Menards: Polaroid PMID10C 10.1" tablet $129.99: 8GB internal memory, dual cameras 1 GHz
Hey guys! I'm returning to this forum thanks to a new purchase. I originally found this awesome site when I purchased the Polaroid PMID 701C earlier this year.
Today I was lucky enough to pick up the (new?) Polaroid PMID 10C from Menards on a Black Friday special.
I don't see much on this tablet around the internet so I thought I'd share my thoughts.
Here are the specs:
10.1" capacitive multi-touch display
Front and rear facing cameras
OS: Android 4.0 ICS
Processor: 1.0GHz Cortex A8
GPU: Mali400 (Supports OpenGL ES 2.0)
RAM: 1GB/DDR3
Screen Resolution 1024x600
Internal Memory: 8 GB
Micro SD slot handles up to a 32 GB micro SD card
Includes Micro USB and USB slots and an HDMI output
HDMI Cable was included
USB Cable was included
A/C adapter/charger was included as well.
Comes Pre-Rooted. You'll just need to install something like "Root Explorer" or a similar app to access system/root files.
I originally picked up the Polaroid PMID1000B at Toys R Us on the Thursday night Pre Black Friday event for $119.99. That tablet is nearly identical except that one only has 4 GB internal memory and 1 front facing camera.
When I saw Menards had a Polaroid 10.1" tablet advertised with double the internal memory and an HDMI cable for just $10.00 more than the Toys R Us offer I decided to see if I could grab one this morning.
So far I'm more than happy with it. I've been playing around for a few hours and I'm pretty satisfied. Here are my initial thoughts:
Feel/Durability/Quality:
The finish and durability seem quite nice. This seems to be built better than my polaroid PMID 701C. The cheap plastic frame on that tablet seems to "creak" "snap" and "groan" when handled.
The PMID10C has rounded corners and rounded edges on the back. The front facing camera looks a little odd protruding in a boxy style out of the thin rounded area it inhabits on the case.
The back side of the tablet has a soft rubbery coating that polaroid seems to be very found of using. It feels a little slippery to me and I'd almost prefer a hard plastic (even if it would scratch easier). Even though it does feel slippery in your hands I think the coating does keep the tablet from sliding across hard smooth surfaces like a desk or tabletop.
Cameras:
Of course the cameras aren't all that great but having dual front and rear facing cameras is nice. I've been able to use the rear facing camera as a QR reader with a free app and it seems to work just fine for that. It takes acceptable quality pictures. I haven't shot any video with it yet so I can't speak on that function just yet.
The touch screen is very responsive as the capacitive screens seems to be on most Polaroid tablets.
Performance:
I haven't done much with the tablet but it seems to perform well enough. Of course a 1.0 GHz processor is on the slow side but I knew that when I purchased and didn't expect blazing fast speed. At times ICS does seem to stutter a little and things will occasionally stall or freeze for a split second. Every so often I seem to be a bit "ahead" of the tablet when entering things on the on screen keyboard.
As with other Polaroid tablets (and most Android devices) the stock internet browser is pretty slow. Switching to a different browser can only help!
NETFLIX?:
One of my biggest complaints of my old 7" Polaroid tablet is it doesn't run Netflix well enough (or at all using the newest version) On the PMID 10C i installed the Amazon appstore and immediately downloaded and installed the Newest version of Netflix. It immediately force closed and crashed every time I attempted to open it.
This newest version of Netflix always refused to even open on my 7" Polaroid as well so I figured trying an older version of Netflix was definitely worth a try. I downloaded and installed the apk for Netflix version 1.8.1 from this thread:
(I downloaded this one: "The above link no longer seems to work, so here you go, kind sir:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vjcg471do3...flix-1.8.1.apk ")
I'm happy to report Netflix version 1.8.1 does seem to run just fine on this tablet. I will say for me it takes quite a bit of time to load. It seems to load very slowly to the main menu and then sometimes when you choose a title to watch it takes some time to load. However once it starts playing it does seem to run just fine. However....I've only watched 15-20 minutes of video so time will tell whether or not issues appear later on in viewing.
Google Market/Play:
None of the files/methods previously used and described here on the site would successfully install Google Play. It would install and force close, or install and look fine but not let me download due to "errors".
In the end the method that worked to get Google Play installed was to install Google Market and then Update it to Google Play using the same files others used to install Google Play on the Kindle Fire HD. Directions are HERE.
USB is nice:
Having a full size USB port on the tablet is nice. I'm able to transfer files and play media files directly from a USB thumb drive. Pretty cool! This is much faster and easier than swapping out a USB cable or Micro SD card. I haven't tried using a USB keyboard or mouse yet but I'm interested to see if it is possible.
Heat?:
Many of the earlier Polaroid 7" tablets from earlier this year got HOT. So far after several hours of messing around with it the middle bottom half of the back of the tablet gets slightly warm. Nothing significant and no where near as warm as my Polaroid PMID 701C can get!
Issues:
1. So far the downfall with this Polaroid seems like its going to be the internal WiFi antenna. This thing likes to drop wifi when I leave the room with my router in it. Our router is located in an upstairs den (admittedly a crappy wireless router). However the 7" Polaroid PMID 701C I have has much better WiFi range. I can pretty much wander around the house with it. The 10.1" Polaroid PMID10C Wifi seems to flake out when the signal gets weak when I go downstairs.
I've noticed this tablet, like other Polaroid tablet owners have complained about in the past, seems to "lose" wifi sometimes when it goes to sleep and wakes back up. When the screen goes blank and you wake the tablet back up the wifi icon in the lower right corner still shows as connected. However, if I try visiting a website or an appstore etc immediately after the tablet wakes I'm usually met with connection timeouts etc. When I turn WiFi off and back on again it usually resolves the issue. I'll probably be installing an "auto airplane mode" app anyway, so I'm hoping that solves the problem anyway.
Update: It looks like I fixed the Wifi problems and it was as simple as changing the channel my router used for wireless! I was sharing the same channel with several neighbors. Once I switched to an uncrowded channel the range in my home for this tablet increased and it stopped dropped the wi-fi connection! (See complete details in a post later in this thread.)
Today I was lucky enough to pick up the (new?) Polaroid PMID 10C from Menards on a Black Friday special.
I don't see much on this tablet around the internet so I thought I'd share my thoughts.
Here are the specs:
10.1" capacitive multi-touch display
Front and rear facing cameras
OS: Android 4.0 ICS
Processor: 1.0GHz Cortex A8
GPU: Mali400 (Supports OpenGL ES 2.0)
RAM: 1GB/DDR3
Screen Resolution 1024x600
Internal Memory: 8 GB
Micro SD slot handles up to a 32 GB micro SD card
Includes Micro USB and USB slots and an HDMI output
HDMI Cable was included
USB Cable was included
A/C adapter/charger was included as well.
Comes Pre-Rooted. You'll just need to install something like "Root Explorer" or a similar app to access system/root files.
I originally picked up the Polaroid PMID1000B at Toys R Us on the Thursday night Pre Black Friday event for $119.99. That tablet is nearly identical except that one only has 4 GB internal memory and 1 front facing camera.
When I saw Menards had a Polaroid 10.1" tablet advertised with double the internal memory and an HDMI cable for just $10.00 more than the Toys R Us offer I decided to see if I could grab one this morning.
So far I'm more than happy with it. I've been playing around for a few hours and I'm pretty satisfied. Here are my initial thoughts:
Feel/Durability/Quality:
The finish and durability seem quite nice. This seems to be built better than my polaroid PMID 701C. The cheap plastic frame on that tablet seems to "creak" "snap" and "groan" when handled.
The PMID10C has rounded corners and rounded edges on the back. The front facing camera looks a little odd protruding in a boxy style out of the thin rounded area it inhabits on the case.
The back side of the tablet has a soft rubbery coating that polaroid seems to be very found of using. It feels a little slippery to me and I'd almost prefer a hard plastic (even if it would scratch easier). Even though it does feel slippery in your hands I think the coating does keep the tablet from sliding across hard smooth surfaces like a desk or tabletop.
Cameras:
Of course the cameras aren't all that great but having dual front and rear facing cameras is nice. I've been able to use the rear facing camera as a QR reader with a free app and it seems to work just fine for that. It takes acceptable quality pictures. I haven't shot any video with it yet so I can't speak on that function just yet.
The touch screen is very responsive as the capacitive screens seems to be on most Polaroid tablets.
Performance:
I haven't done much with the tablet but it seems to perform well enough. Of course a 1.0 GHz processor is on the slow side but I knew that when I purchased and didn't expect blazing fast speed. At times ICS does seem to stutter a little and things will occasionally stall or freeze for a split second. Every so often I seem to be a bit "ahead" of the tablet when entering things on the on screen keyboard.
As with other Polaroid tablets (and most Android devices) the stock internet browser is pretty slow. Switching to a different browser can only help!
NETFLIX?:
One of my biggest complaints of my old 7" Polaroid tablet is it doesn't run Netflix well enough (or at all using the newest version) On the PMID 10C i installed the Amazon appstore and immediately downloaded and installed the Newest version of Netflix. It immediately force closed and crashed every time I attempted to open it.
This newest version of Netflix always refused to even open on my 7" Polaroid as well so I figured trying an older version of Netflix was definitely worth a try. I downloaded and installed the apk for Netflix version 1.8.1 from this thread:
(I downloaded this one: "The above link no longer seems to work, so here you go, kind sir:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vjcg471do3...flix-1.8.1.apk ")
I'm happy to report Netflix version 1.8.1 does seem to run just fine on this tablet. I will say for me it takes quite a bit of time to load. It seems to load very slowly to the main menu and then sometimes when you choose a title to watch it takes some time to load. However once it starts playing it does seem to run just fine. However....I've only watched 15-20 minutes of video so time will tell whether or not issues appear later on in viewing.
Google Market/Play:
None of the files/methods previously used and described here on the site would successfully install Google Play. It would install and force close, or install and look fine but not let me download due to "errors".
In the end the method that worked to get Google Play installed was to install Google Market and then Update it to Google Play using the same files others used to install Google Play on the Kindle Fire HD. Directions are HERE.
USB is nice:
Having a full size USB port on the tablet is nice. I'm able to transfer files and play media files directly from a USB thumb drive. Pretty cool! This is much faster and easier than swapping out a USB cable or Micro SD card. I haven't tried using a USB keyboard or mouse yet but I'm interested to see if it is possible.
Heat?:
Many of the earlier Polaroid 7" tablets from earlier this year got HOT. So far after several hours of messing around with it the middle bottom half of the back of the tablet gets slightly warm. Nothing significant and no where near as warm as my Polaroid PMID 701C can get!
Issues:
1. So far the downfall with this Polaroid seems like its going to be the internal WiFi antenna. This thing likes to drop wifi when I leave the room with my router in it. Our router is located in an upstairs den (admittedly a crappy wireless router). However the 7" Polaroid PMID 701C I have has much better WiFi range. I can pretty much wander around the house with it. The 10.1" Polaroid PMID10C Wifi seems to flake out when the signal gets weak when I go downstairs.
I've noticed this tablet, like other Polaroid tablet owners have complained about in the past, seems to "lose" wifi sometimes when it goes to sleep and wakes back up. When the screen goes blank and you wake the tablet back up the wifi icon in the lower right corner still shows as connected. However, if I try visiting a website or an appstore etc immediately after the tablet wakes I'm usually met with connection timeouts etc. When I turn WiFi off and back on again it usually resolves the issue. I'll probably be installing an "auto airplane mode" app anyway, so I'm hoping that solves the problem anyway.
Update: It looks like I fixed the Wifi problems and it was as simple as changing the channel my router used for wireless! I was sharing the same channel with several neighbors. Once I switched to an uncrowded channel the range in my home for this tablet increased and it stopped dropped the wi-fi connection! (See complete details in a post later in this thread.)
.gif "HELL YEA!!")
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