Hands-On Test With the Dirt-Cheap CherryPad Tablet 168
MojoKid writes "A small company out of Palo Alto, CA — Cherrypal — made headlines recently with the announcement of their dirt-cheap $188 CherryPad tablet. The CherryPad is a 7-inch slate that comes preloaded with the Android 2.1 operating system and is driven by an 800MHz ARM11-based processor by Samsung, backed by a meager 256MB of DDR2 system memory. The device is also based on a resistive touch display, so it takes a bit of getting used to, if you've been working with devices like the iPhone or similar, where capacitive touch displays are ubiquitous. Just what does $188 buy you in an Android tablet? In short, the CherryPad falls down a bit where Cherrypal decided to cut corners from a cost perspective. The device needs another 256MB of RAM (for 512MB total) and a higher quality touch screen (perhaps a 1GHz CPU?) and that would have likely pushed its price northward a bit to be sure."
Cherrypal scam? (Score:5, Interesting)
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Link to the case? I've been looking for such a device for years, and nothing bigger than a PDA has fit.
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You can get nearly the same specs by going to Bed Bath and Beyond and buying the $129.00 Pendigital Novel and installng their Open Platform firmware to it. IT still sucks as a android tablet just like the rest of the offerings out here only because the hardware is half assed.
Will one of these companies PLEASE deliver a 9" Tablet with a capacitive screen 1 gig ram, microSD for storage, non sucky wifi hardware and a full 2.2 Android install? PLEASE?
whoops spoke too soon (Score:2)
Here is an incredibly slow Android 2.1 tablet from DX [dealextreme.com] for $157.90. That's kind of tempting, if I had disposable money right now I might dispose of some in that direction. They have another, faster unit but it seems so sketchy I won't even link it.
Re:Cherrypal scam? (Score:4, Insightful)
I ordered their Africa netbook as a gift for someone last spring. The "Linux" version was actually Windows CE with all the windows logos scrubbed. Cute trick :P
Also it loaded from flash instead of having an actual BIOS, so attempting to install my own OS was non-trivial. They're false-advertising bastards to be sure.
Re:Cherrypal scam? (Score:4, Informative)
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Mod Parent up... my poor eyes.
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I used my credit card and they gave me the refund.
I want to buy this, but just don't trust cherrypal.
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Yep. I paid them for two "Cherypal Africa" netbooks with "fast shipping" and after almost two months of no delivery and no answer from them i had to file i complaint with my bank to get the money back.
Be warned: All on-line payments to Cherrypal appear on the CC statement as to a On-line dating site - i got some funny looks at the bank.
And their CEO is making edits to Wikipedia under the name "cherypal" to delete all negative comments.
Please tag the story as "scam"
The most important question has not been asked (Score:5, Funny)
Does it run FreeBSD?
I like the form factor (Score:2, Interesting)
I have a smartphone, and I think they're way too small to read. I've tried the iPad, and it is way too big and too heavy to lug around. I lug a sub-notebook, but I don't really need that keyboard.
I really want something about this big, less than 350g, with at least XGA video and ability to actually use a pen to write stuff, so that it can work as a reader and let me annotate.
Good to see some products that start to feel the market in my direction.
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Good to see some products that start to feel the market in my direction.
This is not the product you think it is.
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Heard about the samsung galaxy tab? And i think they will be selling a stylus for it, even tho it is capacitive.
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I've heard of it, but I have not yet seen it in a shop, and I want to take a look at the real thing before I can say anything.
I had some expectations for the iPad, but actually using it for a week made it plain obvious it isn't remotely good for me.
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While it is not substitute to seeing and handling it in a shop, here is a review (or part 1 of it) from a guy that have had it for a while now:
http://carrypad.com/2010/10/28/samsung-galaxy-tab-full-review-part-1-overview-hardware-screen-keyboard/ [carrypad.com]
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Best
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I'll have to look at it, thanks for the tip. For this price I can get one or two to use as wall warts in the garage, if nothing else :)
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Seriously? A 1.5 lb, 0.5" thick, 9.5"x7.5" is too big & heavy?
Are you 6?
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Yes, it is too heavy and too uncomfortable to hold to read a book on it for any extended period without stress. It is even worse for holding in one hand and annotating. And I have yet to see a good stylus for it.
Since the killer application of a tablet device for me would be serious reading, sketching and annotating, the iPad is very from even passable.
Different people have different usage styles and expectations. I expect it to be comfortable, not cool.
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I have a book stand for the really heavy books. Do you have a point beside the lame trolling?
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And what, pray tell, has this got to do with the topic on hand, which is, preference for the form factor of electronic devices?
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Dude, the parent is right. He actually tried it and saw in 5 minutes it didn't work. More people should think like him. You're probably just an armchair quarterback who hasn't even used an IPad yet but likes to rehash what the media (incorrectly) spits out about Apple products.
The guy is totally right. I read on my IPhone laying down on a couch alot. It wouldn't work with an IPad. It gets to heavy, uncomfortable, and cumbersome for more than 10 minutes of use. A netbook that you can actually rest comfortabl
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An iPad is half the size and weight of your subnotebook, has more than double the battery life, and it's too heavy to lug around? iPad is not a little toy reader, it's a mobile PC. 700 grams is not heavy for a PC.
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The iPad is 200 grams heavier than my subnotebook, and has about the same battery life.
resistive? (Score:5, Interesting)
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All cheap android tablets are resistive. I've seen people say good things about wits a81e [houseofdap.com], also a resistive and the Android versions has been shipping since june/july I think.
Re:resistive? (Score:4, Informative)
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capacitive can use a real stylus. it just needs to have special conductive material for the tip that conducts the electrical signal of your skin to the point. They used them at the apple store for signing credit purchases.
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capacitive can use a real stylus. it just needs to have special conductive material for the tip that conducts the electrical signal of your skin to the point. They used them at the apple store for signing credit purchases.
the ones ive seen for cap screens are fat like fingers. they are not like fine point pens, like normal stylii
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Use Pogo Stylus for real touchscreens. Like $10. They are popular because there are world class art tools on iPad.
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My finger seems to be pretty handy. They have gloves that conduct capasitivness in the index finger now as well.
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I've got a phone with a resistive screen, and all those advantages don't mean much, because it's just not much fun to use with your fingers. You have to press really hard, and ideally with your fingernails. Other people using my phone have a really hard time getting it to work at all.
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So why hasn't anyone built a combination capacitive/resistive touch screen? You know, switch to the capacitive approximation when you get a second touch or when the first
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slate ? I prefer to buy a tablet. (Score:2, Interesting)
I thought the difference was
slate - runs windows
tablet - runs linux/android
pad - runs osx
I think tablet is the generic term and usable without threat of lawsuit
Re:slate ? I prefer to buy a tablet. (Score:5, Interesting)
I'd like to see Apple try to defend its "ownership" of the word "pad" against a company that thinks it's worth its while to wrest it from Apple's clutches.
Merely descriptive words are not supposed to be trademarks, and Microsoft almost lost theirs for the word "Windows" to Lindows/Linspire when Microsoft said that changing the name to Linspire wasn't good enough. Microsoft pushed too hard. Linspire said in court "hey, just one second here, can you really own a generic descriptive word?" Microsoft wound up paying Linspire to shut the hell up about it.
And then Linspire proceeded to squander the money, but hey, it was funny to watch Microsoft almost lose "Windows" entirely.
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BMO
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> Merely descriptive words are not supposed to be trademarks...
Descriptive words can be trademarks for products they don't describe: APPLE for example. You would have to show that "pad" was commonly used to describe that sort of device before Apple started selling theirs.
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They were always called "pad" on Star Trek. Or does that count as future use of the word?
Re:slate ? I prefer to buy a tablet. (Score:4, Informative)
No, they're PADD on Star Trek.
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/PADD [memory-alpha.org]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LCARS [wikipedia.org]
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Although true, they still sound the same. When saying either "pad" or "PADD", there's no real way of distinguishing the two.
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You're right, I should have mentioned the homophonic issue.
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Pad describes the form factor, such as a legal pad.
There are only so many ways to describe the form factor of the ipad. Tablet, slate, pad, and... what else?
Apple can trademark an "iPad," because when you append letters and mis-spell, you no longer have an English (or other language) word. I (and the vast majority of people) have no problem with this. This is what many marketers get paid lots of bucks to do. For a long time, this was the only way you could get a trademark as purely English words were not
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> describe the form factor
> of the ipad. Tablet, slate,
> pad, and... what else?
"Mobile PC" as in "mobile phone."
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There are only so many ways to describe the form factor of the ipad. Tablet, slate, pad, and... what else?
"Jobsian Fondle Slab" [google.com] was one I quite liked...
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Wasn't Asimov alive when Star Wars came out?
Lucas could have asked, or paid him. But such dealings rarely see the light of day - they are signed over a bottle of single-malt and a couple of good cigars.
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BMO
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The term "window" or "windows" is as generic as software "applications", or for non computer comparisons, "car" or "beer". You can call your products car or beer, but you can't CLAIM that as a trademark (especially if you were not the first to market).
Microsoft was denied the trademark for MANY years, but sadly government institutions like Patents and Trademark were handed over to lobbyists, and instead of being led by legal experts they were led by political appointees. (If you think I'm exaggerating, try
Re:slate ? I prefer to buy a tablet. (Score:4, Insightful)
IBM and Lenovo have been making ThinkPad computers since 1992, but Jobs probably would try for it anyway.
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Great example.
Related usages, searching on a bit of that text:
http://www.google.com/search?q=When+he+tired+of+official+reports+and+memoranda+and+minutes%2C+he+would+plug+his+foolscap-sized+Newspad+into+the+ship's+information+circuit [google.com]
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This is like, really, really late, but sometimes I go to my old posts to see if someone replied that I missed.
Take that google search and then click on video.
Get creeped out.
Really.
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BMO
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Please stop bring up the Newton. It was a novel idea. Unfortunately it sucked. I had one when it first came it. It blew.
Holy design, Batman. (Score:3, Funny)
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Re:Holy design, Batman. (Score:5, Informative)
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Not shipping orders AND not giving the money back unless forced to.
Re:Holy design, Batman. (Score:5, Insightful)
And you think that Apple's design and form factor of the iPad is somehow groundbreaking?
Go read the paper on the Dynabook concept from the 70s. Right down to the capacitive screen.
There is no intellectual property here. All the big thinking was done 40 years ago at PARC.
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BMO
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Go watch 2001 again.
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Go watch 2001 again.
As the long lunar night drew to a close, the spacesuit clad figures gathered around the featureless monolith. Floyd reached out with his gloved hand and brushed the frictionless surface. Just then, the bright rays of dawn reached the floor of the crater, and for the first time in two million years, the black slab felt the touch of the sun. The response was instantaneous, and the helmeted astronauts tried in vain to cover their ears as the artifact broadcast its waking message to the stars:
FAAAARRRRTTTTT!!
Design patent != invention patent (Score:3, Informative)
And you think that Apple's design and form factor of the iPad is somehow groundbreaking?
GP was refering to design patents [wikipedia.org] - these cover the cosmetic design of products and the rules are quite different from the regular patents that we love to hate.
So, this isn't about the Cherrypad being a touch-sensitive tablet computer: its about how closely some of the non-functional cosmetic details resemble those of the iDevices.
Did the Dynabook concept include a stylized-fruit logo "etched" into the centre of the slightly curved "brushed aluminium" backplate?
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Just googled Dynabook. It has a large keyboard below the screen. Looks exactly like an iPad. :P
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You didn't read the whole paper.
If you did, you'd see that he said you could do away with the keyboard and make a capacitive screen for finger input.
You can't just skim it and look at the sketches. You have to read the paper.
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BMO
Zune is brown; iPod is Braun. (Score:2)
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CherryPad? (Score:2)
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Get the HSG X5A (Score:2)
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Cheap as dirt? (Score:2)
I'm not surprised they are from Palo Alto, $188 is probably a reasonable price for dirt there :D
You can buy this right now for around $100 (Score:4, Interesting)
Its called a "Pandigital Novel" and it can be bought at Kohls with coupons and the right sale at around a hundred bucks.
Fifteen minutes to flash it with your choice of a half dozen different Android 2.0 images from Slatedroid, and bobs your uncle.
Work on 2.1 and 2.2 on the PDN is underway.
I have one, and its a perfectly workable browsing/email tool. Only problem is that everywhere I take it, people ask me a million questions about what it is and if they can buy one already done up with the firmware mods.
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The specs may be similar, but the tablet reviewed in TFA is definitely a different device.
Walgreens has m150 for $100 & PDN for $160 (Score:2)
http://www.techgadgets.in/displays/2010/30/maylong-m-150-tablet-now-available-through-walgreens/
You can also buy the Pandigital Novel at Walgreens for $160. I have never seen the PDN for $100.
Barnes and Noble is coming out with the Color Nook for $250.
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Now that looks nice. I'm pretty happy with my n810 still but something like that, if not exactly that, would be something I'd want to replace it with.
Relativity low cost, an actual card reader, flash-able, built in Wifi, and what looks to be a decent display makes something like that about where we should be right now. How is the battery life?
I have nothing really against Apple and even most Apple users. They have done a really good job pushing what the standard should be. Their stuff however is wayyyyy
Got the Mono? (Score:2, Funny)
Obligatory (Score:2)
Narrator: IN A.D. 2010, WAR WAS BEGINNING.
Captain: What Happen?
Mechanic: Somebody set up us the Cherry BOMB.
Opeartor: WE GET WiFi SIGNAL.
Captain: WHAT !!
Operator: All your lameness filter are belong to us.
You will not type the rest of this parody because you
are too lazy to fix it.
Mark your time.
Operator: Medium-sized SCREEN TURN ON.
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While yes, multiple drivers can achieve the desired affect as well, my Shure earphones do a great job of that, but there are speakers that are meant to only shoot sound in one direction with a narrow space for proper sound and then there are speakers that produce more sound, think simulated surround sound with stereo speakers. Traditionally the right and left front speakers will throw the sound in a wide band to everyone can hear, surround speakers are usually much more directional along with the center cha
Do not purchase from this company (Score:5, Insightful)
EBay is filled with these things (Score:2)
More junk advertising? (Score:2)
Bill
Be carefull buying these el-cheapo tablets (Score:3, Interesting)
A number of these companies (especially those where the original product comes from China) continue to violate the GPL as applied to the Android Linux kernel.
Now some people may not care about such things but this is /. so I hope people here care :)
Cheap and low spec (Score:2)
I like it, someone posts specs for a cheap tablet then says it needs X, Y and Z to be better. Erm, it wouldn't be cheap then would it?
There's already a 7 inch tablet that is high quality, it's made by Samsung and the iPad is actually a better buy as it has a bigger screen. The samsung's price is too close to the iPad.
256MB should be enough for everyone (Score:2)
(Tongue in cheek subject)
For what it's worth the iPad has 256MB. Given the lower resolution of the Cherry Pad 256MB should be enough. From what I've been able to scrape together from Googling, the performance of the 800mhz ARM 11 CPU is comparable to the iPhone 3GS (although the ARM is more versatile). Multitasking is a confounding factor, but iOS 4.2 beta users have not been leaking that there are performance problems multitasking on the iPad, so IMHO the CPU is holding back the speed more the RAM.
I'm disa
Android Market (Score:2)
The article says that it comes with Android Market. But I thought that Google didn't license Android Market except for phones. So is it pirated?
CherryPal Wiki Turfing ? (Score:2)
I have a very hard time trusting a company that religiously edits its own Wikipedia articles to remove various facts deemed unsavory. They actually did it so much, they were banned from Wikipedia!
In the end, the Streisand effect always wins.
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But how easily can you carry it with you?
If he ever leaves his mother's basement, he'll tell you.
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It always comes back to a cheap open source iPad. ... This mythical cheap open source device is never going to happen. Either the hardware will be crap or the UI. Deal with it and let's get on with our lives.
To the iPad specifically but first....a cheap open source device is never going to happen... Already has. Two years ago when you could pick up a netbook running Linux with 512MB of RAM for $300. So Cheap open source devices have already happened.
In 2006, I purchased a Nokia N800, Full Linux hand-held and saw the future there. Granted it was not super cheap in 2006, but certainly is today. I still run a server with only 128MB of RAM, of course it does not do a whole lot, but can still run MySQL and PH
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> a netbook running Linux with 512MB
> of RAM for $300. So Cheap open
> source devices have already happened.
A netbook running Windows is also $300, so a $300 Linux netbook is not cheap. That is why all the netbooks are running Windows now, even though they started out with Linux. So a $300 Linux netbook is the equivalent of a $499 Linux tablet competing with a $499 iPad. You proved the parent's point.
What you have to understand is that in both Windows netbooks and Apple iPads, the software is being
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Here [archos.com]. Starting at $99.
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