JXD S7100 / Chinese Android Gaming Tablets

[elgarta]

Hello Tempers,

So lately I decided to just look around at the Open Source handhelds that are out there since my brothers Birthday is coming up and I thought some fun obscure handheld would be the way to go.

Lots of info out there for things like the Wiz, Caanoo, Dingoo ect, but one that really stood out to me was the 7" Android Tablet, the JXD S7100. The downside though is that I can't find many reviews or much in the way of user feedback.

Everything I have read about the Wiz, Caanoo and Dingoo they have their strengths but some of the emulators are lackluster or not as good as the alternatives on say the PSP, which is what made me interested in the android platforms for gaming. From what I gather the S7100 is alot like the Yinlips (The PSV rip-offs), but it is bigger and doesn't have shoulder buttons. It looks really neat, especially as it is an Android so you can use it for other every day tasks too..

So anyway, I was wondering if anyone has had any experience using one of these things or know of any good reviews around for it?

 

[.Chris]

Well, I found these from a quick Bing search.

http://www.theverge.com/2011/12/26/2661483/jxd-s7100-7-inch-froyo-gaming-tablet

http://liliputing.com/2012/01/jxd-s7100-android-gaming-tablet-reviewed.html

 

[The Catboy]

Thing looks pretty damn interesting in my option

 

[.Chris]

Thing looks pretty damn interesting in my option

Looks pretty cool, but there are some features that it does not include, such as bluetooth and GPS; unlike most Android Tablets, which you can buy at the same price.

 

[PolloDiablo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvVMcCcJNdQ

 

[The Catboy]

Thing looks pretty damn interesting in my option

Looks pretty cool, but there are some features that it does not include, such as bluetooth and GPS; unlike most Android Tablets, which you can buy at the same price.

To be honest, those are features I don't use and they are already part of my phone, so it's not very important to me.
Plus those other ones lack buttons and a joystick. I hate using Touchscreen to play games.

 

[PolloDiablo]

To be honest, those are features I don't use and they are already part of my phone, so it's not very important to me.
Plus those other ones lack buttons and a joystick. I hate using Touchscreen to play games.

yeap, the main feature of this tablet are the buttons... but sadly, it lacks shoulder ones

 

[.Chris]

Thing looks pretty damn interesting in my option

Looks pretty cool, but there are some features that it does not include, such as bluetooth and GPS; unlike most Android Tablets, which you can buy at the same price.

To be honest, those are features I don't use and they are already part of my phone, so it's not very important to me.
Plus those other ones lack buttons and a joystick. I hate using Touchscreen to play games.

True, and it's the same situation for me. But I'm just saying that this gaming tablet would be better if it had those functions.

 

[The Catboy]

yeap, the main feature of this tablet are the buttons... but sadly, it lacks shoulder ones

Maybe we should email them to add those in the next version it seems like those are all common complaints.

True, and it's the same situation for me. But I'm just saying that this gaming tablet would be better if it had those functions.

Same with other feature.

 

[.Chris]

yeap, the main feature of this tablet are the buttons... but sadly, it lacks shoulder ones

Maybe we should email them to add those in the next version it seems like those are all common complaints.

True, and it's the same situation for me. But I'm just saying that this gaming tablet would be better if it had those functions.

Same with other feature.

We should, indeed my friend.

 

[Tanas]

Theres a good review in the February edition of Retro Gaming Radio for the s7100, the review starts at about 1h:31
http://www.retrogamingradio.com/thearchives/archives.php

 

[elgarta]

Retrogaming? Never checked there before.

Well, I found these from a quick Bing search.

http://www.theverge....o-gaming-tablet

http://liliputing.co...t-reviewed.html

I've checked those ones before. The second one is just a link to a review to netbooknews.it which is in Italian. I've had no problem finding overview sites or even italian/spanish/french videos, but not alot from a users who go over it much. As opposed to the Caanoo or Dingoo, there are lots of reviews floating around for them.

All-in-all it looks neat, and like The Catboy said, the features it is missing (Bluetooth etc) I have on my HTC Desire, and my brother has them on his iPhone 4.

I did read somewhere though that if you root the device you can get a working GPS, but you need it to then connect to a wi-fi network so it can get anything. So that'd be like setting up your phone as a wi-fi hub when it's connected to the internet

Some of the android emulators have touch buttons, so although it doesn't have built-in shoulder buttons you can always use the ones on the screen. Inconvenient? Yes, but a complaint I heard about the Yinlips droid is that even with the shoulder buttons, the OS doesn't support too many buttons being pressed at once so it isn't as big of an advantage for some types of games

yeap, the main feature of this tablet are the buttons... but sadly, it lacks shoulder ones

Maybe we should email them to add those in the next version it seems like those are all common complaints.

True, and it's the same situation for me. But I'm just saying that this gaming tablet would be better if it had those functions.

Same with other feature.

We should, indeed my friend.

Actually there is another one made by JXD called the s601. It's basically a smaller handheld based on the S7100 and it does feature shoulder buttons. http://dingoo-scene.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/honey-i-shrunk-my-s7100-new-jxd-s601.html

It's a bit smaller compared to the 7" screen of the S7100 @ only 4.3", so it looks more like a PSP clone than an android. Something about an Android tablet with dedicated buttons for gaming just seems cool though. it isn't something we would likely see on a big-brand tablet though since it clearly focuses on emulation which is a big no-no in most parts of the world

 

[.Chris]

Retrogaming? Never checked there before.

Well, I found these from a quick Bing search.

http://www.theverge....o-gaming-tablet

http://liliputing.co...t-reviewed.html

I've checked those ones before. The second one is just a link to a review to netbooknews.it which is in Italian. I've had no problem finding overview sites or even italian/spanish/french videos, but not alot from a users who go over it much. As opposed to the Caanoo or Dingoo, there are lots of reviews floating around for them.

All-in-all it looks neat, and like The Catboy said, the features it is missing (Bluetooth etc) I have on my HTC Desire, and my brother has them on his iPhone 4.

I did read somewhere though that if you root the device you can get a working GPS, but you need it to then connect to a wi-fi network so it can get anything. So that'd be like setting up your phone as a wi-fi hub when it's connected to the internet

Some of the android emulators have touch buttons, so although it doesn't have built-in shoulder buttons you can always use the ones on the screen. Inconvenient? Yes, but a complaint I heard about the Yinlips droid is that even with the shoulder buttons, the OS doesn't support too many buttons being pressed at once so it isn't as big of an advantage for some types of games

yeap, the main feature of this tablet are the buttons... but sadly, it lacks shoulder ones

Maybe we should email them to add those in the next version it seems like those are all common complaints.

True, and it's the same situation for me. But I'm just saying that this gaming tablet would be better if it had those functions.

Same with other feature.

We should, indeed my friend.

Actually there is another one made by JXD called the s601. It's basically a smaller handheld based on the S7100 and it does feature shoulder buttons. http://dingoo-scene.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/honey-i-shrunk-my-s7100-new-jxd-s601.html

It's a bit smaller compared to the 7" screen of the S7100 @ only 4.3", so it looks more like a PSP clone than an android. Something about an Android tablet with dedicated buttons for gaming just seems cool though. it isn't something we would likely see on a big-brand tablet though since it clearly focuses on emulation which is a big no-no in most parts of the world

Lol, I was just about to post that. xD
I'd rather have that than the tablet, for gaming.

 

[SifJar]

Actually there is another one made by JXD called the s601. It's basically a smaller handheld based on the S7100 and it does feature shoulder buttons. http://dingoo-scene....w-jxd-s601.html

It's a bit smaller compared to the 7" screen of the S7100 @ only 4.3", so it looks more like a PSP clone than an android. Something about an Android tablet with dedicated buttons for gaming just seems cool though. it isn't something we would likely see on a big-brand tablet though since it clearly focuses on emulation which is a big no-no in most parts of the world

Resistive touch screen though. That sucks, quite frankly. Touch screen games would be much worse on that device than the larger tablet.

 

[elgarta]

Resistive touch screen though. That sucks, quite frankly. Touch screen games would be much worse on that device than the larger tablet.

Exactly. To have a bigger screen seems like a fair trade-off for losing shoulder buttons, especially when you can map those buttons to the screen somewhere.

I just listened to the Retrogamer review and I must say that it is one of the most detailed ones around. It even gives a bit of background info about Android OS and what the Emulators of choice are, and do some basic comparisons to a high-end Android tablet (the Transformer) and the Caanoo. All-in-all I think this would be a really neat device and I will pry a bit more and see if my brother would want one of these or whether he wants a PSP (Lately he has been going on about wanting to play PSX classics on it). From what they said in their review, most of the old Arcade cabinet games work on the available Emulators, with some slight problems on directional controls due to the OS installed, it can play N64 with little hicups but it doesn't interfere too much, the SNES special chip games do hiccup a little but are playable. and Super Mario RPG runs smoothly (Finally, a device that can do it besides my PSP!). It didn't go into PSX, but from what I have read elsewhere, PSX on android isn't as good as it could be.

To have a tablet which can play roms smoothly, has dedicate gaming buttons & can function as a normal Android tablet with it's apps seems like alot for a price tag of $140-$170 depending on which screen you get. If I do get one for my brother I might ask him if I can borrow it for a day or two and I might do a service by doing a review on it. If I don't get one for him, I have this really weird feeling that I might actually order one for myself

 

[KidIce]

I ordered one of these. It's not here yet, and as far as I can tell has not left China. PA was selling the resistive version for ~$160 and after watching some videos and reading some opinions on forums I went for it. I'm mostly interested in it for it's retro gaming aspect. The PSP is a retro gaming beast as far as handhelds are a concern, but there are many areas that this thing seems to blow the PSP away in (read: N64, MAME). And, what the hell, it runs Android crap as well. My nerd crew is almost more excited than I am about it ("IS IT HERE YET!?!?").

As far as PSX emulation is a concern, most the responses I read and videos I watched suggested that PSX emulation was on par or better than on the PSP.

We'll see. This will be my first Android device, so I suspect the minute I get it and it's been rooted I'll be in here asking for advice, killer apps, etc. Ask me about it then.

Oh and I didn't go for the s601 for a number of reasons... I already own a real PSP. Resistive only (resistive is the more accurate technology, but lacks multi-touch that many Android apps seem to need). Lower screen and camera resolution. Half the flash space... And so on. Shoulder buttons are OK, but the price difference between the two is negligible, IMO, and I'll happily use screen mapped buttons in exchange for the far better specs of the s7100.

 

[elgarta]

PSX Emulation on par with the PSP? Do you know where you read this? I just haven't been able to find much about it, but I do agree that as great as the PSP is for emulation there are a few weak spots.

I hear that it is a bit hard to get into as a 'first Android device', and after getting my HTC phone last year I can say that I was not expecting what I got. It is great but I was confused by it, me not being the 'smart phone' savy person.

You'll have to post something once you get it. I just heard on the grapevine that someone is actually looking around for a tablet for my birthday (it was 3 months ago, but I've been overseas and they have been away/waiting on money). If I haven't heard anything by the end of the month I am likely to order one for myself

 

[cracker]

The FPSE Android port isn't that good at all. I have a Droid 3 (dual core 1GHz cpu, 512M RAM, hardware accelerated video -- though most emulators don't use it) and it was hardly capable of running anything without crashing from what I tested. The most success I got was playing 2 rounds of WWF Arcade on it (after crashing a few times previous to that attempt). I would just hope for the best but prepare for the worst on any device it is tried on.

That being said, this tablet would be nice for emulating games that use only the dpad and up to the 4 action buttons but I wouldn't want to use it for SNES games that needed the shoulder buttons in a moment's notice. For those I will stick to PSP and/or DS + dstwo (with and/or without the dingux port -- believe it or not the SNES emulator on it can run Killer Instinct a bit better than the dstwo's plugin).

 

[KidIce]

Can't recall where the discussion was about the PSX emulation, I hit a mess of forums and such. I tend to do my homework a bit more thoroughly than I probably need to. Do a search on You Tube for "JXD s7100 PSX" and watch the videos , it seems to do pretty well.

To be honest though I'm far more interested in the other emulators that don't run well on my PSP: N64, UAE, etc. I can always fall back to POPS, if the s7100 isn't up to snuff for it. The bulk of my PSX stuff on my HD are in eboot's instead of ISO's anyway. The good news for me is the videos I watched showed the s7100 doing a far better job than the PSP at the other emulators I actually I bought it for. If I can play the Amiga version of Speedball 2 on the go (w/o carrying around a laptop and a joystick) I'll be a very happy camper.

According to the US Postal Service the thing hit LA yesterday. Strangely, it's not showing up on Honk Kong Posts tracking site. If the USPS is correct though, it should be here in a couple or so days.

 

[elgarta]

Well PSX might be better with updated emus. I originally saw one video of a FF7 test and the graphics played well but the audio didn't seem too good as it kind of glitched alot. The video I just saw then by a youtuber 'beatlep' seems good though, it shows it can be done as long as you utilize the touch screen buttons. But like you said KidIce, it's not something I would personally worry about either since I do have a PSP. My brother doesn't though, so it'd be a bonus if it did.

The android emus actually look really nice. I was quite surprised with what I have seen from the N64 and SNES especially. I'd like to see more GBA though just for kicks (Golden sun especially). It looks like it'd certainly be enough to turn your psp into a dedicated PSP/PSX game player.. Plus the gameplay of the older Arcade Cabinet games looks amazing, and I have never bothered to try emulating them on a handheld due to the small screen which wouldn't do it justice.

From my experience with HK Post, I'd beleive it was in LA. I don't get my order updates on HK post until it arrives most of the time.. sometimes a departure record shows but that is rare these days.

I'd also like to know if your one does have Bluetooth once you get it. I keep reading about it and cannot for the life of me find a definitive answer as to whether it does have it or not. Some people say yes and others say no.. the tablet specs do state that it has it too so I am not sure.