Guest JustaBloke Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 They're not impressed... http://www.reghardware.com/2011/03/08/revi...t_android_vega/ It's going to get a complete kicking as it's just not suitable to be sold at retail. I agree with the reviewer that (though I love mine because I've found this forum and was able to follow the instructions on it) most people will hate the thing as DSG are shipping it right now. See what you think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lennyuk Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 They're not impressed... http://www.reghardware.com/2011/03/08/revi...t_android_vega/ It's going to get a complete kicking as it's just not suitable to be sold at retail. I agree with the reviewer that (though I love mine because I've found this forum and was able to follow the instructions on it) most people will hate the thing as DSG are shipping it right now. See what you think. you have to remember, DSG are expecting most people to find this site and mod the thing. I doubt they seriously expect the majority of people to keep it on the stock rom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest countrylad Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 I'd say it was a pretty fair review. I'd have thrown it out of the window if it hadn't been for the Modaco ROM! As it is, I'm very happy with mine and it got us into the Android tablet game way ahead of other people - got to be some kudos in that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest g6hoq Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 They're not impressed... http://www.reghardware.com/2011/03/08/revi...t_android_vega/ It's going to get a complete kicking as it's just not suitable to be sold at retail. I agree with the reviewer that (though I love mine because I've found this forum and was able to follow the instructions on it) most people will hate the thing as DSG are shipping it right now. See what you think. As expected, but true. And yet, look at comparative reviews by the hacks at el Reg, and the Archos 101 gets 85% !! go figure.... less power, less memory BUT access to a minimal marketplace out of the box... I think the Vega can access the Archos market out of the box too... pity DSG doesnt make more of that as that site has a full market access app on it. Still I am happy with mine, it will do until someone buys me an iPad... Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dagrim1 Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 you have to remember, DSG are expecting most people to find this site and mod the thing. I doubt they seriously expect the majority of people to keep it on the stock rom. Imo that's a big mistake though... And apart from that, they should deliver a device which is fine by default. Not expect the community to get it fixed (or expect everyone to simply find the right places and have the knowledge/will to keep up to date or upgrade roms and all.). The stock rom is the first impression people get, if it's crap (which at least the very first version pretty much was) it might be enough to return it right away. Simply put, by default it's lacking but it has great potential (and if you know what you're getting into and what you're doing it's a great device, especially for the money). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest .stu Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 (edited) They're not impressed... http://www.reghardware.com/2011/03/08/revi...t_android_vega/ It's going to get a complete kicking as it's just not suitable to be sold at retail. I agree with the reviewer that (though I love mine because I've found this forum and was able to follow the instructions on it) most people will hate the thing as DSG are shipping it right now. See what you think. Not a very good review, especially when you consider that they completely overlook the lack of android market in their review of the Archos 101 and give it 85%(!). EDIT: my review of el reg: not what it used to be - must try harder. 60% :( Edited March 8, 2011 by .stu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JustaBloke Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 you have to remember, DSG are expecting most people to find this site and mod the thing. I doubt they seriously expect the majority of people to keep it on the stock rom. I think that's an unreasonable thing to expect. Most people expect consumer products to 'just work' straight out of the box. I have plenty of friends who own and are able to operate a PC. By that I mean they can interact with Facebook, send and recieve eMails etc. But as soon as they need to install an application or add a new eMail account to Outlook they are completely unable to follow instructions and my phone inevitably rings. The possibility of them installing the necessary USB drivers themselves is absolutely zero even if they were willing to 'risk' doing it in the first place. I say 'risk' because that is how they would see it. They would simply think 'I'm not going to try that, it might damage my computer' and take the Vega back. I think we have to understand that we are a 'certain type' but that PC World is full of 'ordinary Joes' who have little of our sense of adventure. They will buy the Vega because it is 'a cheap iPad' then they'll get it home and find that it's useless to them. I repeat, I love mine. The only reason I don't recomment it to my friends is that to do so, would be asking for trouble. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest flyingscotno1 Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 (edited) Yep the review is fair, I don't mind the widescreen format but whilst I know a lot of people who have been very impressed with the Vega when I've showed them it is the Modaco Vega not the basic one. Could DSG ship it with the Modaco add on :( But in any case it is a decent device but not for the novice, more the amateur and above and that is a failing in the retail market. DSG have been lucky to avoid a Folio here in my view. I struggled to get the drivers installed on Win 7, even with the help on here (resorted to Win XP, but eventually figured it out). I'm no computing genius, but if I can't do it, not way my parents, my friends would risk trying. Some of them panic when an update box for flash appears. Edited March 8, 2011 by flyingscotno1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest simonta Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 DSG can't put the market on. Not their choice, Google licensing. By implication, neither can they direct people here - officially. I would not have bought a Vega were it not for the foreknowledge that this forum existed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JustaBloke Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 DSG can't put the market on. Not their choice, Google licensing. By implication, neither can they direct people here - officially. I would not have bought a Vega were it not for the foreknowledge that this forum existed. Agreed, but they could put 'a' market on. I seem to remember that at launch time they were claiming that it would ship will Archos' Appslib pre loaded. What happened to that? To ship the thing with nothing on it and no way of improving it, and then selling it at retail, is ridiculous. I worked for DSG many years ago and this puts me in mind of the Amstrad 'Mega PC' (remember that? 386 / Sega hybrid) Great spec. Great price - didn't work. I pity their customer service staff at the moment. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest warriorscot Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 A lot of the criticisms are fair however he said it only just gained flash rather than regained it as it did have it at launch and the earlier firmware versions still do. And he criticises it not having android 3.0 despite saying its been out since november when 3.0 didn't exist. I would say he was a tad over zealous in his criticism and not perhaps a very neutral viewpoint however he brought up some valid points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MaxiP Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 (edited) Interesting review - only *slightly* weighted against own-brand / OEM products. I did like the depth of testing especially "all my test videos - H.264, AVI, MKV; SD, 720p and 1080p played just fine". If anyone can explain to me how to play MKV files on stock ROM with no additional Apps, I'd be delighted to hear........ And the reviewer at least is aware of Modaco ROM "I briefly tried one from MoDaCo. Installation is straightforward on a Mac or Linux box, less so under Windows, and you get the Android Market and a lot more besides." Edited March 8, 2011 by MaxiP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest norm79 Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 I thought the review was tainted from the start - the guy obviously wanted an ipad 2 to play with... But the vega can be all things to all people - if you just want a browser/media player with no frills - check if you want to mod it/upgrade it/wreck it/wipe it/start again - check if you want abit more functionality (new ROM, 3rd party market) - check I wasn't sure whether to spend a bit more and get a new laptop when I killed the last one until I found this site and started reading how easy it was to mod it... Now I've got the configuration I need, it does virtually everything I want and I have the backup of a quality forum full of knowledgable folk to fall back on if something stupid happens...!! Jamie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest flyingscotno1 Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 DSG can't put the market on. Not their choice, Google licensing. By implication, neither can they direct people here - officially. I would not have bought a Vega were it not for the foreknowledge that this forum existed. What part of the Google licensing process is it deficient in? Is it lack of physical buttons? (menu one?) Because otherwise what else would mean it wouldn't get licensed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest d45h Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 I'm guessing the target audience for the review is a mainstream user who would use the vega as is, out of the box. For those people the review is spot on. However...that is not who buys vegas...is it :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest simonta Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 What part of the Google licensing process is it deficient in? Is it lack of physical buttons? (menu one?) Because otherwise what else would mean it wouldn't get licensed? Not entirely sure but my understanding is that Google are not licensing the market for non-Honeycomb tablets and/or non-phone devices. The Market is proprietary software as is the rest of the Google apps stack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dyonas Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 What part of the Google licensing process is it deficient in? Is it lack of physical buttons? (menu one?) Because otherwise what else would mean it wouldn't get licensed? I think I read that to have the market a device has to have a 3G radio but I can't remember where I read it. It would fit though as the Galaxy Tab has a 3G radio and that comes with the market. I think it was just their way of trying to keep Android on phones before they started to develop Honeycomb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JustaBloke Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 I'm guessing the target audience for the review is a mainstream user who would use the vega as is, out of the box. For those people the review is spot on. However...that is not who buys vegas...is it :( For the first few months, no. But these days the Vega is on sale in Currys / PC World so all sorts of people, the majority of which will never have heard of MoDaCo, will be buying it. Actually El Reg's target audience is the more tech savvy, so the reviewers comments might have been worse if it were a mainstream consumer review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JustaBloke Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 What part of the Google licensing process is it deficient in? Is it lack of physical buttons? (menu one?) Because otherwise what else would mean it wouldn't get licensed? I can't substanciate this with a link but I seem to recall that the Google apps (in Android 2.x) are denied both because the screen size is over 7 inches and that there is no phone functionality. Distribution of the OS is effectivly unmonitored however the apps are licenced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest premieral Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 They're not impressed... http://www.reghardware.com/2011/03/08/revi...t_android_vega/ It's going to get a complete kicking as it's just not suitable to be sold at retail. I agree with the reviewer that (though I love mine because I've found this forum and was able to follow the instructions on it) most people will hate the thing as DSG are shipping it right now. See what you think. i think it is lazy journalism at its worse, reviewing something so blatantly lazily the guy deserves to be sacked Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TheRaul Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 Poor review. I already commented on it. Maybe it's just link bait and they are trying to get people to use their site. I have never ever used it before tbh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sanddancer75 Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 It's fair enough to be honest. Every review I've seen points to this site to get the best out of it. I wouldn't have bought one without the work that Paul has done. Out of the box it just isn't good enough. If they can't officially put the market on it then maybe DSG should get Honeycomb working on it (if it's possible). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest flyingscotno1 Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 Not entirely sure but my understanding is that Google are not licensing the market for non-Honeycomb tablets and/or non-phone devices. The Market is proprietary software as is the rest of the Google apps stack. I think I read that to have the market a device has to have a 3G radio but I can't remember where I read it. It would fit though as the Galaxy Tab has a 3G radio and that comes with the market. I think it was just their way of trying to keep Android on phones before they started to develop Honeycomb. I can't substanciate this with a link but I seem to recall that the Google apps (in Android 2.x) are denied both because the screen size is over 7 inches and that there is no phone functionality. Distribution of the OS is effectivly unmonitored however the apps are licenced. I don't think phone or 3G is an issue- For example the info I can see it- "2.1 CDD allows devices to omit telephony hardware, allowing for non-phone devices such as tablet-style music players to be compatible. As we make these changes, we will also augment Android Market to allow developers to retain control over where their apps are available. To continue the telephony example, an app that manages SMS text messages would not be useful on a media player, so Android Market allows the developer to restrict that app exclusively to phone devices." Of course this is just a wee line, there will be more in the detail and hardware manufacturers should know it. Screen size is most likely possible, but who knows? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Schooleydoo Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 ....seems fair enough to me. If you bought a wireless router and the signal was terrible, connection kept dropping out etc, and you had to go to a third party website to get some unofficial software to make it work well, then it ought to get a bad score. If it came with duff software, but immediately connected and prompted you to do an official update from the manufacturer, then that's a different matter. Agree with this comment on the site. Sums it up pretty well IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Graham Macleod Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 i think it is lazy journalism at its worse, reviewing something so blatantly lazily the guy deserves to be sacked Sorry to be obtuse, but this is the second review to prompt the question - is this really a plastic screen? I had assumed it was glass, it certainly doesn't seem to scratch. Put me right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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