Those cheap and nasty tablets on TradeMe?

Forums › Android › Those cheap and nasty tablets on TradeMe?

floydbloke

2039 posts

Uber Geek

# 109877 28-Sep-2012 10:24

I know you get what you pay for (not a lot in this case

) but I'm looking at getting one of these $120 odd Android tablets that you see on trademe to play and experiment with.
However, I need bluetooth connectivity and noone of them sem to mention this in the spec, I therefore assume it's not built-in. If I was to buy a generic (cheap

) USB bluetooth dongle could I plug this in and would it work, am I likely ot encounter all sorts of driver issues or am I wasting my tiem altogether?

"I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road." - Stephen Hawking

stevenz

2787 posts

Uber Geek

# 692795 28-Sep-2012 10:44

Odd name notwithstanding, the Ainol tablets are pretty reasonable, and are dirt cheap.

They can be modded to get CyanogenMod on them.

If a device doesn't have the bluetooth hardware, then odds are the relevant bits will have been removed from the UI. So even if you got it to recognise it, there'd be no way to use it.

@KnightNZ

floydbloke

2039 posts

Uber Geek

# 692853 28-Sep-2012 12:09

stevenz: Odd name notwithstanding, the Ainol tablets are pretty reasonable, and are dirt cheap.

They can be modded to get CyanogenMod on them.

Thanks Steve, the Nova fire does have BT. Well-priced indeed but at about $270 probably a little more than I was intending to spend.

Modding - love the sound of doing that

.

Ainol - what were they thinking?

"I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road." - Stephen Hawking

vexxxboy

2944 posts

Uber Geek

# 692857 28-Sep-2012 12:23

you have to admit Ainol Burn is not a product you will forget lol

Common sense is not as common as you think.

n4

956 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 692867 28-Sep-2012 12:41

I have a cheap Chinese tablet. It does have the software support for mobile via 3g dongle (no built in 3g hardware) so I don't see why it would not have BT software support. If I had a BT dongle I would test...

Huawei Mate 7, on 2degrees

kiwijunglist

2856 posts

Uber Geek

# 692873 28-Sep-2012 12:55

+1 Ainol for cheap trablet

HTPC / Home automation (home assistant) enthusiast.

stevenz

2787 posts

Uber Geek

# 693058 28-Sep-2012 17:45

I can do you a good price on an 8GB Asus Nexus 7.

@KnightNZ

floydbloke

2039 posts

Uber Geek

# 693143 28-Sep-2012 20:27

stevenz: I can do you a good price on an 8GB Asus Nexus 7.

Tempting but since the cheapest I can see on Trademe is $379 (parallel import) I suspect it will be beyond my budget. But please go on, what's a good price?

"I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road." - Stephen Hawking

urban

487 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 693211 28-Sep-2012 23:11

Found this on the web re:a cheaper nexus may be on it's way

http://www.techradar.com/news/mobile-computing/tablets/google-and-asus-may-be-planning-super-cheap-nexus-7-1100142

kiwijunglist

2856 posts

Uber Geek

# 693214 28-Sep-2012 23:16

Fixed Link

http://www.techradar.com/news/mobile-computing/tablets/google-and-asus-may-be-planning-super-cheap-nexus-7-1100142

HTPC / Home automation (home assistant) enthusiast.

P1n3apqlExpr3ss

827 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 693220 28-Sep-2012 23:41

Chances are it's a carrier subsidised 3G version or just fairy tales

robocat

65 posts

Master Geek

# 693623 30-Sep-2012 14:46

Some tablets support Bluetooth USB dongles using an OTG cable.

Things to note:
- not all tablets support OTG.
- the driver needs to be in the ROM - many tablets won't have support out of the box.
- some tablets can upgrade to CyanogenMod (CM) with BT driver compiled in - check slatedroid.com - best source of information on CM for tablets.
- Ainol tablets have good CM support, good OTG support, and good community support.
- OTG cables commonly do not work - I bought one advertised as OTG on trademe, but pins 4 & 5 of USB mini-B connector were open circuited (so cable didn't work until fixed).
- You need a supported Bluetooth dongle. Apparently many cheap ones work, but neither of the ones I had at home worked for me (neither an Asus nor a no-name BT dongle, using CM10 with BT support, in an Ainol Novo 7 Aurora 2, OTG working with USB flash stick).

Also check comments on this thread: http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=97&topicid=106881

stevenz

2787 posts

Uber Geek

# 693643 30-Sep-2012 16:40

$379 is a tad steep considering I imported mine for roughly NZ$350 all up.

Can do it for $280 if anyone wants it, PM me. Currently rooted but I can reset it to stock if wanted, original box etc.

It doesn't have any of the creaking or light-bleed issues that some of them have either.

@KnightNZ