Looking at new Android PMP's and what you can do with them

[knob]

Decided to start a new thread, rather than give too much free advertising for tradstead!

Originally Posted by makd511

well for chinese pmp rockhcip have made big efforts in the UI development and made widget based system with true fonts and not bitmap fonts, fast scrolling and better all round

depends what you mean by "perfect"

True Makd . "Perfect" as in my personal preference of course. everyone has their own ideas!.

Good to hear that there are some improvements in the UI. Can't wait to try one of these new gadgets out.

Well, there are a whole bunch here at what seems to be good prices:-
Android MP4 Player : JTSHOP Online

I must say I do like this one:-


and this one:-


Is there any benefit to having dual OS? I'm sure extra ram comes in handy for running all those apps.

Hell, it's gonna be hard making a decision!

[makd511]

i think that they used dual PMP for the video side of things as android can be a picky git with video playback and this was there way of just loading a basic set of functions to better utilise the hardware for video as this is what they know best and have spent their time developing .. its always been about video playback now for several years - apart from that and for the rest of the use Android would provide a better system

as with Chinese production many companies using same hardware reference designs, so the dual boots are all novotek based ref design and teclast, window et all just take that and shove it into their own case design and pick ancillary components to make a player with it .. same with the rockchip based ones etc etc

rockchips budget chip for android is the 2816 .. but this suffers from lower power, only supports lower grade ram and can be a little slow although for the nationite rocktab KRISTO did get 2.1 and 2.2 running on it but a little slow and clunky
the 2828 based rockchips have better memory access for RAM using faster DDR? ram .. 256mb is a starter value and can cause problems for android hefty requirement sat times

there are loads of android development forums around but i dont think many or any have taken to heart the smaller wifi-less models so i dont know if any work is being done elsewhere on these android pmp players

window are a nice brand, teclast can be hit and miss as can onda, ainol are pretty big but lack commitment to their players (well .. as do 90% of these domestic chinese companies .. they churn out players like no tomorrow)

some random chinese reviews of the wifi-less players(u will need google translate)
http://www.imp3.net/1/show.php?itemid=31388
http://www.imp3.net/1/show.php?itemid=31427
http://audio.pconline.com.cn/mp4/gui...5/2416814.html

of course having no wifi means manually installing apps, which means trying to find the APK files to download and install .. but what they hay

just noticed that some of those cheap, <70 players have only 128 ram .. that could be a hindrance to the android OS as android like to multi-task by default, so task killers are the call of the day here

[Binh@MyMPx]

Personally, I would choose Android 2.3 instead of the 2.1 version.

Also, I would go with one that has wi-fi because of the convenience. It's nice to surf the internet from it on wi-fi for example or download updates/apps/games etc through wi-fi rather than through cable.

The more RAM memory the better as well because as Makd mentioned, multitasking would better but also being able to run larger/memory hungry apps/games would be great as well. Also this helps with future proofing for any future upgrades or enhancements.

Is JTShop the only online store you've found that stocks Android PMP? Are there others? I'm sure others have moved into Androids by now.

[makd511]

there are loads of chinese based shops that have these players, JT is a good source but there is also OWNTA, DEALEXTREME, FOCALPRICE etc etc .. loads, of course mp4nation and all the other stores we know about all sell android now, you cant not sell android. Most of the bigger cheap chinese stores will sell anything, ownata sell just about every model going!!! though the focus is on tablets as opposed to PMP with android -the speed of development of these things is bordering on insane and not just in china, every company you can think of and some you would never think of are branding their own tablets (NEXT clothing store for one!!!) - in fact its getting to the point where bying direct from china stores is not always the cheaper option as cheap tabs are appearing in local stores in a town near you .. its an explosion of development

[knob]

I think for wi-fi and web browsing you really need to go the whole hog and get a good powerful 10" tablet.
On the smaller pocket sized gadgets you pay over $100 just for wi-fi dongle and 256MB of RAM, like this:-
Window N5 Pro2 , Android 2.1 , G-sensor ,5 inch, 8GB , wifi adapter freeshipping [N5-Pro2-elite] - US$113.00 : JTSHOP Online



I would be inclined to get 2 devices, a bigger ipad sized device for web and wi-fi and a smaller pocket sized device for carrying around without the wi-fi dongle sticking out. :roll:

[makd511]

well thwey are starting to produce smaller pmp with wifi in also as opposed to just being an android PMP and knowing the speed of development i reckon in 2 months we will see wifi being adopted in alot more smaller devices and the price coming down -

wifi is more useful for the day to day functioning of the tablet as opposed to just web - apps is a biggie and sooo much easier to get with connection, plus many of the apps are indeed portals to web functionality -i like file transfers - meaning i dont need to connect the USB - just transfer over the wifi anything i need (even though i dont use tablets - even though i have 2 !!), or indeed stream files, even control my PC with it .. lost to do, develop etc, so knob, will be looking forward to any experiment you do on this

[knob]

Just found this one:-
Android 2.3 Dual OS MP4 Player Chuwi_J4 with 1080P Video and OTG 4GB freeshipping [Chuwi_J4] - US$59.00 : JTSHOP Online

chiwu J4 with dual os and android 2.3 for just $59.



looks nice but doesn't give any details about processor or memory though.

[makd511]

i think these are using a chip from company called NOVOTEK or NOVATEK .. all the dual boots seem to be using that chip, not sure if things have progressed as the first ones you needed to boot the android from the SD card .. i think they have it integrated now .. but not sure as have not kept up to speed .. essentially all thee dual boots are using the same reference design, just adding their own variety of screen, buttons etc - not entirely sure what MELIS 3.0 is but if you see it its usally an indicator of dual boot system

[Binh@MyMPx]

Hi Knob,

Good news! I have been talking to JTShop for over a week now about sponsorship and turns out, they also specified the SAME PLAYER as you mentioned in your post as the preferred player to sponsor for a competition.

So, I'll talk to them more about this and hopefully can get them to sponsor this player as a prize.

Thanks,
Binh

Originally Posted by knob

Just found this one:-
Android 2.3 Dual OS MP4 Player Chuwi_J4 with 1080P Video and OTG 4GB freeshipping [Chuwi_J4] - US$59.00 : JTSHOP Online

chiwu J4 with dual os and android 2.3 for just $59.



looks nice but doesn't give any details about processor or memory though.

[knob]

Originally Posted by Binh@MyMPx

Hi Knob,

Good news! I have been talking to JTShop for over a week now about sponsorship and turns out, they also specified the SAME PLAYER as you mentioned in your post as the preferred player to sponsor for a competition.

So, I'll talk to them more about this and hopefully can get them to sponsor this player as a prize.

Thanks,
Binh

yes this is a good entry level android smart PMP for the price of a regular mp4/mp5 device, with the newer android gingerbread 2.3 too!

Install Rockbox or Winamp as an App, and for $59 is there any reason for anyone to buy an old fashioned mpx anymore?