Identifying your Eken – Apad – Chinese tablet thingimajig 6:25 AM

Well, it’s a perpetual problem. To many manufacturers, too many middlemen, too many shifty dealers. So if you wanna buy one, I can’t solve this problem for you, but it’s a good start to at least know what’s REALLY out there.

You can always check out this post from June.

You can also go here, and look at this pretty picture, from www.slatedroid.com, which at least shows what is actually community supported:

And lastly, there is this thread: http://www.slatedroid.com/blogs/benedict_x/mini-summary-list-known-android-tablets-china-73/

How (but not why) to install Debian on Eken 6:16 AM

If you really must have the bleeding edge, go here: http://www.slatedroid.com/eken-m001-debian/

More Apad warnings! Read this if you’re about to buy one. 5:50 AM

This stuff is so important, that it needs to be spread far and wide! Remember, for all things apad – any pad but ipad, really, goto www.slatedroid.com.

Here’s some must read information, if you’re planning on buying an Apad, as at today (Original here: http://www.slatedroid.com/content/warnings-over-apad-irobot-moonse-e7001-new-mainboard-versions-304/):

Warnings over Apad iRobot / Moonse E7001 New Mainboard Versions   by xaueious Published on 08-07-2010 08:43 PM  Number of Views: 473   Some of you Apad iRobot / MoonseE7001 users may already be aware of the different revisions we already had for the Apad iRobot / Moonse E7001. As of right now, the new batch is shipping with 9V chargers and different mainboard layouts. However, there may be different variants of the new mainboards, as users have reported bricks and variances in flashing their tablets. The following is only several discussions where confusion has arisen about the new Apad models in the device forums: http://www.slatedroid.com/apad-andro...uctions-1.html As of right now, if you are not sure of what tablet revision you have, do not upgrade your firmware to a custom one. This applies to all owners with 9V chargers. Image from cnpad.info: New motherboard with unknown LED color on the left, batch 2 on the right. I'm not sure if the left board is another revision. iWeb variant with blue LED new motherboard, from Slatedroid (not sure which thread right now). I had confirmation that this was a newer revision from the batch 2, but I'm not sure if this was actually batch 3: Here's the statement from HiApad.com, but it is not clear what the actual different models are now: The Apad iRobot is now its third major hardware revision, batch 3, typically most easily identified by a blue colored charging LED for the time being. . The new motherboard Apad iRobots are now shipping to distributors, as quality has stabilized. (There is a red LED variant of the new motherboard as well, but they in fact do not come from our factory. We will not support that product here.) I have communicated with users with 9V chargers and red LED charging lights who seem to be shipping with same 0612 firmware available on HiApad.com intended for blue LED devices. Right now I'm confused too. But hopefully this will clear itself up. There also seems to be a different plastic mould. New plastic mould for Apad (source QQ, Aug 6): Old plastic mould and metallic edition, side by side comparison (source Chip3C of HiApad): This article was originally published in blog: Warnings over Apad iRobot / Moonse E7001 New Mainboard Versions started by xaueious 2 Comments digitalandroid.com - Today Very nice blog xaueious Please accept my comments as more info- if the below offends any one please advise asap so that I may delete it right away. The comments below are noted as additional info only. The Apad that’s in question here (with the new metallic casing photo) is not my factory product. The original aPAD product is still plastic and has printed markers for ON/OFF, HOME/MENU buttons There are currently 3 factories making the same model- because the casing and the hardware + spare parts are easily available. However the difference is in the quality of the hardware - where in the manufacturer selects the best or worst to try and get a better price and profit. It all depends on which factory it comes from - even though its the same thing. Most seller claim they are manufacturers- what you guys don’t know is that 90% of them work from their homes as traders - its becoming a huge issue now. These jokers are the ones who have spoilt the market- without experience of business or the ethics of supplying quality products - they are the ones who make a bad name for legit people. Hence most of you get scammed or are confused on what’s right and what’s wrong. You get stickers, barcodes etc made for USD 6/1000 in Shenzhen - its not rocket science. HIPAD is a brand by the trader who has selected to market the product in that particular name and I am sure he is doing his best for his customers. However the genuine factory that makes these tablets does not brand them at all- it comes in a neutral no brand unit with the packing some times called APAD/IWEB/IROBOT- because it is easily recognized by the buyers and hence they all look the same to the customer. The reason there are so many low quality products out there is because people want them cheaper and cheaper- hence the seller will try and adjust some components to lower cost and the classic way is cheaper LCD and cheaper battery. The genuine suppliers have problems selling because such scammers are giving lower prices hence more and more faulty products in the hands of the customer. This is also putting pressure on genuine quality manufacturers who then have to try and work out their own ways to make the product viable to sell. - 7" ROCKCHIPS 2808 is manufacturers by 3 factories in SHENZHEN and modified by god knows how many traders for battery and other components. - 10.2" ZENITH ZT-180 is also being made by 3 factories now with shocking quality. The market is a mess now, with the influx of these so called new companies being formed by young out of college or 2 months sales experience employees who have access to the markets. I salute Mike who is working day and night in keeping this forums going...great man indeed. Sam

How to get Android Market Working 5:45 AM

Some less fortunate users may find that their new apad – probably an eken – does not have the android market on it.  This leads to demeaning behaviour, like the indignity of *gasp* having to TRANSFER SOFTWARE BY SD CARD! My gawd!! I remember in my youth I travelled by public transport across to dangerous suburbs of my great home city, to grab a couple of C64 floppies from a mate – took me the best part of a day, and hours of waiting, just to get a couple of questionable games, but I felt like I had achieved something! Modern tech has made us lazy!

But this is 2010, of course, and if you still want your Android market, look here: http://www.slatedroid.com/wiki/index.php?title=Fix_Market_For_Slates

Build your own Apad … $400 (but why would you?) 3:14 AM

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/06/build-your-own-tablet-for-400/

If you’re not sold on the iPad and are tired of waiting for tablets from other PC makers to show up, try getting your hands dirty with a tablet you can build on your own. Liquidware, an open source hardware company, is selling a $400 tablet starter kit. The DIY tablet targets developers who want to create a tablet of their dreams or write specialized software applications. “The Beagle tablet is a portable modular open source handheld computer,” says Justin Huynh, director of product development at Liquidware. “It’s all about customizability and embedded development.” The tablet kit contains a 4.3-inch OLED touchscreen that mounts directly on a BeagleBoard. The BeagleBoard is a single board computer from Texas Instruments that comes with a 1-GHz processor. There’s also a battery module and a 4-GB pre-formatted SD card to boot Angstrom Linux. But users can also run the Android operating system on it, says Huynh. “Everything is modular and snaps on or mounts directly on a board so you have a very compact tablet-like device,” he says. Since Apple iPad’s debut in April, tablets’ popularity has surged. Apple sold 2 million iPads in just 60 days of the product’s launch. That has left other companies scrambling to introduce tablets of their own. Both Samsung and Research In Motion have tablets in development. In the U.K., Dell has already introduced its first tablet called Streak, a 5-inch PSP-sized device that can also make phone calls. But those gadgets have little appeal for tinkerers, says Huynh. “With the iPad, you would have a hard time hacking it to read from a specialized sensor such as a temperature sensor or add your own custom hardware,” he says. “The Beagle tablet is all about innovation.” Since the Beagle tablet doesn’t have any storage beyond the SD card, it is extremely lightweight, weighing just about 8 ounces. Users can increase the size of the SD card or plug in an external hard drive or a solid-state disk through the on-board USB port. The battery life of the Beagle tablet can vary from three hours to six hours depending on the application, says Hyunh. The Beagle tablet is a lot of work since you would have to load everything from an OS to different applications. But once you get it going, it could be a better conversation starter than the iPad. Read More http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/06/build-your-own-tablet-for-400/#ixzz0vj1YGrf0

Drool … Toshiba Libretto W105 3:09 AM

Now, that’s an Apad!

Endgadget (P)reviews Augen78 Tablet – Kmart Android 2.1! 5:05 AM

Read more here: http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/30/augen-gentouch-78-preview/