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Zenithink ZT-180 1GHz 10" tablet

I had been seriously considering the purchase of a ZT-180 MID... the operative word here being had. I went into eBay and bookmarked a listing for the Houston Texas-based Zenithink distributor. I figured that I really did not want to deal with importing something from China... and I'd rather have a local vendor that I can call if/when there's a problem

What changed my mind? Well yesterday the listed price for the ZT-180 tablet was $269 or best offer. Today all of his listings have changed to $299 or best offer.

Zenithink ZT-180 10.2" ePAD/aPAD Android 2.1 Tablet PC - eBay (item 190435133224 end time Aug-31-10 08:25:57 PDT)

I may be willing to pay a premium to buy the MID in the U.S... but an 11% price increase? Oh well... I think I'll wait to see what Flat Computing's new tablet looks like; or till one of the mainstream tablets finally hits the market.
 
icurafu said:
rcjames. It's not at the same time.
Click to expand...

I didn't say running it in the same time. It's dual booting. I quad boot on my system 2 linux dist and window 7 and xp. But is it true that tablet would come with two operating system (link i provided)? Has anybody got a tablet dualbooting two os on a zt-180 out of the box? Thats very odd How would one reprogram window ce if something happend? So does it mean we can boot off out of a cd from a external cd drive on the tablet? I'm a computer tech but I need totally more information. Because i think its a awesome buy to have both os. Is it even genuin?

Icurafu do u have both os on you're android as dual boot?????
 
I now have my tablet what would you like to see for the Video review on Youtube?

Anyone have questions about the tablet?

Post a reply and I will try to start making videos for it!
 
Seeing as everyone is reporting different results with their screen calibration I though we could compare a few images to find out exactly what the problem is. I'd like to compare different units and firmware. Please post your results!

I have tested with 2 different apps, Multitouch Visualizer 2 & Multitouch Visible Test, both giving the same result. I'm running 0818 w/ RPMScript.

 
jtbnet said:
Not the greatest pic one speaker is hanging outside of frame... but was small enough to post...
Click to expand...

thanks, good enough for a root round, lots of masking tape lol may crack mine open and see what we can do about tidyness, also is that little board in the bottom l/hand area the wifi pick up?
 
rcjames: the zt-180 doesn't seem to be able to dual boot. It is possible to flash a WinCE rom or an Android rom on to the device. Until somebody unlocks nandroid on this thing, I don't know if it will be possible to swap back and forth without losing all your data & apps.

Now if you're a programmer, maybe you can work something out for us!
 
Three quick questions:

1. Is it possible to use USB HDD with the tablet?
2. How big SD card is needed for apps? I use my iPhone for a long time and never went over 1Gb (games included) on apps disk space.
3. What manufacturer's SD cards do you use? I've heard that ZT has problems working with Sandisk, is this so?
 
zerozed said:
rcjames: the zt-180 doesn't seem to be able to dual boot. It is possible to flash a WinCE rom or an Android rom on to the device. Until somebody unlocks nandroid on this thing, I don't know if it will be possible to swap back and forth without losing all your data & apps.

Now if you're a programmer, maybe you can work something out for us!
Click to expand...

Well i'm new to this android devices. But i am learning alot. But i have seen a pic of a dual boot screen on this tablet. Damn i need to dig it out. It's very interesting. Reason i want this tablet because its cheap, can do what i want instead of remote access on a phone i can do it off a tablet to access to my linux server at home. I'll dig some pic soon i have to go a birthday party for my cute niece. First birthday party.

I'll post some pic later. But doesn't mean it is really gonna come with m ce. Plus i think its pirate version of m-ce if it does come with. Oh by the way the guy that is selling it told me that it does dual boot. Anyways i'll keep posted. Plus i wont be ordering until next week if things goes well.
 
Kuroi said:
Three quick questions:

1. Is it possible to use USB HDD with the tablet?
2. How big SD card is needed for apps? I use my iPhone for a long time and never went over 1Gb (games included) on apps disk space.
3. What manufacturer's SD cards do you use? I've heard that ZT has problems working with Sandisk, is this so?
Click to expand...

Well i have a droid x, i have 24gb, its enough because most programs are less then 1 mg, i've seen program that goes up to 30mb. Max you can have is 40gb (According some website). Anyways if you put alot of video and program and mp3 you will eat up faster. MaX it out.
 
icurafu,

after using my tablet for about two weeks, the screen just went so dim that I cannot tell if there is anything displayed. But, by shining a bright light on it, I can see a display. I have managed to see that the brightness is pretty high in settings. Is this a hardware problem? How can this problem be solved?

Thanks.

ntah'ngoh
 
ntah'ngoh said:
icurafu,

after using my tablet for about two weeks, the screen just went so dim that I cannot tell if there is anything displayed. But, by shining a bright light on it, I can see a display. I have managed to see that the brightness is pretty high in settings. Is this a hardware problem? How can this problem be solved?

Thanks.

ntah'ngoh
Click to expand...

To me that sounds like a backlight issue. Have you tried power cycling the device to see if that restores the backlight?
 
How about the 1.2Ghz CPU's that I've been seing, are those ARM11's or A8's or something else entirely? Merimobiles has a "CPU ZT-180 1GHz+ (RMv6-compatible processor) (Rev 5)" which means nothing to me, can someone put that in Engrish?

I also heard of a tablet that supports 3G via SIM card slot built in, I'm guessing it's not the ZT-180, right? How unlikely is it for android drivers for 3G USB dongles? Wirelss internet is high on my list of important.

And to be more annoying, how about a Win7 64-bit app for flashing the 180's? Please? If you don't have access to a Win32 machine, how do you go about flashing the ROM?
 
alex182 said:
How about the 1.2Ghz CPU's that I've been seing, are those ARM11's or A8's or something else entirely? Merimobiles has a "CPU ZT-180 1GHz+ (RMv6-compatible processor) (Rev 5)" which means nothing to me, can someone put that in Engrish?

I also heard of a tablet that supports 3G via SIM card slot built in, I'm guessing it's not the ZT-180, right? How unlikely is it for android drivers for 3G USB dongles? Wirelss internet is high on my list of important.

And to be more annoying, how about a Win7 64-bit app for flashing the 180's? Please? If you don't have access to a Win32 machine, how do you go about flashing the ROM?
Click to expand...

Often 1.2GHz chips are Telechips TC890x with an ARM11 CPU between 600 and 800 MHz combined with the DSP which is a processor hat only plays music and video files. Even worse, it is more often an ARM9 cpu on the rockchip with a weaker DSP which performs very poorly compared to the telechips and zenithink model. So it is kind-of a scam combining the MHz of the two processors. Also avoid the tri-core that includes the GPU in he count.
 
Hey, if the backlight is out, changing the brightness should have little effect. On mine, at max brightness I can lightup a room.
 
The backlight is powered by a LCD Inverter. This can go bad too.

You can easily get new backlight tubes, but an inverter may be more difficult. I have replaced inverters on several common laptops, and the inverters were available from internet sellers. One for the ZT-180 would not likely be available, unless they used an off-the-shelf model.

If you look at the picture of an open ZT-180 that jtbnet posted here, I think it may be the taped-down board in the lower left of the picture. The backlight tube(s) would be at the top/bottom of the screen, so trace the wires.

You really need to contact the seller to have this tablet replaced.
 
waterhead said:
The backlight is powered by a LCD Inverter. This can go bad too.

You can easily get new backlight tubes, but an inverter may be more difficult. I have replaced inverters on several common laptops, and the inverters were available from internet sellers. One for the ZT-180 would not likely be available, unless they used an off-the-shelf model.

If you look at the picture of an open ZT-180 that jtbnet posted here, I think it may be the taped-down board in the lower left of the picture. The backlight tube(s) would be at the top/bottom of the screen, so trace the wires.

You really need to contact the seller to have this tablet replaced.
Click to expand...

Thanks Waterhead, icurafu, and Martimus for the suggestions. I must try all of them and any others because I cannot reach technical support from Africa. I bought the tablet from TOLOVO Shenzhen Excel Import and Export Co. who falsely claimed it uses the Telechips processor. I have sent messages to them without reply; so it seems I am lucky I was not scammed. I intend to buy another tablet if I fail to repair the faulty one.

If you have other ideas, they will be appreciated.

ntah'ngoh
 
If you know of someone whom has fixed laptop LCD screens, ask for help (or have them do it). Here are some tips on doing it yourself.

Have a large uncluttered workspace.

Take detailed pictures of every step.

Put small screws in separate labeled containers for each step (paper cups?). Don't mix them all together. Note different lengths, and where they came from.

Take notes on disassembly. Any special order that it came apart.

Don't let it sit disassembled for too long. You will have difficulty remembering how to re-assemble it.

Good Luck! :)
 
waterhead said:
If you know of someone whom has fixed laptop LCD screens, ask for help (or have them do it). Here are some tips on doing it yourself.

Have a large uncluttered workspace.

Take detailed pictures of every step.

Put small screws in separate labeled containers for each step (paper cups?). Don't mix them all together. Note different lengths, and where they came from.

Take notes on disassembly. Any special order that it came apart.

Don't let it sit disassembled for too long. You will have difficulty remembering how to re-assemble it.

Good Luck! :)
Click to expand...

Waterhead,

Thanks. I shall follow your advice and let you know how it turns out.

ntah'ngoh
 
Hello All :)
I was looking to buy an ipad but basically because it is apple and not microsoft its not appropriate for me as I need to use word. I came across this product while looking at ipad info and I have spent HOURS researching this item and my eyes are hurting lmao. Basically as my name would suggest I am rubbish with the ins and outs of computers, so reading everyones take on the specs really have no meaning to me. I have worked out obviously there was some controversy over the speed, basically was advertised as something it wasnt and its about half the speed or something. I was just hoping if someone could answer the few questions I have in lamens terms:

1. I am looking to use this for mainly reading ebooks, surfing the net, listening to music, maybe playing a slot machine or two... basic games? Will it do these ok? Or will it be so slow I will want to throw it out the window? I understand there have been some problems with wi-fi connection but ive had that with laptops before, and obv u will get this with some technology. if i really cant get wi fi to work is there a usb port so i can connect to the net that way?

2. Can you connect a printer to it as it has usb ports? Or will the software not allow it?

3. There seem to be different names for this product... flatpad 10, zenithink zt-180, zenithink google android 10 etc... im in the UK and the only UK distributor i can find call it the flatpad 10 so is this a bad version? Are there good and bad versions? Theres some convo going on about a chip or something? frankly I doint understand how this works but if there was a certain version that worked better than the others what is it?

4. What sort of apps are there? Ive never had a iphone or anything so not really familiar with this feature with any device. Might seem like a proper stupid question really but am interested

5. Is microsoft office already installed or do you have to buy it seperately?

6. If this isnt a good choice what would you recommend other than the obvious leading brands
7. what are these upgrades people keep saying theyve downloaded and what do they do? whats it called 8090 or something like that? (probably makin myself look even dumber now!)

I would really appreciate some help on this matter as its my first tablet and I dont want to buy something silly. thank you. And if I do have any more questions I apologise if I harrass you again lol :D
 
computerdunce said:
Hello All :)
I was looking to buy an ipad but basically because it is apple and not microsoft its not appropriate for me as I need to use word. I came across this product while looking at ipad info and I have spent HOURS researching this item and my eyes are hurting lmao. Basically as my name would suggest I am rubbish with the ins and outs of computers, so reading everyones take on the specs really have no meaning to me. I have worked out obviously there was some controversy over the speed, basically was advertised as something it wasnt and its about half the speed or something. I was just hoping if someone could answer the few questions I have in lamens terms:

1. I am looking to use this for mainly reading ebooks, surfing the net, listening to music, maybe playing a slot machine or two... basic games? Will it do these ok? Or will it be so slow I will want to throw it out the window? I understand there have been some problems with wi-fi connection but ive had that with laptops before, and obv u will get this with some technology. if i really cant get wi fi to work is there a usb port so i can connect to the net that way?

2. Can you connect a printer to it as it has usb ports? Or will the software not allow it?

3. There seem to be different names for this product... flatpad 10, zenithink zt-180, zenithink google android 10 etc... im in the UK and the only UK distributor i can find call it the flatpad 10 so is this a bad version? Are there good and bad versions? Theres some convo going on about a chip or something? frankly I doint understand how this works but if there was a certain version that worked better than the others what is it?

4. What sort of apps are there? Ive never had a iphone or anything so not really familiar with this feature with any device. Might seem like a proper stupid question really but am interested

5. Is microsoft office already installed or do you have to buy it seperately?

6. If this isnt a good choice what would you recommend other than the obvious leading brands
7. what are these upgrades people keep saying theyve downloaded and what do they do? whats it called 8090 or something like that? (probably makin myself look even dumber now!)

I would really appreciate some help on this matter as its my first tablet and I dont want to buy something silly. thank you. And if I do have any more questions I apologise if I harrass you again lol :D
Click to expand...

Don't buy this device. It will not suit your needs (technically) and it is far too rough around the edges for a mainstream audience. You will be better off waiting a 2-3 more months when some pads from big-name vendors get rolled out.

These Chinese iPad clones are neat for tech-geeks (like most of us here) to play with and try to get working better, but ultimately you need a good degree of technical skill and time to get them to do what a product like the iPad does (better) right out of the box.
 
I'm also having problems getting my tablet to connect to my PC.
I run Windows Vista 32bit and this is what it tells me.

newg2.jpg


Can someone please help me out?
 
Laharl said:
I'm also having problems getting my tablet to connect to my PC.
I run Windows Vista 32bit and this is what it tells me.

newg2.jpg


Can someone please help me out?
Click to expand...

I had this problem also. Try uninstalling the drivers via device manager and then restart and install again in a different usb port.
 
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