Advent Android tablets set to hit the Dixons Group stores shortly

[Guest Carbonize]

Yes but do we know it was truly using Flash, as the guy said you this was something you couldn't do on an iPad. Funny thing is iplayer is fine on my iPad as it now uses HTML5

http://www.dixons.co.uk/gbuk/Advent_Vega-1...commercial.html

The Vega is fully flash enabled unlocking the full web browsing experience, meaning the Vega can take advantage of sites such as BBC iPlayer and YouTube on its 10.1" screen.

According to the ad the Vega will be running 2.2 when it gets released.

[Guest Bisto321]

http://www.dixons.co.uk/gbuk/Advent_Vega-1...commercial.html

According to the ad the Vega will be running 2.2 when it gets released.

The folio was also running 2.2 - it is a bit like the Human/Ape DNA analogy i.e. 97.5% shared (except hardware and software not DNA :rolleyes:)

The only worthwhile difference known is the lack of 16Gb flash - the unknown is the screen, the drivers and the interface that sits on top of 2.2 vanilla.

The screen could be as good(bad?) as the Toshiba and still be worth a punt at £80 less

The interface is not too much of a worry for most of the people reading these forums, if its a pig it can easily be replaced - the Tosh was much better for it.

The big worry will be how good the drivers are and if it is shipped with a 'final' version of flash optimised for Tegra2

As I understand it, no specific optimisations should be required for this Tegra2 device or the next - same as the intel Atom netbook platform - one size fits all.

I hope it is a cracker and is out on time - need to replace the folio now.

Also I note the clever wording in the ad (just like the folio) flash enabled does not mean it currently has flash - at least that was Toshiba's interpretation!

When I was in PCW today the sales chap I spoke to (he smiled as soon as I mentioned the Folio) said that he expected the Vega on the 20th - Saturday launch could be true I suppose, hoping to catch the weekend shoppers.

[Guest Unguided]

http://www.dixons.co.uk/gbuk/Advent_Vega-1...commercial.html

According to the ad the Vega will be running 2.2 when it gets released.

Oh yeah there's no denying that but until this thing comes out there's no way of knowing if Flash will ship with it. The Folio said it would and it sure as hell didn't in the end. The only thing going for the Vega is the videos of the Chinese version of it running Flash adverts from the Adobe Flash site, though they do the blocky video effect over the ads so you can't see them. Again YouTube web site does also work from the iPad though it is a mobile version not the full computer based version. The guy just really picked the wrong 2 sites to try and prove a point, would have been more useful to use some other Flash based site that the iPad wouldn't be able to browse :rolleyes:

Hopefully the Vega will be more of a success than the Folio, it is on my tech watch list just for it's price and the performance it should offer. It just seems that 2.2 maybe what is holding back this range of Tegra 2 tablets, hopefully it will get a quick update to 2.3 which is rumoured to have some tablet improvements though we all know 3.0 will be the big one for tablets.

[Guest English Haze]

Specifications

"GPS or A-GPS support (T.B.D.)"

[Guest Unguided]

Specifications

"GPS or A-GPS support (T.B.D.)"

I notice it also say B/G/N wireless support on those specs, yet all the sites claim the Vega is only B/G wireless

[Guest azhar]

I posted this pic on the Folio thread but its pretty relevant here as well..

DSG have stopped selling the Folio due to a very high returns ratio. I would not be suprised if DSG delay the Vega further as they have now expierenced first hand how risky Android tabs are and to iron out any problems before a nationwide release. If the Vega flops like the Folio did they won't be able to pass the buck as it is their own brand in the Vega's case.

Edited November 14, 2010 by azhar

[Guest swarrans]

I posted this pic on the Folio thread but its pretty relevant here as well..

DSG have stopped selling the Folio due to a very high returns ratio. I would not be suprised if DSG delay the Vega further as they have now expierenced first hand how risky Android tabs are and to iron out any problems before a nationwide release. If the Vega flops like the Folio did they won't be able to pass the buck as it is their own brand in the Vega's case.

Blimey, Tom Bradley's grammar and spelling isn't too good is it?!

I can honestly say I've never been as hyped up about the launch of a consumer electronics product - I've got to the stage where I want to say "let me have a Vega now - I don't care what it's like!" (of course I'm also rather glad that they won't let me have one if it's not working properly!)

Simon

[Guest Bisto321]

Blimey, Tom Bradley's grammar and spelling isn't too good is it?!

I can honestly say I've never been as hyped up about the launch of a consumer electronics product - I've got to the stage where I want to say "let me have a Vega now - I don't care what it's like!" (of course I'm also rather glad that they won't let me have one if it's not working properly!)

Simon

Just been into PCW in Tottenham Court Road (London) to get a refund on my Folio - no real problem especially when I mentioned the image above :rolleyes:

Quizzed him about the Vega again - they are either;

A - not bothered or unaware of this product

B - have been told to be very cautious about releasing tablet info

"Think it is coming soon, not sure when though" was his reply - I suspect a bit of both.

[Guest crockwit]

How come the Advent only has a 512 MB ROM ? All other tablets seem to have at least 2Gb. What happens if a future version of Android needs more space to install ? This is my main concern about the Advent , the other issues can be worked around.

Edited November 14, 2010 by crockwit

[Guest john newhouse]

How come the Advent only has a 512 MB ROM ? All other tablets seem to have at least 2Gb. What happens if a future version of Android needs more space to install ? This is my main concern about the Advent , the other issues can be worked around.

yes. the only thing that i am worried about with the vega is this lack of internal space, it seems to be relying on the 1 memory slot for all of the storage and thats not a good thing.

[Guest Bisto321]

How come the Advent only has a 512 MB ROM ? All other tablets seem to have at least 2Gb. What happens if a future version of Android needs more space to install ? This is my main concern about the Advent , the other issues can be worked around.

Would not worry too much about ROM space, 2.2 supports move to SD so you can move your apps off and onto external storage - if that is what you are concerned about?

Good thing is, if it has 512MB of Ram, it should be able to cope with the Android tablet OS, when it arrives.

Specs for the ADVENT are just fine - they include a 4GB card to get you going, I think? - but you are right, when it comes to RAM/ROM more is always better

[Guest swarrans]

Just been into PCW in Tottenham Court Road (London) to get a refund on my Folio - no real problem especially when I mentioned the image above :rolleyes:

It sounded like you liked your Folio up to the point you took it back! - were you just being cautious?

Assuming the screen performance etc will be the same on the Vega were you happy with it? There never seems much point in "testing" them in store to me because of the lighting etc. The screen on the Folio didn't look as good as the iPad under in store conditions to me, but I expect it will still be fine for what I want at home

Simon

Edited November 14, 2010 by swarrans

[Guest Carbonize]

Well that's just great. I ordered an Archos 70 and it was saying they would be in second half of November. They've already taken my money and now the sites says they are due in December :|

Damn it might end up being impatient and getting a Vega instead but I really like the codec support that comes win the Archos as well as it's built in uPNP support for streaming.

[Guest Bisto321]

It sounded like you liked your Folio up to the point you took it back! - were you just being cautious?

Assuming the screen performance etc will be the same on the Vega were you happy with it? There never seems much point in "testing" them in store to me because of the lighting etc. The screen on the Folio didn't look as good as the iPad under in store conditions to me, but I expect it will still be fine for what I want at home

Simon

Yeah I was pretty happy with it.

I know it sounds a bit weird to return a product that is generally ok, but yes I took it back as a precautionary measure (mostly)

Toshiba's support has been non existent, you could visualise them shrugging their shoulder as you spoke to them on the phone and I did not like the fact that you had to modify it to get a proper user experience (at least to satisfy me)

It is always true that people (I include myself) will always find time to complain about things, but will be quite silent if the are happy :rolleyes:

I do think that the Toshiba needed some complaining about - both the Launch and the implementation of the hardware and software were Vpoor.

Good luck to those of you who still have one - if they release refurbs on Morgan's for £150 I would snap one up without question. The viewsonic boys in the states are buying them, returning them and the Sears open box policy to resell in the same store is keeping quite a few of them happy :huh: $100 discount in one afternoon

Moving back to this thread - If the Vega is like the Folio (I will take an SD card with a few bits on it into PCW to help prove it :huh: ) I would probably get one - for £80 less and knowing what I know now about the Toshiba it could well be a bargain.

We will have to wait and see what the real final specs are and whether it comes with bl**dy flash or not!

[Guest FrogPulse]

Tesco's got the Commtiva N700 in stock.

Don't know if this is "better" than the vega, but at least it's out?

Worth the extra £50?

[Guest Carbonize]

Tesco's got the Commtiva N700 in stock.

Don't know if this is "better" than the vega, but at least it's out?

Worth the extra £50?

Yes I mentioned it on page 22 of this thread. The processors not brilliant but as Paul pointed out it does have 3G and GPS for under £300 but, like the Vega, it's not in stock yet. You have to decide is it worth the extra £50 for 3G and GPS but a smaller screen and slower processor?

[Guest FrogPulse]

Oh it is in stock, they have them in Tesco Aberdeen.(putting them out when I was there and fitting one into display)

But since I hadn't heard of it I gave it a miss.

[Guest Carbonize]

Ah I was just going of the direct.tesco.com site. I'm not sure how well it would play movies so not good for me.

[Guest FrogPulse]

I'm after something that will do the iplayer really.(why I've been waiting for the vega)

The Tab was nice, but they didn't have the wireless set up. :rolleyes:

[Guest MarkoUK]

Blimey, Tom Bradley's grammar and spelling isn't too good is it?!

I can honestly say I've never been as hyped up about the launch of a consumer electronics product - I've got to the stage where I want to say "let me have a Vega now - I don't care what it's like!" (of course I'm also rather glad that they won't let me have one if it's not working properly!)

Simon

I'm not surprised. Went on DSG corporate website and found this picture of him:

[Guest MarkoUK]

It sounded like you liked your Folio up to the point you took it back! - were you just being cautious?

Assuming the screen performance etc will be the same on the Vega were you happy with it? There never seems much point in "testing" them in store to me because of the lighting etc. The screen on the Folio didn't look as good as the iPad under in store conditions to me, but I expect it will still be fine for what I want at home

Simon

The screen performance was terrible of the Folio. Looked at it today and you only have to be about 10 degrees off nominal to get almost complete blackout.

Those capacitive buttons are a pile of shite as well. Trying to activate the button is a lottery. You press hard, slightly off or tap and any or none of those techniques will work. They're sensitivity appears to change depending on what activity you have running. If you are within an application, the back button is not too painful to get back to the previous activity or screen. If you are coming all the way out of an application the back button doesn't respond as well. Not sure how that works as it should be the same activity shuffling that it's doing. I think it's to do with the Toshiba Home application. It must be hogging resources or have some badword up code managing handovers in and out of application. The capacitive button lights up once it's been activated for maybe 1 second and during this time it ignores further presses of the button. This means you can't quickly skip back through activities for example. A really pish software developer has put this Toshiba Home application together. I have to say that as I don't know how those buttons work in other launcher applications such as Launcher Pro.

If it isn't that and it's a combination of hardware too, then a pish hardware developer put those capacitive button functions together. They should all be ashamed of themselves.

I'm going to play with the Vega when it comes out and see how it performs. No point in jumping into this market too early unless you are going for an iPad. Resell value of an Advent Vega might not be too hot if more favourable tabs come along early 2011.

[Guest griff_dai]

The screen performance was terrible of the Folio. Looked at it today and you only have to be about 10 degrees off nominal to get almost complete blackout.

Those capacitive buttons are a pile of shite as well. Trying to activate the button is a lottery. You press hard, slightly off or tap and any or none of those techniques will work. They're sensitivity appears to change depending on what activity you have running. If you are within an application, the back button is not too painful to get back to the previous activity or screen. If you are coming all the way out of an application the back button doesn't respond as well. Not sure how that works as it should be the same activity shuffling that it's doing. I think it's to do with the Toshiba Home application. It must be hogging resources or have some badword up code managing handovers in and out of application. The capacitive button lights up once it's been activated for maybe 1 second and during this time it ignores further presses of the button. This means you can't quickly skip back through activities for example. A really pish software developer has put this Toshiba Home application together. I have to say that as I don't know how those buttons work in other launcher applications such as Launcher Pro.

If it isn't that and it's a combination of hardware too, then a pish hardware developer put those capacitive button functions together. They should all be ashamed of themselves.

I'm going to play with the Vega when it comes out and see how it performs. No point in jumping into this market too early unless you are going for an iPad. Resell value of an Advent Vega might not be too hot if more favourable tabs come along early 2011.

The quotes under the youtube video has it that 18th November is the release date and was confirmed by the product manager!

This is the 7 minute Vid from splashgear!

[Guest Simba26]

UPDATE: I've been told a few other specs by an anonymous source, who tells me the device also features miniHDMI (aka PDMI) connectivity and USB host with full size USB ports. Interestingly there are NO hardware home / back etc. buttons on the device and the tablet will ship with a customised '3D' user interface (which can be turned off to revert to stock Froyo). The processor is a 1GHz SMP dual Cortex-A9. I'm trying to get confirmation as to whether or not the Android Market is included on device (making this a full Google experience device).

http://www.dixons.co.uk/gbuk/Advent_Vega-1...commercial.html says that "The Advent Vega is an ultra fast tablet perfect for downloading the latest apps"

[Guest shatdhehat]

Ah I was just going of the direct.tesco.com site. I'm not sure how well it would play movies so not good for me.

Ive had a play on this commtiva tablet, was very impressed. It was running 2.2 and ui was nippy enough (though no where near as quick as my htc desire). It had a demo of wave blazer which ran fine. I dont think movies will be that much of a problem with programs like rockplayer..?

I thought it was a damn good price for what it was, very tempted..

[Guest MarkoUK]

Ive had a play on this commtiva tablet, was very impressed. It was running 2.2 and ui was nippy enough (though no where near as quick as my htc desire). It had a demo of wave blazer which ran fine. I dont think movies will be that much of a problem with programs like rockplayer..?

I thought it was a damn good price for what it was, very tempted..

The price doesn't stack up against the Vega. I'd hold fire to see what happens this week with the release of it and go play with the device in a DSG store.

7 inch is just not enough for me. I'd prefer a full 10 inches as a minimum.