[bankster]

I thought it might be helpful for us to compile a list of sites that are selling the Novo 7 Aurora. Also, it would be awesome if we could list not only the sites that are selling the Aurora's but also if you bought one from that site how you would rate the transaction, shipping time, customer service, etc..

Also, if you are going to post maybe we should try to stay in an easy to read format. Maybe something like:

Site name:
Did you buy the Aurora here: Yes/No
Cost + Shipping?:
How long did it take to arrive?:
What country was the tablet shipped to?:
Feel free to add anything else you think potential buyers would like to know.

This post has been edited by bankster: 27 January 2012 - 10:48 AM

[MrTasselhof]

Site name: Merimobiles.com
- Current Cost: $174.99 + Free Standard Shipping or Pay to upgrade to DHL Shipping
- http://www.merimobiles.com/Ainol_NOVO_Aurora_IPS_HD_screen_ICS_4_0_8GB_1GB_p/meri0729.htm
Did you buy the Aurora here?: Sent from them for Review
When was the order placed?: Unknown
When did the order arrive?: 01-20-12
Were there any delays? Holiday? Customs? Other?: No
How was it shipped?: DHL
How much was shipping?: Unknown
How long did it take to arrive?: 2 Days once it was in DHL's hands
What country was the tablet shipped to?: USA
Did you pay Customs Fees?: No
Did you pay Tax/VAT?: No
Would you buy from them again in the future?: Yes

Tasselhof

This post has been edited by MrTasselhof: 27 January 2012 - 10:40 AM

[durango99]

Site name: Pandawill.com
Cost: $154.99 + Free Registered AirMail Shipping
- http://www.pandawill...ack-p55391.html
Did you buy the Aurora here?: Yes
When was the order placed?: 01-17-2012
When did the order arrive?: Has not arrived yet (will edit later) 02-04-2012
Were there any delays? Holiday? Customs? Other?: Has been shipped but still processing at sort facility at Singapore Post (assume Holiday delay)
How was it shipped?: Singapore Post
How much was shipping?: Free
How long did it take to arrive?: Has not arrived yet (will edit later) about 14 business days
What country was the tablet shipped to?: USA
Did you pay Customs Fees?: No
Did you pay Tax/VAT?: No
Would you buy from them again in the future?: Yes

This post has been edited by durango99: 06 February 2012 - 01:04 PM

[Dr Martin]

Site name: Pandawill.com
Cost: $154.55
How much was shipping?: Free (registered)
When was the order placed?: 01-18-2012
How long did it take to arrive?: 6 days
Were there any delays? Holiday? Customs? Other?: No. But I did the site-chat with Pandawill to be sure it would get out before Chinese New Years. Ordered the 8GB black model which seemed to be the only model in stock (despite rumors on other sites that only the 16GB was available anywhere before Chinese New Years)
How was it shipped?: Singapore Post
What country was the tablet shipped to?: Sweden
Did you pay Customs Fees?: No - was marked as "life goods" value of "$20"
Did you pay Tax/VAT?: No, see above
Would you buy from them again in the future?: Yes. Very happy with Pandawill.com.

This post has been edited by Dr Martin: 30 January 2012 - 03:59 AM

[CyberBrain]

Site name: chinagrabber.com
Price: $179.99 + Free Standard Shipping (16GB version)
When was the order placed?: 01-14-12
When was the order shipped?: 01-19-12
When did the order arrive?: 01-27-12
Were there any delays? Holiday? Customs? Other?: 3 days to clear customs in NY
How was it shipped?: Hong Kong Registered Mail
How much was shipping?: Free
How long did it take to arrive?: 1 week
What country was the tablet shipped to?: USA
Did you pay Customs Fees?: No
Did you pay Tax/VAT?: No
Would you buy from them again in the future?: Yes
Comment 1: The box was a bit smashed but the tablet was fine.
Comment 2: I ordered a Novo 7 Elf from them 3 days before I ordered the Aurora. The Elf has not arrived yet. It's in the US, on its way.

CyberBrain

This post has been edited by CyberBrain: 27 January 2012 - 09:41 PM

[viper42391]

Site name: chinagrabber.com
Price: $184.99 + Free Standard Shipping (16GB version)(Currently $175.99)
When was the order placed?: 01-17-12
When was the order shipped?: 01-19-12
When did the order arrive?: 1/30/12
How was it shipped?: Hong Kong Post
How much was shipping?: Free
How long did it take to arrive?: 13 Days
What country was the tablet shipped to?: USA
Did you pay Customs Fees?: No
Did you pay Tax/VAT?: No
Would you buy from them again in the future?: Not bad, arrived in an envelope, a little dented, and the power supply and HDMI cable were in the envelope outside of the box.. They had changed it to english for me, so they must be getting complaints and started to do it for people. Not a bad experience for me though.

This post has been edited by viper42391: 30 January 2012 - 05:50 PM

[rastus]

Bit of an odd situation.. I prepaid (prebought) an Elf from ChinaGrabber on the 5th of January... especially so I would beat the new year's close.
They didn't respond to my emails other than to say I would be in the 1st batch to be sent.. they then started advertising them as instock on their site..
Finally, they admitted they stuffed up and I somehow got missed.. but then wanted me to wait for the end of their holiday before they ship. The stock they had was already shipped to new buyers)

End result.. it will be more than a month from pre-payment to them even sending the goods !

Moral of story : don't pre-pay Chinagrabber.com they treat this as money in the bank and try to make new sales with new stock instead.

I am going to dig my heels in and demand they either refund or replace it with Aurora (happy to pay some diff).

Site name: China Grabber
Did you buy the Aurora here: Hopefully. If Paypal makes them refund already paid money for non-delivered item

Cost + Shipping?: tba
How long did it take to arrive?: elf never arrived (almost 1 month since payment and I know others got their goods when they paid only 2 weeks ago).
What country was the tablet shipped to?: Australia is where it was meant to be shipped
Feel free to add anything else you think potential buyers would like to know. Avoid buying pre-order from Chinagrabber.com
Would I buy from them again ? Not in a fit... once I get this rip-off sorted I will avoid them like the plague.

[tdwuk]

Site name: chinagrabber.com
Price: $175.99 (16GB) + $40 Express Shipping
When was the order placed?: 28/01/2012
When was the order shipped?:
When did the order arrive?:
How was it shipped?:
How much was shipping?: $40
How long did it take to arrive?:
What country was the tablet shipped to?: UK
Did you pay Customs Fees?:
Did you pay Tax/VAT?:
Would you buy from them again in the future?:

[pillowtablet]

Site name: Merimobiles.com
Price: $174.99 (8GB)
When was the order placed?: 28/01/2012
How much was shipping?: $23 (DHL Express 3-6 Days)
What country was the tablet shipped to?: Australia

I know it's cheaper on Chinagrabber, but I bought a Flytouch 3 from them last year and it arrived with a dead pixel. Never again.

Edit:

Shipping type added.

Edit #2 - 15th Feb Update:

On Feb 6 I contacted them to ask when my order would be shipped and I was told the next day that it would be shipped "this week". On Feb 11 I contacted them again to confirm what they told me and their answer changed to "Your product will be ship as soon as possible."

It's been 9 days since they told me it was going to be shipped "this week" and I still haven't received a shipping confirmation. I just contacted them again to ask if they're able to give me solid date and if their next reply turns out to be inaccurate I'll be looking to cancel. I've read about the factory delays and that's understandable, but it's the jerking around their customers part that does it for me.


Edit #3 - 20th Feb Update:

On the 15th I threatened to cancel my order to hurry them up a little (but mostly because they sent an Aurora out to a customer who placed their order after me.. no offense to the_n00b). Their response was pretty much "we'll ship by the end of next week + free 8GB memory card if you don't cancel."

/end rant

Edit #4 - 21st Feb Update:

After some thought I've decided to cancel my order with Merimobiles. I'm going with Bestmid.com seeing as they have some solid dates posted on their Aurora page. I don't get a free 8GB SD card from them, but at this point I just don't care. Hopefully Bestmid are a bit more honest.

This post has been edited by pillowtablet: 21 February 2012 - 12:05 AM

[pinny716]

Site name: Pandawill.com
Current Cost: $157.99 + Free Registered Air Mail + 69.99 Squaretrade 2 Year Warranty incl. drop, spill etc.
Did you buy the Aurora here?: Yes
When was the order placed?: 1/25/12
When did the order arrive?: tba
Were there any delays? Holiday? Customs? Other?: Hasn't been shipped out yet due to holiday
How was it shipped?: tba
How much was shipping?: $0
How long did it take to arrive?: tba
What country was the tablet shipped to?: USA
Did you pay Customs Fees?: tba
Did you pay Tax/VAT?: tba
Would you buy from them again in the future?: tba

[CyberBrain]

pillowtablet, on 28 January 2012 - 04:44 PM, said:

Site name: Merimobiles.com
Price: $174.99 (8GB)
When was the order placed?: 28/01/2012
How much was shipping?: Free (Registered Airmail 14-21 Buisiness Days)
What country was the tablet shipped to?: Australia

I know it's cheaper on Chinagrabber, but I bought a Flytouch 3 from them last year and it arrived with a dead pixel. Never again.

Edit: Shipping type added.

After reading your post I went closely looking at my Aurora and discovered 4 dead pixels. The thing is they are barely noticeable with the naked eye as the resolution and pixels density is so high. I guess this are the risks of buying cheap things from China...

[KMA]

Site name: Pandawill.com
Cost: $154.99 + Free Registered AirMail Shipping
- http://www.pandawill...ack-p55391.html
Did you buy the Aurora here?: Yes
When was the order placed?: 01-29-2012
When did the order arrive?: Canceled order on 2/29 and received refund on 3/1
Were there any delays? Holiday? Customs? Other?: Last day of CNY, should be processed tomorrow
How was it shipped?: Registered AirMail
How much was shipping?: Free
How long did it take to arrive?: Canceled order on 2/29 and received refund on 3/1
What country was the tablet shipped to?: USA
Did you pay Customs Fees?: N/A
Did you pay Tax/VAT?: N/A
Would you buy from them again in the future?: Probably not. My biggest issue was claiming to have the tablet "in stock". Pandawill interprets "in stock" as still being able to get them from the manufacturer (i.e. not discontinued).

This post has been edited by KMA: 02 March 2012 - 10:39 AM

[CarsonUK]

Site name: Pandawill.com
Cost: $157.99 + Free Registered AirMail Shipping
- http://www.pandawill...ack-p55391.html
Did you buy the Aurora here?: Yes
When was the order placed?: 01-27-2012
When did the order arrive?: Has not arrived yet (will edit later)
Were there any delays? Holiday? Customs? Other?: During new year, hopefully processed tomorrow.
How was it shipped?: Registered AirMail
How much was shipping?: Free
How long did it take to arrive?: Has not arrived yet (will edit later)
What country was the tablet shipped to?: UK
Did you pay Customs Fees?: TBA
Did you pay Tax/VAT?: TBA
Would you buy from them again in the future?: TBA

[rc3675]

Site name: gadgetfreakz.co.uk
Cost: £143.99 (16GB model) includes VAT and delivery - http://gadgetfreakz....ips-tablet.html
Did you buy the Aurora here?: Yes
When was the order placed?: 01-30-2012
When was the order shipped?: 02-20-2012
When did the order arrive?: 02-21-2021
Were there any delays? Holiday? Customs? Other?: Pre-Order. CNY. Same delays as most people with factory delays.
How was it shipped?: Next day courier
How much was shipping?: Free
How long did it take to arrive?: see above
What country was the tablet shipped to?: UK
Did you pay Customs Fees?: None as shipped from UK
Did you pay Tax/VAT?: Already included in the price
Would you buy from them again in the future?: The communications during all the delays has been excellent. Definite Yes.

This post has been edited by rc3675: 22 February 2012 - 04:18 AM

[Jelly Jim]

^ That's really disappointing. They should at least be honest and say that they don't have the items in stock (of course, I know that this is China and shouldn't expect great service).

[!Sumit]

I know. I'm a bit dissapointed too. But I don't think anyone has the device in stock at moment. Maybe someone who bought from Chinagrabber or Merimobiles can update us on that (those who bought recently during holiday time ofcourse). That way, we will know atleast that if one company has Aurora in stock, then other one should also have it soon enough.
Gadgetfreakz will also have it by 10th Feb. By then, hopefully our Aurora's will be on the way already. I don't want to wait 2 freaking weeks to get a tracking code and then another 10-11 days for free shipping to reach here.

[Jelly Jim]

!Sumit, on 30 January 2012 - 10:48 AM, said:

I know. I'm a bit dissapointed too. But I don't think anyone has the device in stock at moment. Maybe someone who bought from Chinagrabber or Merimobiles can update us on that (those who bought recently during holiday time ofcourse). That way, we will know atleast that if one company has Aurora in stock, then other one should also have it soon enough.
Gadgetfreakz will also have it by 10th Feb. By then, hopefully our Aurora's will be on the way already. I don't want to wait 2 freaking weeks to get a tracking code and then another 10-11 days for free shipping to reach here.

I'm tempted to cancel my order with Pandawill and place a new order with Gadgetfreakz instead - their price is much better than I was expecting!

If I ended up paying customs fees on the Pandawill import, it'll be the same price, if not a little more than Gadgetfreakz - with that in mind, a UK supplier would be far, far more preferable.

I wonder how long it will take to get a cancellation processed?

[PokerKing]

Site name: Pandawill.com
Cost: $157.99 + EMS Shipping $24 to USA
Did you buy the Aurora here?: Yes
When was the order placed?: 01-29-2012
When did the order arrive?: Has not arrived yet
Were there any delays? Holiday? Customs? Other?:
How was it shipped?: EMS Shipping
How much was shipping?: $24
How long did it take to arrive?: Has not arrived yet (will edit later)
What country was the tablet shipped to?: USA
Did you pay Customs Fees?: TBA
Did you pay Tax/VAT?: TBA
Would you buy from them again in the future?: TBA


I was on the live chat yesterday and Pandawill indicated that the 8GB Aurora was in-stock and that it would be shipping the same day. I guess we will find out, especially since it sounds like others have received different information from them on stock status

[!Sumit]

Jelly Jim, on 30 January 2012 - 11:00 AM, said:

I'm tempted to cancel my order with Pandawill and place a new order with Gadgetfreakz instead - their price is much better than I was expecting!

If I ended up paying customs fees on the Pandawill import, it'll be the same price, if not a little more than Gadgetfreakz - with that in mind, a UK supplier would be far, far more preferable.

I wonder how long it will take to get a cancellation processed?

As I had written before also that if someone's from UK, then certainly Gadgetfreakz would be much better choice, simply because of their service & warranty/guarantee.
I think the money will take quite sometime to get back in your account if you cancel the order from them. That's how Paypal is I suppose.
I will keep my patience as I don't really have enough balance in the meantime to order somewhere else; nor do I have patience to wait for the money to come back ofcourse as by then, the tablet would be shipped from Pandawill anyways.

[mrspin]

Jelly Jim, on 30 January 2012 - 11:00 AM, said:

I'm tempted to cancel my order with Pandawill and place a new order with Gadgetfreakz instead - their price is much better than I was expecting!

If I ended up paying customs fees on the Pandawill import, it'll be the same price, if not a little more than Gadgetfreakz - with that in mind, a UK supplier would be far, far more preferable.

I wonder how long it will take to get a cancellation processed?

I'm in a similar position - ordered via a Chinese-based UK webshop without realising the GadgetFreakz shop even existed (and their attractive price). I agree, a UK supplier is far more attractive to me - especially one that is willing to test the device prior to shipping to me. Hmm.