The title of the eBay item was “7" Google Android 2.2 Tablet PC WM8650 800MHZ HDD 4GB WiFi Flytouch 3 SuperPad ePad G-Sensor Flash10.1 C1212.” As you will learn, this title really does not tell you much about what is being sold since a variety of products are being sold with these brand names and attributes linked to them. Here are the specifications that were mentioned on the item page for what I paid approximately $72 for on eBay with notes describing what I really got:
Operation System: Google Android 2.2 – Although when you power on the tablet it does say Android 2.2 (Froyo) and a build number at the start-up screen, the operating system is not the real genuine Android. It is in fact some other very poor operating system being sold under the name of Android, making it a pirated OS.
LCD: high-definition WVGA wide-screen, 800*480 (16:9) – The screen quality and resolution was actually not that bad, but I don’t think it was high-definition. I’m confused because the description says high-definition but also says WVGA which I think is a lower resolution.
CPU: WonderMedia WM8650, high-performance 800MHZ CPU +400MHZ DSP, supports Flash10.1 – I don’t know whether this information is correct or not. I don’t see why they’d lie because a WM8650 processor is nothing to boast about. The tablet did support Flash video although it was a trial version of Flash.
Memory: 256MB DDRII – Information is unverified.
Storage Device: 4GB internal, support external TF card, maximum capacity of 32GB – The tablet did have 4GB internal memory and the micro-SD card slot did work. The maximum capacity I used was 4GB for the micro-SD but it may well support higher capacities.
G-sensor: 4-dimensional gravity sensing – I rotated the screen 360 degrees and the display adjusted after showing an upward arrow sign showing which side the sensor is detecting as the top side. Did not test out the G-sensor with games.
3G: TD-CDMA: TD368; WCDMA: Huawei E220/E230/E160X/E169G/E1750, Alcatel X060S/X200; CDMA2000: Bora 9380/AWIT-U8 – Information unverified since these features were not important to me at the time.
Screen: 7" LCD widescreen – The screen does measure 7” diagonally. However since it is a wide-screen aspect ratio you get less viewable area (it is a thin and long rectangular display).
High-sensitive 2 points resistive touch-screen – The 2-points touch-screen works with some photos for pinch zooming but does not seem to work with all apps.
WiFi and Internet: WIFI: IEEE802.11b/g/n wireless network; Cable Internet: 10/100M connector – I did not have a problem staying connected with a decent signal. I have a D-Link wireless 300N router.
Camera: 0.3 megapixel camera – Camera worked but I’ve heard it doesn’t work for streaming (mobile video chatting on Skype, Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, etc.).
Audio Support: MP2, MP3, WAV, AAC, WMA – Ran into problems before I could test this out although the audio streamed from the Internet worked fine.
Video Support: [MPEG1/2/4,MJPG,H263](1280×720) resolution, H264 (720× 480) resolution – Did not watch any internal videos on it.
Picture Support: JPG, JPEG, BMP, PNG – I viewed some images on the Internet and those were displaying fine.
Language: English (U.S.), English (UK), French (France), Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Portuguese (Portugal), Danish, Norwegian, Russian, Polish, Turkish and Greek, etc. – I only used US English.
Certificate: FCC CE RoHS WiFi – This certification is engraved at the back of the tablet.
Softwares: Browser, Email, Image-Viewer, My video, My Music, Camera, YouTube, Wi-Fi setting, App Market, etc. – This was a major problem since most of the apps are fake/pirated. I was able to install Opera Mini by transferring the .APK file through the micro-SD card and that worked very well. If you buy one of these fake Android tablets on eBay that are usually shipped from China I suggest you install another Internet browser on it because the preinstalled one is of very poor quality. The preinstalled browser and pirated YouTube apps lagged in playing flash videos but they played very well through Opera Mini.
Speaker/MIC: 3.5mm headphone jack, High-quality stereo loud speakers, Built-in microphone – These were all there but when you hold the tablet horizontally to watch videos both of the speakers are on one side which I didn’t like since then there is no left and right speaker.
Battery: Li-Polymer, 1800mAh; Last time above 10 hours; Video play lasts 4 hours – Perhaps last a little less but it is a manageable situation as long as the life of the battery does not deteriorate with usage over time.
Next post -->: Fake Android Market on WM8650 Tablet
Read full: An eBay Buyer’s True Story
Thursday, October 20, 2011
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WOULD YOU RECOMMEND PEOPLE TO BUY IT ?
ReplyDeleteI WAS THINKING OF GETTING ONE.
IM NOT TRYING TO GO ALL OUT WITH A $500 TABLET.
ALL I REALLY NEED WAS THAT THE TABLET HAS GOOD WIFI.
The one I got I would not recommend because you can get something much better for the same <$100 price range. If you do buy a WM8650 one, make sure you know what the exact model name is. This will help you fix problems in future, because at least you'll know what you have in your hands.
DeleteI recommend buying one of the models mentioned in my post "Finding Out Which WM8650 Tablet Model You Have." There are ways to upgrade the ROM/operating system on those to a MUCH better Uberoid system (clone of Android 3.0 Honeycomb instead of the really bad fake Android 2.2 Froyo or 2.3 Gingerbread that come preinstalled). With Uberoid ROM these tablets are well worth the money even competing with Apple iPad, HP TouchPad, Blackberry PlayBook and other tablets costing hundreds of dollars.
If you don't know how to upgrade ROM, I suggest you purchase an already upgraded one. On eBay search "WM8650 Honeycomb" with the "Include description" box ticked you'll see them. There is a seller named dealz_central who sells them although I have never bought from him/her personally and am not affiliated with the seller in any way, but from how the item is described as upgraded it sounds much better.
I just bought the Craig CMP738B for $62, it has a mini-HDMI, mini-USB and regular USB port too. Looking forward to getting that through mail and maybe will review it later. I provide very cheap support, tips and repair for these cheap tablets, so if there's anything you can't do yourself or end up with software problems I can usually help you upgrade/fix it for $10 (no hardware, services available online or on-location if you live in southern California). I do need to know the model name though, so do NOT buy anything without knowing EXACTLY what you're getting.
And oh yea put the Opera Mini browser on them and then install the compatible Flash version on them for watching videos. That improves web browsing and using websites like YouTube immensely.
how could you tell if the tablet is fake ?
ReplyDeletein terms of it it was in your hands ?
DeleteSomeone else asked this same question and I have answered it in detail in the comments on the post ""An eBay Buyer's True Story".
DeleteHi Nadeem,
ReplyDeleteDo you have any other recommendations (ebay links)? I'm looking for tablets worth below 100usd, with keyboard. I live outside the US (Singapore) so some of your recommendations above do not apply to me.
I am not very knowledgeable about computers. All I need is a tablet I can surf the internet with, use the email and use youtube. Thanks.
Hope you can help.
Hey Ellie,
DeleteRight now I have a Craig CMP738B Android tablet and I have to say I'm quite happy with it. I got it on eBay, with shipping it cost ~$62 (upfront payment, did not have to bid). It has real Android 2.2 (Froyo). You can surf Internet, watch YouTube and check email. For Internet surfing I suggest you get Opera Mini browser to make it fast. I LOVE the ebook reader, lets you flip pages and even get free books from online ebookstores. It displays your ebooks on a bookshelf, very cool interface.
It doesn't have Android Market, but I can install apps pretty easily using Freeware Lovers (search "freewarelovers" on Google). Also contrary to what the box says it doesn't seem to have 4GB internal memory, so try not to store too much stuff on internal memory.
Finding tablets with physical keyboards is tricky these days and they usually cost more (even Windows XP ones) plus they're bulky. The Craig CMP738B claims to support USB keyboard that you could have in a case to open like a laptop when desired, but I haven't tested that. There is an excellent review if you search "cmp738b" on YouTube (about half hour long).
Other route would be to use a phone. I have a Samsung SCH-i760 tablet phone with WiFi, email and I've customized it with YouTube and Opera Mini apps. It has slide-out keyboard, nice handy device and battery lasts longer cos device is smaller. So you could try using a phone with just the WiFi, specially if physical keyboard is a big requirement for you. But small screen is a strain for long durations of reading.
Please confirm you got my reply, and anything else/other questions let me know it's all quite exciting for me. :-) Good luck!
Hi again, Nadeem.
ReplyDeleteYou've got me interested on the Samsung phone. I believe you're now the go-to guy for buying electronic gadgets with a budget. Rename this blog ASAP. HAHA.
Anyway, I've read reviews and videos online and I believe I like it. In my price range as well. What changes/software additions do I need to put in?
If you have any other suggestions for affordable phones (that is wifi-enabled, acts like a PDA and all that), do share it with me. I would consider them.
Thank you very much!
Ellie
Haha! Hey Ellie, I'm glad to be your go-to guy LOL.
DeleteThe phone is Samsung SCH-i760. You might not be able to use it as a phone outside USA because it works with the Verizon Wireless network (no sim?), but hopefully you can still use it as a PDA. It's tricky buying US products for foreign countries, even though you can connect with Wi-Fi some apps will block you if you are not in USA. Plus you might have to get different charger if voltage is difference (or buy voltage converter).
I've customized it with apps like Skype, Opera Mini, YouTube, Palringo (for Yahoo/MSN messenger), a nice drawing/painting app and some others. The phone is kind of old-fashioned and more bulky with lots of buttons, but I like it that way makes it more usable. Price range is definitely good; in past I've been able to buy it on eBay with free shipping for under $20!
So any more advice you need from your go-to guy? I feel so gay :-P.