Your first budget Android tablet

 Hello. I’ll tell you about one Chinese tablet, the owner of which is already about three months old. The name of the manufacturer, as well as the name of the model, varies in Chinese online stores where this device is sold. We can see it under such names as Dropad A8, Herotab C8, or for Russian users like RoverPad Air S70.


 This topic is intended primarily for those who are just going to get acquainted with devices running the Android OS. Why exactly this tablet? Because, as I myself am the owner of the 5th Android tablet in a row. All those that came before him were not satisfied by any criteria. Whether it's a resistive screen, a weak battery, a weak processor, or the inability to upgrade. This device meets all my needs. It is strange that there has not been a review about him so far, while he is actively discussed on the network. So let's get started.

Appearance.

 The tablet case is made of metal, which gives it a rather tangible weight - about 500 grams. The materials are high-quality, there are no any backlashes. On the front side - only the camera and the Home button. At the top we have three buttons, the power button, Menu and Back. On the right are the sockets and the toggle switch to completely turn off the power On \ Off. Saved once from freezing.  In the photo we see two miniUSBs, but only one (Mini USB 2) can be used to connect devices, since Mini USB 1, also known as OTG, is designed for debugging. After purchasing a tablet, the problem immediately arises - you need a miniUSB B adapter to USB A. It is problematic to find it in Moscow, I was ready to buy it even in Chip and Dip for 300 rubles, but on the day of my arrival I bought the latter. Saves us as always eBay, you can purchase different lengths, I took this



. Delivery from China by regular mail can reach up to 2 months. A month passed, I did not wait and soldered the adapter myself.

Specifications.

Processor: Samsung S5PV210 with a clock frequency of 1 Ghz
RAM: 512 Mb
ROM: 2 Gb
Screen: 7 "inches, capacitive, multi-touch
Screen resolution: 800x480
WiFi: b / g
3G: No
GPS: No
Accelerometer: Yes
Camera: VGA
miniHDMI: Yes
Battery capacity: 4500 mAh

 The processor is smart enough, in games it helps a 3D accelerator. Inside, an SD card of 2 gigabytes is installed, of which 1 gigabyte is free for applications. Someone comes across tablets with a 4 Gb card installed. If you take apart the tablet, you can see that the card is removable. Immediately the thought comes to mind to exchange it for a larger card. At one of the forums I read about a person’s attempt to perform this operation, he didn’t succeed, he still had 1 gigabyte in free access. Most likely he did this by cloning partitions, forgetting to increase the size of the partition. His hands have not yet reached. The brightness of the display is enough to see the image on a sunny day. WiFi signal quality is good. What about 3G - the device supports the following 3G modems: Huawei E220, E1750, E156G as well as ZTE MF637U. I have not been able to test yet, because comes from China again. There are ideas about trying to stuff the stuffing of the 3G modem inside the tablet itself. I won’t say anything about the camera, because nowhere to use it. The current version of Skype for Android does not support video calls, Qik could not be launched. The speakers are loud, the microphone sensitivity is good.

 With intensive work, when WiFi is turned on, the screen brightness is at its maximum, a 3D game is launched - the battery lasts about 4 hours. If you turn off WiFi and use the tablet as a reader, it lasts 6 hours. In general, if you do not use the tablet intensively, periodically checking mail, charging lasts for 2 days.

 What about HDMI - this is the first tablet of those that was, which allows you to display on the TV the image of the OS itself. Those that were before, allowed to display only the picture from the video player.
As a result, by connecting a TV, keyboard and mouse to the tablet, we get something like a nettop on Android. You can play games, watch videos, surf the Internet.

Software.

 Not so long ago, I accidentally turned on the tablet at the same time as the Menu button. Then again the Menu button. And the internal SD card has been formatted. After I got out of a short-term stupor, I went looking for firmware for a miracle device. Very soon, the firmware was found, apparently from the very RoverPad Air S70, since now when the menu is turned off it says "RoverPad will be turned off." Android version is 2.2. I must say right away that a stable firmware 2.3 should appear soon.

 The tablet supports almost all available programs. Just list the list that is installed and works without problems:
Games - Angry Birds (all seasons), Skies Of Glory, Trial X, Fruit Slice, Illusia, Prehistorik, YooNinja, Robo Defense, Return Zero, and of course Kosinka. People launch more serious games, I’m just not a gamer.
Software - Dropbox, ConnectBot, Citrix ( there is a very useful article on Habr on how to stuff a security certificate in Android), Skype, ICQ, TuneIn Radio, Shazam, and other trifles. All Google services are supported.

Total.

 This tablet is the most interesting offer to date from the Chinese at a reasonable price - $ 200. You will laugh, but the same device, only under the RoverPad brand costs about 12,000 rubles . I am very pleased with the tablet, and it is unlikely that I will exchange it for something else in the near future.

Right hereand here are some small video reviews in English.
If you have any questions, ask, because quite possibly forgot to tell about something.
Write to the mail if anyone is interested in which stores you can buy a device.