New Scrolls on the way...

[Trashcooky]

Well I got a reply to my query on the Excel battery as asked in the post above and this is what they said:

Storage Options Hi John,

Thanks for your comments on the Excel. We are pleased with the device and feel that it ticks a lot of boxes. We've looked to build on this with the addition of Bluetooth and now feel that the latest generation Excel delivers even more at a great price.

With regard to battery life, the Bluetooth protocol we employ on the Scroll tablets (v3.0) provides a set of enhanced power management control functions, that minimise the hit on battery performance. That, coupled with the latest ARM processors, ensures that although battery life will be affected, it is kept to a minimum.

I hope this clears things up for you.

Best Wishes, Martin

[rrr]

Hmmm.

I wouldn't mind paying the extra few quid for a bigger battery.

Bigger the better.

[Trashcooky]

Hmmm.

I wouldn't mind paying the extra few quid for a bigger battery.

Bigger the better.

I must say rr that I completely agree with you.
I also would pay more for a larger spec battery option as the rest of the spec for the Excel II is damn good for £90

***********************************************************************

I am somewhat confused with S.O.'s answer to my question about battery specs as they mention (or imply) that the latest Boxchip A10 processor fitted to the Excel II is more power efficient than its predecessor which as we all know is the brilliant Allwinner A10.

Now how can that be?

I cannot find any solid evidence to back this claim up and the only way that this could be so (as the Boxchip specs are the same as the Allwinner A10) is if the Boxchip is being manufactured using the newer '32 Nanometer' die.

Now, as most tablet manufacturers seem to be falling over themselves in the rush to be able to claim this, two things come to my mind.

1. If the Boxchip A10 is based on a '32 Nanometer' die (which would reduce the power consumption) I would expect this to be a great selling point to put on the specifications.

2. I can't find hardly any information anywhere about the Boxchip A10 other than that which suggest it is based on a '45 Nanometer' design which makes it an Allwinner clone.

Can anyone out there provide more details on the Boxchip A10 as this is likely to become one of our new talking points. As far as I can gather the A10 which all know (45 Nanometer die) will show as "sun4i" in the about tablet.
The A13 chip will be identifiable as sun5i.

[BobC]

I'm not sure the SO reply actually tells us anything about the battery performance,

That, coupled with the latest ARM processors, ensures that although battery life will be affected, it is kept to a minimum.

Could be interpreted as that the battery life will be kept to a minimum - not sure that is what is wanted !

It's a pity that he didn't give any sort of comparative estimate of battery life on the previous and new Excels.

BobC

[rrr]

No idea how accurate the Wiki info is, but...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AllWinner_A1X

Currently the A1X family consists of two models.

The A10 (sun4i) is the current full-featured SoC.

The A13 (sun5i) is a lower power consumption and lower cost version of the A10 which is designed primarily for tablet computers. The A13 does not have HDMI or SATA connections.

There's also an A10s (http://www.allwinnertech.com/en/product/A10s.html) which states a 15-20% power usage reduction, but also a fair amount of actual facility change.

French Wiki suggests Allwinner A10 is a 55nm design (Link)


The A13 doesn't have HDMI, so it can't be that (though ScrollOptions are using the A13 in the lower spec models now)

They are welcome to send me sample units for full testing and review if they like

http://linux-sunxi.org/images/3/33/A10_Datasheet.pdf
http://linux-sunxi.org/images/e/eb/A13_Datasheet.pdf

[Trashcooky]

I can't get your allwinner tech link to work for some reason, I get: "Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage".
I am a bit fussy with my cookies so it may be that.

I note on the French wiki link it also states: "The most famous of this series is AllWinner A10, also known Quanzhi A10 or A10 Boxchip used in many tablets and thin clients. " Which rather supports my suspicion that the Allwinner and the Boxchip are in fact the same.

Looks like I was wrong in my assertion that the 32 nm A10 will be sun5i as this is clearly the A13 chip.
I note your search found 55 nm die size for the A10 but I am sure I read somewhere that it is now 45 nm - mind you, some mobile platform chips are now down to 29 nm so I suspect that what you get depends on when you buy.

Storage Options have had a confusing habit of selling tablets perporting to be the same model but who's spec's change on the fly.
This is probably due to the chinese manufacturers having the dominant influence.

Thanks rr for your efforts, we now are a little further forward thanks to your find.
It is always difficult trying to determine what a declared specification actually means as most sellers are very skilled in the art of misdirection. They don't actually lie outright but use misdirecting language about their products.
The Chinese just don't seem to care at all what they say about their products so long as you buy them.

[rrr]

I've checked the link, and it's fine. I don't use IE (no faith in MS security QC)


---
Overview

Allwinner Tech has expanded its processor lineup to include a new ARM Cortex-A8 chip A10s which is even more competitive for HDMI Dongle with higher performance (ManyCore Structure), better compatibility of Streaming Video Protocol/local multimedia formats, lower power consumption, and lower total system cost. As the brains of Android 4.0.4, A10s makes multitasking smoother, apps loading more quickly, and anything you use responds instantly. What’s more important, A10s is available in BGA336 package with Audio Codec, and HDMI integrated.

Features

CPU/GPU
ARM Cortex-A8 Core
32KB D-Cache/ 32KB I-Cache
256KB L2 Cache
Mali-400 3-D Engine

VPU
HD Video Decoding
1920*1080@30fps
Support VP8/6, H.264/H.263, WMV9/VC-1, WMV7/8, MPEG-4/2/1, Xvid, etc
HD Video Encoding
Support encoding in H.264 format
up to 1920*1080@30fps

HDMI
HDMI 1.4
1080P Output

Memory
DDR2/DDR3 Up to 533MHz
16/32 bits Data Bus
Memory capacity up to 1GB
MLC/TLC/SLC/EF-NAND
ECC 64-bit
Support NAND of 4xnm, 3xnm, 2xnm…
Support NADN of Samsung, Toshiba, Hynix…

Peripherals
USB2.0 OTG
USB2.0 HOST（OHCI/EHCI）
SD Card V.3.0, eMMC V.4.2
SPI, TWI and UART
TS Port
EMAC
CSI
IIS

Audio Codec
Integrated Audio Codec
MIC/FM/LINEIN Input)

Boot Devices
NAND Flash
SPI Nor Flash
SD Card
USB

Powerful Acceleration
Graphic(3D, Mali400 MP)
VPU(1080P)
APU

Ultra-low System Power Consumption
15~20% lower than competitors

Package
BGA336, 14mm*14mm

Benefits
Optimum multimedia and processing abilities
Lower power consumption of HD videos and graphics due to hardware acceleration
Total solution, including OS BSP (Android 4.0.4 UP)

Typical Application
HDMI Dongle
Homlet (Android Box)

---

It would be great if someone could find some definitive Allwinner/Boxchip A10 information, even if just to confirm 100% they are the same. As long as the new Excel II processor is at least the same speed as the old one, then it's only down to power usage.

UNLESS...I notice that the 3D output option is not being highlighted for the Excel II...the 10s doesn't seem to have Super HD out 2160P, but 1080P only. That would be a bit of a bummer for those expecting the same 3D out capabilities of the original Excel. Perhaps SO will confirm.

I agree that die scale is dependant upon when you buy for Chinese sources. I imagine it boils down to availablility and bulk price at the time of assembly. Pin outs are the same so they're likely to be interchangeable barring voltage regulators. (The PDF docs I posted earlier have quite detailed pin specs)

And yes, I've had a couple of ScrollOptions tablets, and neither have been exactly as specified (or the same as other folks have had). I suspect this may be due to me picking them up from Maplin. My currect Excel is an ICS 4.0.3 1.2GHz with 8Gb, but with a 53715 back cover. Bizarre

[Trashcooky]

Turns out that even when I downloaded Chrome - in case it was an ie9 issue I still couldn't get on the page the link points to.
Turned out to be my antimalware software was upset that the Allwinner site has not registered any certification so it considered it to be a risk and would not load the page.

I must say - great detective work on your part.

Did you notice this:
"Allwinner Tech has expanded its processor lineup to include a new ARM Cortex-A8 chip A10s which is even more competitive for HDMI Dongle with higher performance (ManyCore Structure), better compatibility of Streaming Video Protocol/local multimedia formats, lower power consumption, and lower total system cost. As the brains of Android 4.0.4, A10s makes multitasking smoother, apps loading more quickly, and anything you use responds instantly. What’s more important, A10s is available in BGA336 package with Audio Codec, and HDMI integrated.

[Charlie]

Seems interesting, will there be an Elite II model on the way before the end of the year?

[Trashcooky]

Seems interesting, will there be an Elite II model on the way before the end of the year?

Hi Charlie, great to hear from you - it's been a while.
As you predicted, S.O. are announcing their November fashion show.
Unfortunately, they have missed the Jellybean boat this time round.

My guess is that these products just announced for pre-order (in time for Christmas) which are all ICS based will be upmarketed in January by JB versions just as they did with the 2011 pre-Christmas Excel being Gingerbread and the post Christmas models being Ice cream sandwich.

We will have to wait and see. The Excel II seems very good value for the spec but the battery is a letdown.