Getting results from Le Pan

[mprenfro]

I have read many complaints about Le Pan's service and support. I too had been trying to get into their website but had an error every time I tried.
I suggest we send them as many comments as we can. Just to get their attention. I reminded them that if they continued to ignore there users,
they risked sales loss. I think they could have a really good go at it if the just got their act together. You might want to also tell them what you like.
But call them on the ICS update and HDMI capability, etc. You can go here to do this.
https://lepan.supportsync.com/Account/Login.aspx?ReturnUrl=/cases/
I am a marketing and pr specialist. I think it might be worth a try. If they really want to stay in business and improve sales, they should give a listen.
Good luck....

 

[Johna2u]

mprenfro, Le Pan is slow but they are moving forward. The HDMI cable is posted on their website now and We've been told it will be available at on bestbuy starting Monday. ICS is getting close promised around the 25th of this month. Let's cross our fingers on that one. You are right about their future. If they want to stay in business and have future sales. They need to follow through on their promises.

 

[J515OP]

I seem to recall reading mostly good things about Le Pan's customer service particularly once a case had been opened with them. The negatives seemed to be more that they are a small company with limited resources which means slow roll outs of updates and accessories. Those don't seem to be issues of customer service but scale. This becomes sort of a chicken and egg scenario where they have to get bigger to get more customers or get more customers to get bigger.

All in all it seems that the tablet speaks for itself and if the users continue to spread the word about the quality of the product and the price more people will try it out allowing Le Pan to grow organically. I think user promotion and strong community involvement with the device will do more good for everybody than a small band of users trying to demand things from Le Pan. Ultimately Le Pan does need to step up for its users but it is a tough market and they are probably doing all they can just to stick around at the moment. Hopefully they can reach a critical mass as this seems like a good budget friendly tablet but there are about to be a whole bunch of new players in this category.

 

[Johna2u]

J515op, well said. I think you hit the nail on the head. I have had nothing but positive experiences with their customer service and the tablet itself is awesome. With the most resent firmware update for the Le Pan II it runs smooth and fast. I totally agree. I think beating them down is not the way to improve their service or products. More sales equal more profits equal more money for updates and accessories. If we are always complaining about the little things they can't move forward.

 

[yann2]

mprenfro, I agree pressure is needed to make this manufacter deal with customers properly.

As in, delivering on promised software updates, any hardware that is needed to enable advertised functions. Something as simple as an HDMI adapter seems to be a big deal for them. Sheesh.

I am not impressed, and will not buy any of their products, or recommend them either.

For a new user looking for bargain priced product, they fill a need. Later, this user might realize the shortcomings, what is not there, etc.

Matsunich is acting illegally by not providing the source code for the linux kernel and any other GPL-licensed software included in the Android operating system installed in their tablets.

This would not cost them any money at all, and it's expected from anyone using GPL code. Yet, they will not do the right thing it seems.

We started a special section in another forum, called 'Dear Le Pan/Matsunichi', for users to write letters to the manufacturer. Good or bad, praise or criticism, we accept anyone's contribution, and it's posted publicly and indexed by Google and other search engines. You can see this 'Dear Le Pan' subforum here.

Matsunichi staff are aware of the forum, and the criticism expressed by many users helps anyone considering purchase these products find out now, before they commit to a purchase, what they could expect later.

 

[Johna2u]

yann I guess you and I will always have a different perspective on this. I've bought 3 LP1's and 3 LP2's for me and various members of my family. We've been very happy with them. I don't care about rooting so the gpl thing just doesn't bother me much. As far as I know your experience with Le Pan is one LP1 rooted with a less than perfect rom. I can see why your experience would give you a bad view of Le Pan. The LP2 is a much better tablet than the LP1 as well. I have opened many cases with their tech support and have had a good experience every time. I know they have been slow in providing updates but really it has only been a few months since the LP2 was introduced. I've corrosponded at length with a gentleman working in the factory(70+emails). My impression is they do care and are working hard to provide a quality product for their customers. Personally I would highly recommend Le Pan.

 

[yann2]

John, we come at this from very different sides of the user spectrum - you chose not to root your device, while for me if it ain't rooted, I don't really own it.

Rooting is available for all current Matsunichi tablets, so that's not the point. The point is, this manufacturer is not supporting the products (and the users) as we expect, and I am referring to simple things like :

- having the proper firmware files available for download at the manufacturer's support site.
- having accessories available, at additional cost, for any optional/extra functions; like the HDMI video out, RJ-45 Ethernet interfaces theoretically included in the LP2 model.
- complying with their legal obligations, as users of Linus Torvalds and hundreds of other talented programmers work, and releasing their modified version of the Linux kernel used in their Android tablet operating systems.

Matsunichi is thumbing it's nose at all the programmers who invested thousands of development hours in creating code, which is then distributed under the GPL license. One of the main stays of the GPL is that you are free to use the existing code base, but are expected (and legally liabile) to release any modifications or enhancements you create based on the existing code.

That's how things advance, it's a cooperative effort.

Wouldn't be a problem if they (manufacturers) created all their own code, but that's not the case - they don't have the expertise or the manpower to do that, as we know. Heck, they don't even bother creating a better version of the tablet's operating system, to offer their users an enhanced experience.

You are correct in that I only have a LP1, I would not purchase anything else from this company. As we discussed previously, I firmly believe the HP Touchpad is a better alternative, compared to the LP2.

If Matsunichi would honour their obligations under GPL and release the required files, independant developers would take over and provided us, users, the better operating systems that Matsunichi does not feel obligated to do.

Point your contact at Matsunichi to this thread, and ask him/her what they have to say about my arguments. They will likely not comment, but it's a more worthwhile thing than to go 'oh, they are good people, cut them some slack, etc, etc, yadda yadda....'

 

[Johna2u]

Your points are valid Yann no question about that. It's a bit of a devils bargain I guess. Want to save a few bucks? Buy something made in China and don't think too much about copyright, environmental or labor laws.

 

[J515OP]

Definitely two sides of the same coin. For what its worth Le Pan is far from the only company that falls short on opening up their device to developers. Personally I would like to see more openness since it really drives things forward but at this stage in the game feel Le Pan would do plenty well just by doing the basics of making updates and accessories available on their website. That is all the "average" user wants to see.

Of course if they open up their tablet to make it easier for developers to work with they may open up a whole new world of users a la the Nook Color which can draw in many more "average" users who hear good things about it from the technology crowd.

 

[Johna2u]

Hdmi Cable is supposed to released on Monday and ICS is tentative for next Friday. I guess we will see. My contact with the company has been MIA lately. So I don't know what the current status of their schedule is. Lack of recent communication from them makes me a bit nervous.

I wonder what percentage of Android users root and flash roms? Yann represents that group. A very active and critical component. I might root the darn thing at some point but for now I am happy with it as is. My guess would be 90% use their device as is and less than 10% root and flash roms. These forums attract the rooters at a higher percentage than the general population is my guess.

 

[Brian.Kelleher]

I'm an LP2 user. If I don't get all the accessories they advertised this tab to have whatever. But in my opinion they shouldn't advertise it and as awesome as a rj45 jack would be they should have the stock of accessory cables prior to the launch of their actual product. I too feel they want to satisfy all of us lp users but I really think it was poor planning on their part.

 

[yann2]

Hdmi Cable is supposed to released on Monday and ICS is tentative for next Friday. I guess we will see. My contact with the company has been MIA lately. So I don't know what the current status of their schedule is. Lack of recent communication from them makes me a bit nervous.

Take it with a grain of salt - the person who you have a contact with could be using the connection as a Marketing tool; he gets feedback from an active user (you, John), and provides some info without having to create an account in the forum and being answerable to any user questioning him/her.

But still it's a bonus to have a contact there; there's a big need for communications between the company and the product users.

I wonder what percentage of Android users root and flash roms? Yann represents that group. A very active and critical component. I might root the darn thing at some point but for now I am happy with it as is. My guess would be 90% use their device as is and less than 10% root and flash roms. These forums attract the rooters at a higher percentage than the general population is my guess.

Rooting is important for me since it gives me ownership, complete Administrative power over a computing device I paid full asking price for. Imagine if Microsoft sold any version of Windows with Admin accounts not available to the user? The furore would be heard all over the place.

The Root account in a Unix system (which Android is a variation of) is intended as a system owner/operator/adminstrator account. There's no hand holding, and you could wipe out major parts of your file system with a single line command. Sort of like the old DOS 'Format c: /u', without any confirmation prompts.

The power of the root user account also allows you to modify system parameters, use low level tools, etc, things not available on a regular account.

My main interest in having root is to claim the power I am used to having over all my computing devices. I am a power user, network administrator, and am willing to find my own answers, fix any mistakes I make and not blame anyone else for them. Really annoying to be locked out as an average Joe user account.

Regarding ROMs' they are interesting in many ways :

- to provide a chance to explore different versions of the operating system for the tablet (CM7 for example is really much nicer than factory default Froyo).

- to allow development of enhanced operating system releases which Matsunichi (or any other seller) has refused to continue supporting.

- to keep the device up-to-date with the fast moving Android development.

 

[Johna2u]

All great and valid points. How many windows users ever check show hidden files and folders? On average not too many I bet. Its a good fail safe to keep people from wandering around where they might muck things up. Android could learn a few things from windows. Drivers should be readily available and root should be as easy as show hidden files in windows or a warning before opening the system folder.

I am not against rooting in anyway. It is necessary to move the platform forward. I don't think it is for everybody though and people shouldn't feel they are a lesser user because they don't root. I think people feel like they need to do it just because it is the thing to do. If your not a tech savvy person and your device works just fine. It is ok to leave it as is. That's the point I try to get across to people. A person can have a deep appreciation for music but they are better off listening than trying to play the saxophone. Trust me, I used to play the saxophone in high school and it wasn't pretty.

 

[mikeadams68]

I would not recommend the Le Pan tc-970. I have had 2 that all of a sudden quit allowing anything to be installed had to return booth got the third and it hung in a rebooting loop when I shut it down and powered it on. Their turn around time for exchanges is terrible it takes 4 to 6 weeks just to ship you a new tablet after they receive the defective one. If you don't call and set your foot down it will take longer. Good luck getting in touch with them they have only one phone line and its always either busy or no one answers, plus there is no voice mail. Everyone has voice mail. I run a small computer repair service and I have voice mail because I want to talk to my customers. It seems Le Pan does not want to be bothered. I have had problems returning the tablet for a refund to the place I bought it and Le Pan will not issue refunds because they do not sell the product directly to public so I am forced to keep returning tablet after tablet until I get one that works correctly or the warranty runs out. If you want to purchase an android tablet check around and compare. Now I have no idea how good the Le Pan II is it might be a better product but I would check out other tablets before purchasing. Try the Acer refurb sells on ebay, they have the Iconia Tab booth 7 inch and 10 inch at great prices. Here is hoping the forth TC-970 will be a good one when I finally get it back in a month or longer. Le Pan has had my tablet longer than I have since I purchased it. That's bad when the product stays more in return or repair than in the customer's hands.