I was looking for a low cost tablet device that enabled me to read books, PDF documents and view technical videos downloaded from Channel 9 whilst commuting to work. Initially I looked at the iPad2 but some of the work areas I consult in don’t have much in the way of security. So wanted something ‘no frills’ that if lost or damaged wouldn't hurt to replace. So I came across the ZTE V9 7” Android 2.1 tablet distributed by telco Optus Australia with a pre-paid Sim card allowing 3GB downloads for 3 months.

You can’t compare it to an iPad and it doesn't pretend to be one. But the multitude of features included for the price (< $150 AUD) were hard to beat. I am always weary that dramatic price drops signal end of product life cycle or substandard build issues. Well to be honest, after I got it out of the box and set it up, I was kind of disappointed (but read on for a happier ending).

The main problem I had with it was that it was sluggish. The CPU would be 96% busy, without much running on the device. PDF documents would freeze in either Adobe Reader or the Documents To Go application bundled with the tablet, and had to be killed. I really disliked the way the home navigation menu only displayed in landscape after you closed an app that ran in portrait mode, constantly making you change orientation. So I did some research and found that Optus had just released an Android 2.2 ‘Froyo’ Upgrade for Pre-Paid 3G versions of this tablet. And OMG (yes that overused phrase) what a difference it made. The Optus overview of the upgrade lists new features (MS Exchange support) and many improvements, even stating that 2.2 can be up to 5x faster than 2.1.

The upgrade is a 150MB zip file to download. It contains a PDF file of instructions and an executable that will run on the PC. The following briefly provides an overview of the upgrade process. I make no warranties that the process works, as always you upgrade your devices at your own risk. I was using Windows 7 (64 bit) to perform the upgrade but Windows XP SP2 or later will also work.

Make sure the MyTab ZTE tablet is unplugged from the computer (supplied USB cable not connected) and turn it off completely. Launch the software executable on the PC (it wont do anything until you connect the device later). Power on the TZE tablet. As it says in the instructions, when you see the Android logo, press and hold the Volume Up and Down keys together until you see FTM on the screen. No idea what FTM stands for but sounds important. As soon as you see FTM, plug the device into the computer via the supplied USB connector.

The software on the PC will then have the START button enabled and a green Ready status.

Click Start and the status changes to “Running” in Yellow, which also disables the Start button so you can’t click it twice. You’ll eventually see a progress bar as it download’s images onto the tablet.

The entire process took 3.33 mins as shown below.

Click ok and exit the PC application by pressing the X (Close) icon at the top right of the window, there is no other close method available. Unplug the tablet’s USB cable from the PC. The tablet will go through a longer than normal boot process the first time. According to the instructions that come with the upgrade package, when you unplug the USB cable after the software upgrade has completed you are to remove the back cover and battery before reinserting it to power the tablet back on. However I did no such thing and all was well by just waiting for the device to reboot.

At last the home page supports portrait mode. The Optus 3G card was working, no changes required, however I had to reconnect to a secured WiFi network. The software now shows Android version 2.2.

Revisit the Market place and install any apps previously downloaded. As per Optus instructions, restore your data if you backed it up beforehand. The CPU now runs well below 30%, not 96% (often at < 10% with many apps running). Much more responsive. Large PDF documents (500 pages / 18MB) are readable with no application freeze. All in all a very pleasant and fun device to work with. Sure its camera is awful, its not HD and you wouldn't perform video editing on it but that’s what I expected having read several reviews.

Battery life is ok at around 7 hours. Installing Apps from the Android Marketplace are simple and easy. I installed ‘Summer Player’ to view wmv and mp4 files, Skype, Adobe Reader, Drop Box and many fun games – all free so far. Definitely a must have upgrade. Now.. back to Beat The Chimp.