Le Pan TC 970 9.7-Inch Multi-Touch LCD Google Android Tablet PC

 

Le Pan TC 970 9.7-Inch Multi-Touch LCD Google Android Tablet PC

 

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 0.5 inches ; 1.5 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B004PGMFG2
• Item model number: TC 970
  

By : Le Pan
Price : $199.99
You Save : $50.00 (20%)

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Le-Pan TC970 Tablet offers a slim design and intuitive touch navigation via its bright 9.7-inch display. With the Android 2.2 OS (Froyo), the tablet offers full support for Adobe Flash Player 10.2 for accessing Flash-enabled sites, watching 720P video and playing games.
This tablet weights 1.6 pounds and just 0.48 inches thin, Le Pan Tablet has a super slim and sleek design and feels very comfortable in your hands with its smooth beveled edges. It's great for multitasking, viewing multiple apps, browsing entire web pages, and sharing entertainment and photos.
With integrated Google technology, TC970 brings one-touch access to the popular Google mobile services millions use every day, including Google Search by voice, Google Maps with Street View, YouTube, and Picasa. Gain access to thousands of leading Android apps via an Apps Store icon located on the home screen.
You'll enjoy 720p HD video and speedy responsiveness from the ARM Cortex-A8 processor and 512 MB of DDR2 RAM. Typing messages or notes is simple and easy with the TC970 virtual QWERTY keyboard. It's outfitted with a 2.0-megapixel front-facing camera for video chat.
Other features include Bluetooth 2.1 wireless connectivity for hands-free devices and stereo music streaming, Micro SD memory expansion (via optional card up to 32 GB), and up to 6 hours of on-the-go battery power.
Wide, 178 Degree Viewing Angle High Resolution Display

The crisp and vibrant 9.7-inch capacitive touch screen display offers plenty of real estate for even the most demanding tablet users. It's wide, 178 degree viewing angle let you can share it with someone sitting next to you, and everyone gets a brilliant view. No wrong way to hold it.
Capacity Multi-touch Panel, experience everything with your fingers
Browsing web pages, writing email and sharing entertainment and photos, all come out with your fingers' tip.
Ultra Portable
This tablet weights 1.6 pounds and just 0.48 inches thin, Le Pan Tablet has a super slim and sleek design and feels very comfortable in your hands with its smooth beveled edges.
Android System
With the Android 2.2 OS (Froyo), the Tablet offers full support for Adobe Flash Player 10.2 for accessing Flash-enabled websites, watching 720P video and playing games. It's great for multitasking, viewing multiple apps, browsing entire web pages, and sharing entertainment and photos.
Full, Fast Browsing
You'll enjoy 720p HD video and speedy responsiveness from the ARM Cortex-A8 1 GHz processor and 512 MB of DDR2 RAM.

Crisp Video Calling
Enjoy bright, clear video calls with the front-facing 2-megapixel camera, built-in microphone.
Always Ready

With up to 32GB of storage with external Micro SD card, built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, and even GPS, it's ready for anything and everywhere.
Ever-lasting battery life
The ultra phenomenal battery life means it keeps up with you, no matter what you are doing or where you are doing.
Product Features

• Tablet with 9.7-inch Capacity display, support 720P video play
• Android 2.2 platform, and ultra-fast Wi-Fi connectivity
• Powered by ARM Cortex-A8 Core processor; support for Adobe Flash for viewing web sites, movies, games, and more
• Front-facing 2-megapixel camera and microphone for video chats
• Micro SD expansion (up to 32GB), 2GB Micro SD card bundled
• Up to 6 hours of video playback/Wi-Fi web browsing
• Size (L/W/H): 9.29 X 7.44 X 0.48 inches
• Weight: 1.6pounds

What's in the Box?
Tablet, USB to 30-pin connector, Charger, 2GB Micro-SD card, Hand-Ring, Quick user guide.
This nice design with 9.7 inch 720 HD touch screen,Android Le Pan tablet keeps you connected and entertained everywhere you go! The touch screen Google Android comes with a built in webcam for video chat, Wifi, and numerous cable ports, including one micro SD slots which support up to 32GB,an audio jack,a connector to USB (for charging and USB drive), and It includes a built in GPS chip, which allows Le Pan tablet to be used as a GPS device. Maps can be purchased online and downloaded to the Le Pan tablet, making it a 9.7-Inch navigator! The Android software delivers multi touch capabilities and access to watching videos, playing games, and browsing the web.

Technical Details

• Android 2.2, 1 GHz procesing speed
• 512 MB of DDR2 RAM
• High-Definition Display 9.7" high definition touch screen, 1024X768 XVGA TFT LCD,supports 720P HD video playback
• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g, Front-facing 2-megapixel camera
• 1.6 pounds

Customer Reviews

IMPORTANT UPDATE 11/30/2011: Please read B. Brinton's Amazon review (can't give the URL but it's one of the two star reviews here) regarding inability to update to new operating system. I stand by my original review as to the quality of the tablet, but recommend that you check out Brinton's review before actually buying.
Before I even start, I absolutely LOVE my Le Pan tablet. It's a blast to use, has a lot of upside for the things I want to do with it, and has a definite "wow" factor with bystanders. Typical quotes are, "wow," and "I want one" and "that is so cool!" This could be said about a lot of the better tablets (e.g., iPad) that have nice, high def, shiny screens showing video, but I appreciated the coveting looks (and I let people play with it extensively and had trouble getting it back a couple times).
I have never used a tablet (well, 10 minutes goofing with an iPad in the Apple Store a year ago) and have never used anything with the Android operating system.
A lot of my "cons" are probably pertinent to a lot of similar pieces of hardware, as well as shortcomings of the Android OS as it is currently implemented, rather than unique to the Le Pan.
I would NOT recommend this for someone looking for a turnkey, works perfectly out of the box solution. You will need either some experience, or a strong nerd compulsion (or a little of both). You'll have to overcome quirks of the hardware and software.
First, the "bad."
The power button sucks. After four days I STILL fumble with that sucker.
The fingerprints on the screen drive me nuts. I think it's worse in a tablet with a large screen than on an Andrnid or Iphone with smaller screens. I'm already carrying around a microfiber cleaning cloth. A definite hazard of this entire class of machine. You might want to invest in some wet-dry LCD screen wipes for when you want to get it in pristine condition before you show off in front of the boss (e.g., Audiovox Surface SURF402 Wet/Dry Screen Wipes). Think of it as detailing your tablet.
Saying the speakers are "tinny" might be generous and there is absolutely no recognizable bass component. I'm ready to get a bluetooth headphone for this immediately.
Can't run Hulu to watch TV (yet) - the hardware is probably perfectly capable, but Hulu sees "Android mobile device" and just serves up an annoying message. However YouTube (included app) looks and works better than I have ever seen it.
It's heavier than I thought, but not that bad. It's about the same weight as an iPad. I found that holding it in one hand I would cramp up after a couple of minutes. It is light enough to cradle, and propping it up on an ample paunch while in bed was ok. Sitting down with tablet on lap, no problem.
Next, the "weird."
The onboard camera only shoots pictures in a mirror mode (i.e., titles of books are reversed like in a mirror). In using Skype I found that for this version of Android, video calling is not supported. Otherwise, Skype works quite nicely on this platform.
In certain network environments (I'm on a University network half the time) you can easily purchase apps via the included Android Market, but downloading wouldn't commence - probably some security feature of our network. Using my home wifi connection (DSL via AT;T) I had no problems downloading and installing Skype and some other navigation based stuff.
The included browser can't handle Ebsco databases (if that means anything to you). The browser handles most websites well, and the large screen means you don't need to access the specially configured mobile sites, which are still a lot cleaner. I ran this on our library catalog and most of our databases with no problem, but the Ebsco ones didn't allow any search entry. Weird. (NOTE ADDED June 2, 2011: Just installed the Opera Mobile Web Browser ver. 11 from the Apps for Android store on Amazon and the Ebsco databases work just fine).
Finally, the "good."
The screen is awesome (except in daylight where it is useless). Use this indoors, not at the beach.
The response time is lightning fast. Apps come up fast and operate fast. Scrolling, screen switching, etc. is ultra-smooth.
In the right network environment, getting, installing, and using apps is trivial.
The integration with web based Google apps is seamless. I didn't even notice my calendar and contacts were downloaded and synchronized (and continue to be synchronized). A very cool thing I discovered this morning was that when I was out of wifi range (on my bus and train commute) I could still do my Gmail offline. The Gmail app downloads and caches your email so you can use it offline, including replying to messages. The next time you get a wifi connection, synchronization will send all pending messages, and download new ones - this was all done while sitting in my backback.
The GPS is useful, but not yet a substitute for a good stand-alone unit (I'm a TomTom user). But the connection to Google Maps is very cool. You have to wrestle to find it, but once you get into street view, it's obvious that high def simulated 3d is designed for tablets with big shiny screens. I'm still struggling with the interface (I think the GPS keeps wanting to tether me to Missouri), but I've taken friends to Florence and Rome on this tablet, and the fast and seamless "look around" on a tablet is very, very, nice.
Photos and video on this screen are gorgeous, without question. I haven't read anything yet that contests that - I vouch for the visual impressiveness as well. Again, the screen WILL get covered in finger smudges, and if you're in any kind of daylight you're out of luck seeing anything.
So, take this review in stride. Think of my comments as caveats and warnings, and whether or not they're deal breakers is up to you and what you need. I'm not sure there is any tablet that can satisfy all the myriad details wanted by end users. I give this four stars for being an impressive work with some upside potential with upgrades (video calling with Skype, Hulu compatibility). Read the specs and decide if things like not having video output is important, or not.
ADDED June 2, 2011: To watch movies you might have to convert them to an appropriate format (and/or download some other video software). I've been able to take video and using VLC (free and available on PCs and Macs) and convert to MP4 format then view with no problem. Also, because of movie sizes, you're likely going to need to buy a bigger micro SD chip (or two). I have some DVDs from Orlando (wife and kids swimming with the dolphins) and was able to extract the unprotected "VOB" files. I converted to a couple of formats but the MP4 format seemed to universally work. Again, this is one of those areas you need a bit of a nerd compulsion to work out.
Regarding using wet/dry pads to clean the screen. Almost all of the standard pads should work fine, but in most cases you're going to waste a lot of pad. I've taken to opening the pouches and cutting the wet AND dry pads in half. Then I stuff them back in the pouches and fold it over to preserve the dampness. You can probably clean the screen 3 to 4 times with one set of pads (experiment on your own).
UPDATE AFTER SIX WEEKS (added July 15, 2011): I'm hooked. Durable, dependable, and now I've modded it with all sorts of useful and fun apps (hint: Amazon apps store gives a free app a day SUCH A DEAL!). I've been using for six weeks without a hitch and this has become my "go to" device for browsing the net and wasting time (playing games). Power button still sucks, but I've gotten used to the fingerprints.
UPDATE AFTER SEVEN MONTHS (added January 11, 2012): Le Pan has now come out with a successor, the Le Pan II, so this will be my final update. I received my Le Pan in early June, 2011. As of this date my TC970 is still running strong with no quirks or hardware faults whatsoever. Anecdote is not evidence, but my personal experience continues to be positive with this tablet. I even loaned it to my son for a couple of weeks as he took it to Budapest, Prague, and Vienna. Toting it around Europe in a backpack for two weeks, and it's back home, still humming along perfectly. This is still one fine machine.

I got this tablet back in September and was initially fairly impressed. It looked pretty good, seemed to have a good build quality, had fairly fluid graphics and ran on Android. Plus, even though it was inexpensive, its memory was expandable to 32GB through the micro SD. I talked with their customer service folks before buying, and they explained that although the camera wouldn't actually work with video chat for the time-being, when the new Android OS (4.0) came out it would be able to [Note: I've since been corrected that there is other software and other ways of doing video chat]. As I started to use it I realized that Android 2.2 (aka froyo) is really mainly designed for cell-phones rather than tablets. It doesn't use the screen space very well, doesn't support split pane gmail, and is incompatible with a number of apps you'd would hope to be able to use on your tablet (although I managed to find others that still did most of what I was looking for, it was a pain--particularly given that it was a new product). I also noticed that although my wifi connection was fairly stable at home, it was extremely unstable with my school's enterprise wifi network--a big deal for me since I had bought it mainly for school use. Still, I figured that as soon as I would be able to upgrade to Android 4.0 (ice cream sandwich), the rest of its functionality would be restored.
Google released the source code for Android 4.0 (ICS) 2 days ago (Monday 11/14/11). I called Le Pan about the wifi issue today and confirmed that it was probably because of the old OS. I asked when I'd be able to upgrade the OS, and they said that their engineering folks were now saying it would be impossible to upgrade, but that they'd be coming out with a new tablet next year that would support it. I would be stuck with my current OS. I explained how limited the functionality was and how I wouldn't have bought it if they hadn't reassured me that it would soon have the fully functioning OS and asked for a refund. They said they couldn't offer a refund unless it was broken in some way (as opposed to intrinsically broken). Fortunately, after talking with the folks at Amazon they are refunding it (way to pull through, Amazon!).
I realize that for some of you this wouldn't be a deal-breaker and am giving it two-stars because it does work for some things. But for those hoping for a cheaper (slightly slower) iPad alternative, I'd say this isn't the android you're looking for.
[Note: I realize that I could root it and install a slightly newer OS, but that would void the warranty, and it would ultimately be a dead-end--it would never get to 4.0 or beyond.]