[huckleberrypie]

What's also interesting is that Amazon also used an MT8127 on their 7-inch Fire tablet:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.fudzilla.com/news/mobile/38810-amazon-fire-7-inch-runs-mediatek-mt8127-d">http://www.fudzilla.com/news/mobile/388 ... k-mt8127-d</a><!-- m -->

Mediatek initially gained notoriety for supplying SoCs to counterfeiters churning out fake Nokias and the like, but it's reassuring they gained mainstream acceptance over time. And yeah, their tablet SoCs do seem to perform well as far as reviews are concerned.

[cpd2009]

What's also interesting is that Amazon also used an MT8127 on their 7-inch Fire tablet:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.fudzilla.com/news/mobile/38810-amazon-fire-7-inch-runs-mediatek-mt8127-d">http://www.fudzilla.com/news/mobile/388 ... k-mt8127-d</a><!-- m -->

Mediatek initially gained notoriety for supplying SoCs to counterfeiters churning out fake Nokias and the like, but it's reassuring they gained mainstream acceptance over time. And yeah, their tablet SoCs do seem to perform well as far as reviews are concerned.

Very intriguing. Perhaps one day, Allwinner or Rockchip could find their way into brand name devices... if they can build an SoC that doesn't get too hot. And also nice to know that Pumpkins SoC is the same as the Fire 7''. I don't go for Fire tablets since they lack Google Play, that is, if you don't root and flash with a true Android OS. For what it's worth, Fire OS is based on Android and the latest Fire Tablet seems to do away with that rather awful flipboard (?) style home screen.

That article reminded me of another RCA Tablet that is a WalMart Black Friday special. A 7'' RCA Voyager II is on sale for $28.88. Where it becomes interesting is that it's listed as being "Ad-Free". I guess it has an adblocking app pre-installed? Pumpkin doesn't have such app or system service as in-game ads load as they normally do.

[huckleberrypie]

It's the same reason why I don't roll with them Coby tablets. Not only that they're shoddy to begin with, they also don't come with Gapps installed. I can get away with flashing a Gapps package myself, but it's more trouble than its worth.

[cpd2009]

It's the same reason why I don't roll with them Coby tablets. Not only that they're shoddy to begin with, they also don't come with Gapps installed. I can get away with flashing a Gapps package myself, but it's more trouble than its worth.

I recall testing out a Coby tablet at a RadioShack store several years ago. It was running Angry Birds. I was attempting to play that game as it was new to me. The game glitched up a bit and the tablet suddenly rebooted. :/ It taught me to stay away from Coby tablets. Coby went bankrupt a couple years later.

As for my Black Friday haul, info is coming very soon. In short, I scored the DVD projector and HDMI DVD player and the Bright Tab. DVD projector works, but I need to test out the SD/USB feature. The HDMI DVD player, a Naxa ND-860, claims to be Region 1 on the back, but it's playing one of my R2 "Der Kleine Eisbaer" DVDs as I type this. I also think there is a great chance the DVD projector is also region free as it lacks any region badge.

Menards... the best place to get a true Region-free DVD player.

[cpd2009]

Well, I have acquired the $59 Menards DVD Projector during Black Friday sales. There is going to be a lot of picture embeds, so I resized them all and compressed them. This thing packs a lot of features.


The included accessories were a very cheap and thin AV cable, a small remote control, and AC power cord. The projector itself has sturdy plastic, but it's also rather lightweight. The light source is a bright LED and the images are produced via a 320x240 LCD screen. Using the AV out cables, you can send the DVD/USB/SD video to a TV or VCR. There is no component or HDMI output sadly. A composite video input is also present, but you can only use that with the projector and not the video output. There is also a mini-USB connector with "VGA" labeled above. Doing a quick Google search, mini-USB to VGA cables apparently exist and the very sparse Engrish manual states it only supports a 1024x768 resolution.



The DVD player is region free out-of-box, and showing in the pictures above is one of my R2 Little Polar Bear DVDs. It plays DVDs good so far, but I have yet to test it with DVD-R discs. The projector can also play AVI, MP4, and various other video files from a SD card or a USB drive, shown below, using an obscure Romanian cartoon I ripped off YouTube several years ago.



Unfortunately, there was no game ROM disc or USB joypad included, but the projector firmware still retains a game emulator function. I loaded up a ROM of Super Mario Bros, and while it does load, the frame rate is jerky and slow. I can clearly see that NES emulation is not great at all. The NES function is moot anyway as the spots where the USB joypads would plug in has been filled with plastic nubs and a generic "Caution" sticker has been stuck over them. If any other kinds of systems can be emulated, the manual or box never say.



In closing, this DVD projector works rather good for the price, but as with all unbranded Chinese electronics, it has a few rough edges such as retaining the game emulator function without being able to control the game. It also has a few features that seem like bloatware, such as the E-book function. The fans are also somewhat noisy, but what projector isn't? One of the better points is that this uses an LED light rather than a standard halogen lamp so it uses far less energy and you don't have to worry about trying to find a replacement lamp for a similar generic projector.

[huckleberrypie]

I assume you'll be reviewing the tab you just bought, yes?

[cpd2009]

I assume you'll be reviewing the tab you just bought, yes?

Yep. It may be another day or two. I ran into a roadblock with AnTuTu Benchmark. It keeps restarting itself after testing finishes and I never get the device score. AnTuTu runs just fine with Pumpkin.

I had to improvise and use the PCMark app, which does work on the BrightTab.

[Blackberry Bun]

Whenever Black Friday comes, this one sentence always comes to my mind.

Faith in humanity, shattered.

[cpd2009]

Whenever Black Friday comes, this one sentence always comes to my mind.

Faith in humanity, shattered.

Hmm... Apologies, Sandy, but a short rant incoming.

I always hate it when someone says they "lose faith" in humanity or something along those lines. I have thought that quote myself in the past, but I try not to anymore as IMO, it's pointless. I don't think it's fair to "lose faith" in humanity just because a stupid Black Friday brawl makes the news. Why do I think this? The reason is that ever since the dawn of civilization, there have always been people or groups of people who do stupid things or make stupid decisions. Whether it be early civilizations exhausting all natural resources and dying off or people busting down glass doors to get their hands on a cheap Christmas toy, stupidity and violence has always existed. The reason why it seems to be more prevalent now than in years past is social media and the 24/7 news cycle. Think about it....

When Black Friday came around in the 1980s or 1990s, you never really heard of massive brawls over toys and electronics. Social media didn't exist, and the only news you got was in the daily newspaper, or the midday/evening TV news. There was CNN, but for many years it was the only 24/7 news channel. Look at today... thanks to social media, news that would never be reported on a national scale can be uploaded to Twitter or Facebook, exposing human stupidity like never before. I believe human stupidity hasn't increased. It's exposure to human stupidity that has increased, and you can thank social media for that. There are also more 24/7 news channels and their degradation into covering fluff pieces and whatever trending politician is in the spotlight. Thus, real news gets overlooked, including things that show humanity can still be just as good even if the majority of it is stupid.

In the end, you really shouldn't say that you "lose faith" in humanity. Stupidity is just a part of life, and there are still millions of good humans that do good things, such as our little group here. You should try to stay positive and focus on the good things in life, and perhaps when you watch the news, read the important stuff and stay away from the fluff pieces.

[Stella Grapes]

It's my Plum's 21st birthday.

And I'm going to meet the voice of 2000s Purple Pie Man!

On Halloween at a theatre party, I won family tickets and backstage passes to A Christmas Carol performed by a troupe from out of state for one night this year. I didn't notice until today that this was the Nebraska group that he's part of. He plays Ebenezer Scrooge yearly. I remember reading about that years ago, and he still does.

So I'm going to meet him! And I only realized it one night in advance!

I need to find something Strawberry Shortcake for him to autograph, in addition to the book A Christmas Carol.

I love A Christmas Carol, and Scrooge. The older boy (barely 12 at the time, 14 now) I adopted who was named Ben is now Eben to differentiate from my brother, and in honor of one of my favorite characters of all time. So there's another connection. I love how connected everything is.

Oh my goodness, I'm going to meet him!