so after a couple of months of reading reviews and post by owners, i decided to pull the trigger last night.
after a 3-4 hour charge, i jumped right into it.
+very fast boot up.
i played with Honeycomb 3.0 before updating it to 3.1. i noticed that 3.1 had bootup & keyboard sounds, while 3.0 had none.
+the chassis is really nice. i loved the look. reminds me of my HTC HD2. rock solid.
+YouTube plays nice. i can already tell that i'm gonna be using this for mainly YouTube. but it really sucks that some videos won't play because it considers the A500 a "mobile device".
+web browsing is good so far. it even ran southparkstudios.com
uhm...that's all i can think of right now for pluses...
...and here's my cons with the tablet:
-it loses wireless connection when the screen goes to "sleep". but this apparently is a VERY common bug and issue with A500 owners. very annoying that i have to restart the wireless to get connection back. this is the main issue i have with it so far. my phone doesn't lose connection to the internet with the screen goes to "sleep".
-there's a dead pixel, but that's easily fixed by exchanging it for a new unit.
-lots of my games that i would normally use on my phone are completely useless because it still maintains a phone sized image. OR it just force closes.
-No Netflix app. although i read somewhere on the internet that there's supposed to be an official Netflix app coming out. but there's no way to confirm the validity of that statement.
-No Hulu
-No dedicated Facebook App
i still have lots to try out still like the HDMI out, the functionality of the USB ports, Divx/MPG/Avi compatibility, and MP3 sound quality. plus i want to see if i can install an NES/SNES emulator and play it via a bluetooth gamepad.
i noticed there's LOTS of ports...which means more possibly entry points for dust. which can be bad. ACER (or someone else) should make plastic/rubber port bootcovers to remedy that.
i haven't tried to install a custom ROM. nor have i tried to root it.
i'm looking forward to the 3.2 update. i'm hoping that'll fix all (or at least some) of the cons.
As for the internet connection, mine with stock rooted US rom (.13) doesn't do that. I have always internet after sleeping.
For the phone apps no scaling you can use Spare Parts and uncheck the compatibility box.
Facebook you can side load it, it works nice on my tablet.
Hulu is a common problem with all the tablets, you need a fixed flashplayer apk.
Hope it helps you
Root the device, for now try virtuous Xoom with 3.2 honeycomb. Once rooted netflix is fairly easily installed. Also, you can set the browser as "desktop". Mine has never lost wifi for any reason other than range.
My a500 have never lost WiFi during sleep.
There is a Tablet app "Friend Me" for Facebook and it is very good!
"Spare Parts" with "compatibility mode" disabled will make all apps full screen!
Never had a problem with a game (except those made or specific hardware)
Hulu and Netflics I can't comment! Living in Europe!
nick2k said:
-it loses wireless connection when the screen goes to "sleep".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go to settings and turn that option off then...
WereCatf said:
Go to settings and turn that option off then...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 to that - this is not a bug, this is a setting you can change, and is documented in your user manual.
Click apps. Settings. Choose the "wireless and network" menu. Click wifi settings. Click "Wifi disconnect policy" and modify it.
"Bug" fixed.
yikes i almost forgot about netflix
Netflix works great on the a500 - you need to root via Iconiaroot (assuming you are using 3.1) and then simply follow the instructions located here - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1076150
Just follow the instructions - either use root explorer with system mounted r/w or snag Acer recovery installer from market, install cwm, apply the patch.zip and you are done. Netflix looks great on a 10.1
hmm... seems like the consensus is that everyone doesn't have that issue. maybe my situation was a one time only thing.
but let me explain to you what i was doing when it happened:
i got tired of the Market app on the A500. but i'm also tired of the Market app on my HD2 as well. the new updated Market doesn't show you everything, it just shows you like the top ten for every category. anyways... so i put the tablet down (i didn't turn it off or put it in stand-by) and sat in front of my desktop and used the web browser version of Market. i probably spent about 15 minutes or so sending apps to install onto my device. when i went back to check on the tablet, the screen was off. i pressed the power button to bring the screen back on and the Wi-Fi was showing that it was 'OFF'. the only way to bring it back was to restart the Wi-Fi.
so yeah... it was strange. but like i said, maybe it was a one time event.
maybe i'll just set the timeout for higher like 60 mins.
nick2k said:
hmm... seems like the consensus is that everyone doesn't have that issue. maybe my situation was a one time only thing.
but let me explain to you what i was doing when it happened:
i got tired of the Market app on the A500. but i'm also tired of the Market app on my HD2 as well. the new updated Market doesn't show you everything, it just shows you like the top ten for every category. anyways... so i put the tablet down (i didn't turn it off or put it in stand-by) and sat in front of my desktop and used the web browser version of Market. i probably spent about 15 minutes or so sending apps to install onto my device. when i went back to check on the tablet, the screen was off. i pressed the power button to bring the screen back on and the Wi-Fi was showing that it was 'OFF'. the only way to bring it back was to restart the Wi-Fi.
so yeah... it was strange. but like i said, maybe it was a one time event.
maybe i'll just set the timeout for higher like 60 mins.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope.
You issue is a result of your settings. If you want your a500 to keep a active wifi connection while the screen is sleeping, you will need to go into your settings menu and tell your a500 to not drop the connection while the screen is off.
ahhh... cool. i'll definitely be playing with the settings tonight then. thanks.
Wifi is my only complaint so far and I am experiencing the same thing. Mine is set to never disconnect wifi, and it doesn't. It shows wifi connected the whole day under battery usage. However, when the screen goes off it seems to drop the wifi and I must disconnect/reconnect to get it working again when I turn it on. Not every time but it is frequent.
To be clear:
When I turn the screen on, wifi is unusable until I go into settings and toggle it off and back on.
mikel81 said:
Wifi is my only complaint so far and I am experiencing the same thing. Mine is set to never sleep, and it doesn't sleep. It shows wifi connected the whole day under battery usage. However, when the screen goes off it seems to drop the wifi and I must disconnect/reconnect to get it working again when I turn it on. Not every time but it is frequent.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are your wifi settings -> wifi disconnect settings set to not drop the connection when screen is off? Screen set to never sleep will not keep a inactive wifi connection alive - you need to go into wifi and networks catagory of settings and modify the disconnect policy.
Yes I know, sorry I meant never disconnect wifi not sleep.
mikel81 said:
Yes I know, sorry I meant never disconnect wifi not sleep.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am confused.
Are you saying you have wifi disconnect policy set to "Never disconnect", but are having issues holding a wifi connection after turning the screen off?
Please provide more information, very hard to troubleshoot something this vague.
There is a difference between WiFi turning off and WiFi disconnecting.
Here is what I'm seeing on mine:
1) With my tab on, WiFi connected, browser working, I can ping my tab from my desktop.
2) Shut down browser, put tab to sleep, wait an unknown timeframe (lets say 15 minutes).
3) Wake tab, see WiFi is still connected, do nothing else. Start pings from desktop in a continuious loop, pings all fail, despite WiFi connected on tab.
4) Start browser on tab, browser connects to test website, and suddenly pings respond on desktop.
So, it appears that while the WiFi on the tab stays connected, it does not actually go 'active' and start handling data until an app needs it, such as the browser.
arffer said:
There is a difference between WiFi turning off and WiFi disconnecting.
Here is what I'm seeing on mine:
1) With my tab on, WiFi connected, browser working, I can ping my tab from my desktop.
2) Shut down browser, put tab to sleep, wait an unknown timeframe (lets say 15 minutes).
3) Wake tab, see WiFi is still connected, do nothing else. Start pings from desktop in a continuious loop, pings all fail, despite WiFi connected on tab.
4) Start browser on tab, browser connects to test website, and suddenly pings respond on desktop.
So, it appears that while the WiFi on the tab stays connected, it does not actually go 'active' and start handling data until an app needs it, such as the browser.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No shortage of apps that can work around this - I don't understand why you want a network connection when nothing is using it, but to each their own
https://market.android.com/search?q=wifi+keep+alive&so=1&c=apps
The wifi issue you describe is not a bug. It is an android feature to reduce battery drain. If an app or connection is not in use, it is cached until a process is called.then the wifi connection becomes active. You can disable wifi sleep policy but you will see a battery drain if you set it that way.
Remember the two most important parts of a tablet are the screen and the battery. A poor screen or poor battery life will kill sales for that tab faster than apple can draw up a lawsuit.
Sent from my NookColor using Tapatalk
Moshe5368 said:
The wifi issue you describe is not a bug. It is an android feature to reduce battery drain. If an app or connection is not in use, it is cached until a process is called.then the wifi connection becomes active. You can disable wifi sleep policy but you will see a battery drain if you set it that way.
Remember the two most important parts of a tablet are the screen and the battery. A poor screen or poor battery life will kill sales for that tab faster than apple can draw up a lawsuit.
Sent from my NookColor using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well described.
Not sure why a user would want to bypass this - the moment an app requests data, as long as wifi disco policy is set - network connection is set to active.
entropy.of.avarice said:
Well described.
Not sure why a user would want to bypass this - the moment an app requests data, as long as wifi disco policy is set - network connection is set to active.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Untrue. I have used a number of applications that when launched, do not 'activate' the connected WiFi. Two for example, 'QuickSSHd', which is a SFTP and SSH server, and 'IP Webcam' a webcam server.
Wake up the Tablet, and see that the WiFi shows a connection. Fire up either of these server applications, and try to connect to them. No go...
Now go fire up the browser, which of course makes an 'outbound' connection, the WiFi 'activates' at that time, and suddenly both of the aforementioned server applications can be connected to.
In other words, when the 'conected' WiFi is asleep, it takes an 'outbound' app to wake up the wifi. An app that is waiting for an incoming connection never sees one until an outbound app wakes up the wifi.
NOTE: This behavior is NOT seen on my Android Gingerbread phone, running the same apps with the same sleep settings.
nick2k said:
+YouTube plays nice. i can already tell that i'm gonna be using this for mainly YouTube. but it really sucks that some videos won't play because it considers the A500 a "mobile device".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is not the video seeing the tablet as a mobile device.
It is your settings.
You can fix it very easily.
2 things to do.
open your browser
in the URL window (address bar) type about:debug and hit enter
it seems nothing happens but it adds a debug in settings
Next
On the very top right click the 4 lines with an arrow.
Click settings and on the left side click "advanced"
click "Viewing Mode" and set it to "desktop.
Now on the left click debug
click UAString and click desktop.
That's it.
Make sure you haven't saved any bookmarks from the mobile sites or they will still open from the bookmark as mobile sites.
Hi, something that is happening to me since day one and with all the roms i tried. Basically, i can´t transfer from my pc or download from the internet any file that is more than a few MB. Every time i try to do it, the connection is lost before completing the transfer. Does anyone have the same problem? It really sucks as i don´t have a micro-usb cable always with me.
Never had that problem, use multiple access points at the house (3) and have used my unit at work (9 access points throughout the building), family member homes, client homes/businesses ... as well as my 4G hotspot.
I don't use open unsecure access points so I can't speak for them, but everything else works fine.
I have two Kindle Fires.
WiFi works fine on both of them.
I have had no such problem as you have.
tkalli said:
I have two Kindle Fires.
WiFi works fine on both of them.
I have had no such problem as you have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Works for me, last eve I d/l'ed a rom, took about 20 mins, but it finished fine..
Kindle's wifi is really good for me...it even works in my third Bedroom with doors closed, where few of my other devices find it hard to acquire...try checking ur modem settings...might help!
I have a sneaking suspicion that the stock ROM disables WiFi when the screen is off, or something similar.
Stock 6.2.2 rooted, was streaming music off of Grooveshark. Screen on, no problem. Screen off, after about 30 seconds the music stopped. I've also heard people complain Gmail won't sync in the background on the stock ROM, but I have found that isn't the case. It just won't sync in the background with the screen off
I am switching between Stock and the ICS port, and this eliminates the streaming problem (for me, YMMV of course).
My wifi sucks too. It was fine when i first got it but now it just constantly turns off and on. Every other device i have on my router works fine. Very frustrating. I'm tempted take my kindle back but i didn't get the warranty
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk
podspi said:
I have a sneaking suspicion that the stock ROM disables WiFi when the screen is off, or something similar.
Stock 6.2.2 rooted, was streaming music off of Grooveshark. Screen on, no problem. Screen off, after about 30 seconds the music stopped. I've also heard people complain Gmail won't sync in the background on the stock ROM, but I have found that isn't the case. It just won't sync in the background with the screen off
I am switching between Stock and the ICS port, and this eliminates the streaming problem (for me, YMMV of course).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are correct, stock rom has wifi set to sleep with screen off. ''Wifi keep alive'' on the android market will fix that tho.
Worth a try but no guarantee.
Search for "wifi keep alive" in Android Market. Set your KF to "always on".
Other than WiFi shutting off with screen, the only other thing I've noticed is that the Fire doesn't seem to roam smoothly between APs.
When I'm using MSTSC to control my work PC, walking any distance always causes it to disconnect. Luckily, it only takes a couple seconds to reconnect. But, I imagine it'd cause a file copy to abort.
I have not had any issues transferring 1gb videos to my Kindle via Dropbox. Used to have this issue with My phone but then installed Juice Defender and enabled connectivity when screen is off for apps like, dropbox or Google music. worked like a charm, otherwise very happy with my Kindles wifi.
Hi all,
I have a new S5e and I'm happy to report there are no problems with the WiFi when holding it in landscape mode.
The tablet does lose the WiFi connection when in idle mode.
I use Youtube Minimizer from the Google Play store and I was noticing how the songs don't keep playing after each other.
Now when I turn the screen back on I see there's no WiFi connection and that it automatically comes back up after a second or two, allowing the app to play music again.
Edit: Mods, I just realized I should've posted this in Questions and Answers, my apologies, feel free to shift the thread
I've went through all menus/settings I could think of, including allowing the app to use the battery in the background. I haven't found the setting to keep the WiFi connection on even in sleep mode though.
Any suggestions on what I could do to fix this?
Any way to download the WiFi logs and see what causes it to lose the connection?
Thanks and cheers
Thewildwind
i have the same issue.. and was going to post it here, but you already did.... after X amount of hours i not longer hear the sound for incoming messages until i turn the screen on, or other things.. then once the WiFi reconnects bam a ton of noise as it tries to play multiple missed messages
All day today I have been having Wi-Fi connectivity issues. None of the other devices in my home are experiencing this. It is just my OnePlus 8 Pro that keeps dropping Wi-Fi and refuses to load games. While I'm on Facebook or any other app it refuses to load. It doesn't matter what frequency I am on or what channel I am on. It is not my service provider I have already called and asked. I think something is messed up. So is anyone else having Wi-Fi problems on the OnePlus 8 Pro?
Do you have a private DNS active?
Same here
dgunn said:
All day today I have been having Wi-Fi connectivity issues. None of the other devices in my home are experiencing this. It is just my OnePlus 8 Pro that keeps dropping Wi-Fi and refuses to load games. While I'm on Facebook or any other app it refuses to load. It doesn't matter what frequency I am on or what channel I am on. It is not my service provider I have already called and asked. I think something is messed up. So is anyone else having Wi-Fi problems on the OnePlus 8 Pro?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine will only stay connected for short periods. If I put it down and leave it for a while 9 times out of 10 it's swapped me back to mobile data. I've reached out to OnePlus to see if it's a fault or a known problem they're working on.
This is actually happening to me as well. 10.5.8 stock rooted. I see that exclamation point next to the wifi signal sometimes and nothing else in the house is having issues.
Okay so this is what you have to do to fix the problem. Click onto your Wi-Fi and let it go into the settings then swipe up on your screen and go into the app info. Clear your cache. Turn your Wi-Fi off and back on and it should work just fine
I have a much better fix. Change your MAC privacy setting to "Use device MAC" and change from default "Use randomized MAC". Wa la I haven't had a drop all day. This has been driving me crazy!
It might actually be a really simple problem with a simple solution, just i need to see a screenshot with the diagnostics, or the troubleshoot from the device why doesn't it want to keep the connection steady. You can actually learn all these things related to the wifi and some little programming things really easily, it is not that tough, trust me. I took the cisco programming course from SPOTOclub.com, during this pandemic, and in one month i was already an expert in the wireless connection and the LAN and so on and so forth.
If you're having Wi-Fi connection problems or see an Wi-Fi icon with an exclamation point Wi-Fi problem, try the solutions below:
Make sure Wi-Fi is on. Then turn it off and on again to reconnect.
Make sure Airplane mode is off. Then turn it on and off again to reconnect.
Press your phone's power button for a few seconds. Then, on your screen, tap Restart Restart.If you don't see "Restart," press and hold the power button for about 30 seconds, until your phone restarts.