Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)As far as I'm concerned, this is my very first review on Amazon ever and this isn't even my account. I asked my Father to let me use his account to buy this product since I do not have an account with Amazon.com yet. I should also probably mention that the only reason why I bought it off Amazon.com (though other places like MeriMobiles carry the exact same item for about $20 cheaper) was because I thought returning the product would be a lot easier in case anything went wrong. But holy smokes. I ordered it on Monday (which was Memorial Day) and received it on Tuesday. For me, fast shipping always gets brownie points and this seller got the maximum brownie points so far.
Anyway, here I am, logged in with my Father's account ONLY so that I can write this review. Because, simply, it deserves a good review.
Well, I've searched for a decent tablet for over 3 months before I decided on this little gadget. I've looked into FlyTouch, SuperPad, Apad, Epad, Coby Kyros, Archos tablets, and a whole a lot more. But the deciding factors were 1) its price ($214.99), 2) the whooping capacitive multi-touch screen that Herotab C8 offers, 3) and the competitive specs it comes with. If you were to compare individual specs with Samsung's Galaxy Tab, you'd find that Herotab C8 offers almost identical specs at less than half of the branded price. (Well, of course, Galaxy Tab's got more tricks under its sleeves.)
It comes with a wall charger, a USB cable, and a miniUSB converter cable.
Now if you are looking for a cheaper iPad experience, I'd say please save up some more and buy an iPad. I've read a lot of reviews on Amazon and other places and the most annoying complaint of all is "this thing sucks. iPad is so much better." Well, to me, that sounds like you buy a Toyota Camry and complain that it does not run as smooth or fast like a Mercedez or BMW. (No offense to Toyota Camry and its owners. It's a great car.) Also, if you are somewhat challenged in technology department, buy a branded device that you can start using comfortably right out of the box. This thing needs to be tweaked. I've installed two different custom roms and decided that C8Lean custom ROM was the better one. I have customized the tablet just the way I want and boy, it is an awesome little tool.
Here are the usual pros and cons:
PROS:
- Capacitive screen: I looked into Coby tablets and other low-end models that offer similar specs with resistive touch screens. And I told myself there was no way I would be able to use the tablet comfortably with my fingernails. For its value ($214.99), having a very reliable and responsive capacitive touchscreen on this unit makes this unit far more desirable. For those of you who don't know the difference between capacitive and resistive touchscreens, think iPod/iPad/iPhone (capacitive) vs. first generation touchscreen cellphones for which you had to use your fingernails (resistive).
- Fast response: With Samsung 1GHz processor and 512mb ram, this tablet will almost instantly respond to anything you tell it to do. I wouldn't say zero-lag but it's pretty damn close.
- Expandability: So far, I've tried a 16gb and a 8gb MicroSD card from SanDisk and they both just fine. It lists that you can expand it up to 32gb but I don't have a 32gb MicroSD card so can't really speak for it.
- HDMI, USB ports: I have not tried the HDMI and USB ports yet since I've only had it for less than 24 hours. Assuming they work, these ports will provide many more options for its usage.
- Battery life: Since I left for work this morning, I've occasionally played with my tablet here and there. Played a few levels on Angry Birds, downloaded several new apps, browsed internet a little. It's been almost 7 hours since I took it off the charger, and the battery is still holding at 80+%. It probably has to do with the fact that I set the brightness the lowest, but even then, it's pretty impressive.
CONS:
- No GPS/Bluetooth: As far as I can tell, this unit did not come with GPS or Bluetooth. But I already knew that when I bought it. It's one of those natural human instincts kicking in: oh, I wish this, wish that... Other variants of this model do have GPS and Bluetooth. So if you absolutely must have them, go for the other models.
- Camera: It has a 1.3 megapixels front facing webcam, but I really don't know what that translates into in terms of visual quality. But, after using the camera, I can tell you it's just as good (or as bad) as your normal cell phone cameras. (NOT smartphone cameras, your good ol' basic phones) Grainy, not bright, very low quality.
- Screen: If you intend to use this device for indoor use only, it's perfect. However, under the sunlight, you see practically nothing on the screen. (But then what tablet pc out there does work under the sunlight?). Also, it's not visible at certain angles. I haven't had the chance to share the device with someone else but it might not be a good idea to do so. And I find that landscape view is much more clear and smoother than portrait view on this tablet. With portrait view, screen seems to be stretched(?) in, making the view a bit squeezed. Lucky for me, I generally dig the landscape view and hate portrait. But if you are planning on mainly using it as an eReader holding it vertically, Herotab C8 might be a bad choice.
- Manual: If you have no idea what you are up against, the manual will certainly not be your friend. It literally just lists what the tablet is about. No troubleshooting, no set-up guide. Nothing. It's pretty useless.
- Not too much support: Unlike branded devices, Herotab C8 has only a few coders working as far as I could tell. This means less support available from the underground gurus. This really does not matter too much but as a tech savvy I wish there were more people working on my tablet to get a better experience overall.
- Weight: It's really, REALLY heavy compared to other tablets I've held. So if you are looking for something portable in both size and weight, this probably isn't gonna cut it for you. Overall, it's a really good product. Actually, it's an amazingly awesome product. I mean, if you read the cons I've written, that's mostly just nit-picking. I knew what I was buying. I did my homework. So the cons I've listed are basically a wishlist. But who is ever 100% satisfied with the product he or she buys? I am certainly not. I plan on using this device for web surfing, workout playmate/guide, occasional video/movie viewing, and other Internet-related functions. And this is just perfect.
If you are looking for a decent Android tablet that can be upgraded to Gingerbread (2.3), with a capacitive screen, about $200 in price, sturdily built (though a bit heavy), well, this is it, as of now.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Herotab C8 with Samsung S5PV210 1GHz Processor, 7" Capacitive Multi-touch, Android 2.2 Tablet
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