¿Tablet por 200?

[bulbastre]

Holas:

En base a mis preferencias, sería:
1. Quiero poder leer mucho cómic americano. ¿Andaré corto con 7 pulgadas? ¿8 mejor? ¿Me tiro a las 10? Además leer ebooks, ya que el ebook reader ha cascado antes de acabar el primer libro (Kobo nunca más), pero supongo que todas las tablet leen ebooks decentemente.
2. Que tenga salida HDMI para poder enchufarla a la tele y ver pinículas y mierdas sin complicaciones. Ya sea desde navegador o desde memoria. Al final, paso de Raspberries.
3. Probé las Kindle Fire en alguna tienda, pero me parecía que respondían lentamente y creo que la Store está limitada. Ya tengo mi móvil añejo y recargadamente lento (es un Xperia Sola), y me apetecería una experiencia de usuario más "shuii shuiish shwoosh" con Android.
4. Que sea potentilla para jugar a los juegicos de diversos bundles.
5. Que tenga algún control físico por ahí para meterle joystick y botones como Dios manda, y jugar a emus. Pensaba en pillarme alguna de estas que rondan comentadas por estos foros, pero si no tienen salida HDMI se invalidan.
6. Con salida de cascos ya la p0lla.

Acaba de salir la de Google. Son 200 justos. ¿Aporta ventajas el que sea First Party? ¿Será suficiente pantalla para leer cómics?

[popihmt]

Nexus 7. Se puede cerrar el hilo

[Molondro]

Para cómic (y más aún cómic americano que tiene un formato mayor al manga), mínimo 8" en 4:3, la chuwi V88 o clones van como un tiro y tiene todo éso que pides.
Si el cómic es prioridad absoluta, píllate una de 9,7" 4:3 con pantalla de 2048x1536. Es una gozada leer ahí. Lo mismo, Ainol Novo 9 Spark o clones. Lo ideal sería un Nexus 10, pero no se si tiene HDMI o no, y se te va de precio salvo que encuentres algún zumbado que te la venda de segunda zarpa por 200€

Te he mencionado ésas dos porque son las que tengo y las conozco de primera mano.

[amzg]

7" es muy pequeño, para mi gusto.

EDITO: Que buena pinta tiene el Ainol Novo 9 Spark no Molondro??? lo he visto por 185....

[Ryo-99]

Estoy pensando en vender algo por el estilo, te envío MP.

Yo precisamente leo cómic americano y 10 pulgadas con retina display son las justas para que sea conveniente. Ah, agregar a lo que te he dicho por privado que trae XBMC instalado.

[bulbastre]

La verdad es que el Novo tiene pitanza. ¿Alguien más le da un +1?

¿Mejor un 9 Spark que un 10 de los que hay? ¿Con la retina debería tener más que suficiente para cómic, no?

[Molondro]

La verdad es que el Novo tiene pitanza. ¿Alguien más le da un +1?

¿Mejor un 9 Spark que un 10 de los que hay? ¿Con la retina debería tener más que suficiente para cómic, no?

Si es el novo 10 captain ojete, que lleva un chipset actions y puede ser muuuuy limitado para mover ésa pantalla WUXGA.

Si estuvieras por barna te diría que te acercases algún dia y ves la spark in person

[CoMiKe]

Mirate la Approx Cheesecake Quad XL en PcComponentes por 178€ + gastos de envío.
Pantalla retina de 9.7", 2GB RAM, AllWinner A31 (Quad Core).

[bulbastre]

Si es el novo 10 captain ojete, que lleva un chipset actions y puede ser muuuuy limitado para mover ésa pantalla WUXGA.

Si estuvieras por barna te diría que te acercases algún dia y ves la spark in person

ACTUALLY bajo del 6 al 11 de diciembre. Pero tiene que ser breve, que bajo con la novia.

-----Actualizado-----

¿Y ahora qué? ¿Novo o Aqprox?

[blindrulo]

Estoy mirando las Ainol Novo, pero hay varias 10, cual es mejor? Porque valen las 10 menos que la Ainol Novo 9?

Un saludo. :brindis:

[bulbastre]

Ando algo igual con esa pregunta, aunque haya sido parcialmente respondida. ¿Nadie me recomienda una jxd? Sé que las hay tochas, pero no deben tener Retina Display, que supongo que ayuda en los comics. Tampoco sé si tienen HDMI out.

[blindrulo]

En cuanto a las JXD no se como serán las otras pero la jxd s7800b, pesa mucho para usar al para leer cómics.

Un saludo. :brindis:

[bulbastre]

Y es muy peque. ¿No hay JXD de 9 o 10"?

-----Actualizado-----

"irst of all i have to say that nobody is posting my review and comments. i have bought 3 ainol9 tablets and i am sure that there is a big problem with the wifi of the tablet. there is flactuaction of the signal. it will not work beyond 3 meters of your router, the signal will come and go. i have checked it with a lot of routers and places. i have send a message to ainol and they replied that it will be solved with the new firmware soon to be released, but i do not believe so...."

[eToiAqui]

Me parece que con pantalla "retina" no hay más que esa (y el ipad).

Con relación de pantalla 4:3, la Bq curie es de 8" con 1024x768:
http://www.bqreaders.com/productos/curie-2-quad-core.html

[Aiken]

Alguien sabe donde comprar el ainol novo 9 spark retina desde alguna tienda de la Union Europea? en amazon juraria que todos los vendedores son chinos y supongo envian desde china :(

Aiken

[bulbastre]

En realidad, los novo 10 van más fluídos porque lidian con una pantalla HD, mientras que los 9 van con una retina, en plan machote. Tienen una mayor batería para compensar. ¿Se escanean cómics para pantallas retina? Supongo que sí. ¿Es la misma retina la del iPad que la del novo 9? edit: lo son, fuck yeah.

-----Actualizado-----


Mirate la Approx Cheesecake Quad XL en PcComponentes por 178€ + gastos de envío.
Pantalla retina de 9.7", 2GB RAM, AllWinner A31 (Quad Core).

No estoy viendo mucha info sobre ella en las redes, mientras que el Ainol está por doquier. ¿La has probado?

[CoMiKe]

La tengo en casa. No le he dado un uso extensivo (la compré para que mi madre pudiese leer las noticias tras cargarse la anterior tablet).

Pero si te puedo decir que la pantalla retina se ve muy bien y que va bastante suelta, a pesar de tener que mover esa burrada de resolución (2048x1536).

No te puedo hablar del rendimiento en juegos y demás movidas, pero para navegar, leer y ver videos va sobradísima, obviamente.

La pille porque era la única que tenía 2GB de RAM, y eso a la larga es lo que más vida le da a un Android (me parece más determinante que el procesador o el tipo de pantalla). Lo que más me tiraba para atrás era precisamente la pantalla retina, ya que parece que aún no es posible reducir fácilmente la resolución en Android para hacer que los juegos vayan más fluídos.

De todas formas, si quieres hacerte una idea sobre como van los juegos, echa un vistazo en Youtube a tablets con pantalla retina y procesador AllWinner A31.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=allwinner+a31+retina

No confundir el AllWinner A31 (http://www.allwinnertech.com/en/product/A31.html) con el AllWinner A31s (http://www.allwinnertech.com/en/product/A31s.html). Según las especificaciones de AllWinner, el A31s es un SoC de bajo coste que NO soporta la resolución de las pantallas retina, mientras que el A31 si las soporta (ver la sección Display).

En la especificaciones de (http://approx.es/APPTB103S)Approx (http://approx.es/APPTB103S) pone en una imagen que el SoC es un A31s, pero sospecho que están equivocados y los que han hecho la web no saben ni lo que montan, jejeje.

[galaad]

Si te vale de ayuda,hace un par de meses estuve a punto de comprar un Ainol Novo Spark y finalmente me echo para atras el hecho de leer muchas (pero muchas) opiniones de compradores que tienen problemas con el wifi y,resumiendo,no se podian conectar a internet o si podian,tenian que estar a medio metro del router,en el mejor de los casos...Quiza lo hayan solucionado con una actualizacion,pero si despues de meses aun no lo habian hecho,,,busca info a ver que encuentras,por si acaso.

[Ryo-99]

Sólo agregar que si el motivo principal de la compra es leer comicbooks, te mires muy mucho si lo prefieres 4:3 o 16:9. Personalmente el panorámico en un tablet me parece una aberración, pero lo cierto es que hay muchos cómics con un formato más parecido a éste.

[Molondro]

Si te vale de ayuda,hace un par de meses estuve a punto de comprar un Ainol Novo Spark y finalmente me echo para atras el hecho de leer muchas (pero muchas) opiniones de compradores que tienen problemas con el wifi y,resumiendo,no se podian conectar a internet o si podian,tenian que estar a medio metro del router,en el mejor de los casos...Quiza lo hayan solucionado con una actualizacion,pero si despues de meses aun no lo habian hecho,,,busca info a ver que encuentras,por si acaso.


Las que tengo en la tienda vienen todas ya con la 4.2.1, y no parecen tener ése problema, lo que si he leido es que configurando el router para que el wifi use el canal 11 la señal mejora bastante.

[Estopero]

Alguien sabe donde comprar el ainol novo 9 spark retina desde alguna tienda de la Union Europea? en amazon juraria que todos los vendedores son chinos y supongo envian desde china :(

Aiken

Yo después de comprar la JXD en una tienda china y que me llegara estropeada la volví a comprar en una tienda online española llamada zococity y fue bastante bien, tienen la novo 9 spark retina también por lo que veo. Solo he comprado una vez pero volvería a hacerlo antes que volver a comprar en tiendas chinas, lección aprendida XD

[BREAKCDFAST]

Echale tambien un vistazo a esta: Unusual U10Z 9,7”

[bulbastre]

Dear Sirs,
This is Megan from ainolwholesale. This email is to explain the WiFi issues on Ainol Novo 9 Spark. Ainol confirmed there is one batch of the Spark has WiFi issues. We got some feedback from our customers and reported to Ainol. All the Spark in our stock have been checked again. The tablets which did not pass our WiFi test have been returned to Ainol factory already.

The tablets in stock now come with the new WiFi module which have been approved by Ainol factory. And currently Ainol Novo 9 Spark black and Ainol Novo 7 Venus white are not in stock now. We are sending this email to you in case of any confusion. If your problems already solved, please ignore this email. If you still do not report the issue to us, please feel free to contact us if you have any problems. Again we apologize for the inconvenience caused. Thanks for your constant support!

Parece que lo del WiFi tá arreglao.


Bueno, se acabó, no hay que debatir más. Me he encontrado con un hilo en el foro oficial de Ainol donde reconocen que los primeros lotes de la tableta salieron defectuosos. La wifi falla en esos lotes por un problema de montaje que ocasionó el fallo de no se que ****/puñetero condensador. Os dejo el enlace al hilo original para que vosotros mismos practiquéis vuestro chino mandarín.

http://bbs.ainol.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=43624&extra=page%3D1&page=1

En los lotes posteriores, fabricados desde mediados de febrero, no existe tal problema y por eso hay tabletas a las que no les falla la wifi.

De cabeza a la Spark en zococity.

[arkana]

Parece que lo del WiFi tá arreglao.



De cabeza a la Spark en zococity.

Yo tambien lo compraré, pero antes, esperaré a mañana que, por si no lo recuerdas, es Black Friday y esa tienda el año pasado ya hizo descuentos, asi que probaré suerte a ver si lo rebajan un poquito, sino, lo compraré igual igual ;)

Gracias por la info por cierto

Hasta otra

[Aiken]

Las que tengo en la tienda vienen todas ya con la 4.2.1, y no parecen tener ése problema, lo que si he leido es que configurando el router para que el wifi use el canal 11 la señal mejora bastante.

yo tambien he leido lo del canal 11 y el wifi, vaya tela no? como que hay que depender de un canal y si esta saturado? estoy a 1 click de comprar la ainol 9 spark, pero me estan dando miedo este tipo de comentarios.

Aiken

-----Actualizado-----


Parece que lo del WiFi tá arreglao.
De cabeza a la Spark en zococity.

zococity is dead (or zombie), habra que esperar a que levanten el servidor para mi que lo hemos tumbado todos intentando entrar a comprar.

Y como sabemos que la version de zococity es la buena? te la cambiaran si da ese problema?
Aiken

-----Actualizado-----


Parece que lo del WiFi tá arreglao.
De cabeza a la Spark en zococity.



Nota: El wifi de esta tablet funciona correctamente. Los problemas relacionados con la baja señal de wifi se deben a la configuración del router. Para mejorar dicha señal, recomendamos cambiar el parámetro Channel al valor 11.


A mi me huele a: no te lo cambiamos si tienes ese "problema".

Me esta echando para atras :(
Aiken

[bulbastre]

Parece que de marzo en adelante todas son buenas. A saber de cuándo será ese stock. Yo voy a por la Spark, que además, puedes comprar stylus aparte, y me apetece para dibujar webcomic cutrón.

[Aiken]

Parece que de marzo en adelante todas son buenas. A saber de cuándo será ese stock.

si, si, pero en todas las webs online (incluida zococity) siguen manteniendo el mensajito de "si te va mal cambia el canal del router y no reclames que no te la vamos a cambiar". quizas se les haya olvidado quitarlo, quizas se curan en salud, quizas tienen stock antiguo ...

Aiken

[bulbastre]

En zococity directamente no les quedan, así que es de suponer que reharán stock con unidades nuevas. Yo la pillo en amazon.

[Molondro]

Ya me la podiais pillar a mi ******** xD

[bulbastre]

lolwat.
wat

-----Actualizado-----

srsly wat

-----Actualizado-----

En esta review de amazon se despejan mil dudas.


Firstly, the distinction between Spark and Firewire: nominally its just the colour: Spark = white, Firewire = black, but the actual tablet is called 'Spark' on the case even if its the black version. I would send your seller an email to confirm the colour if it matters (as of this writing, you are most likely to get a white one because the black ones were released a month late). BUT see below, as the initial release of the white ones had bad firmware.

Physically, the build, form factor and screen are excellent: it looks good next to the iPads and Nexus's we have at work (I'm a web developer). The screens are made by LG, so are 'name' screens and not cheap plastic fronted ripoffs. You can't tell the difference between them and the iPad/Nexus screens, and my screen has no dead pixels. In terms of screen form factor, the Novo9 has the same form factor as the iPad (2048x1536 or 4:3, which makes it both better as an e-reader/web browser than the Nexus 10 at 2560x1600 or 16:10, which is better suited for widescreen films, and a little too wide for e-books). Choice of form factor is quite important, because depending on whether you choose 4:3 or 16:10, your screen will be optimised for either movies or e-books/magazines.
You pay a price for the retina screen though: 1/4 of that 2GB is reserved by the GPU, and once you have factored in the OS kernel, you are looking at about 1GB free: half of the memory is gone!

Compared with the Novo 7 devices, you lose the home button but gain a back button. You get stereo speakers (but you have to hold the tablet in portrait mode for them to be either side of you). The mic looks much like the ones on the Novo 7s. The lottery of 'will it come on when I try to start it' that occurred on the Fire (it seems to start anywhere between 2 and 10 seconds after you press the start key, and if you press it again before it comes up, it takes the second press as a 'turn off!): if you press start, the Novo9 does start consistently. The Novo9 doesnt have the 'battery stuck at 100%' issues of some of the '7 models. The Novo9 also comes unlocked enough for you to easily install app apk files that you (cough) 'didn't get from the play store'. 'Easily' as in they will always work. So yeah, pretty good if you are a particular type of 'hacker' ;)
Compared with other cheap A31 retina tablets, the big plus with the Novo9 is the battery: 10000mAH vs 7000-8000mAH, and that is why I picked the Novo9 against the other same-price A31s. Remember: that big screen eats power and you need all you can get!

*** Update: to clarify the Novo9 out-of-box 'root' status: it doesn't come rooted but it isnt 'fully locked down' either. This means it will let you install what you want (i.e. any apk file, irrespective of where you got it from), but will prevent applications doing certain things requiring low level superuser access (e.g. an application cannot access hardware directly, so you can't overclock the tablet out-of-box using setCPU). In fact, the only reason to root the Novo9 is to overclock it ***

Although the Novo 9 is a bit thicker than the iPad/Nexus, it is no heavier. Battery life is very good but you cannot charge it using a USB cable (well, you can, but you have to turn the tablet off and it takes over a day!). You have to use the power supply.

I initially thought the touch action was a bit sticky for glass, but soon realised that the screen comes with a plastic screen protector. Its difficult to get this off with a fingernail(or even notice its there!), so to take it off you have to pull it off by sticking sellotape on one corner of the screen and then pulling it up. I suppose you could leave it on, but hey, you're buying for the amazing screen resolution, so why cover it with a slightly blurry plastic layer?! As an aside, I'm sure that any reviews you see about poor touch on this tablet are due to the protector still being on!

Having a bigger screen was a real game changer for me: I can now use it as a screen reader that can display a full page at a time. In terms of performance in games, its excellent. You don't get Tegra enhancements, but games like Dead Trigger look gorgeous and run flawlessly and smoothly. Its excellent for web browsing and unlike the iPad, you get Flash player installed (Flash player is now essentially dead for websites, but is still important for web video).

I bought my tablet direct from Ainol, which works out a little cheaper (I got the tablet, 32GB SD card, and the Novo 9 case for the same price as some sellers are quoting for the tablet alone), but be aware that Ainol seem to be a little remiss with import duty (I had to fork out an extra tenner).

So far so good right?

Now the bad stuff. Sit back, there's a lot of it!

Firstly the case is metal backed. This is very good for build and looks, but can compromise WIFI range. It works fine for me (reception is one bar less than my Novo 7 for the same actual reception, so there are occasions where the '7 will get WIFI, where the '9 will not), but some people report very poor reception.

Secondly, the initial release tablets (all of which are the white Spark versions) have AWFUL firmware on release that make them very slow. You need to know how to update the firmware to the latest version (Go to Ainol main site, and look under 'news' for download links). The Black firewire's come with a better version of the firmware (20130201-V1 ie. 'version released on 1st Feb 2013'), but they are still a bit glitchy on 2D scrolling (PDFs, Perfect Viewer, etc, but strangely, not web browsing, which is very nippy), and the main UI can micro-stutter occasionally. It can also hang for a second or so when you exit a large application (memory management?). Its a bit odd because as noted above, the gaming is actually very smooth! As of this writing, there is probably a need for a firmware update to make 2D scrolling less glitchy or someone to come up with a settings fix (forcing 3D GPU rendering does NOT fix the issue). You will however, get a much more stable tablet (and micro stutter disappears from the main UI) if you use something other than the default launcher. I use Novo Launcher (its free from play store).

*** Update - Changing Adobe Reader page setting from 'continuous' to 'single page' fixes the issue enough to make it usable (or just use Kindle reader for your PDFs). If you are prepared to dip into your pocket get ezPDF and turn off the page turning effect (so the pages 'turn' by scrolling), you end up with a very fast reader that makes full use of your screen. The issue might actually be somewhat down to page loading times (a graphics heavy page will cause a pause in scroll because it takes time to load... but Android image gallery doesn't even break into a sweat when I am scrolling/swiping/scaling through 24MP files (that's 6000x4000 images!) from my camera - its all totally smooth (and much smoother than doing the same thing on my desktop computer!), so it cant be a performance issue because its not consistent across the board. It might be that some applications (i.e. Adobe, because Photoshop touch also runs like a dog) are just not optimised for quad core, plus maybe the current firmware is still not 100% optimised for quad core either
Comicat works perfctly with the Novo9, and is much better than PerfectViewer and ACV if comics are your thing
***

Thirdly, as noted above, you can't charge the tablet from USB - it has a 10000mAH battery, and USB is too weedy to charge it rapidly (including if you have a PC motherboard with overdriven USB current, such as some of the Gigabyte motherboards which I use). You have to use the power supply (you need a two prong to 3 plug adapter - check with your seller if one is provided). If you must use USB, you have to not be using the tablet, and turn internet off, then charge overnight: this gets it to 70-80% from flat, which is usually enough for a full day. Once you are fully charged though, the battery lasts AGES! 6 hours of constant use as a PDF reader/watching films. Long enough for most train journeys! The proviso here is that you are reducing screen brightness though: the screen is BY FAR the biggest power drain (a wacking 84% according to Settings > Battery on my Novo 9), so you need to reduce brightness to get a good use time.

Fourth, some features you may expect are not included: no Bluetooth, no light sensor (so no screen auto-brightness) and no GPS. I either don't need or can live without all of them (as far as I am concerned, all except the light sensor is just for bragging rights), but you may have different needs, such as in-car GPS. If you have an Android phone that does near field communications (you place the phone near the tablet, and the phone then uses the tablet screen), you need to buy a Nexus: this tablet doesn't have near field, and most non-nexus tablets have poor implementation as of this writing.

Fifth, in my testing with the actual hardware, the Novo 9 is half as fast as the Nexus 10 (if you believe passmark) or just 25% slower (if you believe AnTuTu). The Nexus 10 is twice as expensive, and you can't add SD cards (both of which are showstoppers for me), *but if you are after pure performance and 'works out of the box', then take the hit and get the Nexus 10*. Seen another way though, the Novo9 is as fast as the Asus Transformer Prime, which is last years cutting edge 10 inch.
The only app that is unusable because of performance is Photoshop touch (looks like it doesn't like quad core). Something I hope to see rectified.
Note that the Novo9 can be safely overclocked by about 20% (1GHz stock to 1.2GHz, which is the rated maximum stable for the A31 chipset), so if you believe AnTuTu, you can get close to Nexus 10 performance with a cheeky overclock. Looking at the AnTuTu ratings, stock gives me a rating of 10533, and 1.2GHz has given other users 12800. The Nexus 10 is not far off at 13251.

Sixth, the big retina screen is of no use if you want to just play 3D games. You can't appreciate the extra resolution on such a high density screen unless you are looking at static images (e-reading, web browsing). If you want a fast 10 inch 3D FPS gaming tablet, don't get a Retina display because it will be wasted on such games and worse, will be a useless performance hog to your needs!

So to conclude:

I find this to be an excellent cheap tablet to move from a 7 to 10 inch screen (assuming 20130201-V1 firmware or better), especially when it doesn't cost much more than the top end Nexus 7. The nexus 10 is clearly the better retina tablet on specs: its about twice as good throughout, except for build quality (about the same - the Novo9 is perhaps even a little better). The issue is whether you want to play twice as much (and also have to take out a subscription for Google cloud services - plus having to have a permanent internet connection just to get your data - in a few years). The Novo9 is less featured, but may be adequate for your needs, and at half the price.

The iPad is also a contender (it 'just works' and is a very nice device for the computer illiterate because it has everything covered and simplified), but I choose not to use one because Apple like to take ownership of all my media and tightly control what I can run... and tend to be more expensive across the board - no thanks!

FWIW, I have access to the latest Nexus, Samsung, Apple and Microsoft surface tablets at work, so can choose any when I want to do some browsing at lunchtime... but I choose to use my Novo9. The others are nicer, but I am happier to have my own device with my own stuff on it: most of the time I don't feel the difference!

I am technically minded enough to perform firmware updates and am assuming I will need to do it at least once to get the best out of my tablet, and because I have done this before, I am not seeing this as an issue. If you are buying for someone less confident then DO NOT BUY THIS TABLET! It is still a work in progress in some areas and there were issues with the initial release stock (which you could still conceivably end up with if you don't know what to ask for). If you can't go up to a Nexus 10, then my advice is to wait until the issues are sorted out. I will update this review if things change.

If you really can't wait (or like me think that firmware updates are pretty much a fact of life with tablets) consider buying the black 'Firewire' model (or confirm from the seller that the firmware is 20130201-V1 or later) as this seems to have less of the WIFI reception and glitchy firmware issues due to its later release (which, reading between the lines was caused by bugfixes on the white 'Spark' edition). This firmware will at least give you a very usable tablet out of the box.

Two stars if you have a release Spark with the initial firmware (unlikely to occur if you are just about to order, commiserations if you pre-ordered the spark and this is what you have), three stars if you buy a current version but are not computer literate enough to update firmware at a later date, four stars if you are happy with having to do a firmware update. Potentially five stars if all the firmware issues get resolved. So we're at four stars max as of this writing.

Speaking for myself, the only issues I have had out of box (with 20130201-V1 firmware) are to do with Adobe Viewer and Perfect viewer scrolling, both of which are fixable via alternative apps. Everything else (browsing, games, UI) is acceptable at this price.

And yes, my Novo 9 has immediately taken the place of my Novo 7, so for me it is a worthwhile update. I get much nicer film viewing (bigger, better screen, FF and RW is much faster, better inbuilt sound), and its much nicer as a PDF reader (scrolling is an issue, but the far better screen trumps it: I no longer use the Novo 7 for e-reading), and MUCH MUCH better for web browsing.

Again, I will update this review when/if things change.

*** Update May 2013 ***
I can confirm that this tablet accepts the following 64GB SDXC card: SanDisk Ultra Android 64GB MicroSDXC Class 10 Bi-coloured Card with Adapter (I'm using the latest official firmware as of this writing). This is a big advantage over other tablets (ie Nexus) that have fixed or cloud storage, especially if you want to load it up with movies/music/ebooks for perusing on the train, and crucial (if like me) you use your tablet as a backup and viewer for a DSLR (I use a 24MP camera, storing both the RAW and JPEG per shot so each photo is about 15-20MB over two files).

I've benchmarked the Novo 9 with Futuremark 3DMark for Android (3DMark being the accepted graphic benchmark by the gaming community), and can confirm that the Novo 9 is half as fast as a Nexus 10 for high end gaming. Real use is a bit different though, as the Nexus 10 is probably overpowered for most users, except those how want to play Tegra 3D shooters (and ONLY for those users - other games are fine). I can confirm this for my actual usage history by looking at setCPU logs - the Novo 9 is at maximum performance during use for 3.7% of the time I have been actively using it, so a doubling in CPU speed hardly seems warranted!

I have opened up my tablet (easy to do with a fingernail - youtube is your friend) to work out what is going on with the wifi. It looks to be down to the antenna being used: its a pretty crappy one (its a bit of aluminium attached to a small sticky foil strip). The wifi DOES NOT get better if you take the tablet back off, so its not down to the metal case. The antenna has a standard IP/IPX connector though so its easy to replace with a better one without requiring soldering. I bought one from eBay (Seller WesternPowers, item is 'ipx ipex u.fl antenna WIFI WWAN EVDO HSDPA HSDPA GSM 3G Wimax antenna'), which ships from the US, but total cost and mail comes to about 3 quid. If you don't want to buy one, then I suggest that you look at the image of that antenna on eBay and cut a bit of foil matching the one in the image, and stick it to the tablet's antenna via the sticky foil strip.
Anyway, with that eBay antenna in place, I now have excellent wifi. This does mean that if you are finding wifi a problem (and to be fair, I didn't - I just fixed it because it looked obvious and easy to do, and because I'm a geek), then waiting for a firmware fix may be a forlorn hope as its clearly a hardware issue.

Ive also clocked the tablet with setCPU to 1.2GHz (fantasys scaling) from the default 1.0GHz, as 1.2GHz is the defined max for the A31 chipset according to the chip manufacturer's spec sheet. Battery power hasn't suffered because I've set the min clock down (and that has actually INCREASED battery life as the CPU spends 30% of its time at the min clock according to the setCPU log!). Don't check the setCPU 'Set on Boot' checkbox though as some people (me included) report it doesn't come up from cold boot if you check this.

Finally, I have the Mame arcade romulator running on it (in fact, when I come to retiring this tablet in a few years, I'm seriously considering building it into an arcade cabinet chassis for its final resting place, with all the MAME ROMS installed - nice!), as well as the PC version of Baldur's gate 2 up and running via GemRB. No issues with any of them for performance.

So, as of this writing, I now have a nippy retina tablet with excellent wifi and 80GB storage, and you can colour me pleased.

As mentioned in the original review though, the route I had to take to get to here isn't one for everyone, so this is really an enthusiast's tablet. It has a good build and nice performance and expandibility, but you need to know what you are doing to get the best out of it.

*** Update June 2013 ***
A firmware update that fixes most of the issues with pdfs in Adobe reader has now been released, Novo9-Spark-LX-20130422v1. Amazon doesn't allow you to post urls in reviews, but I've added it as a comment. Only unusable application with no better alternatives is Adobe Photoshop touch. Nevertheless, that firmware update results in a very good and responsive tablet, and I don't think I will be upgrading my firmware again... so, we finally have a mature firmware release!

[egleuterio]

Ya me la podiais pillar a mi ******** xD

Señor cerdo, usted que vende y donde si se puede saber?
Siempre que se pueda colaborar con un forero, lo intentare...

[bulbastre]

Pillada en ebay a una tienda del Reino Unido. Importan de China, claro, pero al menos ellos están en UK y es más fácil ir a pegarles gritos.
Todo lo que había en amazon eran tiendas chinas.

[arkana]

Yo he terminado pillandome la Pipo M6 Pro, que como no la quiero para jugar y ademas tiene Bluetooth y GPS me salia mas a cuento. 200€ han tenido la culpa, a ver que tal sale ;)

Hasta otra

[bulbastre]

Escribiendo desde Mi spark. Wiiiiiiiiiii

[bulbastre]

Después de una temporada, estoy bastante contento con mi Spark. Como viene con root hecho, he podido instalar WhatsApp y deshabilitar todas las apps chinas que trae.
El launcher nova hace que todo vaya más fluído. El único fallo que no se soluciona es el tema del multitáctil mal programado. Por lo demás, es buen producto.

Ahora la pregunta:
¿todos los teclado USB valen? Creo que Spark no trae bluetooth, así que había pensado pillarme un tecladico pensado para tablets de 9.7", que los venden por 10 o 12 libras en las amazonas inglesas. ¿Cualquiera de esos es compatible? ¿Tienen calidad por ese precio? ¿Qué opinión os merecen?

[Xonaag]

Señor cerdo, usted que vende y donde si se puede saber?
Siempre que se pueda colaborar con un forero, lo intentare...

Secundo la moción Sr. Molondro, que me he decidido a pillarme una tablet y quería ver precios.

Se despide Xonaag

[bulbastre]

Después de una temporada, estoy bastante contento con mi Spark. Como viene con root hecho, he podido instalar WhatsApp y deshabilitar todas las apps chinas que trae.
El launcher nova hace que todo vaya más fluído. El único fallo que no se soluciona es el tema del multitáctil mal programado. Por lo demás, es buen producto.

Ahora la pregunta:
¿todos los teclado USB valen? Creo que Spark no trae bluetooth, así que había pensado pillarme un tecladico pensado para tablets de 9.7", que los venden por 10 o 12 libras en las amazonas inglesas. ¿Cualquiera de esos es compatible? ¿Tienen calidad por ese precio? ¿Qué opinión os merecen?

¿Alguien me helpea with this?

[rafa-lito]

Aprovecho este hilo para preguntar si es fiable el precio que he encontrado en amazon para la google nexus 7:

http://www.amazon.es/Asus-Google-Nexus-Tablet-16/dp/B0095T0RVO/ref=sr_1_2?m=AXCWOAWW3FN73&s=merchant-items&ie=UTF8&qid=1391260867&sr=1-2