Choosing A Tablet

[lomatopo]

Apple down to about 50% of all tablets sold in the quarter, but that was prior to the launch of the Ipad Mini.

Still impressive, those are quarter over quarter numbers - they sold 11.8 million units in the previous (Q2/2012) quarter - with 14 million units with a single model (excluding white/black/3G/16 - 64 GB variants) at a price premium while being able to address but a fraction of the market?

Samsung has, at last count, four to seven models (7.0", 7.7", 8.9", 10.1", Tab, Tab2, Note (10.1).

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Here's the refurb tablet I bought from the U.S. a few months back, now on sale again from the same vendor for about the same price, about $171 or 5,300 baht. It's been a good unit for me in the months I've had it.

AT&T/Pantech Element 8 inch... Arrived in 100% new condition in original AT&T box and packaging. Came with Honeycomb OS, but Pantech just in the last month finally posted the ICS firmware upgrade, which I downloaded and installed and have it working fine.

https://www.pantechu...pgrade/element/

ICS, 1.5 GHz dual core, front and rear cameras 5 and 2 Mpxl, N Wifi, Bluetooth, micro USB charging and data, micro HDMI port for video out, 3G and LTE data capable, micro SIM slot up to 64 GB (though officially only 32 GB), 16 GB internal memory, 1 GB RAM, 1024 x 768 display at 160 ppi, etc etc... Comes with the full suite of Google apps, including Google Play Store access.

The 3G originally was locked to AT&T, but I purchased an unlock code online for a couple bucks and now it's unlocked for mobile data on HSPA 850, 1900 and 2100 as well as LTE on 700/AWS.

The Element was marketed largely as being water-resistant, meaning you actually could dunk it into a pool or other water and it would escape unscathed -- assuming you had the water-proof port enclosures closed. From all the accounts/reviews I've read, the units are actually water-proof, though you can't operated them while submerged.

I tend to use the tablet in the horizontal orientation, which means the power and volume buttons are on the top, but the micro USB and micro HDMI ports then are on the bottom, which makes keeping it plugged in and set in a stand kind of awkward in that orientation. But otherwise, all is good.

It's also a nice kind of intermediate size between the multitude of pocketable 7 inch tablets and the larger and bulkier 10 inch tablets.

http://www.all4cellu...ished-5190.html

Ahh...forgot... the website price is $179.95. But right now, adding coupon code "A4C5OFF" cuts it to $170.95, with free domestic U.S. shipping.

PS - One of the things the ICS upgrade did was fix an error on the original Honeycomb firmware that prevented PPTP VPN services from working properly... Now, the unit handles PPTP just fine.

The risk element to this kind of purchase, however, is if the vendor happens to ship you a bad/defective unit...and you've already paid to ship it to Thailand, and then having to face paying to return it under warranty back to the U.S. Fortunately, in my case, the delivered unit was indistinguishable in condition and performance from new.

Edited November 10, 2012 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

fyi, as we approach Black Friday season, more and more tablet deals are beginning to show up...

Right now, Walmart is also offering a refurb Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7 inch Wifi, 8 GB, ICS tablet for $149.99 with free U.S. shipping.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Samsung-Refurbished-GT-P3113-TS8A-Galaxy-Tab-2-with-WiFi-7.0-Touchscreen-Featuring-Android-4.0-Ice-Cream-Sandwich-Operating-System-Titanium-Silver/21142087?

It's supposed to be a pretty good unit...and includes an micro SD expansion slot to compensate for the 8 GB main memory size...

But it does have several drawbacks/limitations...

• Front-facing camera is only VGA resolution
  
• No LED flash for primary camera
  
• Has a non-replaceable battery
  
• Uses a proprietary 30-pin connector port for charging and connectivity
  
• One of the lowest-capacity batteries in the range
  
• No USB charging
  

I also remember hearing user complaints about supposedly not being able to install apps directly to the micro SD card without rooting the device... But not sure if that's still an issue with this model.

[dddave]

Apologies to Pib. I had promised to download a number of firmware updates on my Onda vi40 and report back the results but I chickened out. I am departing on a 3 week trip with family members around SE Asia and I didn't want to take the chance of screwing up the tablet and not being able to use it while traveling. As I stated before, I am lousy at troubleshooting. BTW, I am also not too good with the sometimes arcane terminologies attached to these devices. I was quite unaware of the distinction of Mini-USB as opposed to Micro-USB and mis-stated their presence on the Onda V971.

[lomatopo]

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7 inch Wifi, 8 GB

New, at Newegg $199, free shipping, no sales tax.

There are a ton of these refurbed units on eBAy, not sure why? Maybe there was a model-wide issue that required rework?

3G Tab 2 units support traditional GSM apps: voice, text etc.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Probably because the Samsung Tab 2 7 in. had its moments in the sun some months back, and since has been topped in the market by newer products like the Google Nexus 7 in and the Amazon Kindle Fire HD, among others.

But for those considering a Chinese no-name tablet here for prices in the 4 to 6000 baht range, deals like the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 and the Pantech Element I posted on above are good alternative options, depending on what things any particular user wants out of their tablet.

I took a long hard look at the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7 inch when it first hit the market... but decided to pass for some of the disadvantages I cited above, in particular, the proprietary charger port which I really dislike in any tablet, and the limitations on being able to install apps to the SD memory on this tablet.

But for others, those and the other disadvantages I listed above might not be important or compelling considerations.

[lomatopo]

3G Tab 2 units support traditional GSM apps: voice, text etc.

Forgot to mention, for those with legacy 3G Tabs there is a relatively straightforward Mod which adds GSM calling and texting.

http://www.androidauthority.com/galaxy-tab-10-1-p7500-enable-phone-voice-call-118072/

It should work on a 3G 8.9 as well.

[Samui Coconut]

Thinking of buying the ASUS Thaichi, anyone got any feedback (apart from whats on the web), is it out yet, any price ? Thanks

[chmod777]

3G Tab 2 units support traditional GSM apps: voice, text etc.

Forgot to mention, for those with legacy 3G Tabs there is a relatively straightforward Mod which adds GSM calling and texting.

http://www.androidau...ce-call-118072/

It should work on a 3G 8.9 as well.

lomatopo -

Wow, great tip, now I can run USSD code to check balance on True H sim. You are THE MAN!

[lomatopo]

Wow, great tip, now I can run USSD code to check balance on True H sim.

Yeah, I forgot to mention the USSD thing working as well.

It sill seems odd that you can't do this on a 3G iPad? Or "the big version of the iPhone you can't talk on".

Edited November 12, 2012 by lomatopo

[chmod777]

Wow, great tip, now I can run USSD code to check balance on True H sim.

Yeah, I forgot to mention the USSD thing working as well.

It sill seems odd that you can't do this on a 3G iPad? Or "the big version of the iPhone you can't talk on".

Well, an IPad owner would send their butler in the Rolls down to the shop to do a balance check, so they have that covered.

[Thailaw]

Here's the refurb tablet I bought from the U.S. a few months back, now on sale again from the same vendor for about the same price, about $171 or 5,300 baht. It's been a good unit for me in the months I've had it.

AT&T/Pantech Element 8 inch... Arrived in 100% new condition in original AT&T box and packaging. Came with Honeycomb OS, but Pantech just in the last month finally posted the ICS firmware upgrade, which I downloaded and installed and have it working fine.

https://www.pantechu...pgrade/element/

The risk element to this kind of purchase, however, is if the vendor happens to ship you a bad/defective unit...and you've already paid to ship it to Thailand, and then having to face paying to return it under warranty back to the U.S. Fortunately, in my case, the delivered unit was indistinguishable in condition and performance from new.

The tablet looks pretty good, and the ability to source from the US, such as ebay, is a great option. But what about shipping costs and customs duties? Don't these additional costs make the purchase of a tablet (or any electronics) from outside Thailand a much more expensive proposition than just buying it here?

[Maxxwell]

Google's Nexus 7 is good and the price is also reasonable. ($199 for 16GB)

But I've no idea how to get one in Thailand.

[lomatopo]

Google's Nexus 7 is good and the price is also reasonable. ($199 for 16GB)

But I've no idea how to get one in Thailand.

9.900 THB, all in.

http://www.asus.co.t.../Nexus/Nexus_7/

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/technology/Asus-ships-tablets-for-Q4-market-offering-the-hott-30191611.html

Edited November 14, 2012 by lomatopo

[bobl]

Today I got myself a 9inch i mobile i note.

4990 Baht from Tesco.

I am not clued up enough to compare it with more expensive tablets but it seems to work Ok.

Has Google Play Store.

http://product.i-mob...e-wifi-9-tablet

Sent from my i-mobile i-note WiFi 9 using Thaivisa Connect App

For those who don't feel like clicking through the link the high(low)lights

Cortex A8 CPU

Ice Cream Sandwich

4,500mAh battery and (the nail in the coffin for me)

9" 800x480 WVGA screen (you couldn't pay me enough to go back to VGA )

That said, I'm a geek. Too many people obsess over the specs, don't worry about it. A better rule of thumb is If it performs adequately for you, great. If you ever get fed up of the lack of screen real estate or it starts to feel a bit slow, flog it and reinvest having gained a little experience in what to look out for...

Similar price ($129) 7" "Onda" (I have a feeling these are the same as Ainol) would've got you Cortex A9 (dual core) and IPS WXGA display (1280x800), or a 9" XGA (1024x768) ($189)

[JimShortz]

Google's Nexus 7 is good and the price is also reasonable. ($199 for 16GB)

But I've no idea how to get one in Thailand.

9.900 THB, all in.

http://www.asus.co.t.../Nexus/Nexus_7/

http://www.nationmul...t-30191611.html

OR, for 3,500 Baht more you could get an Ipad 2...

Sorry, but having tried both sides - just get the Ipad. There really is a reason they sell so many of them. They are JUST BETTER, and a pleasure (not a pain) to own...

Edited November 14, 2012 by JimShortz

[edwardandtubs]

Sorry, but having tried both sides - just get the Ipad. There really is a reason they sell so many of them. They are JUST BETTER, and a pleasure (not a pain) to own...

Not everyone wants to be a slave to Apple. We all know the pricing of the ipad. This thread is about cheaper alternatives but still the Apple fanboys continue to display their sheep-like behaviour in it.

[guzzi850m2]

Sorry, but having tried both sides - just get the Ipad. There really is a reason they sell so many of them. They are JUST BETTER, and a pleasure (not a pain) to own...

Not everyone wants to be a slave to Apple. We all know the pricing of the ipad. This thread is about cheaper alternatives but still the Apple fanboys continue to display their sheep-like behaviour in it.

Agreed, also look below where consumer Reports, puts Samsung galaxy Note 10 as year 2012 No1 electronic product.

http://shopping.yahoo.com/blogs/digital-crave/consumer-reports-names-top-10-electronics-2012-001349973.html

[lomatopo]

OR, for 3,500 Baht more you could get an Ipad 2...

Sorry, is that the old, old, old iPad? Or the new old old iPad? Can you even buy an iPad 2, other than second hand? And wouldn't it be too thick?

http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_21967548/resale-market-apple-ipad-booming

http://www.usell.com/offers/apple-ipad-2-16gb-wifi/10320.htm?answerIds=[42]

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Good news for the upcoming holiday season:

USPS will start ship Lithium batteries starting November 15

USPS will be less restrictive in shipping Lithium batteries.

Effective November 15, 2012, the USPS will begin accepting packages containing lithium batteries installed in electronic devices bound for many international destinations, and Army (APO), Fleet (FPO) and Diplomatic Post Office (DPO) locations. Items which can be shipped may include: cameras, video cameras, mobile/smart phones, Bluetooth headsets, laptop computers, shavers, portable DVD players, tablets, two-way radios, GPS devices and most other small electronic devices requiring lithium batteries to operate. Items which cannot be shipped include any lithium batteries not installed in the equipment they are intended to operate. In addition, when installed, they may not exceed the quantity or limits defined in the IMM or DMM.

Basically USPS will ship the Lithium batteries as long as they are installed in the device.

http://us5.campaign-...ef&e=440a41edff

Edited November 15, 2012 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Pib]

Apologies to Pib. I had promised to download a number of firmware updates on my Onda vi40 and report back the results but I chickened out. I am departing on a 3 week trip with family members around SE Asia and I didn't want to take the chance of screwing up the tablet and not being able to use it while traveling. As I stated before, I am lousy at troubleshooting. BTW, I am also not too good with the sometimes arcane terminologies attached to these devices. I was quite unaware of the distinction of Mini-USB as opposed to Micro-USB and mis-stated their presence on the Onda V971.

No problem...and have a good trip.

As FYI, two days ago I bought an Onda V971 tablet for B6,590 in a shop over here in western Bangkok which was an easy 15 minutes drive from my house....kinda close to the Bang Khae Mall...I didn't have to make a trip to the madness and in the traffic of central Bangkok. Just as FYI for others, it's a Wifi Only, 1.5GHz CPU, 9.7 inch 1024x768 resolution, 1GB Ram, 16GB storage, has 32GB microSD slot, Camera front and rear, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.3 model, comes rooted, physical shape of an iPad, feels good & solid, etc. It also came with an external 4GB microSD card that is loaded up with approx 1000 Apps in APK format, user's manual (in Chinese), and probably a bunch of other stuff....I really haven't spend much time looking at what came on that SD card....could spend the next century just loading Apps from that SD card if I wanted to, however, I'll be using Google Play to get my Apps....Link to the full specs was in an earlier post.

So far I'm liking the tablet for the few hours yesterday and today I've had a chance to play with it. The tablet works with Google Play just fine and I've download/installed most of the Apps I use and like...the same Apps that I also have on my Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 smartphone. Scrolling between App pages, pictures, as we'll as web site browsing is smooth and fast....YouTube plays just fine. I also downloaded the Jelly Bean release from the Onda web site for the V971, but haven't installed it yet...will continue to run ICS while I give the tablet its initial use and testing...plus I need to find some better English instructions on how to install the Jelly Bean update otherwise I might brick my new tablet. More to come after I use it for a while....but so far, so good. I'll give everybody a more thorough review once I get another week or so of usage under my belt.

[Pib]

This link appears to provide some descent English instructions on how to apply the Jelly Bean update for the Onda V971. Link

[muratremix]

I seriously doubt you'll have a decent user experience on cheaper Android ICS tablets.

I bought a 1gb ram, A10 cpu tablet before for testing purposes. It was very slow, unresponsive, no deep sleep (I never power off my ipad). Battery diminishes quickly if you don't turn off those android tablets.

I sold it after my a while. Then, I bought a new 7" tablet from China for GPS purposes.

This one has MTK 6575 Cpu (1Ghz Cortex-A9 cpu, SGX 531 GPU) and it is much better than A10 in terms of responsiveness. It has 2 sim slots (one capable of 850/2100 mhz 3G HSUPA -- 7.2 Mbit) and 512Mb ram (Enough for GPS), fm transmitter - bluetooth - analog tv - analog fm radio - phone calling capabilities.

However, no matter what, there is a huge lag between your touch / gestures and the result. I'm sure it is minimal in quad core monster hardware but still, Android is laggy. Now they claim they have 600K apps on market, well yeah, just MX Player has more than 10 add-ons each listed as an independent App. Paid apps also have "free" version and a "paid" unlocker. In real, I doubt there are 200K unique apps and if you remove all those widgets, wallpapers, themes etc, that would leave you a max. 100K apps.

Anyway, I bought this for running Sygic on car (9.7" iPad is just too big, 7.9" iPad mini is waste of money for GPS only purposes) and it does the job, although GPS signal performance is not top notch like iPad. Maybe I buy an external bluetooth GPS for better signal.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

The tablet looks pretty good, and the ability to source from the US, such as ebay, is a great option. But what about shipping costs and customs duties? Don't these additional costs make the purchase of a tablet (or any electronics) from outside Thailand a much more expensive proposition than just buying it here?

Generally speaking, it just got a whole lot more convenient to buy a tablet or other small electronics item in the U.S. and have it delivered to Thailand, now that the U.S. P.S. has lifted their prior, temporary restriction on the shipping of lithium ion batteries inside devices.

Because tablets are relatively light and not having large dimensions, they don't generate especially high shipping rates to begin with. Nor does Thailand have a high duty rate on small consumer electronics items. So neither should be prohibitive.

When I shipped my Pantech Element tablet from the U.S., I paid about $40 in total to my shipping vendor, Shipito.com. That covered their small handling fee, the postage for their Priority Airmail delivery, and the insurance charge for a $170 item. Using their Airmail delivery service, there was no Thai customs tax or duty assessed here. So my total price ended up being about $210 -- $170 for the purchase and $40 for the delivery. It could have been a bit less if I'd decided on a slower and non-insured method, but I wouldn't ship a tablet computer purchase from the U.S. to here without delivery insurance.

That said, you do have to be careful. A lot of U.S. electronics vendors won't do their own international deliveries. And those that do usually use the very high priced private courier services like Fed-Ex and DHL. You REALLY want to avoid those, because they'll charge you rates double or so above other available options, and then you'll likely get hit with a sizable Thai tax and customs bill at this end.

The nominal Thai duty rate on small electronics supposedly is only 7%. But the Fed Exs and DHLs base all their fees (and the ones they pass along on behalf of the Thai government), not just on your purchase price, but instead on the much larger amount of purchase price plus shipping cost plus insurance fee. Then duty and VAT that amount, and add on their sometimes storage/handling fees... and it quickly begins to be a bad deal.

On the other hand, with delivery services like Shipito's Airmail services, I've never yet paid any tax or duty on delivered packages. And U.S.P.S. shipped packages also arrive via your local Thai postman, usually with at most VAT charged or nothing at all. So from the U.S., U.S.P.S or services like Shipito's Airmail services, which are handled by Belgium Post Intl (BPI) really are the way to go.

Either have a family member handle the sending via U.S.P.S., or use a shipping service like Shipito.com where you typically can choose among a dozen or so different delivery methods/carriers for each package they handle for you, with a wide range of pricing, timing and insurance coverage option.

But if you're looking to take advantage of a U.S. pricing deal, absolutely DON'T have the purchase vendor handle the international shipping and allow them to send the item via FedEx or DHL.Any savings you gained in the purchase more than likely will evaporate in the international shipping process.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

This link appears to provide some descent English instructions on how to apply the Jelly Bean update for the Onda V971. Link

Welcome to the "party" finally, Pib...

I'll be very interested to see how your owner experience with your new model goes... For the specs and the price, Onda's upper end tablets are quite a good deal. Let's hope this company's tablets survive and operate well over the longer term.

Sometimes you can't really tell the actual user experience (good or bad) until you've had a device in your hands for a couple weeks/months, and ended up running it through the paces of all the different things you might want to use it for.

That said, your new purchase raises one of the interesting questions I've been mulling: For a new or potential upgrade opportunity, is is worthwhile to upgrade to the newest Jelly Bean OS or might it be wiser to stick with the existing ICS OS?

Normally, the tendency is to go for the newest OS. But I must admit, my fondness for using my tablet for video streaming combined with the absence of official support for Flash in Jelly Bean has me seriously considering whether, for example, I'd really want to buy a new Google Nexus 7 tablet, and then have to mess around with backdoor fixes aimed at getting Flash on a brand tablet that isn't supposed to support it.

I read a tech article earlier today comparing the two OS, and it basically said Jelly Bean was better in terms of speed, fluidity and user experience. But that comparison didn't deal with the Flash issue at all, nor did it address an issue I've read elsewhere about JB potentially being a bigger battery drainer than ICS by comparison.

But for whatever it's worth, I also ran a bunch of my Flash video stream websites at both my ICS Android phone and ICS Android tablet in the past couple weeks, using a variety of browsers. In my tests, the built-in Android browser either didn't play my video sites at all or played they poorly, much to my dismay. (Some examples include Amazon Instant Video, which doesn't have its own Android app, and NFL Game Rewind, where the app doesn't seem to work abroad, but a browser approach will.)

But then I noodled around some, and tried some different browser solutions for my Android devices, and found that the latest Dolphin beta browser seems to do a very good job of Flash video streaming on my ICS devices. The latest Dolphin browser includes several settings that probably assist in that result, including one that allows you to set the browser recognition profile to one of several choices (Android, desktop, Ipad, custom, etc--desktop seemed to work best) and another that allows you to set the browser to handle Flash content either 1) not at all, 2) play on demand/click, or 3) play automatically when Flash content is encountered.

I'll be quite happy when the web content developers/producers of the world settle on a new streaming video standard for the web and actually use it comprehensively. But right now, even though Adobe has bailed out of mobile video for Android Jelly Bean OS and beyond, a lot of the popular video streaming sites still rely on Flash to deliver their content. And for now, the end users don't get much of a choice in the matter.

Edited November 18, 2012 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[lomatopo]

You can sideload a Flash apk downloadable from the Adobe website, front door is open, easy peasey.

Boat and Skyfire support Flash, even on Android 4.1.2.

Flash videos blow on a tablet; it looks like your watching someone's TV from their front yard, through a window in a driving rainstorm. Maybe they look OK on a tiny iPhone screen? Oops, maybe not.

Edited November 18, 2012 by lomatopo

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Actually, Amazon Prime Video, NFL, NHK World and a few others look quite fine on my 8 inch ICS tablet...

Maybe you need a different piece of hardware, or some new glasses.

But more to the general point, if you read the user comments of folks who have sideloaded Flash onto JB devices, the playback results I've seem people reporting have been decidedly mixed. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't particularly well. I suppose a lot depends on the individual device model, of which they are many.

For me, if I shell out a couple hundred bucks for a tablet, I just want it to work... I don't want to have to be messing around with it or finding hacks to escape built-in limitations, at least, any more than is absolutely necessary. But that's me. I'm sure Flash might work fine on some JB devices. But I don't want to take the chance of ending up with one where it doesn't.

Here's one example of the kind of "Flash on JB" comment I've been reading, from an August ZDNet blog

The Nexus 7 did not, of course, come with Flash Player preinstalled, which is a pain when you're trying to watch content such as, say, Comedy Central's The Daily Show. And even if the device did come with Flash Player, the default Chrome browser doesn't support Flash.

Here be monsters

So here's what I did — and first off, let me stress that I am not recommending that you do the same. I'll come back to why in a moment.

I went to xda-developers and found a downloadable version of Flash Player on one of its forums. That site is about as reputable as you're going to get in this space, but I still felt a tinge of uncertainty when I downloaded and installed the file.

I then downloaded the beta Firefox browser from the Play Store, and there you go, I had The Daily Show up and running, albeit choppily and without playback controls. It's a pretty lousy user experience, but it works in a pinch.

Now, as I said, don't do this. Why? Because Flash is a hugely popular vector for malware — yes, on the desktop, but Android and mobile ecosystems in general are becoming an increasingly popular target. There's a reason Flash Player is constantly getting security updates on the desktop — do you really want to go without on your phone or tablet?

...

http://www.zdnet.com...-it-7000002668/

Edited November 18, 2012 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Gary A]

A friend of mine just bought his niece a 10 inch Galaxy tablet from Pattaya TukCom for 3,000 baht. It is clearly labeled front and back as a Samsung. He was surprised when I told him that it was a knock off. I too was surprised that they openly sell this junk without any repercussions. I did play with it for a while and it clearly was a piece of crap. Be careful what you buy at Pattaya TukCom.

[Pib]

That said, your new purchase raises one of the interesting questions I've been mulling: For a new or potential upgrade opportunity, is is worthwhile to upgrade to the newest Jelly Bean OS or might it be wiser to stick with the existing ICS OS?

Normally, the tendency is to go for the newest OS. But I must admit, my fondness for using my tablet for video streaming combined with the absence of official support for Flash in Jelly Bean has me seriously considering whether, for example, I'd really want to buy a new Google Nexus 7 tablet, and then have to mess around with backdoor fixes aimed at getting Flash on a brand tablet that isn't supposed to support it.

I read a tech article earlier today comparing the two OS, and it basically said Jelly Bean was better in terms of speed, fluidity and user experience. But that comparison didn't deal with the Flash issue at all, nor did it address an issue I've read elsewhere about JB potentially being a bigger battery drainer than ICS by comparison.

TallGuy,

I hear you. Although my earlier post implied I would probably do the Jelly Bean upgrade in a week or two, I may not....may wait significantly longer. I see on Onda' Chinese language web site they have a Jelly Bean update which is a later version (a week or so later) than the version on their English language web site....probably a case that we experience everyday with many Thai web sites where more current/extensive info is on the Thai lanaguage page versus the English language page. So far, the ICS 4.0.3 on the tablet is running just fine....fast and responsive.

I played with my new Onda V971 a lot yesterday....loaded some more Apps like the ThaiTV app to watch TV like CNN U.S., FoxNews, BBC, other foreign channels and pretty much all the major Thai TV channels to include Ch 3, 5, 7. I too had read some stuff earlier about the Flash discussions around Jelly Bean and need to read up on that issue some more. I know my Onda V971 comes with Flash 10.2 installed at system level which is supposedly designed for the Amlogic chips in the tablet....what Flash version will run on Tablet XYZ will vary like shown at the Adobe Flash link on different mobile devices and what version of Flash is certified to run. Link. Seems Ver 10.1 thru 10.3 are common Flash versions on smartphone/tablets like the Samsung Tab 10.1 tablet running Ver 10.3....but there are also many models certified for the latest Flash version Ver 11.1 (which I installed on my Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 smartphones no problem...can't remember what version they came with...expect ver 11.1 would run on the Samung Tab also...probably fixes some bug or makes it work with new device models).

But you know what, the Onda V971 does not come with a Contacts app installed/integrated into the operating system like you are use to on smartphones. Doing some googling I found this is not uncommon for Wifi Only tablets, especially Chinese models. Although there are plenty of Contacts-type apps a person can download, like Go Contacts which I installed, they may or may not integrated/sync with your Google Gmail Contacts....just like Go Contacts would not integrate/sync in my case although it works fine for storing my contacts locally on the tablet versus also being able to sync with Google Contacts. I'm still researching this Contacts issue in terms of getting an Contacts App that syncs with Google Contacts just like my Samsung smartphone. Now with that being said, there are about a half dozen Chinese language only apps intergrated with the operating system....some are for music web sites...some for other entainment media...maybe one of them was Contacts type app but it sure don't appear that way with me playing with them---what little bit I can play with them since everything is in the Chinese language. I sent Onda an email last night asking about the Contacts app issue "just to see if they respond."

Also since this is my first tablet, I don't have any experience about charging times with tablets; I'm only use to charging times with the small batteries (i.e., around 1500mah) in smartphones which can fully charge in around 1-3 hours. However, V971 has a 6000mah battery and definitely won't reach full charge in only a couple of hours if starting from a low charge point.. It charges through its micro-USB port and not a separate/dedicated charging port...the tablet comes with a 2000mah charger but I expect the tablet max charging rate through the micro-USB port is around 500mah with the 2000mah charger just having plenty of extra capacity to avoid overheating. Last night at 10pm I had 18% charge left on the tablet battery, started a charge...at 10:40pm it had a 23% charge...at 11:30pm it had a 29% charge...at 2:10am it had a 49% charge...and at 7:10am this morning when I got up it was at 100% charge but I don't know when it reached that 100% charge point sometime between 2:10am and 7:10am. This is the first time I let the battery charge status get this low due to a lot of usage on Sunday, especially in watch streaming video which means the screen and Wifi radio was on a lot. I'm guess if I started a charge say with the battery status at around 80% it would take around 3-4 hours to reach 100%. But with charging circuits and different battery types, there is not always a linear charging relationship and then there are battery circuit self-calibration aspects to consider. Anyway, doing some reverse math/guessing on this one charge, I'm thinking the charge rate averages around 500mah (since its using the USB port) which means a fully depleted battery would take 10-12 hours to fully charge. So, if a person would routinely use their tablet to deplete the charge to say 50% each day, then you would probably need to give it 5-6 hours to fully recharge...probably not an issue for most people in using it for X-hours during the day and then justing charging it overnight. Like I said in the opening of this paragraph, this is my first tablet and it don't have a separate charging port like some tablets...maybe separate charging ports allow faster charging....I don't know. But I do know that for most batteries the max ideal charging rate is approx one-tenth of the battery's milli-amp-hour rating...so for the 6000mah battery in my tablet the max ideal charging rate to maximize battery life would be 600mah. You can charge batteries much faster but it impacts their lifespan.

Anyway, so far, so good....knock on wood...now going to watch some CNN U.S. and FoxNews using the ThaiTV app....and this particular app is a great example of why being able to download the App from Google Play (Market) is so important as this particular App is always updating itself through Google Play's Automatic update feature...a few weeks ago the ThaiTV app was Ver 1.5...then it went to Ver 1.8...and I just now looked and it's at V1.9. I'm the type that just sets Google Play up to automatically update my Apps versus asking me....just do it...if asking I would always say yes anyway.

Cheers,

Pib

P.S. I will have to wait a while to watch TV on my tablet....the wife just took it and is watching some Thai channel.

[Mousehound]

I have an iPad2 - it replaced an ASUS 10" subnotebook that finaly gave up after two years of use. I use the iPad pretty well all the time - work and liesure. It has a great screen and that, for me is its advantage over the ASUS. Better battery and nicer to look at. But I will go back to a windows driven tablet in an instant. I like the flexibility of the notepad - USB -printer port etc. over the iPad I also much prefer the Windows look and way of working - even after a year of heavy use I actually don't find the apple system particularly intuitive. My take is that Apple are great marketers and have a slick looking product but it is short on practical benefits for the money. I also use an Windows phone. (My son has been bitten by the Apple "religion" so we argue all day about it - but I use both - and I pay the bills - so I'm right!).