Actual owner Reviews for the Lenovo A1?

[Charlesleonard]

I'm still waiting for my A1 to ship but am wondering how those that have received their units feel about Them?
Hopefully some have received theirs and wouldn't mind letting us know how you feel about them.
I'm especially interested in how the GPS works with the included Navdroyd app, how responsive the Doc's to go is, and any other productivity apps you use. But please don't limit your comments to just work type apps, any games you like or dislike, how does Netflicks, Hulu, etc work and Look? How is 'wifi' working, any problems connecting or keeping a Connection?
In short are you more or less happy, will you keep the Unit? Please don't just put a link to someone else's review. Many of "them" just seem to be a "cut and paste" of the manufacturer's PR release.

Thanks in advance, and looking forward to your comments and hopefully getting my own A1 some day soon.
Charles

 

[anon(22163)]

OK I'll give it a shot. Just got mine on Friday and I''ve played with it for about 2 hours now.

Pretty sleek and slick looking device. Shiny black cover and reasonable thin form factor. Everybody I gave it to though it was heavier then they expected, to me it does have some heft but doesn't seem particularly out of whack. Other then the weight it was well received.

Has a somewhat unique and odd launcher not sure if I'll keep that or what. Works fine for me others I know hate it. There are 5 home screens to fill up with junk. I done some reading with Pulse, NYTimes, Google Currents, and Zinio all of those apps seem to work pretty well. I have not speed tested the wireless but the wireless signal seems to work as well as my DX2 and Dell E6410 notebook. Overall it works just like an oversized smartphone. Simplistic I know but it's true.

The software package it comes with is rather basic. Which I suppose is good and bad. Frankly I'd rather have my own stuff then a bunch of junk i don't use. The Navdroyd app I tried, and is useless. It's only a lite version and comes with one state I think. For $3 I just bought copilot instead. It has some other music and movie app but I haven't tried it. It also has the Lenovo market, which I don't even think I looked at. Android Market is there and in full effect.

Some Bad things:

I have had it freeze up once on me, I don't know how to restart it since the battery doesn't come out but it rebooted on it's own after about 2-3 minutes so not sure what that is about. Hard to say if that's a problem. I had previously installed probably 30 apps in a short time.

It's not the fastest thing on earth. This thing will not wow you with speed. The haptic feedback is useless it vibrates about 0.5 seconds after the key press. Power on / off / unlocking is slightly delayed by 0.5 seconds as well. Seems ok for websurfing and apps. Haven't played any games.

The touch screen is not the greatest either. You just have to maybe push a little more firmly then my Droid X2. Also sliding between home screen is a little frustrating because you have to swipe about 2/3 of the screen across. (similar to my Droid X except the screen and swiping motion is smaller) To be honest the speed is sort of similar to the original Droid X with 2.3 android. (the DX2 is noticeable faster)

The glass (?) coating on the screen is definitely not the slick Apple coating. Your finger prints build up like mad. However when screen is on you don't see them.

The viewing angle is not the best. If you are holding it in your hand that's fine, but if you have it propped up watching a movie or something I could see where that is an issue.

The buttons on the bottom are capacitive touch like an HTC Incredible however they don't light up until you touch them. So in the dark you have to know where they are other wise you are thumbing around repeatly hitting them. Not sure if there is a way to leave them turned on.

So it has some drawbacks but none to disappointing in my opinion. Overall I think it's a great value and a great device for $200. Yes there are better tablets, but I haven't seen one that's better for $200. I did briefly look at a kindle fire at best buy and I think the Lenovo is quite a bit better then that. So far I like it lot, we'll see how it fares in the coming days.

Hopefully this gives a good opinion, I'll try to monitor this thread for a couple days if there are questions.

 

[Greenwyvern]

Charles, I have a K1 so will let A1 owners do more talking. However just wanted to tip you off about the Docs to Go App. If the A1 comes with the full version like the K1 does, do not upgrade it through the Lenovo market. You will lose the full version and actually downgrade to the free version. And remember when you get upgrade notices the device will automatically use the Lenovo market. There is a full discussion of this and other A1/K1 problems over on the Lenovo home page forum site.

 

[Charlesleonard]

Charles, I have a K1 so will let A1 owners do more talking. However just wanted to tip you off about the Docs to Go App. If the A1 comes with the full version like the K1 does, do not upgrade it through the Lenovo market. You will lose the full version and actually downgrade to the free version. And remember when you get upgrade notices the device will automatically use the Lenovo market. There is a full discussion of this and other A1/K1 problems over on the Lenovo home page forum site.

A big thanks for that tip. Mine should arrive next Tuesday.

 

[Greenwyvern]

Just to clarify .....I think it is ok to upgrade from the Docs to Go site itself. But just to be on safe side I would go into setting/applications/Doc to Go and write down your registration number and any Lenovo bundle info. (I think you will get an email too after registration). it might have in case you have to call or email Dataviz.

 

[anon(22163)]

This it seems as though this device can be charged off any microusb.

 

[anon(22163)]

Also for other owners there is a post/ review on xda that explains how to root and install set CPU. That does make a large difference in speed. Much improved.

 

[Charlesleonard]

Got home yesterday and the box was on my steps. Charged it up and started to install my favorite apps. So far all work and other then having to get used to the smaller screen size(other tablets are Acer A500 and a first Gen Ipad) no major differences.
With only a few hours using it my observations are as follows.


Wifi no drops and seems to be slightly better then my A500.

I agree with all other comments about the difficulty in locating the back and home screen buttons when they are blacked out. Perhaps a software update will allow them to stay lighted whenever the tablet is in use.

My display test was to turn on all 3 devices and watch the same Netflicks program at the same time. For the price point the display is perfectly acceptable.
Ipad $499
A500 $429(at Costco)
A1 $199(through Amazon)

As far as the weight of the device goes, I deal with equipment and replacing parts all day so the 14 oz or even the 24 oz weight of the others is totally acceptable.

I find it easily held in one hand.

After the short time I've had it I would make the following recommendations
1. Get a screen protector if you plan on using outside a perfect environment. It's definitely a fingerprint and dust magnet. Cleaning the screen repeatedly will possibly scratch it.
2. I plan to get a case to make it easier to hold and not drop as easily.

I am not disappointed in what I've seen so far and for the price it is a good value.