Ematic E-GLIDE Android Mobile Internet

[jkmni3]

I saw this at JnR and can't seem to find any information out there. I just want to know if someone is already using this device. Thanks.

Ematic E-GLIDE Android Mobile Internet Tablet in Portable Tablet PCs at JR.com

 

[newnick]

I saw this at JnR and can't seem to find any information out there. I just want to know if someone is already using this device. Thanks.

Ematic E-GLIDE Android Mobile Internet Tablet in Portable Tablet PCs at JR.com

I bought it and owned it for a week now. So far so good. Here is my little quick review. Nothing scientific but all from first person experience with the tablet.

This little tablet offers extremely good value. It basically does almost everything I want it to do. It's very capable to handle excel, word, web browsing with reasonable speed, transfer documents from my PC, view pictures, listen to online radio, read newspaper, video and read e-books, support handwriting entry . It does them all beautifully except it does not support DRM ebooks, which are those I purchased on Kindle.

Responsiveness of the screen is okay as it is not the same as the most advanced screen currently found on the Galaxy tablets or the droids. You just need to get used to the pressure you need to exert and it should be working pretty fine, like the traditional pressure active touch screens.

Power is very good if wifi is not on. With Wifi on and using the tablet actively, i guess the battery could be totally drained around 2.5 hours. I never tried to drain my battery that way, but I observed that the battery life dropped about 1% every 1-2 minutes when i had wifi on and continuously browsed the web. I guess the battery life also depends on the apps you are actively running on the tablet.

The screen is not prettier than my droid 2 and sure it's not looking any close to the galaxy tablets. But I would say it's adequate in term of viewing quality. Video and pictures look good on it. Reading ebooks, newspaper on it is much more comfortable than reading on my droid 2. Viewing video is good, no disturbing ghosting effect observed.

The 3 axis sensor works great and it is very responsive to orientation change.

One good thing is that it comes with the authentic google android market app. For people who want to buy from google android market instead of Applib or other markets, this is a good news. Sure you can download market app and load it on thru the apk route. But for lazy people like me who dont want to waste time on doing that, having the android market app pre-installed is a great news.

I added ATK, a better calendar, a MS office equiv software, Adobe PDF reader, handwriting input software, kindle, radio, newspaper apps, email apps, battery widget and some other widgets and personal favored apps. And this thing become my ultimate walkaround computing tool.

Worth to mention is that this tablet supports 3G connection thru it's USB tho I dont need and dont have one.

Overall, this tablet exceed my expectation. Built quality can be better as it feels so plastiky in hand. But it's weight is just so light that I have no problem to hold it for long use. It costs $170 which is about 1/3 of the price of a basic 8GB apple ipad.

It does basically 95% of what I want it to do excpet no picture taking and no DRM ebooksupport .
I dont see my task requirements would suddenly change if I had an ipad. This Ematic E-glide is a super value and can get most of the job done smoothly.

I am a happy owner. I own two now. Highly recommended.

 

[pstjmack]

Sounds good - what handwriting software did you use?

 

[newnick]

I am currently use Baidu mainly for writing chinese.

 

[newnick]

Update: One critical issue found last night and today. I could not power on the tablets after putting them on sleep mode (i.e. tap the power button once to turn off the screen). I have to plug the power cord to turn the tablets back on. The battery life level are at 75% and 86% so it is not low battery related.

What alarmed me is that both of the e-glides I own behaved the same way today, multiple times. Not sure why yet. I may consider to return if the problem persisits. I do need it to be turned on properly as I may use them for live presentations.

 

[pstjmack]

Thanks, and noted. Given the price, I'm not sure if this will be a crucial issue for me, but it's good to know.

How good is the performance of Baidu for writing English?

 

[newnick]

Baidu is mainly for writing chinese. It's not the best option for the writing english.

Sent from my sdk using Android Tablet Forum App

 

[colin]

I also bought 1 in JR, couldnt find anything but thought it would be a step up from the coby brand. I think it does what it says on the tin, less than 200 dollars you get a pretty good experience. I typically get 4hrs with mine with wi fi use. Be sure to do a full charge before using it, my first charge took 8hrs, after that a full charge takes about 3hrs. Plays videos very well and MKV 720p a nice and sharp. I bought it for watching movies on flights and just checking emails/facebook in wi fi zones which is pretty much anywhere you go theres days.

You tube plays well and some of the games on app store are good, could play angry birds though.
It was my android device bough it really to test the waters, will purchase a 10" in about 3-4 months when the new flood of devices come out with android 3.0. but this is good for now. Pocket cloud is a good app i use it to remote my Win 7 machine and can access silverlight products through it.

 

[xaueious]

RK2818 trackball tablet from reading the specs

Any pictures so we can compare if this is identical to the generic model?

$200 is expensive

 

[newnick]

Unfortunately, I decided to return both of them today. Tried to make it by the end of the 14 days refund period mainly because I was worrying about that the problem of not powering on from sleep mode might persist. Also the lack of DRM ebook support troubles me as well. I do not have time for any rooting or format conversion. I mean Why waste time or money on this. Wouldnt it be easier to just get something with proper supports? What kind of ebook reader this is when it cannot read the DRM ones?

After almost two weeks of try, I found that this tablet is still capable to do the tasks I want. But I also have noticed that loading of web pages has been significantly slower comparing to my droid 2 Global and my samsung fancinate. Sometimes, the screen didn't load the apps correctly in portrait mode. For example, when I used Android market in portrait mode, the search results refused to expand automatically after I viewed the first page and scrolled down for more results. Landscape mode worked fine tho.

Anyway, i was in J&R return/exchange department today. I heard from the staff that many E-Glides were returned. When I was talking to the guy who served me, another staff walked up and picked up the e-glides I was returning and said. " it's all this". I then asked the guy in front of me if many e-glides were returned, and he admitted it. Not sure how bad the actual situation is but I saw another one on the returning shelf when I was there.

I am now looking into the samsung Galaxy Tab given this thing is ungradable to 3.0 Good luck to those who still owning the Eglide. It is a value choice and not a bad product at all. But I just cant stand the fact that I the tablet might not turn on properly when I need it to. I can spend $169+ Tax on something that works correctly.

 

[xaueious]

It should be bad. RK2818 is not a very good product and not worth the $200.

 

[pstjmack]

In the event, I went for an Archos 70 - retails at around US$280 in Hong Kong and so far I love it, aside from the usual teething troubles like no Android Market. Hong Kong is full of cheaper Chinese Android tablets, but with the Archos at this price, I figure it's better to go with something more trusted. All the locals just go for broke and use Samsung Galaxy Tabs.

 

[pstjmack]

Which is awesome? The Archos or the other tablet?

 

[newnick]

Not bad. Glad you like the Archos. I thought of buying this one as well but I decided to go for the best android (galaxy tab) after tried the bargain option (E-glide). I am not a fan boy of any platform or brand. I am buying for my needs and keeping for the value and quality. I believe if apple ipad will have a 7 inch version that supports the most current Flash with SD expansion slot and prices at less than $500, sure I will go for it. But for now, the best choice that fits the bill is galaxy tab.

 

[pstjmack]

Most of HK agrees with you. I like open platforms, though I do rate the iPad. But I want to cut my teeth on something cheap and cheerful before going for the top end. And now I just managed to install the Android Market on mine via Arctools, my Archos is doing just fine.