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Unisurf 7" Windows 16GB Tablet - $78 ($53 after Cashback) + Free Office 365 Personal 1 Yr @ Harvey Norman

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Unisurf 7" Windows 16GB Tablet - $78 ($53 after Cashback) + Free Office 365 Personal 1 Yr @ Harvey Norman
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martyn on 07/06/2015 - 22:21 harveynorman.com.au (3155 clicks)
Last edited 08/06/2015 - 18:25 by 2 other users

Seems a good deal since it comes with Office 365 Personal 1 Year Subscription.

Stay connected with the Unisurf 7" Windows 16GB Tablet, offering a 7" touch screen, 16GB, 1GB RAM and Windows 8.1 operating system, with access to the Windows Store.

Free store pick up or Australia wide delivery, delivery seems cheap I got a quote for $6.95

No idea how this tablet performs, don't suppose it will be that quick with 1gb ram

$78 before Cashback $53 after Cashback

Electrical & Electronics Microsoft Operating System Tablet Unisurf

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  • 3weekslate on 19/06/2015 - 13:43

    Does anyone else get random shutdowns?

    Sometimes the screen just shuts off when I am using the tablet and I can't get it to show anything. pressing or holding down the power button or power + volume up/down doesn't do anything at all? I'm pretty sure it didn't run out of power as I had only been using it for an hour or 2 after charging fully. I just let it sit for a few hours and long pressing power + volume up turns it starts working again…

    What's the problem?

    • bargaino on 19/06/2015 - 14:09
      +1

      Have not seen the problem. Sounds like hardware. Try the reset button (use a paperclip) .

  • 3weekslate on 20/06/2015 - 21:43

    I don't think windows 10 will be any different than 8 on this.

    Here's an "important note" under windows 10 requirement:

    To access the Windows Store and to download and run apps, you need an Internet connection, a screen resolution of at least 1024 x 768, and a Microsoft account.

    found here http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/preview-faq-syste…

    So same as now, you can use desktop but not apps (if you choose not to have fuzzy display by setting to 1024*600)

  • pbezza on 20/06/2015 - 22:13

    I pulled the back cover off my tablet to see how hard it would be to apply power directly so I could have OTG at the same time. The cover camecoff and snapped back on very easily and I did it very carefully but still managed to put a 3 way crack in the screen starting from the system tray/clock. So annoyed. On the other hand I have hooked the tablet up to my monitor via a mini HDMI to dvi cable and quite liked using it like a desktop PC which is the reason I bought it. Am thinking about disabling the screen internally and making this a permanent solution.

    • bargaino on 20/06/2015 - 23:59

      Ouch! But the screen is no great loss aside from not being able to return it.
      I could not see anywhere to connect 5V, so would wire an external charger to the battery. Just make sure it doesn't exceed 4.2V, or say 1A. (Buillt-in charger does more, but has thermal sensor.)

      This module should do the job:
      http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/LED-New-Driver-DC-DC-Step-down-Ad…

      Good luck! I hope nobody inherits my returned one.

    • jobski on 23/06/2015 - 10:34

      I am using mine like this, its hooked to a TV and its snappy. The tablet screen is off and its powered by an OTG adapter with charging port.

      • pbezza on 23/06/2015 - 15:32

        Confirm, you are able to charge whilst using OTG at the the same time? Which OTG adapter?

  • Murpha on 23/06/2015 - 21:19
    +12

    Hi all!

    I can indeed confirm that Windows 10 Pro Insider Preview (Build 10130) does work on the Unisurf 7" tablet. In fact, it runs very, very well for a cheap tablet and for preview build of Windows! It even lets you run the native 1024x600 resolution and run universal (modern) apps! Please follow the below steps carefully.

    Proceed with caution and at your own risk; I will not be held responsible for loss of information, data, damage to the device or persons, supernovas, etc, blah blah blah!

    Prerequisites:
    • 3x BLANK USB Drives (2 at least 4GB, 1 at least 16GB+) all formatted as NTFS
      OR
    • USB Hub (4 port+) to support mouse, keyboard and USB drive
    • Access to another computer
    • Macrium Reflect Free here.
    • Windows 10 Insider Preview ISO (32-bit) here
    • Driver software such as Treexy Driver Fusion (optional)
    • 7-Zip
    • Lots of free time.
    • The ability to get yourself out of trouble when the proverbial hits the fan.
    Process

    Creating a Windows 10 install USB

    On a computer

    1. Download Windows 10 ISO.
    2. Install 7-zip or preferred software for viewing contents of ISO.
    3. Insert one of the smaller USB drives and ensure it is formatted as NTFS.
    4. Open the Win10 ISO with 7-zip or preferred software.
    5. Select entire contents of archive and copy and paste onto USB drive.

    !!!If this fails to boot later, acquire Windows USB/DVD Download Tool and follow the steps.!!!

    Creating a backup

    On the tablet

    1. Install Macrium Reflect Free on your tablet, make sure you accept the prompt to download the WinPE component. This may take a while (~500MB).
    2. Insert the 16GB+ USB, this will hold the backups you're about to create.
    3. Create a folder called Drivers and copy the entire contents of .\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository into it, or run driver back up software (such as Driver Fusion) and follow the steps to create a backup of system drivers.
    4. Create another folder and call it Drive Backup. Open Macrium Reflect, select 'Create and image of the partition(s) required to backup and restore Windows', mark all checkboxes to select all partitions (should be 4), make sure Destination is set to the location the Drive Backup folder. Leave the remaining settings as is an click Next.
    5. Ignore the 'Edit the Plan for this Backup' page and hit Next.
    6. Click Finish.
    7. Check Run this backup now and uncheck Save backup and schedules as an XML Backup Definition File. Hit Ok.
    8. Wait for completion.

    Creating a WinPE recovery media

    On the tablet

    1. Still in Macrium Reflect, got to Other Tasks menu and select Create Recovery Media.
    2. Hit Next until you reach the Prepare Windows PE Image page. Make sure PE Architecture is set to 32 Bit and that Default base WIM is selected. Click Next and wait for it to build the WIM.
    3. On the Burn Rescue Media page, under the CD/DVD burner option, pick Create ISO image file. Hit Finish. Save the Rescue.iso to the USB drive used previously for the backups.
    4. Once Macrium completes the process, close it and safely unmount the USB drive.

    Creating a WinPE recovery USB

    On a computer

    1. Insert another spare USB and ensure it is formatted as NTFS.
    2. Insert the backup USB just used on the tablet.
    3. Open the Rescue.iso with 7-zip and copy contents to the root of the USB.
    4. Wait for copy to complete and unmount USB when safe.

    Booting into WinPE

    On the tablet

    1. Connect the USB hub to tablet and connect mouse, keyboard and USB containing the WinPE environment created in the last section.
    2. Follow this video to access the tablet's bios.
    3. Go to Chipset tab > USB Configuration > change USB OTG Support to PCI Mode. (May be required to detect USB/Keyboard after WinPE. Might be optional).
    4. Next go to Security tab > Secure Boot menu > Make sure Secure Boot is set to Disabled.
    5. On the Boot tab, change Setup Prompt timeout to 5-15 seconds. Gives you more time to access 'BIOS' on future reboots.
    6. Still on Boot tab, disable Quiet Boot to display legacy-style BIOS screen.
    7. Save & Exit tab > Save changes and Exit.
    8. Hit DEL or ESC on reboot to re-enter 'BIOS'(UEFI Firmware settings).
    9. Go to Save & Exit tab > Boot override and select UEFI: <Insert your USB name or unique ID here>. This may take a few tries to select the right one. If you accidentally select UEFI: Built-in EFI Shell, just type exit at the prompt or if Windows Boot Manager, just restart tablet once booted and retry.

    DESTROYING the existing partitions

    On the tablet

    The tablet uses a special UEFI partition (among others) to boot a special 'partition' called a WIM. You can read up on it here. The only way I know around it is to delete said partitions.

    1. If you successfully completed the previous section, you should now be within the Macrium Reflect WinPE environment.
    2. In the bottom left-hand side of the 'task bar' is an icon that belongs to CMD. Click it.
    3. Once CMD has opened, type diskpart.
    4. Type list disk, hit enter and make note of which drive is the tablets system drive (most likely Disk 0).
    5. Enter select disk <insert number belong to system drive here>. E.g select disk 0.
    6. Type list partition. This will show you all the partitions belonging to the system drive. We now want to delete them all.
    7. Repeat theses commands for each partition, substituting the partition number with each consecutive one:
    • select partition <insert number here> > Hit Enter.
    • delete partition > Hit Enter.
    1. Repeat step 6 to check if partitions were removed successfully.
    2. Power-off tablet.

    It probably won't let you, but be careful not to delete the partition on the USB.

    Installing Windows 10 (or preferred OS)

    On the tablet

    Now that the 'special UEFI partition' has gone, the tablet should now allow you to boot into any USB installer. If not use Windows USB/DVD Download Tool to make a Windows 10 installer. This may also be useful if the WinPE boot doesn't work; just delete the Windows 10 files off the USB after using the Windows USB/DVD Download tool and extract the contents of the WinPE ISO to the root of the USB. E.g. E:\.

    1. Swap out WinPE USB for Windows 10 installer USB. Power on tablet.
    2. The tablet should boot straight to the USb as it is the only 'suitable' boot device. If it does not, enter the BIOS, go to Save & Exit tab > select USB under the Boot override menu.
    3. Follow prompts to install Windows 10.
    4. Once Windows 10 is installed, you'll want to install some drivers. Plug in the Backup USB we created in the Creating a backup section. Go to Device Manager and go through the Unknown devices section, right-click, select Update Driver Software… > Browse my computer for driver software and point the location to the Drivers folder on the USB. Do this for each device. May require a few reboots and rinse and repeats to get all drivers installed.

    Some notes

    • You can get away with only 2 USBs, just don't create the Windows 10 installer USB first, wait until you finished with the WinPE USB and just delete the contents and paste the Windows 10 ISO contents onto it.
    • I'm not sure of the Linux support for the hardware this tablet contains, but those people wanting to put Linux on it probably know a thing or two more than I do in that regard.
    • Some USBs don't like being made bootable, so try others if you can't get it to work.
    • You may want to reverse changes to the BIOS.
    • Check this out for some info on how to continue getting Windows 10 for free. You must be willing to remain a tester, though.

    …And we're done!

    I apologise if I have missed a step (hopefully not a vital one! ;) ), but I wrote these instructions after the fact. Also hope these instructions ain't too verbose! Oh who am I kidding!?

    ENJOY!

    • [Deactivated] on 23/06/2015 - 21:40

      Wow what a champ for taking the time to write this up. Good on ya!

      • Murpha on 23/06/2015 - 21:57

        Forgot to mention; another added benefit of Windows 10 is that speeds up the system drive! Since the previous Windows 8.1 install is running within a WIM (essentially an archive), it hampers the drives performance. Write speeds go from ~15MB/s to 40MB/s. Read speeds get another ~10MB/s to 150MB/s in some scenarios! Not bad!

        EDIT for above instructions. You need to use delete partition override instead of delete partition, otherwise it won't let you delete partitions.

        • grab_ur_freebies on 25/06/2015 - 11:02

          Appreciate your hard work figuring it out!

          Just wondering since this is a normal install, does it use up at least 12gb of the ~16gb eMMC storage thats available?

        • Murpha on 25/06/2015 - 12:42

          @grab_ur_freebies:

          The actual drive capacity is 14.44GB once formatted with the default partitions (300MB Recovery Partition, 100MB EFI System Partition, and 14.04GB System partition). So, out of the ~14GB capacity of the system partition, with quite a few of my normal applications installed (office not installed yet, however), I've still got 4.2GB of space left. To hazard a guess, since I didn't take note of it initially, after a fresh install of Windows 10, there was probably ~5.5-6GB of free space; so Windows 10 used ~8GB.

    • bargaino on 23/06/2015 - 22:57

      Wow, well done.
      I hope you will be posting all that at … What is the Windows equivalent of xda-developers.com ?

      Check this out for some info on how to continue getting Windows 10 for free.

      Do you think the win-10 upgrade will be possible on this? Anyone got the upgrade icon in their desktop?

      • Murpha on 24/06/2015 - 06:55

        "Windows 8.1 with Bing will be upgraded to Windows 10 Home". It seems it may be very likely.

        • bargaino on 24/06/2015 - 11:14

          Thats all about licensing. Says nothing about whether it will actually do an upgrade on a particular dodgy OEMs ROM.
          A clean install as you described above is more likely to work, but a lot of work, and will that preserve the license?

          BTW, have you confirmed that all the drivers work in Win-10 preview?

        • Murpha on 24/06/2015 - 21:26

          @manic:

          As far as I can tell, the tablet is installed with a genuine Windows 8.1 with Bing key (that's how it can be so cheap), so should received an update. As for the license, this should be stored in the UEFI/BIOS like most other OEM devices, so should be still good if you want to clean install Windows 8.1 [with Bing] then do an in-place upgrade to Windows 10.

          Yep, all the drivers work if you copy them off before you delete partitions. As per instructions, all the drivers should be found in C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository. Just copy them all over.

        • bargaino on 25/06/2015 - 09:51

          @IIMurphaII:
          Thanks. I'll use this when my new device arrives. (should be a lot easier with 32GB and 2GB)

        • Murpha on 25/06/2015 - 12:47

          @manic:

          Awesome! Which tablet is the 32GB/2GB RAM?

    • 3weekslate on 24/06/2015 - 00:23

      Wow. Awesome writeup! I hope the process is still the same for win10 when it is released as I'm not keen on trying out the preview.

      • Murpha on 24/06/2015 - 06:56

        Yep, it should still apply!

    • ebbzuv on 25/06/2015 - 12:08

      Thanks for your effort in putting it together and sharing.

    • MagicTsukai on 28/06/2015 - 03:09

      oo this is interesting

  • Skrambled on 01/07/2015 - 23:38

    after a few good days my touch screen has totally stopped responding. Possibly after a driver update through Windows Update? anyone else had this / know a fix?

    • bargaino on 02/07/2015 - 00:42

      i think you can do a driver rollback.

      • Skrambled on 02/07/2015 - 08:43

        Need to be able to login to do that which I can't because the touch screen doesn't work at all.

        • [Deactivated] on 02/07/2015 - 08:50

          plug in a usb keyboard, should be able to use it then?

        • Skrambled on 02/07/2015 - 11:40
          +1

          @poop:

          Thanks . Noticed the usb to mini usb adaptor in the box so will try this tonight.

        • Skrambled on 02/07/2015 - 21:06

          @shik85:

          The problem was due to a Windows Update for "Silead - Other hardware - KMDF HID Minidriver for Touch I2C Device".

          It did not let me immediately roll it back. I actually had to let it update again via Device Manager and THEN roll it back. Working now.

  • pbezza on 02/07/2015 - 07:00

    My tablet stopped responding to touch at one stage so I forced a shutdown by holding the power button. All was good after restart. I am running windows 10 preview now and havent had a repeat of this behaviour.

    • Skrambled on 02/07/2015 - 08:44

      I've tried several forced shut downs because it is the only thing I can do.

      Does anyone know how the factory reset works?

    • grab_ur_freebies on 03/07/2015 - 02:08

      running windows 10 preview

      Latest build 10159? Installed by upgrading from within W8.1?

  • jobski on 03/07/2015 - 13:54

    Could someone please upload a zipped copy of the drivers?

  • Skrambled on 08/07/2015 - 09:22

    I'm finding my 7" quite good as an ereader - I like the size. What are people's thoughts about the disk space running out? It feels like Windows updates are going to consume what is left over the next few months.

  • pbezza on 08/07/2015 - 19:25

    My tablet stopped charging today. With the charger plugged in and the battery flat, the screen remains powered on but is totally white.

    • bargaino on 08/07/2015 - 20:45

      tried the hardware reset with a paperclip?

  • pbezza on 08/07/2015 - 21:36

    Sure have. Screen goes black whilst button in then white again when released.

    • bargaino on 08/07/2015 - 21:40

      Then the only question is, do you want a refund or replacement? Either way you keep the $25 and 12 months of Orifice 365.

  • pbezza on 08/07/2015 - 23:27

    Too bad I already cracked the screen taking the back cover off. Dont think I'll get a refund

  • snvl on 11/07/2015 - 13:45

    Thanks to soifon. I also can confirm than this http://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/6746774541.html?orderId=6… works as OTG while charging (switch 2).

    I am waiting on a usb voltage/current meter, I'll update what shows while charging.

    • grab_ur_freebies on 11/07/2015 - 21:57

      I am waiting on a usb voltage/current meter, I'll update what shows while charging.

      Would be interesting to find out how much current the tablet draws to stay on & trickle charge simultaneous. I'm thinking of using one of those generic micro usb to qi coil plates to charge wirelessly. If the current being drawn is less than 1.5A then it would be adequate enough IMHO (Qi charging @70% efficiency of 1.5A = ~1.05A). Charging via Qi when the tab is off would be faster.

    • snvl on 14/07/2015 - 18:07

      4.75v & 0.7A only.

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