Onda Vi40 Elite

[jake608]

Well Bob I am the first to review the New Onda Vi40 Elite tablet that is the hottest thing out of China right now. I watched this tablet since it was about to be preordered. I also watched the price grow over $100 in a month as well.

The unit is loaded with all of the bells and whistles. 9.7" 5 point capactive IFS screen, Android 4.0 ICS, A10 Allwinner processor, 8 or 16gb flash storage, location services through wifi, Rooted out of the box, and 2160P playback.

I could not wait to get mine and open the box and have fun. With all of the built in hardware, being fully rooted, and a Market Fix already posted on the web my anticipation flew ahead of me! I received mine 2 days ago.

Out of the box I lit it up and my first impressions had me overwhelmed. The screen as advertised would make Apple go back to the drawing board, Truly Awesome display, especially with the 2160P playback. The 5 point touch capacitive screen reported by some to lagging I could not tell. I found it pretty smooth and flawless, very responsive. Nice design, with a 5mp rear facing camera. It is very lightweight and one of the slimest tablets I have ever seen. It can be tethered to the pc by usb.

After the initial excitement some reality set in. First off getting rid of the Chinese apps and the Chinese app store. Then came the Market Fix. Here is where things headed south. First off the market fix was created with a 32 bit driver which made my 64bit widows7 PC have a problem especially when I did not realize it. Needless to say it failed! Now it gets worse. Seems that the Market Fix all over the net all rolled back to the same source, Colonel Zap. This would be perfectly fine however the support has a lot to be desired.

I tried flashng it several times and keep getting the same error messages. There is no real forum for support only blogs. With this I have left questions and the few responses I received were vague to say the least. Needless to say I feel like I am stuck in a boot loop! And judging by the blogs I am not alone. Successes with loading the market fix a far less than the failures. I guess I have been spoiled by the knowledge and support I have received here with my Arnova. Just watching it evolve and how the "community" worked together to refine the product and how questions were answered so that the newbees could understand.

This tablet has entirely to much upside to not have the support it truly deserves. Just another factor is that it comes with ext4 already says a lot. With the right support Apple would definately be looking over their shouders. Maybe I am expecting to much to soon given how new this pad really is or I am just spoiled by FREAKTAB!
I have not given up on it by any means and if I have not bricked it by now says a lot aout its potential. Worst part of all is that backorders from preorders seem to be over a month behind and suppliers getting limited quatities are out before they get them. HOT very HOT! What a difference support vs blogs make! One is like talking to the computer on a telephone, guess which one!!!

More to come I am sure and hopefully not just me.

Jake608

[jake608]

update

Well it did not take long for Onda to release an updated firmware. The new firmware that i flashed has the Android Market included in the update version v.0.8.1 and I must say that some of the improvements though subtle has already improved a very good tablet. It is supposed to be fully rooted and I will be checking it soon. Seems that Onda is commited to improving this product. Since purchasing mine the prices have climbed and the availibility has disappeared, the word is out on the Onda Vi40 Elite.

[Finless]

Yes I have a friend wanting this tab and cant find it. He is actually waiting until they come in stock and more available.

Bob

[jake608]

vi40

Yes I have a friend wanting this tab and cant find it. He is actually waiting until they come in stock and more available.

Bob

it is such a well made tablet with tons of features and one of the best screens i have seen. It does however have some bugs and issues mostly due to being new. They are however working to improve it. I cannot wait until you get your screwdriver on it! If you can get it to perform like the G2 we would have a true iPad compeditor. Get you one to play with, i am sure you will enjoy it.

[jake608]

onda vi40 updated firmware

new news, Onda just released the latest version of firmware addressing some of the issues, most notable the flash player problem where flash 11 is now supported. Tablet is fully rooted out the box and keeps getting better. would love to see it after Bob playe with it!

[king_eric]

PC doesnt recognize when tablet is plugged in

hi guys, i understand that in my PC under the Device Manager, it should read "android ADB Interface" when i plug in my tablet. However, this doesn't happen. it's just a "android" with a yellow question mark.

But, i am able to use the tablet as a mass storage and transfer files. I am not able to flash firmware. anyone can help?

[Damo]

hi guys, i understand that in my PC under the Device Manager, it should read "android ADB Interface" when i plug in my tablet. However, this doesn't happen. it's just a "android" with a yellow question mark.

But, i am able to use the tablet as a mass storage and transfer files. I am not able to flash firmware. anyone can help?

If you see it as a mass storage device you are not in recovery mode once you are in recovery mode you will no longer see your device as mass storage device. You will have to find out your method for getting into that mode once there you will have to install the drivers for your device

Sent from my SK17i using Tapatalk

[jake608]

If you see it as a mass storage device you are not in recovery mode once you are in recovery mode you will no longer see your device as mass storage device. You will have to find out your method for getting into that mode once there you will have to install the drivers for your device

Sent from my SK17i using Tapatalk

if you are talking about the Onda, to get it to flash you need to follow these steps....hold down the middle button, while holding the middle button down plug in the usb cable, after plugging in the usb cable press the power button 3x;s, when the unit beeps release the middle button. it should then start installing the drivers.

Sent from my ONDA MID using Tapatalk

[Mim]

Impressive

Hi everyone

I'm new to these forums and only stumbled across this one in a long search for Vi40 rooting techniques as I am attempting at getting openvpn functioning. I will post the results here or somewhere more appropriate if anyone else is interested.

I live here in China, Shenzhen, a few kilometers away from where the main factory is for making this slate and I have to say I'm impressed with it thus far.

through dogmatic searching and testing/trialling out of many tablets over here, so far this has turned out to be the best of the lot. still there is some room for improvement, in particular, the firmware and and recovery process needs work to make this stage more user friendly and simplified, not too mention a better support mechanism, especially for us westerners.

For all you avid video and multimedia lovers I highly recommend getting MX video and the Armv7 codex, the high def hardware rendering decoding has stunning visual appeal with no lag or frame drops. I am yet to find a video at 2060p to test that out on hehe.

another suggestion is run with Launcher 2 its nice and very smooth. The tablet is fast, market works like a charm with the new beta firmware. No mods to make albeit deleting a few Chinese apps.

I suggest to not load up Z4 and busybox it causes a loop refresh boot and reports zero internal memory.

As a side not, if anyone here wants to get their hands on a Vi40 I have a good source here where I can get it from (a lady I teach some English too).

Let me know if you want me to get one out to you.

Its nice to see a competitor give samsung and apple a run for their money

[jake608]

@mim

Hi Mim, glad to se that there is someone else to discuss the Onda with. I have had one of the first and am going through the growing pains. Inhad the Beta 1.0 installed but flashed back to the .08 because the 1.0 became unstable. I a, getting ready to flash back to the 1.0 because the I cannot play Netflix with the .08, no flash support. I stated above I love the tablet and the potential upside when all is said and done. I know that it will grow to become very popular. I also like the fact fact that you canask and get responses from the factory. Do you have any insite to when the relesse will be on the latest firmware? Another issue I have encoumtered was the fzct that those apps that are specific to 4. 0 ICS will not recognize the device as such stating that the device is not compatible. One exa,ple is Google Chrome. Also with the beta version flash support issue there is also an issue with browsers. I cannot get browser to work consistently with it. I am sticking to the stock browser with the .08 and seems to work fine except for email flash support. You stated that you have a source for the Onda vVi40, at what price? I may have someone interested. You may get a lot of reply on this since all soruces seem to have a problem getting them. I also u derstand that they will be releasing a 32gig version very soon.

[Mim]

Your welcome

Thus far beta 1 has been good, certainly a noticeable iprovment in performance. So far as browsers go, I have only installed Opera mobile and so far have not experienced any problems. I will try download more market ICs apps to validate what youa re are saying. havig said that, I have not stumbled across any market apps that don't work as of yet.

Perhaps give me a list of the top 5 most wanted apps so I too can try at this end. If neccessary I may report this to the contact I have here and see if we can have this catered for in the next firmware release.

So far as pricing goes, I will get back to you tomorrow.

But at a guess, probably something around 240 USD (less if I do a batch order I imagine) without shipping.

And if people like, I will preload the latest firmware (chinese apps removed) with standard apps such as Opera Mobile, kingsoft, libre ofice, office reader, and a few others such as wifi scanner etc... Lol I can even get a pretty groovy leather pouch with embedded okish keyboard for around 25 USD, darn its cheap over here.

[jake608]

Thus far beta 1 has been good, certainly a noticeable iprovment in performance. So far as browsers go, I have only installed Opera mobile and so far have not experienced any problems. I will try download more market ICs apps to validate what youa re are saying. havig said that, I have not stumbled across any market apps that don't work as of yet.

Perhaps give me a list of the top 5 most wanted apps so I too can try at this end. If neccessary I may report this to the contact I have here and see if we can have this catered for in the next firmware release.

So far as pricing goes, I will get back to you tomorrow.

But at a guess, probably something around 240 USD (less if I do a batch order I imagine) without shipping.

And if people like, I will preload the latest firmware (chinese apps removed) with standard apps such as Opera Mobile, kingsoft, libre ofice, office reader, and a few others such as wifi scanner etc... Lol I can even get a pretty groovy leather pouch with embedded okish keyboard for around 25 USD, darn its cheap over here.

Thanks, one of the apps as I stated was the google chrome and a other was the ICS launcher. My biggest issue with the tablet thusfar is the lack of flash support most notable with Netflix. I am now using the .08 version and it works a lot better than the beta 1.0 for me, however the Beta has support for flash 11.0 which will play Netflix. That is one reason that I am going to reflash the Beta and try again. Once you get the prices let me know along with the shipping charges. I just purchased a leather ase with keyboard for $23 usd and free shipping. Another issue with the beta was that the yahoo mail app would not work I had to use the mail section of opera to get it to work

Sent from my ONDA MID using Tapatalk

[Mim]

Google Chrome

Unfortnaley I cant test netflix from here without getting the tunnel up and running properly and at this stage I cant find google chrome browser on the market place so will need to dig a bit deeper.

I did some performance benchmarks with awesome results, its right up there with the best of them.

The best prciing I can get with gauranteed supply direct from the company is around 255 USD for the 16GB Vi40.

A suggestion for keyboard is to not go with the keyboards in the leather cases, they really are pretty bad quality and using a mouse is a pain, I personally opted for a small elephant keyboard with combined bluetooth mouse. This way I can sit back and use both mouse and keyboard whilst using up the one usb port. It works perfect and keyboard is smooth.

The case I use has a velcro spine so the screen can be positioned at any angle along the base of the carry pouch which is very handy for couch time .

Anyway, I have just managed to get upnp working with the serviio DLNA server so watching movies from the network is perfect, and above this I have the two player so I can switch the output stream to my ps3 or tv

[jake608]

Unfortnaley I cant test netflix from here without getting the tunnel up and running properly and at this stage I cant find google chrome browser on the market place so will need to dig a bit deeper.

I did some performance benchmarks with awesome results, its right up there with the best of them.

The best prciing I can get with gauranteed supply direct from the company is around 255 USD for the 16GB Vi40.

A suggestion for keyboard is to not go with the keyboards in the leather cases, they really are pretty bad quality and using a mouse is a pain, I personally opted for a small elephant keyboard with combined bluetooth mouse. This way I can sit back and use both mouse and keyboard whilst using up the one usb port. It works perfect and keyboard is smooth.

The case I use has a velcro spine so the screen can be positioned at any angle along the base of the carry pouch which is very handy for couch time .

Anyway, I have just managed to get upnp working with the serviio DLNA server so watching movies from the network is perfect, and above this I have the two player so I can switch the output stream to my ps3 or tv

what version of flash player are you running? I am still having problems with videos so I am going to flash the Beta 1.0 again and see if it is any better. Another possible answer could be the fact that I went from the original factory firmware to the Beta. I was having issues and by the time I was able to get the unit to flash the Beta was out so I flashed it an bypassed the .08ver. Could be a reason the Beta was acting unstable. Will let you know. What are you referring to as an elephant keyboard?

Sent from my ONDA MID using Tapatalk

[jake608]

Supply Vi40

Unfortnaley I cant test netflix from here without getting the tunnel up and running properly and at this stage I cant find google chrome browser on the market place so will need to dig a bit deeper.

I did some performance benchmarks with awesome results, its right up there with the best of them.

The best prciing I can get with gauranteed supply direct from the company is around 255 USD for the 16GB Vi40.

A suggestion for keyboard is to not go with the keyboards in the leather cases, they really are pretty bad quality and using a mouse is a pain, I personally opted for a small elephant keyboard with combined bluetooth mouse. This way I can sit back and use both mouse and keyboard whilst using up the one usb port. It works perfect and keyboard is smooth.

The case I use has a velcro spine so the screen can be positioned at any angle along the base of the carry pouch which is very handy for couch time .

Anyway, I have just managed to get upnp working with the serviio DLNA server so watching movies from the network is perfect, and above this I have the two player so I can switch the output stream to my ps3 or tv

@Mim, I have had several people ask for a link as to where they can order and get the Vi40 Elite. Can you post a link that I can forward in the forum, I think you may get some rapid business.
Thanks