Not sure how good of a tablet this actually is, but maybe good for the kids at $19!!!
Features:
Android 4.0.4 Operating System
Rockchip 2906 CPU
512MB DDR 3 RAM
16GB on board storage
7" 5 point capacitive multi-touch Touch Screen
32GB Micro SD Card Slot
Dual Cameras: 0.3MP front; 2MP rear
802.11 b/g/n WiFi
Pretty much any smartphone from the last two years is going to be better for emergency internet access. If you have one, of course.
lol. Nope i only have a very basic Samsung 2G phone!. That's why i bought this is only $19. I'm a cheapskate :D
Smartphones have been listed around this price and would be far superior for internet connections. Far less frustrating and longer battery life in my experience than this pos tablet.
It's unfortunately only good for landfill. Mine has not left the box - I can't bring myself to throw it out, but it's useless for anything I can think of. I've tried it as a music player (no Bluetooth, lags, low volume), video player (same, plus poor viewing angle, dark screen, poor resolution), and the same problems as a photo frame. Basic Internet use is slow & frustrating.
Hm.
@monty.melb posted and deleted this a few minutes ago. Probably better to keep this one around so we don't get more.
As others said: this tablet is absolutely shit. Slow, might as well not have a battery, screen looks terrible. There's a reason it's $19. Buy at your own risk; don't expect to do anything interactive on it.
Well only $19. Not as if you're paying $100 for it. What other computer can you buy for $19?.
Sure, if you actually have a use for it. Don't buy it just because it's cheap - as @Click_it said, you'll probably end up with it just gathering dust.
Point of reference: takes about 15-30 minutes to update five apps. Can't do anything else while it's doing that.
Surely it can't be as bad as the crappy Amicroe 7" 512mb ram tablet which i used to own. Or maybe it is.
I've never tried the Amicroe, but a quick look at the specs and this might as well be a clone. More storage, but the CPU is close if not identical.
I don't know how the screen compares. Despite the resolution, the DGTEC is quite blurry (especially text) and touches don't register well. I have a PendoPad with the same resolution and it both looks better and is more responsive, though the latter might be because of the better CPU.
I found mine completely unusable. The screen res and text clarity, while not great didn't bother me. Just the performance of the thing and the fact that it would lock up all the time killed it for me.
Perhaps rooting it and running a lite ROM could be the solution but I don't know if that's possible and I didn't bother researching it.
Well at least this might not have a faulty battery like the Amicroe tablet had. Not a fast tablet but for $19 what can you expect.
Might be ok as an MP3 player.
I got one when they were ~$30 odd, for my 2yo to muck around with not caring if it gets broken. It was so damn slow I didn't bother giving it to her and it's been collecting dust ever since. Horrible tablet. If you like lots of lag and frequent lock ups requiring restarts then it's a good deal.
Unless I got a lemon? According to popular opinion it seems my experience was typical.
At least yours worked, I got 3 out of 3 DOA units.
Was considering buying this for my dad so that him and mum don't have to share the samsung tablet on an upcoming flight, but doubt it would even play one movie given these reviews.
don't bother
My daughter dropped her $250 10" Pipo…. this pile of crap will do until she learns not to drop things! :)
This pile of crap might teach her to throw things instead.
it would be ok to use a screen in the car for the kids to watch movies on . hard wire power from the cigerette lighter. movies on a USB stick, headphones for the kids.
Ahhh i see this tablet has a micro USB port.
Not trying to hate on this thing, but that's another problem I had with mine. My MicroSD went too far into the slot and I had to cut the plastic and pry it out. The card was worth more than the tablet.
Not sure what it is useful for (keyboard etc) as it is not able to recharge through it.
As I post every time this pos is posted:
very limited viewing angle, poor resolution, low volume, slow, lags, weird memory setup, …
It is powered by a tiny round plug I have never come across in electronics before - not via micro-USB as you would expect & means you need to carry it's special plug pack rather than using a common USB plug pack.
I got mine free after PayPal dispute. It was not even worthwhile free - it's that bad.
Traded up to a cheaper $29 single core Huawei 7" from Coles. The improvement in video viewing was amazing. Am happily watching tv, movies & videos in Tokyo apartment & still glad I got it.
This tablet only belongs in the bin.
Check the previous deals on this tablet.
Awesome review from Dick's website.
"you can transfer from usb , which you can't with a lot of other tablets" For this pleasurable feature the price it can't be beat.
Now if only the On button would work as well.
No - that's a different version, the TB07. Marginally better CPU, slightly newer OS version.
This particular "deal" is the TB512-16G.
Dick Smith sold the TB07 at one point (I got one from them), but apparently not anymore.
Well it's the only 7" Tablet listed on the DGTEC web site. The TB512-16G model must be an exclusive for Dick Smith not listed on the DGTEC web site.
I think DodgieTech gave up on these units a long time back. The company have a bad reputation, buying the cheapest products from different manufacturers. I have supplied them with detailed descriptions of firmware coding errors in another device - they didn't even accept there was a problem.
Isn't this the same model Aldi was selling a while back? It doesn't seem to run that slow in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GREpvl4iVJE
These arent worth 19c
Bought one few months ago during the ebay sale.
Used it as a wall mounted calendar pandora/tunein/youtube - few weeks ago it crapped it self and wont switch on.
Wondering if its worth my time to go to DSE for exchange or if i should just whack it in the bin.
Good X-mas present for your worst enemy.
Here's a laugh. Dick Smith is asking $99 for these on the Dick Smith eBay store.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/DGTEC-7-Android-Tablet-/261653454…
Strange. One one hand they're selling for $99 and other the other hand they're selling the exact same tablet for $19. Dick Smith is full of inconsistencies.
Not worth at all. Its totally rubbish.
Surely this would work as digital photo frame.
If it turns on that is.
Or if it doesn't lock up?.
The person who sees it will ask why u use a crappy camera snapping at low light
Yep, screen is very dark. No good as photo frame. But I suppose you could paste a printed photo on the screen ;-)
I bought one, just what I needed as a display screen for in-car use with an OBDII and the Torque app :)
Unsure if this tablet has bluetooth
It doesn't.
not needed, wi-fi is the better connection protocol for these
Landfill, the earth cries…
Some of the previous deals on this tablet. Except for eBay deal, they link to this unit. Some were DOA, all were poor build & design…
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/161492
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/163005
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/157586 (comments at end about issues)
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/150254
Was originally misleadingly advertised as Android 4.1. Has been listed as high as $99!
Ehhhh… got one of these from the last deal, ended up getting it for free after I disputed the colour… still not worth it. Screen is poor - it works, but the aspect ratio is clearly wrong so elements are stretched horizontally. The performance sucks - the best thing I can say is that once you launch the YouTube app (after waiting a literal minute) it works alright.
The killer though is that the battery SUCKS. I can maybe get an hour of screen time out of it? So you can't take it anywhere due to the useless battery (and the proprietary charging plug rules out bringing a portable battery), relegating the tablet to being tethered on a tabletop… but with just a 7" screen and no kick stand, then what?
I just can't figure out a good use case for it, even for free.
Yes it was black in the picture, but they sent me a pink one that would turn on, but not completely boot. Piece of junk.
You cant neg a deal just coz you think its rubbish!
there is nowhere cheaper and thats enough to be a nice bargain, (Not for me but some might benefit of this)
but seriously, how much is a 16 gb memory card?
how much is a non-touch screen photo frame, without any OS?
How much is WiFi receiver? or eBook reader?
How much is card-reader?
How much your company is selling similar things?
Dont be funny, you post your crappy expensive products as a deal and remove true negs by down-voting and now this gets negged just coz you think its crap?
Neg is appropriate under voting guidelines as a "defective product". Deals are not just about the price, but the product and retailer.
Given our bad experience with this tablet, yes we can neg this deal based on the product not being of basic merchandisable quality. I discussed the faults in this product with the Queensland Office of Fair Trading. It should not be sold, it is that bad. I received a refund based on this.
If you had bought this unit as others posting criticism have, you may have a very different opinion.
Those uses you suggested may be a bargain for the price - if they worked.
From actual use of this product, I found it useless as a photo frame, video player, eBook reader, etc. Memory is structured so strangely to be almost unusable. Some units even arrived dead. Dick didn't want to know.
It may be cheap, but it is crap and a definite waste of time and money. I got mine free, but it just is not worth it even at that price (given the problems with Dick Smith), as toomuchdogfur also said.
I don't expect much around this price and am very happy with the $29 tablet (less 5% ING rebate) I bought from Coles - so much better (bright screen able to be viewed from wide angles, good volume as music player, Bluetooth, GPS, and so much more) for about the same price as this deal after you add the necessary delivery cost.
How much your company is selling similar things?
Dont be funny, you post your crappy expensive products as a deal and remove true negs by down-voting and now this gets negged just coz you think its crap?
As for your final comments - I have no idea what you are saying. But if I can help an OzBargainer consider this product may not be the bargain it appears by the low price, I would be happy. Someone will hopefully save their time and money for a better deal;-) Other than that, I have no vested interests.
Very bad tablet that was useless to me when I bought it from DSE. Would not boot and felt very very cheap and plastic. MicroSD card slot would also not eject the card without many many tries. A brick for this price would be just as useful.
If these are as bad as many are suggesting, then why not return them to DSE for a refund? "Not worth the effort" hardly seems like a reasonable response, considering everyone is here to save money.
Many have - see the old deal links above. I got my refund.
We are just warning others not to make the mistake we did! We can warn, but it's your choice.
I totally agree with you that people should demand a refund. I posted advice how to get a refund based on consumer law.
DS have been shovelling these out for ages, with about 1000 sold through eBay in a deal a few months back.
DS usually did not want to know about DOA, faults, incorrectly advertised units, etc.
It is a real pain when things go wrong with DS. Another OzBargainer took a complaint about another DS matter to the NSW Office of Fair Trading, but the DS lawyers convinced the OFT it was just an error. Useless! My negative review on their site never was posted. Believe me, these are a very bad product.
I got to keep the tablet and the money as DS didn't want it back! Luckily I paid with PayPal. Otherwise I may still be waiting. I have waited nearly 2 months for undelivered DS orders and promised refunds. They just don't respond, or promise a refund which is never delivered.
Still can't find any use for this tablet for free. Suggestions like frisbee for a dog to play with or juggling the pink tablets have been suggested. With all the problems we had with these units, a sense of humour was necessary.
I think they are only warning people so they wont waste their time. $20 is cheap… but for a doorstop?
Put a few more $ to it and get something usable.
But they are colourful shiny plastic door-stops ;-)
I had to gouge out my MicroSD card with a knife because the ejector mechanism was broken. Because the card was right in there I had to cut the plastic away a bit. After that it was unlikely DSE would have taken it back ;)
out of stock?
404 Not Found. No longer showing on the web site. Must be sold out.
You can still buy it from the eBay store howbeit for a ridiculous $99!!!
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/DGTEC-7-Android-Tablet-/261653454…
Changed to "Temporarily out stock".
Mine just got shipped.
I'm sorry to read that ;-)
Tell us what you think. Some were delivered looking as if they were opened or were returned stock.
Mine was delivered brand new and working fine. Yes they are a bit of the slow side but what can you expect for a single core tablet for $19.
Compared to the similar priced single core $29 (less 5% ING rebate) Huawei 7", well there is no comparison using them side by side. This unit is slow, lags, poor dark screen, and a very strange use of memory, etc. So it's not just the single core causing the problems.
Ah, they sent you the $19 paperweight/doorstop in black :-(
You won't be the only one. Unfortunately some were DOA in previous deal. See same DOA screen issue
But even if it worked, it was never going to impress. Rather, you would question yourself for having bought it. A refund is the easiest way out.
Good luck with your refund. Taking it into a store might be easier than waiting for DS to respond. Best & fastest way is a PayPal dispute, if you paid that way. See others experiences with returns & advice
Pity your first OzBargain comment was a sad one.
Did you charge the battery?. That's the first thing i did before turning it on.
Yes I had already charged the battery.
Called Dicksmith.
They refunded no questions asked and didn't ask me to send it back.
The person I spoke to said they weren't meant to sell them anymore.
Weren't meant to sell them any more?. You mean weren't meant to sell returned items reported as being faulty?. Sounds like you possibly received a returned and reported as faulty by a customer and but they resold it. That's my theory.
@hollykryten:
DS has had plenty of complaints about these. I have complained to Queensland Office of Fair Trading.
DS is risking serious action by continuing to supply faulty & unmerchandisable goods, months after being told of the problems.
I'd say that is what was meant by "they weren't meant to sell them anymore" when told the issues were continuing.
There were enough faulty units shipped already. The failure rate seems high. So I doubt it was a returned unit. Also reports of failures after short time using units.
Besides, DS doesn't even want them back! That tells you how good these units are, from the retailer's opinion.
I still have a working unit, that DS refunded & didn't want back months ago. Was told by OFT, DS had 30 days to claim their property otherwise it was mine.
Same issue with other buyers in previous deal. Never starts up from "!" screen. Not a battery issue.
Apparently there is a rom floating around that you can apply to this.
http://public.tempoaustralia.com/fw/tb512-16gb/20121015/
Has anybody tried that??
Based on what has been said its sad to see that something with these specs cant even run competently a browser, video or music.
The firmware doesn't work.
See photo http://imgur.com/SI2wduj
I checked the MD5 hash and confirmed it is ok.
The firmware also opens ok in the Rockchip Batch Tool however I am unable to connect to the tablet over ADB to send the update that way.
can't you just use the SD card to move it on the device?
Screenshot shows it failing to load from SD.
Managed to do it here are the steps
0. Make sure the tablet is fully charged
1. Download the following software - RKBatch tool + image
2. follow these simple instructions or the a more complex version
3. You may get few unsuccessful restorations but keep persevering until you get one that's completes successfully.
4. reboot you tablet at leave it on (upto to 5min)
5. If all works fine then it should boot up ok else repeat steps 1-5.
@gtech:
Interesting. Thanks.
But was it worth it, given the limitations of this device?
What can you do you couldn't do before with it?
I'm willing to be convinced, given I got my tablet free & am looking for a use for it.
@brucefromaustralia:
Hi Bruce, its a gift so i actually wasn't going to be using it.
It was worth doing it since it didn't boot up before, if yours works then don't bother.
(trust me i wouldn't be doing this if i didn't have to…unless it was putting a custom rom on that would give me a lot more control/performance(ie Cyanogen)….in this case i was just fixing up what the manufacturer should have done)
However as a toy I actually think its pretty neat, I mean what can you get for $19 dollars these days. You may want to go into the dev settings and disable the background task & ensure that applications are closed when you exit them, that should give you a bit more juice. You can use it as an alarm clock/weather station/news reader(RSS)/mp3 player/to do list. However based on what you said the best option of all is to donate it to somebody that will appreciate it (one of mine is going into a Vinnie Christmas hamper hopefully some kid will appreciate it).
@gtech:
Enjoyed your response :-) Thanks.
Ah, so it was to resurrect a DOA unit. Was wondering why the rom was from TempoAustralia. Have helped them with a few firmware & quality control issues in PVRs. Not a great manufacturer/ distributor.
Just feel bad offloading this unit. No one who has used it wanted it for free! Even for charities, I'd feel sorry for the kid who got this. But I'll find a use or home for it.
Like you suggested… but with a better tablet: I've got the Coles single core $29 7" Huawei as a video & music player (better screen & volume), My Alarm Clock app works well as bedside clock, weather app, reader for books, travel guides & maps, etc.
Disabled what I don't use. Works wonderfully on my holidays. Pretty impressive for the price. Great screen. Has improved my stay in Tokyo (it's cold and raining, so movies, internet TV, YouTube documentaries on the culture here, etc are filling in a few hours between soaking in the hot water).
But I don't think the DS unit would give me as much pleasure, for a few dollars less.
No worries mate :-)
I got the rom from TempoAust as it ws mentioned in another forum that this was the actual rom for the tablet. I didn't really want to spend the next few weekends getting things to work from scratch.
I hate to admit it but last night i loaded up some 'old school' games, and they worked fine….i'm sure that who ever gets it wont have the same nostalgia that i had when i 'tested' Wolfestein 3D. But boy did it bring back some fond memories. I remember when i got my first PC (486dx 40Mhz) and although it was pretty old by then it was still what got me into computers…i think that i had that bad boy for nearly 3-4 years.
So if this tablet gets some kid tinkering around with software or hardware then it was its achieved more then its purpose. As they say necessity is the mother of invention
TBH what did people expect?
I agree these tablets are as slow as a wet wig. Seems to run a bit hot off battery power too.
I didn't expect much for 19 bucks, and not much is what I got. Mine freezes on the boot screen. No amount of resetting fixes it.
DSE refunded, including freight, via PayPal.
I guess they are just hoping that people don't request refunds and that helps limit their losses?
It's $23.95 delivered. I only bought it for an emergency situation in case my desktop PC breaks down and urgently need to use the internet.