[Review] Freelander PD20

didobuy

Senior Member
Oct 10, 2012
46
5
Our initial impressions of the Freelander PD20...

$pd203.jpg$pd201.jpg$pd202.jpg

Really bad screen resolution 800 x 400px, hard to believe the tablet can actually output in full HD.

Apart from this the tablet feels fairly solid and the software runs smoothly. Considering the first thing you’ll notice is the appalling resolution, especially the lock screen which almost doesn’t fit on the display, the rest of the tablets functionality and performance will probably impress.

Reported specs seem meaningless these days, with equally high spec’d tablets all performing at varying levels. The PD20 is an example of a tablet performing above average for its spec, it never crashed or failed to load anything and you’ll struggle to freeze it or slow it down.

A couple of niggles; the volume and sleep buttons are located in possibly the worst place for portrait use and sometimes you can push them by accident, also the stylus provided in the box is almost completely un-responsive against the screen. It’s a struggle to get an app to open with it, in fact we’re not really convinced it is a stylus.

Other than this and the fact that ours didn’t come with the suction cup for car-windscreens we were pleasantly surprised by this tablet. The combination of low res screen and Mali-400 means fluid processing and display, which is a nice idea considering you’d rarely want to watch serious media on a 7inch screen.
Fantastically modest and discrete 7inch tablet. Here’s the spec...

Spec
ModelFreelander
Operating System4.0.3
Display7 Inch, Capacitive Screen, TFT
Resolution800 x 400 px
CPUTelechips TCC8923, 1.2GHz, Cortex-A5
GPUMali 400
RAM1GB DDR3
ROM8GB
Cameradual cameras, front 0.3, back 2.0
WiFi802.11 b/g/n
3Gvia Dongle
MicrophoneYes
G-sensorYes
BluetoothNo
HDMIYes
GPSYes
FlashFlash 11
Android MarketYes
3D GamingYes
Connectivity
To PCvia USB (Micro Type B)
To 3G Donglevia USB OTG
To HD Devicevia HDMI Mini Cable
To External Storagevia USB (Micro Type B)
Power
Battery3000 Mah
Working Time5 Hours
Power DeviceAC Adapter
Appearance
ColorBlack
Dimensions185 x 122 x 9.5mm
Net Weight325g
Aditional Info
Ports1 x DC Jack
1 x Micro USB (Type B)
1 x Earphone Jack
1 x Micro SD Card Slot
1 x HDMI Mini
What's in the box1 x Tablet PC
1 x AC Charger
1 x Micro USB Cable (Type B)
1 x User Manual
1 x USB OTG Cable
1 x Earphones
1 x Stylus


We also tested the following apps for compatibility. We are in the UK so we only tested UK TV apps. Please can someone tell us the apps for US TV like abc or fox and we'll test them too.
App
Google Play storeINSTALLED
Google MapsINSTALLED
YoutubeYES
FacebookYES
SkypeYES
TwitterYES
WhatsappNO
MSNYES
ViberNO
TangoYES
iPlayer/BBC MediaYES
SkyGoNO
ITV PlayerYES
4odWEBSITE
NetflixYES
TV CatchupNO
Angry BirdsYES
eBayYES
 

genterminl

Senior Member
Aug 29, 2012
26
1
I purchased one (from a different supplier) and the battery in it is actually 2800mAh not 3000. I don't know if this is an anomaly, or if the manufacturer figures we'll never actually check.
 

didobuy

Senior Member
Oct 10, 2012
46
5
I purchased one (from a different supplier) and the battery in it is actually 2800mAh not 3000. I don't know if this is an anomaly, or if the manufacturer figures we'll never actually check.

How did you check your battery?? I'm curious now to see what our pd20's have got inside them. Theres no mention in the user manual we have and i cant find it in the settings menu?...
 

reikred

Member
Dec 9, 2012
1
0
I have a Freelander pd20 7-inch tablet since July 2012 and I am generally pretty happy with it, but I have some specific problems with it that I would like to discuss. Since there does not appear to be a Freelander subforum I will start here and then see what happens.

Problem 1 (software problem): There are several apps that seem confused about the screen size, or rather how much screen or pixel size is available for the app after status lines, system bar, soft buttons ort similar adornments steal some of the screen. Does anyone have ideas on this? For example, the Copilot Live GPS app has this problem, and also it appears that the SSHDroid app does not show some of the settings/help buttons because they are hidden or off-screen.

Problem 2 (hardware problem): The rightmost 5mm vertical strip of the screen (portrait mode) does not respond to touch. The app called "Multitouch Tester" clearly demonstrates that there is no reaction to touch in this region. Is this a hardware fault or a fixable calibration problem?

I'm looking for insights into the above problems. I'm also interested in hearing success stories of installing Bluetooth kernel drivers for a bluetooth usb-based dongle.
 

smoggypete

Member
Jan 12, 2013
5
0
Where did you find a user manual please ? I need to do a hard reset and what I thought was the reset hole doesn't appear to do anything. Thanks
 
Feb 26, 2013
118
20
The PD20 TV version with 3G and GPS is great value for the price aswell.. Freelander got this PD20 7 inch versions just right :)
 

Linsoft

Member
Apr 18, 2013
1
0
I have just purchased my PD20, it was a 2nd hand one from China with a problem with the /etc/hosts file (had a line in it which stopped the Store from working, common recent issue). Once I rooted it and got that working I put my registered version of Sygic (sat nav) on there. Works a treat, nice big display, the car mounting and charger work well.

As I am sure most people are aware navfree works well with this unit, but there is another free satellite navigation program that I am very impressed with. Route 66, I used to have this on my phone about six years ago, and it was great. Graphically its ok, functionally it blows the socks off the other two by finding routes locally I would take which is a great indication of its strengths.

For what I paid for this item (£45 it was 2nd hand), I am impressed, its worth that just for the satellite navigation which is the main reason I bought it. I can also use it as a normal tablet, read the news, watch films whilst I wait for the kids all that kind of stuff.
 

hd0829

Member
Apr 8, 2013
3
0
Help! I recently purchased this tablet and it was working fine, Yesterday it did a 'reset' and i lost all the programs loaded. It seemed to be working ok last night, and when i turned it on this morning, I clicked on the GPS icon and it went and showed the GPS screen and now I am getting the 'freelander logo' in a loop and the tablet will not go any further into boot up, I go on vacation tomorrow and was planning to use this tablet instead of my heavier 10 inch tablet.... now I'm not sure it's a good idea!
 
Top