35 replies to this topic

[philicibine]

Hello all,

Thought I`d share my impressions / findings after meeting the andypad team today....

Upon being greeted with a lovely cup of coffee... the focus quickly shifted to.. "this is how it looks"... and I`m presented with a little white tab     On first impressions, it is small compared to the likes of your transformers, xooms etc.  But it feels 'rugged' and of good quality build.  I get the impression the build quality was important in the design and I think it shows.

And my first glimpse of it all powered up, is in bright sunlight coming from the window, so I`m a little worried about the screen.  Which is quickly the subject of conversation.. how do I feel about the screen??  Well we all like a bright / colourful screen, but what can you expect for this low price?! (£129.99!!)  People figure their own 'nack' of using their own touchscreen so I cant see it being a massive problem. (maybe ship with a stylus?)  The biggest issue will be the lack of multi-touch, that is itself quite a big feature of many apps on android.  (I suspect people may try a hack for it tho )

The processor amazes me the most... 1.2 ghz dual core!  In a tablet that cheap!  This screen may become an issue here again though.. because although the OS being AOSP, it should feel quite snappy.. the screen makes it feel lots less so.  You really have to get the 'nack' here!

The team say they have tested lots of games on the device.. and have not had any problems.  So for a mid-range device.. 256mb of ram might be enough.  I cant imagine its very good with lots of multi-tasking though.

The andypad comes with all the right ports etc on it.. micro-usb for charging, mini-hdmi out and a 3.5mm jack.  I know lots of people rave about charging with micro-usb, that it should be the standard, so good to see here.  I would be a bit dubious of the HD playback functionality though.. would the 256mb of ram slow this down??  Would it make for jumpy video???  I never saw any video on it so who knows?!

I was asked about what apps etc I run.. or should be on there.. and in my opinion, they should be talking to some devs about that.  It would be cool to see a better launcher included on it.. like ADW Ex, or LauncherPro.. whichever tickles their fancy most!  With the device using the standard launcher it looked very plain and 'bog-standard'.

I did keep re-iterating to them that they should be getting in touch with some devs about getting apps / little touches pre-installed on it.. it seems for this tablet to make its mark in the market.. it needs to have some unique enticing points about it.

What kind of market do I think it is aimed at??  Your casual android user.. maybe has an android phone.. wants an ipad.. cant afford / justify it.  Wants something to play youtube and music etc on and browse the web.  Or your hardcore fan boy, that wants a tablet, cant afford it.. but at this price.. with an un-lockable boot-loader "Hey, it`s a steal!"

I would like personally to have one of these, and then see Paul, or cyanogen do a release for it.  I would gladly have one sitting around in my living room if it happened!

All-in-all, its a very good device.. the only let downs would be the screen and the ram. For your everyday usage... or even for taking to work / school etc ...the andypad is great.

But if your after something a little higher spec.. I would wait for the next pad they release. Apparently it will have more ram, and a capacative screen with 5 finger multi-touch! .... and possibly £160!  

It should also have ice cream sandwich installed too! (Cherry with that sir!)

What struck me most.. is the team behind this are young and eager to do well... but they are new to the scene.. and are looking for constructive feedback.  I hope this makes for a better andypad on release!

Thats my two pennies anyway!  Thanks to the guys for having me!

Would love to have a demo unit to play on! (Hint Hint )

[PeteBest]

Interesting read thanks for the write up!

So is it confirmed that it's only 256mb of ram now then?

[philicibine]

PeteBest, on Jun 22 2011, 19:29, said:

Interesting read thanks for the write up!

So is it confirmed that it's only 256mb of ram now then?

It seems so.

[McSpoon]

So is it a resistive 800x480 screen?

Shame.  I'll try to remain hopeful their next-gen tablet might be worth buying, but it needs to be on the market before November.

[screwface]

Resistive screen?
256mb ram?

I'm out.

If the vega came out a year ago at £200 surely some company can put out a product with similar specs, now that costs have lowered, for the £129 andypad are wanting to charge.

[flibblesan]

Resistive screen and 256mb ram? I'm no longer interested either. Really sad they skimped on the specs though.

[The Soup Thief]

flibblesan, on Jun 23 2011, 00:31, said:

Resistive screen and 256mb ram? I'm no longer interested either. Really sad they skimped on the specs though.

Agreed - they've boobed big time here. Shame - it's just not in the running with a resistive screen
What is the point in having such a quick processor if your screen can't show it off?
My crystal ball tells me Andypad 1 will be released with these specs, selling poorly, then the company pulls Andypad 2 after getting it's fingers burned first time round
I'd love to see this work, but they really don't seem to be going about things the right way - sorry to point out the obvious, but that Cupertino company have been doing very well releasing mediocre tech with great UI

Edited by The Soup Thief, 23 June 2011 - 08:57 AM.

[buneech]

flibblesan, on Jun 23 2011, 01:31, said:

Resistive screen and 256mb ram? I'm no longer interested either. Really sad they skimped on the specs though.

Quoted for truth.

[QLF]

I really hope they have enough money behind them to maker it to releasing that rumoured 2nd tablet. No-one with any sense is going to buy a tablet that's already a year out of date.

I can only hope the next version has a proper screen and RAM, (possibly some "next-gen" features too??).

[thebrave]

If they are going with the ultra-low-end, then they are doomed. They won't be able to compete with Archos/Arnova (http://arnovatech.co...ntry=us&lang=en <- slower processor but better media support for £62) and chinese manufacturers that start offering capacitive screen under the £129 tag price.

Edited by thebrave, 23 June 2011 - 07:00 AM.

[Rusty!]

flibblesan, on Jun 23 2011, 00:31, said:

Resistive screen and 256mb ram? I'm no longer interested either. Really sad they skimped on the specs though.

This = nail on head really, and no doubt the majority of potential customers will be thinking the same.

[PeteBest]

thebrave, on Jun 23 2011, 07:58, said:

If they are going with the ultra-low-end, then they are doomed. They won't be able to compete with Archos/Arnova (http://arnovatech.co...ntry=us&lang=en <- slower processor but better media support for £62) and chinese manufacturers that start offering capacitive screen under the £129 tag price.

Does look interesting, saw a £99 price point being said around the net for it. Guessing it'll be 256mb of ram as well, from what I could find via google the processor is a 600MHz Rockchip RK2818. So with 256mb of ram and a 600mhz cpu it's going to be a fair bit slower than my ZTE blade

[Atomix86]

The only thing that seems to set this apart from those apad/epad tabs is the dual core processor. Ill probably pass on this one.

[flibblesan]

I would had been happy with a single core CPU for £129 as long as the screen was capacitive and memory 512mb.

There is no point having a dual core CPU and bragging about the fast graphics performance when the screen quality, touchscreen type and lack of multitouch make using the device for gaming a poor experience.

The majority of games that benefit from a high spec GPU and CPU require multitouch which resistive screens just cannot provide. I feel back for ripping into these guys so publically but this really is a mistake when you look at other devices such as the Kogan tablet which, although it's 800MHz, has a capacitive screen. AndyPad are up against these guys!

People would pay the extra money for more RAM and a decent screen. Scrap the £129 price, scrap this tablet and remake it with 512mb and capacitive screen with multitouch then market it for £150/£160. It will sell!

[philicibine]

flibblesan, on Jun 23 2011, 10:47, said:

I would had been happy with a single core CPU for £129 as long as the screen was capacitive and memory 512mb.

There is no point having a dual core CPU and bragging about the fast graphics performance when the screen quality, touchscreen type and lack of multitouch make using the device for gaming a poor experience.

The majority of games that benefit from a high spec GPU and CPU require multitouch which resistive screens just cannot provide. I feel back for ripping into these guys so publically but this really is a mistake when you look at other devices such as the Kogan tablet which, although it's 800MHz, has a capacitive screen. AndyPad are up against these guys!

People would pay the extra money for more RAM and a decent screen. Scrap the £129 price, scrap this tablet and remake it with 512mb and capacitive screen with multitouch then market it for £150/£160. It will sell!

Looks like people are tending to agree with your point here.  I wonder how far along the development process they are??  COULD they just release the higher spec one??

[The Soup Thief]

Realistically, if they don't do it, there's plenty of others who will (release a sensibly priced tablet with good specs) over the next bit
Would just be nice to see this bunch doing it from what I've read of them on here
A quick dual core processor is nice for techy types to enthuse about, but given that they've claimed this is sposed to be an entry level device optimised for cheap usability (for school use etc) what are they doing emphasising something that's of marginal value to that demographic at the expense of something else that's gonna be the difference between it being a usable gaming device and not?
Philicibine, can I be nosey and ask how it was you came to meet this gang and play with their kit?  Are they set on these specs?  Their website doesn't seem to indicate any firm decision as yet.  If you have any ongoing relationship with them I think it might be a good idea to direct them to this bit of market research before they make a v expensive mistake!

[Banner]

256mb ram is pitiful and resistive touchscreen?

if you dont get the touchscreen bit right i fail to see why anyone would want to use it..

[flibblesan]

AndyPad just tweeted this:

Quote

A lot of talk about possible AndyPad specs today. Please wait until our official announcement of further specs before jumping at rumours!

Could they be reconsidering the specs? Could the devices Phil saw be prototypes and not finished products?

Thoughts  

[JayGB1982]

I had a a feeling they would make this a resistive screen... I'm out!

Looks like the vega still is the best tab for the price point?

[flibblesan]

And some more info with specs?

http://whattabletpc....ew-coming-soon/