4.1.2 ROM...I plan to install it over the coming days. The ROM installation is easy...see instructions in the Post #1 of above link and in the downloaded ROM file...basically you just extract/unzip the ROM files to your TF card and reboot in a special way. It's the same way Onda has you install their stock JB 4.1.1 ROM update (Onda calls it 2.0 at their firmware website) which I also installed before but as mentioned in my other posts I reverted back to stock Onda ICS 4.0.3 (rooted) for various reasons.

[Pib]

I just finished downloading the custom JB 4.1.2 ROM...I plan to install it over the coming days. The ROM installation is easy...see instructions in the Post #1 of above link and in the downloaded ROM file...basically you just extract/unzip the ROM files to your TF card and reboot in a special way. It's the same way Onda has you install their stock JB 4.1.1 ROM update (Onda calls it 2.0 at their firmware website) which I also installed before but as mentioned in my other posts I reverted back to stock Onda ICS 4.0.3 (rooted) for various reasons.

Ok, I did install the customer ROM at 7:30pm...the install went per instructions and I did have install it second time when the initial boot froze when it starts display "Onda" during the boot...but the possibly of this second install was addressed in the instructions. The Onda stock ROM instructions say the same thing. It only take a few minutes to do an install. After the second install it boots up normally. This custom ROM is rooted.

I haven't reinstalled all my previous Apps yet...have only installed about half of them and they all work. I installed YouTube and Gmail as the first two installs to see if they worked properly since the stock Onda JB upgrade gave me some significantly problems on those two Apps initially; anyway, both Apps installed and worked without any issues. I also installed benchmark Apps Antutu and Standard Quadrant and once again I'm getting lower scores than with ICS; however, if the benchmarks are correct I can't notice it in any of the Apps and would really have to say the Apps seem faster regardless of what the benchmark results say.

The Android version reported for the custom ROM is JB 4.1.2 (Baseband V2.2) vs the Onda stock JB 4.1.1 (Baseband V2.0) . And in the Settings, About Tablet it reports a Model number of GS-I9100 which is the Samsung Galaxy SII...maybe the customer ROM developer did this to allow Google Play to say more Apps are compatible. As mentioned in my earlier posts it appears this custom JB version is also eating the battery faster than ICS but not as fast as the stock Onda JB.

Summary: So far, so good...really an uneventful firmware install/upgrade....I will do more testing...and at this point in time I have no urge to revert to ICS like I had after I upgraded to the stock JB...but I have more testing to do to decide if I will stick with this JB or revert to ICS again.

Edited March 3, 2013 by Pib

[Pib]

Summary: So far, so good...really an uneventful firmware install/upgrade....I will do more testing...and at this point in time I have no urge to revert to ICS like I had after I upgraded to the stock JB...but I have more testing to do to decide if I will stick with this JB or revert to ICS again.

OK, today I got a couple more hours usage using the customer ROM JB 4.1.2 on my Onda V971 Dual Core. While it benchmarks slower than ICS, I sure can't tell it when using Apps. In fact, regardless of what the benchmarks say, if I was forced to make a bet on whether JB or ICS allows the Apps to run faster and smoother I would bet JB (with my fingers crossed).

I've reloaded and tested approx. two dozen Apps and they all work with the exception of the ThaiVisa app...it hangs on the brief bootup/opening screen where it just says, THAIVISA, Community forum, Classified ads, Cheap hotel booking." The tablet is not froze/locked-up as I can back-out of the App no problem; it's just the App won't work. I've cleared the App's cache, data, and reinstalled a couple of times and it don't make a difference...appears/maybe the App just don't like JB 4.1.2. I'll play with the App some more to see if I can get it working...but no biggie if I can't get it to work as I prefer to use my browser on my 9.7" screen tablet to use ThaiVisa....but on my smartphone, I definitely prefer the ThaiVisa App. But as said, all other Apps are working no problem...they run smooth and fast.

Also, the battery drain by the custom JB ROM appears to be only "little" more than ICS; but as mentioned in early posts the Onda stock JB 4.1.1 significantly drains my battery faster than ICS. I did a couple of battery tests yesterday....the battery in the V971 Dual Core is a 6000mah. With the battery fully/100% charged at 9:24am I started playing a movie full screen in repeat mode...display brightness to normal (brightness level aligned right over OK which is about 75% of max brightness...it's the brightness level I always use day or night), headphones inserted with volume at a comfortable level which ended up being 50%. As I'm watching the movie at 4:15pm the battery charge reaches 0% and the tablet shuts down. So, that calculates out to 6 hrs 51 mins (let's say 7 hrs) battery time for playing a movie. Not bad at all. Now, I doubt I could get 7 hrs play time if just using various Apps, playing game Apps, etc., as those Apps usually use the CPU at higher speeds which means faster battery drain.

And since firmware also has programming/coding that controls the charge rate along with battery circuitry, I plugged the tablet in to recharge at 4:17pm and it reached 100% charge at 10:15pm, which calculates out to 5 hrs 58 min...let's say 6 hrs. I see back in a 24 Jan post where I posted some charge results when I was still running ICS, the charge time from 1% to 100% was 4 hrs 15 min. So, it appears JB controls the charge rate a little differently in conjunction with the battery circuitry, or maybe since that was the first full charge using JB it might be faster next time, or my battery just takes a little longer to charge now compared to approx. 6 weeks ago...or maybe when you drain a the battery to 0% it's going to take a fair amount more time than normal to fully recharge....etc...etc...etc...who knows. But regardless, I'm OK with 6 hrs for a 0 to 100% charge...normally I would never let it discharge to 0%...this was a test.

Unless I run into something unexpected over the coming hours/days, I have no urge to revert from this custom ROM JB 4.1.2 to the stock ICS 4.0.3...and I definitely not going to try the stock Onda JB 4.1.1 again (tried a couple releases 2 or 3 times for a few hours each time as mentioned in earlier posts).

Edited March 5, 2013 by Pib

[canuckamuck]

Thanks for all the updates Pib, I find it all very enlightening. I am building up the courage to try some updates on my Nova 7 Flame.

[Pib]

Thanks for all the updates Pib, I find it all very enlightening. I am building up the courage to try some updates on my Nova 7 Flame.

I know exactly how you feel after reading many posts over the years about "bricking" your device from a firmware upgrade/flash. I was very apprehensive.

Fortunately for the V971 it's pretty much un-brickable. When I tried my first flash of my V971 several months back...it was just an ICS update...the flash stopped halfway through the process because the USB driver, my computer and the tablet were just not agreeing. On this particular flash you had to use the flashing utility (like Odin) that came packaged in the firmware update. And when it stopped the V971 would not boot...no screen display...no nothing...guess most people would say it was bricked. Then I tried to reflash a couple more times and the same thing would happen...the flash would stop maybe one third to two thirds through the flashing process....tablet still no-workie. Then I got the USB driver loaded correctly on the computer, and things went smooth...the flash competed 100% and things worked fine. The whole problem had been the USB had not loaded/installed in Windows correctly. But it provide to me and reaffirmed what other posts had said that the V971 is pretty much un-brickable. Apparently now, Onda is switching away from having to use an Odin type flashing tool and packing the firmware to install from the external microSD card when booting up in recovery mode....the custom JB ROM installed this way as does the current stock Onda JB release for the V971...and I think the V972 firmware installed from the microSD card also unless using the OTA method.

That whole triad-and-error flashing process made me a better person...I learned it don't help at all to cuss and swear when the flash aborts and your device appears bricked. Hopefully your firmware upgrade goes without problem and your device is also pretty much un-brickable...just be sure you know how to revert to the previous release in case the new release don't flash properly. Good luck.

[BlackJack]

best mobile tablets http://www.globalmobileawards.com/winners-2013#cat_id124

[muratremix]

Onda V972 is sold for 7400 baht if anyone is interested.

http://www.mahaphone.com/

Didn't bother to translate

Onda V972 เพียง 7400 บาท จากราคา 7900 บาท 10 เครื่องเท่านั้น

[petedk]

Onda V972 is sold for 7400 baht if anyone is interested.

http://www.mahaphone.com/

Didn't bother to translate

Onda V972 เพียง 7400 บาท จากราคา 7900 บาท 10 เครื่องเท่านั้น

Oh. I just bought one today at Digilife for the 7900 Baht.

First impressions I am quite pleased with it.

[Pib]

Summary: So far, so good...really an uneventful firmware install/upgrade....I will do more testing...and at this point in time I have no urge to revert to ICS like I had after I upgraded to the stock JB...but I have more testing to do to decide if I will stick with this JB or revert to ICS again.

OK, today I got a couple more hours usage using the customer ROM JB 4.1.2 on my Onda V971 Dual Core. While it benchmarks slower than ICS, I sure can't tell it when using Apps. In fact, regardless of what the benchmarks say, if I was forced to make a bet on whether JB or ICS allows the Apps to run faster and smoother I would bet JB (with my fingers crossed).

I've reloaded and tested approx. two dozen Apps and they all work with the exception of the ThaiVisa app...it hangs on the brief bootup/opening screen where it just says, THAIVISA, Community forum, Classified ads, Cheap hotel booking." The tablet is not froze/locked-up as I can back-out of the App no problem; it's just the App won't work. I've cleared the App's cache, data, and reinstalled a couple of times and it don't make a difference...appears/maybe the App just don't like JB 4.1.2. I'll play with the App some more to see if I can get it working...but no biggie if I can't get it to work as I prefer to use my browser on my 9.7" screen tablet to use ThaiVisa....but on my smartphone, I definitely prefer the ThaiVisa App. But as said, all other Apps are working no problem...they run smooth and fast.

Also, the battery drain by the custom JB ROM appears to be only "little" more than ICS; but as mentioned in early posts the Onda stock JB 4.1.1 significantly drains my battery faster than ICS. I did a couple of battery tests yesterday....the battery in the V971 Dual Core is a 6000mah. With the battery fully/100% charged at 9:24am I started playing a movie full screen in repeat mode...display brightness to normal (brightness level aligned right over OK which is about 75% of max brightness...it's the brightness level I always use day or night), headphones inserted with volume at a comfortable level which ended up being 50%. As I'm watching the movie at 4:15pm the battery charge reaches 0% and the tablet shuts down. So, that calculates out to 6 hrs 51 mins (let's say 7 hrs) battery time for playing a movie. Not bad at all. Now, I doubt I could get 7 hrs play time if just using various Apps, playing game Apps, etc., as those Apps usually use the CPU at higher speeds which means faster battery drain.

And since firmware also has programming/coding that controls the charge rate along with battery circuitry, I plugged the tablet in to recharge at 4:17pm and it reached 100% charge at 10:15pm, which calculates out to 5 hrs 58 min...let's say 6 hrs. I see back in a 24 Jan post where I posted some charge results when I was still running ICS, the charge time from 1% to 100% was 4 hrs 15 min. So, it appears JB controls the charge rate a little differently in conjunction with the battery circuitry, or maybe since that was the first full charge using JB it might be faster next time, or my battery just takes a little longer to charge now compared to approx. 6 weeks ago...or maybe when you drain a the battery to 0% it's going to take a fair amount more time than normal to fully recharge....etc...etc...etc...who knows. But regardless, I'm OK with 6 hrs for a 0 to 100% charge...normally I would never let it discharge to 0%...this was a test.

Unless I run into something unexpected over the coming hours/days, I have no urge to revert from this custom ROM JB 4.1.2 to the stock ICS 4.0.3...and I definitely not going to try the stock Onda JB 4.1.1 again (tried a couple releases 2 or 3 times for a few hours each time as mentioned in earlier posts).

Praise the lord....I got the ThaiVisa App working a few minutes ago. As mentioned above, the ThaiVisa App was the only App not working after I installed above JB 4.1.2 ROM. And after making above posts I probably installed another dozen Apps, some of which that use the internet, and they all worked. Just the ThaiVisa App was playing hardball in not working.

I had given up on uninstalling & reinstalling, clearing the Apps data/cache, trying to connect by connecting through a Hotspot connection with my smartphone, etc., as I had tried most of these things at least 3 or 4 times...to include another App reinstall with App data/cache clear a few hours ago. But a few minutes ago, I thought to myself as my Chang beer was approaching empty I wonder if it might work if I try to use it with a VPN connection with a U.S. IP address. Heck, I was willing to try anything.

OK, I activate a VPN connection using my StrongVPN service which uses a San Francisco VPN server/IP address and then I try starting up the ThaiVisa App--it starts up!!!...I does not hang on the opening/flash screen which you don't even see when the App is working properly. OK, I surf around the ThaiVisa site for a few minutes...it works OK.

I then logoff the VPN connection which was giving me a U.S. IP address and startup the ThaiVisa App again--it starts up!!!. OK, I think to myself even through I logged-off the VPN connection maybe the ThaiVisa App thinks I still have an U.S. IP address. I turn off the V971 tablet and reboot. Get my home Wifi connection going again (non-VPN) and startup the ThaiVisa App--it works!!! I turn off the tablet again...leave it turned off for about a minute...start it up again...get my home Wifi connection again...then startup the ThaiVisa App---it "almost" works!!!

What do I mean by "almost?" Well, it gets pass that screen it always hung on, gets to the screen that says Unread, All, Participated, but fails to log-in/can't seem to make a good connection.. I click logout and log-in again to ThaiVisa under my User ID (Pib). Tried another couple of App startups to include some complete tablet reboots and ThaiVisa now fires up OK and logs in OK. Knock on wood.

Why in the world starting-up the ThaiVisa App when on a VPN connection made ThaiVisa start working, on both a non-VPN or VPN connection, I don't know. Beyond my limited expertise.

Summary: All Apps now working...don't know if this problem I had is a ThaiVisa App bug or a bug with the custom ROM JB 4.1.2...If I had to bet some money right now on which, I would bet it was a ThaiVisa App bug since I have dozens and dozens/all other App I installed worked no problem. Oh well, issue appears to be resolved. Still no plans to revert to ICS or use the stock Onda JB as this custom JB 4.1.2 ROM/firmware appears to working just fine, fast, and smooth. Knock on wood.

[jbrain]

Onda V972 is sold for 7400 baht if anyone is interested.

http://www.mahaphone.com/

Didn't bother to translate

Onda V972 เพียง 7400 บาท จากราคา 7900 บาท 10 เครื่องเท่านั้น

Only 10 unit. Wanna bet that those 10 has just been sold

[petedk]

Summary: So far, so good...really an uneventful firmware install/upgrade....I will do more testing...and at this point in time I have no urge to revert to ICS like I had after I upgraded to the stock JB...but I have more testing to do to decide if I will stick with this JB or revert to ICS again.

OK, today I got a couple more hours usage using the customer ROM JB 4.1.2 on my Onda V971 Dual Core. While it benchmarks slower than ICS, I sure can't tell it when using Apps. In fact, regardless of what the benchmarks say, if I was forced to make a bet on whether JB or ICS allows the Apps to run faster and smoother I would bet JB (with my fingers crossed).

I've reloaded and tested approx. two dozen Apps and they all work with the exception of the ThaiVisa app...it hangs on the brief bootup/opening screen where it just says, THAIVISA, Community forum, Classified ads, Cheap hotel booking." The tablet is not froze/locked-up as I can back-out of the App no problem; it's just the App won't work. I've cleared the App's cache, data, and reinstalled a couple of times and it don't make a difference...appears/maybe the App just don't like JB 4.1.2. I'll play with the App some more to see if I can get it working...but no biggie if I can't get it to work as I prefer to use my browser on my 9.7" screen tablet to use ThaiVisa....but on my smartphone, I definitely prefer the ThaiVisa App. But as said, all other Apps are working no problem...they run smooth and fast.

Also, the battery drain by the custom JB ROM appears to be only "little" more than ICS; but as mentioned in early posts the Onda stock JB 4.1.1 significantly drains my battery faster than ICS. I did a couple of battery tests yesterday....the battery in the V971 Dual Core is a 6000mah. With the battery fully/100% charged at 9:24am I started playing a movie full screen in repeat mode...display brightness to normal (brightness level aligned right over OK which is about 75% of max brightness...it's the brightness level I always use day or night), headphones inserted with volume at a comfortable level which ended up being 50%. As I'm watching the movie at 4:15pm the battery charge reaches 0% and the tablet shuts down. So, that calculates out to 6 hrs 51 mins (let's say 7 hrs) battery time for playing a movie. Not bad at all. Now, I doubt I could get 7 hrs play time if just using various Apps, playing game Apps, etc., as those Apps usually use the CPU at higher speeds which means faster battery drain.

And since firmware also has programming/coding that controls the charge rate along with battery circuitry, I plugged the tablet in to recharge at 4:17pm and it reached 100% charge at 10:15pm, which calculates out to 5 hrs 58 min...let's say 6 hrs. I see back in a 24 Jan post where I posted some charge results when I was still running ICS, the charge time from 1% to 100% was 4 hrs 15 min. So, it appears JB controls the charge rate a little differently in conjunction with the battery circuitry, or maybe since that was the first full charge using JB it might be faster next time, or my battery just takes a little longer to charge now compared to approx. 6 weeks ago...or maybe when you drain a the battery to 0% it's going to take a fair amount more time than normal to fully recharge....etc...etc...etc...who knows. But regardless, I'm OK with 6 hrs for a 0 to 100% charge...normally I would never let it discharge to 0%...this was a test.

Unless I run into something unexpected over the coming hours/days, I have no urge to revert from this custom ROM JB 4.1.2 to the stock ICS 4.0.3...and I definitely not going to try the stock Onda JB 4.1.1 again (tried a couple releases 2 or 3 times for a few hours each time as mentioned in earlier posts).

Praise the lord....I got the ThaiVisa App working a few minutes ago. As mentioned above, the ThaiVisa App was the only App not working after I installed above JB 4.1.2 ROM. And after making above posts I probably installed another dozen Apps, some of which that use the internet, and they all worked. Just the ThaiVisa App was playing hardball in not working.

I had given up on uninstalling & reinstalling, clearing the Apps data/cache, trying to connect by connecting through a Hotspot connection with my smartphone, etc., as I had tried most of these things at least 3 or 4 times...to include another App reinstall with App data/cache clear a few hours ago. But a few minutes ago, I thought to myself as my Chang beer was approaching empty I wonder if it might work if I try to use it with a VPN connection with a U.S. IP address. Heck, I was willing to try anything.

OK, I activate a VPN connection using my StrongVPN service which uses a San Francisco VPN server/IP address and then I try starting up the ThaiVisa App--it starts up!!!...I does not hang on the opening/flash screen which you don't even see when the App is working properly. OK, I surf around the ThaiVisa site for a few minutes...it works OK.

I then logoff the VPN connection which was giving me a U.S. IP address and startup the ThaiVisa App again--it starts up!!!. OK, I think to myself even through I logged-off the VPN connection maybe the ThaiVisa App thinks I still have an U.S. IP address. I turn off the V971 tablet and reboot. Get my home Wifi connection going again (non-VPN) and startup the ThaiVisa App--it works!!! I turn off the tablet again...leave it turned off for about a minute...start it up again...get my home Wifi connection again...then startup the ThaiVisa App---it "almost" works!!!

What do I mean by "almost?" Well, it gets pass that screen it always hung on, gets to the screen that says Unread, All, Participated, but fails to log-in/can't seem to make a good connection.. I click logout and log-in again to ThaiVisa under my User ID (Pib). Tried another couple of App startups to include some complete tablet reboots and ThaiVisa now fires up OK and logs in OK. Knock on wood.

Why in the world starting-up the ThaiVisa App when on a VPN connection made ThaiVisa start working, on both a non-VPN or VPN connection, I don't know. Beyond my limited expertise.

Summary: All Apps now working...don't know if this problem I had is a ThaiVisa App bug or a bug with the custom ROM JB 4.1.2...If I had to bet some money right now on which, I would bet it was a ThaiVisa App bug since I have dozens and dozens/all other App I installed worked no problem. Oh well, issue appears to be resolved. Still no plans to revert to ICS or use the stock Onda JB as this custom JB 4.1.2 ROM/firmware appears to working just fine, fast, and smooth. Knock on wood.

I am sure it's a Thai Visa bug.

I had it installed on my Galaxy S2 since it came out and always updated it.

Recently my phone started hanging and sometimes i would get an error message regarding the Thai Visa app even though I hadn't started it up.

The hanging and error messages became more and more frequent so I uninstalled Thai Visa. That solved all the problems.

I waited a few days without problems and then reinstalled the thai Visa app. So far so good.

I haven't installed it on my V972 yet but I'll give it a try later.

[ChristianBlessing]

I recommend the Google Nexus 7, with out without the SIM option. If you're like most tablet users you'll find yourself using it far more frequently and for more purposes then you initially imagined. And, if so, you'll despair of not having decent specs (quad-core processor, ample storage, battery life, screen resolution, etc). There are many apps for text input, and access to the Google Play Store's thousands of apps, something many lesser tablets may not offer, which you'll only discover after your purchase.