eLocity A7

[Mr Dasher]

I found this on the XDA forums.

"The hardware for the 3G is not there. In it's place is a rubber rectangle that stops you inserting a sim card. There is space for a mini-pci card and an extra antenna as well but no slot was soldered onto the board."

I guess it's on to a new tablet.

 

[rokky]

Well I convinced this is the Tab for me..Now I'm kicking my self I'm pretty sure Tigerdirect had it for $299 on Christmas eve : (
Currently it @ 349 with free shipping........

It is still available for 299 in local store ads (Raleigh and Durham, NC stores), so see if they have a price match guarantee that includes their own reductions.

 

[totouch]

I was in a TD up here in Canada last week at they had just gotten the unit in... $299!

The question is... wait? or pull the trigger... (i was originally trying to decide between this and the A81e/g, but after reading so many horror stories about just getting the thing i'm having second thoughts... by the time you load the a81e with gps, extra battery, + shipping the difference (and potential headache) are not huge)...

 

[xaueious]

I'm in Canada too. I don't want to spend this much money on what seems to be an incomplete product. Multitouch is important to me at this pricepoint

Tempting though, because there is actually a decent custom ROM out for this thing

 

[gadgetrants]

Looks like J&R is trying to reduce some of their inventory...price drop to $300: eLocity A7 7" Capacitive Touch Screen Android Tablet in Portable Tablet PCs at JR.com

-Matt

 

[matthew2582]

Here is my take after a few days of use:

Just got the a7 today and think it is a great device. Even with the original firmware - the device is blazing fast, more below, and the pinch and zoom is adequate for my purposes.

Firmware Update - Version 2.0121 of 12/24 further improves pinch and zoom - which we will apply tomorrow - and update our review once done. XDA have an Android Market ROM so the a7 can gain access to Market.

Build quality is very sturdy - some have commented on its being plasticky - but it's a rubberized, non-slip plastic. Perfectly respectable.

We are certain that XDA will do Honeycomb in due course.

First off - we should say we are an Apple shop - iMacs, MacBook Airs, Minis and iPads - so when we say the a7 blows the iPad away on speed - we are not coming from an anti-Apple perspective. Quite the opposite. Example - loading cnn.com on the a7 fully rendered in about a half a second - the iPad 6 seconds.

1080p playback is super fast and very smooth. Flash is very smooth as well.

Updated Review - 01/17

Just applied new firmware rev Version 2.0121 and then Version 2.0124.

Fixes all outstanding issues - improved pinch and zoom, better battery.

Awesome tablet - almost twice the Quadrant benchmark score of the Archos A70.

 

[totouch]

thanks for the info! in advance, please excuse my newbness... would the performance of this tablet be due to the tablet design itself (as in elocity design), or could we expect similar performance (benchmark #s) from ANY tegra2 tablet? (obvious hardware differences (e.g. single vs multi-touch aside))

Here is my take after a few days of use:

Just got the a7 today and think it is a great device. Even with the original firmware - the device is blazing fast, more below, and the pinch and zoom is adequate for my purposes.

Firmware Update - Version 2.0121 of 12/24 further improves pinch and zoom - which we will apply tomorrow - and update our review once done. XDA have an Android Market ROM so the a7 can gain access to Market.

Build quality is very sturdy - some have commented on its being plasticky - but it's a rubberized, non-slip plastic. Perfectly respectable.

We are certain that XDA will do Honeycomb in due course.

First off - we should say we are an Apple shop - iMacs, MacBook Airs, Minis and iPads - so when we say the a7 blows the iPad away on speed - we are not coming from an anti-Apple perspective. Quite the opposite. Example - loading cnn.com on the a7 fully rendered in about a half a second - the iPad 6 seconds.

1080p playback is super fast and very smooth. Flash is very smooth as well.

Updated Review - 01/17

Just applied new firmware rev Version 2.0121 and then Version 2.0124.

Fixes all outstanding issues - improved pinch and zoom, better battery.

Awesome tablet - almost twice the Quadrant benchmark score of the Archos A70.

 

[immortalsoule]

Maybe i can help you fellas. I've owned the A7 for a few months now. As tablets go, it could be considered the "little brother" to the Galaxy Tab. It's got extreme speed, decent memory, can handle up to a 32GB micro SD, & does regular & streamed video GREAT. I've tested it with bluetooth GPS, Keyboard, and Mouse...but not all at the same time. It has a problem handling more than one at once. However, how it does handle bluetooth is GREAT. There's a dude on XDA named "Dexter" who's been constantly upgrading the ROM with things like Market and has worked out a few bugs with HDMI, ad-hoc tethering, a few other very necessary bugs. See here : [ROM][21-mar-2011] ElocityMod v1.41 for Elocity A7 - xda-developers Now, for the gamers: Graphics are smoothing and fast BUT, the sensors tend to be a little....lack. You have to do a HEAVY rotation for the slightest turn. My personal opinion on that is because they do not have a sensor "calibration" app. I'm constantly suggesting things to Dexter about this but he tends to shy away from my suggestions and waits for other people to suggest it before he deals with it. Ego trip, i guess, dunno. This tablet handles almost everything well but the sound is a "little" bit low. There are amplifier apps out there but they don't make an extreme difference. My best estimate is that this tablet has the capacity to be great but the actual support for the mother company is....CRAP. They make a really odd directory for the SD card (which is a PAIN for apps that need extra space for storage like GPS). Dexter has been effortless to fix it and i contacted the company about their obvious flaws in design. It comes with something a lot of tablets don't, a rubber backing that helps people grip a little better. The power button in inset instead of poking out slightly which is a pain when powering on or going into recovery mode because you have to remove your finger to look and see if it's powering up. The system button area isn't back-lit (a lot of people seem to like back-lit). The camera, in all honesty, wasn't well constructed for a 1.3MP but, under optimal lighting conditions, you look okay on it. Unfortunately that's kinda pointless because most of the video-conferencing apps really don't shine until they hit Android 2.3. Oh, and because of a design flaw, apps to SD is OUT. Maybe there can be a software coded work-around later but i won't make any promises. Will 3.0 ever work on it? I haven't a CLUE. But, there are some crafty people out there and if they can still make Android OS updates work for something as old as a G1 phone, there's hope. Guys, if you have any other questions, i'll do my best to address them.

 

[gadgetrants]

^ Really nice update. Thanks.

-Matt

 

[immortalsoule]

^ Really nice update. Thanks.

-Matt

I just caught a quote that seems to have been from the company.

They say they are probably not going to update to 3.0 Honeycomb due to the resolutions used, but that still doesn't mean it can't be done. For every one guy who says "can't be done", there's 50+ guys out there determined to make it happen.

I've seen stuff in XDA that the "pros" said "won't happen" and these intermediate dudes did in their own house on their own computers. Honestly, I've been tracking the progress of Android and a LOT of these so-called updates the companies are putting out are just imports from guys who live down the street from us in their parents basement.

I, personally, own a iPad 32GB, Elocity A7, and Galaxy Tab and have owned a BUNCH of others. Android is following in Apple's footsteps from the old days (and these days) and taking stuff from other people who have coded it at home and calling it theirs. The coolest lock-screens, best status bars, most useful drivers, ect for the Apple and Android devices came from regular guys like us. They might put the package together but it's the dudes at home who are making the most progress.

Keep asking questions and keep pointing out problems. Have NO doubt that it is the guy who's pointing out the flaws and problems (to a degree) who is helping the effort to make a better Android experience. Ignore the haters (who often think you're comparing or putting the device down), keep saying "this is a problem".

It's a GREAT device.

So keep a good thought dudes!

 

[muxecoid]

Thanks everyone for sharing your knowledge and opinion. I ordered it now. When it arrives I'll share my impressions on the forum.

 

[immortalsoule]

Wifi Keep Alive (in Market) is a GREAT app for people being bothered by the WIFI going to sleep with the screen off. It revives it within 5 seconds of the screen coming back on. I loaded it, used "Always On", went to Advanced and activated all 4 workarounds. Keep the faith dudes!

 

[BOONYRAT]

I don't know if I am even at the right place to ask a question but here goes..I have a Elocity a7, had it a couple of months, I'm not savy enough to do a rom, and frankly i don't even know what a rom root is, so i just do the company firmware updates, the last dated feb 24th.After i did the firmware update my tablet now has the crappiest video, I mean it is blotchy and sometimes it studders, which never happened untill I did this elocity firmware update.I loved my a7 the way it was when I 1st got it,it had great streaming abilities and all websites saw the tablet as a pc and i got the full size webb page. Now when i go to most sites it some how see's me as a mobile device and i get this weird shortened version which i hate. I know i'm not very savy about pc or android tablets but when i bought this tablet i read every thing about it and its capabilities and i did'nt think i was buying a damn phone for christ sake. Has anyone of my little capabilities out there dissapointed like i am about how this tablet is being advertised and the lack of the company to live up to its hype. I did'nt buy this thing thinking i needed to be a electronics nerd just to get it to work as advertised..Please elocity just let me get back to where it was when i bought it because this latest "firmware" update sucks..Well i hope i did'nt offend any one but i felt i had to speak my mind.

 

[immortalsoule]

Wifi Keep Alive (in Market) is a GREAT app for people being bothered by the WIFI going to sleep with the screen off. It revives it within 5 seconds of the screen coming back on. I loaded it, used "Always On", went to Advanced and activated all 4 workarounds. Keep the faith dudes!

The newest, April 17th, ROM claims to have fixed that issue.

 

[immortalsoule]

I don't know if I am even at the right place to ask a question but here goes..I have a Elocity a7, had it a couple of months, I'm not savy enough to do a rom, and frankly i don't even know what a rom root is, so i just do the company firmware updates, the last dated feb 24th.After i did the firmware update my tablet now has the crappiest video, I mean it is blotchy and sometimes it studders, which never happened untill I did this elocity firmware update.I loved my a7 the way it was when I 1st got it,it had great streaming abilities and all websites saw the tablet as a pc and i got the full size webb page. Now when i go to most sites it some how see's me as a mobile device and i get this weird shortened version which i hate. I know i'm not very savy about pc or android tablets but when i bought this tablet i read every thing about it and its capabilities and i did'nt think i was buying a damn phone for christ sake. Has anyone of my little capabilities out there dissapointed like i am about how this tablet is being advertised and the lack of the company to live up to its hype. I did'nt buy this thing thinking i needed to be a electronics nerd just to get it to work as advertised..Please elocity just let me get back to where it was when i bought it because this latest "firmware" update sucks..Well i hope i did'nt offend any one but i felt i had to speak my mind.

I just told another guy there's an April 17th update out. IF your A7 is running that poorly, it's possible you may have just gotten a bad unit. You don't need to be that savvy to flash roms. Normally, i would direct you to XDA (to Dexter's ROM) but...in all honesty...when that guy does an update you end up having to flash in or add 3 to 5 add-ons to make it work correctly. And, even then, you don't know what kind of problems will pop up. However, there is a new guy there (at the XDA Elocity A7 thread) who does a lot with a "just market" add-on and i've come to stick to the factory ROM and just use his Market update, his handle is KennyPC. The company is beginning to come up to par with their corrections and i've come to find more stability with the company upgrades these days so i would say stick with the stock upgrades and just get that single Android Market add-on.