We all know that there are certain things which can't be best served by eithe rour laptop or our phone, for example, the purpose of an ebook-reader, well, as long as it is considered comfortable. So, first of all, I would like to write a few of the advantages of tablets over laptops, desktops and smartphones in the first place:
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| The Micromax Funbook, facing front |
1. A laptop is often too bulky to be used as a comfortable ebook-reader. A phone on the other hand may be much more portable, even when compared to a tablet, but the process of reading on such a small screen can be troublesome. Turning the pages again and again, low resolution etc. can be harmful for your eyes. So, a tablet is your best companion for ebook-reading + other specialized apps.
2. All games and most apps are faster on tablets. Tablets like Micromax funbook or Karbon smarttab, specially built for the Indian market but to be used flawlessly by anyone outside, are cheaper and way faster than even costly phones. My phone is LG Optimus Pro, almost twice as costly as my tablet. Yet, larger size allows my tablet to contain faster yet cheaper processors, more storage, more RAM and so on.
3. Tablets have larger screens, mine is 7 inches. So, this gives you more space to read. A connected tablet can serve as an ebook-reader, a poetry app, a moving science calculator and tool, an updated collection of newspapers, a good browser and so on.
4. A tablet supports external USB mouse, external keyboard and even a pendrive. It adds to the portability of storage.
Disclaimer: This is in no way an advertisement for the Micromax Tablet. I am kinda overly pleased with their cheap yet good device which I bought myself, and that;s why I am writing this article. Many of the things here apply well to most tablets.
So, let us begin with our review of Micromax Funbook.
First of all comes the price tag: it is really cheap compared to an iPad or Galaxy tab. It's just Rs. 6,499 in the Indian market. As such, it is one of the cheapest devices available of its kind. In my humble non-technical opinion, the following can be called its advantages
1. It's really fast, even with its stock ROM. But there are a couple of good ROMs available with easy installation. I will post some links at the end of the article if you want to try them. I would personally suggest upgrading the stock ROM to a clean ICS installation and then install the JetMod 5.0, which is an excellent choice for your tablet.2. It is lightweight, and has a high-resolution capacitive display. It also comes with a custom iPhone APP called Super 2160p Player, which can play virtually any format you throw at it, and with all the beauty of a high-resolution TV screen. Believe it or now, it also supports 3D.
3. Most high-end games run well on the Mali dual processor supplied with Funbook.
4. The design is sleek and neat.
5. The internet storage is around 1.5 GB. This helps your device stay fast and responsive.
6. The front-facing camera is pretty good. Besides, audio quality and especially video playback is superb.
7. If you're from India, you can access several apps (paid) for lower prices, have support regarding educational content, download a whole bunch of thousands of movies, apps etc. from the micromax store for free. With slight modifications, I think that;s possible for non-Indians too.
8. It has three physical buttons, and also is very sturdy.
Now comes the part of disadvantages:
1. The device, by default, comes with a lot of Micromax bloatware. This is because it is aimed at Indian students. When I first started it, I saw that it was loaded with videos, app apks and such. They even provide a movie, 'Dabaang'. While it is okay to backup all these stuff in your laptop or desktop, removing them from the tablet is better. Remember that you can always copy your movies to your pendrive and play them from there through funbook.
2. The device by default supports only Tata Docomo dongle, which is bad. I didn't have the chance to test it, but my airtel 3G dongle crashed immediately with the device. I tried my best to make the default ROM support my dongle, by updraging the firmware of my dongle and unlocking the SIM, but nothing worked. The only wayaround is to install a custom ROM such as Jetmod or just a clean ICS installation for a flawless experience. But if you are not concerned about connectivity, then you can always stay happy with the Wifi connectivity which is pretty nice.
3. The device does not support SIM cards. So, no mobile networks other than using USB dongles.
4. It does not come with bluetooth. So, no luck, bluetooth guys.
5. The touch screen, although very sensitive, can also be a mess at times. Pressure sensation is not very good, and often you click something and another opens.
But overall, in my experience, I would give the device a 4/5 rating, for its smooth performance, fast processor and low price. As with most devices, a new site has been opened for those who are interested in hacking the funbook the the extent of maximum possible performance. It is:
http://funbook.gizmolord.com/
Lastly, I would suggest you all to install a clean ICS 4.0 from the site following their procedures, and then add Jetmod 5.0 to it to experience the heavenly beauty of your funbook. :) But beware, doing that would cause many of your android market apps to be shown 'incompatible' with your device. The workout is to download their apks from online and install them through file manager of your system.
A few apps I would suggest installing in your funbook are:
- Aldiko, one of the best distraction-free book readers available. The only problem is that it doesn't support Project Gutenberg and Autoscroll as of yet. But while you can add Gutenberg to the My Catalogues, no search option can be added for that.
- Poetry, from poetry foundation. It is in my opinion one of the best things to keep, to free your mind and enjoy the beauty of English poetry.
- Poet's corner, if you're a poet like me. :)
- Math-Ref, Graph-it etc. and other scientific tools if you're a student of science stream, like me. :)
- A few neat games such as chess, Rule the Kingdom, Naval Clash etc.
- Evernote, facebook, Stumbleupon, Wikipedia etc. (install through apks)
- Android Assistant, for easy management of your phone
- Jetmod adds automated task killer and battery saver, no need of anything extra
- Maybe Google reader, TOI (Times of India), BBC News/Pulse News etc. depending upon your choice
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