Help
dinsight3fl, on 04 February 2012 - 09:26 AM, said:
MY Review:
Update to my review:
I am able now to connect to either AT & T or T Mobile USA sim. The problem is the radio in this unit is very weak reception. I have very good signal on my small cell phone using same SIM, but no connection with Tablet. I must travel around the city to find a connection.
That said, there is still no 3G for these USA networks as I believe it is still a frequency problem. This unit uses the Europe version of the Huwaie 509 3G card inside. There are two versions and each version also has phone / audio option.
This unit DOES work for voice calls. It has the voice / audio option of the 509 3G card. I have tested it and I can make and receive calls.
Pros:
This is a nice 7 inch android 2.3 tablet. (using stock Android interface, not the "3.0 UI update Firmware that is out there from Manf. SAAYI) It has no wasted real estate around the screen. Just enough to grip it without touching the active screen area and a nice solid clicking return button on the right (or bottom) side. The launcher / desktop is very clean and efficient. The application user interface has a nice three dimensional "rolling" screen holding all your icons. Boot time is reasonable and the screen is sharp and has a very smooth touch response. The tablet tethers to your phone wifi with no modification and I find the wifi to have very good reception and always switching to the strongest connection (when I return home it switches from tether to home wifi instantly) Why tether with built in 3G? See the cons after the break. Tablet roots easily with Gingerbreak and additional ADB commands to remount SU. (See Slatedroid post) Market can be improved with many of the usual screen density mods after rooting. GPS works great with Google maps (all google apps are included in stock Firmware except Maps) navigation, but others report problems with GPS. I could not get it to work with NavFree program as it indicated "poor GPS". GPS test programs show connections but do not show "accuracy" as my Herotab c9 with similar specifications. So there may be some issue with GPS sensitivity and some applications that use it. Microphone sensitivity is great and goolge voice commands work well. Many tables have poor mics and voice commands are not that great. Camera in rear is ok, but I could not get Skype or any of the modified versions of it to connect with video though the front camera does function ok. Speaker volume is adequate, but not loud. Power supply plug connector is very solid compared to my Herotab C9 which I am afraid is going to snap off because it does not engage up to the rubber shroud. Bluetooth connected good to one out of two of my audio devices and allows file transfer as well with proper apk installed or EStrong file program included. Also connects well with OBD2 module from DX. I have installed a 16MB tf card and it reads it fine.
Cons:
First and foremost con for me is the fact that my USA Tmobile SIM would not make any connection though the tablet does read it and finds the provder (the radio is working). Perhaps the frequencies are not compatible as I understand that Tmobile in USA needs 1700 MHZ along with 2100 MHZ that is included. Others report that Rogers Wireless in Canada works fine for 3G and EDGE. I gave up an am using the tether option. Lack of a matching screen protector ( I modded a Kindle Fire which covers all of the active screen area or case is an issue for me. Battery life is pretty good if you put it to sleep (and have wifi set to sleep when screen is off) and can lasdt me most of the day with moderate intermitent use. Constant wifi use and downloading will yield only about 3-4 hours max in my opinion. Internal memory is claimed to me 4gb Nand. It is a FIXED chip on the board and not a TF card that you can upgrade as some other dropad A8 configurations.
Other Thoughts:
I bought this tab as a permanent device for my car. I found a cheap charger, a nice solid mount and wired it into my audio system. That with my little android phone and 3G monthly plan fired up on that extra phone, I have a pretty complete and reliable auto tab including large format voice activated GPS, OBD2 bluetooth interface and Torque software running, plenty of audio books and music downloaded so I can get rid of my satellite radio subscriptions that have surpassed my monthly 5 gb data plan cost.
Bottomline:
Good tablet for the money, though the built in 3G is a waste for me unless I travel to another country where the 2100 MHZ band is most prevalent. I wish there was one these of similar specs with BT and GPS android 2.3 but no built in 3G for a little less money. Compared to the Herotab C9 I bought one week before DX released this it is a bargain for $40 less, android 2.3 instead of 2.2, build quality much better and much more efficient controls and form factor. I am selling the C9 as it would only give me EDGE data in USA with T-Mobile or AT & T data Sims.
Update to my review:
I am able now to connect to either AT & T or T Mobile USA sim. The problem is the radio in this unit is very weak reception. I have very good signal on my small cell phone using same SIM, but no connection with Tablet. I must travel around the city to find a connection.
That said, there is still no 3G for these USA networks as I believe it is still a frequency problem. This unit uses the Europe version of the Huwaie 509 3G card inside. There are two versions and each version also has phone / audio option.
This unit DOES work for voice calls. It has the voice / audio option of the 509 3G card. I have tested it and I can make and receive calls.
Pros:
This is a nice 7 inch android 2.3 tablet. (using stock Android interface, not the "3.0 UI update Firmware that is out there from Manf. SAAYI) It has no wasted real estate around the screen. Just enough to grip it without touching the active screen area and a nice solid clicking return button on the right (or bottom) side. The launcher / desktop is very clean and efficient. The application user interface has a nice three dimensional "rolling" screen holding all your icons. Boot time is reasonable and the screen is sharp and has a very smooth touch response. The tablet tethers to your phone wifi with no modification and I find the wifi to have very good reception and always switching to the strongest connection (when I return home it switches from tether to home wifi instantly) Why tether with built in 3G? See the cons after the break. Tablet roots easily with Gingerbreak and additional ADB commands to remount SU. (See Slatedroid post) Market can be improved with many of the usual screen density mods after rooting. GPS works great with Google maps (all google apps are included in stock Firmware except Maps) navigation, but others report problems with GPS. I could not get it to work with NavFree program as it indicated "poor GPS". GPS test programs show connections but do not show "accuracy" as my Herotab c9 with similar specifications. So there may be some issue with GPS sensitivity and some applications that use it. Microphone sensitivity is great and goolge voice commands work well. Many tables have poor mics and voice commands are not that great. Camera in rear is ok, but I could not get Skype or any of the modified versions of it to connect with video though the front camera does function ok. Speaker volume is adequate, but not loud. Power supply plug connector is very solid compared to my Herotab C9 which I am afraid is going to snap off because it does not engage up to the rubber shroud. Bluetooth connected good to one out of two of my audio devices and allows file transfer as well with proper apk installed or EStrong file program included. Also connects well with OBD2 module from DX. I have installed a 16MB tf card and it reads it fine.
Cons:
First and foremost con for me is the fact that my USA Tmobile SIM would not make any connection though the tablet does read it and finds the provder (the radio is working). Perhaps the frequencies are not compatible as I understand that Tmobile in USA needs 1700 MHZ along with 2100 MHZ that is included. Others report that Rogers Wireless in Canada works fine for 3G and EDGE. I gave up an am using the tether option. Lack of a matching screen protector ( I modded a Kindle Fire which covers all of the active screen area or case is an issue for me. Battery life is pretty good if you put it to sleep (and have wifi set to sleep when screen is off) and can lasdt me most of the day with moderate intermitent use. Constant wifi use and downloading will yield only about 3-4 hours max in my opinion. Internal memory is claimed to me 4gb Nand. It is a FIXED chip on the board and not a TF card that you can upgrade as some other dropad A8 configurations.
Other Thoughts:
I bought this tab as a permanent device for my car. I found a cheap charger, a nice solid mount and wired it into my audio system. That with my little android phone and 3G monthly plan fired up on that extra phone, I have a pretty complete and reliable auto tab including large format voice activated GPS, OBD2 bluetooth interface and Torque software running, plenty of audio books and music downloaded so I can get rid of my satellite radio subscriptions that have surpassed my monthly 5 gb data plan cost.
Bottomline:
Good tablet for the money, though the built in 3G is a waste for me unless I travel to another country where the 2100 MHZ band is most prevalent. I wish there was one these of similar specs with BT and GPS android 2.3 but no built in 3G for a little less money. Compared to the Herotab C9 I bought one week before DX released this it is a bargain for $40 less, android 2.3 instead of 2.2, build quality much better and much more efficient controls and form factor. I am selling the C9 as it would only give me EDGE data in USA with T-Mobile or AT & T data Sims.
Hey there.. New to the forums and i just got my 7'' Dropad A8T with 2.3 and Wifi only no 3g from dealextreme.. I to am running the Torque app but basically just wanted this for that reason.. Does the tablet run any better with Honeycomb 3.0? I went to the saayi website to get the firmware upgrade but can't figure out how to load it.. Do i even need this upgrade? I just got this tablet 3 days ago.
Any links to a Honeycomb 3.0 upgrade? The only thing i don't like is the Market is limited.. I also plan on using the tablet for GPS... I need a GPS receiver and i'll probably use Sygic or NavFree for my navigation..
Good post.... Any help would be great.. Thanks
I guess we need an A8T forum aswell?
