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Onda Vi-40 - I just bought one. Any questions you want to ask?

Nwotnot

Newbie
Feb 21, 2012
35
15
China
Hi,

I just bought an Onda Vi-40 here in China. My budget was limited, and the basic tablet at retail is about 14,500RMB (166 Euro, US$222).

Specs:
Allwinner A10 1.5GHz - more information on this chip here
Mali GPU-400
9.7 inch IPS, 1024 x 768 High Resolution Capacitive 5 Points Multi-touch Screen
OS Android 4.0.1 OS (Ice Cream Sandwidh) (4.0.3 upgradeable) (Google CTS certified)
1GB Flash Memory DDR3 Ram
8GB NAND Flash built in
MPEG-4/3GPP/H.263/H.264/AVI/MOV/MP4/RMVB/FLV/MKV
AMR/AAC/AAC+/MP3/MIDI/WAV/PCM/MP3/WMA/WAV/APE/FLAC/OGG
2160p Smooth video playback performance
UMD/TXT/PDF/HTML/RTF/FB2
Dual Camera 5.0 Rear, 1.3 Front
802.11b/g/n
Bluetooth Dongle Supported
3G Dongle Supported
Audio Built in Loud Speaker
6500mAh Rechargeable Battery
Video playback time: Up to 8~10 hours
242 x 190 x 12mm
600 grams
3.5MM headphone jack
Microphone out
Micro SD card slot
Mini USB
Mini HDMI out
Earphone
USB Cable
Charger

It comes rooted, and my reading on other forums is that the chip, and Onda, offer regular firmware updates for their products.

In my initial excitement I was looking for a Flytouch or similar as they can be seen with built-in 3G, GPS and more. However, on further inquiry, it seems these are built to sell on spec more than quality and durability - at the moment. I think I am buying a little ahead of the bang for buck line, and maybe in a year or so we can see better supported tablets with those features at budget prices.

I got some valuable advice here:
Try looking for benchmarking software, That's not something I'm really into. I'm more concerned about, does it work properly, not going to give any trouble, and will it still be working in six months or a year. Michael

So I tempered my expectations, as money is limited, and decided to look at some of the more established names. I can't afford to be an early adopter of buggy products. :) I narrowed it down to the Onda Vi140, Viewsonic 97a (Only available in China, but searchable) and the Teclast A10t). They all have IPS screens, something I wanted.

Why Onda?
I like the idea they update FW.
The viewsonic seemed slower, and very slippery in the hands. The specs don't favour it.

My wife and I both thought the Onda looked nicer, and the build "felt" better than the Teclast, and the camera on the Teclast is only .3MP front, and we envisage my wife Skyping on this in the future with a 3G external card.

Very subjective, I know, but so far I'm happy enough. I'll let you know if I have problems.

Currently running ICS 4.03, basband 0.6 Kernel 3.08+

Let me know if you have any questions. I'm hellishly busy over the weekends, but will reply as soon as I can.

Regards,

David.
 
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Let me know if you have any questions. I'm hellishly busy over the weekends, but will reply as soon as I can.

Hi, David!
Do you have problems with skype also?
This is what my friends get on their side, when talking to me...
onda_skype_.jpg
 
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Hi, David!
Do you have problems with skype also?
This is what my friends get on their side, when talking to me...
onda_skype_.jpg

Skype did work, but the latest update refuses to work. ( I re-flashed and never kept the old version.)

Looking on the PlayStore comments, it's a big problem for many Android users. :thinking:

I'm also about to get mine repaired as it's developed a screen fault and I'm not happy with the volume - can't get it loud enough for a room full of people to hear. :mad:

Otherwise, all good.

David.
 
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Hi David,
I ordered this same unit for my wife from Pandawill and it shipped on march 27. Was just wondering if everything worked out of the box or if you did any updating. Does flash work? Youtube? How about Netflix? This looks great for the price and I am hoping that my wife loves it. Thanks for taking questions. I have been looking for a thread like this for a while.
 
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Hi David,
I ordered this same unit for my wife from Pandawill and it shipped on march 27. Was just wondering if everything worked out of the box or if you did any updating. Does flash work? Youtube? How about Netflix? This looks great for the price and I am hoping that my wife loves it. Thanks for taking questions. I have been looking for a thread like this for a while.

It's a great tablet, but I'm in China for work, so no YouTube/Facebook/Netflix.

There's a dedicated froum over at Slatedroid for the Onda A10 tablets. They discuss custom ROMs and tech stuff. Onda also post over there.

David.
 
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I would like to ask you guys about buying this tablet.
Do you think buying from vendors from Alibaba is better than from online store like Pandawill, Androidinabox, etc? Alibaba price is lower..very tempting...

Thanks for your help!

I'm lucky to be in China, though even then I have just had to return mine because of a screen fault. By all accounts I'm unlucky as I haven't heard of anyone else with this problem on the V3 models.

Personally, I would buy with protection as the cost of returning to a potential unknown and untrusted source could be much higher than any saving

I always advise to buy locally, with purchase protection if you can. Also, search the forums for suppliers that post regularly. On Slatedroid, there's a dedicated Onda A10 tablet forum and a guy (Roman???) has a company called "TNT". He has issued his own ROM. That's the sort of support I'd look for from a supplier.

David.
 
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Hi came to turn my tablet on yesterday evening nothing it had been working fine in the morning had a full battery, tried the reset button nothing plugged the charger in nothing not even the battery which shows it charging, managed to re flash the rom still nothing, do get sometimes a crack from the speakers when holding down the on button for a period of time, any help with this or has it died its only just over a month old.:mad:
 
Upvote 0
Hi,

I just bought an Onda Vi-40 here in China. My budget was limited, and the basic tablet at retail is about 14,500RMB (166 Euro, US$222).

Let me know if you have any questions. I'm hellishly busy over the weekends, but will reply as soon as I can.

Regards,

David.

Hi there.

Can we install whatsapp application in Onda vi40 tablet? Have u try to use it?

Or has anyone used whatsapp application in Onda vi40 tablet?

Thanks :)
 
Upvote 0
Hi there.

Can we install whatsapp application in Onda vi40 tablet? Have u try to use it?

Or has anyone used whatsapp application in Onda vi40 tablet?

Thanks :)

I have seen many people on forums using it on other Allwinner A10 tablets, so there's no reason to believe it won't work on the Vi40.

http://www.whatsapp.com/android/current/WhatsApp.apk would be the link - direct from the developer.

Enjoy your tablet! :)

David.
 
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