palroid

Palroid – Broken WIFI

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All of a sudden, the wireless module does not work anymore. No reset or restart does help, when I try to start WIFI it just disappears. I contacted the service centre and will drop the device there some day this week. Will keep you updated..

Palroid – Root it or Brick it ?

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My 3 year old daughter makes the device unusable in less than 5min after switching it on, simply by poking around the screen and opening a couple of apps.

There is very little (or better no) detail info about the specs of the Palroid that would help to find out if it is root-able.

One thing for sure, it has root access by default. Just simply do adb shell and go do the data folder, creating a file there is only possible for root user.

Now lets try to find out whats ticking inside the device

adb -d shell getprop | grep build

Inside Palroid

Its a TCC 8900 ! See specs here: http://csselectronic.com/telechips/tcc8900

No clue if it the ROM can be changed. I am looking for devices based on the same hardware. (so far Apad 7800, Haipad m1001)

Further digging only reveals this links:

to be continued..

Very Final Thoughts on Palladine Palroid

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The device sucks big time, I just started a new trend: Android Tablet Tossing !  I might repeat some of the previous feedback here, but I need to summarize again to warn anyone to buy it:

  • Wireless is extremely unstable and keeps on dropping, forcing one to toggle wireless or sometime restart the whole device.
  • Stand-by drains the battery in less than 4 hours.
  • The screen is very draggy and becomes unusable after a while of use. Starting various applications makes the device slow down even more (it usually ends up with 20MB free memory), the only remedy is killing running apps regularly. Even clicking sometimes becomes a nightmare because of the un-responsive screen..
  • The only thing you can do, is watching movies. But it is very troublesome to interrupt a movie (with the default player), being forced to switch off to preserve energy and later switch on again to continue your movie.
    You cant watch more than 2 regular movies with one battery load.
    Remedy: Look for mvideoplayer (link), it supports bookmarks and autosave the last position of the movie you watch.
  • No, you cant use it for PDF’s. Open any serious book (with few drawings or illustrations) and it becomes impossible to navigate or move forward/backward.
  • You need to carry around the powerplug in order to charge, no USB charging.
  • Not to forget 2.1 and definitely not being updated to 2.2.

It is not fair to compare it with the Samsung Galaxy Tab that I tested earlier today, but it is way smoother and faster.

The Palroid Experience: Games

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Trying a few games

  • Angry Birds (following the discussion in the earlier post)
    Screen rendering does not work 

    Angry Birds

    Angry Birds

  • Labyrinth Lite
    The accelerometer is upside down, both axis are exchanged. 

    Labyrinth Lite

  • Graviturn Extended
    One axis is reversed. But playable.

    Graviturn Extended

  • Sniper
    Also one axis reversed. Guess this applies to all accelerometer games. Is there a way to configure this on the OS level ?

    Sniper

The Palroid Experience: The Final Verdict

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After a few days of using the device, my conclusions:

It works fine to read documents (pdf books) and watch movies (even on a screen connected via HDMI, which is a plus). You can play simlpe games. You can surf the web (minus Flash).
If you do not want to buy an Android phone (or get locked into a telco contract), you want a bigger screen but dont want to spend a bomb then this device is for you.

I do not recommend the Palroid because of these major flaws (based on the experience with the specific device I bought)

  • Dropping wireless connection.
  • Stdby mode drains the battery in few hours. My Nexus One can stand 2 days stdby (with regular but not extensive use).
  • The g-sensor does not work properly for games.
  • You can charge only with the power adapter.
  • Anrdoid 2.1 (From other feedback I could read there will BE NO UPGRADE to 2.2!)

I will wait until early next year when the dust around Android 2.3 settled, 3.0 is getting clearer and after finding out which device is future-proof (can be updated),  before getting another Android device.

The Palroid Experience

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The Palladine Palroid

More feedback after a few hours Palroid (Please stay reasonable, it is a cheap device, I just summarize my experience to keep your expectations right):

  • The wireless connection keeps on dropping (less than 5m to the wireless router). Also after each stdby need to disconnect (or rather switch off wireless) and switch on / connect again.
  • Running Android 2.1. What I heard it is unlikely they will release an upgrade to 2.2 (rumor?). Android 3.0 is targeting Tablets (rumor?), means early next year with have an outdated device. But this faith is shared by other actual Android devices as well.
  • Adobe Flash: Because Flash was introduced for Android 2.2 only, you dont have it on the Palroid. There are some websites that describe a way to load it onto 2.1 devices (eg. link here). I tried, it does NOT work.
  • System Performance: It is a simple CPU, Telechips 8902 Processor （800mhz). OK while doing one thing, but certain cpu intensive actions, like installing apps, slows down the whole device dramatically.
  • Battery: I cant judge battery runtime yet, but the battery level is updated in steps of 10%. After fully charged, it jumped straight down to 80% and 50% within 45min of use.
  • Development: No problem, I connected via USB and I could load and debug applications with Eclipse (also ddms, adb,..)

    DDMS Screenshot

  • Charging: It cant charge via USB. You need to use power adapter.
  • External drives: You cant connect external harddisk. It wont recognize it, it tries to mount as sd card. This is not a Paldroid issue, but an Android OS thing ! Not impossible though, check this link.