2 Responses to “On Sale: Le Pan II 9.7-Inch Tablet (Black)”

1. Ernest S Sanchez says:

   February 15, 2012 at 3:32 am

   78 of 78 people found the following review helpful:

   
   Excellent Tablet that exceeds expectations, January 10, 2012

   By 

   Ernest S Sanchez –

   Amazon Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

   This review is from: Le Pan II 9.7-Inch Tablet (Black) (Personal Computers)

   

   Customer Video Review Length:: 9:54 MinsUpdate 20 January 2012: I decided to add a video showing basic functions to those interested. Some of it is inspired from the discussions below (they have good info for owners and interested parties). It, like my written review is kind of long, but thorough. I show basic functions, google applications, amazon applications, built in camera, music and video demos. Much of the bullet list of pros and cons are still best seen in the review below. It ran kind of long, so I cut it back for amazon’s requirements. Sorry again for the length of it and my written review, but there is so much to say about this tablet. I very much hope it helps people make informed decisions.Original review:Let me start by saying that I purchased the TC970 (previous model) back in October, and after 2 months was excited about the Le Pan II. I have had the Le Pan II for a few hours and am really enjoying it already. Originally I was wary about the unknown company, but took a chance. It was the best move I have ever made since I got a reliable Ipad quality device at a fraction of the price. I shall comment more on that in the company section.Basics: **Pros: It has a nice professional build and feels solid, no cheap plastic feel here. All quality.Fast processor, boots in about 30 seconds, quick start on apps, and can run many with no problems.It has a 4:3 aspect ratio like the Ipad, which I find more comfortable for web browsing than the 16:9 tablets.Fully functioning android market.Youtube app works great.Syncs with Gmail just fine.Beautiful high definition screen.Full Flash support.Sensitive screen with good response on keyboard, I can type about 30 words per minute on the tablet (~90 on a real keyboard) and it keeps up just fine (my speed is going up as I get used to the onscreen keyboard).No problems with Wifi, good signal.Good accelerometer, can use it to play games easily and works well with google sky map.Decent microphone with wide pick up (I use a frequency analyzing program).**Cons: Proprietary 30 pin connector, but it comes with a USB connection and charger (so only kind of annoying).No USB ports, do not get keyboards that connect through USB (it does support Bluetooth so you can get accessories, but only with Bluetooth).No rear camera (no big deal to me, I have a digital camera anyway), and front facing camera is only 2MP.**Notes: The speakers are above average for portable devices (almost no portable devices have good speakers since good bass usually needs larger speakers). These are pretty good overall, but for audio excellence in any portable device you need a good pair of headphones.I have not tried to connect this tablet to my TV with HDMI, I still need to get the adapter, but will update after I try. It does not come with the connector initially (at this time anyway).I expect it will function similar to the TC970, so the battery life should hold for about 7 hours even with constant video use. I almost never turned my old one off, just sleep mode. It can run for days easily in sleep mode. With intermittent use I would only charge every 3 days or so and expect the Le Pan II to perform about the same.Cases: I use an off-brand case designed for the HP touchpad, and it works well. I had to cut it a little to use the camera, and I have to remove it from the case to charge it. However, I got the “Targus Truss Case/Stand for HP TouchPad – THZ07202US” for my mother and this will fit the Le Pan II (identical size to the TC970) perfectly and allow easy access to all ports. In general you can use any case designed for Ipad or Touchpad, but may need to cut a little free for all the ports to be open.Interface: **Pros: Latest OS (honeycomb with possible upgrade to ICS)Runs all online video well. My main problem with the last version was that I could not watch amazon prime videos on it. Partly it was the hardware, and partly android 2.2. This tablet runs amazon streaming just fine, as well as Blip.tv, and comedy central’s videos (just the few I have tested). I do not have Netflix, but the reviews of the last tablet (TC970) said that it worked fine with the Netflix app and I expect this one will too.**Cons: None really. I got used to the simplicity of Froyo, so Honeycomb is proving challenging to adapt to, but I still figured everything I wanted to do out within an hour or so of playing with it.Tying into the last point, the previous version the TC970 may be a little easier for the non-technical people to use. My parents can use Android 2.2 with little trouble, but I think it would be tougher for them to use Honeycomb. I got this one to try…

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2. 3c57x9 says:

   February 15, 2012 at 3:57 am

   91 of 95 people found the following review helpful:

   
   The geeks are going to freak!, January 10, 2012

   By 

   3c57x9 –

   Amazon Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

   This review is from: Le Pan II 9.7-Inch Tablet (Black) (Personal Computers)

   A note about the previous reviews: Half of you don’t even own the product that you are reviewing, how sad. The other half are reviewing last years model, the Le Pan TC970. Please, the internet has enough garbage on it already.The review: I pre-ordered my Lepan II at the $250 price point and received it yesterday. This device is an absolute steal at $250, even at $299. I have one of the earliest Android tablets, the nVidia Tegra 2 based Viewsonic gTablet(BTW, the best ROM for this is Beastie with Clemsyn’s Kernel). I also have an iPad 2 that my wife uses. I was looking for a new tablet to replace my gTablet . I liked the form factor of my wife’s iPad 2 but nothing on the market had that except for the now defunct HP Touchpad. I wasn’t prepared to shell out another 500+ dollars for another iPad in addition, I don’t like the “yellow brick road” nature of the iDevices. When I saw the Lepan II I immediately jumped on it. IMHO this is the closest Android device to the iPad thus far. It’s based on a similar cortex A8 platform as the iPad and it has the same 4:3 aspect ratio.The Lepan II came in a nice box, nicely packaged. As I took it out of the box, I was impressed right away with how thin it was. The device itself is housed in an aluminum chassis with chrome accents on the sides. The Lepan II feels really good in the hand, it has a nice heft to it and feels an looks much more expensive than what it’s price would suggest. This is one good looking tablet.From power-on to boot was faster than my gTablet, on par with the iPad 2. It boots to Honeycomb 3.2.1. The screen is AMAZING at this price point. It’s nice and bright. The viewing angles are excellent! I am very impressed. The first thing I did was install a sys info app to find out what exactly was inside this thing. I couldn’t find any info on the net. Le Pan’s site does not tell you much other than saying that it’s a dual-core 1.2 gigahertz cpu.So what’s inside??It’s a Dual Core Snapdragon MSM8660 clocked at 1.2 GHZ with an Adreno 220 GPU! This thing beats the brakes off the Tegra 2′s. When rooted it should be able to overclock to 1.5 GHZ from what I can tell. The 1.2 GHZ MSM8660 is identical to the 1.5 except for the underclock, which might be done for better battery life numbers. I am so tweaked!I’ll update my review when I’ve spent more time with my LePan.Update:Hi all. There is an update available for the Le Pan. I can’t tell you what’s new since those details weren’t published, but it did fix some force close issues I was having with the YouTube app. Also, I noticed that the option for HDMI out went missing. Here’s a tip to save you some frustration before you do the update. Go to settings, then applications, then development and enable the “stay awake” option while charging. The download takes a long time and if your device goes to sleep it will freeze and you’ll have to start over again.Did you know that the parent company of Le Pan is Matsunichi? Le Pan is the marketing name for the tablet and it means “the pan”, I know corny right? I suppose the idea doesn’t translate as well from Chinese. If you go to Matsunichi’s site, the same tablet is being marketed as the “Meridian TC977″. I don’t know about you but I kind of like “Le Pan” better.This from the company’s web site: “Matsunichi was established in Hong Kong in 1993 which specializes in R & D, manufacture and sales of digital consumer electronics and IT products (including but not limited to AV products, gaming products, netbook and accessories) with OEM and ODM capabilities. Matsunichi is a member of the Goldin Group. The Goldin Group is a Hong Kong based conglomerate and its members include Goldin Properties Holdings Limited (stock code: 0283) and Goldin Financial Holdings Limited (stock code: 0530) which are companies listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Through continuous innovation and expansion, Matsunichi has grown into a multi-national corporation with a solid base in greater China, subsidiaries located in the P.R.C. and the United States. The success of Matsunichi is attributed greatly to its strong relationships with suppliers and business partners, active R& D, efficient resources management, brand positioning and marketing strategy.”Just a little info for those that are uncomfortable with an unknown commodity.The Tablet:I would like to discuss the features specific to the Le Pan and not rehash information that is already out there concerning Android Honeycomb. If you would like to know the relative performance of this tablet vs other android devices. Google Adreno 220 vs Tegra 2. Since the majority of the Andoid tablets are based on Tegra I think that’s a good place to start. You will also find reviews pitting Adreno 220 vs the iPad.GPS:The latest version of Google Maps has…

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