Purchase History and Experience Using the Zenithink ZT-180 Tablet PC

    I want to talk about the purchase and my experience in using the device called Zenithink ZT-180. I will not repeat the technical specifications, as you can see them in another topic about this device. Before buying, I pretty much studied the tablet PC market on Android OS, even created a topic in Q&A on Habré. As a result, my choice fell on the Zenithink ZT-180. Why?
    I will immediately list the advantages that I see before buying:
    • Big screen
    • Powerful processor
    • The prevalence of the device, which is a big plus in view of the large number of Russian and English-speaking communities, ready at any time, day or night, to answer any question regarding this device.
    Next, I want to share my experience of buying and using this device.

    Purchase


    I'll start, perhaps, with the history of the purchase itself. In the aforementioned Q&A topic, I was advised by the Pandawill store. But a search for reviews about this store showed that recently people have received truncated versions of devices, with a less capacious battery and lower screen resolution - 1024x576. If the resolution was not critical for me, then the small battery capacity that lasts for 2 hours of active operation of the device is clearly not enough. Therefore, I had to continue the search, which ended with the fact that I found a trading platform aliexpress. I will not talk about the site itself, since there is a lot of information about it on the Internet, I’ll only tell you how the purchase went. The most difficult thing was to choose the right seller, because there were a lot of them. It seems the device is the same, but completely different prices and delivery conditions made us think. I wanted to order delivery of EMS, in order to be sure that the device will reach me, and not settle down somewhere in the mail, and the presence of tracking will save my nerves. Contacting the selected seller, I clarified several important issues for myself - the screen resolution was 600px in height, and the battery was 2500mAH. There was a 1.3mpx camera in the product description, but the seller said that this is incorrect information and they will remove it. Still not removed :) So be sure to check all the details that are important to you! Even if the seller lies to you, you can return part of the money or even everything.

    Delivery


    As it turned out a little later, the presence of tracking does not relieve you of unnecessary nerves. While my package was walking in China, it was celebrated in every city. But as soon as she flew out / left the territory of China, all at once began to “forget” to celebrate it. For 6 days from Guangzhou to Kiev, the package hung in the air, which did not make me very happy. The day after arrival in Kiev, the parcel was already in Dnepropetrovsk, and a sullen EMS worker gave it directly to me, bringing it to me at the agreed time.

    Until that moment, I had already been read about the various joys of delivery, so the process of unpacking the package was filmed on video. The box was almost not wrinkled, the seller took my advice and packed it very well. The device was intact, and 30% charged, so I could immediately check the performance.

    Using




    Now about the ease of use. By default, ADW Launcher is installed on the device. I immediately demolished it and installed LauncherPro, which I use. It works faster and smoother. A little later I found out that a new firmware 1030 was released, and I have a rather old one 1012. The firmware process is very simple, but the problem was that a stable version of the flasher is available only under Windows. Without thinking twice, I flashed my device and it worked much faster. This was especially evident when surfing the Internet. Of course, due to the fact that free RAM is not enough (compared to my other Android device - HTC Legend), you have to use software to kill unnecessary applications, because they greatly slow down the system. Finding and installing a Russian keyboard was not a problem, and indeed the presence of a market already in the firmware simplifies the task of finding software. RealPlayer is quite suitable for video. So far I've been losing all the videos and films that I threw off on the device.

    An interesting fact - the position of the device is correct - this is when the round button (back) is at the top, and not like the iPad - at the bottom. And if the software does not know how to react to changes in the position of the device in space, then this can cause some inconvenience, since you have to keep it upside down.

    On the pluses of the device, after a little experience in its use:
    • Big screen - it's really big! My HTC Legend seems tiny compared to it.
    • Powerful processor - it is really powerful, it can be seen from some applications that it is enough for more complex tasks, but it is noticeable that the firmware is still far from ideal, because even with such a processor the GUI manages to slow down in many places.
    • The prevalence of the device is really large, during the setup and firmware process I had several problems that were solved by different communities in 5 minutes.
    • The ability to connect USB sticks of mouse- keyboards-3g modems-other joys to the USB port allows you to instantly expand the already modest functionality of the device.
    • The ability to soon see on the device Android 2.2 with all the included buns. If not official firmware, then the craftsmen have almost finished their firmware with blackjack and whores.
    • Play almost any video format without brakes.
    • Work without recharging up to 7 hours.
    And where without cons:
    • Lack of GPS.
    • The battery life during active operation and just lying on the table devices are almost the same, so you have to turn it off when not in use.
    • The back panel is a little warm.
    • Lack of a normal Flash player (for now).
    • It seems that a thick piece of paper is glued to the front panel of the device, because under it some voids on the sides of the screen are often pressed.
    • A very easily soiled screen that is very easy to scratch. A film on it needs to be ordered only far beyond the borders of the homeland.
    • Due to the size of the screen, almost all games do not work correctly, Android software is more or less optimized for any screens.
    image

    Conclusion


    Before buying the device, I did not fully understand, why do I still buy it, how will I use it? After all, I already have a smartphone on Android OS, and it’s enough for “read bashorg / twitter / hub / RSS on the couch”. Now I can say with confidence that this device is much more convenient for such purposes than any phone. The large touchscreen cannot be compared to the ease of use with either a laptop, a phone, or anything else. I also wanted to try something to code for Android, became interested in geocoding, but it wasn’t convenient to work on emulators, and constantly torment the phone too. And now - I connected the keyboard and go! Very comfortably. In general, ask your questions, if anyone is interested, I will be happy to answer!

    I apologize for the quality of the photographs, I took pictures of what I have and how I could.

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