I'm starting to like ICS

nickdalzell · November 26th, 2012, 03:49 PM

i figured, since i still love Android and would like a higher end device one day, that at least can outdo my iPad 3, i figured i will have to adjust and adapt to Android 4.0 which seems to be inundating all sales of new tablets and smartphones lately. given that, i saw a super cheap off-brand i figured disposable but at least a cheap way to get used to the differences and learn some, that way i don't get angry and break a later $599 tablet. it was a good thing i did, the $60 D2 Pad didn't last a day, more like five hours before it fell on the carpet and the screen was cracked (the digitizer is what cracked, which killed touch input, after disassembly it was a large battery coupled with a flimsy plastic back that just by shock alone pushed the screen enough to bend and break the digitizer sadly) but in the short life that little cheapie (at 10" it wasn't that little) did teach me a few surprises. i saw a better, more updated status bar. instead of a separate notification bar at the top and a half-inch long soft-button bar at the bottom, they seemed to have killed two birds with one stone by consolidating them both into one bar. the soft buttons were much better located on the lower left, out of the way of my keyboard, and it seems the settings menu is more like Gingerbread (this was a stock basic vanilla ICS) the lock screen was perfect--no widgets, no icons, just simple. and best yet, it was fast. i still don't like the relocated launch drawer (on tablets it seems to be upper right still, like the ROMs i used on my Kindle Fire) and while i had to Google it awhile, there IS a clear notification option in the notification pull (up?). it's confusing as it looks like a close button (x) which i figured just closed the menu. i was swiping away before i found that out, but it does act as a close button but also clears everything in one go. the only drawback it had no Google Play Store, but it did have a great alternative, called 1Market. sadly the tablet's reliability died off fast. first 1Market would refuse to download (all would instantly say 'download unsuccessful') and only search worked. i could find and click on apps to see their description, read their reviews, but not download. an update came through that forced me to create a new account, but even that didn't work. signing in with Google produced a blank screen, signing in with Facebook gave 'an error occurred, please try again later' over and over. so i tried sideloading the APK of what i was trying to download, Google Voice Search, but then Dolphin refused to download *anything*. every download was 'unsuccessful' so i put the tablet on my couch, but when i got up, the glossy surface caused it to fall off (it was on the edge anyway) and it hit the floor, and cracked. but in its short life i learned something, i was impressed with the short tour i got.

one caveat though, the darn thing still has too...much...blue. i tried Googling for a way to change it to a more nice GB green but all i got was how to make GB look like ICS. while blue is my favorite color mainly, i have never been a fan of too much of it, or the digital 'electric blue' that is the same shade used on bright LED lighting on most tech devices today

EDIT: got it on m Kindle Fire. correction: LOVE IT. they either updated it or fixed it. simple as heck.