General Usage
Instead of me trying to explain to you my experience using the Le Pan II TC979 tablet check out the video below. It gives you a really good idea of how the tablet operates and shows you the performance.
I have been using the Le Pan II for a good 3 weeks and I use it daily. So I believe that is a good enough time period that I can really relate my thoughts on using the tablet. I am a huge fan of the actual size of the tablet. It is not overly large and it is not too small. The 9.7-inch screen gives you a resolution of 1024 x 768, which is great for a tablet. The size makes the Le Pan II feel like a notebook or something similar. I really like the large screen for watching movies and reading book. You cannot really complain about a large screen when gaming either.
The overall feel of the tablet is good. It weighs in at 1.5 pounds so it feels nice and solid and the aluminum back gives it that extra smooth feel. Although I really do like the aluminum back of the Le Pan II because it is aluminum it can get scratched so that is something you may want to keep in mind. I would suggest getting a case for this tablet because of its size. The front of the tablet is all glass so you are going to see visible finger marks, but Le Pan does include a cleaning cloth.
While I have not been a big fan of the on-screen controls on some tablets these seemed to work quite well and there was no lag and I did not have to hit the buttons over and over again for them to work. Android 3.2 is much improved over 2.0 and it really shows. Everything is very fluid and smooth. Remember this tablet will be upgradable to Android 4.0 when it does become available.
The front-facing camera on the tablet is pretty good. I am really not that critical of cameras on tablets because face it you are not going to be holding your tablet up to take a lot of photos. I did use the Le Pan II to make Skype video calls and it worked great! The speakers on the Le Pan work great but again they are speakers on a tablet so they are not overly powerful. If you want better sound grab a pair of headphones, I would suggest the V-Moda Vibrato’s.
The only thing I really did not like about the Le Pan II was the location of the volume buttons. I would have rather seen the volume buttons on the side of the tablet rather than top. Also the button is very hard to push. Also the power button is very small and you have to hold it in for quite a while for the tablet to power on or off.
newegg.com got it now as 2/22/12
how does it handle large PDFs?
Not that well. Use ‘ezPDF Reader’ –> (as the best PDF reader I could find), but still sometimes, it doesn’t do the job. Sometimes you need to reset it, but then it still doesn’t change pages that well, or just doesn’t handle itself, like you want.
I am a graduate school student in the market for my first tablet but I feel very overwhelmed with the options, o/s and models on the market.
I primarily would view pdf/powerpoints, school related websurf, listen/record audio of lectures, view, type, & edit word/text files – preferably with USB keyboard since I am uncertain about touchpad typing & USB option for jump drives or data transfer between systems. I currently don’t care so much about screen resolution, cameras, 3G/4G, watching HD movies or using it as a book reader, which seems to be what most of the tablet reviews talk about.
It would be great to get something sturdy in case I drop it and I don’t mind paying for quality.
That being said do you think anything the market fits my bill or should I wait for one of the tablets that are about to come out like the ASUS transformer Infinity? Fujitusu Q550 caught my eye as it seems rugged, security from theft, and it is running Win 7 (for compatibility w/my current file library) but then do I have to worry about viruses & trojans?
I dont mind buying an older model (Xoom, etc) as well or waiting a little longer for new releases. Can you give me some ideas out there anyone? Thank you!
Now I would really love to have a Le Pan II, I seen a commercial on Dish Network and I felt in love it the product, but my income is a bit underpriced!!!!!
I returned 4 of these le pan II’s they all had bad pixels, and the screen brightness degraded only after 2 days. Nice features but very poor build quality. I then bucked up and got a real tablet. iPad 2 on sales for 359.00. If your on a budget get the aniol novo elf II. Better specs than le – turds II and at a price of $120 to $160.
where can i buy one
I really like this tablet, but I don’t see this price to performance value when comparing with this..
http://goo.gl/u9dYA
I think this is much better..
goo.gl/YN8G5
Have had my Lepan for 6 months and like it. When they were released they were absolutely the best deal for the money around in Q1 2012 but the market is catching up, so is not quite the “no brainer” it used to be.
Pros: I bought mine for $249 and have not regretted it.
Build quality is good, and the extra weight seems to have been translated into a fairly robust unit. I dropped mine a few times (once without, twice in the case) and it has survived well. I cart it around all over the place and let my 3YO use it and the case is still stiff and no flex. I got a “soap and water” screen protector which has been great. Before that fingermarks drove me nuts.
Sound is good and the screen is no retina, but is still bright and clear. Touch screen works quite well (takes a few seconds to “wake up” after it has powered down – often need to put password in a few times) ICS release was reasonably prompt – a lot of online moaning about it in part because they promised ICS for the TC970 and never delivered, so there was a fair bit of scepticism about them. Cons:
They can be buggy. There is a common problem with the power button (which seems to be a software glitch, not sure if it still happens after an ICS upgrade.) Some reset when linked to a computer. A few resets when using apps, but not common on mine. Battery is only just OK, but no worse than many other tabs that cost more.I bought mine from an international website and used a freight forwarder to get it to OZ. I did not have any problems/returns, but a lot of people have so I would have to say I am a bit lucky. Based on online comment they seem to be good about replacement but not that responsive to queries. The charging cord is an annoying 30 Pin. The one supplied was 10th rate garbage that broke within days, leaving me high and dry as they will not ship me a replacement outside the US/Canada. Had to mod an ipod cord which works well enough. Overall, would not rave but am a satisfied customer. Priced under toshiba / samsung they are quite comparable in quality. Good hardware, the Android build shows the signs of being a small production team a bit stretched. Once the Le Pan III hits the market they will no doubt drop the II like a hot turd, so don’t count on much ongoing support.
If tech support is important to you, this not the brand to get. Very bad. They won’t answer the phone!!!!
UPDATE – Le Pan II dead after 10 months. Just bricked itself overnight. No point in shipping it back, just writing off as a bad deal and getting something else.
Can it cotain a lot of applications without having a problem?
Can it cotain a lot of applications without having a problem?
Hold down power button for 30 secs ?????