Menards: Polaroid PMID10C 10.1" tablet $129.99: 8GB internal memory, dual cameras 1 GHz

[SingleDad]

I installed the Amazon app store from the Download App Stores link. When I launch it, I get a black screen and a search bar that does nothing.

Yep I'm having that issue too. Actually it works the very first time I launch it after install. Subsequent launches bring up the black screen with only the search bar.

If I install again the same thing happens. I'm thinking it's just some conflict with this version of the amazon app store. The amazon's appstore works great on all the other Polaroid tablets we own.

I haven't done any poking around to see if I can fix it since I have Google Play installed, but I can confirm I have the same issue on my PMID10C. I'm wondering if it's possible to google around and find an older version of the appstore to try.

[Meari]

I decided to see if something as simple as changing the wireless channel on my cheapo Belkin N router would help and it immediately worked wonders! The tablet is now perfectly usable throughout the areas of my home where I normally use it. For some reason this tablet is more sensitive to all the shared traffic than our laptops or other tablets are.

I'm losing my wifi signal whenever I move more than 10ft from my router. I have a Westel 327W router that the internet company gave me years ago. As I said in an earlier post, I'm fairly computer literate but tablets are a new ball game for me. And I know nothing about routers other than they provide me signal, lol. Can someone walk me through how to change the channel?

[Meari]

Thanks! Since I'm new to tablets, I was hesitant to mess around with files without having a way to recover it if I messed something up.

I just wanted to let everyone know that Southern Telecom has released the factory firmware for this tablet!

While to my knowledge there is no updated firmware yet...the release of this factory firmware update DOES allow you to recover your tablet and get it functioning again in the event something goes wrong while playing around with it.

The PMID10C firmware can be downloaded here:
http://www.southerntelecom.com/polar...port/firmware/

[Meari]

The manual for the 10C said to let it run down 3 times also so that's what I did. However, it was frustrating to be in the middle of playing a game and the battery going dead.

I saw a note in one of the 701 manuals (PMID10C user guide is not available yet). It said for the first three uses to nearly deplete the battery and then charge for 12 hours. After a couple cycles, my battery is holding up MUCH BETTER than the first use or two.

[Meari]

Same thing happened to me. It worked when I first downloaded it, but not since. If someone comes up with a fix, please share.

Yep I'm having that issue too. Actually it works the very first time I launch it after install. Subsequent launches bring up the black screen with only the search bar.

If I install again the same thing happens. I'm thinking it's just some conflict with this version of the amazon app store. The amazon's appstore works great on all the other Polaroid tablets we own.

I haven't done any poking around to see if I can fix it since I have Google Play installed, but I can confirm I have the same issue on my PMID10C. I'm wondering if it's possible to google around and find an older version of the appstore to try.

[Meari]

Removing Downloaded Apps

Newbie here again with a question. I've downloaded some apps and after trying them, I decided I didn't like them and uninstalled them. If I uninstall them, the downloaded file is still on the tablet taking up space, right? If this is the case, how to I remove the files?

[Meari]

I am "stuck" on #4 and ready to give up. Here are my questions:

1. What happens if I accidentally installed the vending apk before getting it moved to the system/app folder?

2. I downloaded Root File Manager to move the vending apk file to the system\app folder from my downloads folder. There is no 'Move' option, so I used 'Cut' and pasted into the app folder. The app gives me a message that the file has been moved, but when I look in the download folder, the vendor apk file is still there and there is no vendor apk file in the system\app folder. I have tried a few other managers and when I try to move the file, I get messages the vendor apk file can't be moved.

Ack! Can someone help?

Sure! Don't let the "Kindle Fire" reference get to you. The GoogleServices and related files and the basic installation steps are all basically the same basic thing for whatever device you're attempting to install to. There isn't really anything "Kindle Fire HD" specific about the files or the install.

The older files and instructions I typically use for Polaroid tablets weren't working for me. So I found a much newer walk through of someone who installed Google Play on the newly released Kindle Fire Hd. Sure enough the files they linked to and their instructions worked for me and my Polaroid PMID10C.

Let's break it down step by step. Here's the info cut and pasted from the link I posted. These are the exact files and instructions I used. It's basically just following them step by step. (I used the "Root Explorer" app for steps 4 and 5.




1. Step 1 you skip because the Polaroid 10.1" PMID10C is already "rooted" out of the box.

2. Just like the step says you download and install the "GoogleServices Framework apk file. Download it from the link the original author posted: http://www.mediafire.com/?zaumfwhraxcifqf
You can download to a Micro SD card, or USB flash drive and then transfer the file to your tablet. You could probably also download directly from your tablet if you wanted to using the internet browser. If may give you a warning/ask you if you want to install Google Services framework b/c it's already on the tablet. I just went ahead and installed the downloaded "GoogleServices" apk over the existing file on the tablet. When complete, click "Done".

3. Download the Google "Vending" apk file from: http://www.mediafire.com/?31bn3e258jjpj8d and transfer it to the tablet if you didn't download it there.

4. Here's where it's just a little tricky if you are new to this. You'll need a "special" app to access files with superuser permission to make changes to permissions etc. I use a paid version of the "Root Explorer" app but there are free versions and free alternatives out there. Open the Root Explorer app & navigate to the vending.apk file you downloaded. We need to move the file to the /system/app spot on the tablet.

To do this, while still within "Root Explorer" (or whatever file management app you're using) Long-press Vending.apk & select the "Move" option on pop-up menu. Now navigate to the /system/app folder and tap the "paste" button to paste the vending apk into the /system/app folder.

5. Now we need to set the permissions settings for vending.apk to match the permission settings of the other files in that folder. Long-press Vending.apk & select "Permissions" from pop-up menu. Change permissions to match all other apps in this folder (rw-r--r--). Check the first two boxes on the first line and then the first box on the second and third lines.


6. Install Vending.apk (Just press it and select install)

7. You now have the old Google Market app on your tablet. Go ahead and open it and follow the walk through it gives you to set it up with your existing google account and email address.

8. Now we need to update Google Market to the newer "Google Play". Download the "Play.apk" file to your tablet and install it. (The original author's download link takes you here: http://www.mediafire.com/?wwcqrlfwt8o1gnv)

9. That should be it!

All of the standard disclaimers apply here. This went well for me but I did blindly install files downloaded from an unknown third party.

If you have done something like this before and you follow the steps carefully the odds of messing anything up or permanently bricking your tablet are pretty slim. That being said...I don't think Polaroid/Southern Telecom has released the factory firmware yet. It generally takes them a long time to do so. If you DO manage to mess anything up (unlikely) you'll likely have to wait until they release the firmware to fix your tablet.

Hope that helps!

[dawieg]

I've been lurking in this thread since SingleDad started it and I want to thank him for all the great information. I bought the PMID10C at Menard's on Black Friday as a complete impulse buy and didn't even open it for a day because I was expecting to return it, but SingleDad's experiences with it helped convince me to keep it.

Now I'd like to share some things I've come across, hoping to help someone else.


Factory Reset:
GrandpaReindeer asked if anyone had done a Factory Reset yet, so I'll say I have. It was maybe half-a-day after I had first unboxed it. I was having problems getting the email app to connect to my email, I was frustrated with the wi-fi performance, and I was just curious as to what would happen since I hadn't done much personalizing with it yet anyway. I had uninstalled some of the pre-installed bloatware (AOL, Moviefone, etc.) and was curious if they would come back (they did. I just uninstalled them again). To do the reset, I just went into Settings, then Backup & Reset, and pressed Factory Data Reset. It gave me the warnings about losing all my personal info & apps, blah, blah, blah. Then it reset...showed the little green Android guy for a while, restarted again and it started up just like the first time out of the box. I didn't time it, but it didn't seem like the whole process took that long...maybe 15 minutes if that.


Firmware:
I'm not sure if anyone else did this, but after SingleDad mentioned that the factory firmware was posted for download on Southern Telecom's site, I went into Software Update on my PMID10C and it said there was an update! So I installed it and am now running Baseband version 1.4.0.6 (It came with 1.4.0.5). It was a relatively file size, and it claimed to fix some bugs and OTA performance or something. I haven't really noticed much difference, but I saw they took away the Hotspot and Ethernet sections in the Settings menu (which didn't seem to do anything anyway and aren't applicable to this device). So keep in mind that I'm running this updated firmware version as you read the rest of this post.


Google Play:
I got Google Play running great on my PMID10C using SingleDad's directions as a starting point, but modifying them. In his first step about downloading and installing GoogleServicesFramework, he said he was asked if he wanted to replace the existing version, it made me think "Why?" If it's a modified version of the Framework to make things work, I could understand that. But if it's not, why shouldn't I just use what's already on my device? So I skipped that step.

I then followed his instructions of putting the downloaded vending.apk into the System\App folder and changing the permissions to rw-r--r--. I used the free app ES File Explorer (available from Amazon Appstore & Google Play). I installed it from there, logged in and everything seemed to work great.

Then I departed from SingleDad's directions again. Instead of updating Google Market to Google Play with the .apk downloaded from some random site, I decided to do it myself. I have a Droid 4 that got updated to Android 4.0.4 a couple months ago. There's a free app called App Backup & Restore that will save an .apk from whatever app is already installed on your device (you can enable it to show System Apps, as well). So I saved the .apk of the latest version of Google Play from my own phone and transferred it to my PMID10C (you can email it to yourself, send it over a network share, etc.). It installed perfectly on my PMID10C and I haven't had a single problem using Google Play to install apps.

So in short, all I did was use SingleDad's instructions to download vending.apk, install it from the System\App folder (with rw-r--r-- permissions), and then I installed the updated Google Play that I got from my phone.

Back to the GoogleServicesFramework step that I skipped above. After I was sure things were working fine the way I did them, I tried installing the version SingleDad had referenced just to see if it was important after all. I found that it was very out-dated. He linked to version 2.2.1. The GoogleServicesFramework already installed on the PMID10C was version 4.0.2. So obviously, I wanted the most recent version left on my tablet, especially if there was no "modified" reason to use the older version. I also checked my phone, which had version 4.0.4. I ended up installing that version on my PMID10C (again, using App Backup & Restore I mentioned earlier).


Amazon Appstore:
This was the first App Store I installed on my PMID10C, since I needed to get other apps (ES File Explorer, App Backup & Restore), to try to install Google Play as described above. It initially worked perfectly, but now I'm also experiencing the same issue SingleDad, D Soa and Meari are having where it only displays the search bar (Which doesn't do anything). While re-installing it does (temporarily) fix it, the quickest way I've found is to just go into the App Manager (either the pre-installed shortcut, or through Settings), select Appstore and press the "Clear data" button. The next time you open Amazon Appstore, it'll ask you for your username/password and work like you had just installed it. But then eventually it'll start showing just the search bar again, and you'll have to go through the Clear data/entering Username process again. One thing I noticed, though...each time you log in like that, Amazon believes you're registering a new device...and it only allows you to have 25 registered devices at a time. So eventually you might need to go into your Amazon account and "De-register" all the extra PMID10Cs that are now listed in your devices list.


Netflix:
When I was debating whether or not to keep this tablet, I told myself "If it'll run Netflix and I can connect a USB Keyboard to it, then I'll keep it). Reading SingleDad's posts showed me that both these things were possible, so the tablet box was opened. When I first had the Amazon Appstore & Google Play running properly, I first tried to install the current version those app stores, but it wouldn't work (as was already established in this thread). So I installed version 1.8.1 that SingleDad had linked to and it worked great. The other day I noticed there was a new version on Google Play, so I decided to take a chance & update it over the old version I already installed (I figured I could always re-install the old one if I needed to). To my surprise, the new version from Google Play now works! So I've got Netflix v2.1.0 running on my PMID10C. I watched a sitcom on it last night with no problems).


Words with Friends:
I know no one's talked about this app, but just thought I'd throw this info out there. I installed Words With Friends with no problem from Google Play. It runs, loads my account, etc., but the layout & graphics all seem off & mis-sized...basically making it unplayable. I don't know if it's a scaling from phone size to tablet size issue (that little scaling option doesn't appear for it like it does for other apps), if it's a compatibility thing with just teh PMID10C or an issue with the game itself.


Youtube, Google Maps:
Since I had Google Play installed now, I thought I'd try out official Google apps that I couldn't get from Amazon. First I tried Youtube and it works great. With that installed, I don't see any reason to try to play Youtube videos in a browser. I also thought I'd try Google Maps. I know the PMID10C doesn't have a GPS, but Google Maps appears to work fine with the location tools the PMID10C does offer (At least, it always seems to know where I am). I haven't tried Gmail yet, mainly because my Gmail bounces to my other email account which is already configured & I don't want to keep getting double email notices on my tablet like I do on my phone. I'll mention Chrome in my next section...


Browsers:
I still sometimes use the built-in browser because it's relatively quick, but I've been using Firefox primarily lately. I like the way it syncs with my other computers/phones so I can easily get webpages from one to the other. Although my preferred browser is currently Chrome (on my other devices, at least), but like ColdGuy mentioned, I also cannot get Chrome to load. I leave it installed, though, hoping that an update will come along that will make it work.


Wi-Fi:
This is probably the one main thing about the PMID10C that I'm disappointed in. As has been mentioned before, the Wi-Fi antenna just doesn't seem to be very strong. I've used Wi-Fi Analyzer on both it and my phone, comparing channels & have changed channels on my router. The router is in near the ceiling in the center of the basement and taking the PMID10C to the far side of the 2nd floor or even the edge of the first floor (maybe 25-30 feet from the router), the PMID10C's connection is flaky at best. Our laptop works great at those distances, phones and a Roku still have a good signal up on the 2nd floor where the PMID10C struggles. I can even take my phone outside along the edge of our property line and get a good enough wi-fi signal to stream Pandora. I've ended up re-connecting an old router into our network on the 2nd floor which gives the tablet something else to connect to. Although I'm thinking about getting a wireless extender instead. I've taken the PMID10C to work and connected fine to the wi-fi there, but I think their router is fairly close to where I was using the tablet.


Battery:
Initially, was disappointed by the battery life, but I believe it's been getting better. I hadn't seen GrandpaReindeer's post about battery cycles before I had let my battery completely drain to help calibrate a battery app I use (Battery Left). But maybe I'll do a complete drain a couple more times now, like he suggested. That one drain cycle may have helped, but this is what I really think made a difference: I was using GSam Battery Monitor and it claimed "Phone Radio" was eating my battery like no other. I thought this was odd since it's a tablet, not a phone. So I put my PMID10C in Airplane Mode to try to cut any radios. (FYI...if you put it in Airplane Mode first, you can then turn just your Wi-Fi back on. This trick works great on actual phones, too). But even in Airplane Mode, it still seemed like "Phone Radio" kept sucking battery while it was "Searching For Signal." I found a post in another threat about the 701 (I think), where someone suggested going into the System\App folder and renaming Phone.apk to Phone.old (again using ES File Explorer...but any file manager with Root abilities would work). I restarted the tablet and have noticed greatly improved battery life, and GSam Battery Monitor doesn't show any power being used for "Phone Radio" anymore. Also, I tend to keep my screen at low-to-mid brightness most of the time, too.


USB/Keyboard:
As I mentioned above, the ability to connect a USB keyboard was one of my necessities to keeping this tablet. Ideally I would have loved to just use a Bluetooth keyboard, but since the PMID10C doesn't have Bluetooth, I figured this was my next best bet. I've successfully used a regular USB keyboard & mouse with the PMID10C. I've also plugged in a USB flash drive which worked perfectly. I did try plugging in a USB Bluetooth dongle, but since Bluetooth seems to have been stripped from the Settings menu, I don't know if there's even a way to enable it. Maybe someone knows away to create that functionality. Since the keyboard works, I've been looking at some cheapo generic cases on **** that have a USB keyboard built in. They seem kinda bulky, but would make the tablet act like a netbook, which would be kinda fun.


Case:
kmnewburn asked about cases. I got a case at Best Buy that's $5 off this week that I'm pretty happy with. It gives me the ability to set it up like a stand, or have it just raised slightly horizontally. Here's a direct link for the black version I got (it also comes in purple):

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Rocketfish%26%23153%3B+-+Universal+Case+for+Most+10%26%2334%3B+Tablets+-+Black/5659049.p?id=1218677947835&skuId=5659049&st=rocketfish%2010%20tablet&cp=1&lp=1

[crazydaisy]

thanks

You're welcome jlaudio! That's the whole reason I started a thread. I saw it advertised at Menards and couldn't really find anything about it.(Even Polaroid/SouthernTelecom tell you very little about it on their site).

I basically just took a chance buying it and hoped it would be decent. So far so good! It's no ipad...but it's a perfectly usable budget level entry into the 10" tablet world.

As far as custom roms I'm doubting there is anything available yet...but at least you can probably hook him up with working Netflix and Google Play for now.

thank you so much for posting all this information on here it has been very helpful!

[crazydaisy]

question

You're welcome jlaudio! That's the whole reason I started a thread. I saw it advertised at Menards and couldn't really find anything about it.(Even Polaroid/SouthernTelecom tell you very little about it on their site).

I basically just took a chance buying it and hoped it would be decent. So far so good! It's no ipad...but it's a perfectly usable budget level entry into the 10" tablet world.

As far as custom roms I'm doubting there is anything available yet...but at least you can probably hook him up with working Netflix and Google Play for now.

when i put my flash drive off in my tablet it does not give me the option to open it. how do i pull up the information off my flash drive?

[crazydaisy]

question

when i plug my flash drive in the usb it wont give me the option to open it how can i look at what is on my flash drive on my tablet?

[Meari]

when i plug my flash drive in the usb it wont give me the option to open it how can i look at what is on my flash drive on my tablet?

Go into the File Manager on the apps screen. The third icon from the left at the top of the screen is for the USB.

[D Soa]

Keyboard case

Since the keyboard works, I've been looking at some cheapo generic cases on **** that have a USB keyboard built in. They seem kinda bulky, but would make the tablet act like a netbook, which would be kinda fun.

Thanks for all the info, dawieg!

I think the biggest problem finding a keyboard case is the plugs are all on the bottom of the tablet. Looks like other tablets have their plugs on the short side which allows you to access them when the tablet is horizontal in the case.

I think it would be nice if the power cord would be on the short end or if there was a low profile L shaped plug for it so it wouldn't protrude out so far when it is sitting in your lap. :-o

[D Soa]

Screen protector

Has anyone found a screen protector that fits this tablet? I see some that are for a Galaxy Note 10.1 inch, but it is hard to find any that list the actual dimensions of the protector, and I don't know if the Galaxy is the same dimensions as this Polaroid or not.

[Guest]

I bought one of these last Saturday for $149. Right after I picked it up an employee put up the new price of $199. I was frustrated at the lack of information online - specifically the manufacturer's own website. I couldn't even find this model listed.

My big issue is battery life. I took the tab out of the box and used it until the battery died. I was impressed by how long that took. I put it on the charger over night and took it off the next morning. The battery was only up to 86% so I turned it off and didn't turn back it on until evening. By then the battery was at 18%. Kind of disappointing. I used it for a few minutes and it was down to 12% so I put it on the charger overnight again but powered it down this time. I took it off the charger at 10:30am the next morning and turned it on at 12:30pm (2 hours later) and it was at 18%. And I wasn't in the same room as the router so had no wireless signal. I was pissed and I decided to return it. The battery lasted long enough for a factory reset before it died.

I see others have the same issue with Wifi but I think mine has a defective battery. And I don't know what's up with the touch sensitivity. I have a Droid X2 that I love. Going from the X2 to this tablet I have to press so hard it feels like I'm going to break it. I figured for $149 it wouldn't be the best tab out there but I hoped the battery would at least take a charge and hold it for more than 2 hours.