Cheapest Android Tablet option

[kyleongwl]

The cheapest, most value for money tablet, is no doubt the Herotab C8 / Dropad A8 / Haipad M7. Over at DealExtreme, it is selling at 173 USD inclusive of courier charges.

I am a proud user of it. It is flashable to the latest 2.3 OS, with a built-in 4GB microSD, has a capacitive touch screen and best of all, a great community to support your tablet: http://www.slatedroid.com/forum/139-herotab-c8dropad-a8/

After installing PhoenixROM 1.0, the tablet instantly becomes a wonder. I'm not exaggerating because I don't work for any tablet vendors. Android Market works, Skype with video works, and so far, I've not encountered a problem.

Also, to whoever is worried about bricking Android tablets, it does not apply to this one. I repeat, you can NEVER brick this tablet. Sounds too ridiculous? Yes, I thought this is bullshat until I really bricked mine and unbricked it. If you understood the internals of the Android tablet, you'll understand the reason why it can never be bricked. More info over at Slatedroid: http://www.slatedroid.com/topic/19289-guide-revive-your-dead-tablet/

Companies are single entities which could open and close over time; a proper community will never die.

i do argee that Herotab C8 / Dropad A8 / Haipad M7 are the best known and grade A8 performer...The advantage of DreamPad is that there is unit in SGP for test...user could "feel" instead of "see" the experience...making a user have a better judgement. If someones brings in Herotab C8 / Dropad A8 / Haipad M7 for sale, it would be good..(like in Novo 8)

 

[w00tw00t]

i do argee that Herotab C8 / Dropad A8 / Haipad M7 are the best known and grade A8 performer...The advantage of DreamPad is that there is unit in SGP for test...user could "feel" instead of "see" the experience...making a user have a better judgement. If someones brings in Herotab C8 / Dropad A8 / Haipad M7 for sale, it would be good..(like in Novo 8)

Agreed. Having a physical test unit is definitely a major plus. On the other hand, having a reputable name and a strong history is more important to me. What I feel at a demo set for 10 minutes is never as certain as what thousands or tens of thousands of others who have felt the other device for months of usage.

I have a friend who bought a Vios without test driving it. No joke. With the established brand name and with a limited budget, he knows there wouldn't be a better option.

 

[innovativeint]

Agreed. Having a physical test unit is definitely a major plus. On the other hand, having a reputable name and a strong history is more important to me. What I feel at a demo set for 10 minutes is never as certain as what thousands or tens of thousands of others who have felt the other device for months of usage.

I have a friend who bought a Vios without test driving it. No joke. With the established brand name and with a limited budget, he knows there wouldn't be a better option.

will love to have a look at your pad if there is chance so we can learn....

 

[innovativeint]

Agreed. Having a physical test unit is definitely a major plus. On the other hand, having a reputable name and a strong history is more important to me. What I feel at a demo set for 10 minutes is never as certain as what thousands or tens of thousands of others who have felt the other device for months of usage.

I have a friend who bought a Vios without test driving it. No joke. With the established brand name and with a limited budget, he knows there wouldn't be a better option.

mind if you can share where can we can find the PhoenixROM 1.0? is it for 2.2 or 2.3?

we will love to try as everyone know custom rom is some how better than stock rom..=)

 

[w00tw00t]

will love to have a look at your pad if there is chance so we can learn....

If I were running a business, I'd buy competitor products to learn. The price to pay is next to nothing, as compared to how much I can improve my product after learning my competitor's mistakes as well as following its plus points.

Not that I'm teaching you business as I know nuts about selling stuff for I am purely a tech guy sharing my thoughts here.

One tip though: your Dreampad is using the default screen density and it makes it look kiddy. More info here: http://www.slatedroid.com/topic/17180-lcd-density-changes/
(screenshot site is down at the moment but the general idea is in text)

 

[w00tw00t]

mind if you can share where can we can find the PhoenixROM 1.0? is it for 2.2 or 2.3?

we will love to try as everyone know custom rom is some how better than stock rom..=)

http://www.slatedroid.com/forum/208-herotab-c8-firmware-development/

You can find the 3 most popular custom ROMs there, namely PhoenixMOD (I had wrongly stated it as PhoenixROM), C8lean and Cyanogen. I doubt the ROMs designed for Herotab C8 / Dropad / Haipad would work out-of-the-box on your products.

 

[w00tw00t]

A bizarre suggestion: bring in Herotab C8 / Dropad / Haipad instead. You would have a bunch of devoted tech support team who are really capable, for free.

 

[innovativeint]

If I were running a business, I'd buy competitor products to learn. The price to pay is next to nothing, as compared to how much I can improve my product after learning my competitor's mistakes as well as following its plus points.

Not that I'm teaching you business as I know nuts about selling stuff for I am purely a tech guy sharing my thoughts here.

One tip though: your Dreampad is using the default screen density and it makes it look kiddy. More info here: http://www.slatedroid.com/topic/17180-lcd-density-changes/
(screenshot site is down at the moment but the general idea is in text)

we are small company la, it take us 6 months to test and test , buy and buy then finally we feel our Dream comes true thats where dreampad come about... Given a choice working for company is good, some even have 6 months or a year bonus...

will need alot of helps from you guys....

 

[innovativeint]

A bizarre suggestion: bring in Herotab C8 / Dropad / Haipad instead. You would have a bunch of devoted tech support team who are really capable, for free.

we are buying the parts rather than buying from the brands coz we got f*** before when the supplier reduce cost on their bom to compete. I am not referring to pad but referring to MP3 era. brought 200pcs, 100pcs got problem , ship back , return still same problem then the supplier yaya papaya say you pay so cheap is this quality.. WTH...

 

[innovativeint]

If I were running a business, I'd buy competitor products to learn. The price to pay is next to nothing, as compared to how much I can improve my product after learning my competitor's mistakes as well as following its plus points.

Not that I'm teaching you business as I know nuts about selling stuff for I am purely a tech guy sharing my thoughts here.

One tip though: your Dreampad is using the default screen density and it makes it look kiddy. More info here: http://www.slatedroid.com/topic/17180-lcd-density-changes/
(screenshot site is down at the moment but the general idea is in text)

thanks for the tips, we will need to figure out how to root gingerbread first, we tried a few apk to root but does not works.

 

[w00tw00t]

we are small company la, it take us 6 months to test and test , buy and buy then finally we feel our Dream comes true thats where dreampad come about... Given a choice working for company is good, some even have 6 months or a year bonus...

will need alot of helps from you guys....

I have mates in small startups as well. In any case, I gather that you made your choice between: (1) pick an obscure OEM device and work hard to transform it; vs (2) pick an established device and fine tune it. I respect you for chasing your dream but as a consumer, I would think otherwise.

As for help, I suggest getting the real pros - the ROM devs - to enhance your software. Ship a free tablet to those renowned modders. If they are keen, they might just enhance your software, for free.

The other kind of help you need, is I suppose, support your company by buying your products because, you're a local company. Let's see... compare Apple vs Creative. As much as we can be patriotic, we can never support Creative that much, that long. Apple on the other hand is so successful not because they have requested Americans for support, but they produce good products that people desire.

 

[w00tw00t]

we are buying the parts rather than buying from the brands coz we got f*** before when the supplier reduce cost on their bom to compete. I am not referring to pad but referring to MP3 era. brought 200pcs, 100pcs got problem , ship back , return still same problem then the supplier yaya papaya say you pay so cheap is this quality.. WTH...

You assemble your tablets yourself? You have an assembly line that takes in LCD panels, PCBs, CPUs, solid state storage devices, etc, then assemble them into a working tablet? You also have a software development team to take care of the kernel, various system subsystems, as well as userland applications?

Your previous problem with MP3 players is unfortunate but doing business is never a bed of roses, else, there'd be many Sim Wong Hoos. Good luck.

 

[innovativeint]

You assemble your tablets yourself? You have an assembly line that takes in LCD panels, PCBs, CPUs, solid state storage devices, etc, then assemble them into a working tablet? You also have a software development team to take care of the kernel, various system subsystems, as well as userland applications?

Your previous problem with MP3 players is unfortunate but doing business is never a bed of roses, else, there'd be many Sim Wong Hoos. Good luck.

assemble in this case is like a DIY computer where the mainboards, processor all on board, just buy other parts and assemble together.... we do not go to the extend of SMT line.

on china end, all these parts , mainboard, screen, etc easy available in their market......the smallest factory i ever come across is 5 pple, they are no wrong too, they really assemble and has a finished product, they provide after sales support, warranty and all....

 

[w00tw00t]

thanks for the tips, we will need to figure out how to root gingerbread first, we tried a few apk to root but does not works.

From a OS security perspective, privilege escalation, aka exploiting a kernel vulnerability to gain full operating privileges, aka "rooting", is not as simple as getting one program and run it. If your hardware and software is not supported by the (priv esc) exploit, it would not work. As (priv esc) exploitation is performed usually via low level codes, they are hardware dependent. Assuming you overcome the hardware hurdle, you still have the software hurdle - is the software component you are exploiting, still vulnerable?

I can't say much for the Android platform as my knowledge is on the x86 architecture. But I suppose the general idea is the same.

Good luck in rooting your device.

 

[w00tw00t]

assemble in this case is like a DIY computer where the mainboards, processor all on board, just buy other parts and assemble together.... we do not go to the extend of SMT line.

on china end, all these parts , mainboard, screen, etc easy available in their market......the smallest factory i ever come across is 5 pple, they are no wrong too, they really assemble and has a finished product, they provide after sales support, warranty and all....

Thanks. I had misunderstood the scale of your operation. Yes, it is possible to do so w/o an assembly line.

 

[innovativeint]

From a OS security perspective, privilege escalation, aka exploiting a kernel vulnerability to gain full operating privileges, aka "rooting", is not as simple as getting one program and run it. If your hardware and software is not supported by the (priv esc) exploit, it would not work. As (priv esc) exploitation is performed usually via low level codes, they are hardware dependent. Assuming you overcome the hardware hurdle, you still have the software hurdle - is the software component you are exploiting, still vulnerable?

I can't say much for the Android platform as my knowledge is on the x86 architecture. But I suppose the general idea is the same.

Good luck in rooting your device.

thanks for tips........will try..............ZZZZzzzzz

 

[innovativeint]

Thanks. I had misunderstood the scale of your operation. Yes, it is possible to do so w/o an assembly line.

though we are small, we have a dream, lets hope the dream gets nearer every day..

 

[kyleongwl]

though we are small, we have a dream, lets hope the dream gets nearer every day..

support your dream...let's make it BIG...
Waiting for DreamPad III
Most probably buy a DreamPad I for my son to play around..and yes, my son had iphone, ipad, tablets etc...

 

[innovativeint]

support your dream...let's make it BIG...
Waiting for DreamPad III
Most probably buy a DreamPad I for my son to play around..and yes, my son had iphone, ipad, tablets etc...

thanks mate..

I am too old to seek god father but well envy your son.

DreamPad I all sold out now, not many pple has patience with resisitive screen....Next batch of DreamPad I should be using capacitive screen.

 

[innovativeint]

How to do G-Sensor Calibration in DreamPad II?

Settings -> Display -> G-Sensor Calibration