Final Thoughts
I was a huge supporter of the original Le Pan TC970 tablet. I have looked at a lot of tablets over the past few years and Le Pan did so much right with their original tablet. That is why I was really excited that they were coming out with the second version of it and that they were keeping the same form factor and design. Many people may knock this tablet for being a bit thick, but when you are carrying around a tablet of this size you are most likely going to have it in a case anyways.
So the design is the same, but what has Le Pan done to improve the tablet? They have upgraded the processor from a single-core ARM Cortex A8 1GHz processor to a dual-core Qualcomm APQ8060 1.2GHz processor. The memory has been doubled as well so instead of the 512MB you get a full 1GB of memory. As far as storage goes that has gone up from a simple 2GB to 8GB and remember you can always add more storage by simply installing a micro SD card. On top of all that you get Android 3.2, which is much improved over Android 2.2 that was on the original Le Pan tablet. It is very fluid, easy to use and seems like it was more made for a tablet rather than a phone. Also keep in mind this tablet will be upgradeable to Android 4.0 when it becomes available.
So how about performance! Check out the previous page to see how well the Le Pan II outperformed the original Le Pan tablet. Besides that from using the Le Pan II on a daily basis for 3 weeks there really is not much this tablet cannot do. All of the games I tested with it play great and without any issues. Of course simple applications like Facebook and Twitter work perfectly. As I showed in my usage video this tablet is able to play 1080p video and it looks damn good! You are able to make Skype video calls using the front-facing webcam, I made quite a few video calls and everyone said the video looked clear and the audio sounded good. As I always say speakers on a tablet are not meant to be powerful, but the ones on this tablet do a great job. I threw pretty much everything at this tablet and it was able to handle it.
The only thing I do not like about this tablet is the volume buttons and the power button. The volume is controlled by a rocker button. I really do not like this design or the location (at the top of the tablet) I would rather have seen 2 separate buttons for volume up and volume down and it would have been nice if they were located on the side of the tablet. The power button is quite small and you have to press it in for a long time for the power to actually turn on or off.
When it comes down to it this tablet is selling for $279 at my favorite online retailer. This puts it at a very low price point compared to other tablets that do not perform as well. Just like the original Le Pan tablet the Le Pan II really is a steal! Overall ThinkComputers gives the Le Pan II TC979 Android Tablet a 9 out of 10 score and our Recommended Award!
Pros:
– Price
– Great performance
– Runs Android 3.2 with a future upgrade to 4.0
– Speakers are quite loud
– Great overall feel
Cons:
– Volume button implementation could be better
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 ?????