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

[TechCat]

BIG LOTS 10" Polaroid PMID1000B tablet $139.99 1GB ddr3 4GB starts Sunday Dec 9 2012

Starting this Sunday Dec, 9 2012
It is a PMID1000B Allwinner A10 the B has 1 camera
My guess is these are chips that would not go 1.2Ghz, as I tried 1104 and burned out something and the screen went blank the system powered off.
After 5 minutes it would only show the polaroid logo...
I downloaded the 660MB image pack 2 versions are included.
After the flash same, I swapped for a fresh one so we will see
These screens don't respond to a heavy touch so tap lightly.
More later...
Support on www.southerntelcom.com 1000B
www.polaroid.com lists only pmid1000, but does have guides for 1000 1000B 1000C
This tablet is 1024x600 even though the guides say 800x600
4GB 1GHz 1GB
.
Big Lots does honor 30 day return with receipt.

[Sid]

Wifi and Battery life

dawieg....liked your post a lot. thanks to you and also thanks to singledad for initiating this. i am having mixed feelings about this tablet. i got google play installed per daweig steps and it works fine. also followed your battery life fix (changing phone.apk to phone.old).
So even with airplane mode on (wifi off), the battery life with the tablet lying 'idle' is barely 24 hours. with wifi on it is half that!!! is this as good as it gets at your end tooo? anyone else who can share their experience?
Secondly, the wifi performance is very flaky to the point of being non-functional at times. i am using the tablet in the same room where my belkin router is. any suggestions or this is another drawback of this tablet?
looking forward for some suggestions.
thanks again.

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/Rocketfi...blet&cp=1&lp=1

[TechCat]

WIFI issues can be a congested channel - My netbook manual covered this.

I purchased the PMID10C a few days ago and have formed the following opinion.
First off it was relatively easy to get going and attach to my wifi. Browsing the web is ok but the web pages build slow. I purchased this tablet with the intention of using skype but I have not been able to do that. I may be missing something here but it looks like the app needed to use skype on this model is not supported. It seems that the wifi range is not very good.
Overall I am leaning towards returning this to Menards, but will test it a couple of more days.

Earlier replies have shown that choosing a different channel can make a huge difference in wifi performance.
you really don't need any special app, just change the channel on the router then turn on the wifi on the tablet and see how it affects performance or coverage.
Just an hour ago I was in a spot with no free wifi, so I powered up my portable broadband. I was getting a 4G with 4 bars the tab connected at 150 (DII PAD) yet updates that would take only a minute or two took 10 or 15. There were a lot of strong signals nearby and they could have been watching movies, I am going to change the channel the overdrivepro uses which I think will avoid the slowdown. I did not do it then because multiple downloads had started on app store and on amazon apps.
UPdate: I changed my channel at home and network response has been snappier, so far
I did download WiFi Analyzer from Amazon Apps and it provides a lot of info. Best it is free and with Ad Killer no ads

FYI Amazon apps wanted to update I tried that when they had a Halloween update... all I can tell you is 5 minutes later I uninstalled the update back to the preloaded version. What is it with these companies? they want to take over and suck up processing cycles while doing it?

[Chandy]

Sorry to hear you're having trouble. I'll try to walk through what I did step by-step.

1. Download the vending.apk file linked to earlier in this thread...here it is again: http://www.mediafire.com/?31bn3e258jjpj8d (I downloaded that link right on my tablet...it's a lot easier that way then downloading it on a computer and then transferring it).

2. Launch ES File Explorer. Navigate to /sdcard/Download/ (the default place the built-in web browser downloads files to).

3. Long press the Vending.apk file and select Copy from the Operations Menu that pops up.

4. Navigate to /system/app/ and press the Paste button in the top menu bar.
4a. (if you're having trouble getting to the /system/ folder, you may have to enable ES File Explorer's Root Settings. To do this, press the menu button -> select Settings -> scroll down to Root Settings -> check all the boxes for Root Explorer, Up to Root, Mount File System & Backup System App. Then press the Back button until you're back to the main ES File Explorer screen. Now you can press the Up button on the top menu until you get to / then you can see the /system/ folder.

5. With Vending.apk copied into the /system/app/ folder, long press on it, and scroll down the list in the Operations menu that pops up until you can select Properties. Press the Change button next to Permissions in the Properties box. Check or uncheck the boxes so that only the Read and Write boxes are checked for User, and only the Read box is checked for Group and Other. Then press OK on each box until you're back to the main ES File Explorer screen.

6. Press Vending.apk to start the Install process, following the prompts like any other app install.

7. The old Google Market should be installed now. Exit out of ES File Explorer, find Market in your Apps list and run it. Log into it with your Google account and make sure it's working properly.

8. Get the new version of Google Play either from the download linked earlier in this thread (http://www.mediafire.com/?wwcqrlfwt8o1gnv) or from your phone or other Android device (such as the App backup method I described in an earlier post). Install it like any other app to update the older Market version. You should be good to go.

I am unable to get into the menu and system files. I am usually pretty good at this stuff but have been trying since I picked this thing up on Black Friday. I am not sure why I am missing the boat here. Are you able to help out. I am not sure where the menu option is in the ES File Explorer. I went to help in the app and it said something along the lines that the root directories are only supported under certain ROM's. I would think we all have the same ROM with the PMID10C. Feeling pretty stupid here.

[dawieg]

dawieg....liked your post a lot. thanks to you and also thanks to singledad for initiating this. i am having mixed feelings about this tablet. i got google play installed per daweig steps and it works fine. also followed your battery life fix (changing phone.apk to phone.old).
So even with airplane mode on (wifi off), the battery life with the tablet lying 'idle' is barely 24 hours. with wifi on it is half that!!! is this as good as it gets at your end tooo? anyone else who can share their experience?
Secondly, the wifi performance is very flaky to the point of being non-functional at times. i am using the tablet in the same room where my belkin router is. any suggestions or this is another drawback of this tablet?
looking forward for some suggestions.
thanks again.

That battery life seems to be about on par with what I'm seeing...maybe even a tad better depending on what I'm doing (I think dropping the screen brightness to at least half helps). Still, it's battery seems to put my phone's to shame some days. Besides, since the iPad and 8.9" Kindle Fire each claim 10 hours of battery life on their respective product pages, I'm gonna be happy with what the PMID10C has been giving me lately.

I now have my main wireless network (dlink "N" router), an extender (a Netgear "N" model), and an old router I plugged back into the network (a dlink "G" router). The "N" and "G" access points are running on different channels (the extender seems to take the same channel as the main router...I wish I could change it). I've successfully connected my PMID10C to all three wireless networks, but the "N" connections can still be flaky sometimes (my phones and laptops don't have problems with the "N" networks). It seems like my PMID10C is most reliable when connected to my old "G" router...even from a greater distance. I've tried changing channels on each, so both the "G" and the "N" networks have been tested at different channels...I just seem to have better luck with the "G" regardless. I suppose the next test would be to try dropping one of the "N" networks to "G" and seeing if that makes it more reliable.

[dawieg]

I am unable to get into the menu and system files. I am usually pretty good at this stuff but have been trying since I picked this thing up on Black Friday. I am not sure why I am missing the boat here. Are you able to help out. I am not sure where the menu option is in the ES File Explorer. I went to help in the app and it said something along the lines that the root directories are only supported under certain ROM's. I would think we all have the same ROM with the PMID10C. Feeling pretty stupid here.

I did install the OTA system update, but I don't think that affected any root abilities.

I've attached some various screens from my ES File Explorer so you can check how they compare to what you're seeing (sorry about the tops being cut off...not quite sure why that happened).

esdownload.jpg shows my download folder (where the browser downloads files by default) & the screen layout with toolbar across the top. (pressing the little button to the right of the location bar can show/hide the big toolbar buttons).
esmenubottom.jpg shows how to get into the Settings by pressing the Menu button (three vertical dots next to the Volume Up button on the bottom).
essettingstoolbar.jpg shows how to show/hide the Toolbar if it's missing. It's under Layout Settings in the Settings menu.
essettings.jpg shows when you scroll down to the bottom of the Settings menu where you can get into the Root Settings.
settingsroot.jpg shows the Root Settings menu where you can enable root capabilities.
esroot.jpg shows the top of the tablet's folder structure. After enabling the root settings, keep pressing the Up button on the toolbar until you get to / (if you press Up twice here, it will exit ES File Explorer). When you're here, then you can open up the System folder and then go into the App folder within.
essystemapp.jpg shows my /system/app/ folder where the Vending.apk file needs to be copied and where you can rename Phone.apk (doing so seemed to improve my battery life).

Hopefully these screenshots help you out.

[jr71x1978]

Roms-Recovery???

Hi, so ive been following this to a t and have opened a thread on xda with absolutly no replies... With almost 17,000 views, someone has to be working on a rom or Recovery for this... I will test if needed... Thanx;-)

[elektrik]

Hi, so ive been following this to a t and have opened a thread on xda with absolutly no replies... With almost 17,000 views, someone has to be working on a rom or Recovery for this... I will test if needed... Thanx;-)

Ask and you shall receive :-) This is my first stab at a modified stock for ya. Should have bloat removed, Root, Google Play and CWM recovery....This oughta hold ya until I can make elektricity ROM.....

Merry Christmas! Keep the change ya filthy animals!

Link: http://www.freaktab.com/showthread.p...0951#post40951

[jr71x1978]

oh well, omg...

Ask and you shall receive :-) This is my first stab at a modified stock for ya. Should have bloat removed, Root, Google Play and CWM recovery....This oughta hold ya until I can make elektricity ROM.....

Merry Christmas! Keep the change ya filthy animals!

Link: http://www.freaktab.com/showthread.p...0951#post40951

Can't to see what you've put together here, it'll be a few hours but I'm excited and anxious, lol... Thanx a ton;-)

[elektrik]

Can't to see what you've put together here, it'll be a few hours but I'm excited and anxious, lol... Thanx a ton;-)

lemme know what you think....

[Chandy]

Okay, figured it out!

I am unable to get into the menu and system files. I am usually pretty good at this stuff but have been trying since I picked this thing up on Black Friday. I am not sure why I am missing the boat here. Are you able to help out. I am not sure where the menu option is in the ES File Explorer. I went to help in the app and it said something along the lines that the root directories are only supported under certain ROM's. I would think we all have the same ROM with the PMID10C. Feeling pretty stupid here.

I was unable to use the ES File Explorer as it did not give me the correct menu options. I downloaded and installed a free app called " Root Explorer" free from 1 mobile and was able to move the vender.apk and then installed it as singledad instructed. I waited a few day to make sure that the play app continued to work. I was able to download all of my apps that I have installed on my android Galaxy IIs phone onto the tab and all is now working well! I am still pretty disappointed with the battery life. I have it in airplane mode and changed the phone.apk file to phone.old as suggested in another post. Have cycled my battery more then the suggested 3 times and it has helped a little but an still not impressed with much improvement. Oh well, I still feel it was a good purchase for the price.

[ronb]

Amazon App Store

Has anyone gotten Amazon App Store app to work (short of reinstall) after it switched to the black-screen-with-only-search-bar mode?

[Ashou1a]

Polaroid 1000b Rom

Hey, I was wondering if any of you have the Polaroid PMID 1000b v2 tablet and if you've come across any custom roms. The preinstalled Rom sucks. I tried Electriks rom and got it to work but the touch screen calibration was off so I had to reflash the stock rom on. Any information would be great =)

[elektrik]

Hey, I was wondering if any of you have the Polaroid PMID 1000b v2 tablet and if you've come across any custom roms. The preinstalled Rom sucks. I tried Electriks rom and got it to work but the touch screen calibration was off so I had to reflash the stock rom on. Any information would be great =)

Wait, you flashed the PMID10C ROM on your PMID1000B? And it somewhat worked? You're lucky u didn't trash your tablet-I put the model numbers up for a reason you know buddy :-P seriously though, start a PMID1000B thread and I'll get you a stock modified image to play with based on the image for YOUR MODEL ;-)

[quietstorm354]

Wifi will not turn on

I've bought 2 of these for my kids & have been trying to set them up as xmas gifts. Now 1 of them will not turn the wifi on. The indicator will not stay in the "on" position, the screen says "turning Wifi on", but it never does. I've already hit the reset button 3x, turned it on and off, but nothing helps. Can someone please assist?! It's a little late for a return!