Would you still recommend a Vega after owning one..?

[Guest dibbles]

Hello

I am pretty new to the Android devices and my introduction to one, and this forum, was with the Orange San Francisco (ZTE Blade). Whilst the Blade is a phenomenal phone it has come into its own for me with the ROM's that are able to be used on it.

I am looking to buy a good value for money tablet and, unless I'm mistaken and hence the post, the Advent Vega seems to tick those boxes in both its value for money and ability in terms of performance for its purchase price.

So for those people who have owned one for a little while now would you still recommend one as a good purchase for a 10.1" tablet in what it can do, with a custom ROM loaded, compared to whatever else is on the market for around the same cost..?

What would you suggest are the strengths and weaknesses of owning this tablet..?

Thanks for your help on the above :P

[Guest DaveBhoy]

I'd say its a good buy for the price.

The custom ROMs make sure its nippy enough, and flexible.

Only real downside I've found is the screen - definitely not up there with your Transformer or iPad - but it is about half the price.

[Guest dibbles]

I'd say its a good buy for the price.

The custom ROMs make sure its nippy enough, and flexible.

Only real downside I've found is the screen - definitely not up there with your Transformer or iPad - but it is about half the price.

Thanks for that :P

I appreciate what you mean about the screen and your point on the cost of the unit compared to buying something with a better one.

[Guest piran]

Yes I would definitely stay with the Vega, am loving the flexibility and am keenly watching the Corvus/newbe5 work on HC and TBH 98% of the time I don't have any problem with the screen. The only caveat is that I think you do need a new ROM on there so you need to be prepared to do that and if your not IT literate then there will be some wading around this forum to get it up and running the way you want.

[Guest owenoliver1]

if it broke id get another i could buy an ipad or anything else but see no point in doing it custom roms mean we have honeycomb if not fully there its being worked on if not there are other cstom roms like corvus5 to try and yea its worth the money and its awesome

[Guest rferrett]

It is a really hard one. I like my Vega an awful lot. But in truth if money was no object I would definitely get a different tab, with a better screen and more RAM. For the money the Vega cannot be beaten but with it's cheap price there are a number of trade offs. And I guess the more time passes the less future proof they are going to be (depsite the awesome work of the modding community here).

Ralph

[Guest warriorscot]

If I couldn't afford a better one I definitely would but my hard budget max for portable electronics is only £350-400 any more than that and I wont get it no matter how good it is. And even then £200 is a lot nicer on the wallet so I would probably get another vega, what would be great would be an updated version with an extra half gig of ram and a better screen even if everything else was the same I would pony up some extra cash for that.

[Guest dibbles]

Thanks again for the replies :P

I see the Vega, in being a tablet, as I do with my Blade as a phone. Both offering exceptional value for money and there are better offerings out there but not for the same amount of money. Both the Blade and the Advent, so it seems, are blessed with a lot of support from a great community. Whilst I have thoroughly enjoyed updating my Blade and rooting it etc I feel that the Advent could open up aspects of using Android that could not be experienced on a phone, hence my search for a tablet.

Regardless of how much I have searched I can't seem to find anything that comes close to the quality of the Advent for the money it costs.

[Guest smickers]

Thanks again for the replies :P

I see the Vega, in being a tablet, as I do with my Blade as a phone. Both offering exceptional value for money and there are better offerings out there but not for the same amount of money. Both the Blade and the Advent, so it seems, are blessed with a lot of support from a great community. Whilst I have thoroughly enjoyed updating my Blade and rooting it etc I feel that the Advent could open up aspects of using Android that could not be experienced on a phone, hence my search for a tablet.

Regardless of how much I have searched I can't seem to find anything that comes close to the quality of the Advent for the money it costs.

If your going for it, which I recommend, if you know anyone who is travelling, Dixon's at the airports sell it for £180.

[Guest mrspaceman]

well, just thought I'd add my vote.

I have been recommending the Vega to all my friends.

yes, I know that the screen is poor, but it is the Best value for money.

of course part of that is that I like to hack my devices :P

[Guest ThisisSparta]

everything is relative, poor screen in comparison to what? Is there anything out there at the price that has a better screen?

An astra isnt as good as a mercedes, but would you expect it to be?

I too have a San Francisco with modded rom and so was also looking for a similar price/performance tablet, the Vega is really good for what it costs. If price to buy and future costs were not a problem, then I would get an Ipad2, but they are and I cant bear to part with the cash on what is really a fancy toy :P

[Guest boffboff]

I'd absolutely recommend it for the money. MCR and the other custom Roms really make it what it is though.

Had it since December and still can't fault it. Not the laptop replacement I'd hoped it would be (for me anyway) but still gets used every night.

Hope this helps!

[Guest agolding]

ive just bought one and would definitely recommend one, friend got a xoom and whilst its lovely, the price isnt warrant of the extra cash in my opinion, the screens only an issue if youre using it alongside something like the xoom with a higher resolution, ive found it great for use personally.

the modding community seems pretty big aswell which is great.

[Guest Andy Tang]

Only bought mine the weekend gone, and my decision process was driven by this forum.

I have no problem with loading and playing ROMs. I wanted Honeycomb, and was happy to beta so it meant I could have that for half the money.

If I hated the Vega in the shops, I would have bought the ASUS Transformer (priced at £380 in PC World) or an iPad 2.

£199.99 allows me to treat it more like a toy, at over £400 I would have put off the purchase for a few more months.

It is a replacement for my Advent 4211C (MSI Wind clone) netbook, so I think it's a very good replacement as my "sofa surfer" as I have a "proper" laptop for work and things requiring more intensive processing power.

Some of my work colleagues have been eying up the tablet, but I would only recommend a Vega to someone prepared to change the ROMs and tweak it. If they are less technical, I would recommend an ASUS Transformer or Apple iPad for something more plug and play.

[Guest beegee1962]

I have the second Vega type tablet now. First I bought the Japanese version of the Advent Vega which had no 3G. I regret this quickly, as I didn't like to carry around a 3G dongle or WiFi thingy all the time with me. And the main use for me is out of office and out of home.

But the concept of the tablet convinced me, so I got the Viewsonic Viewpad 10s, which is exactly the same tablet, but with the 3G internal. And I am very happy and satisfied now.

The tablet has replaced my laptop complete while traveling or visiting customers. I have access to my email, my Google docs, can read and change Word, Excel, Powerpoint files with "Documents to Go".

So if you think you need data connection all the time, maybe better to look for a Smartbook Surfer 360 or pov Mobii or Viewpad 10s WITH 3G. A little bit more expensive, but still cheaper than other tablets with 3G.

[Guest dagrim1]

After having the vega for a few months now I'd still recommend it. Especially with the Corvus5 rom it's very good and snappy.

But, if you have more money to spend I'd suggest upgrading to transformer, acer iconia or new galaxy tab 10.1...

Reason is mainly the screen, especially with honeycomb I notice it just doesn't quite cut it. Things are more blurry by default (perhaps it will be improved though) and sensitivity is less optimal. Viewing angles are crap, but as a single user that's not SO important, resolution IS a big plus though and with the 1280x800 res on the newer android tablets you really have an advantage.

Added to that is the 1GB ram instead of 512 now and I'd gladly spend some more for a better tablet.

For the money there is nothing better imo, and knowing what you get it delivers all of that and more... But the newer tablets simply are better, but more expensive so it all boils down to the amount of money you can and are willing to spend.

[Guest wellibob]

£199. Nothink can touch it. Pay nearly double for anythink better. Vega is what it is, and if your fussy over a super all angled screen, do not touch it. Single use it does whats needed and you HAVE to put on a custom rom, else it really does suck. I love my vega because its cheaper than anythink out there and does whats required very well.

[Guest tabor56]

For £200 i'd definitely buy one, i've had mine about a month. once you have got it just how you like it its a really nice piece of hardware. Bit rough around the edges with the odd crash and stuff but the performance is amazing and once Hcomb is finished will be one of the best tablets imo due to price.

[Guest gdwhitehouse]

I guess I'd ask what you wanted the tablet for...

If you are interested in 'tinkering' and spending time playing about with things, I'd say it was a good buy. I got mine just before Christmas and I have definitely had more use through playing, loading ROMs and stuff like that than general use for browsing or media consumption. I'd agree with what everyone said about the screen, it is pretty poor, but at half the price of a Xoom, what do you expect?

If I wanted something for my wife (sorry darlin') to use I'd probably get a Xoom or dare I say it an iPad2 - I hate the whole Apple ecosystem thing, but for simple pick up and browse, it's pretty good tbh.

I am thinking of selling my Vega and getting something else - but the Xoom seems too expensive, the Transformer a bit clunky, and the new Samsung 10.1 has that funny connector... so maybe I'll wait.

I'd actually get a Sandybridge MacBook Air if money was no object :P)

G

[Guest tony barnes]

As above really - for £200 nothing will come close. Great little pad, only IMO let down by poor viewing angles on the screen. Given the next best option is close to twice the price, no brainer for me, would happily have another in the house.

Obviously if you've got oodles of spare cash, opt for the Xoom, lol!

[Guest Nemes1s]

Same as everyone else really. I've had mine since before Xmas. You simply have to use a custom ROM though. Its pants if you don't.

I use mine constantly to the point where I got rid of my laptop. Still have a desktop for more serious work but for general use, browsing the net, emails, facebook and all that stuff you simply can't beat it for the price. I even have RDP tools to access my servers and can also access my NAS storage via CIFS for playing movies and music over my LAN which is excellent. I have the official dock, which is a bit of a rip off, but using Tasker I now have a fully functioning Photo Frame too that streams photos from my NAS when ever it is docked!

I guess now I would buy a Transformer or probably wait for the Slider (which is now supposed to be released in June) but again, they are twice the price although you get a bit more for your money. In fact I'm probably going to get one and give the Vega to the missus who keeps pinching it cos its better than her iPhone4 :P

Still for a couple of hundred the Vega is without doubt still the best value for money Droid Tab.

[Guest ArthurMachen]

Just adding my tuppence.

You need to ask yourself 2 questions

1. Why do I want a tablet, what will I use it for?

2. How much money am I willing to pay for what I want to do with it?

I bought mine around Xmas to replace an old laptop/resistant touch screen affair; I had mounted in my Kitchen for about 5 years as a media centre internet portal.

The power pack had just died and I felt I needed to upgrade.

I had been using my HTC desire as a stop gap to play some Music.

And found myself thinking if only this phone had a bigger screen it would be ideal for my purposes.

I did all the usual things (PC World, Currys etc), played with the Ipad and a Samsung Galaxy Tab.

The Ipad was nice to look at and play with but you are stuck with the internal memory, no way to play 80gb of music and you are tied in with Itunes.

The Galaxy Tab was more what I was looking for but I felt the screen could have been bigger.

That was when I stumbled on the Launch of the Vega.

Reviews were ok but screen angles could be better and no market (but hold on a MoDaCo have released a Rom update which sets the beast free).

Went straight to Modaco and became addicted to reading the forums and all the advances that were happening at the time.

The day that the Vega got USB Host mode was the day I ordered mine.

Never been happier with a purchase than this item it does everything I needed and a lot more.

See here: http://android.modaco.com/content/entries-...itchen-utensil/

I definitely don't need 3g because like most Android Tablet users I am an Android phone user and can use the Portable Wi-Fi Hotspot feature. Saves having 2 phone bills.

There may be shinier and sexier tablets on the market at the moment but for £199 you won't find anything that comes close to being as good as the Vega and you will have to pay at least double to find something comparable.

With this fantastic community and the advances that are being made every day, you would go far to find this amount of passion for a £200 piece of glass and plastic. :P

So would I by one now 6 months on? YES! (The Zoom and it's competitors are still over twice the price for better screen angles and an extra 512mb internal memory, buy 2 Vegas instead and give 1 to the Family, then you don't have to worry about screen angles) :rolleyes:

[Guest gaz_d]

I'd recomend them, mostly due to the value for money.

[Guest dibbles]

Eventually I came to the decision that the Vega is simply too good a buy to not have. It must still be the best value for money tablet and makes the choice of buying one a little more justifiable at the cost it is.

I bought one this evening and installed CWM and then the Corvus 5 ROM.

All seems to be well and it runs a treat.

Thanks for those who have posted above as it just helped me to understand that this tablet is still the best for he money there is :P

[Guest damuffinman]

I dunno - it would depend who it was I was talking to.

If it were my parents, I'd tell them to forget it and just get an iPad. Much more refined and polished, and besides, they wouldn't want to do much tweaking just to squeeze as much performance out of the Vega.

For Android enthusiasts or those who don't mind hunting custom ROMs, definitely. The Vega is value for money. I got one mainly for development work (that's how I justified spending £200 :P)