Leader International’s Impression 10 Tablet

The Impression 10 Tablet offers some high quality features that tablets like the Xoom Tablet and Galaxy Tablet 10.1 are offering, namely a large capacitive touchscreen, a camera, Flash, and IPS Display. Sounds awesome right? Would it impress you even more to learn that it has a sticker of $350.00 where other companies are asking $500 or more for 10-inch tablets?

The Impression 10 Tablet sounds all nice and dandy at first, but it's the little things that may doom it before arrival. Sadly, this tablet only runs Android 2.2 Froyo and there is no Android Market access. This means you are going to be running a stretched out OS on your tablet, the exact reason for Android 3.X (Honeycomb). Also, since there is no Android Market on this device, applications are going to have to be side-loaded, which for the average user, can be a big chore.

Overall, Leader International Inc. should be applauded for their efforts, even if they do fall a bit short. Still, a budget tablet like the Impression 10 may be a decent pick up for some at $350. We get the sense that a lot of you readers would rather pay the extra $150 and grab yourself a dual-core Honeycomb tablet.

Android-based 9.7-inch Impression 10 Tablet from Leader International 
Leader Impression 10 Tablet Review
New Impression 10 Tablet Review

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Leader Impression 10 Tablet Review

Leader Impression 10 Tablet Full Review

It's easy to write off tablets when they're not from big name brands like Samsung, HTC, Asus, or Apple. After all, the popularity of tablets have caused budget versions of the devices to come out of the woodwork from numerous third party and low-profile brands, most of which are of dubious quality at best. But this isn't the case with one of the most recent budget tablets I came across, the Impression 10 tablet from Leader.

Leader Impression Tablet

Leader may be an unknown brand, but their product is a remarkably solid device despite their apparent lack of experience in the market. Sporting some surprising features like full-sized USB ports, the Impression 10 is a nicely built, relatively quality piece of technology that easily reigns supreme over the rest of the budget tablets that are currently on the market.

But therein lies the rub: its price tag is not exactly as "budget" as it should be. When choosing devices such as the Impression 10 over bigger names like the Galaxy Tab or the iPad, one of the primary reasons to do so is because of the price tag. After all, it makes sense; with bigger names comes a bigger price tag. But this isn't the case with the Impression 10, and the appeal of the device is somewhat diminished by the fact that it goes for $349.99 MSRP. Is the Impression 10 worth the extra cash? Does it have the same quality as a tablet from a big name brand?

BUILD & DESIGN

The first thing you need to know about the Impression 10 is that it is a very, very heavy device. Weighing in at 1 pound, 12 ounces and built like a brick house, the Impression 10 is generally uncomfortable to hold up with one hand for extended periods of time. It's also quite thick, measuring almost half an inch in thickness, but at least it has generous amounts of real estate in terms of the screen. Though its build is far bulkier, the Impression 10 sports the same screen size as the iPad at 9.7 inches.

However, its heftiness exists because of quality construction. Its build feels solid and reliable, and the tablet even has a nice brushed aluminum back (although it is prone to smudges and is adorned with a gigantic Android logo).

The power/standby button is located on the top edge of the device, as are the two speakers. The only other buttons are on the right side, which include the volume up/down buttons, as well as a dedicated camera button.

The bottom of the Impression 10 tablet is crammed full of ports, ranging from the standard to slightly more out of the ordinary. For instance, there is a mini USB port, as well as DC in and headphone jacks. But more surprising are the two full-sized USB ports, allowing you to plug in USB keys for added storage and even peripherals, which I thought was incredibly impressive for an off-brand tablet (though, admittedly, mice and keyboards don't blend very well with the touch-based interface of Android). The bottom edge also features a mini HDMI out and a microSD slot, but it's exposed and somewhat prone to jams; I find this design to be a little odd, since the common practice is usually to put it behind a door of some kind. The Impression 10's built-in microphone is found down here, as well.

Leader Impression 10 Tablet Specs

Android Froyo (2.2)
9.7-inch widescreen (1024 x 768) capacitive touchscreen
Samsung A8 S5PC110, 1 GHz
512MB RAM
Included 4 GB microSD card, slot expandable up to 32GB
Front-facing 2-megapixel camera
Built-in 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi antenna
3.5 mm audio jack
USB mini, USB 2.0 x 2, and mini HDMI ports
7,000 mAh battery
9.64 x 7.55 x 0.47 inches
Price at launch: $349.99

Screen and Speakers
As mentioned, the Impression 10 has a comfortably large, 9.7-inch screen, but in terms of sharpness, it's very much average. The display is not particularly crisp and with a mediocre resolution of 1024 x 768, it really shows; it's not terrible, but it's not great either.

The Impression 10 has a capacitive touchscreen, which gives it far more responsiveness than much of its similar, budget-priced competition (the Next series of tablets from E FUN keeps sticking with resistive for some reason unbeknownst to me), so that was a bit of a relief to discover. Still, it isn't always as responsive as I would like it to be, as I occasionally found myself having to tap or swipe multiple times to get some of my commands to register.

The speakers are of good quality and, yes, the fact that there are two of them makes for a more powerful maximum volume. But the fact that those two speakers are directly next to each other on the top edge (or left edge, depending on which way you're holding the tablet) kind of negates any sort of stereo effect that otherwise would have been achieved.

PERFORMANCE

As is often the case with budget Android tablets such as the Impression 10, the operating system found on this device is a bit dated and that's always a let-down. The Impression 10 unfortunately runs Android OS 2.2 (Froyo) and not 3.0 (Honeycomb, the OS design specifically for tablets), but it has been lightly skinned by Leader. Having used Honeycomb and knowing how much better it is given how tailored it is for these devices, I found myself missing it greatly. I was, however, rather impressed by the fact that it sported live wallpaper, which I thought was a nice touch and a bit of a rarity.

Leader Impression Tablet
Our standard benchmark for tablets is Quadrant, and the Impression 10's marks ranked relatively low compared to the competition. I ran Quadrant four times, and the average rating was 832 marks -- with the high and low hitting 844 and 801 -- which put the Impression 10 below nearly all big name devices, many of which were smartphones (including the Nexus One with Android 2.2, Motorola Droid X, and the Samsung Galaxy S).

Browser
The Impression 10 is equipped with the standard Android browser, which performs just as well as it does on other Android tablets, budget or otherwise—in terms of speed, features (like Flash support), and comfort of use. To give a more specific idea of browser performance, though, we use Sunspider, a benchmark program that measures Javascript rendering times, and in this area the Impression 10 came up quite short.

Averaged Sunspider results over two runs brought in a time of 7771.1 ms, our worst time to date by a country mile (the next worst was the HTC EVO View 4G, which brought in Sunspider times of roughly 3800 ms). To be fair, the browsing performance of the Impression 10 in reality did not feel drastically slower than the average Android tablet browser. But for those of you who are concerned with the hard numbers, the Impression 10's browser did not score very well.

Keyboard
There's nothing new in this department, as this is the same touchscreen keyboard that you'll find on any other Android tablet (save for the choice few that have UIs/skins that drastically change them or add features like Swype). There is no haptic feedback feature, but assuming you like the stock Android keyboard -- relatively speaking of course, as nobody actually likes touchscreen keyboards -- then you shouldn't have a problem with this one.

Battery
The battery was actually very good, lasting me about 6 to 7 hours with light to medium usage. That was with the screen brightness at a medium setting and occasional internet usage (maybe about an hour, including downloads from the app store), so slightly heavier usage could shorten the lifetime a bit. The only issues were that, when it was off, it seemed to drain a little faster than most of the tablets that I've used in the past, and recharge times were pretty lengthy.

Regardless, for a budget tablet I found the Impression 10's battery life to be especially impressive, especially considering the fact that it sports a 7,000 mAh battery, the same as the recently-released (and high-profile) Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Connectivity
Connectivity was a little spotty with the Impression 10. It does not have any sort of data connection, so it relies on Wi-Fi for internet access. The only problem was that whenever I was in an area with multiple networks available, it couldn't seem to make up its mind as to which one it wanted to connect to. It was very bizarre to see the tablet -- completely on its own accord -- switch from network to network without any sort of provocation. I found this especially odd because the Wi-Fi connection is maintained, obviously, by the Android OS, and yet I've never had this problem with any other Android tablet. It made it difficult to maintain a consistent connection.

On the occasions that I could get the radio to settle down (it helped to tell it to forget connection settings to all but one network) connection speeds were fine. And if I was ever in an area where I would only pick up one network connection, then it would reliably connect and stay connected without any issues.

Camera
Oddly enough, the Impression 10 only has one camera, and it's a front-facing camera. I feel like this is kind of an unorthodox choice in that if a device only has one camera, it's usually rear-facing, but I welcome this design and think it makes sense to an extent. The fact of the matter is that few people plan on using their tablets to take pictures, and tablets generally are not equipped with good enough cameras to rival the quality of even a point-and-shoot anyway. So if you're only going to have one camera, might as well make it the one that allows you to video chat, a far more common and sensical use of your tablet.

You can use the camera to take stills and video, though I'm not quite sure why you would. Other than self-portraits or a video diary of some sort, I really can't think of many reasons why you would use a front-facing camera to take photos and video. Besides, they're not very good quality; pictures are a fuzzy 2.1 megapixel resolution, colors are weak, and the camera tends to struggle in low-light situations. As I said, you're best off just using it for video chatting (if you can find a program that enables it on the Leader 10, that is) and leaving it at that.

Apps
Given that this is a third-party, budget Android tablet, it comes as no surprise that the Impression 10 does not have access to the Android Market. It's disappointing, but to be expected. Instead, it has access to the SlideME marketplace, which obviously has a smaller (and lower quality) selection than the real deal, but it at least provides some selection content to choose from. Still, side-loading apps from the web on your computer is still an option by using the removable media, be it the microSD card or the USB slots. The Impression 10 also comes equipped with an APK Installer app, so the tablet is ready for installing .apk files right out of the box.

It also goes without saying that, since the Impression 10 does not run Android OS 3.0, some of the latest and greatest apps for Android tablets -- many of which are designed only for Honeycomb -- are completely removed from the equation.

In terms of what comes pre-loaded on the Impression 10, it's a pretty threadbare scene. Though I generally find this preferable to having the device loaded down with mostly crapware and only one or two decent apps straight out of the box, the fact that SlideME doesn't have the widest selection of apps makes me wish there was a little more preloaded content here. And it's all standard fare, really; besides the usual trifecta of browser/media player/email apps, there are also file manager, MSN Messenger, Kobo Reader, and YouTube apps. The Amazon Appstore for Android, arguably the best third-party app market, failed to install on the Impression 10.

CONCLUSION

Leader Impression Tablet
The Impression 10 is far and away the best Android tablet that we've seen of its kind; in other words, the best off-brand tablet from, as it stands now, a virtually unknown company. When dealing with tablets that come from makers other than any of the big names like Samsung, Apple, HTC, etc., it's usually expected that the quality of the device will be poor and the hardware unsatisfactory, but this is not the case with the Impression 10. While it definitely is not the most impressive tablet on the market -- both in terms of hardware and performance -- it definitely is not as much of a throwaway as many of the other cheap tablets we've come across.

The only problem is, while the Impression 10 eschews all preconceived notions about off-brand tablets, that includes the assumption that it will sport a low price tag. At $349.99, the Impression 10 is asking just a little too much for what it is; for example, for that price, you can snag a WiFi-only Samsung Galaxy Tab, a higher-quality device from a better-known name. If the Impression 10 could shave off $100 or so from its price-tag, it would be a no-brainer alternative to the more expensive, high-profile devices. But given the slightly dated OS (tablet users really shouldn't be missing out on Honeycomb), the less-than-elegant design, lack of Android Market support, and mediocre specs (especially compared to the dual-core tablets that are now available), the Impression 10 seems to lose sight of what it is, or rather, what it should be: an affordable alternative to the heavy hitters.

Pros

Good build quality
Decent battery
Great task manager app

Cons

Wi-Fi connection unstable at times
No Honeycomb
Heavy
No access to Android Market

Android-based 9.7-inch Impression 10 Tablet from Leader International 

Leader International’s Impression 10 Tablet 
New Impression 10 Tablet Review

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HP thinking about resurrecting the TouchPad?

The past couple weeks or so there has been a lot of buzz surrounding the HP TouchPad, and why wouldn't there be? After all, the device was cancelled after only less than two months into its release. Since then the tablet has seen a fire sale where it saw its prices drop to $99 for the cheapest option, and let's not forget that Android developers are now working to get an Android ROM running on the device.

In an interview with Reuters, head of HP's Personal Systems Group, Todd Bradley, dropped a piece of rather shocking news when he casually mentioned that HP could resurrect the TouchPad. He acknowledged that the tablet industry was important which could be one of the reasons HP is reconsidering getting back into the game.

Bradley said the company could resurrect HP's short-lived TouchPad tablet computer, which was introduced on July 1 before being terminated only about six weeks later.

“Tablet computing is a segment of the market that's relevant, absolutely,” Bradley said.

As to whether Bradley was being drop-dead serious about the possibility of reviving the TouchPad, or if he was merely discussing a distant possibility remains unclear, but if it turns out that they do revive the TouchPad, those who got their hands on it for a mere $99 will definitely be extremely pleased!
source: Ubergizmo

Lenovo ThinkPad Android Tablet Available Now

The Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet, the first business-centric Android tablet, is now available for purchase.

What differs this Honeycomb tablet from the competition is support for pressure-sensitive digitizer pen input via a separately sold pen and some enterprise-class security features such as SD card encryption and anti-theft software. Also, it has some physical keys, an optional keyboard, Documents To Go office suite, and Netflix video streaming app.

The 1.6-pound slate has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections, while 3G mobile broadband choice will be added in October. There are a front 2MP and rear 5MP cameras, a USB (full size), Micro USB, and mini HDMI ports, and a 3-in-1 media card reader.

The ThinkPad Tablet models are priced at between $499 and $669 on the Lenovo online store.
source: Laptoping.com

Acer Iconia Tab A100 Tablet Hits the Market with 7″ Display, Honeycomb, $334 Price Tag

Acer Iconia Tab A100 Android 3.2 Honeycomb-based tablet with a 7-inch display has just become available.

The first US store to has it in stock is SuperBiiz, selling the Iconia Tab A100-07U08U (XE.H6RPN.002) model with 8GB of storage for $334.

The 0.5-inch thin 0.9-pound tablet sports the Nvidia Tegra 250 dual-core 1GHz processor paired with 1GB of RAM, 1024 x 600 resolution on its capacitive multitouch screen, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, a 2MP camera on the front, and a 5MP camera on the back.

Regarding ports and slots, there are a micro HDMI connector, USB 2.0 and micro USB 2.0, and a Micro SD/ Micro SDHC card reader.

According to the specifications, the battery life of the included 2-cell unit is up to five hours.

The A100-07U08U has a blue glossy lid with an interesting design which consists of white curved lines.

If you are more interested in a 10.1-inch Iconia Tab A series tablet you can check out the A500, which has been already available on the market for some time.

source: Laptoping.com

Hack Your TouchPad to Run Android, Win a Prize

After HP announced it would discontinue production of its TouchPad tablet last week, it looked like early HP tablet adopters spent $500 on a dud. If you're an enterprising software hacker, however, there could be an opportunity to make your money back — and then some.

A hardware modification web site is offering a $1,500 cash bounty for the first person to successfully port a full version of the Android operating system over to HP's TouchPad.

Hacknmod.com offers a tiered bounty system for would-be TouchPad hackers: Just getting Android to run on the TouchPad without taking full advantage of the tablet's hardware will win you a cool $450. But the more you're able to integrate the system software into the device, the more cash you'll earn. Get the Wi-Fi, multitouch capability, audio and camera up and running, and you'll add another $1,050 to the pot.

While the bounty is characteristic of the Android modding crowd which basically wants to slap Android onto anything with a circuit board and touch screen, it's also an admirable effort to breathe new life into a dying piece of hardware. After reports of dismal sales and third-party retailers sitting on hundreds of thousands of unsold TouchPads, HP decided to kill production after a mere 49 days on the market.

It was bad news for current TouchPad owners. No more HP hardware gives little incentive for webOS app developers to continue producing applications for the platform. In turn, TouchPad owners miss out on the latest popular applications to come to mobile devices. And of course, it gives potential customers no incentive to buy the remaining TouchPads retailers have in stock, costing HP and retail stores hundreds of millions of dollars. Everyone loses.

But if the porting plans work, it could mean bringing a slew of Android apps over to HP's tablet. If the TouchPad were capable of running thousands of Android apps, the device may not be obsolete.

This isn't the first time the Android modification community tried to port the operating system over to non-Android devices. Android modders have run the operating system on the Barnes And Noble's Nook Color e-reader, certain Nokia smartphones and even an iPhone.

If you don't want to go it alone, Android modification enthusiast site RootzWiki created a team specifically to work on porting Android over to the TouchPad, christened the TouchDroid team. The plan is to get Android version 2.3 (Gingerbread) up and running, then install a version of CyanogenMod, the most popular modification software available for Android devices. Eventually, the team wants to get Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) onto the TouchPad, Google's tablet-optimized version of the software. The coders will post updates to a thread on a message board devoted to Android development on the TouchPad.

All of the Android hacking mania begs the question: If all you want is an Android tablet, why not just go out and buy one?

First, you may be able to get a TouchPad for even less than you would a proper Android tablet. HP, Best Buy and some U.K. retailers slashed prices on its TouchPad inventory over the weekend, dropping the price as low as $100. Sales skyrocketed, and the TouchPad reached the top of the electronics sales charts on Amazon.com. Android tablets that boast hardware similar to the TouchPad average $400 to $500.

Second, the future of webOS is unclear. HP says it will continue to support the operating system despite discontinuing its tablet, but that doesn't necessarily mean we'll see tablet-optimized updates to webOS in the future. And of course, HP could sell off the operating system for its patents to a competitor like Google or Apple, which would all but secure the system's demise.

Most importantly, hackers hack because they can. Android was built using open-source software principles, a favorite of the modification community who codes for the fun of it. If you propose the challenge of running an operating system on a piece of foreign hardware, expect the DIY community to take you up on it.

If nothing else, do it for the money.

source: Gadget Lab

HP TouchPad cleared off UK shelves

Guess the massive price cut in the discontinued HP TouchPad has proved to be a rather popular move, so popular in fact that it has done quite an impressive job in evaporating off shelves in the UK. Further investigation was done at various web sites including Currys, PC World and Dixons, where they introduced the newly discounted price points at 6pm, and all these sits seemed to experience a slowdown in performance.

There were times when you were required to register and provide personal information before you are able to place an order, while other sites proved the TouchPad to be rather elusive across a range of postcodes.

In fact, all Currys and PC World stores had already sold out their stock of HP TouchPads, regardless of whether they are online or pre-order models. It makes me wonder just what kind of use will these firesale TouchPads be used for – how would you make use of a TouchPad if you had one?

source: Ubergizmo

Sony S1 Will be Dubbed Tablet S, Coming First Half of September

With September right around the corner, things are lining up for the launch of Sony’s first entry into the Android tablet space. Originally announced under the codename of the Sony S1, Engadget has got the scoop on the slate that will be released as the Sony Tablet S. We’ve seen the tablet with its inviting curved design plenty over the past few months, and leaks have spelled out nearly every detail of the 9.4-inch (1280×768) tablet.

The Tablet S will ship with Android 3.1 when it launches sometime during the first two weeks of September. An upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich is a planned stop along the device’s future roadmap. The PlayStation Certified tablet is being positioned as a media monster, with a built-in IR blaster for controlling your home electronics as well as extensive DLNA capabilities. Rounding out the Tablet S are dual cameras (5MP rear, 3MP front) and the promise of plenty of accessories. Sony will also bring the S2 to market soon, a dual-screen clamshell tablet headed for AT&T exclusivity. Its final name, as well as pricing on both devices, remains a mystery.

source: Android Phone

Fusion Garage Grid10 tablet shown off on video

Remember the unveiling of TabCo tablet last week which turned out to be the Grid10 tablet from Fusion Garage? Unfortunately while we couldn't make it to the tablet hands-on event, other sites like CNET managed to, and have published their first impressions and shared a video and some photographs of the tablet. The all-new GridOS looks like it could have been an overlay placed on Honeycomb, so Android users should have no problem using the device, though you gotta admit the screen transitions do look pretty sweet.

For those of you who missed the webcast launch and want a closer look at the Grid10 tablet to know what the tablet is like before plunking down money for the tablet (that's due to arrive on September 15th) you can check out the full post at CNET for more information. It looks like we have yet another $499 tablet in the market place - a segment that HP failed to break through with its TouchPad, let's see how Fusion Garage does with the Grid10. Any predictions?
source: Ubergizmo

Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet - Prices and versions

Just a quick heads up, last July we presented you the latest Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet on this article. This has now become available for pre-order starting at 500$ the lowest (16GB + Wi-Fi), 570$ (3G+Wi-Fi+32GB) and 670$ for the 64GB. All of this is powered by a 10.1 Screen and a Nvidia Tegra 2 chip and all the specifications on the 1st article.
source: Akihabara News