Database Users

Second thoughts?

I'm not sure if this is the correct forum to post this under, seeing as I'm new to the XDA Developers community, but here goes nothing:
Has anyone else that has purchased an Kindle Fire been having second thoughts?
I think the main reason that I'm feeling this way is the whole thing feels sluggish, and the entire experience is frustrating. I did not buy the KF for a media consumption device; I bought it with the intention of rooting it, and having a $200 full-featured Android tablet, and having done so, something still feels off. It's extremely frustrating that I spent hours trying to get a custom wallpaper, and while I understand that it's a known-issue (So many threads made everyday...)
I played with my friends G2 today, which by no means is a new phone, and it (felt like), it kicked the KF's ass in speed. I just don't understand this at all. This (afaik) is a single core 800MHz device that feels more fluid than a 1GHz Dual Core. Is there something I'm missing?
Now, I'm new to Android, so I have absolutely no idea if this is a software issue that will get resolved (Honeycomb / Ice Cream Sandwich?), how long a wait that will be. (I understand that no one knows the answer to that.) Or... Is this just the hardware that $200 will buy you? I understand they're selling each KF at a loss, maybe I had higher expectations than I should have.
I noticed in a local Best Buy Black Friday ad, that the Acer Iconia 7" tablet will go on sale for $190, which has spurred thoughts of returning my KF, and purchasing the Iconia. Can anyone think of a good reason not to?
Please excuse my ignorance, I really am trying to learn something here. Will these issues improve with time, once custom ROMs start getting developed for the KF?
Thanks for reading. I appreciate any input, even if it's pointing out something I've missed. (Especially so.)

First off, welcome to the forums! and yeah, general is a pretty decent place for this sort of thing imo.
I think, if you're looking for a full featured android tablet for under $200, and are willing to brave the black friday madness to get it, then by all means, return your kindle and go for the Iconia. It's got better specs, cameras, honeycomb, etc - and lets face it, amazon designed the kindle to be just that, a kindle. Whatever android functionality we get past that should be looked at as a bonus to what was already there imo.
I've owned an asus transformer as my primary android tablet for close to 6months now, and got the kindle intending it to be mostly a device for media, so I was pleasantly surprised how well it did as an android tablet as well. I actually ended up falling in love with the size and ease of one-handed use of the 7" tablet, and am debating ditching the transformer and either going with just the kindle, or picking up a more powerful 7" tablet myself.
Don't get me wrong, I love the kindle and will definitely be hanging onto it - but one of the more main reasons I got it was it's integration to all of amazons media services.
I think you'll notice a considerable increase in speed and smoothness with the tegra 2 and more notably the 1gb of memory, especially if you root the iconia and install a more cut down rom.
The only thing I will say here is having used both the kindle and a 10" honeycomb tablet now... I'm not entirely sure how i'd like the honeycomb interface on a 7" tablet... it might almost feel too cluttered - but thats an ocd person with a very minimalist taste speaking.
Just my 2 cents, hope it helps.

I've seen quite a few complains about sluggish performance but I honestly haven't seen any of that after rooting and switching to go launcher. There was some noticible slow downs changing orientation of the device or just simply scrolling throught the carousel when I was using the stock launcher but that seems to be all gone now. Ive been playing Pandora while surfing on opera with several tabs open haven't seen any lag at all. Maybe im not stressing my tablet enought? Idk what other ppl do on it but coming from an ipad 1 im very satisified with my purchase . ICS is suppose to have similar ram usage to GB so I think the 512 ram should be suffice atleast for my usage.
Sent from my Kindle Fire using xda premium

Really appreciate the thought out reply.
I love the 7" form-factor myself; the only doubt that I'm having right now is battery life. It seems to be 5 hours of casual WiFi browsing, which is ridiculously low compared to the KF. The other features totally make it worth it. Mini-HDMI and Micro-SD would definitely be nice to have, as well as GPS? Jeez.
Edit: If I do return it, should I unroot it, is there a process to return it to factory settings?

Yeah, 5 hours battery life is a bit rough - although again to reference my experiences with the transformer, at least, a cut down Rom will likely help that a decent bit.
Sent from my Kindle Fire using xda premium

If you return any tablet you've rooted by all mean unroot it. It not only helps if you get a clerk who knows what to look for (and refuses your return justifiably as rooting voids warranty) but also it's good form. It avoids "surprises" for whomever gets your tab afterwards.
Having owned the Iconia A100 for about 2 weeks before returning it (battery life, viewing angles, Acer possibly leaving tabs and lack of dev support) I must say it's a fine little tab. Only 8G internal but uSD offsets, 1GB RAM, quality build and reported ICS in January are real pluses. Price ($330) is steep but if you can get it on BF then do so.
Now that root has been achieved on the NT, it's blows the doors off the KF (specs, battery life, etc). Seriously look into it as a replacement for the KF.
BTW I would not count on HC or ICS for the KF. No reason for Amazon to do that as it doesn't add revenue to buying anything from Amazon. B&N only upped the NC to 2.2 Froyo after almost a year on 2.1 then stopped.

skeeterpro said:
Now that root has been achieved on the NT, it's blows the doors off the KF (specs, battery life, etc). Seriously look into it as a replacement for the KF.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have a link for NT root? I can't find it and I am holding off on buying one until I see what's possible on it.

I already own the HTC flyer referenced in my .sig and I don't think anything comes close to it speedwise since it has a 1.5 GHz single core processor. And I've played with the Dell streak 7 which is dual core 1 GHz. Since app so few apps can actually use the second core it feels slower by comparison. It has 512 memory like the KF and I think that's much of the reason it seems so much slower. I used the V6 whatever script by Zepp-somebody (as you can see I'm just horrible with names) from here on XDA and it made a big difference. So I'd guess the Fire would also benefit from tweaked minfrees and OOM settings also. Considering some of that 512 is given to video I think almost all lag is actually the Android OS moving things out of memory and killing apps to make room for the new app or the app you're returning to.
Sent from my HTC Flyer P512 using Tapatalk

I have to add that I tried quite a few devices before settling on my 7". I brought home a couple, the Iconia screen was just unacceptable period, the angle you will want to view it the most is the worst, every Iconia I've seen has this problem on both sides of the border. Not to mention not so great battery life although I did find it better than the reviews, and random FCs. I eventually settled on a Flyer and it's miles ahead of the Iconia, what a polished device, it just works, so smooth, has a really nice screen, and is solid built.
I'm here cause I'm looking at the KF myself for my kids, but it sounds like it will be more trouble than it's worth to get them working north of the border. I tried a Vox for a couple of days and it was just so buggy, slow and locked down.

bsoplinger said:
I already own the HTC flyer referenced in my .sig and I don't think anything comes close to it speedwise since it has a 1.5 GHz single core processor. And I've played with the Dell streak 7 which is dual core 1 GHz. Since app so few apps can actually use the second core it feels slower by comparison. It has 512 memory like the KF and I think that's much of the reason it seems so much slower. I used the V6 whatever script by Zepp-somebody (as you can see I'm just horrible with names) from here on XDA and it made a big difference. So I'd guess the Fire would also benefit from tweaked minfrees and OOM settings also. Considering some of that 512 is given to video I think almost all lag is actually the Android OS moving things out of memory and killing apps to make room for the new app or the app you're returning to.
Sent from my HTC Flyer P512 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also considered the Flyer when I bought the A100. The digitizer for note taking attracted me but not paying upwards to $70-80 for the pen. No HC was a turn-off with little hope of upgrade. That plus a couple articles spectulating HTC getting out of the tab business broke the deal for me. But I have read that the Flyer is a serviceable device indeed!
---------- Post added at 09:39 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:36 AM ----------
sgood1971 said:
Do you have a link for NT root? I can't find it and I am holding off on buying one until I see what's possible on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure. You'll need to be familiar with ADB (but then we all should).
Keep in mind the Search function is your friend!

To be completely honest, most of the things that I've noticed have performance issues are the Amazon-specific things -- the bottom buttons, the stock launcher, etc. In fact, everything else, now that I've rooted it, runs just fine even when I limit the processor to 600MHz per core.
I really am pretty sure the biggest performance thing is Amazon's modifications to the Android stuff. So, that *may* be fixed in upcoming updates. Or, heck, we'll just get a good custom rom sometime!

I've noticed intermittant sluggish performance only on Silk Browser. Using Opera Browser instead solves this and is much faster browsing experience.

skeeterpro said:
Sure. You'll need to be familiar with ADB (but then we all should).
Keep in mind the Search function is your friend!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the link. I did indeed use the search, I always do. Unfortunately my search-foo must have been weak indeed today.
Thanks again.

mewshi said:
Or, heck, we'll just get a good custom rom sometime!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This. I'm thinking it won't be too long before they start the ROM game...or hoping. I wouldn't keep the fire with its stock interface; I also bought it as a tablet. That said, the thing has been out a WEEK and they've already made leaps and bounds. The thing was rooted in like 12 hours, they've got CWM on it (just can't navigate easily) and I think they'll work out the kinks and start romming. My hope is for CM9, myself.

matt314159 said:
This. I'm thinking it won't be too long before they start the ROM game...or hoping. I wouldn't keep the fire with its stock interface; I also bought it as a tablet. That said, the thing has been out a WEEK and they've already made leaps and bounds. The thing was rooted in like 12 hours, they've got CWM on it (just can't navigate easily) and I think they'll work out the kinks and start romming. My hope is for CM9, myself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True enough but regardless keep your hopes and expectations realistic. Remember that this device was not designed to be an open android tablet. The overlay and mods from Amazon might be tough to completely delete or bypass. Could be wrong but even so it's a $200 device. It will only ever be that. Which is fine but it is what it is.

I own a flyer also and it is a great tablet. I also bought the Fire for what is was advertised for, media content from Amazon. I don't intend on rooting because I think it performs just fine as it is. For your kids, watching movies, games and reading, I think they would enjoy this 7 inch device.
Sent from my GT-P7310 using xda premium

After going to Best Buy, and playing with the Iconia, it's re-affirmed my purchase in the KF. The display on the Iconia certainly leaves something to be desired.
I think I basically want a Galaxy Tab 7.0 at a $200 price point - not gonna happen, heh.

xodlike said:
After going to Best Buy, and playing with the Iconia, it's re-affirmed my purchase in the KF. The display on the Iconia certainly leaves something to be desired.
I think I basically want a Galaxy Tab 7.0 at a $200 price point - not gonna happen, heh.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to know.. display on that was one thing i never really thought about. heh.

At this point, I have to say the Fire is a keeper for me. What put it over the edge was that I was able to sideload the ereader.com app and read my books in full screen (I have been using this site for ebooks for more than a decade and probably have 200+ books in that library). The ereader app won't let me unlock my books on my Archos Honeycomb tablet and my HTC Flyer on Gingerbread will unlock the books, but the app is the screen size of a phone and I can't figure out how to make it bigger.
The Fire is the only device I can stream Amazon Instant Video without stuttering and allows me to use Netflix and Hulu too.
I've managed to sideload my manga reader apps and some other apps I love.
I can't plug a hard drive in, but I can stream with my Go Flex satellite.
Surfing isn't any better than any other device I own (maybe a little bit slower), but I can live with it for the other benefits.
Still not giving up my other tablets though

Expecting a "full featured" tablet from a $200 tablet is silly. The Kindle wasn't built to be a rooted device, it wasn't built to do all the things that Android tablets can do (GPS, bluetooth, video/voice calling, etc), it was built to be a media consumption device and a reader. It does both of those things well, and anything else it can do is just extra goodness. If you need more storage, GPS, bluetooth, or any of those other features... I'd recommend going with another tablet. You'll be spending more, but you get what you pay for.

Who got theirs?

Mine came in this morning. Been playing with it for a couple of hours now. The screen is OK, but not as good as my New iPad, but that is to be expected. I did have it crash on me after installing Netflix and signing into it. I do like the fact that it is already registered to your Amazon account out of the box. I only had to connect to WiFi. Turning off adds is done on amazon.com under manage Kindle, which I did. the interface is VERY sparse. I was able to grab cisco Anyconnect VPN, but haven't tested it yet with my MiFi (I'm already at work). The initial setup and download really drags the tablet almost to a halt. But after that it's back to normal speeds. All in all, I still want a custom ROM of JB on here. I have Skype installed but haven't call anyone yet. Also, the speakers ARE AWESOME. I work in IT and all the guys loved the sound coming from this puppy! Streamed Downton Abbey without hiccups or buffering. Quite nice. No buyers remorse yet.

Cool! Can you side load app and install a different launcher like you could with the last fire?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

Jut got mine too.
Love it so far
JaxDomino said:
Mine came in this morning. Been playing with it for a couple of hours now. The screen is OK, but not as good as my New iPad, but that is to be expected. I did have it crash on me after installing Netflix and signing into it. I do like the fact that it is already registered to your Amazon account out of the box. I only had to connect to WiFi. Turning off adds is done on amazon.com under manage Kindle, which I did. the interface is VERY sparse. I was able to grab cisco Anyconnect VPN, but haven't tested it yet with my MiFi (I'm already at work). The initial setup and download really drags the tablet almost to a halt. But after that it's back to normal speeds. All in all, I still want a custom ROM of JB on here. I have Skype installed but haven't call anyone yet. Also, the speakers ARE AWESOME. I work in IT and all the guys loved the sound coming from this puppy! Streamed Downton Abbey without hiccups or buffering. Quite nice. No buyers remorse yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I just got mine on my way home from Best Buy. So far from what I can tell it's a bit to locked down for my taste
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda premium

So, I'm an owner of an original fire, got it as a Christmas present from my wife last year. I sold it a few weeks ago planning on getting the N7, but waited for the amazon presser about the new line.
After watching the live blog and all that, figured I'd give the KF another shot, and if I didn't like it, I'd return it and get the N7. After playing with this new KF for the past few hours, it's awesome, so much better than the original, for what I use it for. I like the new email client, the screen is fantastic, it's snappy and feels very cohesive and not so much an interface stuck on top of an andriod OS, even though it is.
So far, I'm impressed.

Yeah I just got mine as well and played around with it for about 10 minutes. So far the screen is gorgeous and the software isn't as laggy as the preview models that were shown in the videos. And the default web browser search engine for me was already set to Google. I'll post up more impressions in a bit.

Don't forget to update to 7.1.5. The sound on this device is freaking awesome...

Got mine today too...initial experiences:
- Side-loaded OnLive 1.2 and it works flawlessly
- Side-loaded Zinio reader from the Zinio.com site, but it FC several times...not usable. Emailed Zinio support
- Really want Rdio somehow, but haven't found the APK. Amazon Store says its not compatible.
- Fully MP3 library totally accessible and interface nice
- Amazon Prime Video works wonderfully but the series interface isn't so great...would like an easier way to tell were I left off on my Sons of Anarchy catch-up.
- Hulu Plus works but playback is janky--just isn't smooth or integrated
- I personally find the overall interface skinned nicely, but clumsy to navigate....coming from Gingerbread, Jelly Bean and iOS.
Looking forward to lots of crazy hacks to really push the hardware on this puppy!

scottpletcher said:
Looking forward to lots of crazy hacks to really push the hardware on this puppy!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My question is if you're going to hack, why not hack a better hardware tablet like the nexus 7?

Better hardware?
shook187 said:
My question is if you're going to hack, why not hack a better hardware tablet like the nexus 7?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The OMAP 4460 in the 7" hd has a stronger gpu (clocked higher) than the tegra 3 as well as hdmi out and dual band wi-fi. What are you referring to when you mention that the nexus 7 is a stronger hardware platform?

pandapoo said:
The OMAP 4460 in the 7" hd has a stronger gpu (clocked higher) than the tegra 3 as well as hdmi out and dual band wi-fi. What are you referring to when you mention that the nexus 7 is a stronger hardware platform?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was the for to my weak ass Quadrant score
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda premium

pandapoo said:
The OMAP 4460 in the 7" hd has a stronger gpu (clocked higher) than the tegra 3 as well as hdmi out and dual band wi-fi. What are you referring to when you mention that the nexus 7 is a stronger hardware platform?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting quote from a reviewer
This is a Wi-Fi-only device that Amazon has packed with dual antennas, support for MIMO and reception in both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands in an attempt to speed up the connection. Despite that, I found Web browsing to be noticeably slower than on the Nexus 7 -- so in my experience, at least, that hardware addition is for naught.
The device is missing some prominent hardware features that its competitors have, such as GPS. The Kindle Fire HD's processor is far from leading-edge: a 1.2Ghz dual-core OMAP 4460 Texas Instruments processor, compared to the more powerful quad-core Tegra 3 processor that powers the Nexus 7. After several hours of use, I found the tablet seemed to suffer occasional lags when opening apps and on occasion when using apps. Restarting the device solved the problem, but then the lags eventually reappeared.
The middling-level hardware isn't as surprising as you might expect, because the Kindle Fire HD hasn't really been designed to be an all-purpose tablet -- despite Amazon's claims to the contrary. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos summed up the purpose of the Kindle Fire HD succinctly during the product announcement when he said, "The Kindle Fire is a service."
http://m.computerworld.com/s/articl...&hl=en&gl=us&tab=wn&q=kindle%20fire%20hd&sa=N
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda premium

shook187 said:
My question is if you're going to hack, why not hack a better hardware tablet like the nexus 7?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hehe, I may do that too. That's why somehow I have a Motorola Xoom, iPad 2, iPad 3, Kindle Original, Nook Touch, Galaxy Note, Motorola Razr Maxx, and Galaxy Nexus.
The Fire HD appealed to be because I wanted more or less a dedicated reading device that also does other stuff. The antiglare screen looks pretty good so far and that was a plus for me. Now, if I can only get it to run Zinio stable, then I'll have pretty much achieved my goal.
I can deal with the text layout of Business Week from Amazon on the Fire, but for my other two magazines--Outside and National Geographic--I really want the full color magazine experience since its so much about the photography. Zinio's resolution is just so much higher than the same magazine pages via the Amazon Kindle app. I think Zinio uses vector for the layout where it appears Amazon is rasterized.

shook187 said:
My question is if you're going to hack, why not hack a better hardware tablet like the nexus 7?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
16gb vs 8gb for $199, much better sound, apparently better screen, hdmi, possibly better build quality. and maybe a better camera.
versus gps and Tegra 3.(not sure if Tegra 3 is usefully better other than Tegra-only games).
I like them both but I really want the better sound and hdmi, and hacking would eliminate one of the main advantages of the Nexus 7 which is the larger app selection.

I got mine today. Too locked down for my tastes but a root in the near future will take care of that. I like that I can "borrow" books from Amazon and watch whatever prime videos that are in Amazon's catalog. Micro hdmi works great, screen looks fantastic, the speakers sound pretty good and I can fit the 7" in a cargo pocket. Overall, I think it's a good buy for $199.

Is the Acer Iconia W510 the way to go?

Price wise, it is really catching my eye, although I'm speaking the "Tablet" only.
I feel as though the dock bundle is a bit pricey. $750.
Anyone have this & want to share a mini review or an alternative peice of hardware in comparison, value wise?

Genjinaro said:
Price wise, it is really catching my eye, although I'm speaking the "Tablet" only.
I feel as though the dock bundle is a bit pricey. $750.
Anyone have this & want to share a mini review or an alternative peice of hardware in comparison, value wise?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got to get that x86 processor. Prices for intel w8 tablets should drop around $500 soon. $750 is way too much for a glorified netbook.

True... Hell, surface really screwed the new wave of Windows, price wise.
Sent from my EVO using xda premium

What happened to it?
The Acer W510 tablets have been yanked off all the Best Buy and Future Shop web sites - like it never existed? Anybody hear what happened?

Probably because it has only 32GB. For full Win8, that means only a few GB remains for data use. There's no space for anything else. It's not a usable device.
Perhaps not so coincidentally, the 32GB W510 is available now in MS Store as a $399 Cyber Monday deal.
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/pd/Acer-Iconia-W510-1674-Tablet/productID.258447300

I'm definitely planning on getting this device..at the price point it seems to offer the most bang for the buck. I like the size and weight and think it'll serve its purpose (consumption tablet w/ the ability to run full xbmc and ACTUAL desktop web pages) just fine. Aside from its lack of availability the only other thing I'm waiting for is a more detailed video review. In the meantime I've found this:
http://www.amazon.com/Acer-Iconia-W...dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

Samsung Series 7 Slate equals win.
Genjinaro said:
Price wise, it is really catching my eye, although I'm speaking the "Tablet" only.
I feel as though the dock bundle is a bit pricey. $750.
Anyone have this & want to share a mini review or an alternative peice of hardware in comparison, value wise?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the Samsung Series 7 slate that came with Windows 7. I love it, with Win8 that is. It has 64gb of space and you can add a microsd as well. Also has the i5 processor and 4gb ram. You can get one on eBay for maybe 600 or less tablet only. I was tempted a bit by the new Ativ 500, but it has the atom processor and half the ram. They are releasing a new series 7 but really pricey. Get the series 7 with win 7, pay the 40 for the upgrade and you won't regret it.:good:

Spectredroid said:
I have the Samsung Series 7 slate that came with Windows 7. I love it, with Win8 that is. It has 64gb of space and you can add a microsd as well. Also has the i5 processor and 4gb ram. You can get one on eBay for maybe 600 or less tablet only. I was tempted a bit by the new Ativ 500, but it has the atom processor and half the ram. They are releasing a new series 7 but really pricey. Get the series 7 with win 7, pay the 40 for the upgrade and you won't regret it.:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
for me it becomes a question of battery life and portability..how does it fare in those areas? If I didn't already have a laptop, I can defly see a home application for it. But I'm looking for something that I can take on the road

Yep.
KERKEDAGAIN said:
for me it becomes a question of battery life and portability..how does it fare in those areas? If I didn't already have a laptop, I can defly see a home application for it. But I'm looking for something that I can take on the road
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I take it with me everywhere. The 11.6 really to me is great. I mean, obviously it is a little bigger, but the screen resolution is so nice it is great. I got the Samsung Book cover for it, and carry it with me no problems. I had a 10.1 sammy gtab before. Battery life is good, except if you watch a lot of video, then it sucks it up. but that is true with any tablet. It lasts me all day though. I have never had to charge it before maybe 8 in the evening. The thing that is great over every tablet I have seen running win8 is no lag at all. I mean this thing is butter smooth. I have replaced my laptop completely with this. It runs desktop software great. Some are not made for touch though, so the stylus make that experience much better. If you want, the bluetooth keyboard works very well too.

For me, i'm still haven't decided between asus vivobook and acer iconia w7.
I still can't decided which form factor i want, a tablet or a touch screen laptop.
Sent from my LT26i using xda app-developers app

The Vivo is nice, but I just can't get with rt only. I really like win8, I think is great for a tablet, and if you want something this is completely usable, rt just isn't there yet. Surface pro will be out, but 1 grand. Stiff. 4 hours battery life. Bummer. I love the form factor though. :good:

Spectredroid said:
I take it with me everywhere. The 11.6 really to me is great. I mean, obviously it is a little bigger, but the screen resolution is so nice it is great. I got the Samsung Book cover for it, and carry it with me no problems. I had a 10.1 sammy gtab before. Battery life is good, except if you watch a lot of video, then it sucks it up. but that is true with any tablet. It lasts me all day though. I have never had to charge it before maybe 8 in the evening. The thing that is great over every tablet I have seen running win8 is no lag at all. I mean this thing is butter smooth. I have replaced my laptop completely with this. It runs desktop software great. Some are not made for touch though, so the stylus make that experience much better. If you want, the bluetooth keyboard works very well too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty amazed that a past generation i5 processor can last you all day.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834110479
That's cheap, and has a great Reslolution, for 300 bucks. It's got an atom, but it's cheaper than the Iconia, with double the storage. You'll have to install 8 through USB, though.

jrk190 said:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834110479
That's cheap, and has a great Reslolution, for 300 bucks. It's got an atom, but it's cheaper than the Iconia, with double the storage. You'll have to install 8 through USB, though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is a headache waiting to happen. The processor is far too weak to get any real use out of it, even with an SSD.
Sometimes its worth saving just a little extra.

This device is a great tablet at a great price
I got the iconia W510 and I have to admin that I love it. It will take a little time to get used to the windows 8 gestures but after that it works very well. Also the $400 price tag is a steal for a fully x86 compatible tablet. Even though it has only the Atom clover trail, it's fast enough and does not really lag. It can do hbo-go from the browser with no issues. The screen is beautiful and clear. It also has NFC even though that does not seem to be advertised and not sure what it could be used for yet.... And for the record I am NOT a Microsoft fan boy, I have an IPad 3, an iPad mini, iPhone 5 and still love those devices but I got to admit that this tablet is great and I can use it to replace my laptop using the BT keyboard and mouse. I just need to get the keyboard dock and that can definitely replace a work laptop...

I decided on this device w/keyboard dock for these personal reasons:
not RT - 'nuff said
price - ivy bridge would be great, but not at those prices, I just assume sacrifice the hybrid flexibility and get a kick-ass ultrabook
size - 11.6" is cool for a notebook, but too cumbersome for a tablet
keyboard dock - it's very stable when docked and easy to connect/disconnect, the Asus less so, and I've heard multiple complaints of the Samsung Ativ frequently losing its connection altogether (no keyboard response), not acceptable
battery life - can work all day while docked and still have a fully charged tablet battery, the surface pro estimates are pathetic
storage - wish it had more on-board, I eliminated any 32 gb model from consideration
performance - granted, there's a hit compared to ivy bridge, but no doubt clover trail is an improvement over the previous atom, so far this has not been an issue for what I do with the device
For sure, my purchase decision is filled with compromises and trade-offs, but I guess that's how it is when considering a 1st-generation hybrid. I could have waited for the next gen when there will likely be less trade-offs and better values. But no, I wanted one of these now! I'm loving the flexibility of having a laptop and tablet in one device, and being able to run x86 apps helps make up for stuff lacking in the Windows store (i.e. DropBox).

Anyone able to comment on multitasking and gaming? specifically what is gaming like on the devcice. I know you wont get performance when playing games like modern warfare crysis etc but whats it like on the tablet games angry birds/jetpack joyride/riptide gp etc? I want something purely for consumption multimedia light gaming and internet surfing streaming, and am trying to deciede between intel and rt.

blucmal said:
Anyone able to comment on multitasking and gaming? specifically what is gaming like on the devcice. I know you wont get performance when playing games like modern warfare crysis etc but whats it like on the tablet games angry birds/jetpack joyride/riptide gp etc? I want something purely for consumption multimedia light gaming and internet surfing streaming, and am trying to deciede between intel and rt.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the Asus Vivo Tab 11.6" one with Clover Trail processor like the Acer W510 and it does all the games from the Windows store quite well. It does Pinball FX2, and RIptide perfectly smooth. Hydro Thunder for some reason isn't as smooth on some parts but still smooth enough to be playable. I even installed Iron Man PC game from 2007 and it plays really well. Even the newest Google earth with 3d buildings works decently, but it sometimes crashes the graphics driver.
Multitasking is very smooth. When installing apps I can tell it takes like twice as long as an I5 or I7 PC but there's no lag at least. Switching between apps is very fast and smooth no matter what I have running on the background.

I have the Samsung 500T. I picked it because I wanted a 11.6 inch tablet for the more spacious keyboard. I had a real bad time with Acer's TF300 keyboard being too small and worried the W510 would be a similar experience.
That said. I do hate how slick the back of the 500T is. And it's really bad with 1080p videos. A reviewer mentioned their 500T had problems with 1080p also, but the W510 had no problems at all. So hopefully it's not a hardware limitation and Samsung can fix this eventually.
It's a shame so many Windows 8 Atom tablets have been delayed until mid January. Had I more patience, I probably should have waited. I think I might have liked the HP Envy X2 more. The ASUS seems to be out of the question with it's crazy price tag of $800 just for the tablet.
As for multitasking. I try to do it sparingly. And I avoid doing anything at all while x86 apps are installing as it's very laggy. I tend to spend most of my time with desktop apps. On the Windows 8 (Metro) those apps usually fly (as long as they don't involve playing 1080p videos).

Hey guys...typing this from the w510 keyboard dock I got from acer today. I bought my 32gb w510 from microcenter for $399 plus tax. Keyboard was $160 shipped. I've been using the keyboard for 10 minutes and will say I freaking love it. I guess I'm just so attracted to the functionality that a keyboard/touchpad add (had the original asus transformer). feels even more natural in the windows 8 environment.
The tablet itself is very lightweight, and I personally really like how it looks, the white trim, silver back, clean design. yes its plastic but mine feels really good.
Now for you guys new to the w510 there are some possible game breakers for you as far as bugs...
Sound will randomally just die and you have to restart the tablet to get it back. This has NOT happened to me since I installed the latest bios/drivers. Similarly, it has frozen on me a couple times, again - this has not happened to me since the drivers. Finally there is a big issue with the touchpad becoming wildly inaccurate. theres a debate whether that's a hardware issue or driver issue. Mine has not gone bonkers yet.
I gotta say I really like this tablet overall... especially with the dock for the price. My nexus 10 arrived today, I'm only keeping one of them.... I'll be honest and say its gonna be really hard to give up the w510 because of the overall package.
Those interested in gaming - the atom is not graphics friendly but it will play the windows store games. Performance wise, the atom should deliver similar non gaming/graphics functionality to that of the n10's xyneos (spelling) - I believe anandtech did a comparison on this.

Ouya Benchmarks

I just found a benchmark (antutu) of the dev console while I was browsing the web and the CPU looks pretty decent, but sadly the gpu was left untested. (Link to this person's Imgur: http://imgur.com/a/4welz )
It scores about the same as the infinity though, so nothing really impressive.
Infinity scores: http://www.antutu.com/view.shtml?id=126
It's somewhat disappointing that they couldn't up the clock speed a bit more considering it has fan and no power restraints, but perhaps the tegra 3 doesn't perform well at those speeds.

=]
Good find looks like we are going to have quite the decent system on our hands

Hope they do a revision with tegra 5 or with sgx next time around.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

Yeah, I just don't see the incentive to buy if it doesn't perform better than a smartphone. I feel like that majority of their market will already have a phone or tablet that performs similar to or better than this. Hopefully the gpu is overclocked because if it isn't than I see almost no reason for having a fan and heat sink Lol, perhaps it will come in handy with overclocking later.

tcb4 said:
Yeah, I just don't see the incentive to buy if it doesn't perform better than a smartphone. I feel like that majority of their market will already have a phone or tablet that performs similar to or better than this. Hopefully the gpu is overclocked because if it isn't than I see almost no reason for having a fan and heat sink Lol, perhaps it will come in handy with overclocking later.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you already have a fast smartphone or tablet you'd be better off getting a controller like the Moga Pro, sixaxis, or similar instead and taht HDMI cable. This thing is very cheap so it may be worth it for those that want a portable emulator.

I have noticed that watching games like Need for Speed Most Wanted and Deadtrigger the games are not as smooth as on my Excite 7.7, TF300 or even the GS3 (Dual Snap version). I thought it was a Youtube frame rate issue, but notice the lack of smoothness with all 3D game videos I have seen when compared to my other devices. Is this an output issue to larger displays? Seems it would not be, but must be some reason. I output the Excite via HDMI and as smooth as on the device display.
Ironic Need for Speed is a game being shown, since that one game takes up one third of the storage space (It is 2GB counting user data).

Is the Shield Tablet still worth buying?

I've been considering new tablets, and honestly the Shield Tablet has the features I want and I'm able to get one for $250, which seems reasonable. But I'm just wondering if it's still worth it as the it is a year old. How does it compare to newer devices?

If you're primarily going to be using it for gaming, there isn't a better tablet out there. The tablet is a steal for $250. The latest official update really makes the tablet shine and the custom rom called "Blisspop" even makes the device that much better in terms of performance. You won't regret getting one.

Well at the moment there are not many tablets that are faster (maybe even no faster) than this tablet.
Antutu scores are one of the highest even compared with the latest phones.
So speedwise it is still top notch and tablets that maybe come close you have to pay double the price for compared to a shield.
The 32Gb with Lte is unbeaten for that price.

I bought the 32GB LTE version in July, because an LTE tablet anywhere close to the Shield in terms of specs/screen etc. would have been ~$150 more.
Despite the battery recall issue, I'm satisfied with it. My (original) unit has been working perfectly and is very smooth with Lillipop 5.1 (the 3.1 OTA).
I should be receiving my replacement tomorrow, according to UPS. Presuming it doesn't have a defect, I'm looking forward to settling in. I never bothered to settle in on the old tablet (automatic actions, power saving stuff, that kind of thing) since I found out about the recall shortly after buying it, and didn't bother to fine tune it.
I recommend the tablet as an LTE device in the US, though if I didn't need the LTE connectivity probably there might be better values in wifi only (I'm not a gamer, so other tablets could meet my needs... but there are relatively few 8" LTE tablets without permanently locked bootloaders here).
Marc

The problem of the tablet is really the processor that is getting old pretty quick (don't know exactly it's true performance), but nowadays everything coming out is already being 8 cores at 2 ghz or more.
Keep Cool

But they are often not faster. Gpu of the shield is very fast maybe the fastest around at the moment. The SOC is still one of the fastest around and it is just on the market for 1 year so not that old.
Sent from my HTC One M9

Where can you even buy one of these? In Canada every single place is sold out and saying they won't stock them again. The used market can't find for under $500 either.

M3drvr said:
Where can you even buy one of these? In Canada every single place is sold out and saying they won't stock them again. The used market can't find for under $500 either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Checkout swappa.com

nbollinger said:
Checkout swappa.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is nothing there for it.

M3drvr said:
There is nothing there for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://swappa.com/buy/nvidia-shield-tablet-wifi
its the non-lte, 16 gb version

nbollinger said:
https://swappa.com/buy/nvidia-shield-tablet-wifi
its the non-lte, 16 gb version
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And there are no listings.... Useless.

M3drvr said:
And there are no listings.... Useless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its something on your end then

nbollinger said:
Its something on your end then
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. It's just that there are none...

There seem to be two of them for sale at that link when I go to it. One for $290, one for $320, both advertised as new (resale). Probably you're just filtering by Canadian sellers, based on your picture. Lots of folks in US won't ship outside the US, so no big deal that they aren't showing up for you.
Best of luck finding one!

Frankenscript said:
There seem to be two of them for sale at that link when I go to it. One for $290, one for $320, both advertised as new (resale). Probably you're just filtering by Canadian sellers, based on your picture. Lots of folks in US won't ship outside the US, so no big deal that they aren't showing up for you.
Best of luck finding one!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah my question was basically how to get one to Canada that's under $500. Impossible! Cheapest I've found is on eBay shipped for $530 for 16gb model no accessories.

Snah001 said:
But they are often not faster. Gpu of the shield is very fast maybe the fastest around at the moment. The SOC is still one of the fastest around and it is just on the market for 1 year so not that old.
Sent from my HTC One M9
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The thing is that there aren't much AAA games to play in the shield, it's a good device more for the extra nvidia stuff.
I'm waiting for Borderlands 2 for a damn long time, but it never comes, and I don't even know if it runs on the device with good performance or if it's just for the Shield TV.
More impressive are some cheap windows tablets that for around 350€ can even run Battlefield 3 on low to mid.
Now with DX12 and tons of compatibility tablets might go more for windows again.
In fact I'm not liking much android, not a single game like the good old C&C Red alert 2, boot takes almost 2 times longer than my wind 10 PC, some websites stop working, multitasking is a joke since we can't even play a youtube music while doing anything else...
ps: Also in most performance tests we see other tablets ahead of Shield, so I don't think anything is actually that much optimized for it, not even most tegra games.
Keep Cool

My Shield Tablet LTE topped my Nexus 9's scores on Antutu plus the Shield gaming is great to have. Let's not forget about the SD slot and the mini HDMI port on top either. This tablet still destroys everything else (even most phones) a year later. I really mine because it has a stylus and no dumb Samsung home button like their Tablet S/S2 does. Its hard to find a good tablet these days yet the Shield holds its ground and doesn't seem to lose any performance over time. I like playing Half Life 2 on it or DOOM 3 especially when I travel. Its nice to have a tablet which can play nice games too even though that's not its primary purpose for me.
---------- Post added at 23:39 ---------- Previous post was at 23:32 ----------
guily6669 said:
The thing is that there aren't much AAA games to play in the shield, it's a good device more for the extra nvidia stuff.
I'm waiting for Borderlands 2 for a damn long time, but it never comes, and I don't even know if it runs on the device with good performance or if it's just for the Shield TV.
More impressive are some cheap windows tablets that for around 350â?¬ can even run Battlefield 3 on low to mid.
Now with DX12 and tons of compatibility tablets might go more for windows again.
In fact I'm not liking much android, not a single game like the good old C&C Red alert 2, boot takes almost 2 times longer than my wind 10 PC, some websites stop working, multitasking is a joke since we can't even play a youtube music while doing anything else...
ps: Also in most performance tests we see other tablets ahead of Shield, so I don't think anything is actually that much optimized for it, not even most tegra games.
Keep Cool
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those cheap windows tablets also use Intel chips in most cases plus Windows an as OS handles things differently than Android does. I agree that there aren't many great games but the ones they do have are fun in my opinion. I have the Shield TV as well and I play all kinds of games including emulators without any issues. My i7 Samsung Ultra book probably can't handle some of the games the Shield can then again I haven't tried. I'm not a big PC gamer but I do know the GPU isn't that great in most Windows tablets/ultrabooks. Android M fixes a lot of the productivity issues and adds multi window and I'm sure Nvidia is working on it now anyway. They tend to lush updates out promptly in most cases unless there's a big issue.
I haven't seen another tablet have better gaming performance than he Shield or Nexus 9 since hwy share a GPU yet use different CPU's. My Nexus 6's SD805 doesn't come close to he 3D score that the tablet does but on Marshmallow it does get a nice ~1500 pt boost likely from the optimization in it. I can imagine the same will occur in the Shield Tablet but we won't know until Nvidia releases it.
I'm not saying the Shield is the best fit everyone but it is a great tablet if you are in the market for a LTE enabled 8in tablet thats fast, runs near stock Android and has nice games for it.

Most of those BEST Nvidia Shield games coming soon are old and I finished them already. (RES5, Half Life, Borderlands, Doom...).
The thing is, you get a good device, but you will probably end playing most games that your phone already can play maxed out.
Other thing is Nvidia blahblahblah says it's more powerful than a X360 GPU, but then most games have a little lag and nothing, but really nothing made to the android yet comes close to most X360\PS3 gameplay\physics (they just look good, but plays like crap).
Then it's my 4th Nvidia shield all are defective and the last one needs to go to RMA again.
I never had an android device, so I wanted to try it, with my experience is just a god damn bugged SO worst than windows.
Also I got sad with the strategy games and how nothing on the android thousand of games even come close to Command and Conquer Red Alert II from like 2000
My opinion:
GOOD:
- hardware Performance;
- Sound;
- has it's own wireless gamepad;
- Nvidia software + remote pc play (button mapping already in the tablet, no need to root 4 that);
- More games than other android devices;
BAD:
- Android is not really optimized;
- Not much AAA games:
- Nothing like C&C, age of empires, Skyrim........ (most games are very cheap copies of good games, but look like a 2003 game);
- In the real world, performance is not as big as nvidia make you think (best phones now probably have better performance, like Samsung S6 which is a lot more little and doesn't come close to having more than a hundred cores like this nvidia);
- Screen quality is not that awesome, it is a High resolution LCD, but nothing special besides that. It doesn't get any close to samsung phone's\tablet amoled screens;
- Battery doesn't last much either;
I actually think that something like that made for DX12 and wind 10 would probably get almost twice the performance than on the actual android OS. At least I saw some people playing BF3 on dell cheap 1 year old tablets that cost basically the same as this nvidia shield. Nowadays with DX12 and Wind 10 soon may be a new era for tablets (it seems windows based hardware have more performance per price than android devices). At least I never seen any 300€ android tablet playing anything close to a BF3 which is years ahead in gameplay + physics than any android game I ever seen\played until now.
ps: If it was today I would buy a ~350€ DELL wind tablet that can even play BF3 (guess what? No need to Root for anything as you own everything already and can update\mod everything).
Keep Cool