Lenovo IdeaPad A1 7" Tablet Review and Root and Much More!

paulmnelson

Member
Nov 20, 2011
2
1
Just picked up my new Lenovo A1 Tablet yesterday at Fry's! With a little elbow grease this thing rocks! I'm just going to go down a list of what Ive done to make it a sweet tablet.

1) Superoneclick 2.2 will root this baby just need to install adb drivers...easiest root to date.

2) Once it's rooted I installed LCD Density from market and set it to 200. Make sure you select killall and hit reboot.

3) Installed SetCPU from Market. I set it to Performance with the screen on then set it to conservative with the screen off 300mhz/300mhz. Make sure you hit the set to boot button. Once I did this it felt much faster than my Xoom. I havent tested battery life yet.

4) Installed Spare Parts from Market. Set the windows animations speed to fast and transition animations to fast. Makes a world of difference.

5) Installed LauncherPro! Get rid of the stupid Lenovo home screen!

6) I installed WidgetLocker Lockscreen. You can do the Honeycomb screen and re-size it to fit. Gives it a nice feel!

7) Installed the new Adobe Flash11 from market

8) Installed App2Sd and moved all my apps to my 4gig sd card and cleared cache.

9) Picked up a badass 7" case with a stand at OfficeMax! fits perfect! $30 iHome LW-T1010B Black The website only shows a 10" but they have a 7" version

10) Google Nav works great tethered to my phone via wifi. I'm downloading a offline Nav as we speak.

11) Charges Via USB!

12) Screen gets really bright at max. I just use Auto

13) Skype was working till I did the Lenovo update no video sound works fine. Front camera sucks back camera is good. To be honest I use my Samsung Galaxy2 for all my pictures.

14) As soon as I turned it on and connected to the internet it wanted to update. I don't know what the update is about but it was a huge file.

I'm just getting started with this tablet. I was torn between the Nook2 and Fire. What I love about this is its easy to root comes with Market and charges via usb. I installed Amazon Kindle and Google Books. Their is a new update to Amazon Kindle that makes the app look just like the fire lol.

Anyways hope this helps! Please feel free to ask me any questions. I will be updating this thread as I learn more.

Comes with Gingerbread 2.3.4




Link to ADB Usb drivers. Install first! make sure you have Debug on http://www.mediafire.com/?6v19365dkvc6k8r

SuperOneClick 2.2 Install 2nd http://www.mediafire.com/?0bi19eva4h4c218
 
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tonyp

Member
Nov 1, 2011
73
1
Great news Paul. I too was looking at the A1 but decided to go with the Nook Tablet. I'd like to get your impressions with the A1 as a reader and how well it does streaming like from Netflix or Amazon Prime. In both of these areas the NT is tremendous.

Also, how is the camera quality? (the one pointing out)

BTW, did you get the MU or the EU? I hesitated also because the EU was not listed on the Lenovo website, so I wasn't sure just what made it different from the MU.
 

paulmnelson

Member
Nov 20, 2011
2
1
Great news Paul. I too was looking at the A1 but decided to go with the Nook Tablet. I'd like to get your impressions with the A1 as a reader and how well it does streaming like from Netflix or Amazon Prime. In both of these areas the NT is tremendous.

Also, how is the camera quality? (the one pointing out)

BTW, did you get the MU or the EU? I hesitated also because the EU was not listed on the Lenovo website, so I wasn't sure just what made it different from the MU.

Netflix stream's perfect. Haven't tried a video file yet. I use Amazon kindle and Google books and they both work great. The rear camera takes really good pictures. I'm not sure what version model I have I bought it in Portland Oregon so mu? Hope this helps
 

ChrisB

Senior Member
Dec 11, 2011
14
1
Nice guide. I just got an A1 and I'm about to set it up. What was the specific reason you rooted the device? Which of the things you installed needed root-ing?

Just trying to decide if I need to do that or not.
 

KeviNJ

Member
Dec 1, 2011
6
0
This product can't be all that popular ... no sales outlets to speak of -- I got mine direct from lenovo for $199 last week.

No LENOVO forum in the family of Android Tablets Net

No replies to this thread.


My a1 seems to do what I want it to do, so I am happy enough, and THRILLED not to be a slave to Amazon or BN.

However, I wonder if I am the only one who has bought one of these tabs.

PRO's
seems to do what it's supposed to do; always starts up, always shuts down
good wifi range and performance
email is fast and works in the bkgnd
preloaded keyboard and browser are good
YouTube works great
Facebook works well and fast
apps for Hotmail and Yahoo mail are solid and fast

Cons
front facing cam does not work on Skype
screen is ok, but not outstanding - on a bright note, you can use the poor viewing angle to "adjust" contrast on the fly by tilting the device
response is slightly balky and slow, but reliable

Some apps are junk ... and don't work on all devices ... but that is more an ANDROID problem than a lenovo problem.

I would give it 3 to 4 stars, and I would buy it again ... on the basis that it is a reliable operator at a low price. If you want to spend $199 buy it. If you want top drawer display quality, wide view angle, and fast multi-touch response, consider paying TWICE the price (almost) for a Galaxy 7 Plus or a Toshiba Thrive 7. Those devices also give you Honeycomb (and a promised upgrade to ICS by Samsung)... but Gingerbread was good enough for me.
 
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KeviNJ

Member
Dec 1, 2011
6
0
I have used the lenovo a1 to stream video from YouTube (movie trailers) and Crackle (60 minute tv program) with good results -- decent picture quality, no hiccups, fast buffering
 

KeviNJ

Member
Dec 1, 2011
6
0
@Chris B (who just got his a1 and wonders if it should be rooted)

See if the tab does what you want/need out of the box.

See what you can learn about rooting --- I am intimidated by it (voids the warranty) ... so my plan is to use my a1 for a year (the length of the warranty) as shipped, and decide THEN if I want to root or not. So I have a year to figure out the consequences!
 

ChrisB

Senior Member
Dec 11, 2011
14
1
Yeah, I'm surprised there isn't more activity around the A1. It seems that Lenovo's traction with the major retail providers may be a little lacking. You can order them, however, so that work.

I picked up 2 of the A1's from Fry's (Portland, OR) for my kids for Christmas (9 & 8 yo). They are the "EU" model, which is 16GB, essentially the same as the MU on the Lenovo site.

So far, I'm pretty impressed. Definitely a higher quality device than the $150 and less Kryo, Craig, etc that was at Frys. I think the screen is fine. Since these devices are for personal viewing, it isn't a big deal to get your view angle in the "right" place.

Android 2.2 seems ok. I have a Acer A100 w/ 3.2, so it take a little getting used to.

I haven't see any real issues with the device. I kinda wish the buttons at the bottom were lit any time the device is on. they are hard to find in the dark.

Apps I have installed and seem to work:
  • Kids Place
  • Amazon App store (seems to work well)
  • Kid Launcher
  • Kid mode by zoodles
  • LittlePiano Pro (Amazon free app daily deal)
  • MXPlayer (works fine)
  • Netflix (works fine)
  • Skype (I haven't messed with it)
  • Spare Parts
  • Timers4Me
  • UPnPlay (works well to connect to my DLNA/UPnP server. Video plays on MXPlayer. Can stream MP4, DVD res videos fine)
  • Google Voice

I'm still playing around trying to find the best "kid browser" or "device lockdown" tool the limit what the kids can do on it.

I would be interest in seeing a more active board. Happy to contribute.
 

KeviNJ

Member
Dec 1, 2011
6
0
There are horror stories about the real Android junk out there ... since Android costs nothing to the manuf, they can slap junk together and sell it. That does not mean it will do good wifi or be configured correctly.

the A1 performs well considering it is a single core cpu with only half-gig of memory. Wake from standby is quick; online with wifi before I can activate an app. Mail, facebook, and even the web are plenty fast enough.

Video is something I need to learn more about (but was not a consideration when choosing this tab) ...

Friend of mine has a FIRE ... I am looking forward to doing a side-by-side.

OPEN BASIC QUESTIONS ... almost embarrassed to ask publicly:
  1. the lenovo launcher is slow ... gotta be slow-fingered to use it ... but elsewhere in the device, screen response is snappy. Would like to know how to experiment with other launchers, and if I try one, and don't like it, what happens when I go back to lenovo launcher? Start all over?
  2. Is the home (with the little HOUSE) part of the lenovo launcher, or is it 2.3.4 Home regardless of launcher
  3. Case ... I guess Moko or Poetic from Amazon are the choices.
Cheers
 

bluetoothound

Member
Dec 13, 2011
6
0
Had a hard time finding the I-Home case, but the model # is LT 1007B black, office max item # 22980277, & Lenovo now sells a windshield mount, car mount bracket, item # oB65410. Hope this info saves you some running around. Enjoy.
 

mfox

Member
Feb 10, 2012
1
0
Hello. I should receive delivery of a new A1 in a few days and have the following questions:
1. benefits/drawbacks to rooting
2. If I root, should I follow the directions and steps you outlined in your post?
3. does Skype now work on the A1? Rooted or unrooted?
Thanks
 
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