New Users Start Here: Viewsonic gTablet Tips and Tweaks
- Thread starter pbrauer
- Start date
Ok, good to know this. I saw some people had reported that after installing the custom ROMs it does not show both processors (I don't remember where, but somewhere in some system information), it would show ??? (question marks) in the second processor. You are saying this is just a cosmetic issue and it continues to use both the processors internally?
Thanks.
- Sep 22, 2010
- 1,256
- 81
Peter, I haven't seen or touched my wife's Nook Color in weeks (she's very possessive about it), which brings me to my question: there is a deal today at Woot on the Viewsonic 10" gTablet for $285. Given I'd like an Android tablet to call my very own, I'm tempted to push the buy button before it sells out. Can you tip the scales for me, one way or the other? Talk me in or out of it!
For the record, I grind my teeth when users post "should I buy this tablet?" questions, but since you're such a nice guy, I figure you might indulge me (and not grind your own teeth!). If you get the chance--OR ANYONE else on this thread, of course!!!--don't worry about the "what are my needs?" angle. Just look at your Viewsonic, and advise. I want to know what you think and how you feel about it (yes I am a psychologist).
Cheers!
-Matt
For the record, I grind my teeth when users post "should I buy this tablet?" questions, but since you're such a nice guy, I figure you might indulge me (and not grind your own teeth!). If you get the chance--OR ANYONE else on this thread, of course!!!--don't worry about the "what are my needs?" angle. Just look at your Viewsonic, and advise. I want to know what you think and how you feel about it (yes I am a psychologist).
Cheers!
-Matt
- Feb 8, 2011
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Matt... Its $100 cheaper than the normal price. I'd buy a 2nd if I could but the wife said NO! coughwenchcough
I promise you won't be dissapointed in buying it. There are so many ROM choices so there is no way you won't find something you like. A stable Honeycomb ROM has to come soon. The next step up from the G-Tablet is the $600 Xoom.
The viewing angle is the biggest complaint from people but I don't even notice it anymore. I use either a stand or the dock while sitting at my desk and you can see the screen fine. Even sitting in my lap the screen looks fine. Yes I do wish it had a higher resolution but I wasn't willing to pay $200 more for the Xoom. I don't need GPS so the G-Tablet made sense to me.
Hopefully I tipped you to become an owner!
I promise you won't be dissapointed in buying it. There are so many ROM choices so there is no way you won't find something you like. A stable Honeycomb ROM has to come soon. The next step up from the G-Tablet is the $600 Xoom.
The viewing angle is the biggest complaint from people but I don't even notice it anymore. I use either a stand or the dock while sitting at my desk and you can see the screen fine. Even sitting in my lap the screen looks fine. Yes I do wish it had a higher resolution but I wasn't willing to pay $200 more for the Xoom. I don't need GPS so the G-Tablet made sense to me.
Hopefully I tipped you to become an owner!
- Sep 22, 2010
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- 81
Wonderful! And I have a new AT pal (congrats on becoming the subforum moderator!). 
It's still on sale at Woot (what an awesome price!), and that's exactly the kind of input I was hoping to get. In particular, I'm glad you mentioned the viewing angle question--the Nook has a breathtaking screen. But wow the hardware on the gTablet...I'm sure I could learn to live with a not-quite-Nook-quality display.
Oh wait, I see you've got a Nook Color too. Small world.
-Matt
It's still on sale at Woot (what an awesome price!), and that's exactly the kind of input I was hoping to get. In particular, I'm glad you mentioned the viewing angle question--the Nook has a breathtaking screen. But wow the hardware on the gTablet...I'm sure I could learn to live with a not-quite-Nook-quality display. Oh wait, I see you've got a Nook Color too. Small world.
-Matt
- Feb 8, 2011
- 728
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Wonderful! And I have a new AT pal (congrats on becoming the subforum moderator!).
Oh wait, I see you've got a Nook Color too. Small world.
-Matt
Thanks! I've posted a lot on the G-Tablet. Hopefully I'll get some more things out there. You won't be disappointed.
- Sep 24, 2010
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- Thread starter
- #37
Fuga has been absolutely an invaluable addition, I am really glad to have him here!
- Sep 24, 2010
- 3,649
- 561
- Thread starter
- #38
Matt-
If it is available, it really is the way to go. Benchmarks are actually showing better performance on the Gtab running 2.2/2.3 ROMs that the Xoom running 3.0 (probably processing overhead), and just like Fuga says, other than the screen it is a amazing device. I feel bad that i have actually been neglecting the other tabs, but my family is happy. The wife has claimed the S7 as hers, and two my girls grabbed the Nooks and won't let me near them anyway!
Get it, flash it and enjoy!
Peter
- Sep 22, 2010
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Guys, good news (or at least, what I think is good news!): I missed my chance all day long, but to my surprise (and many other people apparently) the gTablet is still listed at Woot (as of 11:00pm ET). So after a few youtube videos and Amazon reviews (all glowing), I decided to go for it. The hard part now is waiting the month and half (or what seems that long) as Woot's 19th century shipping system rolls into action.
Like other owners, I can't really justify the purchase to my wife. I think I'm going to have to "go into the closet" with this one, and not share the news until I can offset the expense with some extra income. Probably have to take an extra day of newspaper delivering or lawn mowing!
After owning the Nook for so long, and offering encouragement to new owners, it feels so strange to say: well, now I'm going to read up on rooting the Viewsonic, and figure out how I want to modify it once it arrives. I'll obviously be hanging out here a little more often!
Thanks for the help.
-Matt
Like other owners, I can't really justify the purchase to my wife. I think I'm going to have to "go into the closet" with this one, and not share the news until I can offset the expense with some extra income. Probably have to take an extra day of newspaper delivering or lawn mowing!
After owning the Nook for so long, and offering encouragement to new owners, it feels so strange to say: well, now I'm going to read up on rooting the Viewsonic, and figure out how I want to modify it once it arrives. I'll obviously be hanging out here a little more often!
Thanks for the help.
-Matt
Guys, good news (or at least, what I think is good news!): I missed my chance all day long, but to my surprise (and many other people apparently) the gTablet is still listed at Woot (as of 11:00pm ET). So after a few youtube videos and Amazon reviews (all glowing), I decided to go for it. The hard part now is waiting the month and half (or what seems that long) as Woot's 19th century shipping system rolls into action.
Like other owners, I can't really justify the purchase to my wife. I think I'm going to have to "go into the closet" with this one, and not share the news until I can offset the expense with some extra income. Probably have to take an extra day of newspaper delivering or lawn mowing!
After owning the Nook for so long, and offering encouragement to new owners, it feels so strange to say: well, now I'm going to read up on rooting the Viewsonic, and figure out how I want to modify it once it arrives. I'll obviously be hanging out here a little more often!
Thanks for the help.
-Matt
As I understand it, Woot! sold TEN THOUSAND UNITS! Your month-and-a-half shipping estimate may be optimistic. Hopefully that just means the Honeycomb ROM will be available as soon as you get your tablet.
When I did my daily Woot/Yugster/Daily Steals/Groupon/Living Social/Eversave rounds and saw the tablet, the comments seemed knowledgeable and overwhelmingly positive. While it was made clear that rooting and installing a custom ROM was required, it was indicated that this would be "so simple a caveman can do it." I went back and forth over it all day.
I did get a tax refund, and don't have a spouse I need to justify the expense to, so what was the problem? I just got a new Netbook in December, and have been disappointed. The one I had previously, by the same manufacturer was fantastic, but when I developed keyboard problems and the battery gave up after 2 years, it was time to get a new one. I am not sure if it is the issue is with this model, or the possibility that I want something "better" and the first improvement I could wish for is touch screen. Second would be greater portability. I went to a 12" Netbook, and it is awkward. It is more like a small laptop, but without the benefit of a DVD drive, and I don't carry it as much as I did the previous (smaller) one.
I got my Droid phone in mid-February of this year. I am completely enamored of capacitative touch screens and the Android OS, as I am coming from a Samsung SCH-i760, which is a resistive touch screen, Windows Mobile 6.1 device.
Since I can use the Netbook for Netflix until there is an app, I took the leap to Android and bought an Archos tablet a week or so ago. At the time, I did a LOT of research before making the decision I did. I liked the size of the Archos 70, the 250GB hard drive, and the online forums supporting it. I considered the Archos 101, but decided I really wanted the storage the 70 offered. I also liked the mini HDMI out, so I could transport dozens of movies and plug into a TV anywhere. I definitely would NOT have been happy with a 10" screen, a relatively small amount of storage, and lack of HDMI out. The major drawback to the Archos is the 256 megs of RAM. All in all, I am very happy with my purchase, and am still in the process of getting it set up the way I want.
So why did I keep going back to the Woot! page all day long, Googling reviews, reading up on rooting, and finding there was a lot of support available online. Maybe I was hoping it would sell out so I would not have to make a decision. But when I got home from work, I knew that if it was still available, I wanted one. I don't need it, can't justify it, and would probably have been better off using the money to replace my dishwasher, but I am pretty excited about getting my new toy. I hope the Archos doesn't get abandoned...
I suspect there will be a LOT of new owners here over the next few weeks as the units arrive... 10,000! Unbelievable. But it reassures me that I did the right thing by reminding myself that a lot of other people couldn't resist it either.
Last edited:
- Sep 22, 2010
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- 81
Lisa, welcome to the forum! As you saw, I originally got hooked in here as a Nook owner (or former Nook owner, since my wife covets the device!). I think we're on the same page: after losing the custody battle over the Nook, I said to myself "I want a 10" tablet--around $400-$500--that's gorgeous, state of the art, not an iPad, will last me a good 2 years and has a strong development/owner community." The Xoom was a good candidate, but since I didn't have the cash (still don't!) I figured I would sit on the sidelines, wait as some very cool new devices got announced, and by the summer, they were released. I figured I'd jump back in around July or August.
My Wednesday went JUST as you described: saw the gTablet at 6:30am and thought, "Huh, doesn't that run in the mid-$300's?" I looked at the hardware specs and had to pick my mouth up off the floor. "Sheesh, that's a heck of a lot of good hardware." Next, the reviews. Coming from the Nook (also rooted my Droid), talk of ROMs and rooting was familiar, and the fact that ordinary folk were doing it only added to the reassurances (the Nook has gotten a bit more complicated as it's "matured", e.g., partitioning the internal memory, installing an alternative file system, etc.).
And I said to myself (as I do many a day while looking at Woot), "Nah, you really don't need that. And you can't justify paying for it. Give it a few hours. It'll be sold out by 9:30 or 10:00am." I sent off my message to Peter and the gang here at androidtablets, not thinking it would really matter by the time I could read the responses.
Well, Wednesday is an insanely busy day for me, and I completely forgot about it. But around 5:30, I was back at my computer and I remembered my morning message, so I went and read the responses and DAMN they're talking me into it. "But surely it's sold out by now," I thought. Back over to Woot and well, what do you know, the gTablet is STILL AVAILABLE?!?!?!?! "It's a sign," a quietly told myself. So like most people in my situation, I scanned as many user reviews as I could find, all the time thinking, "This is like a Woot-off...by the time you decide to do it, it'll be gone!" "So fine," another voice in my head said, "then that's a sign it wasn't meant to be!"
Long-story short (or is it too late for that?), I made my way back to Woot, dragging my feet as much as possible through the purchase process, but despite my best efforts to blow it, I finally ended up face to face with that bizarre square that calls itself a Woot buy button. I clicked it (you can't "push" a square like you can a real button), and here we are.
Philosophical footnote: I seem to pick up a new gadget at the rate of 2-3 per year. Don't think I'm really so far down that I need a support group or 12-step program. Of course, self-denial is one of the signs of addiction. I used to joke, "But this one will bring me nirvana. This one will change my life. It will bring me the peace and the satisfaction and the contentment that I seek." But following the logic of "critical mass" I think I've finally accumulated (and occasionally resold!) enough devices that I see how impermanent each one is. I'm also beginning to understand that each is flawed and imperfect and can only briefly offer me that feeling of "Wow!" until I begin to feel restless, and my eye starts to wander, and my right index finger twitches as I look at the daily Woot. So even before I consummate my gTablet ownership (btw, doesn't the box look kind of "meh"?), I recognize it's a short-term relationship. But that's a good thing, because I understand what it can offer me, and what it can't. I guess it's a lowering of expectations, but also a lifting of the spirit (oh, ain't I the poet?!?!). LOL
Wow, this is an obscenely long message. I guess, not having posted much here in the last month, I was a little bottled up! My apologies to everyone on this thread for the pretty-much off-topic post. I'd say "I'll try not to do it again," but that's so obviously not true!
Peace and love,
-Matt
My Wednesday went JUST as you described: saw the gTablet at 6:30am and thought, "Huh, doesn't that run in the mid-$300's?" I looked at the hardware specs and had to pick my mouth up off the floor. "Sheesh, that's a heck of a lot of good hardware." Next, the reviews. Coming from the Nook (also rooted my Droid), talk of ROMs and rooting was familiar, and the fact that ordinary folk were doing it only added to the reassurances (the Nook has gotten a bit more complicated as it's "matured", e.g., partitioning the internal memory, installing an alternative file system, etc.).
And I said to myself (as I do many a day while looking at Woot), "Nah, you really don't need that. And you can't justify paying for it. Give it a few hours. It'll be sold out by 9:30 or 10:00am." I sent off my message to Peter and the gang here at androidtablets, not thinking it would really matter by the time I could read the responses.
Well, Wednesday is an insanely busy day for me, and I completely forgot about it. But around 5:30, I was back at my computer and I remembered my morning message, so I went and read the responses and DAMN they're talking me into it. "But surely it's sold out by now," I thought. Back over to Woot and well, what do you know, the gTablet is STILL AVAILABLE?!?!?!?! "It's a sign," a quietly told myself. So like most people in my situation, I scanned as many user reviews as I could find, all the time thinking, "This is like a Woot-off...by the time you decide to do it, it'll be gone!" "So fine," another voice in my head said, "then that's a sign it wasn't meant to be!"
Long-story short (or is it too late for that?), I made my way back to Woot, dragging my feet as much as possible through the purchase process, but despite my best efforts to blow it, I finally ended up face to face with that bizarre square that calls itself a Woot buy button. I clicked it (you can't "push" a square like you can a real button), and here we are.
Philosophical footnote: I seem to pick up a new gadget at the rate of 2-3 per year. Don't think I'm really so far down that I need a support group or 12-step program. Of course, self-denial is one of the signs of addiction.
I used to joke, "But this one will bring me nirvana. This one will change my life. It will bring me the peace and the satisfaction and the contentment that I seek." But following the logic of "critical mass" I think I've finally accumulated (and occasionally resold!) enough devices that I see how impermanent each one is. I'm also beginning to understand that each is flawed and imperfect and can only briefly offer me that feeling of "Wow!" until I begin to feel restless, and my eye starts to wander, and my right index finger twitches as I look at the daily Woot. So even before I consummate my gTablet ownership (btw, doesn't the box look kind of "meh"?), I recognize it's a short-term relationship. But that's a good thing, because I understand what it can offer me, and what it can't. I guess it's a lowering of expectations, but also a lifting of the spirit (oh, ain't I the poet?!?!). LOL Wow, this is an obscenely long message. I guess, not having posted much here in the last month, I was a little bottled up! My apologies to everyone on this thread for the pretty-much off-topic post. I'd say "I'll try not to do it again," but that's so obviously not true!
Peace and love,
-Matt
Ronin317
Member
- Mar 23, 2011
- 20
- 0
So, I'm shopping for a 16gb micro SDHC to throw into the gTab when it shows up next week... and I was wondering if there are any recco'd brands? I generally stick with Sandisk, Transcend and PNY for this (I'm a photog). However, I'm all about write-speed with those, and not so much focused on read.
How does the gTab respond with Class 4 or Class 6 cards? I've done a limited search, but haven't found much in the way of benchmarking stats.
How does the gTab respond with Class 4 or Class 6 cards? I've done a limited search, but haven't found much in the way of benchmarking stats.
- Feb 8, 2011
- 728
- 93
Curse me for not putting out my thread earlier....
Buy a they highest class you can afford. Brand doesn't matter that much but I tend to stay towards the big names. Mainly Patriot. Class 10 is the best you can get.
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