Dell Venue 8 Pro - links on USB & Power - Windows 8 General

I stumbled across these forum posts looking into how to get power and data at the same time on the Dell Venue 8 Pro.
Many good ideas on cable combos and hacking USB hubs to get the power and data working:
http://forum.tabletpcreview.com/dell/59328-venue-8-usb-power-same-time.html
For the more adventurous, someone cracked theirs open and added a 64GB USB key:
http://forum.tabletpcreview.com/dell/60553-adding-128gb-flash-venue-8-pro.html

The USB hub mod looks very doable, petergunn posted some videos in that thread which show it step by step and you can pick up the hub (or one very like it) on eBay for less than £2. I ordered one a few days ago to try it myself.
The internal USB mod is a different matter, the soldering points involved look very small. I bought the 64GB model, so coupled with a 64GB SDXC I'm not going to be running low on space any time soon unless I really load the thing up with movies or games.
I have to say I'm pretty impressed with the device though. Bay trails are the first Atom chips Intel will be using the Pentium brand for (for laptop/desktop models) and you can see why. Performance-wise it feels like a huge jump from cedar/clover trail. I've installed a bunch of games on it (inc. Blood Bowl and SC2:Heart of the Swarm) and it plays them well, even on around medium settings. Windows 8.1 is a different matter though, I've already hit several annoyances.

I ended up getting a more expensive but similar hub. The cheap ones seem to be sold out everywhere unless they are shipping from China and I didn't feel like waiting for weeks.
I picked my Dell up as an open box at Micro Center for $139. I don't even know why it was so cheap. It looked like it was never out of the box. I couldn't be happier with the tablet especially for the price. Not as elegant a device as my RT but so much more useful.

cx1 said:
I ended up getting a more expensive but similar hub. The cheap ones seem to be sold out everywhere unless they are shipping from China and I didn't feel like waiting for weeks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your soldering skills are as bad as mine, that was probably a good idea. Mine arrived today, and the 'mini' ones on eBay from Hong Kong are very small inside, with much smaller pads than the ones successfully modified by the guys over on tablet PC review. I attempted the mod today but something must have gone wrong as all I got was "unrecognised device" when plugging it in. In the end I gave up on that and just went for the simpler option (see attachment) and made an adapter from some spare bits and pieces.
It's worth noting that there are a few caveats though, these are mentioned on the thread but quite a few pages in. Firstly, it will only trickle charge while connected to another device, not fast charge (you can verify this by checking in the Dell diagnostics, accessible by holding volume up and the power button when switching on). In practice, this means the battery level should remain around the same if the tablet is on. I think this explains why there is no official docking station for the 8 Pro from Dell as it wouldn't be practical to charge it like this for everyday use. Secondly, you're going to need more power than the Dell 10 watt charger can provide if you want to charge the tablet and run power hungry devices like external hard drives - if I connect my external Western Digital drive to my adapter, it works but the tablet stops charging entirely. A solution is to use a powered hub (or if you're doing the hub mod, attach a second charger to the hub's power connector).
I'm really jealous of the prices the 8 Pro seems to be going for in the US, it's a steal as those. In the UK, I got my 64GB model for £279 which is around $458 USD. That's still cheaper than the official Dell UK price, believe it or not!
-edit-
Forget what I wrote about trickle charging, it turns out this was due to insufficient wire thickness. Something to watch out for when modifying your hub though. My tablet is now properly charging when connected to my external hard drive, no powered hub needed

Well, we could actually make a usb 3.0 hub out of the LTE socket.... Took pics of the shields off, I was thinking the notched corner was an sdcard slot. NOPE!

Not USB related, but another mod of sorts (firmware) has been mentioned over on tablet PC review. V3D says it's possible to downgrade to BIOS A03 (with the advanced eMMC/SD speed settings) but keep A04's embedded controller update that fixed the low charge problem:
I just downloaded [A03] right from Dell & used the command /writeromfile to extract the BIOS rom then used AFUWIN from AMI's site to flash the Main bios image & NVRAM. [...]
I don't recommend using DDR50 on the MicroSD card slot, From my benchmark testing I found it had no effect on the speed & others have reported the MicroSD card to becomes unstable, randomly dismounting at times.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll be giving it a go myself tomorrow.
-edit-
Confirmed as working, use the AptioV version of afuwin.

something does not go according to instructions complete hanging PC

Related

Razrdock Mod [Stage: I. Planning][Updated :P]

READ FIRST:
PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS YET IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING, IT IS INCOMPLETE AND STILL REQUIRES ME TO BUY THE EQUIPMENT AND TEST EVERYTHING, I MAY NOT BE CORRECT IN SOME THINGS AND YOU MAY RUIN YOUR LAPDOCK, THANKS!
Alright I give credits to seven2099 for bringing this up, so now we have two projects to make the lapdock run on it's own.
So instead of using the CottonCandy FXI, I will be using the MK802 Allwinner A10 (When it gets back into stock).
giuanz has helped out a lot by getting a hold of one of these MK units before me... And gave very good details on the problems...
Log:
6/3/12 -- Posts: 1 2 3
So far: We discussed Voltage and amps that will power the MK, so far there are problems, but this is at a glance as we don't have a unit yet. But it seems that the lapdock won't proide enough juice to power the MK...
6/12/12-6/14/12 -- Posts: 1 2 3
Alright so guianz has recieved his MK units and 2 problems have come up...
1. The resolution is not compatible. The HDMI output on the MK doesn't give the lapdock resolution 1366x768. A solution may be done by extracting the file from the razr leak for the webtop that decides resolution and putting it in the MK unit. It may or may not work, lets hope it does!
2. The output:
It would refuse to boot with any USB port I tried it with (red light comes up but no boot) - it would only power up with the power supply. Didn't try with lapdock as I'm still missing the adapter cable but I bet it's a current limit problem, like it probably really takes more than 1a to boot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That explains everything... Everything will be looked in, thanks...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What you need:
-Lapdock, NO?!?!
-Xacto knife or similar
-Hot Glue
-Screwdrivers (Unsure of which ones, will update)
-Maybe more, will update
What you need to buy:
-HDMI Upgrade Kit (May need up to 3)
-MK802 Allwinner A10
-HDMI Male to Micro HDMI Female Adapter
-Maybe more, will update
TOC:
I. Planning
II. Connections
-- First we must test to make sure that everything cable-wise is working (HDMI can be seen from lapdock, keyboard mouse goes through USB) so that we can move on the the software
III. OS + Software
-- We have to make sure that the drivers are working for ICS and that everything is setup correctly.
IV. Placement + Hardmod
-- We must take apart the lapdock (The back panels only), and the A10 to get them to fit and work properly. We must also get the on/off working by screen opening and closing)
V. Guide (When completed)
II. Connections
geeky-gadgets.com said:
The MK802 is also equipped with 2 x USB ports, one full-sized and one micro, and runs Google’s latest Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) operating system. As well as being equipped with a HDMI port for connecting to your monitor of preference.
Connectivity on the MK802 is provided by WiFi 802.11b/g, with 4GB of Flash storage as standard, which can be increased to 32GB via the microSD card slot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So according to geeky-gadgets & the chinese retailers we have 2 USB ports, one full and one micro. Great isn't it? Not really, because the lapdock provides power through the micro-usb and the A10 has it's own power port... So we need to cut up the USB and solder the cables to two different connectors. The data cables will be soldered to the micro-usb connector from the HDMI upgrade kit, the power cables will be soldered to the power connector that comes with the A10.
But now we get to HDMI. This will take more time... We are gonna use the [HDMI Male to Micro HDMI Female Adapter] it will convert the hdmi from the lapdock straight to normal HDMI, this is a bit hefty so we will have to use a Xacto knife or similar to cut it up... Once we get it's guts then we can make room for it when we hardmod the lapdock.
III. OS + Software
To come, once I buy everything and get them connected.
What I think for now: Since ICS doesn't have any of Moto's drivers in it yet we can connect it to the lapdock and use the key+mouse proves that they must be generic drivers. (Have to test this theory)
IV. Hardmod + Placement
To come, once I finish the other two...
V. Guide
To Come, once I finish everything.
This looks like a good little project good luck would love to see an actual finished model.
Good Luck
The Atrix forums really are dead...
No No, i'll read your post and this remember me the mod of lapdock (HDMI) for use with other device (PS3). I plan myself to build an adapter for HDMI & USB for use it with other device (it your case the MK802 Allwinner A10).
Keep us updated for your mod
PS: A silent reader of XDA since modding my HTC Diamond
Great project! I might suggest using an atom system ?
Do they have one small enough that runs win 7, and in turn win 8...
Everything in next post...
Bump so people can see it. And a mini notice:
I will be listing many things on my ebay account to sell over time, many of which are from work... Others from home... Most of what you can buy will be used to fund for this project...
On a note if I can raise enough money, I should be able to make multiple of them to sell for cheap on xda... I'll see how it goes... So if any of you are interested in this project or what I've listed on ebay don't hesitate to buy it...
Ebay: myworld.ebay.com/ih3876
anyway the mk802 cortex a8 is missing some cpu power i thing
What do you mean? It's a 1ghz processor...
Hello Alaq,
I wish you come up with something and show us what useful stuff can be achieved with a lapdock. And that being said, i honestly didn'T like the thread title cause it reminds me us false motorola timing table. I hope this project doesn't become obsolete like motorola's update table.
Stage 1 : Wait 4 months
Stage 2 : Wait 2 months for rolling
Stage 3 : Weh bumped you, you wont get ICS. Hahah
Stage 4 : Buy a new motorola phone with ICS.
Semseddin said:
Hello Alaq,
I wish you come up with something and show us what useful stuff can be achieved with a lapdock. And that being said, i honestly didn'T like the thread title cause it reminds me us false motorola timing table. I hope this project doesn't become obsolete like motorola's update table.
Stage 1 : Wait 4 months
Stage 2 : Wait 2 months for rolling
Stage 3 : Weh bumped you, you wont get ICS. Hahah
Stage 4 : Buy a new motorola phone with ICS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some of you just aren't getting the point here, are you???
This is about trying something new, seeing if it can be done, and what the results will be. Some people like to try innovative ideas "just because". I don't believe Alaq asked for your approval to move forward with his project, so I would suggest if you don't like the thread, (or it's title), that you move on yourself!
<edit> Seems funny you would have this attitude since you have a Motorola modding forum! Jealous???
@CaelanT,
Don't bark towards me, move along
@Alaq,
I didn't mean to approve your ideas, just expressed myself. If you felt offended, i am sorry.
Semseddin said:
@CaelanT,
Don't bark towards me, move along
@Alaq,
I didn't mean to approve your ideas, just expressed myself. If you felt offended, i am sorry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Shukran...
FYI. I don't know if this link helps. I'm posting it, just in case.
http://www.techrepublic.com/photos/...10&tag=thumbnail-view-selector;get-photo-roto
To my knowledge that Bionic lapdock is identical to the Atrix one but with the HDMI and MicroUSB connectors reversed.
BTW I ordered three MK802's in the 1GB RAM version and the status has just changed to "shipped".
Now that I read the rumor about an early ICS demo, I am torn between waiting for ICS and trying this mod.
Cheers, G
I like webtop (or ubuntop)... Is the plan to run a similar ubuntu syste, or a hybrid, or just tabletUI?
You can run Android ICS or Ubuntu on the MK802 I read somewhere... So I'll look at all the possibilities...
MK802 disassembly pics
FYI.
http://3dobjectifying.blogspot.ie/2012/05/mk802-received.html
still waiting for my MK802's , and have already three more friends who want one
also:
1. MK802 audio is only through HDMI - to use a headset when I want, I think I'd add a 3.5mm stereo switching jack somewhere on the back of the lapdock
2. MK802 has no bluetooth - but the pics in the link I posted show a USB bluetooth dongle attached to it - I think that's a good idea if you want bluetooth
3. MK802 is only 802.11 b/g networking no n - I suppose you'd have to live with that.
Cheers and keep us posted! I'll do the same - giuanz
giuanz said:
FYI.
http://3dobjectifying.blogspot.ie/2012/05/mk802-received.html
still waiting for my MK802's , and have already three more friends who want one
also:
1. MK802 audio is only through HDMI - to use a headset when I want, I think I'd add a 3.5mm stereo switching jack somewhere on the back of the lapdock
2. MK802 has no bluetooth - but the pics in the link I posted show a USB bluetooth dongle attached to it - I think that's a good idea if you want bluetooth
3. MK802 is only 802.11 b/g networking no n - I suppose you'd have to live with that.
Cheers and keep us posted! I'll do the same - giuanz
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I missed it by a day last week... They were sold out within 2 days lol... Anyways I'll start taking apart my lapdock to check the connections and make some space...
Alaq said:
I missed it by a day last week... They were sold out within 2 days lol... Anyways I'll start taking apart my lapdock to check the connections and make some space...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there are more sellers on Aliexpress who claim they have it, although the only seller which already has feedback is sold out.
Also there are some on sale on eBay.
btw if you want to have a laugh, look at this: http://www.mk802.net
(LOL, the Chinese are discovering what intellectual property means)
btw2 I just made an experiment. I forced discharge of my Atrix battery to 0% - basically till the point it would only boot in charger mode not full OS.
With the lapdock open, it would charge. With the lapdock closed, it would not charge.
So my idea of how the lid open/close switch works is like this:
1. lid open -> lapdock gives USB power to phone
2. lid closed -> lapdock checks HDMI port for signal. If HDMI signal present, lapdock gives USB power. Otherwise USB stays off.
That also would explain why, when you connect the lapdock, the first thing the phone does is send that M logo ove the HDMI port - just like a way to say to the lapdock: "hey wait for me I'm there, give me USB (so I can recognise the keyboard and trackpad) and I'll boot webtop".
Now I think if this logic turns to be true, you would not even need an extra power switch! Just open the lid to power on - it will stay powered on as long as there is HDMI signal - and when you want to shutdown, youĺl do it through the menu.
The only annoying thing is that there won't be any notification when the battery is about to run out of juice.

Acer Iconia W3 Tablet

Has anyone had the chance to use\test this tablet? On a scale from 0 to 10 what would you rate it? What are the pros and cons? Any feed back would be appriciated. Thanks.
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http://www.microcenter.com/product/414898/Iconia_W3_Tablet_PC_(W3-810-1600)_-_Silver
sinister1 said:
Has anyone had the chance to use\test this tablet? On a scale from 0 to 10 what would you rate it? What are the pros and cons? Any feed back would be appriciated. Thanks.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/414898/Iconia_W3_Tablet_PC_(W3-810-1600)_-_Silver
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm very pleased with my one week old one. 9 out of 10. It fulfils my needs for full windows on a tablet and makes similar sized android tablets look a bit silly, at least in respect of what you can do. But if your need is just for multimedia (and gaming I suspect) look elsewhere.
Pros:
Low price for a full Win 8 machine, and you get Office Home (for small screens) thrown in.
Very quick, hardly any lag or waiting whatever you're doing.
Battery life like the best android tabs (this was the biggest surprise). 8 to 9 hours light use. Only uses about 5% battery overnight on standby and wakes immediately.
Nicely put together hardware; feels solid (within the limitations of a cheap product). All sockets work nicely and should last.
Full USB2 host, although you have to use a (provided) adapter cable. Even seems to power a portable hard drive. YMMV.
Cons:
Screen not stunning. It's only TFT and optimised for portrait use, so in landscape, as you would tend to use Windows, left-right viewing angles are pretty poor. For work it's fine, for multimedia less so, difficult for 2 people to watch at once. Which is a shame, as the hardware acceleration seems to cope with any movie you throw at it, and smoothly. Brightness and contrast are OK though, as is resolution. I wouldn't want to use it for photo viewing.
Wifi is a bit erratic, mainly because the antenna is somewhere under where yout left hand sits when using landscape mode. In portrait mode it would be fine.
Automatic light sensor in the wrong place for landscape use - you tend to cover it with your left hand. Best to disable it.
The 32GB model only has about 10GB available to the user. It does support 32GB microSD though.
Finally, for anyone wanting to actually carry it around out and about, quite possible as it's small and light enough, there are issues. Even when it's powered right off, a short (rather than long) press on the power button turns it back on. And, when it's put on standby, even though there's a swipe operated standby screen, the timeout of this screen seems to be the same as the standard timeout. So if you've set 10mins before standby, this lock screen also takes 10mins to turn off. Doh!
Don't hesitate to ask anything I might be able to answer
Pete_S said:
I'm very pleased with my one week old one. 9 out of 10. It fulfils my needs for full windows on a tablet and makes similar sized android tablets look a bit silly, at least in respect of what you can do. But if your need is just for multimedia (and gaming I suspect) look elsewhere.
Pros:
Low price for a full Win 8 machine, and you get Office Home (for small screens) thrown in.
Very quick, hardly any lag or waiting whatever you're doing.
Battery life like the best android tabs (this was the biggest surprise). 8 to 9 hours light use. Only uses about 5% battery overnight on standby and wakes immediately.
Nicely put together hardware; feels solid (within the limitations of a cheap product). All sockets work nicely and should last.
Full USB2 host, although you have to use a (provided) adapter cable. Even seems to power a portable hard drive. YMMV.
Cons:
Screen not stunning. It's only TFT and optimised for portrait use, so in landscape, as you would tend to use Windows, left-right viewing angles are pretty poor. For work it's fine, for multimedia less so, difficult for 2 people to watch at once. Which is a shame, as the hardware acceleration seems to cope with any movie you throw at it, and smoothly. Brightness and contrast are OK though, as is resolution. I wouldn't want to use it for photo viewing.
Wifi is a bit erratic, mainly because the antenna is somewhere under where yout left hand sits when using landscape mode. In portrait mode it would be fine.
Automatic light sensor in the wrong place for landscape use - you tend to cover it with your left hand. Best to disable it.
The 32GB model only has about 10GB available to the user. It does support 32GB microSD though.
Finally, for anyone wanting to actually carry it around out and about, quite possible as it's small and light enough, there are issues. Even when it's powered right off, a short (rather than long) press on the power button turns it back on. And, when it's put on standby, even though there's a swipe operated standby screen, the timeout of this screen seems to be the same as the standard timeout. So if you've set 10mins before standby, this lock screen also takes 10mins to turn off. Doh!
Don't hesitate to ask anything I might be able to answer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WiFi should penetrate through your left hand without issue, I doubt that is the issue. Human flesh is near transparent as far as WiFi is concerned, bone may well be a factor though. But regardless, the antenna in these devices should not be so short that your hand can completely cover it. Only other thing I can think of is polarization, most wifi routers are polarized and as such most wifi devices have antenna with bends and kinks etc etc so that they can pick up multiple polarisations regardless of orientation, I highly doubt polarisation is the issue, I highly doubt the antenna is short enough for your hand to effect it when I can hold my phone with both hands entirely engulfing the device and still stream data from wifi while outside in the garden a fair old distance from the router.
It actually supports the entire SDXC spec supposedly so should take a 64gb card and when they are release 128 (the spec actually accounts for card capacities upto 2tb however we dont have the technology to manufacture 2tb nand flash within an SD package obviously).
That 32gb is partially consumed by the recovery (about half of it). If you follow the many guides online for creating a USB recovery drive, then test the drive to confirm that it both a) works and b) you know how to use it (common problem) then you can safely remove the recovery partition built into the device and free up a huge chunk of space.
What adaptor is required for the USB host? Is it just a standard microUSB male to USB A female as used on many android devices or is it something proprietary?
SixSixSevenSeven said:
WiFi should penetrate through your left hand without issue, I doubt that is the issue. Human flesh is near transparent as far as WiFi is concerned, bone may well be a factor though. But regardless, the antenna in these devices should not be so short that your hand can completely cover it. Only other thing I can think of is polarization, most wifi routers are polarized and as such most wifi devices have antenna with bends and kinks etc etc so that they can pick up multiple polarisations regardless of orientation, I highly doubt polarisation is the issue, I highly doubt the antenna is short enough for your hand to effect it when I can hold my phone with both hands entirely engulfing the device and still stream data from wifi while outside in the garden a fair old distance from the router.
It actually supports the entire SDXC spec supposedly so should take a 64gb card and when they are release 128 (the spec actually accounts for card capacities upto 2tb however we dont have the technology to manufacture 2tb nand flash within an SD package obviously).
That 32gb is partially consumed by the recovery (about half of it). If you follow the many guides online for creating a USB recovery drive, then test the drive to confirm that it both a) works and b) you know how to use it (common problem) then you can safely remove the recovery partition built into the device and free up a huge chunk of space.
What adaptor is required for the USB host? Is it just a standard microUSB male to USB A female as used on many android devices or is it something proprietary?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Regardless of the supposed penetrative capability through hands of 2.4ghz signals, I can say for sure that the hand holding the tablet at bottom left when in landscape mode causes a 4-5 bar signal (in a room directly above the wifi location) go down to 2 bars at best, sometimes 1 bar. It's quite repeatable. It might be the reason the W3 gets poor reviews in respect of wifi performance? It's a very poor internal antenna location for, what should be, a landscape device.
My phone, incidentally, prefers to be held at the bottom for best wifi performance, or at the top for best 3G!
It's good to hear higher capacity cards are supported as I didn't see a mention of SDXC, though I guess that's a function of windows rather than the hardware.
As regards drive space, I believe the 32GB model doesn't have a recovery partition, instead getting a recovery DVD, whereas the 64GB model has the recovery partition and no DVD. This is what I've read, anyway. Checking with windows disk management tools shows a couple of extra partitions of 500MB and 100MB at the "start" of the disk which appear to be unused. I don't think you could fit recovery files in that sort of space. I don't know what they're for.
The 18GB or so which you can't use simply seems to be windows, with page and hibernation files, plus the preinstalled stuff. I'm certain you could reclaim some of it. My main use is at home with a network drive, so I'm quite happy with what's left.
The adapter appears to be a standard off-the-shelf item, as you say microUSB to standard USB female.
Disabling hibernate will also free some space (by default, the hiberfile is the same size as your RAM, so it can be pretty significant). While hibernate on a mobile device is usually really nice, on a tablet I don't see the need. Any use case that involves putting it on the shelf unplugged for longer than you'd want to leave it in sleep mode should be fine with powering it off instead.
The main uses I have for hibernate are either:
A) Full-disk encryption (BitLocker) where sleep mode is less secure (because the decryption key can be recovered from the still-active RAM)
B) Emergency power-down for critical battery level (without losing any work).
Although these use cases are significant, for most people A is irrelevant and B isn't vital. Sleep mode at 10% battery remaining would still last you all day.
EDIT: To disable Hibernate, do the following:
Run an elevated CMD prompt (you can do it by right-clicking on the Start button, or selecting Command Prompt in the Start screen and choosing Run as Administrator from the app bar).
Run the following command (without the quotes) in the elevated prompt: "powercfg -H OFF"
You may want to then adjust your power profiles, if they were doing things like entering hibernate when the battery got low, so they do something else instead.
Yeah I got one too. Found it at staples for $269. I also have a Lenovo yoga, and while the Acer is obviously slower, its fine for something so small and cheap. I'm pretty happy with it. I do have one issue, and I'm wondering if anyone else is experiencing it. Sometimes when plugged in it gets REALLY hot on the back. When it gets this hot, it seems to stop charging. Anyone else experiencing this?
vinscuzzy said:
Yeah I got one too. Found it at staples for $269. I also have a Lenovo yoga, and while the Acer is obviously slower, its fine for something so small and cheap. I'm pretty happy with it. I do have one issue, and I'm wondering if anyone else is experiencing it. Sometimes when plugged in it gets REALLY hot on the back. When it gets this hot, it seems to stop charging. Anyone else experiencing this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't own the device so I can't have experienced this is course but I do have a fair bit of electronics knowledge. Most chargers are a higher voltage than the battery. Usually you use a switch mode regulator to drop 5v to 4.5v or so in a phone efficiently, but that's not a clean 4v signal and its still too high, you then use a capacitor to try to clean up electrical noise on the 4.5v signal and then feed it into a low dropout linear regulator to drop it to just over 3.7v for the batter, this will be a clean signal unlike the switchmode regulator however linear regulators do get very warm (can actually harm yourself on them). Often there is a polyfuss thrown into the mix aswell, essentially a self resetting fuse which is triggered with heat. I have seen in some Chinese devices to save cost they just use a linear regulator to go straight from 5v to 3.7ish, way way hotter, sometimes enough to trip the polyfuse effectively disconnecting the charger. It is possible Acer have also used a cheaper circuit or poorly located polyfuse which is tripped under normal charging conditions or your device may genuinely be faulty. A bit of heat when charging is normal though, heat in the charging signal is one if the reasons your supposed to turn your device off when charging, reduces the current draw which then reduces heat produced by any regulators on board the device.
A short could also be causing the problem
vinscuzzy said:
Yeah I got one too. Found it at staples for $269. I also have a Lenovo yoga, and while the Acer is obviously slower, its fine for something so small and cheap. I'm pretty happy with it. I do have one issue, and I'm wondering if anyone else is experiencing it. Sometimes when plugged in it gets REALLY hot on the back. When it gets this hot, it seems to stop charging. Anyone else experiencing this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It gets warm underneath the rear camera about where the Acer logo is. This happens under normal use or when just charging it, but It gets even warmer in the same location when charging whilst using it. I've not had it actually stop charging yet.
Might be best to not use it whilst charging and also place it screen down to help the heat escape. I often do this with phones and tablets because heat shortens the life of Lithium cells.
I've not witnessed *really* hot, but certainly uncomfortable for my left hand hot.
about the display
Pete_S said:
Screen not stunning. It's only TFT and optimised for portrait use, so in landscape, as you would tend to use Windows, left-right viewing angles are pretty poor. For work it's fine, for multimedia less so, difficult for 2 people to watch at once. Which is a shame, as the hardware acceleration seems to cope with any movie you throw at it, and smoothly. Brightness and contrast are OK though, as is resolution. I wouldn't want to use it for photo viewing.
Don't hesitate to ask anything I might be able to answer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a question about the display. I previously used a surface rt bought from Curry's for £279 I thought the price was very low and I would be able to live without installing win32 apps but that was a huge mistake however I was able to sell my rt for £220 and saw one iconia w3 on eBay for £260 as I want a full windows tablet but also on a tight budget would it be worth buying iconia for £260 because I saw lots of review they all said the display is terrible. Is it that bad?
The display isn't the best but I have no problems reading with the Kindle app, watching movies or playing games. I love using my W3, I even sold my Note 8.0. I have a Surface Pro and this is the perfect companion device. I don't have to make any compromises or find similar programs to use.
I am a Marine and we live in the Windows world and use our ID's (combined access cards) to log into the network and various DOD websites. Using my W3 and a USB cac reader I am able to do my work on the go. The only thing it is missing is the digitizer that my Surface Pro has. If it had that I would be 110% satisfied. Hopefully someone comes out with an 8in Windows 8 device with a digitizer. I would never have to carry pen and paper again.
I have the 64 gig version, first thing I did was disable hibernate and remove the recorvery partition. I also installed a 64 gig SD. I have 18 gig free on the hard drive and 16 free on the SD. I keep media on the SD card and use the hard drive for games and programs. Also being able to just plug things in without rooting it or resorting to other tricks makes it worth it. I can just plug in an external and read it. The Nexus 7 and Note 8.0 could to but I had to download an app and root them to be able to do that.
If you want Windows in an 8 in form factor get the W3. Also it is rumored that Acer will be releasing a refresh to the W3 with a better screen since that seems to be the largest complaint people have against the device. I am unaware of anyone else releasing an 8 in Windows device, there are rumblings that Microsoft could be in the works for a 8 in Surface. Who knows but right now the Acer W3 is the only one out there and it works very well.
big_b0sss said:
I have a question about the display. I previously used a surface rt bought from Curry's for £279 I thought the price was very low and I would be able to live without installing win32 apps but that was a huge mistake however I was able to sell my rt for £220 and saw one iconia w3 on eBay for £260 as I want a full windows tablet but also on a tight budget would it be worth buying iconia for £260 because I saw lots of review they all said the display is terrible. Is it that bad?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The display isn't terrible. 2-3 years ago it would have been great, it's just that everything nowadays seems to come with a wide viewing angle screen, making the W3's seem old fashioned. In other respects (brightness, contrast) it's a nice screen. The difficulty comes when you're watching a movie side by side. To the left it goes quite dark, to the right it's bright and rather washed out. If you are watching it head on, it's no problem at all. In day to day use you forget any shortcomings. The reviews always pick on something and exaggerate it.
I agree with sactownbwoy; I love my new W3; it does everything and is an absolute bargain for the price. My poor Asus android tabbie spends it's time in the cupboard now
sactownbwoy said:
I have the 64 gig version, first thing I did was disable hibernate and remove the recorvery partition. I also installed a 64 gig SD. I have 18 gig free on the hard drive and 16 free on the SD. I keep media on the SD card and use the hard drive for games and programs. Also being able to just plug things in without rooting it or resorting to other tricks makes it worth it. I can just plug in an external and read it. The Nexus 7 and Note 8.0 could to but I had to download an app and root them to be able to do that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow. Thanks for the quick reply. Would you please tell us how did u remove hibernate and recovery partition. I have just ordered a 16gig model from eBay I know it will have about 8gb of free space but its OK I will OK with it. Would be so nice if I can free up another gig
Sent from my GT-I9505G using xda premium
Please search before posting. Disabling hibernate and removing the recovery partition were discussed *ON THIS VERY FORUM* less than a week ago!
sactownbwoy said:
I am a Marine and we live in the Windows world and use our ID's (combined access cards) to log into the network and various DOD websites. Using my W3 and a USB cac reader I am able to do my work on the go. The only thing it is missing is the digitizer that my Surface Pro has. If it had that I would be 110% satisfied. Hopefully someone comes out with an 8in Windows 8 device with a digitizer. I would never have to carry pen and paper again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The smaller Windows 8 devices that have been shown are more in the realm of competing with cheapo Android devices and the poorly specced iPad mini. They're almost throwaway devices. I can only see a decent 7/8" tablet coming from Lenovo, Sony or Samsung, unless MS decides to make a Surface that small, but I doubt they would put a digitiser on it, because again, MS is looking at those devices as being budget tablets.
sinister1 said:
Has anyone had the chance to use\test this tablet? On a scale from 0 to 10 what would you rate it? What are the pros and cons? Any feed back would be appriciated. Thanks.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/414898/Iconia_W3_Tablet_PC_(W3-810-1600)_-_Silver
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So far I have very mixed feelings about the tablet. I have two of them now. On the first one, the lower half of the screen was black and as the unit warmed up, the screen would start flashing then eventually work. I sent it back to Acer (I got it from them at a conference) for repair. They replaced some stuff, shipped it back and the result was a unit with a cracked LCD screen due to poor packaging. I'm expecting the repaired (2x) unit today so we'll see how that unit fairs.
The second unit seems ok so far. I haven't done much with it other than charge it up. The keyboard stand is nice but it would have been better if the keyboard had come with a mouse pad. Still, I ordered a Bluetooth mouse for it and we'll see.
So far I prefer my Surface Pro.
I have the 64gb unit - give it a 7/10 so far.
I'd be keen to know how far people have got dual booting the device, or inded instaling a different operating system such as Android x86 or Linux/Plasma Active..
I've found the boot selector/bios but so far it wont boot from any of my devices. Although I will try a SSD tonight I have laying around.
./P
phazey said:
I have the 64gb unit - give it a 7/10 so far.
I'd be keen to know how far people have got dual booting the device, or inded instaling a different operating system such as Android x86 or Linux/Plasma Active..
I've found the boot selector/bios but so far it wont boot from any of my devices. Although I will try a SSD tonight I have laying around.
./P
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Clovertrail processors are locked in their UEFI firmware to windows 8.
I would definitely recommend seeing one in person before buying, I bought and took it back within an hour, the screen is terrible and Wi-Fi only worked with in about 10 ft of my router
Sent from my HTC One using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
I have the 64 gig model and I'm very happy with it. Even though it doesn't have an active digitizer for working with Wacom pens, the screen is the best I've ever used with a capacitive stylus. Could the display be sharper? Yes, but it's no worse than my 17" laptop. I've been impressed with the development of the Atom processor. I think Intel needs to rename them because the mere mention of an Atom processor might turn away some buyers. If you're serious about picking up one of these tablets, wipe any reviews you've read and interact with it first. Some of the posts here look as if someone read the spec sheet and dismissed it as a "throwaway" tablet without even touching it. Be your own reviewer.
Looneytoon98 said:
I have the 64 gig model and I'm very happy with it. Even though it doesn't have an active digitizer for working with Wacom pens, the screen is the best I've ever used with a capacitive stylus. Could the display be sharper? Yes, but it's no worse than my 17" laptop. I've been impressed with the development of the Atom processor. I think Intel needs to rename them because the mere mention of an Atom processor might turn away some buyers. If you're serious about picking up one of these tablets, wipe any reviews you've read and interact with it first. Some of the posts here look as if someone read the spec sheet and dismissed it as a "throwaway" tablet without even touching it. Be your own reviewer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do agree with you on the atoms they perform very well including the one in this tablet if not for the problems I mentioned above I would have kept it but I picked up a 10 inch w510 for now and I'm going to buy the 8 inch Toshiba windows tablet when it launches in a couple months. The display is hard to explain it almost looked like it was wet the entire time I was trying to use it.
Sent from my HTC One using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Xperia Z Tablet first Impressions

I just got my New Xperia Z Tablet 32Gb, after being a long time asus transformer user, I had them all. tf101,tf201,tf300, tf700 and after got enough with Asus I/O Performance Issues and Drawn Battery issues w/ Dock, finally decided to jump out of tegra Soc Products and move into Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC's. First I got my Nexus 7 2013 and Now just got my Xperia Z Tablet. Here's my First impressions:
Positives:
- What a beautiful Sleek Machine(aesthetics), thin, waterproof(already tested it), not going to use that feature anymore, I'll explain why below.
-Superb Quality of the Screen,much better than my Nexus 10, Nexus 7 2013 and tf700, color reproduction on movies and photos are simply outstanding.
- Excellent Sony Apps, walkman, FM Radio, Video Player(doesn't support MP4 1080p video files with DTS sound), Dual Shock controller support without rooting, Wireless sound works just great, browsing experience was delightful(fast and accurate with no lag at all, Asus Anyone?)
-Snappy Performance, much faster than my rooted Nexus 7 2013(w/ custom Rom)
Negatives
- I already damaged the speakers cover, both of them, I'm a very delicate man, I was trying to find the ports to charge my unit and slightly pull both speakers thinking they were regular ports cover and bend so easy. So this is a Very Fragile and Delicate Machine, as a Pianist I may say too Fragile and poorly constructed, at least the speaker ports, fortunately it doesn't affect the speaker quality, however I won't be able to test the waterproof feature ever again.
- For god's sake, the MicroUSB port, really Sony???, is that a Standard MicroUSB port or just a proprietary Sony Port. Really Pissed me off I could't connect the micro usb cable to charge it because It didn't fit, after checking the Pins orientation, I found out it has to be plug facing down. Great Job Sony! At least put some Label on it. I already messed up a Android TV Box because of this. I hate these micro USB ports,in my case with my Android Tv Box It didn't fit and I slightly pushed it and micro UsB port(connector) got loose(broke down) and my unit was dead.
- 5-6 Hours charging time, Are you kidding me Sony, I thought the Nexus 10 charging time was bad. I was wrong.
- Very Poor Manual(See ports issues)
- Very Expensive accessories, the official Sony case only was a painful $90, we pay 15% tax in Canada.
Updated(a few hours later)
gdfrisco said:
I just got my New Xperia Z Tablet 32Gb, after being a long time asus transformer user, I had them all. tf101,tf201,tf300, tf700 and after got enough with Asus I/O Performance Issues and Drawn Battery issues w/ Dock, finally decided to jump out of tegra Soc Products and move into Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC's. First I got my Nexus 7 2013 and Now just got my Xperia Z Tablet. Here's my First impressions:
Positives:
- What a beautiful Sleek Machine(aesthetics), thin, waterproof(already tested it), not going to use that feature anymore, I'll explain why below.
-Superb Quality of the Screen,much better than my Nexus 10, Nexus 7 2013 and tf700, color reproduction on movies and photos are simply outstanding.
- Excellent Sony Apps, walkman, FM Radio, Video Player(doesn't support MP4 1080p video files with DTS sound), Dual Shock controller support without rooting, Wireless sound works just great, browsing experience was delightful(fast and accurate with no lag at all, Asus Anyone?)
-Snappy Performance, much faster than my rooted Nexus 7 2013(w/ custom Rom)
Negatives
- I already damaged the speakers cover, both of them, I'm a very delicate man, I was trying to find the ports to charge my unit and slightly pull both speakers thinking they were regular ports cover and bend so easy. So this is a Very Fragile and Delicate Machine, as a Pianist I may say too Fragile and poorly constructed, at least the speaker ports, fortunately it doesn't affect the speaker quality, however I won't be able to test the waterproof feature ever again.
- For god's sake, the MicroUSB port, really Sony???, is that a Standard MicroUSB port or just a proprietary Sony Port. Really Pissed me off I could't connect the micro usb cable to charge it because It didn't fit, after checking the Pins orientation, I found out it has to be plug facing down. Great Job Sony! At least put some Label on it. I already messed up a Android TV Box because of this. I hate these micro USB ports,in my case with my Android Tv Box It didn't fit and I slightly pushed it and micro UsB port(connector) got loose(broke down) and my unit was dead.
- 5-6 Hours charging time, Are you kidding me Sony, I thought the Nexus 10 charging time was bad. I was wrong.
- Very Poor Manual(See ports issues)
- Very Expensive accessories, the official Sony case only was a painful $92, we pay 15% tax in Canada.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Updated, why I'm considering return this piece of technology:
1. Charging time when the screen is on, it takes an unacceptable and ridiculous time of 9-10 hours, I don't even sleep that much on a daily basis, this is a power hog device when the device is in use, just regular use as browsing, the battery runs out quickly, I don't want to imagine watching 1080p mp4 video files for a couple of hours before the battery drains out and then have to wait 9-10 hours to charge my unit again. A possible solution would be to have 2 xperia Z tablet and while 1 is charging, use the other one to play my audio/video files(Sarcasm!) or just keep using my nexus 7 for watching 1080p movie files, I have a nexus 10 and nexus 7 2013 to compare with and on those units I don't even have to turn the screen off while I charge them. I know I'm not the only one, a bunch of people are having this issue. My only hope is to root it, install a custom ROM and wipe out all those overkill sony apps. I have 13 days left to try it.
As much as I love this tablet, the Nexus 7 2013 regardless of its smaller screen is a much better(functional) device.
I'm going to buy the charging dock so see if charging times improves a bit.
For a $689.98 unit($599+lovely 15% sales tax where I live), which is a pretty hefty price I'd expect much more than this. If you add the $92 price for the official sony leather cover, $40 for a micros sd class 10 memory card and $50 bucks for the charging cradle(going to buy it tomorrow morning), I get a total whooping and scary price of $871.98.
Now I understand why I've seen some people selling their xperia z tablet on local craigslist for a so low price($350-$400 for the 16gb model and $400-450 for a 32 gob model, there was even a guy selling his 32 Gb model for $350 with only 2 months use, and most of them were including a sony dock and a leather case with their offers, and those were with a proof of purchase(best buy receipt) so we know those are not stolen units.
Now I remember all of the sudden why the only other sony device in my crowded current gadget inventory is a Sony PS3 console.
Will report as I go if I ever solve this issue before the 14 days return policy from best buy. Cheers!
gdfrisco said:
Updated, why I'm considering return this piece of technology:
1. Charging time when the screen is on, it takes an unacceptable and ridiculous time of 9-10 hours, I don't even sleep that much on a daily basis, this is a power hog device when the device is in use, just regular use as browsing, the battery runs out quickly, I don't want to imagine watching 1080p mp4 video files for a couple of hours before the battery drains out and then have to wait 9-10 hours to charge my unit again. A possible solution would be to have 2 xperia Z tablet and while 1 is charging, use the other one to play my audio/video files(Sarcasm!) or just keep using my nexus 7 for watching 1080p movie files, I have a nexus 10 and nexus 7 2013 to compare with and on those units I don't even have to turn the screen off while I charge them. I know I'm not the only one, a bunch of people are having this issue. My only hope is to root it, install a custom ROM and wipe out all those overkill sony apps. I have 13 days left to try it.
As much as I love this tablet, the Nexus 7 2013 regardless of its smaller screen is a much better(functional) device.
I'm going to buy the charging dock so see if charging times improves a bit.
For a $689.98 unit($599+lovely 15% sales tax where I live), which is a pretty hefty price I'd expect much more than this. If you add the $92 price for the official sony leather cover, $40 for a micros sd class 10 memory card and $50 bucks for the charging cradle(going to buy it tomorrow morning), I get a total whooping and scary price of $871.98.
Now I understand why I've seen some people selling their xperia z tablet on local craigslist for a so low price($350-$400 for the 16gb model and $400-450 for a 32 gob model, there was even a guy selling his 32 Gb model for $350 with only 2 months use, and most of them were including a sony dock and a leather case with their offers, and those were with a proof of purchase(best buy receipt) so we know those are not stolen units.
Now I remember all of the sudden why the only other sony device in my crowded current gadget inventory is a Sony PS3 console.
Will report as I go if I ever solve this issue before the 14 days return policy from best buy. Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why are you charging with screen on? I charge mine overnight (with screen off as I don't watch it in my sleep ) and it takes about 5 Hrs to charge. Most people report 5 to 6 hrs charging time.
Also, charging / run down rates improve with time. I use mine mainly for browsing and the battery seems to last well.
Using the dock will not make it charge any faster. However , using a 2.0A charger (as comes with an iPad) does improve charging times.
vedlyH and
GretaLewd said:
Why are you charging with screen on? I charge mine overnight (with screen off as I don't watch it in my sleep ) and it takes about 5 Hrs to charge. Most people report 5 to 6 hrs charging time.
Also, charging / run down rates improve with time. I use mine mainly for browsing and the battery seems to last well.
Using the dock will not make it charge any faster. However , using a 2.0A charger (as comes with an iPad) does improve charging times.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the tip, will try my iPad 3 charger(2.1A/5V) with it.
gdfrisco said:
thanks for the tip, will try my iPad 3 charger(2.1A/5V) with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The micro USB is a pain but then again it is the same on all other tablets and phones i own. Still pisses me off everytime i have to plug my nexus 4 in.
That's why i bought the docking station for the Z tablet. It is risiculously overpriced but it works flawlessly and you wont have to open close the waterproof caps that seem so fragile.
I reccomend using mx player with the Neon codec (link for the codec is within mx player settings) to watch movies with DTS.
This tablet has a very active modding community here btw. There are very good android 4.3 ROMs around.
Jequan said:
The micro USB is a pain but then again it is the same on all other tablets and phones i own. Still pisses me off everytime i have to plug my nexus 4 in.
That's why i bought the docking station for the Z tablet. It is risiculously overpriced but it works flawlessly and you wont have to open close the waterproof caps that seem so fragile.
I reccomend using mx player with the Neon codec (link for the codec is within mx player settings) to watch movies with DTS.
This tablet has a very active modding community here btw. There are very good android 4.3 ROMs around.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you send me the link for the 4.3 Roms? the xperia tablet z developer forum is quite a mess, tf300t, tf700 and nexus 10 and nexus 7 2013 developer forums where much better organized.
I cannot believe I cannot unlock the bootloader, I followed the instructions from sony mobile site and it's the first time I've failed in so many years unlocking and rooting android devices. I feel like a newbie, I'm getting "FAILED <remote: command did not succeed>, when I run from cmd "fastboot.exe -i 0x0fce getvar version" it works and prompt a reply "0.5". I'm guessing either I entered the wrong ID for unlocking generator tool(Foolish sony for making those numbers so hard and small to read, had to use my DSLR camera and take a picture of it and zoom it just to make sure wasn't making any mistake)
Any ideas why it went wrong???. The Fastboot mode is perfectly working, why do you think it's failing to unlock my device? I did attempt to replace adb driver on windows 7 64 bit with the one sony suggests and it didn't replace it. it says it's an older version. Any clues here?
gdfrisco said:
Can you send me the link for the 4.3 Roms? the xperia tablet z developer forum is quite a mess, tf300t, tf700 and nexus 10 and nexus 7 2013 developer forums where much better organized.
I cannot believe I cannot unlock the bootloader, I followed the instructions from sony mobile site and it's the first time I've failed in so many years unlocking and rooting android devices. I feel like a newbie, I'm getting "FAILED <remote: command did not succeed>, when I run from cmd "fastboot.exe -i 0x0fce getvar version" it works and prompt a reply "0.5". I'm guessing either I entered the wrong ID for unlocking generator tool(Foolish sony for making those numbers so hard and small to read, had to use my DSLR camera and take a picture of it and zoom it just to make sure wasn't making any mistake)
Any ideas why it went wrong???. The Fastboot mode is perfectly working, why do you think it's failing to unlock my device? I did attempt to replace adb driver on windows 7 64 bit with the one sony suggests and it didn't replace it. it says it's an older version. Any clues here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the device is reporting the status (0.5) then I guess the drivers are working.
Have you checked if unlocking your bootloader is allowed? Depending on supplier, it may not be.
Follow the instructions in steps 1 and 2 here : http://unlockbootloader.sonymobile.com/instructions to view the boot loader status.
Bootloader unlock allowed - Yes << this means that your Bootloader is Locked but can be unlocked
Bootloader Unlocked - Yes << this means that your bootloader is unlocked
GretaLewd said:
If the device is reporting the status (0.5) then I guess the drivers are working.
Have you checked if unlocking your bootloader is allowed? Depending on supplier, it may not be.
Follow the instructions in steps 1 and 2 here : http://unlockbootloader.sonymobile.com/instructions to view the boot loader status.
Bootloader unlock allowed - Yes << this means that your Bootloader is Locked but can be unlocked
Bootloader Unlocked - Yes << this means that your bootloader is unlocked
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it is. Already checked that.
I'm reinstalling Latest Android SDK Manager and will delete old ADB driver to force it to used the sony one.
An android tablet with a lock boot loader, not root and no custom rom is a definitely No Go for me, I'd return it immediately if that were my case.
The good news is my xperia tablet z is now charging in 4 hours aprox.( iPad 3 charger w/ screen off)
gdfrisco said:
Can you send me the link for the 4.3 Roms? the xperia tablet z developer forum is quite a mess, tf300t, tf700 and nexus 10 and nexus 7 2013 developer forums where much better organized.
I cannot believe I cannot unlock the bootloader, I followed the instructions from sony mobile site and it's the first time I've failed in so many years unlocking and rooting android devices. I feel like a newbie, I'm getting "FAILED <remote: command did not succeed>, when I run from cmd "fastboot.exe -i 0x0fce getvar version" it works and prompt a reply "0.5". I'm guessing either I entered the wrong ID for unlocking generator tool(Foolish sony for making those numbers so hard and small to read, had to use my DSLR camera and take a picture of it and zoom it just to make sure wasn't making any mistake)
Any ideas why it went wrong???. The Fastboot mode is perfectly working, why do you think it's failing to unlock my device? I did attempt to replace adb driver on windows 7 64 bit with the one sony suggests and it didn't replace it. it says it's an older version. Any clues here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=2309
I use the pacman rom atm. It's allways amongs the top 5 threads so far. Comes with a good tutorial in post 1.
gdfrisco said:
Yes, it is. Already checked that.
I'm reinstalling Latest Android SDK Manager and will delete old ADB driver to force it to used the sony one.
An android tablet with a lock boot loader, not root and no custom rom is a definitely No Go for me, I'd return it immediately if that were my case.
The good news is my xperia tablet z is now charging in 4 hours aprox.( iPad 3 charger w/ screen off)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just a bit more info :
The number I provided to Sony to get the unlock code was the IDID number. This should be printed on a label on the side of the box the tablet came in, and is also printed on the edge of the tablet (between usb & sd card ports?). I think I had to drop the last digit for it to work.
GretaLewd said:
Just a bit more info :
The number I provided to Sony to get the unlock code was the IDID number. This should be printed on a label on the side of the box the tablet came in, and is also printed on the edge of the tablet (between usb & sd card ports?). I think I had to drop the last digit for it to work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks I was troubleshooting everywhere with no success, I was using the wrong ID number, based on sony online help. I'll generate my new unlocking code asap, I hope it will let me use my same email.
gdfrisco said:
Thanks I was troubleshooting everywhere with no success, I was using the wrong ID number, based on sony online help. I'll generate my new unlocking code asap, I hope it will let me use my same email.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It worked right away with the new IDID. thank you for your help. Will install CyanogenMod 10.2 ROM, but I need to root it first, not sure what rooting method is better?
gdfrisco said:
It worked right away with the new IDID. thank you for your help. Will install CyanogenMod 10.2 ROM, but I need to root it first, not sure what rooting method is better?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
chinese method was the best one for latest 4.2.2 firmware 10.3.1.C.0.136 (SGP311/SGP312).
These complaints about the charging time are BS.
5-6 hours is the charging time when charging from EMPTY battery to 100%. (With an alternative 2A charger, 4.5 hours.)
Next point: Who really uses his tablet many hours a day? Since a tablet is not a work device (or, more specifically, a device one can do only very little work on), that would mean: Hey, get a life, don't sit around all day and uselessly play around with your tablet! (By the way: That now tablet sales eclipse PC/laptop sales shows that it's a myth that computers are used for work. The work part in reality is rather small; most time computers by most people are used for leisure activities.)
OK, so with REASONABLE usage, you are at, say, 40-60% battery at the end of a normal day. Charging from that percentage to 100% needs of course much less time. When going to bed, simply plug it in, and even if you sleep very short, it'll be full. And if you forget to charge, even charging it during the morning routine will help to get decent battery percentage to get through the day comfortably.
So, for a normal adult who goes to work and has a social life, this "5-6 hours" figure is irrelevant anyway.
hasenbein1966 said:
These complaints about the charging time are BS.
5-6 hours is the charging time when charging from EMPTY battery to 100%. (With an alternative 2A charger, 4.5 hours.)
Next point: Who really uses his tablet many hours a day? Since a tablet is not a work device (or, more specifically, a device one can do only very little work on), that would mean: Hey, get a life, don't sit around all day and uselessly play around with your tablet! (By the way: That now tablet sales eclipse PC/laptop sales shows that it's a myth that computers are used for work. The work part in reality is rather small; most time computers by most people are used for leisure activities.)
OK, so with REASONABLE usage, you are at, say, 40-60% battery at the end of a normal day. Charging from that percentage to 100% needs of course much less time. When going to bed, simply plug it in, and even if you sleep very short, it'll be full. And if you forget to charge, even charging it during the morning routine will help to get decent battery percentage to get through the day comfortably.
So, for a normal adult who goes to work and has a social life, this "5-6 hours" figure is irrelevant anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your reply was very rude and disrespectful, I don't need to start a flame here and I don't need to give you explanations about my personal life. Just for your information I'm on sabbatical, what you consider normal for your particular case may not be the same reality for others, you sounded like a Sony Fanboy, how old are you? As a System Engineer I can do whatever I want with my tablets and portable devices specially now, when I finally have plenty of time to spend with.
One more question: Do you work for Sony? or maybe Google? Cheers!
I really do like this tablet a lot and i do believe that the runtime of it is ok considering how thin the device is.
Sony did screw up the chrarging though. This is a simple fact. I bought the 12W apple charger yesterday and the tablet charges in no time.
This should not be happening. From what i read this shouldn't even be possible because of charging electronics. Sony simply shipped the device with a ****ty charger.
gdfrisco said:
Your reply was very rude and disrespectful, I don't need to start a flame here and I don't need to give you explanations about my personal life. Just for your information I'm on sabbatical, what you consider normal for your particular case may not be the same reality for others, you sounded like a Sony Fanboy, how old are you? As a System Engineer I can do whatever I want with my tablets and portable devices specially now, when I finally have plenty of time to spend with.
One more question: Do you work for Sony? or maybe Google? Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why are you getting so worked up?
You just confirmed my thesis - only people who have exceptionally much time on their hands to dabble with their tablets (of course they are entitled to do that, but they're a really small minority, and let's admit it, there are better uses to one's time than sitting around for hours and hours in front of a screen) need all the juice of their battery to get through the day. All others won't, and hence the time to charge won't be 5-6 hours, but much less. q.e.d.
Of course it's always better to have more, but in reality it's mostly (mostly!) irrelevant, and if some people are honest, it's just this "but tablet X can run longer" **** comparison thing.
The Sony engineers were just realistic in this regard instead of participating in the **** comparison and thus were able to build an exceptionally light and thin device, which really makes the device more usable (when I had an Acer A700, I always reached for the Nexus 7 because of the weight & size; now the Nexus 7 collects dust, and there's absolutely no drive to buy the new Nexus 7 or another smaller tablet, I think that says it all).
Best Wishes!
hasenbein1966 said:
Why are you getting so worked up?
You just confirmed my thesis - only people who have exceptionally much time on their hands to dabble with their tablets (of course they are entitled to do that, but they're a really small minority, and let's admit it, there are better uses to one's time than sitting around for hours and hours in front of a screen) need all the juice of their battery to get through the day. All others won't, and hence the time to charge won't be 5-6 hours, but much less. q.e.d.
Of course it's always better to have more, but in reality it's mostly (mostly!) irrelevant, and if some people are honest, it's just this "but tablet X can run longer" **** comparison thing.
The Sony engineers were just realistic in this regard instead of participating in the **** comparison and thus were able to build an exceptionally light and thin device, which really makes the device more usable (when I had an Acer A700, I always reached for the Nexus 7 because of the weight & size; now the Nexus 7 collects dust, and there's absolutely no drive to buy the new Nexus 7 or another smaller tablet, I think that says it all).
Best Wishes!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah it is sick, how many hours people want to spend with their tablet. Watching movies, reading books, check mails, check facebook, check newssites, write documents, playing games etc.
I use my Tablet @ University. If you don`t play at every lecture games, it is more than enough for the whole day.

no chance of a section for the dell venue 8 pro tablet?

And... any plans for a windows 8 app for xda?
I would like one as well. These tabs are capable of so much that this is now my sole computer for school work. Audio is super loud, no beats hack needed and it can run ccleaner. How could you guys NOT be on board?
I will request this as well. I just got my Venue 8 Pro and all I can say is WOW! it beats any of my Android tablets hands down. It has become my go to tablet for everything. I'm even starting to like Windows 8.1 I just wish I could install apps to the SD card. Hopefully someone will fix that...
texasredrider said:
I will request this as well. I just got my Venue 8 Pro and all I can say is WOW! it beats any of my Android tablets hands down. It has become my go to tablet for everything. I'm even starting to like Windows 8.1 I just wish I could install apps to the SD card. Hopefully someone will fix that...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also have one, great tablet, I would like to see this too..........
I just got one yesterday and I mostly love it but with a few issues:
1. Using the USB port as a charge and device connector through USB OTG. Basically this means you can't use a device AND charge at the same time. No way to make a dock either. The should have at least put pogo pins on the outside of the case or put a Qi charger panel on the battery... Oh.. side complaint: 2A charger needed. So while it uses a USB cable, few PCs will have the chops to charge this thing. Then again, same for my Samsung Note 10.1 and the Apple iPad series.
2. No mini-HDMI, MHL or SlimPort support. You can hang a USB video card on it, but then you can't charge it and those things suck power. So we're talking powered USB hub... Miracast really doesn't cut it. Nothing supports it and external Miracast dongles are not cheap.
3. No GPS. I know this isn't standard on Windows devices, but it's very common on Android devices. Mind you - you should be able to use your phone to provide GPS data (ot to mention internet connections) over Bluetooth, so that's not as bad as it might seem.
4. Screen resolution. Ok - I'm actually of mixed minds on this - I'd like 1920x1200 - but even at 1280x800 the text seems small when you're in desktop mode...
5. Stereo speakers would be nice - but yeah, the one they include is LOUD.
6. 4GB RAM option would have been nice too.
None of these are killers - although 1 comes close. Still, the ability to run Visual Studio and do development on a tablet I can keep in my jacket pocket is really amazing... and even more amazing at $350.
It's not without compromises sure but it is one hell of an amazing tablet I No longer have a pc or laptop, I bought the official Keyboard and a cheap bluetooth mouse and I can work on it as well as play on it
-----------------------------------------------------
My other phone's a Ferrari.
Charge + USB option.
TheWerewolf said:
I just got one yesterday and I mostly love it but with a few issues:
1. Using the USB port as a charge and device connector through USB OTG. Basically this means you can't use a device AND charge at the same time. No way to make a dock either. The should have at least put pogo pins on the outside of the case or put a Qi charger panel on the battery... Oh.. side complaint: 2A charger needed. So while it uses a USB cable, few PCs will have the chops to charge this thing. Then again, same for my Samsung Note 10.1 and the Apple iPad series.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this: http://www.toddklindt.com/ChargeDV8
Scott
urphonesux said:
I would like one as well. These tabs are capable of so much that this is now my sole computer for school work. Audio is super loud, no beats hack needed and it can run ccleaner. How could you guys NOT be on board?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hay just got a Dell Venue 8 Pro 64gig yesterday how do I make a bootable backup of the recovery image to a USB stick so I can have more space on my Tablet thanks
matthewtech770 said:
Hay just got a Dell Venue 8 Pro 64gig yesterday how do I make a bootable backup of the recovery image to a USB stick so I can have more space on my Tablet thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go here to find everything you need to know
Just got my Dell Venue Pro 8
I just got my Dell Venue Pro 8 and I was so surprised. Wow. I have also an iPad Air and Nexus 7 2013, but this tablet is going to be my favorite for a long time I think. Able to install Spotify, CCleaner, and was surprise by the quality of the windows 8 apps. For ex: FB, Twitter, Foursquare, but also Nook (as epub reader), FitBit, Netflix, OneNote, etc. Excellent surprise.
i am using it as a pc in my studio during the week.
great for surfing, youtube, office work, etc
i am totally happy with it :cyclops:
I love mine as well. If you're thinking of getting one don't hesitate.

Onda v919 core m

I didn't see a thread on this so thought I'd post one soon as I just got one from banggood. I'll leave the proper review to techtablets Chris but I thought I'd post a couple of bits for anyone thinking of getting one.
Firstly it comes stuck in chinese (single language OS) as a word of warning this guide killed the OS dead for me: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/...interface-language-on-single-language-version
I have since recovered with from win10 pro and used the onda drivers from their site and everything is working great, in fact it is unbelievably fast compared to my Teclast x98 air II 64gb, in fact most of the benchmarks are over double.
I am looking at picking one of these up, but I do have a couple of questions. How bad is the battery life and how warm does it get? Oh yeah, will it work with iPad Air cases?
And most important, is the OS 32bit or 64bit?
I would say you'll get about 5 hours tops with web browsing on medium screen brightness. Its gets quite a bit warmer than my teclast air x98 II but not burning hot.
Depends on the case, the dimensions are identical apart from its fatter by a few mm (also fatter than the bay trail v919) I have a air keyboard which clips over the front that works ok but I could definitely see some cases being a problem with it.
Mine came with single language chinese 64bit, but trying to hack a new lang pack into it caused it to break so I had to install my own win10 pro.
BigsyBiggins said:
I would say you'll get about 5 hours tops with web browsing on medium screen brightness. Its gets quite a bit warmer than my teclast air x98 II but not burning hot.
Depends on the case, the dimensions are identical apart from its fatter by a few mm (also fatter than the bay trail v919) I have a air keyboard which clips over the front that works ok but I could definitely see some cases being a problem with it.
Mine came with single language chinese 64bit, but trying to hack a new lang pack into it caused it to break so I had to install my own win10 pro.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is the Windows 10 license locked to that Chinese version, or could you just install Windows 10 over top, like a recovery install and still use the license it came with?
My understanding from reading around is that you can backup the key and reinstall using the single language version of your language and it should activate with that key. I can't confirm that works as I put pro straight on.
A guy on another forum who got one (not from banggood) came with win pro in english but it wasn't activated, not sure if he had any issues if/when he tried.
BigsyBiggins said:
My understanding from reading around is that you can backup the key and reinstall using the single language version of your language and it should activate with that key. I can't confirm that works as I put pro straight on.
A guy on another forum who got one (not from banggood) came with win pro in english but it wasn't activated, not sure if he had any issues if/when he tried.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Received my v919 3G Core M yesterday. bought it off China's biggest online shopping site, Taobao. The specs is amazing and fast!
Like you too, I'm pretty disappointed with the single language win10 installed in it. I immediately wanted to install win10 pro myself but just to be safe, I contacted their online customer service.
they told me not install my own version of win10. I found their firmware from Onda's official site and it's 7GB+ from baidu online storage. (taking me ages to finish the download. still downloading now) i'm sure what version of win10 is it though.
pretty glad i saw your post! just want to clear some doubts before I continue with installing my win10:
1. can you dual boot to your android os after installing your win10?
2. is your 3G working fine?
thanks!
Mine came single os and tbh I'm not interested in having android on there, I will at some point probably dual boot ubuntu so I can use it as a on the go dev environement.
3G works but is very slow, I've not seen it go above 1mbps up/down my LGg3 is about 4x faster in the same conditions/signal when set to 3g only. Again not something that bothers my as I will just use my phone as a 4G hotspot if needed.
I have a question.
I don't need Android OS. How to remove the Android OS?
Any guide?
Thanks.
Power Supply Info
Can you tell me some info about the power supply? The specs and the size of the barrel so I can order a second power supply? With only 5 hours of life, I would definitely need another adapter for work..
wmtemna said:
Can you tell me some info about the power supply? The specs and the size of the barrel so I can order a second power supply? With only 5 hours of life, I would definitely need another adapter for work..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure of the plug specs but I've ordered this: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Zozo...Dell-Toshiba-IBM-Lenovo-Acer/32385811075.html
It seems really nice and slim, pretty cheap, and one of the plugs is bound to fit.
The info about the power adapter is on the power brick. Could you post a nice clear pic of the power brick's label? Thanks.
wmtemna said:
The info about the power adapter is on the power brick. Could you post a nice clear pic of the power brick's label? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its 12v 3A but it doesn't have the plug size.
Cases
Have you found a case for it that works? Also, can you post what Windows reports about the SSD, like what does it say in device manager about the SSD. Very curious if it's upgradable. Where are the teardown videos?
Power Brick
Picture of Power Brick attached.
wmtemna said:
Very curious if it's upgradable. Where are the teardown videos?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is one thread at: TechTablets.com and another at: ondabbs.cn
i got the v975w and love it but hoping to upgrade soon and want something similar but without certain gripes.
SD card speeds? the v975w has a few issues with sd card read/write speeds
does it have a dedicated charge connection or does it use USB? the v975w only has 1 micro usb which is used for OTG or charge but cant do both at once. kinda annoying i cant plug my portable HDD in while charging
how many USB?
storage (HDD, EMMC etc) how much and what options?
guessing its just an ipad air case (rip off) like the telcast or my v975w?
i prefer that, getting cases/covers its alot easier
More photos of the interior:
Hi,
onda 919 works in ubuntu?
Thanks
jualom said:
Hi,
onda 919 works in ubuntu?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No reason why it wouldn't boot to a desktop I guess, as for what drivers are supported out the box I have no idea, I have a bigger ssd on order so I can dual boot it.
I suspect not everything will work, but I'm pretty hopeful I'll be able to get enough working. Battery life will probably be poor though.
jualom said:
Hi,
onda 919 works in ubuntu?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually I just tried this for you, I booted the live daily x64 off a usb:
Working:
3G
Sound
MIC
Suspend
Rear Camera, although it is rotated 180 degrees (prob easy fix)
Volume rocker
Brightness
Not working:
Rotate Accelerometer
Touch
Wifi (prob easy fix)
As soon as I have a bigger ssd in this thing I'll do some tinkering, I suspect we can get mostly everything working, its already in kinda of a useable state.
EDIT: In fact reading here: http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Windows-Tablets/Linux-on-the-Stream-tablet/td-p/4829188
The bottom 3 fixes would probably get everything working as this tablet uses RTL8723B wifi and a goodix touchscreen.

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