Chinese Tablet Buyers Guide.

wizardofid said:
Huawei B618 & POYNTING LTE Antenna about 4k excluding shipping. Was looking at getting a router with dongle support, but having been burned before with modem compatibility, I don't want to mess around this time.

So I willing to wait a bit and get the cash, next data sim contract upgrade is in 4 or 5 months, might get a router then.However I prefer sim only deals as cancellation is a breeze.

The other option was those cheap TPlink mobile little dongle routers, still requires USB be power, kinda defeats the purpose of wanting proper wifi internet not relying on my PC. Got internet sharing working with my PC and TPlink router, but such a beatch and relies on the PC for internet, I setup the old totolink as a repeater.

Connected the wifi on the bedroom media player and job done, I do however want to cut out reliance on the PC, doesn't bother me should the power go off, I have the tablets for internet.

Just the annoyance of internet access, it also restricts me to one room as signal in other parts of the house sucks, there is literally one spot in the entire house with direct line of sight, that I had to my office to for signal.
Click to expand...
The B618 is a great router. Currently I'm running a B618 and B315 in a load balancing setup (TP-link) with an Asus wifi router. Luckily my place is sort of small so I don't have problems with coverage.
 
Dan C said:
The B618 is a great router. Currently I'm running a B618 and B315 in a load balancing setup (TP-link) with an Asus wifi router. Luckily my place is sort of small so I don't have problems with coverage.
Click to expand...

Problem is I got thick walls and metal roof, which is why I need to add a booster, vodacom is much closer (1km away) have some issues deeper in the house, any where close to a window no problem, however I am on MTN, their LTE tower is 5 km away the signal stops the moment you enter the house, but just outside I get a decent 30mbps, hopefully the booster helps, if not it should drastically improve the 3G signal, since they switched on LTE here, I am only able to get the weaker 1900mhz(I think it's 1900mhz) signal.
 
Dan C said:
Yes it's not always certain when they actually ship. I have been really lucky and most of the parcels from ordering to getting it in my hands were about a week with buffalo.
Click to expand...

I hate waiting for shipping, which is why I hate importing as well, with the tablet I had no choice, would have had my crappy South African tablet by now, but I would have regretted it.I got the best mid/budget tablet on gearbest for the price, there was literally nothing else that matched the 4gig ram and 128gig rom in that price bracket.

Lol tablet covers updated a few minutes ago......
  • 2019-09-09 20:46:00 Enter warehouse[]
  • 2019-09-06 21:49:00 Order Confirmed
 
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Daruk said:
@Dan C can comment since he owns one. I just ordered one a week ago, but check out the specs on this thing...
Best of all you can ship it using SA Express option (Buffalo couriers) and get it within 2 weeks.
Click to expand...
Whats the SA express shipping option?
 
Dan C said:
Priority line
Click to expand...
lol more like, priority to take our time line.....The takealot order I made today will be here before the tablet covers.Will have to wait and see but there is a small chance the tablets will get delivered tomorrow, but I think the screw up with customs cost me some time, I phoned 8am to get custom clearance documents, by 08:25 the payment was made and 09:15 the first request by DHL was sent to release.Only got released at 13:45 after having had to submit tariff code twice.Either way my efforts shaved off a day, which to me is an eternity.

I hate waiting with a passion, if i can speed up things, I will do it.Ordered the powerbank which was in stock at the time, with some cat food that was also in stock (needed to get food any ways) to reach free delivery amount so there is no lead time.Made a separate order for the books my mom wanted and paid the R60 extra for delivery less then R450, due to the books having 5 to 7 days lead time, it's not for me so I don't care.......hypocritical, I know :D :D :D


Generally if you wait for DHL to phone you, it happens around mid morning to mid day and only gets released that evening, which means it spends the night in JHB unnecessary, that is if DHL manages to phone you it was weekend so assume quite a bit of weekend back log to deal with. With DHL that would be okay, like hell with SA customs. I trust them as far as I can throw and skid a poodle across a lake.

Tracking with buff is quite delayed, got a buff parcel here out of the blue, when it still showed stuck in JHB.
 
wizardofid said:
lol more like, priority to take our time line.....The takealot order I made today will be here before the tablet covers.Will have to wait and see but there is a small chance the tablets will get delivered tomorrow, but I think the screw up with customs cost me some time, I phoned 8am to get custom clearance documents, by 08:25 the payment was made and 09:15 the first request by DHL was sent to release.Only got released at 13:45 after having had to submit tariff code twice.Either way my efforts shaved off a day, which to me is an eternity.

I hate waiting with a passion, if i can speed up things, I will do it.Ordered the powerbank which was in stock at the time, with some cat food that was also in stock (needed to get food any ways) to reach free delivery amount so there is no lead time.Made a separate order for the books my mom wanted and paid the R60 extra for delivery less then R450, due to the books having 5 to 7 days lead time, it's not for me so I don't care.......hypocritical, I know :D :D :D


Generally if you wait for DHL to phone you, it happens around mid morning to mid day and only gets released that evening, which means it spends the night in JHB unnecessary, that is if DHL manages to phone you it was weekend so assume quite a bit of weekend back log to deal with. With DHL that would be okay, like hell with SA customs. I trust them as far as I can throw and skid a poodle across a lake.

Tracking with buff is quite delayed, got a buff parcel here out of the blue, when it still showed stuck in JHB.
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Can understand your frustration. But I have reached my 3 imports for the year. Buffalo somehow gets passed that .

Let us know your experience with the tab.
 
Dan C said:
Can understand your frustration. But I have reached my 3 imports for the year. Buffalo somehow gets passed that .

Let us know your experience with the tab.
Click to expand...

Yeah looking forward to it, there seems to be some discrepancy with regards to screen resolution, some websites point out 1080p other show 2k, not sure of that, I suspect the 1080p regardless still a decent resolution.

I don't know T10 (no 4g) T20 with 4G, with the exception of fully laminated screen, 2k screen and higher res camera, and fingerprint sensor, The m20 released in June this year is exactly the same, hardware wise (CPU, GPU and ram same frame and body as well), neither the T10 or T20(price) made sense to me as the CPU and GPU is the same and I get 64gig more space, which costs R300 more then the T10, did at the time.

With that said I would have liked the T30 that is due soon, which has the helio P70 and android 9 and keyboard docking ability, gearbest lists this as arriving soon, 2-3 weeks ?Any one planning on ordering a new tablet now, The T20 will likely come down in price the moment the T30 is released.While the T30 will be faster the screen res downgrade is stupid and doesn't make sense unless there are some performance issues with the higher res screen.Would have at least expected they bump the ram to 6gig and 128gig rom, most of their devices are 4/64 it seems to be the sweet spot, with the exception of the budget-budget range, I definitely expect there will be a T40 short on it's heels.

techtablets.com

Teclast T30 Is Coming - An Android 9.0 Helio P70 Tablet - TechTablets

It’s about time I’ve been waiting for someone to put the Helio P70 in a tablet, and Teclast it seems will be the first. The Teclast T30 which is currently listed on Gearbest has a 10.1″ 1920 x 1200 (16:10) screen. It should be fully laminated and powered by the octa-core Helio P70 with Mali-G72...
techtablets.com techtablets.com

The M20 4G 4/128 is on sale again but only if you got a email for it, at R2450 seriously good deal.

If you want a tablet now, either go for the T20 if you want 4g(Downside android 7), T10 if you want wifi only and the M20 if you are happy with 1080P low res camera, there is also the M20 4/64 one which has the 2k screen, from last year, from what I read the emmc on the 4/128 is slightly faster, or wait it out the T20 is bound to be on special soon. Don't bother with the m30 any version with the exception of the 2K it isn't worth the price.


M20 4/64 2k screen

T10

M20 4/128 1080P screen.


On paper the T10 is better, then the M20, but the M20 offers better value for me with double the extra space at 300 extra, honestly no contest, M20 for me every time, performance is going to be the about the same, m20 should actually be a bit faster with the lower screen res.Definitely a plus side for me

Only other tablet I considered was this, but not worth it at that price.

Darkjo
Buff exp couriers is fine and cheap, provides tracking all the way, and is cheap as well rarely if ever does custom cause a ruckus, regardless of shipping method used, with the exception of unregistered airmail which you don't ever use, unless it's like R50.00, and not worried if it turns up. Pay the insurance pending the value of the item usually under a R100 for 3K or more.
 
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wizardofid said:
Yeah looking forward to it, there seems to be some discrepancy with regards to screen resolution, some websites point out 1080p other show 2k, not sure of that, I suspect the 1080p regardless still a decent resolution.

I don't know T10 (no 4g) T20 with 4G, with the exception of fully laminated screen, 2k screen and higher res camera, and fingerprint sensor, The m20 released in June this year is exactly the same, hardware wise (CPU, GPU and ram same frame and body as well), neither the T10 or T20(price) made sense to me as the CPU and GPU is the same and I get 64gig more space, which costs R300 more then the T10, did at the time.

With that said I would have liked the T30 that is due soon, which has the helio P70 and android 9 and keyboard docking ability, gearbest lists this as arriving soon, 2-3 weeks ?Any one planning on ordering a new tablet now, The T20 will likely come down in price the moment the T30 is released.While the T30 will be faster the screen res downgrade is stupid and doesn't make sense unless there are some performance issues with the higher res screen.Would have at least expected they bump the ram to 6gig and 128gig rom, most of their devices are 4/64 it seems to be the sweet spot, with the exception of the budget-budget range, I definitely expect there will be a T40 short on it's heels.

techtablets.com

Teclast T30 Is Coming - An Android 9.0 Helio P70 Tablet - TechTablets

It’s about time I’ve been waiting for someone to put the Helio P70 in a tablet, and Teclast it seems will be the first. The Teclast T30 which is currently listed on Gearbest has a 10.1″ 1920 x 1200 (16:10) screen. It should be fully laminated and powered by the octa-core Helio P70 with Mali-G72...
techtablets.com techtablets.com

The M20 4G 4/128 is on sale again but only if you got a email for it, at R2450 seriously good deal.

If you want a tablet now, either go for the T20 if you want 4g(Downside android 7), T10 if you want wifi only and the M20 if you are happy with 1080P low res camera, there is also the M20 4/64 one which has the 2k screen, from last year, from what I read the emmc on the 4/128 is slightly faster, or wait it out the T20 is bound to be on special soon. Don't bother with the m30 any version with the exception of the 2K it isn't worth the price.


M20 4/64 2k screen

T10

M20 4/128 1080P screen.


On paper the T10 is better, then the M20, but the M20 offers better value for me with double the extra space at 300 extra, honestly no contest, M20 for me every time, performance is going to be the about the same, m20 should actually be a bit faster with the lower screen res.Definitely a plus side for me

Only other tablet I considered was this, but not worth it at that price.

Darkjo
Buff exp couriers is fine and cheap, provides tracking all the way, and is cheap as well rarely if ever does custom cause a ruckus, regardless of shipping method used, with the exception of unregistered airmail which you don't ever use, unless it's like R50.00, and not worried if it turns up. Pay the insurance pending the value of the item usually under a R100 for 3K or more.
Click to expand...
Well f you for mentioning the T30.. I'm broke and don't want spend more. OK make you a deal.. If the T30 comes in you can have my T20 for a grand :p
 
wizardofid said:
Darkjo
Buff exp couriers is fine and cheap, provides tracking all the way, and is cheap as well rarely if ever does custom cause a ruckus, regardless of shipping method used, with the exception of unregistered airmail which you don't ever use, unless it's like R50.00, and not worried if it turns up. Pay the insurance pending the value of the item usually under a R100 for 3K or more.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info.
BTW
I've also been looking for a new tablet. Like the Mi Pad 4 plus. But at almost double the price of the m20...
Have to do more thinking about the costs
 
Darkjo said:
Thanks for the info.
BTW
I've also been looking for a new tablet. Like the Mi Pad 4 plus. But at almost double the price of the m20...
Have to do more thinking about the costs
Click to expand...

As far as I am aware the mi pad 4 has the snap dragon 660 chipset, it is about 30% faster. So you would have decide what you are going to do on the tablet. Want to play a game like pubg or any game now and then, while both the t10, t20 and m20 can play games including pubg the settings will need to be tweaked, and there may be the occasional lag. Antutu score for the t10, t20 and m20(96K) is nearly a 100K which is pretty decent. The mi pad 4 is 129477 on antutu. So you have to decide is the 35k+score difference is worth the extra price, then decide on features break down and OS, and finally screen res and quality and battery.

If you planning on heavy gaming the mi pad no question, any thing else, take your pick between the T10, T20 and M20.

Just remember I chose the M20, because of the larger space I can load it full of series and movies to watch while the power is out, the downside is I only have a 6600 mah battery, were as the other have a 8000mah battery, not much difference but gives at least an hour more, to make up for the difference I ordered a 30 000mah battery pack yesterday.

So total tablet cost with insurance, shipping and powerbank, cover and extra screen protector is R3450.00+- and with in the 3.5K budget I set.

Best advise decide what you want to do with the tablet, look at performance, look at the android version, then ram and rom and then the screen, and whatever other features you want decide what you can live with or without, should make your life easier.

Personal opinion, 35K+- higher scrore at double the price, not worth it for me, score and price difference should be double on both counts.
 
Finally got my SMS tablet out for delivery today. Got my takealot sms as well also out for delivery as well, should hopefully be the same company. Sadly tablet cover is still in china due to flight delays :(. Lol as luck would have it I am getting another power bank courtesy of mybb, so another nice addition to battery bank back up :) Wow what a great week for tech goodies for me.
 
Excuse the poor phone camera but goodies arrived. I think I might have screwed up a bit, I should have better confirmed the 4G network support, Doesn't seem to pick up any 4g networks at all, so will walk around and see if i can get 4G signal.

Overall VERY nice tablet, quite heavy even the powerbank is a beast and heavy, was also fully charged.
has pre applied screen protector which is very nice very few actually do this.

Speakers aren't exactly great, but definitely better then most, has some decent bass, very little distortion, but rather muffled sound, but clear enough stereo speakers also make a huge difference.It isn't that annoying tweeting speaker sound either.

Screen brightness is Excellent, lowest settings are perfect for evening use.That said it isn't laminated so out door use if going to be useless

Application launching is near instant, UI movement is super smooth, boot is up is relative quick.Only thing that lags a bit is screen rotation, but the animation is also super smooth.

ZERO bloatware, stock android, google play is also pre installed and supported.

Sturdy build, with the exception of me possibly screwing with the supported 4G bands, I am happy like pig in mud.

Wifi needs testing, but bluetooth works a treat.


Now to install the apps and such......


*edit
Went outside picks up both vodacom and MTN 4G.......prefect.......!!!!!!!!! So it works just fine on SA 3G and 4G networks.





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wizardofid said:
Excuse the poor phone camera but goodies arrived. I think I might have screwed up a bit, I should have better confirmed the 4G network support, Doesn't seem to pick up any 4g networks at all, so will walk around and see if i can get 4G signal.

Overall VERY nice tablet, quite heavy even the powerbank is a beast and heavy, was also fully charged.
has pre applied screen protector which is very nice very few actually do this.

Speakers aren't exactly great, but definitely better then most, has some decent bass, very little distortion, but rather muffled sound, but clear enough stereo speakers also make a huge difference.It isn't that annoying tweeting speaker sound either.

Screen brightness is Excellent, lowest settings are perfect for evening use.That said it isn't laminated so out door use if going to be useless

Application launching is near instant, UI movement is super smooth, boot is up is relative quick.Only thing that lags a bit is screen rotation, but the animation is also super smooth.

ZERO bloatware, stock android, google play is also pre installed and supported.

Sturdy build, with the exception of me possibly screwing with the supported 4G bands, I am happy like pig in mud.

Wifi needs testing, but bluetooth works a treat.


Now to install the apps and such......


*edit
Went outside picks up both vodacom and MTN 4G.......prefect.......!!!!!!!!! So it works just fine on SA 3G and 4G networks.





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That Front and Back cameras pack a healthy wattage!:D
 
I couldn't play with the new toy as much as I would have liked. Connected to the internet now for the first time. There is a small issue that I need to figure out. The drop down menu is extremely sensitive, usually this menu can be dragged down quite close to the edge.

However on this tablet the menu can be triggered 1 or 2 centimeters from the edge, that can be quite annoying if web page menu shares that space, simple work around is switching to portrait mode.

Typing method will have to change as well previous tablet was 5 point touch this is 10 point touch and also registers multiple inputs.I like putting my palm on the bottom corner.So when typing on the keyboard I triggered the shift button a few times or numbers alt keyboard. It is a good thing, digitiser works a treat, just have to change how I hold it, and actually just points out how shyte my previous tablet was.

Google certification is there but registers the device as some thing else entirely a 'make life simple iQM960 device' apparently some Greek technology company, so I don't think it has it's own certification, not complaining at all nor is it the first device that google registered as some thing else entirely.

Gaming wise it works a treat, while games loads much faster, I did encounter a problem here and there because of the CPU clusters in prime world defenders 1 and 2 there is a slight frame rate lag at the beginning and end of a level as these CPU clusters turn on or off, it's not bad just a minor annoyance.

Overall great tablet the weight of it is going to kill your arms so definitely not suited to younger kids and such and you need toothpick fingers to avoid triggering the drop down menu, in certain instances.

Android 8 is quite ram hungry idle use shows 1.8gig in use, that is a lot all things considered, and I see why smart phones have 6gig or more ram as of late, the new entry ram level is 4 gig. Lol

Also tested out file copying, also a treat while I didn't time it, it's snappy 5 gig file took 2 or 3 minutes maybe longer should probably run a benchmark and see actual copying rates, but who cares, its snappy what more do you want.

Would I recommend it ? Yes if you don't care about the weak cameras or the screen not suited for outdoor use and being a bit on the heavy side.It should be a treat. If you are wondering about the build quality with the metal backing and trim it would give some high end tablets a run for their money, and might actually break the floor if you drop it.
Oh and viewing angles is decent about 70 degrees.

Only issue for me is the drop down menu triggering being a little off, and is going to take some time getting use to it.

BTW the tablet is on special again for the next 4 days or so, also seems like stock clearance, as the screen protectors now show discontinued very likely to be Eol soon and to be replaced by a new model perhaps with a P series mtk chip and android 9, which will likely have a hefty price.Honestly there isn't a single tablet on gearbest in this price range with a 128 gig rom. 2.5k is honestly the best price you ever going to get for a 4gig 128 gig ROM tablet and a decent tablet to boot. Helio x23 and Mali T880mp4 while budget/ midrange has nothing to be ashamed off.

The full metal body means it is quite sturdy and durable as well and should provide years of use and abuse and last another two years or more till the next upgrade.I got my goal of 4gig ram the 128gig ROM is a bonus 64 gig would have been fine.

The other good news is getting a decent commission payout end of the month so very likely I will be getting the b618 router in the mean time decided better to buy it cash then I can keep my data sim due for upgrade next year march sim only and get a bigger data offer then I would with a device.Hopefully by march the data deals will be even better I would be happy to double the current 40 gig iam getting now.


*Edited I just loaded the basic antutu.
Just to get better hardware information and such as well as test the touch screen failure point.

After touch screen failure point, which I need to test on my old tablet, it stops responding to input less then half a mm from all edges. Not bad all things considered, they gave the drop down menu touch point 4 times that a little too much.1.5mm or so would have been more then enough.

Some more testing, the back part where the antenna is for bluetooth, wifi and 3g/4g, has a plastic strip (on the thickish side), obliviously because of the metal body it would have signal issues otherwise, I placed it at a similar spot to where my 3G modem is, signal is a bit weaker, compare to the modem, the metal body still has an impact on the overall signal strength even with the plastic strip.
 
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