I’ve had a little more time to play with the Augen GenTouch78 Android tablet, and here’s the deal: It’s a mixed bag. You can check out my hands-on video after the break, but here’s the short version:
On the one hand the build quality is pretty decent and the tablet feels good in the hand. It has a decent looking display and runs Android 2.1.
On the other hand, entering text or even tapping on icons with the resistive touchscreen display is a bit of a chore. The memory card slot reads “TF card,” which should mean TransFlash and which should support microSD cards. But when I tried inserting a microSD card, it fell into the slot and almost got lost before I grabbed a pair of tweezers to free it. I’ll try again later in case I was putting the card in the wrong way, but I’m going to hold off until I have a spare microSD card that I’m willing to lose.
The tablet does support Google Apps and comes preloaded with Google Maps, Google Calendar, Gmail, and the Android Market. But you can’t actually install any apps using the Android Market. Augen says a software fix for this should be available soon.
Overall, I haven’t decided whether I can in good conscience recommend this tablet yet. It can run Android apps — but text input is painfully slow and inaccurate compared with the experience on most Android powered phones. Once you set up the web browser with bookmarks for your favorite sites, that might matter too much since you might not need to enter text too often. But I wouldn’t want to spend a lot of time composing email messages on this device.
Some apps also take a ridiculously long time to run. For instance, toward the end of the video below you can see what happens when I try to launch the YouTube app. Once it’s up and running, videos look great on the 7 inch display. But it felt like an eternity passed between the time I pressed the YouTube button and the time the video browser opened.
The display is also stuck in landscape mode — which would be fine if there weren’t some apps that were clearly designed for use in portrait mode. I’m guessing there’s a third party utility somewhere that will let you rotate the display. But out of the box there’s no way to rotate the screen by tilting the display or pressing a button.
Oh, and I was very surprised to see a Skype icon on the home screen. Once I signed in with my Skype credentials, I tried to place a VoIP call to a friend — only to receive a message saying my carrier doesn’t support voice calls. Of course, this tablet is WiFi only and there is no carrier. My guess is that Augen just snagged the Skype app that’s already available for Verizon-based Android phones and threw it on here without bothering to make sure it was fully functional. On the bright side, you can send instant messages to your SKype contacts…
Now for some video.
I guess the seating on these can vary when it comes to the microSD slot.
I tried to make mine fall in the tablet just to see, it just wasn't going too unless i forced it heavy and even then you could tell it was going not where it was suppose too.
Easy way to take it out, just use the stylus end to release the microsd from the slot.
Not the way mine fell in. It was stuck in there and wasn't coming out
without a pair of tweezers.
But it's good to hear that yours is better built!
I tried again just a few minutes ago.
It was rather easy If i angled it upward first then went in strait, but again i could tell something wasn't right by feel on the angle, not something that wouldn't jump out at you.
So build or user error i dunno?
The slot could be built safer though, i admit.
I don't have one yet, but apparently there is going to be a fix to the resistive sensitivity for the screen as well. Be sure to turn off animated backgrounds. Finally, xda-developers are already in the early process of hacking.
Ahhh! Help! I placed my micro SD card in the “TF” slot, pushed it in with my fingernail to 'seat it' and it fell right through into the case. Rattle Rattle Rattle. I can hear it, but NOW what do I do to get at it?? Strange slot indeed.
I just went to the Augen website and downloaded new instructions (7/30/10) for SD Card and USB installation. The very first bullet point for the SD card instruction was:
1. Insert Micro SD card into the top of the Micro SD slot. If the SD card is inserted below the slot, it will fall into the unit.
A fat lotta good that does me now! Nothing about this in the units instruction book of course. Design fail. DAH!
I was able to open the back of my unit just enough to shake out my lost SD card. If you remove the stylus, you will see a small screw. There are three others at each corner on the back – but you have to remove the round black plugs first. I was able to do this with my finger nail.
I turned mine on after I bought it. It worked great. The day after I had turned it on, it won't turn on at all.
The box mentioned a user manual but none was in the box. One place mentions two usb cords. Mine had only one (was it suppose to be two?). I did not find a manual at Augen US site.
I sent two reports; one for it not starting and one for the missing user manual.
That's odd. There was definitely a manual in my box. It wasn't very detailed, but it was in there.
There are 2 USB cords, but you really only need one.
As for the power issue — silly question: Did you plug the tablet in using the wall jack? It doesn't charge over USB like a smartphone, only with the wall jack.
Also, when you hit the power button the screen turns off but the tablet is still on. You have to press and hold it to completely shut it off. This means that you just tap the power button again and the screen turns on almost instantly most of the time — but if you didn't completely shut down the tablet and you didn't plug it in, then odds are the battery ran down completely overnight which is why it won't turn on.
The tablet doesn't seem to be very smart about power management — so my battery ran down overnight when I wasn't touching the thing.
I suspect a firmware update (or hacked ROM) may address this in the future.
I used the power adapter and not the usb port. I had it plugged in over night but it still would not turn on. I looked closer at the power port and the pin that is supposed to be there wasn't and there was only a hole. The adapter was not even warm. I tried to take it back for an exchange but the K-Mart I bought it from ran out of them. I was told to call Tuesday of next week.
I tried to find an online source for the user manual. Augen did not have one (that I could find) at their web site.
You have given me information about the tablet pc. Thanks.
FYI, it might be worth trying to poke a paperclip in the reset button on the back of the unit. I couldn't get mine to turn on this morning, but a quick poke led to a reboot.
I have tried using the reset button using a bent paper clip. I did not want to put a pin in myself unless I am unable to get a new one. I am hoping more come in soon. If not, I might your suggestion. Thanks.