My new Chinese Tablet - The A Pad Eken M002: A review and my experience

I was scouting for book reader and came across this M002 Eken A-Pad - Chinese equivalent similar to an iPAD.

This was among the many firsts for me -
1. Touch screen - I found that the screen was not as responsive as the iPod or the iPAD. In fact , it is quite hard. Fortunately, I do not use it for gaming - mostly for reading books and seeing pictures/movies
2. Android - I like it as it is free (as in Beer) and runs several apps - most of all I liked the app market
3. Book reading - I found this 500+Mhz processor more than sufficient for most book reading. I thinks its great as a book reader as the page turning effort is close to  physical paper (Not as slick as a iPAD) and the speed is just right

Top things to do when you start with your tablet
1. Install firmware upgrade from thee site - worked fine for me and really helped (1) Movies ran only after the update (The small ones ran even before but a 2 hr movie ran only after the upgrade) (2) The screen seemed more responsive after the upgrade (3) Booted faster
2. Install aldiko book reader
3. Setup the language properly and also the locale settings - this stuff comes with Chinese or some other language as default
4. Remove crappy apps to make it faster
5. The app market does not run properly - you may be better off downloading apk files and installing them
6. Get a high GB micro SD card to load once and for all
7. Switch off wifi when not browsing to improve battery life
8. Play around with the touch screen calibration to improve the touch-performance and also help in scrolling
9. Get loads of books loaded to start getting RoI on this book
10. Learn how to put a nice scratch gaurd - you will touch it with greasy hands and will need to wipe it often.


Cons
1. Screen - obviously not suited for gaming
2. Wireless - drops often and cant pick signal as well as a laptop
3. Slow - cant game - even movies and pictures take time to respond
4. Booting - sometimes reboots without info if you run crazy apps
5. Camera - sucks but who needs it anyways

Pro:
1,2,3,4 - Price, Price, Price, Price
5. Good as a book reader
6. Great aspect ration and looks really sexy when carried around (until you switch it on and show of the performance on intense apps)

Here are some great videos/pics/resources
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg_39b2fjK0
2. Firmware update - http://www.ekengroup.com/en/products/show.asp?id=17

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