Cruz Tablet T 301

CenFlo

Member
Dec 23, 2010
15
1
Just picked up two of these and I'm impressed. I bought it as a eReader with multimedia capabilities and so far I really like the unit.

I think some of the bad reviews come from people expecting an iPad type of device for $250, which isn't going to happen.

I've been experimenting with different apps and such, trying to see what all will work.

Working so far:

Skyfire 3.0
Dolphin browser HD
Yahoo Mail

Wouldn't work:

Android (Google) market
GMail
ES File explorer
Angry Birds :(
AWD Launcher (worked to some extent, but was FC'g all the time, removed it)

That's all I can recall right now. I know a bunch of these sold over the holidays, hopefully with many of them now out there the dev's will start working on updating the OS.
 
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CenFlo

Member
Dec 23, 2010
15
1
You probably wont see much dev work at all. The bad reviews are because of the non-Android standard specifications of the hardware.

The Nook color is what you can and are supposed to get for $250. The Cruz Tablet is pathetic, and more.

Thank you for the encouraging words and Christmas cheer! It works for me and that's all that matters. I will soon see what this little tablet is capable of doing.
 

SUPERMOM50

Member
Dec 7, 2010
13
0
Hi! I tried the nookcolor and it was awesome for the money, but I took it back cause I wanted 'more' lol I really wanted to be able to view videos and play facebook games, so need flash. But I gotta say,.. the nookcolor is impressive and only took me a few hours to get to know it. I didn't root it because I was just trying it out and if you root it and take it back voids the return policy. But I do think out of all the ereaders out there that the nookcolor is tops and it's also excellent for kids since little ones can have the book read to them if they can't read, but it's also good for a internet surfer and basic email functions for younger kids you don't want to buy a full desktop or laptop for. Kids only need to surf the net for school term paper subjects,...essays on biographies and such. Its alot safer.
 

tlspencer

Member
Dec 30, 2010
26
0
Thank you for the encouraging words and Christmas cheer! It works for me and that's all that matters. I will soon see what this little tablet is capable of doing.

I have the R101, a bit of a step down from yours, and Gmail works fine on it! I don't see why it shouldn't work on yours! You're definitely right about why most people are complaining about it... I, too, got mine primarily as a reader, even though I have a Sony PRS505 that I've had for several years... I love gadgets and gizmos and wanted something new to play with so spent some Christmas money on my Cruz reader. It slips right into an inside pocket of my purse so it goes everywhere with me. I haven't messed with trying to get videos on it much, the one time I did was a flop, but I don't mind really... it does everything else I need it to!
 

ewinkley

Member
Nov 12, 2010
5
0
What is very strange about this device... Best Buy has a display unit that is running 2.2.1 Android! I bought it when I found this out, then got home and it has 2.0 installed! I sent an email to Cruz, and they replied:

"Our demo models do have a higher version of Android on them, but all the devices we are selling still have 2.0. We are hoping that all of our models will get upgraded to a Higher version of Android OS, But until that is decided or confirmed, there is not an update. We do have a new line coming out late spring and they should have a higher version of Android, but nothing is set in stone. Sorry for the confusion.
Regards,
Taylor Mitchener
Cruz Team"

I'm going to take my Cruz to Best Buy, grab the SD card out of the display and see if it has 2.2.x on it...
 

CenFlo

Member
Dec 23, 2010
15
1
What is very strange about this device... Best Buy has a display unit that is running 2.2.1 Android! I bought it when I found this out, then got home and it has 2.0 installed! I sent an email to Cruz, and they replied:

"Our demo models do have a higher version of Android on them, but all the devices we are selling still have 2.0. We are hoping that all of our models will get upgraded to a Higher version of Android OS, But until that is decided or confirmed, there is not an update. We do have a new line coming out late spring and they should have a higher version of Android, but nothing is set in stone. Sorry for the confusion.
Regards,
Taylor Mitchener
Cruz Team"

I'm going to take my Cruz to Best Buy, grab the SD card out of the display and see if it has 2.2.x on it...

I just checked this thread, that is very interesting that they have 2.2 on displays and 2.0 on the rest?

If/when you find out any more info about this please share.
 

rokky

Member
Oct 22, 2010
141
3
I just checked this thread, that is very interesting that they have 2.2 on displays and 2.0 on the rest?

If/when you find out any more info about this please share.

Looks like BestBuy discontinued the Tablet in the last month or so - not seeing it in any local stores or online. They are still carrying the Reader, and jacking the price way back up to around $200 - might as well get the twin Pandigital Novel (white, not black - internal diffs) when it is sale priced at $130 every few weeks at places like Office Depot, Kohl's, Radio Shack, or Bed,Bath & Beyond when u can get the 20% off coupon and rebate.
 

PhredicusRex

Member
May 1, 2011
3
0
Looks like BestBuy discontinued the Tablet in the last month or so - not seeing it in any local stores or online. They are still carrying the Reader, and jacking the price way back up to around $200 - might as well get the twin Pandigital Novel (white, not black - internal diffs) when it is sale priced at $130 every few weeks at places like Office Depot, Kohl's, Radio Shack, or Bed,Bath & Beyond when u can get the 20% off coupon and rebate.

I just bought this yesterday from Best Buy, with Android 2.0 out of the box. Velocity Micro has a firmware update to 2.2.1 that you have to down load from the site. Took 15 minutes to install, but it partitions the internal memory to 2 gigs each, one for system files and the other for apps and user data. Not a problem with an SD slot for additional files.

Biggest problem with the version of the Cruz I have is the 256MB memory, won't allow too many apps to run in the background before something crashes. Also, some of the pre-installed apps will start with the device on a hard boot, so you have to go into the apps manager to kill these or you will run out of memory when you run more apps and for the more memory intensive apps will hit your battery pretty heavily (if Androids intenal reporting is to be believed).

Cruz apps market is scarce on the apps, but these will run (for the most part) on the device. Amazon Apps Store comes pre-installed, but some (I've downloaded quite a few of the apps that are suppose to run on 2.2), almost 90%, will not either install or will cause a crash. I intend on rooting the device to try to see if I can resolve some of the issues, but doesn't look promising to improve the way this device operates without using some pretty heavy duty hacks (if I can find any). Kind of disgusting that my iPod Touch seems more stable with it's 256MB memory compared to this device. I'm not sure if most of the problems are caused by Android or the hardware, suspect a lot of the issues is with memory managment since RAM is so weak.
 

er86

Member
May 2, 2011
1
0
I received the email from Velocity about Android 2.2 and was pleasantly surprised since last year they told me it was not upgradable. Of course, that was a different make and model...not the T301. I look forward to hearing more from your experience as I would also like to possibly get one now that it is running Android 2.2. Have you or anyone else by chance had a chance to compare with a Nook Color with its updated Android?
 

Cee9

Member
May 2, 2011
1
0
I would definitely go with the Nook Color over the Cruz T301: Nook has Flash and a more compatible ARM processor vs. T301 no Flash and MIPS processor. Here's the result of working applications I've tried on T301 running Android 2.2.1

Working:
Dolphin Browser HD 4.6.1
Fora Dictionary 7.7 (TTS doesn't work)
Moon+ Reader Pro 1.2.22 (TTS doesn't work)
OfficeSuite Pro 4.0.338
RepliGo Reader 3.2.2
Skyfire 4.0.1
Taskiller Full 3.4.6

Won't install:
Aldiko Book Reader Premium 2.0.1 (complete lockup during installation requiring a hard reset)
Angry Birds Rio
aTilt 3D Labyrinth 1.4.6
Loquendo TTS 2.5
MoboPlayer 1.2.145
Opera Mobile 11
RockPlayer Universal Full 1.7.2
Speaking Concise Oxford English Dictionary 11th Ed. Revised
SVOX Classic Text To Speech Engine 2.0.14
 
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driggs

Member
Apr 22, 2011
81
3
Just wanted to let anyone interested know that Radio Shack is running a sale in T301's this week for $149.99. The sales clerk said it is running Android 2.2 out of the box, which I confirmed on the display model. Has a slightly better resolution (800X600) than the Coby (800X480) that I ordered, but I don't see the ROM's available for this that the Coby has.
 

Andarou

Member
May 6, 2011
2
0
I can confirm, since I work for RadioShack. The Cruz T301 is now running Froyo. It also has a dual-core ARM9 660mhz processor (1.32ghz?). The one we carry is only the model with 2gb internal memory and 256mb of ram. Sale ends tomorrow for $149.99 price tag. Angry Birds is available through the downloaded AmazonApp store.
 

tabletfanatic

Member
Aug 2, 2010
10
0
I can confirm, since I work for RadioShack. The Cruz T301 is now running Froyo. It also has a dual-core ARM9 660mhz processor (1.32ghz?). The one we carry is only the model with 2gb internal memory and 256mb of ram. Sale ends tomorrow for $149.99 price tag. Angry Birds is available through the downloaded AmazonApp store.

I'm almost positive this is a MIPS based processor, not ARM. The dual-core designation is a misnomer, there's only one CPU core plus DSP. Also, even if it were an actual dual core, you wouldn't combine the two cores to come up with the overall clock speed.
 

luckymamax2

Member
May 14, 2011
1
0
I recently bought this tablet and have come to realize I'm not as tech-savvy as I thought I was. I mainly use it for an e-reader so in that aspect it works well, but I've been trying to find a way to either download movies/shows to the tablet and be able to watch them. I downloaded best tube and downloaded a ton of videos, but I can find no way to play them. I've downloaded a ton of different apps and just can't figure this out. Could someone please help me? I'm taking a 5 hr flight with my 2 kids soon and was hoping I'd be able to leave the portable dvd player and dvds at home and let the kids watch on this but it just isn't working. I'm almost to the point where I'm willing to return it because I'm so frusterated.
 
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