Database Users

Galaxy Tab review in the making. Need suggestions!

Hello XDA!
I managed to get my hands on a Galaxy Tab to review. I'm an avid android user and I know what I would want from a device like this. Thing is, I want to know what YOU, dear XDA members, would like to know about the device!
Kindly leave me questions that you wish to be answered in the video review of the Galaxy Tab.
The sooner I get the questions the sooner I'll be able to post up a video.
Note: Kindly note that I cannot root the device nor change the flash version of android that runs on the device.
Firmware version: P1000XXJH1
Specs of the device as per Quadrant Advanced:
Quadrant score: 1,000
CPU: 1437
MEM: 1684
I/O: 791
2D: 201
3D: 886
Linpack score: 13.877
Total memory available: 435MB of which 174 is used on fresh boot.
System information(via Quadrant Advanced).
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htt p://img697.imageshack.us/i/20101005100848.jpg
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(Apologies for the low quality photos)

It would be nice if you describe display quality - viewing angles, panel type (is it IPS) how it performs in sunlight. Is minimum brightness good for reading in dark conditions? Thanks!
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

vitalij said:
It would be nice if you describe display quality - viewing angles, panel type (is it IPS) how it performs in sunlight. Is minimum brightness good for reading in dark conditions? Thanks!
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Viewing angles are a subjective issue, personally when i pick up my mobile device and look into it, it's always straight in front of me, so that's all i want, but if you have a viewing angle of over 45 degrees like the Tab, all you get is people on the bus, train or plane looking sideways to see what you're looking at
I'm based in England at the moment, they don't have that much sunlight and even less direct sunlight
First impressions, it feels to plasticky, not like it's price suggests that it should, not as bad as an X10, but almost.

checkbox111 said:
Viewing angles are a subjective issue, personally when i pick up my mobile device and look into it, it's always straight in front of me, so that's all i want, but if you have a viewing angle of over 45 degrees like the Tab, all you get is people on the bus, train or plane looking sideways to see what you're looking at
I'm based in England at the moment, they don't have that much sunlight and even less direct sunlight
First impressions, it feels to plasticky, not like it's price suggests that it should, not as bad as an X10, but almost.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How is the call quality/ease of use.. Does the tab "feel" swift?

Hello guys,
Thanks for the initial question. I will cover this question in the video review.
I need more points of focus for the review.
MOARRRR
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App

Like if you have had chance to use the ipad, maybe like how does it compare value wise? As I think how much it costs £599 is putting me off, but if it is worth it compared to other tablets then I would consider it more

Phen0m said:
How is the call quality/ease of use.. Does the tab "feel" swift?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wouldn't know about call quality as it's only owned by an engineer that comes into our office, he doesn't have any problems as far as i've heard, but as with other threads here just don't expect it to fit into you jacket or trouser pocket, one it's to big and another it's to heavy to be comfortable.
You may have visited the dell streak forum, or heard of how fragile the dell streak lcd screen is? because of it's large size the body flexes but LCD's by their very nature cannot flex and they snap. Well just look at the size of the LCD on the Tab, and the body of the Tab is made of plastic and (not titanium as per streak) to save weight, this by it's very design will make it more suceptible to breakage, (the body will flex under pressure the LCD will not) = ££££££
sebbo90 said:
Like if you have had chance to use the ipad, maybe like how does it compare value wise? As I think how much it costs £599 is putting me off, but if it is worth it compared to other tablets then I would consider it more
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well the ipad and the Tab are two completely different entities, one is a bookreader trying to be a netbook pc, the others a smartphone with obesity problems. They shouldn't be compared IMO.

checkbox111 said:
Wouldn't know about call quality as it's only owned by an engineer that comes into our office, he doesn't have any problems as far as i've heard, but as with other threads here just don't expect it to fit into you jacket or trouser pocket, one it's to big and another it's to heavy to be comfortable.
You may have visited the dell streak forum, or heard of how fragile the dell streak lcd screen is? because of it's large size the body flexes but LCD's by their very nature cannot flex and they snap. Well just look at the size of the LCD on the Tab, and the body of the Tab is made of plastic and (not titanium as per streak) to save weight, this by it's very design will make it more suceptible to breakage, (the body will flex under pressure the LCD will not) = ££££££
Well the ipad and the Tab are two completely different entities, one is a bookreader trying to be a netbook pc, the others a smartphone with obesity problems. They shouldn't be compared IMO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. Do you have any questions that you would like answered about the device?
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App

Halulz said:
Thank you. Do you have any questions that you would like answered about the device?
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Similar to all owners i would think! why did samsung insist on utilising such a large bezel around the screen? therebye turning a 7' screen device into one more akin to a 10' without any benefits of a 10'?, and adding nothing to the looks of the device at the same time.

Well the ipad and the Tab are two completely different entities, one is a bookreader trying to be a netbook pc, the others a smartphone with obesity problems. They shouldn't be compared IMO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol yeah I get the point, what I was more curious was in relation to the size, like is 7" too small to get a full web experience? Is it too big to carry round yet too small to use around the home? etc

sebbo90 said:
like is 7" too small to get a full web experience?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, because the 5" dell streak isn't to small for that!
sebbo90 said:
Is it too big to carry round yet too small to use around the home? etc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As in other posts! you will not carry this around on your pocket, unless you want to break it! You might try a large overcoat with a very wide collar, if the pockets big enough and you want to look like the FBI everywhere you go.
https://www.urbantool.com/hq/laptop-cases/show-pocketbar

checkbox111 said:
Troll
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for trolling another thread entirely off the rails.
To the OP:
A few things that I'd like to see discussed. Firstly how does it feel to type on it ? I've seen in a few first-impression pieces that it feels good (like a galaxy S in landscape) but it'd be great to get the feelings of a regular user. Also, some shots of the keyboard in action would be nice.
Secondly, can you toss some 720p video on there and show us how it looks. It never looks the same in video as in person, but it'd give us an idea of how the screen does as far as contrast and colour vibrancy is concerned.
Finally, how does the device feel to you ? Does it feel to you like you could carry it in a pocket all day ? Does it meet your expectations for speed/ease of use ?
GL with the video, hope to see it soon!

It is maybe off topic, but ... here goes :
- What release of Android is running ? Same as the one on Galaxy S device ?
- Does this android release supports multiple Exchange sync accounts (like HTC Desire & Desire Z do) ?
- Does it have 2 SIM card slots ? (saw that somewhere, don't remember ... where). If so, is it one for voice plan, second one for data plan ?
- Does it come with a USB host port (or the hw to take care of it) ?
Thanks.

Does it play 1080p files (mkv & flash) or does i only output 1080p..?

I got my hands on this last week to try out for a good half hour, and i loved it. The size was great, and great to watch movies on.
Looking forward to it. Release in Norway is 21. okt )

could it be confirmed if the Tab is going to require Kies in the same way as the Galaxy phones, e.g. for firmware updates
i assume that there will be no difference between this and their phones, but as Kies is software that i truly dislike, i am living in hope that it does not.

johnnewhouse said:
could it be confirmed if the Tab is going to require Kies in the same way as the Galaxy phones, e.g. for firmware updates
i assume that there will be no difference between this and their phones, but as Kies is software that i truly dislike, i am living in hope that it does not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it is confirmed by Samsung already. In their official site, it says in the "PC connectivity" section "KIES". Sorry. I know, I hate that application with a passion myself...

If you have time, it would probably interest many people if you'd manage to try some popular apps from the market and see how they act with the increased resolution. We all probably have out own top10 lists for software, but I think browsing appbrain for most popular and trying a few of them would give people some idea how far that compatibility is.
(I, personally, would love to see how WidgetLocker, Beautiful Widgets and Launcher Pro work on that, but unfortunately at least the first two ain't free.
But more generally, how do widgets work on that screen? What I've gathered from the pictures is that the Tab has a FIVE column display (instead of the traditional 4) on the homescreen. How do widgets work with that? does a 4x4 widget scale to full size, or does it live a "column" free. Also, how many rows does the screen have?
EDIT: oookay, I don't know why these two posts became separate, this was supposed to be an edit to that earlier...

Actually thats a good idea.
I even forget that widget locket etc are even apps these days! But yes that'd be good to see if they scale up or still work properly on the big screen.
I imagine beutiful widget and switchpro you could make them bigger with launcherpro+ if they won't scale up by themselves, same with any other widgets, but it'd be good if they did it for free! However I think the 'grid' on the Tab is bigger anyway, so 4x2 widget would cover more space, but then it appears to have more rows too, so they might still appear small
Anyways, if you have any paid for apps on your main smartphone, you should be able to put the same market account on the Tab and download them again, so that's one way around paying twice just to demo them.

A few things I'd like to see:
- Spotify in action if possible.
- Proper comics and hos they scale to the screen and if it's easy or hard to read them (The Walking Dead for example.)
- A bit more on reading eBooks in different lights.
- In-depth look at the calendar and how flexible it is.
- If possible, how the accessories (like the keyboard) work.
- How it handles different resolutions of video.
Thank you for accepting suggestions!

Galaxy Tab 10.1 for Reading & Browing

So I was looking for a tablet for me to use as a PDF reader for book and for browsing the web.
The first one that came to mind was the iPad 2 which I know is great at it.
Then I thought of this one, but I remembered reading that because it's shape is a little more rectangular than it feels a bit heavier to hold in portrait mode.
Please comment on this statement
So my actual question is:
How good is this as a browsing / reading device? (how is the amazon kindle app on it?)
Is it worth getting over an iPad 2 as a reading / browsing device?
Thank you

matanc1 said:
So I was looking for a tablet for me to use as a PDF reader for book and for browsing the web.
The first one that came to mind was the iPad 2 which I know is great at it.
Then I thought of this one, but I remembered reading that because it's shape is a little more rectangular than it feels a bit heavier to hold in portrait mode.
Please comment on this statement
So my actual question is:
How good is this as a browsing / reading device? (how is the amazon kindle app on it?)
Is it worth getting over an iPad 2 as a reading / browsing device?
Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How good is it? That's kind of a personal opinion. I'm enjoying it a lot for browsing and reading. Still searching out the best browser, they all have plus/minuses, but the experience itself is fine. Aldiko reader is good, very readable in both orientations. I find portrait has too much text per screen, doesn't quite give you the 'book' feel, but that's a personal quibble.
I'll always say anything is worth getting over an ipad But I definitely think this is worth it. The form factor just seems to make more sense on the tab, plus I can actually hold it with one hand, which I can't with the ipad (for more than a couple minutes anyway).
If you're really just looking for basic reading/surfing, you could consider something like the nook color, just as a though. But I'm really enjoying my tab, and looking forward to seeing what the dev's here can get out of it!
edit: clicked thanks by accident...

I have a kindle for reading, and nothing comes close to it for every day reading, especially sunlight and ease of viewing, battery life, etc. If you want an eReader, get a kindle, lol. If you want a multimedia device that does apps, videos, music, and videos... then a Galaxy tab is the way to go.
iPad is designed for 5 year old or a 95 year old to pick up and figure out. That's great, but the downside is with that comes a dumbed down OS in line with that. People like android because if they want to change the way the icons are laid out on the screen they can.
Check out Google Books and Kindle for Android Tablet, both are great options for someone wanting to use the tablet as a book. However, nothing is going to compare to the pure reading experience of a Kindle....
... but a Galaxy tab is waaaay more fun.
And PS - iPad sux... u can't even view flash, lol... how you going to browse the web without flash? Might as well go back to dialup internet and a VCR. hah

bella92108 said:
I have a kindle for reading, and nothing comes close to it for every day reading, especially sunlight and ease of viewing, battery life, etc. If you want an eReader, get a kindle, lol. If you want a multimedia device that does apps, videos, music, and videos... then a Galaxy tab is the way to go.
iPad is designed for 5 year old or a 95 year old to pick up and figure out. That's great, but the downside is with that comes a dumbed down OS in line with that. People like android because if they want to change the way the icons are laid out on the screen they can.
Check out Google Books and Kindle for Android Tablet, both are great options for someone wanting to use the tablet as a book. However, nothing is going to compare to the pure reading experience of a Kindle....
... but a Galaxy tab is waaaay more fun.
And PS - iPad sux... u can't even view flash, lol... how you going to browse the web without flash? Might as well go back to dialup internet and a VCR. hah
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The flash is the main reason why I'm asking.
But again, I'm looking mainly for PDF files which I want to read(which I've found from using eReaders that they have a problem displaying PDFs with pictures) and for browing (which I think both the android and the iPad will do fine except that the iPad doesn't have flash).
But once again, no one really answered my question about reading on it:
I want to know if it'll be uncomfortable reading on it (if my hand will start hurting after 10 min of holding it).
Another thing, does it get warm?

matanc1 said:
The flash is the main reason why I'm asking.
But again, I'm looking mainly for PDF files which I want to read(which I've found from using eReaders that they have a problem displaying PDFs with pictures) and for browing (which I think both the android and the iPad will do fine except that the iPad doesn't have flash).
But once again, no one really answered my question about reading on it:
I want to know if it'll be uncomfortable reading on it (if my hand will start hurting after 10 min of holding it).
Another thing, does it get warm?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Regarding PDF, you can install native Adobe Acrobat Reader on Android, so you can actually read (and edit even) as indented... so not sure what the remaining concern is. Seems like you're trying to come up with excuses not to get it. Yeah eReaders have issues with PDF, but eReaders don't have Adobe's Acrobat PDF Reader installed, hehe.
Regarding comfort, that's not really a question someone can answer. Many people say getting tattoos aren't uncomfortable, but many would disagree. I think if it hurts to hold a 1 pound object, then you'll have to stick to books under about 300 pages anyhow, so it's somewhat a moot point, hehe.
You can always try, and if you don't like, return or sell online. It's not really something someone can answer for you, since it's a personal issue that varries from person to person. My Kindle weighs about 1.8th of a pound and it is still uncomfortable to hold for extended periods... so I just hold it on the desk or airline tray table, or whatever... it's not a big deal.... with any device.
No it does not get warm.

I reviewed a bunch of reader apps on the GT10.1. I looked at FBReader, Moon+ reader, Nook, Kindle, Google Books, Alkido and a couple of others.
My favorite is Nook. I base that on:
1) integrated shopping experience. Some of the other readers, like FBReader, and I think Moon+ required to you download a book somehow, then put it on your SD card, etc. Or the shopping experience sucked. Kindle/google/nook all had a good in-app shopping experience
2) The page turn. This might not be your highest priority, but I found the page turn experience to be very important to me. Google books and Nook both have a 3d page turn that I liked. nooks is slightly better because it reacts in a more realistic way.
3) Notes/highlighting/bookmarks. Nook wins out over google books.

bella92108 said:
Regarding PDF, you can install native Adobe Acrobat Reader on Android, so you can actually read (and edit even) as indented... so not sure what the remaining concern is. Seems like you're trying to come up with excuses not to get it. Yeah eReaders have issues with PDF, but eReaders don't have Adobe's Acrobat PDF Reader installed, hehe.
Regarding comfort, that's not really a question someone can answer. Many people say getting tattoos aren't uncomfortable, but many would disagree. I think if it hurts to hold a 1 pound object, then you'll have to stick to books under about 300 pages anyhow, so it's somewhat a moot point, hehe.
You can always try, and if you don't like, return or sell online. It's not really something someone can answer for you, since it's a personal issue that varries from person to person. My Kindle weighs about 1.8th of a pound and it is still uncomfortable to hold for extended periods... so I just hold it on the desk or airline tray table, or whatever... it's not a big deal.... with any device.
No it does not get warm.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thing is, I don't live in the U.S. I can't buy it and return it.
So I can either go with the iPad 2 or the Galaxy Tab 10.1.
The software isn't an issue (there are tons of PDF reading / editing apps on the market). I'm just asking for someone to compare it to the iPad 2 from the design point of view (mostly putting the focus on holding it for an extended period of time).
In other words:
Does it do a better job of reading / browsing than the iPad 2 (in the non software sense)

matanc1 said:
Does it do a better job of reading / browsing than the iPad 2 (in the non software sense)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Browsing I think will be a little better on the 10.1 based on the Flash issue. I haven't used an ipad for internet browsing but I would imagine that would get a little annoying.
Reading is six in one hand half dozen in the other. I think the aspect ratio of the ipad was designed with reading in portrait orientation in mind. That being said, you should be able to read text larger on the screen (in portrait orientation) before having to scroll left and right to see the beginning and end of the lines respectively. That's not to say that this is a major issue on the 10.1, but if your eyes require larger text it may be a problem.
Both the iPad2 and 10.1 are incredibly thin, light devices. I don't really think holding one over the other will cause significant arm strain. you could go into a store and try holding each for 10 minutes. Considering you're willing to drop $500 on something, you should definitely be sure.

Tab is lighter, and IMHO, more comfortable to hold than the iPad2 (a few of my co-workers have iPad's)
The screen resolution is higher on the Tab, it is easier on my eyes (your eyes might react differently), and my co-workers agree for the most part.

lqaddict said:
Tab is lighter, and IMHO, more comfortable to hold than the iPad2 (a few of my co-workers have iPad's)
The screen resolution is higher on the Tab, it is easier on my eyes (your eyes might react differently), and my co-workers agree for the most part.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So the galaxy screen's width being smaller would be a problem if I wanted to read on it in book like font sizes without having to scroll to the sides all the time?
One more thing: Is it hard reading in landscape mode then?
Do the kindle / nook readers have that option?

matanc1 said:
So the galaxy screen's width being smaller would be a problem if I wanted to read on it in book like font sizes without having to scroll to the sides all the time?
One more thing: Is it hard reading in landscape mode then?
Do the kindle / nook readers have that option?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just looking at one of the default books that comes on it, it looked fine portrait orientation. The text displayed larger than typically print text without having to scroll left and right. Like I said though, its worth a hands on test for yourself.
I'm sure kindle and nook have landscape options, especially on a tablet. I've been reading a technical text book (with exercises to follow along with) in landscape mode for the most part, however, I'm using whatever is the default pdf reader.

nook works in landscape mode, as does aldiko. I've been reading on it the past couple nights in both orientations and it's fine.
The resolution definitely makes a difference reading - on the ipad, text at my preferred size always looked slightly blurry, just enough to be annoying.

matanc1 said:
So the galaxy screen's width being smaller would be a problem if I wanted to read on it in book like font sizes without having to scroll to the sides all the time?
One more thing: Is it hard reading in landscape mode then?
Do the kindle / nook readers have that option?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope you don't need to scroll left/right in portrait mode, it scales the text to fit the screen width.
No issues using Google Books or Kindle app in landscape or portrait - I do prefer portrait for reading, but landscape for browsing.

matanc1 said:
Thing is, I don't live in the U.S. I can't buy it and return it.
So I can either go with the iPad 2 or the Galaxy Tab 10.1.
The software isn't an issue (there are tons of PDF reading / editing apps on the market). I'm just asking for someone to compare it to the iPad 2 from the design point of view (mostly putting the focus on holding it for an extended period of time).
In other words:
Does it do a better job of reading / browsing than the iPad 2 (in the non software sense)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've always been down the middle. I suppose I can give honest feedback as I owned iPad 1, and got rid of it because it was too heavy and cumbersome to hold, then I got iPad 2 because in order for iPad 1 to be useful I had to jailbreak it, then on iPad 2 there's no jailbreak available (yet). even so, the screen quality on iPad 2 is so bad... so grainy, you can see every pixel. Then I got the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and it's neat being able to customize, widgets, flash etc. Where it falls short is media.... it's a pain in the ass a) finding a media file that will actually play without having to convert 10x, and b) managing a sync between device and computer... so for me that's where iPad wins... their sync management is just great.
But at the end of the day, Galaxy tab wins by a decent margin because it's open... I can put my icons where I want, customize the hell out of it, and don't have to live within the confines of "take it or leave it" when it comes to the way I use it. It's just so nice to be able to go away for the weekend and just take a tablet knowing it'll handle any website I can throw at it. Ipad I couldn't even use some travel websites because of the flash issue.... that and their multitasking was a joke.

I use tthe GT10.1 and the nook app, I have not tried the ipad but reading on the tab is great in either orientation. With the nook app you can adjust font size easily so should be fine for any age of eyes in any orientation.
Good luck

[Q] Nexus 7 Screen for Older Eyes: Problem?

[first post]
I have been promising my mom that if/when high-quality-but-inexpensive tablets became available, I would get her one. So the Nexus 7 breaks onto the scene and hopes are high. Right now she has a netbook hooked up to a 19" monitor, and she does Facebook, YouTube, AllRecipes, Pinterest, Google, Skype, etc. on a daily basis. The N7 will free her to do this anywhere in the house that she wants to. Eventually, I would follow her with my own purchase of a 10" tablet e.g. Asus Transformer Infinity (more ports, higher res, etc).
Suddenly it occurred to me that there was a risk to our plans: what if the small screen size and high DPI made the N7 unusable/painful for her older eyes? Is this automatically-compensated by all these sites going into some some of minimal/high-readability 'mobile' mode? Is it easy to bump up the font size? Sure, a 7" *book* is easy for her to read -- but does this mean a 7" tablet will be as well?
Thanks for any insights you can provide!

For older folks, a 10" is generally better.
It's not just legibility, but the touch areas are smaller on a 7", which means people need to be more dextrous to touch the right spot. Older people may not have that dexterity.
A 7" is better than a 10" for its portability. If we're talking older people using a tablet at home, then that advantage is irrelevant, and a 10" is better.
It depends on the person's use. If she holds it in one hand most of the time, a 7" is better. If she uses it on a supported surface (desk, lap), a 10" is better.
A 7" is best for reading, but your listed uses don't include that.

i cannot guarantee that the Nexus 7 has it But on my Galaxy Nexus under Display there is an option to change the text size. Default is normal, large is about 2.5x the size of default.
This is system wide as well and would probably really help.

Yes, the Nexus 7 has a Font Size changer in Settings > Display

Besides scaling up the fonts, the nice thing about tablets is you can always hold them closer to your face pretty easily.

Through a bit of tweaking, I think you could change the LCD Density to make the screen, basically, smaller. So, everything would appear bigger. I used to do it with my Nook Color

All Android devices have accessibility settings for vision impaired people, so the fonts can be blown up pretty big.
settings > accessibility > extra large text

Locklear308 said:
Through a bit of tweaking, I think you could change the LCD Density to make the screen, basically, smaller. So, everything would appear bigger. I used to do it with my Nook Color
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suspect this same procedure works, but in reverse; you would increase the DPI to make android think the screen was smaller, then it would render big fonts like with the fone.

I'll hijack this thread a bit since I'm in a similar situation. My mom lays in bed on her iPhone 4 (my hand-me-down) for hours on end and has recently started complaining that it's hurting her wrist to do so. I explained that she's not holding it correctly (ending up using her whole wrist to scroll rather than just flicking finger motions) but she can't adapt. Will a 7" tablet be enough of an upgrade for her to ditch her 10" netbook entirely? Hopefully I can teach her to hold it like you would a book, rather than crush it in her hands like she does with the iPhone.

I would think it would hurt her back and not her wrist, laying on it like that...
Try any 7" tablet with an easy return policy. Barnes and Nobel may have an easy return. If she likes the Nook size, return it and order the Nexus.
Her problems are too specific to her preferences and condition for anyone to advise you; she just has to try a small tablet.
Good luck with it - a good interface to the outside world can make a huge difference to someone stuck in a bed.

B&N has their readers on display right in the store. No need to buy and return.

Galaxy Tab 7.7 Phone Mode..

Hi everyone. I have been fighting with the Galaxy tab 7.7 since I got it over the issue of its design as a tablet and not a "large phone". The 7.7 screen is too small to be usable as tablet and despite all sorts of attempts to change fonts sizes etc, the reality is an endless list of the apps I use are poorly displayed n the screen with items too big or small, check boxes out of place, ridiculously small areas of the screen and other too big or everything just plainly a gigantic mess.Coming from an original Galaxy Tab 7 and now using a newer 7 Plus, both these units display every item on the screen perfectly proportioned and as it should, because they handle everything as large phone display, NOT a tablet.
How can I have the 7.7 behave the same? Originally with Honeycomb all attempts to fix the issue were a disaster and the only thing I was successful was in tweaking the DPI enough to make some items legible but not too much and then loose the bottom task bar that automatically vanishes past it gets a certain size. Now with ICS, the problems seems to be the same.. the 7.7 is still in tablet mode and not in phone mode like its 7.0 siblings.
I tried editing my build.prop, removed the lcd density line altogether, and changed:
ro.build.characteristics=tablet
to
ro.build.characteristics=phone
But still no luck. Can someone guide me to a proper and easy way to covert natively, the display of the 7.7 to phone mode like the 7.0 and 7.0/2 and Plus?
Thanks a lot in advance for the advice

There are many who would agree with you, but there doesn't seem to be a simple answer to increase the size of the fonts in a workable way. I had hoped ICS would fix this issue, but it didn't. Mind you, some people seem to like the small fonts.

But the issue is NOT one of fonts! I dont care about fonts! I care about that in many applications elements are all so displaced and badly proportional that they are unusable. Dolphin browser? Almost cant type on the address bar because of its size and menus! FoxNews? The thumbnails are so small you can hardly select the video you want to see while the rest 80% of the screen space is just white with nothing! CnetTV? Each video selection is millimeters in size while most of the screen is just a black blob of unused space. And the list of apps foes on and on. It just doesn't work and when U compare screen arrangements and filling from a galaxy tab 7, 7/2 or 7/Plus you clearly see something is terrible wrong on the 7.7. Its just disaster to use! This makes no sense.

Screenshots?
Sent from my GT-P6800 using xda premium

have you tried different browsers to view your favorite sites? and also switch between 'mobile' and 'full' site views in each browser till you find one that can be the lesser of the evils.
i believe the stock Samsung ICS browser has a 'force zoom' option for site controlled views too.... might want to try that out.
good luck...
and post your results here too.. keep us updated with your solutions.
thanks.....

VeEuzUKY said:
It just doesn't work and when U compare screen arrangements and filling from a galaxy tab 7, 7/2 or 7/Plus you clearly see something is terrible wrong on the 7.7. Its just disaster to use! This makes no sense.
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Sorry for the off-topic but I am tired of seeing the same topic and hate statement again and again. You should have seen what Honeycomb looked like on this device before buying it. I believe more people agree original GT 7 has had wrong interface, a.k.a. Big Phone. And the GT 7.7's tablet-style interface is correct for this size.
Posting numerous times how un-*****-usable and horrible and trash it is will not change this. Just stop it already or sell your tablet.

How easy is it to read .pdf and ebook files on this device?

I was thinking of getting an ipad 3 but while at bestbuy and playing with one I realized its still ios and left the store, screen is pretty though. Is this device better? Do you guys find yourself reading more, ebooks etc on this device or not great for that purpose?

SysAdmNj said:
I was thinking of getting an ipad 3 but while at bestbuy and playing with one I realized its still ios and left the store, screen is pretty though. Is this device better? Do you guys find yourself reading more, ebooks etc on this device or not great for that purpose?
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I've read about 2-3 books on the Nexus 7 thus far and it is very easy to read and follow along. The iPad is wonderful for reading. Don't get me wrong I love the iPad. But, it's form factor just isn't for me. It's hard to imagine it as if it were a real book because it's so big. I don't exactly enjoy typing or playing games on it either because of its form factor. The Nexus 7 is a perfect device for those of us with the not-so-big hands that don't like stretching our fingers to type. It's also even better for reading because its size/weight is about the same as todays paperbacks.

I read my studying guide text book on my nexus 7 and I love it. The 7in size is perfect for hand held, weight and size wise and the screen size is still big enough too.

My primary use for the N7 is reading. Tried several other tablets and this one is by far the best. PDFs are not great though; unless the text is condensed in the middle of the page (and your reader autozooms) it's not fun to read either tiny print or scrolling a lot in landscape. But resizable text can't be beat. Get mantano reader.

SysAdmNj said:
I was thinking of getting an ipad 3 but while at bestbuy and playing with one I realized its still ios and left the store, screen is pretty though. Is this device better? Do you guys find yourself reading more, ebooks etc on this device or not great for that purpose?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I greatly enjoy reading books on the N7. Since I got mine at the end of July, I've re-read almost all the Sherlock Holmes mysteries on it. One thing that helps me with reading books on the N7 (especially at night) is changing the text in whatever app I'm reading in to white text on a black background.
I've played around with quite a few of my friends iPads and from what I've seen, the N7 is better suited for reading, while the iPad is better for watching videos.
Hope that helps.
Sent from my Paranoid Nexus 7

I have ES File Explorer installed and was chuffed to find out that it supported PDF when I downloaded the user manual for my new camera. It works really well.
As for ebooks I haven't used any other han the N7 guidebook but the missus is glued to 50 shades of try on hers, so I guess it must work well enough.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app

I'm not completely happy with any PDF reader on android. For example, I like to zoom in as much as possible without having to scroll left and right. I often zoom in so that the margins are off screen and text is almost edge-to-edge, but invariably I end up scrolling left or right a bit while trying to scroll vertically. How about an option to lock the horizontal position? I'm much happier reading a native mobi format book in the Kindle reader. Maybe I'm just weird.

The part about the pdf files worry me as I know I have some material I need to read that are in pdf format. Is it really that bad?

I agree with Opcow. Reading PDF's can be a challenge because it doesn't reposition text when you zoom in like an eBook does. So, if you need larger fonts you will have to scroll left and right as well as up and down.
For ebooks though, its awesome. I like it better than the Kindle Fire which I owned for a while. Yet, for long reading sessions, I still use my Kindle Touch...but, I digress...
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

It hasn't replaced my kindle, but it is a very suitable size/weight for reading. I'm just not a fan of reading on a backlit display.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

Your mileage will vary with pdf files I think. I tried to read a magazine pdf (lots of graphics as you'd imagine) and it would stutter/freeze for as long as 10 seconds when trying to scroll. I think this was in Aldiko book reader.
And then in Adobe Reader, I read a PDF file that was light on graphics, but Adobe would take a while to render the text clearly after going to next page. It's annoying.

opcow said:
I'm not completely happy with any PDF reader on android. For example, I like to zoom in as much as possible without having to scroll left and right. I often zoom in so that the margins are off screen and text is almost edge-to-edge, but invariably I end up scrolling left or right a bit while trying to scroll vertically. How about an option to lock the horizontal position? I'm much happier reading a native mobi format book in the Kindle reader. Maybe I'm just weird.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For pdf's Mantano lets you set for each book the R & L margins and the headers & footers. I use calibre on a PC to store, index etc. ebooks It also does some pretty powerful format conversions.

Here's my opinion. If you are going to be reading a lot of PDFs then go for the iPad 3. That screen is awesome. However, I like the 7 inch screen much better for eBooks.

Would you guys think it would be smart to wait for the ipad mini announcement?
If I was to go for the ipad 3, I dont know why I would feel locked down.
Yes, I already have some pdf's I would start with.

SysAdmNj said:
Would you guys think it would be smart to wait for the ipad mini announcement?
If I was to go for the ipad 3, I dont know why I would feel locked down.
Yes, I already have some pdf's I would start with.
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Lol becuase iOS is terrible when it comes to customization. Its a 4x4 grid of block icons.. its not hard to screw up :S. Honestly i wouldnt ever suggest any apple product. This screen is subpar to the ipad's retina its not as good but its definetly up there. Our screen density is like 226 and the ipad is like ~260 but that thing is a honker.. if all your doing is reading PDF's i would go with the Nexus 7 its much lighter and text is clear as day.
Also.. this might persuade you.. if you ever drop your tablet.. look what 600$ gets you compared to 250$

Definitely not all I'm doing, would like to think of it as entertaining as well whether viewing movies or games here and there. Another thing that made me think about the ipad was that there is this cable app from my provider that is especially made for the ipad/iphone and you can view your subscribed cable channels right on your device where it doesnt work on android like that. There is even a pc app that you can do the same thing, and I tried to use my sgn to remote connect to my pc to view the channels but it was pretty messy as you could imagine. Not sure why they cater to ipad/iphone so much and leave out android. I'm sure this app looks pretty good on the ipad/iphone. Not sure if anyone has been able to use the optimum cable app on their nexus 7 yet. It would be pretty cool to be away somewhere with wifi and view some NFL games. Also, can you tether undetected with the nexus 7 and the samsung galaxy nexus?

more questions, how to I check if its the c80 model by just looking at the box? I'm thinking of going to gamestop after work.
Also, is it easy to tether to you samsung galaxy nexus?

SysAdmNj said:
more questions, how to I check if its the c80 model by just looking at the box? I'm thinking of going to gamestop after work.
Also, is it easy to tether to you samsung galaxy nexus?
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Yes should be under SSN:
And yes its easy to tether with

ÜBER™ said:
Yes should be under SSN:
And yes its easy to tether with
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So i should avoid c70 at all costs?

SysAdmNj said:
So i should avoid c70 at all costs?
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Not really but i would think the newer the better. I just returned my C80k and got a c60k with the same exact issue.. nothing different just a small little lift which is an adhesive issue.. and i have found a fix for it. Im done looking for a perfect model and just going to deal with the one i got now and fix it. I should have kept the one i had but its whatever.