April 13, 2011 at 02:02Review of the budget tablet Qumo Go!
In the wake of interest in tablets, I want to provide an overview of the inexpensive ($ 250) device from the already well-known Qumo brand - Qumo Go! .. Go! The company's first Android tablet, but in fact, is one of a huge number of devices built on the basis of the popular SoC Telechips 8900 (8902 according to the manufacturer).
So, let's start with a brief description of the device (the full specification can be found on the manufacturer’s website ):
The tablet comes in a nice, stiff cardboard box of a cheerful green color, on which (in Russian) the manufacturer and the name of the device are indicated, brief technical specifications and what it can be used for, equipment. Inside the package we will find a rather impressive set, which consists in addition to the MID itself of:
The quick start guide is really short: at this stage, only the cover caused complaints - the indescribable smell of Chinese haberdashery and a strange design feature, which consists in the fact that its hardest part is under the back cover of the device, which is already aluminum, and the part that covers the screen itself - less rigid. However, the tablet "sits" well in the case and removing it from there is not so simple. There is no HDMI cable as standard, but this is predictable. There are just headphones - and that's good.
The iPad was clearly influenced by the iPad - it’s pointless to deny it, but they have not yet come up with another form factor for devices such as the “large touch screen and frame”. When you take the device for the first time in your hands, it seems that it is very elongated - the aspect ratio contributes to this. The frame around the screen is large enough, because holding the tablet with one hand, and typing text with the other is quite comfortable. The weight of the device (400 g) - also within comfortable limits - is not very heavy and not very light. On the front panel there are three standard menu buttons for Android devices, return to the home screen and "back". The front panel is plastic, the screen is covered with a protective film, the rear panel is made of aluminum. Here the first defect was discovered - in the middle of the side frames on the longer side there is a slight backlash and creaking, when the plastic of the frame is pressed with your finger, when you take the device in your hands. The protective film glares very well, so it will be difficult to work with the tablet in bright light. At the top end of the case is a headphone jack, at the bottom there is a speaker grill, a 2.5 connector for a power adapter, two USB connectors, an SD card slot and an HDMI connector. On the right side there is a power button and a volume rocker, plastic buttons. The case is not very rigid, despite the aluminum back cover, but in general it is quite reliable and well assembled (not counting the specified backlash of the frame). And now a few photos: on the bottom there is a speaker grill, a 2.5 connector for a power adapter, two USB connectors, an SD card slot and an HDMI connector. On the right side there is a power button and a volume rocker, plastic buttons. The case is not very rigid, despite the aluminum back cover, but in general it is quite reliable and well assembled (not counting the specified backlash of the frame). And now a few photos: on the bottom there is a speaker grill, a 2.5 connector for a power adapter, two USB connectors, an SD card slot and an HDMI connector. On the right side there is a power button and a volume rocker, plastic buttons. The case is not very rigid, despite the aluminum back cover, but in general it is quite reliable and well assembled (not counting the specified backlash of the frame). And now a few photos:
The launch of the device in my opinion is quite lengthy - about one minute to the desktop and then another thirty seconds before the device begins to respond to external stimuli, i.e. on user actions. While the launch is in progress, you can watch a fun droid on a skateboard, something like this:
After the robot rolls on a skateboard, we will be presented with a standard Android OS desktop without any customizations, improvements or anything else. And after a few seconds it becomes clear where (with HDMI, 8GB of internal memory, a camera, etc.) where such an attractive price came from. Screen. On the screen, the manufacturer clearly decided to save money - dull colors, a poor palette and, most probably, lousy - the wrong proportions of objects, which is very clearly visible on round objects that become slightly elongated along the long side of the screen. This screen is for text and for films, photographs are not very comfortable to watch (although sometimes funny effects are obtained). Also, a sufficiently large grain does not contribute to a good display of a small print.
What goes in the basic software package? In addition to standard applications such as browser, mail, maps and other things, the kit includes: Android Market, App Installer and App Monster, Advanced Task Killer Free and a pretty good ES file manager that can use SMB, FTP, a built-in viewer and much more . The interface is localized, but for some reason the Russian keyboard is missing - I had to immediately install it from the market. However, there are other rough spots, for example, “The phone will be disconnected” is a little alarming and frustrating. But the fact that almost all 8GB of internal memory is given to the root of the file system cannot but rejoice - even though the OS version 2.1 is not app2sd. User files are located in / nand - photos, music, documents and more.
The device is quite capable of playing videos on YouTube and DVD-Rip'ami, but with the audio so far weird - when playing music in the background and surfing the Internet when opening a new tab or following the link, sometimes the playback starts to “stutter”, as if it’s not enough processor resources. The sound quality through headphones (not from the kit) is quite decent, the sound of the speaker ... well, it will be heard without rattling, but you can not talk about quality.
When you connect the device to a computer, the user folder / nand becomes available as the media. The USB host works well, the inserted flash drive was detected automatically, after which it became available in the file manager along the / scsi path, but disconnecting it required entering the settings. Of course, you shouldn’t think about connecting external hard drives, but connecting a camera is enough, especially since the tablet copes with scaling large shots quickly enough.
There were no problems with the wireless connection.
The large available disk space encourages me to put all sorts of games and other things, but here I was waiting for the second big bummer after the screen - Angry Birds. Somehow you can play Rio, the other versions are completely impossible, and not even because of “brakes”, but because of strange problems with textures and animation sprites. Most regular programs install without any problems. I installed a client for twitter, facebook, a calculator, Google Skymap, a client for Popular Mechanics, DropBox, SugarSync and more. And then funny problems started with DropBox and SugarSync. The first one seemed to work, but it was completely impossible to open the downloaded files, because it was not clear where he downloaded them, and the second one refused to work at all and crashed at startup. It turned out that even though we have several gigabytes of internal space, we still need to have at least a small one, but an SD card. But Google Reader enters an endless cycle of synchronization and it is not possible to use it. Skype - I had to install the Lite version, because I didn’t want to work full. How to use the front camera now is a mystery.
Then came the fun glitches with the G-sensor. Some applications (RealCalc and the Popular Mechanics client) that do not support screen flipping are launched upside down by 180 degrees, while Skymap is generally constantly rotated 90 and there is no way to keep up with it. I suspect that the sensor is incorrectly calibrated or there is some kind of error in its settings. Yes, and it (G-sensor) can of course be turned off.
In total, even if there is a market with software, certain problems arise, and most of them I would write off to the software part, i.e. on the OS / firmware itself.
So far, I have a double impression of Qumo Go! .. On the one hand, there is a fairly high-quality assembly, good technical specifications (for such a price), local service and a guarantee, unlike the Chinese names. On the other hand - an unsuccessful screen, bugs in the firmware and problems with the software. I already have this second device from Qumo - the first is the Libro “reader” - and by the way software updates are being actively developed and released, I hope that at least software problems will be fixed in subsequent firmware and the manufacturer will not forget about its customers. It seems like there are rumors that for Go! An update is being prepared to 2.3, but for now - for the most part, the tablet performs the functions of a youtube player, music player and mail-tweeter aggregator (in fact, it was purchased for this). For those, who is thinking about purchasing this or a similar device with an attractive price - think whether you are ready for possible problems and, most importantly, whether you are ready to solve them. ;)
So, let's start with a brief description of the device (the full specification can be found on the manufacturer’s website ):
- CPU : ARM v11 720MHz
- RAM : DDR2 256 Mb
- Internal memory : Nand 8Gb + SD card slot (up to 32Gb)
- Screen : 7 ", resistive, 800x480 pixels
- Network Interfaces : 809.11 b / g
- Other interfaces : USB, USB-Host, HDMI, 3.5 mm for headphones, 0.3 MP camera, microphone, speaker
- Add. features : G-sensor
- OS : Android 2.1
Packaging and equipment
The tablet comes in a nice, stiff cardboard box of a cheerful green color, on which (in Russian) the manufacturer and the name of the device are indicated, brief technical specifications and what it can be used for, equipment. Inside the package we will find a rather impressive set, which consists in addition to the MID itself of:
- Hard cover book
- Charger
- USB cable
- USB host cable
- USB-to-2.5DC charging cable (yes, there is such a connector)
- Headphones
- Quick Start Guide
- Warranty Card
The quick start guide is really short: at this stage, only the cover caused complaints - the indescribable smell of Chinese haberdashery and a strange design feature, which consists in the fact that its hardest part is under the back cover of the device, which is already aluminum, and the part that covers the screen itself - less rigid. However, the tablet "sits" well in the case and removing it from there is not so simple. There is no HDMI cable as standard, but this is predictable. There are just headphones - and that's good.
Appearance, build quality
The iPad was clearly influenced by the iPad - it’s pointless to deny it, but they have not yet come up with another form factor for devices such as the “large touch screen and frame”. When you take the device for the first time in your hands, it seems that it is very elongated - the aspect ratio contributes to this. The frame around the screen is large enough, because holding the tablet with one hand, and typing text with the other is quite comfortable. The weight of the device (400 g) - also within comfortable limits - is not very heavy and not very light. On the front panel there are three standard menu buttons for Android devices, return to the home screen and "back". The front panel is plastic, the screen is covered with a protective film, the rear panel is made of aluminum. Here the first defect was discovered - in the middle of the side frames on the longer side there is a slight backlash and creaking, when the plastic of the frame is pressed with your finger, when you take the device in your hands. The protective film glares very well, so it will be difficult to work with the tablet in bright light. At the top end of the case is a headphone jack, at the bottom there is a speaker grill, a 2.5 connector for a power adapter, two USB connectors, an SD card slot and an HDMI connector. On the right side there is a power button and a volume rocker, plastic buttons. The case is not very rigid, despite the aluminum back cover, but in general it is quite reliable and well assembled (not counting the specified backlash of the frame). And now a few photos: on the bottom there is a speaker grill, a 2.5 connector for a power adapter, two USB connectors, an SD card slot and an HDMI connector. On the right side there is a power button and a volume rocker, plastic buttons. The case is not very rigid, despite the aluminum back cover, but in general it is quite reliable and well assembled (not counting the specified backlash of the frame). And now a few photos: on the bottom there is a speaker grill, a 2.5 connector for a power adapter, two USB connectors, an SD card slot and an HDMI connector. On the right side there is a power button and a volume rocker, plastic buttons. The case is not very rigid, despite the aluminum back cover, but in general it is quite reliable and well assembled (not counting the specified backlash of the frame). And now a few photos:
Inclusion, basic software and first impressions
The launch of the device in my opinion is quite lengthy - about one minute to the desktop and then another thirty seconds before the device begins to respond to external stimuli, i.e. on user actions. While the launch is in progress, you can watch a fun droid on a skateboard, something like this:
After the robot rolls on a skateboard, we will be presented with a standard Android OS desktop without any customizations, improvements or anything else. And after a few seconds it becomes clear where (with HDMI, 8GB of internal memory, a camera, etc.) where such an attractive price came from. Screen. On the screen, the manufacturer clearly decided to save money - dull colors, a poor palette and, most probably, lousy - the wrong proportions of objects, which is very clearly visible on round objects that become slightly elongated along the long side of the screen. This screen is for text and for films, photographs are not very comfortable to watch (although sometimes funny effects are obtained). Also, a sufficiently large grain does not contribute to a good display of a small print.
What goes in the basic software package? In addition to standard applications such as browser, mail, maps and other things, the kit includes: Android Market, App Installer and App Monster, Advanced Task Killer Free and a pretty good ES file manager that can use SMB, FTP, a built-in viewer and much more . The interface is localized, but for some reason the Russian keyboard is missing - I had to immediately install it from the market. However, there are other rough spots, for example, “The phone will be disconnected” is a little alarming and frustrating. But the fact that almost all 8GB of internal memory is given to the root of the file system cannot but rejoice - even though the OS version 2.1 is not app2sd. User files are located in / nand - photos, music, documents and more.
The device is quite capable of playing videos on YouTube and DVD-Rip'ami, but with the audio so far weird - when playing music in the background and surfing the Internet when opening a new tab or following the link, sometimes the playback starts to “stutter”, as if it’s not enough processor resources. The sound quality through headphones (not from the kit) is quite decent, the sound of the speaker ... well, it will be heard without rattling, but you can not talk about quality.
When you connect the device to a computer, the user folder / nand becomes available as the media. The USB host works well, the inserted flash drive was detected automatically, after which it became available in the file manager along the / scsi path, but disconnecting it required entering the settings. Of course, you shouldn’t think about connecting external hard drives, but connecting a camera is enough, especially since the tablet copes with scaling large shots quickly enough.
There were no problems with the wireless connection.
We put additional software
The large available disk space encourages me to put all sorts of games and other things, but here I was waiting for the second big bummer after the screen - Angry Birds. Somehow you can play Rio, the other versions are completely impossible, and not even because of “brakes”, but because of strange problems with textures and animation sprites. Most regular programs install without any problems. I installed a client for twitter, facebook, a calculator, Google Skymap, a client for Popular Mechanics, DropBox, SugarSync and more. And then funny problems started with DropBox and SugarSync. The first one seemed to work, but it was completely impossible to open the downloaded files, because it was not clear where he downloaded them, and the second one refused to work at all and crashed at startup. It turned out that even though we have several gigabytes of internal space, we still need to have at least a small one, but an SD card. But Google Reader enters an endless cycle of synchronization and it is not possible to use it. Skype - I had to install the Lite version, because I didn’t want to work full. How to use the front camera now is a mystery.
Then came the fun glitches with the G-sensor. Some applications (RealCalc and the Popular Mechanics client) that do not support screen flipping are launched upside down by 180 degrees, while Skymap is generally constantly rotated 90 and there is no way to keep up with it. I suspect that the sensor is incorrectly calibrated or there is some kind of error in its settings. Yes, and it (G-sensor) can of course be turned off.
In total, even if there is a market with software, certain problems arise, and most of them I would write off to the software part, i.e. on the OS / firmware itself.
In conclusion
So far, I have a double impression of Qumo Go! .. On the one hand, there is a fairly high-quality assembly, good technical specifications (for such a price), local service and a guarantee, unlike the Chinese names. On the other hand - an unsuccessful screen, bugs in the firmware and problems with the software. I already have this second device from Qumo - the first is the Libro “reader” - and by the way software updates are being actively developed and released, I hope that at least software problems will be fixed in subsequent firmware and the manufacturer will not forget about its customers. It seems like there are rumors that for Go! An update is being prepared to 2.3, but for now - for the most part, the tablet performs the functions of a youtube player, music player and mail-tweeter aggregator (in fact, it was purchased for this). For those, who is thinking about purchasing this or a similar device with an attractive price - think whether you are ready for possible problems and, most importantly, whether you are ready to solve them. ;)