I got this last time. I have yet to root it, but I have let it do its 2 updates, and not a problem!

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=ViewSonic+gTablet+10.1%E2%80%9D+PC+Android+2.2+(UPS300-2.2)#sclient=psy&hl=en&tbm=shop&source=hp&q=ViewSonic+gTablet+10.1%E2%80%9D+PC+Android+2.2&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=70eb2fd034f89fb8&biw=1280&bih=699

iPad killa?

dedpetls wrote:I got this last time. I have yet to root it, but I have let it do its 2 updates, and not a problem!

What OS version did it update to? It comes with 2.2, but can/will it be upgraded to 3.0 and/or Ice Cream Sandwich?

Hmmm.... here's a cnet review

Got one here and luv it! The screen is a bit hard to get used to because of the viewing angel but its totally worth the price!

This thing is truly amazing, after you flash a modded ROM to it. I've got one from a previous woot and have it running Vegan-Tab. It's very comparable to other higher priced tablets now.

Product Site http://www.viewsonic.com/products/gtablet.htm

Got two of these from a previous woot. Once rooted and cyanogened, these way outperformed my friends' ickpads!

Decent tablet that's a lot better if you root it.

And at nearly half the price for equivalent hardware compared to an iPad.

Since this lacks a cellular modem, does it have a GPS receiver? Will Google Maps run on it?

Oh no, not again..... :P

I bought this the first time I saw it on Woot! and I love it (after I put a custom ROM on it). Definitely a great and affordable alternative to the much pricier tablets out there especially considering the hardware specs. I wrote up a review on a couple of cases for this on my blog here:

http://themanpages.wordpress.com/2011/05/19/viewsonic-gtablet-case-review/

If you want a solid tablet go for this and Google around for custom ROMs, and check out the XDA forums here:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=841

-NickMich

Here's the link to it on Woot's daddy:
http://www.amazon.com/ViewSonic-gTablet-Multi-Touch-Screen-Android/dp/B004EPV7TK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307336715&sr=8-1

Can I upgrade the OS on these?

I have 2 of these. Bought one each of the last 2 times they were on Woot. I really enjoy them. I have rooted them and am using Roebeet's ROM Brilliant Corners (at slatedroid) and it works well. The only negative right now is Viewsonic support. They absolutely suck ***.

This is a nice price.

ok, I'm admitting to being techno ignorant....what does it mean to "root" it??

Nostrom0 wrote:Since this lacks a cellular modem, does it have a GPS receiver? Will Google Maps run on it?

There is no GPS built in. It's purely Wi-Fi for internet etc.

Looks like it doesn't have GPS chip, kind of a big deal for me.

This is definitely one of the best, if not THE best bang-for-the-buck tablets you can get. Especially if you can follow some simple directions and install a custom ROM. I'm running Vegan 5.1.1 and I couldn't be happier. Custom ROMs give you full flash, full market, and (soon) Netflix to make it an even sweeter deal.

Nostrom0 wrote:Since this lacks a cellular modem, does it have a GPS receiver? Will Google Maps run on it?

no GPS, but yes you can use google maps. its only Wifi

Nostrom0 wrote:Since this lacks a cellular modem, does it have a GPS receiver? Will Google Maps run on it?

You'll have to look into it. But I believe there is a USB GPS receiver that can be plugged into it. In other words, no, it doesn't have the GPS receiver built in.

I bought one on the last Woot and love it. The battery life is truly over nine hours.

The only thing I'm not a big fan of is the lack of the official Android Market. But, I've gotten used to, it does have this Handango market on it and then I downloaded the Amazon market app which also has tons of apps on it.

The Android Market can be had on it with the right ROM. I just have left mine as is.

snowire wrote:What OS version did it update to? It comes with 2.2, but can/will it be upgraded to 3.0 and/or Ice Cream Sandwich?

it's 2.2 but the TnT software updated to 1.2 which I believe was 1.0 when it ships.

deneb315 wrote:Can I upgrade the OS on these?

Check out the XDA forums here:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=841

and check out the ROMs available. Upgrading is pretty easy, but note that some flavors of Gingerbread and Honeycomb have some issues. Read the developer posts and decide. I'm running Vegantab 5.1.1 on mine.

Hope this helps.

The screen has a very limited viewing angle, but mod it with a decent ROM and look at it straight on and it's pretty good.

The gTablet ships with 2.2, but there are ROMs available to migrate to either Gingerbread or Honeycomb.

Be advised though that Viewsonic isn't supporting the gTablet on anything newer than 2.2, so the Ginger and Honey ROMs we have now don't have hardware video acceleration, and may never.

This is still a great piece of hardware for the price, but unless the ROM community makes some major breakthroughs it's never going to rival the iPad from a user experience perspective.

Previous Woot

roebeet wrote:Oh no, not again..... :P

LMAO. You're the first person I thought of when I saw this Woot. lol.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ViewSonic_G_Tablet

It's a nice tablet, and runs apps and games well. However, with Android 3.1 being out now which is designed with tablets in mind, it's important that this be able to upgrade to 3.1. Unfortunately I don't see any information specifying that's possible.

amicheze wrote:This is definitely one of the best, if not THE best bang-for-the-buck tablets you can get. Especially if you can follow some simple directions and install a custom ROM. I'm running Vegan 5.1.1 and I couldn't be happier. Custom ROMs give you full flash, full market, and (soon) Netflix to make it an even sweeter deal.

How likely are you to end up with an expensive brick if you oops on one of the steps in the simple directions?

Please be aware! Viewsonic has all but abandoned this tablet, they are an unreliable company, you will be completely reliant on the dev community and sites like XDA developers. The community is great though, just be aware what you are getting into. viewsonic = bad customer service. If your tablet ever breaks you have NO option really.

here is a little taste of the experience:

"Sent my Gtablet to fix broken glass top, and they ended up sending it back to me without replacing it or fixing it in any way"

http://forum.xda-developers.com/archive/index.php/t-915175.html

I bought one here a few months ago and upgraded it to the (now obsolete but still very excellent) TnT Lite. (Check out SlateDroid.com for the best selection of ROMs.) I use mine to watch the videos from my homebrewed DVR on my server -- it performs much better than my Dell netbook.

mykidstaxi wrote:ok, I'm admitting to being techno ignorant....what does it mean to "root" it??

its flashing it to a different operating sytem

Fantastic hardware, terrible software!

Officially supported by CyanogenMod (http://www.cyanogenmod.com), so 15 minutes after it arrived at my door, I had a near-vanilla Android build with full market access. Totally worth it!

If you buy one to mod it, the first thing you should do is check which development branch you have - most likely these are 1.1 (old) branch but you want to verify that BEFORE you mod it. Basically, check the "TapUI" version in Settings, and look at the first section (1.1 or 1.2 will be listed).

Moving between a 1.1 and 1.2 ROM (and back) requires a specific procedure, so you want to be careful. Since the last Woot! GTAB sale, a lot has changed - 1.2 based ROMs are now more plentiful and one of them is a Honeycomb alpha (see Slatedroid or Tabletroms for details). But there are still a lot of 1.1 ROMs as well, just just be careful when you mod it.

I love my GTab, but don't expect anything coming officially from Viewsonic, they're not supporting it.

Bottle of Smoke (Honeycomb ROM) developed by roebeet on the GTab is currently in alpha testing. These are very exciting times.

Find out the latest here:
http://www.slatedroid.com/forum/199-viewsonic-g-tablet-12-rom-development/

Also, just in case, I'd seriously suggest considering the SquareTrade coverage since Viewsonic isn't interested in supporting this hardware anymore.

editorkid wrote:I bought one here a few months ago and upgraded it to the (now obsolete) TnT Lite. (Check out SlateDroid.com for the best selection of ROMs.) I use mine to watch the videos from my homebrewed DVR on my server -- it performs much better than my Dell netbook.

Can you watch netflix on yours? I have yet to root, but have been contimplating if I can get netflix to work?

Nostrom0 wrote:Since this lacks a cellular modem, does it have a GPS receiver? Will Google Maps run on it?

No only with WiFi