First the back story...a little explanation.
I picked up an iPad for mainly one reason, a media player...specifically a movie player that could play multiple movies without going dead (for those long flights.) I also wanted something I could pick up and use everyday without worrying about charging it up (just put it on the charger once a week or so.) The iPad fulfilled those requirements perfectly. Streaming Netflix was another bonus. I watched a two hour movie, streaming from Netflix, and only used 20% of the battery. The screen is great and everything runs smoothly.
Now for the bad things...the things that got me looking at Android tablets (after my experience with Android phone.)
1. I hate how apps close to open other ones. I hate how it closes mail to open a link, and then you have to go back and open your mail again (after closing the browser.)
2. I hate the single quit button. It would be nice if there were some basic menu buttons...a back button, a search button...etc. Different programs have unique ways to get to their settings...you have to figure out how to do it with each one.
3. While the browsing experience is fast and I haven't found a website that doesn't load, the lack of flash really messes with the experience. So many websites have flash videos on them. If those videos aren't linked to Youtube, there is no way to see them.
4. The lack of expansion/room is very limiting. I bought the 16Gb version, because I thought $400 was enough to pay (for a used one.) The camera kit used to work great to run USB drives but Apple shut that down by limiting the voltage output on the port. Now I've got to move stuff to the tablet when I want to view it. This makes loading it full of movies for a vacation a bigger PITA. I can't just bring the iPad. I need another device to load to it.
5. Media has to be reformatted for the narrow range that works on it. I've got a bunch of videos encoded for an older Archos that will need to be reencoded for the iPad.
6. Limited software. Some neat software isn't available because it doesn't meet Apples criteria.
After some looking around I stumbled upon the G-tablet. The reviews seemed to say the hardware was good (except for the limited viewing angle screen) and the built in Tap-n-Talk software (which could be minimized in the update or replaced altogeter.) Also, supposedly there were work arounds for the lack of Android Market.
I decided to take a chance on one and see if it was a good replacement for an iPad.
I picked it up a couple days ago and here is my experience, impressions with a tilt toward comparing it to an iPad.
First it did work...somewhat, out of the box. Within minutes of getting it, the tablet said there was an update. Based on what I read, I deleted all user contents before applying the update. Even with this caution, it did not go well. The machine force closed on Explorer and refused to play videos in the Youtube app (really just mobile Youtube) and force closed several times.
That started my journey to "fix" it. I repartioned the user area. I reinstalled the stock ROM several different ways. I installed the "vanilla" TNTlite. Finally I ran the nv_flash routine documented on XDA, which brought it back...to a somewhat working machine. From there I installed the latest TNTlite and it finally actually worked...though I still get the occasional force close...and even got a total reboot while surfing the internet.
Here are my peeves, so far.
1. The screen is really bad. Not only does it have a very narrow horizontal viewing angle, but the colors seem to be 8bit. In photos, where there is gradual transition in shade (like in a sky or a person's shirt) the color has big blocks of single color in it...like a paint by number. This is equivalent to those cheap photo frame screens you see. The poor viewing angle causes practical problems. For example, if you lay it on the counter, with a recipe open, you have to get right over it to read the recipe. It works much better if you can prop it up....would have been much nicer if it came with a little easel arm...like an HTC Evo (The iPad can get away with not having one because of it's wide viewing angles.)
2. The touch screen isn't responsive enough and seems to have different levels of responsiveness in different areas of the screen. I tried recalibrating it by the recommended methods, but it didn't help. Sometimes you have to press really deliberately to get something to happen. This really messes with the typing experience.
3. Despite doing all the market fixes I could find, still don't have full market. For example, only one Angry Birds was found.
4. Double tap to zoom, in the stock browser doesn't work correctly. It never wants to zoom on just the text block I'm reading, so I'm constantly having to pinch to zoom and then recenter.
5. The action buttons aren't illuminated...making them impossible to work in the dark. This was somewhat fixed by TNTlite's application of the buttons on the screen, but I find I still occasionally touch the action buttons inadvertently...because I can't see them.
6. While the browser supports flash, it doesn't do HTML5 and possibly the latest flash so I still get errors in pages with videos that won't play.
7. Netflix doesn't work in the stock browser (will it work in another one?)
8. Hulu doesn't work either (thinks it is an iPad??? Need to research alternative browsers further.)
9. Battery charging is slower.
So far, the negatives...especially the screen...are outweighing the positives. It will take a little more time to see if there are fixes (of course there won't be one for the screen.)
I picked up an iPad for mainly one reason, a media player...specifically a movie player that could play multiple movies without going dead (for those long flights.) I also wanted something I could pick up and use everyday without worrying about charging it up (just put it on the charger once a week or so.) The iPad fulfilled those requirements perfectly. Streaming Netflix was another bonus. I watched a two hour movie, streaming from Netflix, and only used 20% of the battery. The screen is great and everything runs smoothly.
Now for the bad things...the things that got me looking at Android tablets (after my experience with Android phone.)
1. I hate how apps close to open other ones. I hate how it closes mail to open a link, and then you have to go back and open your mail again (after closing the browser.)
2. I hate the single quit button. It would be nice if there were some basic menu buttons...a back button, a search button...etc. Different programs have unique ways to get to their settings...you have to figure out how to do it with each one.
3. While the browsing experience is fast and I haven't found a website that doesn't load, the lack of flash really messes with the experience. So many websites have flash videos on them. If those videos aren't linked to Youtube, there is no way to see them.
4. The lack of expansion/room is very limiting. I bought the 16Gb version, because I thought $400 was enough to pay (for a used one.) The camera kit used to work great to run USB drives but Apple shut that down by limiting the voltage output on the port. Now I've got to move stuff to the tablet when I want to view it. This makes loading it full of movies for a vacation a bigger PITA. I can't just bring the iPad. I need another device to load to it.
5. Media has to be reformatted for the narrow range that works on it. I've got a bunch of videos encoded for an older Archos that will need to be reencoded for the iPad.
6. Limited software. Some neat software isn't available because it doesn't meet Apples criteria.
After some looking around I stumbled upon the G-tablet. The reviews seemed to say the hardware was good (except for the limited viewing angle screen) and the built in Tap-n-Talk software (which could be minimized in the update or replaced altogeter.) Also, supposedly there were work arounds for the lack of Android Market.
I decided to take a chance on one and see if it was a good replacement for an iPad.
I picked it up a couple days ago and here is my experience, impressions with a tilt toward comparing it to an iPad.
First it did work...somewhat, out of the box. Within minutes of getting it, the tablet said there was an update. Based on what I read, I deleted all user contents before applying the update. Even with this caution, it did not go well. The machine force closed on Explorer and refused to play videos in the Youtube app (really just mobile Youtube) and force closed several times.
That started my journey to "fix" it. I repartioned the user area. I reinstalled the stock ROM several different ways. I installed the "vanilla" TNTlite. Finally I ran the nv_flash routine documented on XDA, which brought it back...to a somewhat working machine. From there I installed the latest TNTlite and it finally actually worked...though I still get the occasional force close...and even got a total reboot while surfing the internet.
Here are my peeves, so far.
1. The screen is really bad. Not only does it have a very narrow horizontal viewing angle, but the colors seem to be 8bit. In photos, where there is gradual transition in shade (like in a sky or a person's shirt) the color has big blocks of single color in it...like a paint by number. This is equivalent to those cheap photo frame screens you see. The poor viewing angle causes practical problems. For example, if you lay it on the counter, with a recipe open, you have to get right over it to read the recipe. It works much better if you can prop it up....would have been much nicer if it came with a little easel arm...like an HTC Evo (The iPad can get away with not having one because of it's wide viewing angles.)
2. The touch screen isn't responsive enough and seems to have different levels of responsiveness in different areas of the screen. I tried recalibrating it by the recommended methods, but it didn't help. Sometimes you have to press really deliberately to get something to happen. This really messes with the typing experience.
3. Despite doing all the market fixes I could find, still don't have full market. For example, only one Angry Birds was found.
4. Double tap to zoom, in the stock browser doesn't work correctly. It never wants to zoom on just the text block I'm reading, so I'm constantly having to pinch to zoom and then recenter.
5. The action buttons aren't illuminated...making them impossible to work in the dark. This was somewhat fixed by TNTlite's application of the buttons on the screen, but I find I still occasionally touch the action buttons inadvertently...because I can't see them.
6. While the browser supports flash, it doesn't do HTML5 and possibly the latest flash so I still get errors in pages with videos that won't play.
7. Netflix doesn't work in the stock browser (will it work in another one?)
8. Hulu doesn't work either (thinks it is an iPad??? Need to research alternative browsers further.)
9. Battery charging is slower.
So far, the negatives...especially the screen...are outweighing the positives. It will take a little more time to see if there are fixes (of course there won't be one for the screen.)
Last edited:
haha
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