Apr 16, 2013

My Chinese iPad (or cPad)

Tuesday, April 16, 2013
0

I recently purchased a new technology toy. However, I'm not sure exactly what to call it. When I've shown it to Chinese friends and students, they almost invariably say "Oh, you have iPad." I then try to explain that its not an iPad - instead, its what I call a "Chinese pad" or "cPad."

My cPad made by Chinese company, Ainol
The i-Pad, as most people know, is a tablet computer made by Apple Inc. My new tablet computer is very similar to Apple's iPad Mini, a smaller (8 inch) version of the 9.7 inch iPad or the Google Nexus 7. My tablet, whose real product name is Ainol Novo Flame (or Fire), is made by a Chinese company called Shenzhen Ainol Electronics Co., Ltd. The company doesn't seem to have an English-language website, but does have a Facebook page.

The home screen of my Flame
So far, I'm very pleased with my purchase. While I would expect that Apple's iPad provides a bit better performance in terms of processing power, the Ainol Flame works fine for my needs. One of the main uses for me is as an e-book reader (an absolute necessity since I'm an avid reader and its impossible to find most English books in Chinese bookstores). I had been using a several year old Kindle, but can only use that for reading and downloading books from Amazon. In addition to functioning as an e-book reader, the Flame also allows me to access the Internet, download applications (chat software, Facebook, games, Chinese dictionaries, etc.), and even has 2 reasonably decent built in cameras (front-facing and rear-facing). It can also be used to store and listen to music and watch videos (although I'm so far resisting using it for videos in hopes of maintaining the eyesight I have left).
Pleco English-Chinese dictionary, a very handy app here
The Ainol Flame uses the Android operating system and even has some advantages over its Apple iPad and Google Nexus 7 competitors. The Flame has expandable memory, HDMI output,and unlike Apple devices is unlocked (you can use any third-party Android software on it). All in all, its a great, small and versatile portable device.
BBC New App
Although I'm very happy with my Flame so far, a Chinese 12-year old boy I tutor in English isn't as impressed. He uses an iPad which he says is much better. Of course, his main use is playing games which the iPad is likely a bit better for. The Flame seems to work fine for the few games I've tried on it, but I don't play games very often so that's not a very important consideration for me. Instead, the main reason I bought a Flame instead of an iPad mini is price. I paid just under 800 yuan (about U.S. $130), about $300 cheaper than an iPad Mini costs here and at almost $100 cheaper than a Google Nexus 7.

 I find it ironic (although not surprising) that many Chinese consumers opt to pay the much higher price for an iPad, mostly due to Apple brand recognition and the status it gives them by being able to flaunt their expensive gadget. I, on the other had, being a much more bargain than status-conscious American, will gladly stick with my comparable, but much cheaper Chinese pad.

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