Velocity Micro Cruz T301 7" 2GB Tablet VS Eken M009S.... which one to buy?

[RickWJ324]

Greetings,

I'm looking for a CHEAP tablet to buy. It only needs to be able to play ripped DVD's (most likely MP4 files) and play a few children's apps from the app store.

I definitely want to spend under $100 for each. I see there's a black friday deal on the Velocity Micro Cruz T301 for $50, but I've been seeing lots of places that sell the Eken M009S for around $70.

My question is... would BOTH of these be able to play quality video files equally? Would you recommend one of these units over the other?

I've never used a tablet before and these units will mainly be used for watching movies while my son is in the car (and play a few of his little droid apps like TALKING TOM). If these units can play back movies on a 32GB card w/ no stuttering, blockiness, etc, than I'd be happy! Any other features are simply a bonus and not needed.

Also, if the EKEN M009S is good for what I need it for, is there a particular vendor you guys would recommend?

Sorry for the n00b questions.. I'm just new to the tablet world and this seems like a good place for answers.

thanks, Rick

 

[SpeMall.com]

lol... all i need to say is, maybe you can spend a little more and to get a far more better one for your son... those tablets you mentioned above are mostly low-end tablets in the market, so think twice! hope you can enjoy the online tablets buying~~~

 

[RickWJ324]

lol... all i need to say is, maybe you can spend a little more and to get a far more better one for your son... those tablets you mentioned above are mostly low-end tablets in the market, so think twice! hope you can enjoy the online tablets buying~~~

Thanks SpeMall!! If he was a little older I would consider that, but he's just under 3 years old and although he's already showing to be a little 'tech savvy', I don't really want to spend too much on a tablet for someone so young. I just want him to be able to watch movies on it that are good quality. He plays Talking Tom and Talking Ben on mommy's phone, so if I could get them to run on the tablet that would be awesome. Other than that, I don't really need other features.

So can anyone confirm if the two models I mentioned will play dvd quality files ok?! Thanks!!

 

[tumpy]

Don't bother with mr Spemall, a vendor with two thank U from 110 post something isn't right. the two tablets you suggested i would go with the Cruz overall spec is better.
my household and our tablets, at&t 3G Ipad 2, acer A500, sprint 3G 7'' galaxy tab, elocity A7.and soon two skytex 4.3" media tablets for grandkids{ 4 and 3 yrs old.. @link JR.com: SKYTEX 4.3" 4GB Primer Pocket Android 2.2 Media Tablet - SX-SP430A in Portable Tablet PCs....

 

[RickWJ324]

Thanks for the info! Looks like I'll try and snag 1 or 2 of the Cruz's from Radio Shack on Black Friday. I still would like input from someone that could vouch for either unit as far as VIDEO PLAYBACK is concerned! Are either of these two units decent for playing back DVD QUALITY (480p .mp4 videos)? I know the specs say they can play .mp4, but can anyone confirm the quality that I can expect from either?

If I'm unable to verify before Black Friday, I'll just go ahead and try to snag them at Radio Shack anyway... could always take them back if necessary. If however the Eken M009S is more than capable of smooth video playback I'd like to go ahead and order it now.

Thanks again to everyone that has taken the time to post in here. If anyone can give me more details it would be much appreciated! Thanks! Rick

 

[dooroo]

I own the Velocity Micro T301 and it plays videos well. I usually use 640x480 resolution Divx encripted AVI files to keep the file size down, usually under 500MB for full length DVD's. (about 100MB per 30minutes of video) Cartoons can be made smaller. Before I had the tablet I owned a Dell X50V running Windows Mobile 2003SE and created many "Mobile" copies of videos from my DVD's to view on the PPC at the above resolution. The same videos play well on the T301without me having to do anything except installing mVideoPlayer on the tablet. mVideoPlayer runs better than the default player in my opinion.

Per the manual the T301 will play MP4, MOV, AVI, using MPEG4, H.263, or H.264 codecs. My Divx encoded AVI's work great. One thing to keep in mind is that the hardware used on the T301 is not the fastest most powerful on the market so you have to manage your resources, (SHUT DOWN UNNECESSARY APPLICATIONS) when they are not needed. For example, shut off wifi, close down GMAIL, Amazon Kindle, ASTRO, and such if you want to have better performance. I am able to Read Ebooks, watch videos, stream Pandora, browse the internet, play games and many other things, JUST NOT AT THE SAME TIME.

For a $50 black Friday deal you can't go wrong. Just remember, you are not getting a IPAD or Motorola ZOOM.

Disclaimer: I'm am Technically skilled, I read and learn from these forums how to get the "MOSTEST WITH THE LEASTEST". Your mileage may very.

 

[RickWJ324]

I own the Velocity Micro T301 and it plays videos well. I usually use 640x480 resolution Divx encripted AVI files to keep the file size down, usually under 500MB for full length DVD's. (about 100MB per 30minutes of video) Cartoons can be made smaller. Before I had the tablet I owned a Dell X50V running Windows Mobile 2003SE and created many "Mobile" copies of videos from my DVD's to view on the PPC at the above resolution. The same videos play well on the T301without me having to do anything except installing mVideoPlayer on the tablet. mVideoPlayer runs better than the default player in my opinion.

Per the manual the T301 will play MP4, MOV, AVI, using MPEG4, H.263, or H.264 codecs. My Divx encoded AVI's work great. One thing to keep in mind is that the hardware used on the T301 is not the fastest most powerful on the market so you have to manage your resources, (SHUT DOWN UNNECESSARY APPLICATIONS) when they are not needed. For example, shut off wifi, close down GMAIL, Amazon Kindle, ASTRO, and such if you want to have better performance. I am able to Read Ebooks, watch videos, stream Pandora, browse the internet, play games and many other things, JUST NOT AT THE SAME TIME.

For a $50 black Friday deal you can't go wrong. Just remember, you are not getting a IPAD or Motorola ZOOM.

Disclaimer: I'm am Technically skilled, I read and learn from these forums how to get the "MOSTEST WITH THE LEASTEST". Your mileage may very.

Dooroo.. thank you so much for your response! That's exactly what I was looking for... someone with firsthand knowledge on either of these units. I'm definitely going to try and snag these on Black Friday. Since you do have one, would you mind testing something for me? I'm curious to know if these apps will work on the Velocity Micro t301: 1)TALKING BEN and 2)TALKING TOM CAT. My 2 1/2 year old loves playing those apps on mommy's phone. I'm looking to get one of these to primarily play his disney movies (mp4 files) in the car and it would be nice if he could play little apps such as the Talking Tom and Ben apps. Its ok if you can't test them, but I'm just really curious. Whether they will play or not I'm still going to try and grab 2 of these on Black Friday... can't go wrong for the price!

 

[dooroo]

Dooroo.. thank you so much for your response! That's exactly what I was looking for... someone with firsthand knowledge on either of these units. I'm definitely going to try and snag these on Black Friday. Since you do have one, would you mind testing something for me? I'm curious to know if these apps will work on the Velocity Micro t301: 1)TALKING BEN and 2)TALKING TOM CAT. My 2 1/2 year old loves playing those apps on mommy's phone. I'm looking to get one of these to primarily play his disney movies (mp4 files) in the car and it would be nice if he could play little apps such as the Talking Tom and Ben apps. Its ok if you can't test them, but I'm just really curious. Whether they will play or not I'm still going to try and grab 2 of these on Black Friday... can't go wrong for the price!

Bad news, I could not get 1)TALKING BEN and 2)TALKING TOM CAT to install. This is one of the frustrating things about devices running the Android OS. You never know what apps will install and work. There are so many different devices out there running different hardware using different versions of the operating system it is difficult to know what will and will not run on your device. There are phones, 7", 8" and 10" tablets and all of the applications are thrown into the same bin.

 

[Kartoon27]

currently looking at a cruz my self for 6 year old... will it play angry birds? or do i have to root and all that to make it work?

 

[Teatime]

You'd think they'd sell a rugged "kid version" of these things that will take a beating and play the most popular kiddy games. I've got to say I'm a bit surprised when I read about people buying regular cheap tablets for tiny kids. It doesn't take much to break them (I've read about the screens breaking and popping out, in particular) so if the kid drops it once, that's it. Injuries could result, too.

Just my 2 cents. I hope I didn't offend anyone. but, seriously, I'd be looking to see if Leapfrog has something fun and tablet-like for a 3-year-old, instead.

 

[dooroo]

currently looking at a cruz my self for 6 year old... will it play angry birds? or do i have to root and all that to make it work?

No the T301 will not play Angry Birds and I don't think rooting will help. Apps are written to work with certain hardware. If the hardware is not compatible the app won't work. Back when Pocket PC's were popular app developers divided their wares so that I could easily know if the apps would work with my hardware. I might have a MIPS, ARM or some other processor and I could know what would work. Some developers even made multiple versions of the apps to work with the different hardware. I do not fully understand the dynamics of Android app development. I know hardware, (processor, video chips, screen aspect ratios) vary so much it is difficult to develop "one size fits all" apps to work with everything. When you get into Google licensing of devices, knock-off copies of devices and such it gets even more confusing. I bought the economical Android device and I am willing to see "What it can do?" Everyone may not be willing to experiment and push the envelop like me.

 

[dooroo]

You'd think they'd sell a rugged "kid version" of these things that will take a beating and play the most popular kiddy games. I've got to say I'm a bit surprised when I read about people buying regular cheap tablets for tiny kids. It doesn't take much to break them (I've read about the screens breaking and popping out, in particular) so if the kid drops it once, that's it. Injuries could result, too.

Just my 2 cents. I hope I didn't offend anyone. but, seriously, I'd be looking to see if Leapfrog has something fun and tablet-like for a 3-year-old, instead.

No offense taken. I think the markets are different. Nintendo DS, leap pad and devices like those are designed for these markets. The tablets do so much more than play games and are really more than what a 3-year-old needs. You can buy rubberized protective cases to help protect the devices but you really need armor plating to protect the device from a toddler.