The Zenithink zt-180 thread

Khannie

Seems a few of us either already have or are considering buying one of these so I thought I'd start a thread to keep discussion in one place. For people just joining in, there's a lot of information in this thread.

I only have mine two days but I have to say I'm loving it so far. I bought it mostly as a portable media player and it seems to do that very well.

From what I can see;

Pros:
Cheap as chips. I got mine for 130 euro delivered from pandawill.com.
Large screen with a decent resolution.
Plays back high bitrate 720p video smoothly.
Runs eclair (android 2.1) and looks like there's a froyo (android 2.2) in the works.
Decent processor. Plays angry birds surprisingly well.

Cons:
Resistive touchscreen. It's....OK.....a bit clunky if you're used to a capacitive screen. Mostly it's grand for what I'm using it for.
Build quality. It's no iPad.
Battery life. 4-6 hours seems to be the norm (up to 4 with wifi on, up to 6 without). It is possible to do a battery mod. I may do this myself.

useful links:
Slatedroid zt-180 forum. This is a good spot for all things 180 related.
xda developers thread. Mammoth. Has some good info in it though.
ZT-180 FAQ. Some very useful stuff in there.
txPower fix. Do this.

Khannie

So what apps are people using / finding good on their zt-180?

I stuck on launcher pro straight away and altered the number of rows / columns to better fit the larger screen.

Switched to opera mini for browsing. Finding this very good so far (it displays m.boards.ie properly which opera mobile does not).

The first few levels of angry birds seem to play well.

quicksshd is very useful for transferring files to / from the sd card over wifi.

mvideoplayer is working really well for me for video playback, but only on the newer firmware (1204). It had trouble playing back avi files on the default firmware that the tablet came with (1030).

If anyone needs the universalandroot apk for rooting drop me a PM and I'll send it on. I couldn't get it on the market (no surprise there I suppose ).

Anyone recommend a decent ebook reader?

TheDoc

I have a gneuine question for users.

If I'm not mistaken I had some hands on time with this pad from a seller in Dundalk and it ran of two phone batteries stuck together.

Now I used to work with airsoft guns for about 2 years and have been with the sport for about 3 or so, and have a long standing history with building my own machines.

Has nobody but me being turned off by two very unsafe batteries celotaped together?

I dont want to turn this into a bashing of the tablet, I've made my feelings elsewhere o nthe thread above.

But I'm looking at buying into a tablet for android and when I looked at this, I nearly felt like calling the cops the battery packs looked so dodgy and potentially dangerous.

You do know if they overheat or take a faulty charge ( two phone batteries together, it will 100% guaranteed at some point) there is every possability that they will melt through your pad.

And looking at the batteries specs of the one I saw, it actually combusts. So while being charged, literally an explosion and fire can occur.

I'm not scaremongeirng, thats a simple fact from the battery packs I saw in the Zenithink pad I saw in my hands, and tbh I saw that before it was even turned on and lost interest straight away.

Wondering are any users worried, or are people actually informed of how these things work : /

Khannie

You can't see the battery pack without taking the device fully apart ( which I did yesterday and had no safety concerns ). You sure it was a zt-180 you had your hands on?

Khannie

Ok...I reread your post and had to jump on the laptop (was using the phone)....

TheDoc wrote: »

it ran of two phone batteries stuck together.

TheDoc wrote: »

Has nobody but me being turned off by two very unsafe batteries celotaped together?

Can you be a bit more specific than that? Most multi-celled (i.e. more than one battery) devices where the battery is internal (and not supposed to ever be seen) will have the two cells wrapped in plastic like this:



The zt-180 battery pack (again, which you can't see without taking the device fully apart) looks somewhat similar to that. That's perfectly normal.

TheDoc wrote: »

when I looked at this, I nearly felt like calling the cops the battery packs looked so dodgy and potentially dangerous.

This is what leads me to believe you were looking at something else tbh.

TheDoc wrote: »

And looking at the batteries specs of the one I saw, it actually combusts. So while being charged, literally an explosion and fire can occur.

All lithium polymer batteries (which all or nearly all tablets use) are very dangerous if not charged properly. They're a much more unstable technology than older batteries and require careful load balancing when charging multi-celled batteries. The zt-180 battery has that safety circuit built into it for sure.

TheDoc wrote: »

Wondering are any users worried, or are people actually informed of how these things work : /

I've done a bit of reading on lipo batteries (largely because I was thinking of doing the battery mod that some others have done on their zt-180). I genuinely think you had some other tablet in your hand. While it's no iPad in terms of build quality, it's certainly not a dangerous piece of kit.

TheDoc

Thats cool

Yeah the one I had in my hand looked similar to the pictures I'm seeing and the seller said he was the only retailer of the product in Ireland.

He was decent enough bloke and wasnt forcing a sale. He had a device open for inspection and it definitly wasnt the battery you have linked, it was literally two lipos put together.

Ive witnessed two lipo explosions in my time and they are not safe at all

These tablets are just chinese knock offs, so I guess there is some " mehhhh"factor about them

Anyway I'm going to leave the thread for genuine discussion to continue

mik_da_man

Well I'm only getting started with mine and I like it.
I bought it with a case/keyboard combo that is quite handy if you are typing much:

http://www.pandawill.com/keyboardstyluscase-for-7-tablet-gpad-g10-g11-nupad-apad-smart-q7-mid1black_p38465.html

As for the screen, it is a bit slower as it's resistive. But I was expecting that anyway.
It's lighter than I thought it would be!
One thing I do miss is the standard 4 android buttons.
The market works fine, downloaded kindle, launcherpro and Angry birds so far.

Have to update the firmware and do a bit more messing.

I think it will be more or less a toy for me to see what android can do.

Would be neat to get the 3G working via a dongle, I ordered a 3 one for €9
So when that comes it will be my next project

but for the price I think it's well worth it

Khannie

Yeah, forgot to mention that about the buttons. You'd miss the standard buttons alright. That's the cost of having it try to rob the iPad look I suppose.

Not too concerned about the 3g dongle myself. I'll just use my phone as an access point if the need arises. I'm assuming that's doable (I know it was with the iPhone). I haven't checked.

Anyone know where you can buy a 2nd charger? I presume it doesn't charge over USB?

edit: mik: I'd highly recommend that upgrade. It's straightforward to go to 1204. You'll just need to do the USB one (or at least the TF one didn't work for me, but should for future updates).

Install the USB drivers by following the video in the FAQ. After that just go into flash mode (power on with the round button held down), launch the burntool.exe in the rar file and hit go. Make sure it's plugged in too.

Zascar

Khanie is there a guide to installing the 1204 update?
Edit: found this: http://www.ibeau.net/tech/zenithink-zt-180-1204-firmware/

These instructions are awful though, very confusing

Kevin!

Is it the Zenithink you own? as that case looks useful but it's for a 7'' tablet?

mik_da_man wrote: »

Well I'm only getting started with mine and I like it.
I bought it with a case/keyboard combo that is quite handy if you are typing much:

http://www.pandawill.com/keyboardstyluscase-for-7-tablet-gpad-g10-g11-nupad-apad-smart-q7-mid1black_p38465.html

As for the screen, it is a bit slower as it's resistive. But I was expecting that anyway.
It's lighter than I thought it would be!
One thing I do miss is the standard 4 android buttons.
The market works fine, downloaded kindle, launcherpro and Angry birds so far.

Have to update the firmware and do a bit more messing.

I think it will be more or less a toy for me to see what android can do.

Would be neat to get the 3G working via a dongle, I ordered a 3 one for €9
So when that comes it will be my next project

but for the price I think it's well worth it

mik_da_man

wrong link!


http://www.pandawill.com/keyboardstyluscase-for-ipad-10-tablet-epad-panda-pad%C3%A2%C2%85%C2%A1-mid_p39173.html

mik_da_man

Zascar wrote: »

Khanie is there a guide to installing the 1204 update?
Edit: found this: http://www.ibeau.net/tech/zenithink-zt-180-1204-firmware/

These instructions are awful though, very confusing

Here ya go:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpsemsLgqLQ

Or

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1dSM2q9nIk

mik_da_man

Just when looking at this I spotted that it must be a 32 bit system :mad:
All mine are 64 bit....

Khannie

Well....I've had this a few weeks now. Time for a bit of an update.

Stuff that's good:
So far I'm loving it. I still can't quite believe that it was as cheap as it was. I updated to the 1204 rom more or less immediately and it's stable.
Mostly I'm using it for watching movies and TV shows on the train and it's basically perfect for this. Initially thought the battery was totally naff, but it takes a few charge / discharge cycles before it comes into its own. I'd say 4 hours watching high def videos with wifi off is about what I'm currently looking at and I'm happy with that (it's guaranteed two days of train use for me before recharging).

Stuff I'm not so fond of:
I don't think you can leave it in standby, it needs to be powered off if you're not going to be using it for prolonged periods (I may be wrong here, but it seemed initially that this was the case / that battery was draining....after the charge / discharges this may not be the case).
Boot time is pretty long. Around a minute. This (for me at least) removes it as a "ah sure I'll just check my email" type device. I'll use my phone instead.
The resistive screen is ok, but not nearly as responsive as a capacitive screen. I can more than live with this though. It just hasn't been a problem for me yet.
I'm a little self-conscious with it on the train. I suppose that will pass.

Overall though, I think this was a flippin' steal. Money well spent.

Zascar

Agreed with the above. Unfortunately I have barely used mine. An impulse purchase I think. If anyone wants to buy it please pm me!

Khannie

New rom out today. Details are still thin on the ground but it looks like it supports network shares which is flippin' great news for me. I can just watch movies over wifi while in the house now. Total win.

http://www.slatedroid.com/zt-180/new-beta-rom-0113/

Hellrazer

How you finding it after a week or so Khannie??

Im looking at the Creative Ziio or Archos 70 but I still likethe open nature of these Zt180`s.

Creatives one is locked down at the minute and the same with the Archos.

Zascar--Im interested in the zt180.

niallb

We have FROYO!!

Khannie

I just upgraded to the 2.2 rom today. God damn it's a nice upgrade. Everything's very smooth. With launcher pro installed the whole experience feels a BUNCH nicer. Very impressed so far.

Khannie

Hellrazer wrote: »

How you finding it after a week or so Khannie??

Sorry dude...just spotted this now. I'm absolutely loving it. The battery's not lasting as long as it should. I think it just needs calibration though. Mostly I'm just using it for watching videos on the train and it's great for that. I discovered a problem with some .avi files that meant they needed an unpacked bitstream. I think this problem is common to all portable devices though. Unpacking the bitstream on your entire collection is a straightforward task though.

I have to say, the smoothness upgrade when moving to 2.2 means I may end up using it more for other stuff now too. It's a much more responsive tablet.

niallb

New release of Froyo available - 20110324. Referred to as 0324
Pig to download but looks much smoother with a darker theme.
Flash is beginning to work too, though it seems to take a while to load for me anyway probably because there's no hardware acceleration yet.

I've tried a lot of firmwares on this ZT-180, including a nice Eclair one meant for the Elonex E1000 (Same machine, different sticker on the box).
This is the most responsive so far on first impression anyway.
Battery life looking good too.

Some alternative download locations being posted on Slatedroid now. Hopefully faster than the one I used.

pickarooney

This is the first tablet PC I'm seriously considering buying. I see them for sale for all sorts of ridiculous prices on eBay (between 80 and 300(!) euros) and wonder if there's any difference between the models or if the older ones can be upgraded?

Also, does anyone have the full list of alternative names the device is sold under?

niallb

There are several different models.
For a start there are 7" and 10" versions.
The very earliest 10" models had 576 pixel wide screens instead of 600,
so they require a different kernel (Always provided though, and not a big deal.)

They all seem to have the same 1GHz processor as the one I have,
but the latest ones have 512M of RAM instead of the 256 in mine.
They are not memory upgradeable without a soldering iron and surface mount technology skills.
They're easy enough to open however, and it does appear possible to swap out the wifi card inside as it's just a USB dongle wired directly in.

It's a great tablet for the price, but for now at least, there is little support for flash,
and the biggest gripe for me is power management. If you don't turn it OFF, the battery
continues to drain, so you need to start it up every time you want to use it which takes a noticeable amount of time. I have mine plugged in all the time, so I can just grab it when I need it - I then have about 4 or 5 hours before it wants fed again.
That can't be good for the battery longterm though!

This page has a full list of the versions
http://www.slatedroid.com/wiki/index.php?title=Wiki:ZT-180_FAQ

pickarooney

Sorely tempted... Swore I had no interest in a tablet, but...

niallb

:-)
I was thinking I'd gotten as much out of it as I was going to, and was about to sell it
to get a tablet with better power management.
This new firmware has changed my mind for now at least.

pickarooney

Out of interest, how much would you have sold it for? There are a lot of chancers trying to sell it second hand for €150+

niallb

If I change my mind, I'll post it on Adverts.
I'd have asked for slightly less than that, but not by a huge amount.
I'd be more likely to see what it might attract by way of a swap.

I wouldn't really say someone looking for 150 for one of these was a chancer though.
It's a 10 inch tablet after all!

pickarooney

niallb wrote: »

If I change my mind, I'll post it on Adverts.
I'd have asked for slightly less than that, but not by a huge amount.
I'd be more likely to see what it might attract by way of a swap.

I wouldn't really say someone looking for 150 for one of these was a chancer though.
It's a 10 inch tablet after all!

Are they not 130 odd new from China?

niallb

pickarooney wrote: »

Are they not 130 odd new from China?

Delivery/VAT/Import Duty ; take your pick, take your chances with the company you're buying from.

That's probably the best price available anywhere, and prices vary a lot. Like an eBay purchase though, it's not the whole story. There's a UK importer as well, Elonex which take care of most of the worries, and do quality control on them - some people have got ones here with minor problems, but nothing you couldn't fix if you don't mind opening the unit.

I bought mine from someone who'd bought it in from China (Zascar), and was happy to pay the price he'd paid just so as not to have to go through the worrying whether it'd show up at all!

pickarooney

Yeah, that's a very good point.

What's the sound like off them? It would be dead handy to bring into the kitchen for a bit of background music if the speakers are any way decent.

Does it multitask, e.g. play music while I look up recipes?

Is it OK for reading e-books on?

pickarooney

Oh, and one more thing...


I read a couple of reviews which said it has a GPS module but I think this is a lie?

niallb

No they don't.
Sounds not bad though.

pickarooney

Confused now...
These resellers are claiming it has GPS, but it's hard to know if any of these guys are legit. GPS would make it worth the money instantly IMO.

Edit: it was actually the flytouch I was looking at and it does apparently have GPS.

Chardee MacDennis

would there be much between this and the superpad2/flytouch3? i see them on ebay for about 170 shipped from the UK...

pickarooney

Damn, missed out on one for 102 euros when I decided to go for lunch instead of waiting for the end of the auction.

emmcre10

pickarooney wrote: »

Oh, and one more thing...


I read a couple of reviews which said it has a GPS module but I think this is a lie?

Hi,i am actually using the zenithink to write this and ive had it for about a week now i find it amazing i can even use mobile broadband dongles on it but i dnt believe it has gps even though there is settings for it. I also have flash player and i can watch videos on it from any site. I will check really soon if the gps works but with the mobile broadband i can just use maps. I would really recommend this and the screen is surprisingly responsive too theonly this is i cant seem to figure out how to use usb drives. Hope this helps.

Telchak

The "GPS" is probably just using phone towers or wifi to try and work out its location, like on phones when you have 'actual' GPS turned off.

pickarooney

It was my mistake on the GPS, that's a feature of the flytouch 3. I'll soon see if it actually works

Guy:Incognito

I picked up a colpilot bluetooth gps module on ebay for about €15 delivered to use with my Archos 101 and it does the business (10" sat nav ftw ), so it's not dear to add GPS anyway.

niallb

There's no Bluetooth in the ZT180, so no support for it in any shipped kernel.
I try a USB bt dongle anytime I change.
Zenithink won't release some important hardware details,
so the device isn't as open as it might be.
there's a new Elonex firmware out I haven't tried yet.
I'll post here if that one supports Bluetooth out of the box.
I'm slow to try it because the pad is running so well with the latest Zenithink firmware.

niallb

Well, I installed the Elonex firmware on it, and it runs pretty well.
I still feel the most recent Zenithink was snappier on my ZT-180,
but I'm working with it for another day anyway.
The ZT-180 I have has board version Ruby v1.4 in it.
Comments from Omarahum on xda-developers suggest it's running better on his tablet,
which is the version Ruby 1.2, so maybe these preformance changes are down to small hardware differences.

pickarooney

Question relates to a flytouch but the answer should be the same I reckon - how exactly would I go about sharing a folder on my linux box with an android tablet?

Khannie

pickarooney wrote: »

Question relates to a flytouch but the answer should be the same I reckon - how exactly would I go about sharing a folder on my linux box with an android tablet?

Not easy. If you have the folder shared out as a samba share and the kernel has cifs support then there are a few apps available (can't remember the names). I was looking for nfs support before, but then got "not arsed". In theory you should be able to just do an nfs mount if the kernel supports it and the mount.nfs app is on the tablet. You could also set up a http server if you just wanted to be able to browse / install files.

The other way around is easier. sshfs + quicksshd works just fine.

pickarooney

Do you know is there any file browser on android that supports the fish protocol?

Khannie

Never even heard of it. Just googled. Sounds very like scp / sftp?

pickarooney

I use it to access files on one Ubuntu machine from another. It's built into the Krusader file manager so I've always just used it for painless connections.

Looks like there's a Midnight Commander for android in the pipeline; that uses fish normally:
http://android.modaco.com/content/htc-hero-hero-modaco-com/299984/linux-tools-coming-to-mcr/

Chardee MacDennis

got my zt180 this morning, pretty much as expected.

Anyone know any good resources for customising/updating etc?

edit: woops just saw the links in the OP

pickarooney

Slatedroid.com has a fair bit on the ZT-180

Chardee MacDennis

Second question how do I find out if I have the latest firmware version?

pickarooney

There are more than likely a few different firmwares floating about, official and non-official. You can check in settings what your current kernel/firmware and the name is usually the date in yyyymmdd format so you can get an idea how recent it is.

Chardee MacDennis

my wifi has stopped working, opened it up and the wifi module still is connected fine.

I can turn on wifi, but when it scans for networks it stops after a few seconds and syas unable to scan and shuts down the wifi.

any ideas?