BSNL’s ‘Pantel’ blow out ‘Aakash’

V

BSNL, the state-owned telecom giant, has launched a new tablet in India that wants to take the failing Aakash tablet head-on. Noida-based company Pantel Technologies was tapped to produce the T-Pad IS 710r and it’s priced at just Rs. 3,250, o– a fraction above the Aakash price with better configuration.

The Penta TPAD IS701R is a powerful tablet solution at an unbelievably affordable price you may never have dreamed of! An Android OS based system with a high resolution 7” resistive touch screen (TFT Display) coupled with a powerful 1GHz processor and inbuilt DDR II 256M RAM give you best performance in the entry level category. You have all the controls in a single finger touch mode. Browse web wirelessly or enjoy media playback on this entry level Penta TPAD. The built in 2GB memory can be expanded upto 32GB using the onboard TF Card slot.
*linxbot.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/pantel701.png?w=600

*linxbot.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/pantel-701r.png?w=600

the details of plan order from BSNLis here

there are two other Tablets that offer more power with capacitive touch screens, but they are more costly and not bundled with BSNL offer.

nice...lets see when it comes out

"Resistive:

I would have got this if not.

Oh just saw the price 3.5oddk I feel stupid for complaining.

V

The advertisement with BSNL offer is here!

*linxbot.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/special-offer.png?w=600

The other variants with no bundle offer( I might be wrong)
is here
*www.pantel.in/images/Product/Thumbnail//201222311533.png

this has a inbuild 3 G sim card slot and uses 3 G services

Hmm!! I am gonna book it ...Its definitely better than Ubislate 7+

3 month download free with 2G sim...waah re BSNL

Thumbs up! Looks good!

@BSNL,

ICS or GTFO...

sujoyp said:
3 month download free with 2G sim...waah re BSNL

3G sim se free download rakhna chahiye tha....

Shipping starts from March 5. Looks like they actually have the product ready.

Only BSNL's SIM... huh... I am guessing it won't be usable with other SIM's.... and I am from Delhi... so looks like I am not eligible to own this tablet.

Btw.. can't see any link in first post to any news article. I cant compare it with Ubislate, if the exact configuration of tablet is unknown!

A

This creates confusion in my mind!!! was thinking of Aakash but this one blowed that thougt.. What about its after sale service?

BSNL Patel

Nice, good for eBook reading.

V

actually I don't want to give the impression of advertising.. so I ommitted the website link, as it is not very hard for the 'digit' readers who are mainly techies..

here you can book your 'pantel'

Product List

Can we make calls in this tablet 3499 priced

*img849.imageshack.us/img849/1729/15d385c8ad0c46c797f36a4.png

Prebooking this does look promising. I've received no update whatsoever of my Ubislate's pre-booking.

vetdrchandan said:
Can we make calls in this tablet 3499 priced

there is nothing written about calling in specs. means no calling support!!!!!!!!!!!!

If I find a way to cancel my ubislate 7 preorser I mght order this
lets see

^^ Just mail them that you want to cancel the order. I did so.

AndroidFan said:
@BSNL,

ICS or GTFO...

You're asking for too much. ICS is hardly on any devices yet, and I doubt it will go mainstream until much later.

its pantel not patel ..hahaha epic lol ....

sujoyp said:
3 month download free with 2G sim...waah re BSNL

wat abt fair usage policy.. m sure its 700mb per month ....

^Please stay on topic. This is not Football Channel. Edited your post.

V

Did anyone who prebooked get any confirmation email/sms?

I prebooked today (Sunday). They promised a reply in 24 to 48 hours.

V

KDroid said:
I prebooked today (Sunday). They promised a reply in 24 to 48 hours.

I did yesterday...No reply yet..

hdsk.23 said:
there is nothing written about calling in specs. means no calling support!!!!!!!!!!!!

If it has a SIM so why not we can make the calls??????

vetdrchandan said:
If it has a SIM so why not we can make the calls??????

The hardware needs to support calls, it needs antennas, and audio processors, which the tablet may just omit, or be locked in software.

vineeth12345 said:
I did yesterday...No reply yet..

They promised a reply in 24 to 48 hours. Have Patience.

Good initiative by BSNL.

Ordered aakash in December and it was scheduled for Jan delivery but still no clue where it is

P

How to buy the BSNL T-Pad IS701R at best price in India | Phone Arena India

2 really interesting things about the Rs.3200 device :

A) HDMI + Usb port + Max.1280*720 MKV(H.264 HP) AVI RM/RMVB FLV WMV9 MP4
so that I can simply connect this to HDTV instead of my bulky laptop;
but this will be decided by whether the processor is powerful enough to decode newer format videos( HD mkv, flv, etc) smoothly enough.

B) GPRS(2G internet)
I really hope BSNL GPRS has same 30 KB/ps quality especially at the the place where one intends to use it OR that it supports other SIM cards.
Quite happy with the plan though: Rs.250/3months/7.5 GB instead of the usual Rs.300
I don't think support for making calls is that important, at least to me.

I hope someone would post a hands on review soon. Would really appreciate confirmation on the above 2 points.

BTW the pantel.in site seems to have crashed as i cant get in for the last 1 hour.

I booked the basic penta tab(Rs.3500) just now and had a doubt though.
The specifications for the Rs.10000 penta tab list an AC-DC jack whereas its not present in the Rs.3500 tab although the battery listed is same in both.

Does that mean it comes with a rechargeable battery that needs to be removed from the tab and then charged in a separate charger(like in most digital cameras)?

If so that could be really inconvenient especially if the battery lasts less than 3 hours.

first need to check for reviews... does it support android market... and BSNL website does tell anything about it...

Well guys what we can expect more in this price. It is good. Soon the market will be bloated with hundreds of cheap tablets. Could then we expect a price cut in big brand tablets especial the ipad? :twisted:

S

Well there are so much enuf cheap phones in the market with awesome performance have you seen a price drop in iphone , here lies the answer to your question

A

hay its only for 3 months download free....

here we cant make calls...

our existing number cannot be used

any hope to switch operator ??

but all is possible in Aakash 2

V

SuperH3art said:
first need to check for reviews... does it support android market... and BSNL website does tell anything about it...

Regarding the android market,they say this in the specifications-"Download and Install Google Andriod apps"..I assume they meant android market by this.

vineeth12345 said:
Regarding the android market,they say this in the specifications-"Download and Install Google Andriod apps"..I assume they meant android market by this.

I Hope they do! I mailed 'em to confirm.

i can has wifi .. Yea!!!

sukant said:
Well there are so much enuf cheap phones in the market with awesome performance have you seen a price drop in iphone , here lies the answer to your question

Yeah iPhone 3GS.. its available for around 18k..

.. Huge Price Drop .. now u can't ask for more from apple.. 3GS at 18k is really good deal ..

pinku1993 said:
Yeah iPhone 3GS.. its available for around 18k.. .. Huge Price Drop .. now u can't ask for more from apple.. 3GS at 18k is really good deal ..

Not really. iPhone 3GS is somewhat outdated now. You can get a better phone @ 18k

____

The T-Pad has Google Android Market. Got it confirmed.

*img254.imageshack.us/img254/5130/76eac34423fe4f46b49b882.png

Bsnl Tab gets over 1 lac pre-order requests :mrgreen:

BSNL tablet gets over one lakh pre order requests - Yahoo!

Ok, same as Akash case, we won't get it, this device has been booked for 1 year easily.

R

Thanks to BSNL

tkin said:
Ok, same as Akash case, we won't get it, this device has been booked for 1 year easily.

In this case, they're starting to ship from 5th march. The DataWind guys haven't even started shipping.

KDroid said:
In this case, they're starting to ship from 5th march. The DataWind guys haven't even started shipping.

yes .. and we can buy bsnl tab from bsnl office n bsnl retail outlets too from 5th march

V

Did anyone who booked it get any communication from them?.Just wondering if this is going to be like akash booking since there are already 1lakh+ bookings happened already,even though they are telling they will start shipping from March 5th.

^^

*img813.imageshack.us/img813/8325/635fde61402c4ebb9947c62.png

^^ I'll call tomorrow.

G

bsnl pantel ..funny name

Thinking of not booking it from Pantel website, cause with 1lakh pre orders who knows when I'll get mine, better to buy from store, or should I go for it from the website?

tkin said:
Thinking of not booking it from Pantel website, cause with 1lakh pre orders who knows when I'll get mine, better to buy from store, or should I go for it from the website?

yeah.. get it from bsnl office .. as it will be available through all bsnl office & outlets from 5th march

funskar said:
yeah.. get it from bsnl office .. as it will be available through all bsnl office & outlets from 5th march

My mother works in BSNL anyway

tkin said:
My mother works in BSNL anyway

Then you should get discount :mrgreen:

funskar said:
Then you should get discount

Nah, we only get discount in Broadband bills(20%)

Is it limited to use only BSNL only SIM cards?

Prime_Coder said:
Is it limited to use only BSNL only SIM cards?

Do not think so, they have two editions available in their website, one is without any sim, cost 3250/- another with bsnl offer and cost 3500/- with free data and stuff, better to mail them or call them though.

Highlights of the offer :

This exclusive offer ensures that a student can recover almost 100% of the cost of the tablet within 18 months of use!
The bundled 2G Data plan is a low cost and effective way for a student to keep himself upto date with the latest in education, while paying a much lower monthly data tariff.

Here’s how the offer works:

TPAD IS701R With Offer --------- Without Offer
TPAD IS701R MRP 3499 --------- 3250
BSNL 2G Data Plan MRP 250 --------- NIL
Free Data Usage 7.5 GB --------- NIL
Plan Validity 90 days --------- NIL
Monthly Plan Cost (MRP) 83.33 --------- NIL
Monthly Data tariff saving 200 --------- NIL

Terms and Conditions:

Onetime plan activation charge of Rs. 29 with plan validity of 1 year
Base voice tariff as per 2G Special Plan
Activation to be done at a BSNL franchise store in your area (Specially available on the bundle SIM card only)
Connection/Activation is as per standard terms & conditions of BSNL.

so, it should be in stores from today ..... anyone going to pick it up ? do a review if you do.

Many links claim the 3250rs T-Pad is WiFi-only. Then how the BSNL dataplan even bundled in the 3500rs T-Pad ?

V

MetalheadGautham said:
Many links claim the 3250rs T-Pad is WiFi-only. Then how the BSNL dataplan even bundled in the 3500rs T-Pad ?

I guess we have to use a USB dongle for the SIM.

Can we do that thing

I guess we have to use a USB dongle for the SIM.

^^ Yes. I guess may be we can. I read it somewhere on their site. Not sure.

I

earlier they said - deliveries to start on 5th March.

Anyone got 1?

V

As usual BSNL 's own marketing peoples are killing the idea to sell android 'Tablets'..
Asked a customer in a CSR office." I want to book pantel 'Tablets..
Replied by a 'Bsnl's Officer in charge." Please purchase Ipad of your choice take Book your plan. He suggested a local 'Ipad' dealer.. Now the customer is asking me a question, which I cann't able to reply to him..
now I am cursing myself, posting the news here...
Best way is purchase pantel from the Vendor, showing the cash reciept to BSNL CSR office, book your Sim and activate it..

V

Any updates from the pantel guys on the availability of the tabs?

Has anyone got this yet....
Almost a week still can't find any detailed reviews

Seriously no updates yet ? I was looking forward to buying this. Need a cheap ebook/music/internet/wifi device asap

When is the Ubislate 7+ going to be released? Hardly any updates on their site and no reply via mail too.

BTW guys, I think Pantel is not "better" than the Ubislate 7+ but actually slightly lower than it in performance and specs.

Ubislate 7+ has slightly larger battery (3200 vs 3000mAH), 2 USB ports, inbuilt SIM Slot, and more importantly, check out the difference between ARM11 and ARM Cortex-A8 here:

AnandTech - Understanding the iPhone 3GS

Ubislate 7+ runs a 700MHz Cortex-A8, which should perform at par with, if not better than the 1GHz ARM11 in the Pantel...

Sadly though, neither has been released yet

Has anyone made advance payment for the Ubislate? (I haven't).

V

A

This guy in the video uses "apart from that" phrase too many times!!! Instead of listening his review I was counting how many times he used it!!!

W

Notice how his hand moves in to touch the menu key the second time, he must have anticipated that his pressure might not have been enough. Apart from that you should not try and count the number of "Apart from that"s in this video. Apart form that notice how he accidently opened his 'restricted' folder while trying to navigate the menu. Apart from that this video would have been more helpful if he could have spent more time discussing software rather than the hardware which we already know about.

Seem to be an interesting product at offered price,shall go for this.

My delivery is ready. But I don't feel like buying it. Instincts tell me not buy it

I might regret!

KDroid said:
My delivery is ready. But I don't feel like buying it. Instincts tell me not buy it I might regret!

Where did you chkd the status for delivry ...i too ordered one ...

Ridwan Shafi said:
Hmm!! I am gonna book it ...Its definitely better than Ubislate 7+

It doesn't have phone functionality, so in some sense Ubislate 7+ still gains an upper edge....Moreover you can't feel any significant difference in performance coz most of the people will use it for surfing net and e-reading.

Even the battery of Ubislate 7+ is better than Pantel..

Blue Ripazah said:
Where did you chkd the status for delivry ...i too ordered one ...

I received an e-mail. They asked to deposit Rs. 3250 + Rs. 250 (Shipping Charges) + Rs. 25 (Bank Charges) in Punjab National Bank.

A

i too got an email from them

Damn i didnt got any mail ...shud. i contact them via phone

^^ You might have booked a little late. Wait for a week or two. If you had booked it before me (I posted a screenshot in this thread), contact them.

and btw...

didn't *get*

Not didn't got

KDroid said:
and btw...

Not didn't got

sorry sir poor in english

Guys check this :razz:

BSNL Penta IS701R Unboxing and review video

meh, this tab is pretty slow.

A 3K price device can play full-HD video that's impressive for the pantel.

there already too many tablet in marketwith betuer spec

SuperH3art said:
there already too many tablet in marketwith betuer spec

Yes, but not at the price of either Pantel or Ubislate 7+.