- Sep 24, 2010
- 3,649
- 561
Back in July I bought the Augen Gentouch 7/8 from K-Mart and while I could see the promise of the Android tablet, the overall device was really nothing more than a toy. A fun toy to be sure, but I could tell there was nothing serious about it. On top of poor build quality (I have gone through 2 of these), the touch screen was awful, there is no factory/vendor support, and the lack of hardware features made it not much more than a very basic e-reader. My cell phone is also an Android, I got my HTC Incredible the first week they were out and have flashed and reflashed it.
So, this past weekend I picked up the Cruz e-Reader ($199 @ Best Buy), the Cruz Tablet ($299 @ Best Buy and the Huawei S7 ($299 @ Best Buy). Out of the box the Velocity Micro Devices seemed to have a very strong product, form, fit and design was solid and sexy, although I found them to be a little on the heavy side (The Cruz both weigh in at 1 lb, and the Huawei is 1.1 lbs.).
The eReader was just horrible. The Touch Screen was unresponsive and inaccurate, the software was way too much for the processor, and there was no market capability. Add to that the lack of a planned upgrade path for the OS and this device is dead on arrival. Buy a Nook or Kindle for $20 less and you will be much happier.
The Cruz Tablet is a much better device, the capacitive screen is responsive and light, and the device seemed pretty snappy. I was nervous at first because the two devices on the floor at Best Buy both seemed to have a glitch that made their unlock screens non-responsive, but mine seemed ok (at first). The lack of the Android Market was only slightly mitigated by Cruz Market, but this is going to be a big hole for people as more apps are released. Also, after much exploring I found a post by Blazing Wolf that finally identified the processor. Turns out it is a MIPS processor, which means Android is a port, something that is sure to make ROMs and other mods scarce. Again, in the end I was disappointed in the device. Yes, it has a capacitive screen, but no camera, no Bluetooth, no phone capability. Oh yeah, and Monday morning when I turned it on, the screen was completely unresponsive just like the ones in the store.
So that brings me to the Huawei S7-104. The resistive touch screen is the most responsive one I have ever used. No, it is not as nice as my HTC Incredible, but it is very easy and quick. TWO 2 Mp cameras, one front and one rear, again, not great cams, but that is what the 8 Mp in my phone is for, right? Bluetooth, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, 3G wCDMA and GSM capable and GPS. Fully working Android Market via WiFi without activating the phone. All this for $299? Are you even kidding me? Right now it comes with Éclair 2.1 update 1, but since it has the 768 Snapdragon Processor I know it is only a short matter of time before a snappy Froyo ROM is cooked up for it. Finally, all of this for $200 less than the 3G version of the Samsung and $300 less than the Wifi version. Oh yeah, this little device rocks!
So, this past weekend I picked up the Cruz e-Reader ($199 @ Best Buy), the Cruz Tablet ($299 @ Best Buy and the Huawei S7 ($299 @ Best Buy). Out of the box the Velocity Micro Devices seemed to have a very strong product, form, fit and design was solid and sexy, although I found them to be a little on the heavy side (The Cruz both weigh in at 1 lb, and the Huawei is 1.1 lbs.).
The eReader was just horrible. The Touch Screen was unresponsive and inaccurate, the software was way too much for the processor, and there was no market capability. Add to that the lack of a planned upgrade path for the OS and this device is dead on arrival. Buy a Nook or Kindle for $20 less and you will be much happier.
The Cruz Tablet is a much better device, the capacitive screen is responsive and light, and the device seemed pretty snappy. I was nervous at first because the two devices on the floor at Best Buy both seemed to have a glitch that made their unlock screens non-responsive, but mine seemed ok (at first). The lack of the Android Market was only slightly mitigated by Cruz Market, but this is going to be a big hole for people as more apps are released. Also, after much exploring I found a post by Blazing Wolf that finally identified the processor. Turns out it is a MIPS processor, which means Android is a port, something that is sure to make ROMs and other mods scarce. Again, in the end I was disappointed in the device. Yes, it has a capacitive screen, but no camera, no Bluetooth, no phone capability. Oh yeah, and Monday morning when I turned it on, the screen was completely unresponsive just like the ones in the store.
So that brings me to the Huawei S7-104. The resistive touch screen is the most responsive one I have ever used. No, it is not as nice as my HTC Incredible, but it is very easy and quick. TWO 2 Mp cameras, one front and one rear, again, not great cams, but that is what the 8 Mp in my phone is for, right? Bluetooth, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, 3G wCDMA and GSM capable and GPS. Fully working Android Market via WiFi without activating the phone. All this for $299? Are you even kidding me? Right now it comes with Éclair 2.1 update 1, but since it has the 768 Snapdragon Processor I know it is only a short matter of time before a snappy Froyo ROM is cooked up for it. Finally, all of this for $200 less than the 3G version of the Samsung and $300 less than the Wifi version. Oh yeah, this little device rocks!
