Viewsonic G-Tablet review UPDATE

[rushmore]

UPDATED 2/4:

This is based on TnT Lite 4.21 (60 hz fix added to TnT Lite). This makes the display a little better- especially for comics Rest of review unchanged. Solid device for rootsters.

1. Flash playback still amazing
2. Quadrant still ranges 2300 to 2500 levels (mine is 2400 average)
3. Very stable
4. Accelerometer now works for most games. Sadly- this is through XDA folks efforts and NOT Viewsonic- this is VERY sad. Shame on the OEM.
5. Wifi is very quick to connect and also works on adhoc connections (Why no adhoc on Archos Gen 8?).
6. Most games work now, but still no Gameloft games.
7. PSX4Droid plays great and V2 1.09 has good sound and smooth gaming
8. Market fix covers most of the market now, but still odd omissions like Tank Hero
9. Bluetooth and USB input devices still are not working- Vegan does work, but I prefer TnT due to some file behavior issues with Vegan ATM.
10. USB sticks and 500gb hard drives (all fat32) work great.
11. Wifi tether works GREAT
12. Battery life still amazing

I still do not get it. If Gtablet had this firmware as an official install, the device would be a huge seller- Viewsonic has been making efforts, but PEOPLE NOT BEING PAID ARE DOING A FAAAAAR BETTER JOB WITH FIRMWARE PACKAGES.

 

[savatage6868]

I've seen your posts in the Archos forums and have been endlessly frustrated with Archos so I'm buying a G Tablet. I've been reading up some on what fixes are available but can you point me in right direction of what I need to do to make it work correctly?

Thanks for your help

 

[Martimus]

Good news! I may still have to consider investing in one of these...

 

[rushmore]

Just please consider that it does NOT work well out of the box. It sucks and software is D- at best. Using TnT Lite 1.02 and the Flash update that is also in the XDA thread brings the device software up to a B-.

You need to be comfortable with copying files and installing custom roms, until Viewsonic releases official updates, or a modder beats them to it.

IMO, STAY AWAY from CM 6.1. It does not see the internal flash space, so 13gb gone from use. Stick with TnT Lite 1.02 until something better comes along. CM 6.1 is fast, but you lose functions on the device.

 

[crimton]

I bought one of these today over the archos 101. It took a little while but I've got it pretty functional. Flash works, partial market...many things need to be installed manually and tnt lite may this nice tablet. Build quality seems nice too. Couldn't get adb to work and also wondering about hdmi capabilities.

 

[Tonysracing]

Do you have a link to where I can get the TnT Lite and Flash update? I'm comfortable modding as long as I have a set of instructions.

 

[SporkLover]

Can you quantify the battery life? Media playing is important to me as I spend hours on airplanes. The 10hours of video play attracted me to the iPad, and I want something that is comparable.

 

[crimton]

Do you have a link to where I can get the TnT Lite and Flash update? I'm comfortable modding as long as I have a set of instructions.

tegratab.com • View topic - TnT Lite (build based off stock TnT kernel / UI)
xda-developers - View Single Post - [Q] Viewsonic gtablet

Can you quantify the battery life? Media playing is important to me as I spend hours on airplanes. The 10hours of video play attracted me to the iPad, and I want something that is comparable.

battery life seems good to me, i've had it less than 24 hrs and only went through a partial charge but it seems to last pretty good so far. the battery is considerably smaller than the ipad but it says 7 hrs video playback.

 

[spb37]

How is it with games that depend on the accelerometer. Touchscreen ok for games. Thx

 

[crimton]

How is it with games that depend on the accelerometer. Touchscreen ok for games. Thx

haven't tried yet, let me see


name a few that i can try

 

[dsroland]

I have been playing with my G Tablet for 3 days. When it works, it is great. However, the top half the screen either will not respond to the touch or it takes several times to open an app. I am wondering if this is a software issue or a defective screen. Any ideas?

 

[crimton]

I have been playing with my G Tablet for 3 days. When it works, it is great. However, the top half the screen either will not respond to the touch or it takes several times to open an app. I am wondering if this is a software issue or a defective screen. Any ideas?

most likely software hae you tried installing tnt lite it is not perfect but a lot better than stock

 

[dsroland]

I loaded LauncherPro. It works great on the bottom half of the screen. The same slowness and inability to open apps on the top half is being seen with TnT and LauncherPro. I will try TnT Lite. Thanks.

 

[crimton]

I loaded LauncherPro. It works great on the bottom half of the screen. The same slowness and inability to open apps on the top half is being seen with TnT and LauncherPro. I will try TnT Lite. Thanks.

yea i don't have that with the top half of the screen, i just flashed clockworkmod recovery and made my first backup. i'm probably about to flash cm6.1 beta 2 at some point. not ready to pull the trigger just yet but its very comforting having cwm installed.

 

[xmr405o]

Just got this tablet today but prior to purchasing I've been reading the threads in the XDA and Tegra forums. Looks like alot of support for this tablet from the devs and modders. The only thing I am skeptical about with tablets like these is it's longevity mainly on it's screen. But I took the chance and just hope for the best.

This is gonna be one of the most overlooked tablets but I think it deserves a chance.

 

[IcepickTony]

I just got off the phone with Viewsonic gTablet support (866-501-6405). They informed me that the Market Place support is to be pushed out to he tablets on the 22nd (This Monday!). It will show as a new icon. They show on their website (Viewsonic.com/gtablet) that Market place is now out, but I was told they jumped the gun on the website. They also told me they are currently scheduled to release the support for the Flash on Dec 26th. Now I know I made the correct choice on tablets.

I have not tried this site yet, but unofficially the guy told me to visit slideme.com to get programs until market is out. He did recommend staying away from the paid apps as they may not work, though most do he said. His recommendation is to wait for the Marketplace, and then get the paid apps.

 

[jtbnet]

Not a suggestion for folks who are very Non-Technical, can't follow instructions, or just want something that just works out of the box... But if you fit outside this box, and get satisfaction from learning new things, trying things way ahead of the curve, getting your's to be fastest in town... check out the dev area we have over on XDA-DEV for the Gtab... we have multiple running Custom Versions of Roms for these already... None are Perfect, some better than others depending on your's needs/desires, i.e. Flash 10 now etc... All are welcomed, most who venture with find it thrilling, frustrating, and ultimately rewarding And for those just loose interest we have instructions for returning your install to stock...

http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=841

 

[xmr405o]

Not a suggestion for folks who are very Non-Technical, can't follow instructions, or just want something that just works out of the box... But if you fit outside this box, and get satisfaction from learning new things, trying things way ahead of the curve, getting your's to be fastest in town... check out the dev area we have over on XDA-DEV for the Gtab... we have multiple running Custom Versions of Roms for these already... None are Perfect, some better than others depending on your's needs/desires, i.e. Flash 10 now etc... All are welcomed, most who venture with find it thrilling, frustrating, and ultimately rewarding And for those just loose interest we have instructions for returning your install to stock...

Viewsonic G Tablet - xda-developers

I was messing with the gtab all night. I tried both cm and tnt lite. I chose the latter and its much better. Flash is great on the gtab. This feels like the first time I rooted my Droid, its both frustrating and rewarding.

 

[BobSutan]

Picked up one Friday at sears. I gave it a good try but it's just no good out of the box like others have been saying. Got flash and launcherpro working which made it better, but it still has it's problems. The piss poor viewing angle was the last straw for me though. I'd like to like this thing for what it's hardware is, buts it's just not ready for general consumption IMO. Worse still is you can now get the 16GB iPad for the same price and know it'll work out of the box.

 

[jacindc]

Bought one yesterday, would love to try one of the mods, but am a total modding newbie and would love steps from the very beginning, ie, how to root the tab if you've never done it before. Have spent hours reading all the xda threads, but understandably they start from a certain level of knowledge. I'm guessing I wont be the only person getting this tab who's a newbie but willing to learn so that the tab can work better.

 

[xmr405o]

Bought one yesterday, would love to try one of the mods, but am a total modding newbie and would love steps from the very beginning, ie, how to root the tab if you've never done it before. Have spent hours reading all the xda threads, but understandably they start from a certain level of knowledge. I'm guessing I wont be the only person getting this tab who's a newbie but willing to learn so that the tab can work better.

Flashing is pretty simple. I suck at writing instructions but I'll try to write it as if I'm telling myself how to do it. haha.


http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=842004

All you need to do is download the ROM from the link provided in the XDA thread. You'll need an account I think.
Unzip the RAR file, and in there you'll find an "update" zip and a folder called "recovery".
Plug your Gtab into the computer and turn on USB on your Gtab. You should now be able to see your gtab's storage.
Just drag the update zip and recovery folder into your Gtab's main storage. You can turn off USB and unplug the USB cord.
Then turn off your Gtab, and then power it on by pressing the power button and the volume up (volume +) so you can enter into recovery.
Hold it for about 7 secs, then if you did it right you should see little messages on the bottom left of your gtab screen. It's flashing the ROM you put into your SD card.
It'll reboot by itself.
After that, it's suggested by the Dev to run recovery again by repeating the pwr button and volume up process.

I hope that helps.

 

[jacindc]

Thanks, xmr, I appreciate your taking the time to write it out. The problem comes with the need for the "recovery" folder, which didn't exist on my stock gtab, or in the particular ROM I was trying to install (ztab), so I was completely flummoxed.

I still ended up figuring out root on my own, though! Glad I didn't have anything else planned to do today.

Thanks again.

 

[xmr405o]

Thanks, xmr, I appreciate your taking the time to write it out. The problem comes with the need for the "recovery" folder, which didn't exist on my stock gtab, or in the particular ROM I was trying to install (ztab), so I was completely flummoxed.

I still ended up figuring out root on my own, though! Glad I didn't have anything else planned to do today.

Thanks again.

OIC, so did you flash Clockwork Mod recovery, i think the zpad dev uses this method which is different from the instructions I gave you. Sorry. Here's the thread to flash Clockwork...(which you probably already saw)

ClockworkMod Recovery - xda-developers

After you flash this, the recovery method will change and you can install the zpad update zip by placing that zip file in the root of your SD. Turning off your Gtab, then holding down power and volume up button to enter clockwork recovery. There you'll see install update zip then your ROM should flash.

 

[jacindc]

Thanks again! I'm going to wait to do anything now until the OTA update that's supposed to happen today comes through (and I just might end up doing TNTlite anyway). And no, I hadn't seen that thread, though I was looking for something exactly like that. (I've gotten Gmail sideloaded and Maps working even without a ROM, which makes me the most happy, though I'm still not able to get the fuller Market going, since I can't figure out the Titanium Backup "wipe" workaround people are talking about. Still trying....)

And again, thanks so much!

 

[cdodge]

Picked up one Friday at sears. I gave it a good try but it's just no good out of the box like others have been saying. Got flash and launcherpro working which made it better, but it still has it's problems. The piss poor viewing angle was the last straw for me though. I'd like to like this thing for what it's hardware is, buts it's just not ready for general consumption IMO. Worse still is you can now get the 16GB iPad for the same price and know it'll work out of the box.

Yep, the viewing angle is what made me return mine. Other than that this was a descent tablet.