Buying on eBay can be fun, challenging, and frustrating, all at the same time. Apart from finding and bidding on the right deals you also need to be very patient and persistent about making sure you get the product you want at the lowest price. My personal true story as an eBay buyer involves a certain WonderMedia WM8650 tablet purchase that is also sold under the name of SuperPad, ePad and Flytouch. If you’re not careful about your online purchases then eBay sellers can take advantage of you very easily, so read my story carefully to learn from my mistakes and also learn what to do to fix certain common issues when buying on eBay.
Real Deal Behind Fake Android Tablet on eBay
So here is what I was expecting to get when buying my WonderMedia WM8650 tablet and what I actually got. It seems that sellers can often throw words around like “Google Android” and “Android Market” in order to increase sales, despite such brandnames being heavily copyrighted.
Fake Android Market on WM8650 Tablet
The Android Market allows you to download more apps onto your tablet. These apps are essentially like software programs found on a Microsoft Windows or Apple iOS computer. Having a fake Android Market on your mobile device is a major limitation to what apps you can have on it.
Fixing Android Market on WM8650 Tablet
To be honest, I wasn’t entirely sure what I was doing here. I did manage to improve the version of the market on my Android tablet although I couldn't fix it completely.
Finding Out Which WM8650 Tablet Model You Have
This Became a major headache, because it turns out there are a bunch of different products being sold under the name of WonderMedia WM8650, ePad, Flytouch and SuperPad. I just wish I knew what I had!
WM8650 ROM Upload Fails All the Time says eBay Seller
I tried to upgrade the ROM on my Android tablet, which is sort of like the operating system on it. A few attempts succeeded, but it was strange how casually the eBay seller thought it was normal for ROM uploads to fail.
Getting Refund from eBay Seller for WM8650 Tablet
So yes, by now I wanted my money back, and all of it! This was turning out to be a waste of time and money.
Getting WM8650 Tablet Replaced
The seller’s offer for a free replacement did seem appealing. However, the main problem was he still couldn’t tell me exactly what he’d be sending me as a replacement (ie. the exact model name of the tablet).
Confusion About WM8650 Tablet Model Number
I wish the eBay seller knew what he was selling! The purchase may have worked out for me if I only knew what was being sent to me.
Getting eBay Seller to Refund All Money
I have to say it can be very hard to get all of your money back even if the item listed said full refund is offered.
Warning Seller About eBay Buyer Protection
Efforts had to be made to pressurize the seller into giving me my money back. However, eBay is initially very passive about helping its buyers in this matter.
Contacting eBay Buyer Protection
Truth is you don’t really “contact” anyone, at least not a live person. The eBay Buyer Protection program is mostly just an automated system and alternate mode of communication between buyer and seller.
Telling Seller About eBay Buyer Protection Case
Well I guess telling the seller did help in trying to have him take the matter more seriously. He was now dealing with an urgent problem, since the eBay Buyer Protection system does make everything more monitored with fixed deadlines, aiming towards a more systematic resolution.
Using eBay Buyer Protection to Get Refund
I did get a lot of my money back. There is a certain procedure that I had to follow to make sure everything goes on record, such as my acceptance of the refund amount.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
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a lot of cheap android products dont have the real android market because the manufacturer has to license it from google. instead, they have an alternative market, in place instead. a different app market does not mean "fake android". since android is free and open source, why would anyone waste their time pirating free software?
ReplyDeletethis just means that its real android, just with a non official, yet real, android app market.
DeleteYou will know what I'm talking about if/when you use these cheap tablets. The "Android" they refer to are clones or MODs, the firmware tries to copy Android. If you research you can usually find they have a different creator and have a different name, like Cyanogen or Uberoid. Cyanogen and Uberoid are two of the better MODs out there mind you, so certainly not trying to diss them although they are not the real genuine Android.
DeleteYes, they do still support many Android apps whether downloaded from the Android Market or third-party sources, but when you use these clone firmwares they are often unstable, especially some of the preinstalled firmwares coming from China. I managed to upgrade mine to Uberoid and it was a lot better. Eventually I bought a tablet with genuine Google Android 2.2 (Froyo) sold as trademarked by Google and am much happier now.
If Android is free and many apps such as YouTube as well it is confusing why someone would not just use those on their tablets, I don't get that either. But for some reason many times the firmware and even free apps on tablets even if you don't want to call it a fake is a clone or MOD. Maybe they make pirated versions because their own tablets cannot support the real Android OS, so they load it with a lighter firmware and sell it falsely under the Android umbrella. Or perhaps despite being open source it may be illegal to redistribute Android.
Let me give you an example. One tablet I ordered did not even have an option to add your Google account in the settings; how can it be Google Android when you can't even set up your Google account on it?
Anyway I do appreciate your feedback and feel free to discuss further, and if you can give me a reason to believe these cheap eBay tablets have the real Android operating system I'd be happy to believe you!
You're right that is strange, how it did not ask you for you email. I'm not saying somewhere in the world a fake version of android doesn't exist (just search up "dream dual sim phone" on youtube or google, it was back when cheap chinese clones lacked the power needed to run android), but that just because it looks different or operates differently it doesn't mean its fake. Cyanogen, I thought, was a rom, that ran on android, with full android compatibility and android functionality, a skin of sorts, like Touchwiz or Sense. A lot of 7" netbooks on ebay run a certain look above android, which I think might just be a launcher/rom to help the processor speed up a bit. I might be wrong about that, but I'm just saying that's my thoughtd on this.
DeleteFair enough. Regardless of whether it's a fake or just a skin, from a user's point of view it sort of comes down to the same thing - buying something that looks and operates poorly compared to what was expected. Technically you might be right, but my own reaction as a user was that I'd been scammed. Heck if they "scammed" me nicely, like sold me a good product legally, I might not mind it so much even if it was a fake, skin or whatever else.
DeleteI see what you mean. Personally, I think these generic tablet manufacturers shouldve gone with stock android, as that wouldve put less strain on the processor, and wouldve given the buyer a more authentic experience. It would also avoid situations like these. I wouldve been upset too if I knew I had an authentic android device to begin with, but just that it was just not operating like normal android devices should.
Deleteproblems with ANDROID 1.6 TABLET 7" WMT2.1.2_105 (MID or Apad)
ReplyDelete- Freezes after the "Loading" message during the boot.
- The android system loading and after few seconds the display turn off and don't work nothing.
- Touchscreen does not responding/does not working.
- When upgrade the system of your Android Tablet see message:
"Udisk not found (/dev/sda)
Failed Upgrading filesystem. Exit!"
- Or you just want to reset your Android Tablet
I have the same problems with my Android Tablet and finally after several attempts
find this patch:
https://rapidshare.com/files/3675403255/2.0188_99.rar
So, when you download it you must unzip it
(
you can unzip it with WinZip which you can here download at free trial mode:
http://www.winzip.com/win/en/downwz.htm
)
When you unzip it you will see folder with name "2.0188".
Open this folder and you will see folder with name "script",
copy the folder "script" in your micro SD/TF memory card which you will put in your Android Tablet
(ATTENTION: Memory card must be TOTALLY empty!).
1.Connect your Android Tablet with charger.
2.Make sure the tablet is off!
3.Put memory card in your Android Tablet.
4.Turn on the tablet.
5.Now it will update do not interrupt this it can take 5 min.
6.Wait until the tablet says remove memory card.
7.When you remove the memory card the device will OFF.
8.Activate your device and you will be ready to use it again!
(ATTENTION: If you want to use the same memory card in your device you must delete the folder with name "script" from it -
Copy the folder "script" in your PC if you want again reset your Android Tablet).
This "Android Tablet" is a rip-off.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.android.com/devices/?country=all
Under manufactures, search for WonderMedia.
Unfortunately, you cannot find it.
That 100% means its a counterfeit product.