That's a disappointing review, but it makes a lot of sense. I've been looking at that tablet since it came out. There's a video review of it as well, which was mildly favorable.
It is probably worth pointing out that the DealExtreme laptop & tablet both use an ARM cpu, which may not be open like the MIPS one, but probably is better supported (eg, Android runs on it)
Android runs on it, but (as noted in the review) Eken (and the other OEMs) haven't released any sources, so as yet there's real way to build other kernels that will boot, or support the built-in peripherals in the SoC.
I saw the video review you're talking about, I think. Maybe my expectations were just too high, or alternatively too low cos I really did buy it expecting to just pull out the main board and use that...
It is probably worth pointing out that the DealExtreme laptop & tablet both use an ARM cpu, which may not be open like the MIPS one, but probably is better supported (eg, Android runs on it)