Related
Hello-
I was hoping any and all users can giver their 2 cents here. What are the real world limitations of this device? I have done a fair amount of research and this phone seems to fit the bill, but wanted some feedback on it. I know I want an Android based smartphone, and I must stick with AT&T as it's what my company has and it's the ONLY provider in my rural part of Texas.
While the phone has been labeled "mid-spec" it still seems pretty impressive. I also know being tied to AT&T means I'm REALLY limited, and I do not want an iPhone. My wife has one, I've tried it... It completly DIED after 3 months. I know in other posts people have said iPhone still best bang for the buck for AT&T smartphone, but a smartphone that does not work as a phone, doesn't show the net as it really appears, and has updates that seemingly copy Android does not seem too "smart" to me. Yes, iTunes looks pretty, and I could play "Words w/ Friends," but seems like a lot of fluff.
I have found due to hardware Aria cannot run Google Earth, is there anything else it cannot do? I know there is debate about Gingerbread being compatible, but that seems a ways down the road. I'm really torn, as I like the size of this thing: it still looks like a phone and not a flat panel TV, but the car guy side of me thinks "no replacement for displacement" when it comes to a processor.
That would mean getting a Nexus One, but I worry about the trackball popping out like my sister-in-laws Blackberry, and the cost is hard to swallow. The Desire looks AWESOME but if I have read correctly it will not work on 3G for data, only voice, and it is expensive. Then there is the Samsung Captivate which is coming, but it seems HUGE, or does the camera add 10 lbs???. I'd like to limit the physical size to an iphone-esque size at most so it is pocketable. I also have read Samsung can be difficult to work with from a consumer standpoint with respect to updates, etc.
I also like the Sense UI as it seems elegantly simple and worked well while I messed with the phone in the store.
Overall, I want the most bang for the buck phone. A true "dream machine" would be an Aria sized phone, with the Desire specs, that does it all on 3G. What really would be the closest thing to such a device? I'm open to any ideas and suggestions, but again I CANNOT change providers; seriously, AT&T is the ONLY provider with coverage in my area.
Thanks in advance for any and all answers and help!!!
The phone does have some limitations (you have done your homework). If you want a great phone on att, this is a good choice. The galaxy s (coming soon to ATT) may be better if you must have a high end device.
I would say that if you are stuck with AT&T, the Aria may be your phone. I have a had HTC, Samsung, Motorola, and Apple phones and HTC has been the most solid of all of them. I just came from an iPhone and I can honestly say it has better reception, call quality, and adaptability than my 3GS. Phones seem to be almost a matter of taste, some people will deal with the most ridiculous shortcomings if it has a feature they feel is the most important. That being said, I played with a lot of phones and found the Aria to be the best package for a smartphone on AT&T at this moment. That could change as soon as another high end phone hops on but for now, I'm very pleased. I will say this, the battery life takes some getting used to, but its right in the same area and any other smartphone. Also, the speaker phone is quiet but since I never use it, it doesn't even make my list for pros vs cons. Being that it is locked down to certain apps and such is annoying, but coming from an iPhone makes it seem like a walk in the park to get other apps and such on it. I would say read a little more of these forums to see what some complaints are and see if any of them make your list of important features. But otherwise, you have on recommendation here.
Some of the gripes I have with this phone include:
* The screen isn't quite adequate in size for reading ebooks, which I didn't expect I would do at the time of purchase.
* The speaker is pretty crappy. It's not very loud and it sounds irritating at volume - very tinny.
* It doesn't appear to support very many video file formats. In fact, the only format I've gotten to work with Act1 video player are the base h264 and h263 formats. To my understanding, it is up to the manufacturer to include any extra codecs, so you're SOL if you're planning on using this as a mobile media player.
* It doesn't come with live wallpapers or an option to sideload apps. You can enable both of these by rooting the phone (which is a pain in the ass, by the way), but I've found that the processor isn't up to the task of running some of the more complex live wallpapers (like the mario wallpaper). I'm hoping this will be less of a problem with Froyo and the JIT.
* It gets a little warm when you have the gps on in navigation, but not enough to scald your junk if you're keeping it on your lap. It's actually not that big of a deal, just makes me worry about damaging the battery.
* Typing is a bit hard in portrait mode. Some applications seem to crash in landscape mode, like 'better terminal emulator', but I suspect that's more of a problem with the program and not the Aria.
* The camera is a bit mediocre and doesn't include a flash, but to be fair, it's primarily a phone and not a camera (I have yet to see a phone's camera be on par with a midrange point & shoot).
* Sense UI can't be disabled/enabled as an option, like on the Evo 4g.
I was going to test Google Earth for you, but I can't seem to find it in the Market.
Anyway, in summary, it has a few shortcomings, it's a midrange phone after all, but I love it regardless. It's slips into my pocket comfortably and feels solid in the hand. The interface is nice and smooth (unless you have some crazy live wallpaper enabled). It doesn't bog down when you fill the screens with widgets, and the browser experience thus far has been great. All in all, it was definitely worth the $50 I paid for it from Amazon.com.
P.S. I was considering holding out for something higher spec'd to come along on AT&T, but who knows when that will happen? The Dell Aero was supposed to be out months ago. Likewise, we are actually supposed to have 3 HTC phones running Android to choose from right now, and yet we only have the Aria. The Samsung Captivate is supposed to be 'coming in the next few months,' but I've grown to distrust AT&T's timelines. A major part of why I got the Aria was because I was simply tired of waiting for ATT to get their act together.
I went to an AT&T Retail Store here in Corpus Christi, TX to look at it again and see what they could do for me deal wise because I'm mid-cycle in my contract. The Mgr. told me he is suppose to get the "sample" Captivate on Friday, and it's suppose to be on sale the 15th. I guess to go head-to-head with the X??? I'll wait til Friday to see if it true. He claims there is a lot to coming down the pike with Android OS as it's the "next big thing..." (Well, for AT&T I guess....) I've waitd this long, another couple of days won't kill me to see it, and help reduce buyer's remorse...
lonestarmotorcyclist said:
I went to an AT&T Retail Store here in Corpus Christi, TX to look at it again and see what they could do for me deal wise because I'm mid-cycle in my contract. The Mgr. told me he is suppose to get the "sample" Captivate on Friday, and it's suppose to be on sale the 15th. I guess to go head-to-head with the X??? I'll wait til Friday to see if it true. He claims there is a lot to coming down the pike with Android OS as it's the "next big thing..." (Well, for AT&T I guess....) I've waitd this long, another couple of days won't kill me to see it, and help reduce buyer's remorse...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good luck fighting the urge!
modest_mandroid said:
* It doesn't appear to support very many video file formats. In fact, the only format I've gotten to work with Act1 video player are the base h264 and h263 formats. To my understanding, it is up to the manufacturer to include any extra codecs, so you're SOL if you're planning on using this as a mobile media player.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not exactly. Do a search on 'Rock Player'. It's a media player that's still in Beta, and it expands upon the selection of video codecs that are handled by the standard media libraries.
It plays DivX-encoded videos like a CHAMP.
EDIT: Actually, here's the forum for it: http://www.diffthink.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4
Regards,
Corporate Dog
* It doesn't appear to support very many video file formats. In fact, the only format I've gotten to work with Act1 video player are the base h264 and h263 formats. To my understanding, it is up to the manufacturer to include any extra codecs, so you're SOL if you're planning on using this as a mobile media player.
I was planning on using it as a media player... So, in simple English for my simple mind, what does this mean: that it can only use those two formats? Does it mean it's limited to what can be seen via the internet or does it mean I'm limited to the type of video formats I could directly load from my computer, or both???? Is there a way around these limitations because I want to be able to have infotainment in one device and do not want to drag around multiple devices. (Sorry if this seems like a dumb question but I am FAR from well versed in this field.)
Also, thanks again for the replies and info.. It is GREATLY appreciated!!!
Corporate Dog said:
Not exactly. Do a search on 'Rock Player'. It's a media player that's still in Beta, and it expands upon the selection of video codecs that are handled by the standard media libraries.
It plays DivX-encoded videos like a CHAMP.
EDIT: Actually, here's the forum for it: http://www.diffthink.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4
Regards,
Corporate Dog
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I'll check it out when I get home, don't have any divx files to play here.
lonestarmotorcyclist said:
I was planning on using it as a media player... So, in simple English for my simple mind, what does this mean: that it can only use those two formats? Does it mean it's limited to what can be seen via the internet or does it mean I'm limited to the type of video formats I could directly load from my computer, or both???? Is there a way around these limitations because I want to be able to have infotainment in one device and do not want to drag around multiple devices. (Sorry if this seems like a dumb question but I am FAR from well versed in this field.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To my understanding, there isn't any "CorePlayer" equivalent. I dunno if you're coming from a Windows Mobile world or not, but CorePlayer could run pretty much anything your desktop computer could.
What I meant by my comment was that the Aria appears to be limited to the .mp4 format for videos (I have not tested .flv). So, if you wanted to toss some movies onto the sd card and use the stock media player or Act1 video player (appears to be pretty popular in the market), then you're stuck re-encoding all your videos to h264 .mp4. The iPhone is limited in this way too, or so I hear.
But, from what I've seen with RockPlayer just now, it's seems to be very bare on options but looks like it can play a very wide range of formats. I just played some mp4 videos I had on my sd card and they run flawlessly. Hopefully this program is in active development and will turn into Android's CorePlayer.
Thanks for the info and links; you both cleared up the questions I had. I just want to cover every aspect so when my iFamily tells me I made a poor choice I can show them it does EVERYTHING I want it to and more, not what the manufacturer thinks I need it to do or should do...
I just am not seeing where you can go wrong with this thing compared to other devices.....
lonestarmotorcyclist said:
I just am not seeing where you can go wrong with this thing compared to other devices.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the small size can either be a huge plus or killing minus depending on your habits/needs
for me it s a definate plus
lonestarmotorcyclist said:
Thanks for the info and links; you both cleared up the questions I had. I just want to cover every aspect so when my iFamily tells me I made a poor choice I can show them it does EVERYTHING I want it to and more, not what the manufacturer thinks I need it to do or should do...
I just am not seeing where you can go wrong with this thing compared to other devices.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are buying the phone for yourself or are you replacing iphones for your family?
Corporate Dog said:
Not exactly. Do a search on 'Rock Player'. It's a media player that's still in Beta, and it expands upon the selection of video codecs that are handled by the standard media libraries.
It plays DivX-encoded videos like a CHAMP.
EDIT: Actually, here's the forum for it: http://www.diffthink.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4
Regards,
Corporate Dog
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been using rock player on my Aria for a while, and I am hoping this is just cause it is still beta, but SD AVI files run like molasses. If there is more than one thing going on on screen the video lags and gets out of sync with the audio. You have to pause the video, wait for it to catch up and play it again.
This is my only gripe about this phone, but it may be the program, not the phone.
Whatever phone I get will be just for me. My in-laws got their 3Gs' about a yr ago and like most, thought they were the greatest thing sinced bread. So then my wife "needed" one. I've played with it and it is nice to be able to access the web, and have music right there, but.... there seemed something lacking. I like the concept, but I also like to tinker with stuff. I'll admit, I LOVED the Droid ad campaign of "Droid Does" and since my phone has died, I started looking to get something new. It just seems better in everyway I can think of, but I want to know all I can to properly inform those who will tell me I'm wrong when I get my new phone. (And there will be a lot, I know...)
I just don't see how they really can be compared. Everyone I know who has an iPhone loves them, but they use them for the web, Facebook, Words W/ Friends, and as an iPod. I think it's great there are 200K apps, but I don't know anyone that uses more than 1% of them and every "cutting edge feature" seems to be copied from Android. I guess there is also the fact that there are a truckload of docks and cases to "personalize" them, but I think I rather personalize the stuff that matters.
In reality, I want to blow their socks off with what it can do and know it inside and out as soon as I get it. (You know, the ones that were excited about folders and backgrounds on iPhones. Does that make me a bad person??? Or just honest???)
My wife has an Aria, I have a Nexus One. I'm REALLY surprised when I use her phone, it's actually smoother than my Nexus. Long lists scroll like butter, the launcher scrolls extremly smooth, apps list, etc... I've never seen the phone slow down, it's all very smooth.
She doesn't watch videos on it, but she will eventually load her iTunes music onto it, but hasn't yet. She loves the smaller size, but you're right that it is a tad touchier to type on.
She raves about how fast the browser is.. And how everything just opens, bam... And her GCal euphoria moment was pretty awesome too; suddenly she can see my entire calendar, add to my calendar, see when I'm in a meeting until 5...
She's really been looking for something to complain about moving from her iPhone and so far I don't think she's found anything.
Just an update on the video playback capabilities in RockPlayer - I tested it with a 320x240 mpeg, 700x500 divx, 640x480 .mp4 and a 720p mkv video. The mpeg and mp4 ran perfectly fine, the divx ran pretty slow (maybe 10fps) and the sound was constantly desychronizing, and the mkv was unwatchable. It didn't scale down to the Aria screen size, and it ran so slow that you could see the individual frames (like 2-4fps).
Considering the speed difference between the .mp4 and the divx, I'm assuming this is a lack of hardware acceleration issue with some codecs?
After having a bit of time to play with my Xoom, I'd thought I'd tell everyone how I felt about the Xoom and whether you should be think of upgrading from your Galaxy Tab.
Build quality
The Xoom is very will built, all the components are solidly put together - there are no rattles or any bendy bits. That said the extra weight of the tablet is definitely noticeable compared to the Tab, and certainly makes reading while holding the tablet in one hand less comfortable - plus you don't really need the larger screen for this use.
The screen does not go quite as bright as the Tab, and is not so readable in sunlight. Also it attracts fingerprints like moths to a light, after an hour of using it it looked worse than an iPad does after a whole day, though you can't really see the fingerprints while the screen is on.
Software
This is the main part I was excited about - there has been quite a bit of hype surrounding Honeycomb. Sadly, IMHO, quite a bit of it is just hype -- the main changes are in the home screen and the task/notifications bar. Both of these work really well, the 3D carousel effect when turning pages of the Home screen is really smooth, and the new notification system works really well giving you a system which works quite like a desktop. Sadly you can't pinch the screen to show all of your desktops at once.
The rest of it though, it is pretty buggy. The settings app and gmail apps have force-closed on me a number of times - these are pretty important parts of the OS and so it's seriously disappointing to see them not quite finished. The Facebook app seems to work for a few mins then crashes and won't work until I restart the device.
The browser is very nice, with proper tabs (and incognito tabs!), but if you dare to switch on Flash 10.2 all the time then the whole thing is no faster than the Tabs browser with Flash enabled -- in fact it's quite possibly worse than my Tab with an OC kernel and the latest leaked ROM.
But main problem is - where is the software? Google made much issue about Android 2.x not being fit for tablets but the truth is all they've mostly done is what Samsung did - the email app now has one pane with a list of your emails in and another showing the content of your email. It's the same with the other apps, nowhere is there an incredibly large difference in functionality between the modified Samsung apps and the new Honeycomb ones.
Sure you get a film editor app, but that was pretty much put in to grab a bit of press after Apple put iMovie on the iPad - I'm sure most people, me included, would prefer a decent photo editing/retouching app more than a pretty basic video editing one.
No free, Xoom optimized apps with the device or a store for them like you get with Samsung.
And then we get to media playback, or rather, the almost complete lack of it. So you've just bought a nice new tablet that will play "HD". Like to play your MKV on it? Nope. AVI? Nope. Xvid? Nope. DivX? Nope. WMV? Nope. MP4 and MP4 only (to the point where you have to rename M4V files to MP4 to make them work even though they are the same thing but with a different extension). Yes I know I can use RockPlayer etc but this simply isn't as good as native support. If Archos could afford it the Moto sure can.
That might not be so bad if there was a store like the Samsung Movies Store or iTunes where I could buy or rent a movie in a compatible format. Except this being a "Google Experience" device there are no apps apart from the few that Google put on there (and aside from film studio that's just upgraded standard Android apps). So you have a tablet that doesn't support that vast majority of media formats used by the largest desktop OS; I feel justified in saying that is a slight fail -- is Youtube supposed to be my entire source of entertainment? It's not like you can call the quality of most Flash videos on the web HD.
The one upside is the tegra 2, and all the nice games it will let you play. Except there are only a couple at the moment, and if the Tegra Zone app is to be believed, most of them won't be out for another couple of months. That said the few that are available are very nice, and run perfectly smooth.
Overall
Overall I'd give the Xoom 7/10. It's good, and the first Honeycomb tablet, but I think it will probably not be in the top 5 come the end of the year.
I can understand some people might buy it over others on the promise of slightly quicker updates, but I'm seriously considering taking mine back and waiting for the Tab 8.9, I have a few more days to play around with it before I decide. Sure it will have customized interface so it might not get updates as quickly, but actually it will do much more out of the box than the Xoom does, and it will still probably do more than the Xoom will even after the Xoom has received an update.
I used to be someone who bought plain Android devices on the basis that they quicker updates (have an NS, had an N1, etc), but a lot of the time it makes little difference. Google doesn't actually release updates often enough anymore for that to be much of an issue, and in some cases these days manufacturers have actually made things better than Google did (e.g. the standard browser in the Galaxy S on 2.2 is far better than the stock browser on a Nexus S on 2.3).
Sadly in this case the bad experience reflects badly on Motorola even though it isn't really their fault - they've had nothing to do at all with the software. At the same time that is their fault - it's their tablet and if I was head of a Motorola I'd want to make sure the software I was putting my name on did everything I wanted and worked properly - Android manufacturers should stop getting so desperate to compete with Apple and actually focus on the quality of their own products.
So my advice would be wait. And possibly in this case don't let the factor of whether it's a pure Google device affect your decision so much -- Honeycomb is still an infant and it really needs some features added on for a full tablet experience.
* I was completely aware the Xoom would come with no added extras like the Tab did when I bought it. I just thought Google would have put more work into making Honeycomb for great for tablets.
That's a pretty accurate description. I went through 2 XOOM's which I bought once they released the WIFI only model, and my experience was the same if not worse. Lots of potential, but they really missed the mark with that one. The second XOOM had a hardware failure and refused to charge, and since I was pretty let down overall, and that needle thin power adaptor is just waiting to snap off, I got rid of it entirely. I bought my first Galaxy Tab WIFI model Monday from Tigerdirect, got it Wed and have used it since and I absolutely love it.
That's an interesting review.
It surprised me that honeycomb still isnt working perfectly. I thought that they would update it regularly.
The Xoom seemed to me, to be a liitle bit too fast released device.
I also agree that it probably wont be the best in the flow of the year - off course.
I think HTC looks quite promising, if they release a bigger version of their Flyer.
Let's see if the Companies learn from the others - if a company releases later, it always has a lower risk of failing, because it can learn out of the mistakes of the others...
And then we get to media playback, or rather, the almost complete lack of it. So you've just bought a nice new tablet that will play "HD". Like to play your MKV on it? Nope. AVI? Nope. Xvid? Nope. DivX? Nope. WMV? Nope. MP4 and MP4 only (to the point where you have to rename M4V files to MP4 to make them work even though they are the same thing but with a different extension). Yes I know I can use RockPlayer etc but this simply isn't as good as native support. If Archos could afford it the Moto sure can.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This, x1,000. I own an original iPad, and picked up a T-Mo Galaxy Tab for $100 on Craigslist. Once the wifi Xoom came out, I went to Staples to pick one up.
Disappointment doesn't begin to capture it. Such a lovely screen...why, why, why wouldn't you include a Movies app with the tablet? Videos that played flawlessly on the Tab would stutter and whimper on the Xoom. That's just inexcusable.
I also co-sign everything you said about Facebook; I had the same experience with Seesmic.
I bought it on Friday evening. I returned it on Sunday afternoon. I can handle rough edges with software, but this goes beyond that. And selling it for $600? Yeah...not so much.
That said, I'm keeping an eye on the Asus Transformer; $399 is a sweet price point.
rnoboa said:
That said, I'm keeping an eye on the Asus Transformer; $399 is a sweet price point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're interested, here's my short review of the Transformer, originally posted in the Transformer XDA forum. I do compare it to my Galaxy Tab, so I don't think it's unreasonable to post here!
Regards,
Dave
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I've had my Transformer for 4 full days now, and I've a few comments to make for prospective purchasers.
First of all, a little background - I've had Android phones since the original G1 was released in the US (I was there when it was released), and since then have owned the HTC Hero, the HTC Desire, and now the Desire HD (and a Pulse Mini as a backup device).
I also have a Samsung Galaxy Tab 7", which I've been using since October last year and I still think is a fantastic device, so most of my observations on the Transformer (henceforth called the TF) will be in comparison to Galaxy Tab (henceforth called the GT). As an aside, I also have a Toshiba AC100 Android netbook, so I think I have some feel for how the TF will be once the keyboard dock arrives.
Build quality
The TF feels like a really high quality device. I know some people have reported issues with back light bleed etc, but I've had no such issues. The aluminium case is really nice to the touch, as is the back of the device which is a plastic made to look a bit like carbon fibre.
Design - the design is generally really nice, though if I had one criticism it is the size of the bezel is rather large. Additionally, it does feel a little odd holding the device in portrait mode as it comes over as very tall and thin, especially when compared to the GT.
The IPS display is lovely and crisp, though it does seem a little less bright than the display on the GT.
OS and software
This is both simultaneously the best and worst feature that the TF has over the GT. In general browsing use, the TF is much more like a laptop/desktop experience than the GT, and you can see Honeycomb has great potential. However, it does feel very much like an unfinished product.
When the GT first came out, the stock browser was notoriously laggy (fixed in later iterations), and the TF suffers from the same issue - in fact it is worse because whilst the GTs browser was basically just laggy, the TFs browser is laggy and buggy.
Specifically, clicking on links in other applications often causes the browser to pop up, but it doesn't load the new page - this can be fixed by "killing" the browser and restarting it, but it shouldn't be this way. Whilst I much prefer the native browser when it works correctly, I'm now using Opera Mobile for day to day use.
Honeycomb Gmail on the TF is a revelation - it is a far superior client than the client on the GT.
Other minor Honeycomb/TF complaints are:
1. There doesn't seem to be a way to clear all notifications easily.
2. Just getting to the Settings menu is overcomplicated.
3. The keyboards do seem overly large in my opinion, and there don't seem to be enough long press options to get to alternate characters, though I'm aware these are easily replaceable.
4. Overall the TF performance is good, but I don't feel that Honeycomb is taking advantage of the dual core Tegra 2, and thus in general use it doesn't really feel any faster than my single core GT.
Media Playback
This is an easy one - the GT is a better media player than the TF, simply because it natively supports more formats (e.g. DivX).
I'm not unused to transcoding video to H264, as I had to do this often on my earlier Android devices, but with the advent of Cortex A8 class devices with Neon, I found software players like RockPlayer more than acceptable. This does not seem to be the case for the TF, since Tegra 2 doesn't support Neon instructions. However, the AC100 is a Tegra 2 device, and the built-in media player is much better than the stock TF one too, so really I think that Asus should have done more here.
With the TF, I'm back to having to transcode media, and to be honest for the most part that means I'll just my GT instead.
Overall Usage
Here's where it gets interesting!
The TF provides a very different experience to the GT and for the most part it is very enjoyable- when I bought the device, I knew it be mostly be a "coffee table" device, and that the size, weight, and built-in 3G of the GT was going to a distinct advantage over the TF when it comes to travelling.
What I didn't expect is that the GT still holds some advantages at home too.
Put simply, the TF is still too big and heavy sometimes - when I get up in the morning, I usually take my GT off charge and slip it into the pocket of my dressing gown, and this means it goes with me when I go to make a coffee, visit the "office" in the bathroom etc.
Also, late at night, if I want to watch something whilst lying in bed, the GT is simply much more comfortable to hold for any period of time, and coupled with better media support is always going to be the preferred option.
The Future
I don't think it is really fair to judge the TF until the keyboard dock becomes available, because I honestly think this will significant change the nature of the device.
When I first got my AC100, it was running Eclair and to be honest it was pretty rubbish, but it got so much better when Froyo landed.
I can see the TF similarly getting a completely new lease of life once the dock arrives.
Also, Honeycomb does feel like a work in progress, and I'm hoping for regularly updates to this device, which again should improve the experience, along with more Honeycomb specific apps on the market.
Conclusion
I think the TF is a fantastic product and the price is extremely good for what it is. I certainly wouldn't want to put anyone off buying one if they have a genuine interest this form factor. In the UK at least, I think the Xoom has priced itself out of the market massively, which currently leaves the TF as the 10.1" tablet of choice.
The biggest issue for me is that 10.1" tablets are generally too big and heavy, and whilst newer tablets may be lighter, they will still be similarly sized unless they can dramatically reduce the size of the bezel.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9" may well be a better compromise, and I will be looking closely at this once it arrives. However, it won't fit in a jacket pocket, so would still likely just be a coffee table tablet for me.
Ultimately, I think my ideal tablet device would be a 7" form factor device like the GT, similar internal hardware to the TF (dual core, IPS, memory etc), and built-in 3G. Until something like this ships, I think my GT will still be my primary media consumption/browsing device.
Steve Jobs may think that there is no market in 7" tablets, but in my case he's wrong!
Thank you soooo much for the Tab vs Xoom reiew. I was looking at the Xoom a couple weeks ago, but when I saw Sprint marked the Tab down to $199, I bought it instead. Although the Xoom is a gorgeous device, I am becoming quite sold on the 7" size. After using my Tab for a week, I love it! Now if the Xoom was only, say $100 more than the Tab, I may change my mind, but as it is now, it's way too expensive for what it offers out of the box. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me to see the Xoom have a price drop soon.
How bad is Honeycomb? The reviews of the G-Slate, Xoom, and even Eeepad Transformer suggest that Honeycomb itself is... not ready and quite laggy. How does it compare to plain old Froyo on a 7'' Tab?
so if understand correctly, android market does not install the tablet version of gmail or any other app on the galaxy tab?
You will have special section of apps created for the Honeycomb and for 2.2 or 2.3.
Apps that are not suppose to work will not be shown on the Market.
Some apps created for phones freeze or fail to work but overall you can find apps that suit your needs. I would agree that at this point software has rough edges but this is always an issue for the early adopters. The 1st iphone had no software choices at all and it took more than half a year to get something else.
Screen size and resolutiin make Xoom almost a laptop.
I like Xoom but prefer Galaxy Tab because of size and weight.
Ok,
I am in the market for a tablet, and hate apple with a pashion. That being said, it leaves me with the options of many good android alternatives.
I am torn between this and the Motorola XOOM tablet. IMO the Acer has a piss poor build quality (though I know alot like it...).
Which is best straight out of the box? I can flash custom roms ofc, but would prefer to stick to stock software for the first 6 months anyway.
I am also considering getting it without the dock as I dont think it would be something I would use much....mabye I am wrong...lol.
Anyhow, whats the TF like running stock software?
Thanks,
Danny
Sorry, should have said, I want a tablet to showcase my amature photography, watch movies and to surf the web
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Asus appears to be better than Moto at tying software to hardware. Their support for software has also stomps all over Moto.
The stock firmware on the TF is perfect for every day usage. Paired with the keyboard dock, I have no problems using it like a regular laptop. It's a powerful piece of hardware that plays nicely with all of my existing storage devices, and even a few of my game controllers. I did end up rooting it anyway, though, just so that I could block ads and disable tap to click on the touchpad.
Photo viewing works flawlessly, provided you can store your photos on a SD card or external hard drive, which you would then plug into the TF. At this point the support for plugging in an actual camera is a bit spotty, no telling whether or not it will work until you try it. Movie support is sort of a mixed bag, as it all depends on which video playing app you use. Personally I like to rip all of my Blu ray movies so that I can watch them from my hard drive, so I use Handbrake to re-encode them all so they can be played natively in the stock Google video player. If instead you have a lot of videos in unrecognized formats like xvid, you'll need to test them with a third party video player.
earlyberd said:
The stock firmware on the TF is perfect for every day usage. Paired with the keyboard dock, I have no problems using it like a regular laptop. It's a powerful piece of hardware that plays nicely with all of my existing storage devices, and even a few of my game controllers. I did end up rooting it anyway, though, just so that I could block ads and disable tap to click on the touchpad.
Photo viewing works flawlessly, provided you can store your photos on a SD card or external hard drive, which you would then plug into the TF. At this point the support for plugging in an actual camera is a bit spotty, no telling whether or not it will work until you try it. Movie support is sort of a mixed bag, as it all depends on which video playing app you use. Personally I like to rip all of my Blu ray movies so that I can watch them from my hard drive, so I use Handbrake to re-encode them all so they can be played natively in the stock Google video player. If instead you have a lot of videos in unrecognized formats like xvid, you'll need to test them with a third party video player.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
all my xvid and divx flawlessly in rockplayer and even stream from a NAS using upnplayer
what will you use app wise to show of your amateur photography? The stock gallery? Are there better apps out there?
wilbur-force said:
all my xvid and divx flawlessly in rockplayer and even stream from a NAS using upnplayer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MKVs doesnt play audio, decodes video though.
I bought a Xoom first, then an Ipad 2 and have now settled with the Transformer. In my opinion (discounting the Ipad 2 as it's far too limited so I passed that onto the wife ) the Xoom and TF'er are pretty much the same......
the differences which set them apart as the spec are virtually identical are:
- thickness of the tablet
The TF obviously wins this and whilst it may not be the worlds biggest issue, you can definitely 'feel' the difference when you are holding it in your hands and the additional weight of the Xoom can make your arms ache after a while...basically, it's not the most comfortable tablet to hold.
- SD card support
The 3.1 update for the Xoom didn't include the SD card fix so as long as the tablet is stock it is still unsupported (Google still working on the update as far as I'm aware). I know there are fixes and work arounds available but this would depend on what your intentions are regarding modding/rooting etc. The TF'er has it working out of the box so you could drop up to a 32Gb Micro SD card in on day 1. Definitely a bonus and as the OP mentioned a vanilla tablet for the first 6 months in their current state this could be a big issue for the Xoom especially for a photographer who needs storage space.
- Price
Definitely the biggest thing for me...not because I'm on a shoe-string but because of the fact that the tablets have the same O/S, the same spec, the same features and the same software......why would anyone take the Xoom over a TF?, especially with a considerable hike in price and the TF has a much nicer screen which is a major feature of the tablet in itself.
Basically you can't go far wrong with either, but if you're gonna drop £380 or $399 on a tablet then get the one which is $100 cheaper than the current competition.
......and that leads me on to arguably the biggest feature of the TF. The dock. Whilst it may not be a requirement to a lot of people, or something that adds a lot of interest....the flexibility is there to have the TF'er as a notebook replacement - and it also means additional storage space is available via the SD card slot, USB ports which in my opinion will also offer future flexibility as device/accessories/peripherals can be added in the near future with the relevant support.
All in all, a 16GB TF at £380/$399 can have a 32Gb micro SD, and 64GB SD (or another 32GB Micro SD with adaptor) and offers twice the flexibility of the Xoom whilst offering a virtually identical base-feature set. After owning them all, it would be a no-brainer for me. I've not become a fanboy or anything daft like that and wouldn't 'slag' the Xoom off but in a direct comparison with the TF it's virtually identical, so I'd go with 'bang for buck' and flexibility. The TF gets both points by quite a large margin.
What did you find limiting about the iPad 2? Genuine question. I have a tf and ipad2 and I feel they both have limitations.
h00ligan said:
What did you find limiting about the iPad 2? Genuine question. I have a tf and ipad2 and I feel they both have limitations.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In comparison to the TF (or large majority of Android devices)
Connectivity - no USB/storage devices meaning there is no option but to get apps/data/movies transferred to the tablet etc via a wireless connection or 3rd party application.
Requirement of additional peripherals for HDMI/cameras etc whereas the TF can take a direct connection or plug in the micro sd card directly for transfer.
The dependency on iTunes for some functionality. ie I'd be reluctant to take my Ipad2 anywhere for an extended period of time without a laptop for backup and updates etc. Another example that infringes on this is if you want to copy friends data/music then it's much more difficult to do this with an Apple IOS than it is with Android due to the bluetooth and connectivity issue.
Customisation - speaks for itself.
Don't get me wrong, I agree that every device has its limitations including the TF'er. The Ipad is a lovely bit of hardware, definitely has the better app store, more polished apps and better UI overall but the issues I listed above are restrictive to me personally and if I had to make a choice (which I don't) and could only take one of them, I'd select the TF in a heartbeat because of these points.
ASUS is hands down better than the xoom under every circumstance.
HOWEVER, if you're not interested in the dock (and the functionality it offers) for the TF or having a micro-sd card on the tablet itself, then you should probably go for the galaxy tab 10.1.
It's a $100 more than the TF but it supposedly has a better screen, is lighter and some people are saying that it has better build quality than the TF also.
Just don't get any android tablet other than the TF or Galaxy tab 10.1, especially if you're trying to show off your photography.
starplaya93 said:
ASUS is hands down better than the xoom under every circumstance.
HOWEVER, if you're not interested in the dock (and the functionality it offers) for the TF or having a micro-sd card on the tablet itself, then you should probably go for the galaxy tab 10.1.
It's a $100 more than the TF but it supposedly has a better screen, is lighter and some people are saying that it has better build quality than the TF also.
Just don't get any android tablet other than the TF or Galaxy tab 10.1, especially if you're trying to show off your photography.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, the TF has a much better screen. Look at any video reviews. I remember in a comparison I saw, both the TF and Xoom had the same wallpaper. The TF showed every color, while the Xoom washed out and showed a blend of white...
Since you're going to use it to show off photography, the SD reader in the keyboard dock would come in handy. I found my TF to be very snappy and responsive. I cannot stream pictures and movies correctly, but that's because I don't know how
SwiftLegend said:
Actually, the TF has a much better screen. Look at any video reviews. I remember in a comparison I saw, both the TF and Xoom had the same wallpaper. The TF showed every color, while the Xoom washed out and showed a blend of white...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But he didn't even mention the Xoom... he did however compare the TF with the Samsung Galaxy tab 10"
And here i offer a little insight: seems that Samsung loves to have over saturated screens. That could actually be an issue, if the tab has to be used to show photographs... I know that if I set brightness at maximum on my 7" galaxy tab, skintones ends up in the douchebag tan kind of orange. On the other hand, low brightness makes for nice and vivid colours.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using Tapatalk
I'd say the TF is the all-round winner for your photography needs:
- It has a much better screen than the Xoom, so that's out.
- It's cheaper than the Samsung
- It has a working AND existent microSD card on it (should be invaluable for transferring pics if your camera also uses microSD. Also if you DID want to to root and flash a new ROM, the Samsung's out again (is this their "No Root" ploy?)
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using XDA Premium App
Thanks paradaz
AlexTheStampede said:
But he didn't even mention the Xoom... he did however compare the TF with the Samsung Galaxy tab 10"
And here i offer a little insight: seems that Samsung loves to have over saturated screens. That could actually be an issue, if the tab has to be used to show photographs... I know that if I set brightness at maximum on my 7" galaxy tab, skintones ends up in the douchebag tan kind of orange. On the other hand, low brightness makes for nice and vivid colours.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This over saturated screen on the 10.1 will drive me nuts not only viewing photographs but also watching movies. Its sound like that vivid mode u see on lcd. Some people prefer that look on their tv maybe that why led lcd sell so great. I prefer that natural look you see on plasma tv.
Wow, thanks for the replies guys!
The Galaxy tab was never going to be an option for me with the lack of being able to use removable storage.
Looks like the transformer will be my weapon of choice! Although you are now making me reconsider getting the dock as well....
My reasons for not getting the dock where;
1. It would be another item to cart around. I will be generally only using the tablet so will probably get a leather cover for it. If I where going away I would need to also bring the keyboard as well, perhaps in a separate case?
2. Low stock in the UK at present...i can drive 2 miles and pick up the tablet only package.
Although I didn't know it had an SD card reader! That coupled with the additional battery capacity is rather appealing!
To answer an earlier question, I have no specific app in mind to show off my photos... Can anyone else advise if there is better options than the stock gallery? I use lightroom on my PC, but would imagine nothing similar is available on android.
Also is it possible to convert mkv's to play on these tablets? 95% off all my digital media is in mkv format.....
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
djglenn1337 said:
Also is it possible to convert mkv's to play on these tablets? 95% off all my digital media is in mkv format.....
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mkv is only the container so many third players like moboplayer are able to open mkv files..
what's really matters is the codec used inside the container, as of now, the TF on 3.1 is able to hard-decode H264 720p High profile and 1080p base profile..
you can use handbreak to encode media files if necessary:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1060825
djglenn1337 said:
Also is it possible to convert mkv's to play on these tablets? 95% off all my digital media is in mkv format.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do know some people seems to be experiencing problems with mkv's. Unsure what codecs (video/audio) their mkv's might have, because I played about 30 different mkv's made by different people with and without soft-subs and I've not experienced any hitches or glitches to either sound or video.
All I use is moboplayer and start them - plays flawlessly.
I currently have the Asus prime and love the tablet, but it doesn't work for my needs as a multimedia device on the go. With the blue tooth and streaming video/audio issue, my main purpose of it is no longer functional. I could careless about the gps.
I was looking at the Acer 500 tablet. I know it would be a tegra2 compared to the tegera3 and there is the 510 model just released. After the mess that is happening with the prime I'm hesitant to try another brand spanking new model right out of the gates. I don't mind yesterdays technology if it's proven to work and tweaked already. Plus it should be a bit cheaper.
So my question is, how do you owners of the Acer brand of tablets like your devices? Particularly the media abilities of it. I use youtube, stream tv shows, stream cartoons, and internet radio. Being able to use my blue tooth headset is my sore spot and is what I'm looking to rectify with a different tablet.
I do some gaming but not much on the android platform has really taken me yet. If these Acer models play Order and Chaos then it would be a boon.
Thanks for any suggestions or advice.
THere are video limitations with 1080p . mosy 720 will play fine. Streaming for me works well,of course some of the roms are better then others.I will not make comments on any of them. I would say read the forums of those roms.Order and Chaos does actually run very well on my A500. as with most other android games. I can also say my Bluetooth motorola hd 9 headset works flawless.
Good Luck .
Its OK
I have an a500, video and audio streamig works fine, same goes for bluetooth, I hate how the browser auto closes when it runs out of memory specially when watching heavy loaded web sites (I mean heavy Flash content).
I am on stock 3.2.1 rom, no root.
I love the big usb port as I can connect almost anything, I have a USB hub and can connect 4 things at the same time (memory, keyboard, mouse and gamepad).
Sound is good, not top best but is ok.
No good 1080p playback as Erica already said.
No GPS issues unless you go for custom roms.
Planned to update to ICS by the end of the month.
I like my A500 but I would never go from a Prime to an A500.
I don't have any issues with my device per say. I run netflix, crunchyroll, etc. on there and I use plex as well as tversity so 1080p videos and anything out of the scope of compatibility for my tablet from my library aren't an issue for me. Like you, I use it for multimedia purposes and I am satisfied.
My unwanted 2c is you just wait for a patch that makes you LOVE your Prime. It took several software revisions before Acer got it right with Honeycomb on the A500 and Tegra3 as well as ICS is brand spanking new so I'd give it a bit more time. I stuck with the A500 because I liked it and I found the USB port useful but as I said, I would not go from a Prime to an A500 for the mere fact that the Prime is technically speaking, a newer device with better/faster hardware and a better screen....even if you THINK you don't care about Tegra3 vs. Tegra2, once Asus gets the software refined, overall it will be better than the A500. If it's a case where you have some disposable dollars and are thinking of getting the A500 in the interim, go ahead; but if you're going to swap/exchange the Prime and then buy an A500 I would heartily advise against it.
Good Luck to you, whatever you decide.
As for me, here is what I can say about the A500 :
- for the videos, I'm used to ripping my DVDs and blu-rays so I can read them on the tablet. My favorite format is MP4. Nothing special to say about DVDs, but as for the Blu-rays 720p main profile works fine (high profile does not), just as 1080p low profile (both main and high profile won't be readable with a comforable frame rate). It's also a matter of bit rate : for 720p main profile, 3500 Kbps is almost perfect, 4000 Kbps is fine 90% of the time but it can get really laggy for some minutes at times. For 1080p low profile, 5500 Kbps was fine, haven't tested anything else yet because anyway good 1080p compressed movies weighs like 8GB and with FAT32 you're supposed to be limited to 4GB. No noticeable quality differences with the tablet screen anyway, and very little on a large TV screen given the compression, so to me 720p main profile remains the best choice.
- Sound is surprisingly good but mic really (and I mean really) sucks. Barely usable.
- Screen isn't as accurate as on other tablets. It makes no differences at all for a normal use but if you intend to handwrite it is still possible but not perfect.
- Battery life is fine for me, but it lasts less than others. Like 6 to 8 hours in video, the same for a standard use (internet, reading,...).
- The screen is good, but again not as good as the Asus's screens or iPads and Galaxy tabs ones.
- The USB port is a huge feature for me, it works just fine with my NTFS external hard disk, with all my USB keys, with all my USB PC controllers (that are already set the right way !), with my keyboard, my mouse, and my USB hub so I can use my keyboard and mouse at the same time on the tablet !
- With Honeycomb, internet browsing is a little bit too slow and lacks smoothness for me with the default browser (I'm used to great smoothness and speed with my SGS 2), so I chose to use Dolphin Mini, which is fine. Hope the ICS update will fix that though.
In conclusion it's a good device but for 2011, you're likely to be disappointed coming from a Transformer Prime. Better wait for the A510 or the A700 to my mind.
Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm going to hold on to the prime for another 2 weeks or so and see how the 510 is holding up. It's always the customers that find the little quirks which are not noticed by the manufactures in their testing phases.
Thanks again!
sureeee
fsured said:
I currently have the Asus prime and love the tablet, but it doesn't work for my needs as a multimedia device on the go. With the blue tooth and streaming video/audio issue, my main purpose of it is no longer functional. I could careless about the gps.
I was looking at the Acer 500 tablet. I know it would be a tegra2 compared to the tegera3 and there is the 510 model just released. After the mess that is happening with the prime I'm hesitant to try another brand spanking new model right out of the gates. I don't mind yesterdays technology if it's proven to work and tweaked already. Plus it should be a bit cheaper.
So my question is, how do you owners of the Acer brand of tablets like your devices? Particularly the media abilities of it. I use youtube, stream tv shows, stream cartoons, and internet radio. Being able to use my blue tooth headset is my sore spot and is what I'm looking to rectify with a different tablet.
I do some gaming but not much on the android platform has really taken me yet. If these Acer models play Order and Chaos then it would be a boon.
Thanks for any suggestions or advice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i really love my tab
it supports all my needs
but on a500 you have to use external 3g modem (i dont use 3g on my tab)
if 3g is important i would rather a501
but the other things about it is really good
i use it for media too. i even dont use my pc since ive got it
and about the 1080p video playback
hardware codecs are kinda laggy but i use software decoders and its ok
Positive:
- Fast, fluid, powerful.
- Multitasking is fantastic because of the additional RAM.
- The browser is as close to desktop performance as I've seen in an Android device
.- It's a new generation of tablet for Samsung, more like a giant SGS3 than an extension of the OG 10.1 or 10.1 2. I just updated my OG Tab 10.1 to ICS before I got the Note and the Note’s version of TW is far more modern with 3D effects on things like the keyboard.
- It has SGS3 features like Awake Stay, AllShare Play, AllShare Cast, BT4.0/aptX, and Buddy Photo.
- The new keyboard is much better laid out and has mini and thumb views. It also floats in mini-mode and has Swype-like capabilities. It’s actually quite usable now.
- The screen is incredibly responsive whether via finger or stylus navigation. Between that and the GPU/CPU speed and additional RAM it's almost an iPad like experience.
- The onboard speakers sound fantastic for a mobile device.
- Video performance is the best I've seen on an Android device.
- It's well built and feels very premium.
Neutral:
- It's not going to win any beauty contests but it's growing on me.
- Samsung's apps and widgets aren't terribly impressive aesthetically. Why does Samsung fell the need to make everything look so cartoonish?
Negative:
- Social Hub has been removed which really doesn't make any sense. I checked the Luxembourg and Netherlands ROMs and its missing from them too. My 3G Note has a TTT (Trinidad) CSC. Some other leisure stuff has been left out too like AP Mobile.
- The S-Pen's in a stupid place. If the Note's in a case or sitting on a stand you can't reach it. Based on the real estate that's probably the only place they could put it. It also feels a little cheap.
- Auto-brightness is way too low; probably to save battery.
- It can't read SDXC memory cards. I had to go through a ton of gymnastics to get it to recognize my SanDisk 64GB card and it's now running FAT. It's a shame Samsung didn't implement exFAT the way they did on the SGS3.
- It’s a shame it doesn’t have an HD display.
I'll post more as I use it for different things.
Questions.....
Light Bleed, especially on boot up?
BlueTooth and wireless - are there any issues with using BT while on wifi?
Are you using the Chrome browser?
Have you tried any games, or netflix. Netflix from what I am hearing is poor on the T700, and games had stuttering issues before our last update.
no bogging down with many widgets running?
BarryH_GEG said:
Negative:
- It can't read SDXC memory cards. I had to go through a ton of gymnastics to get it to recognize my SanDisk 64GB card and it's now running FAT. It's a shame Samsung didn't implement exFAT the way they did on the SGS3.
I'll post more as I use it for different things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ugh... the lack of exFAT is almost a dealbreaker!! Now I have to really think about if this is worth getting or not (have a Note N7000 right now and really miss having big files on my 64Gb card).
With general usage, how is the performance compared to other Android tablets or iPad?
How good are stock apps like S-Note or the Adobe PS?
Thanks for the observations. Very good points to take into account.
I have a question about multitasking. Is it possible to have floating windows? Are there limitations on what can multitask? For instance, I'm interested to float a video or photo, while having Sketchbook Pro or some other drawing app open to draw on. Is that possible?
Sent from my Galaxy Note
lardo5150 said:
Questions.....
Light Bleed, especially on boot up?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
None. Samsung's QC on their tablet displays is pretty impressive. The only display complaint was with early versions of the OG 10.1 which would get a moisture circle between the glass and panel from humidity. That was more a design issue than a QC issue. The resolution's the same as the OG 10.1 but looking at them side-by-side the panel itself is definately different. It seems a lot sharper; especially with text.
BlueTooth and wireless - are there any issues with using BT while on wifi?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's an Asus "feature." I've never had that issue on any other brand of Android device I've owned.
Are you using the Chrome browser?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock. If you use a third party browser you lose multi-view.
Have you tried any games, or netflix. Netflix from what I am hearing is poor on the T700, and games had stuttering issues before our last update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No games yet. Netflix plays great. So does Amazon Instant (via the browser), HBO GO, Xfinity Player, YouTube HD, and Vevo.
no bogging down with many widgets running?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope. I have 30 running across five home pages.
cmunho said:
Thanks for the observations. Very good points to take into account.
I have a question about multitasking. Is it possible to have floating windows? Are there limitations on what can multitask? For instance, I'm interested to float a video or photo, while having Sketchbook Pro or some other drawing app open to draw on. Is that possible?
Sent from my Galaxy Note
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, side-by-side only with each app fixed at half the display. Videos in Pop Up Play float and can be moved and resized. Pop Up Play only works with the stock video player.
BarryH_GEG said:
Positive:
- Fast, fluid, powerful.
- Multitasking is fantastic because of the additional RAM.
- The browser is as close to desktop performance as I've seen in an Android device
.- It's a new generation of tablet for Samsung, more like a giant SGS3 than an extension of the OG 10.1 or 10.1 2. I just updated my OG Tab 10.1 to ICS before I got the Note and the Note’s version of TW is far more modern with 3D effects on things like the keyboard.
- It has SGS3 features like Awake Stay, AllShare Play, AllShare Cast, BT4.0/aptX, and Buddy Photo.
- The new keyboard is much better laid out and has mini and thumb views. It also floats in mini-mode and has Swype-like capabilities. It’s actually quite usable now.
- The screen is incredibly responsive whether via finger or stylus navigation. Between that and the GPU/CPU speed and additional RAM it's almost an iPad like experience.
- The onboard speakers sound fantastic for a mobile device.
- Video performance is the best I've seen on an Android device.
- It's well built and feels very premium.
Neutral:
- It's not going to win any beauty contests but it's growing on me.
- Samsung's apps and widgets aren't terribly impressive aesthetically. Why does Samsung fell the need to make everything look so cartoonish?
Negative:
- Social Hub has been removed which really doesn't make any sense. I checked the Luxembourg and Netherlands ROMs and its missing from them too. My 3G Note has a TTT (Trinidad) CSC. Some other leisure stuff has been left out too like AP Mobile.
- The S-Pen's in a stupid place. If the Note's in a case or sitting on a stand you can't reach it. Based on the real estate that's probably the only place they could put it. It also feels a little cheap.
- Auto-brightness is way too low; probably to save battery.
- It can't read SDXC memory cards. I had to go through a ton of gymnastics to get it to recognize my SanDisk 64GB card and it's now running FAT. It's a shame Samsung didn't implement exFAT the way they did on the SGS3.
- It’s a shame it doesn’t have an HD display.
I'll post more as I use it for different things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, I have it since Friday last week and also have a normal 10.1 and can confirm some views but let me add/question others:
First some great differences from normal 10.1:
+ SD card slot (I did not have one before... How did you get 64gb working? I did not so far
+ Infrared port (you can use it as a remote controller for your TV
+ Whatever have been sayd on speed/memory above
+ Some nice configurable enhancement on lockscreen
+ A special menu (or direct app) appears when you pull out the pen
+ You can define the level of auto brightness now! (therefore it's not too dark, just pull the slider and the auto brignes will be affected as well to a higher level )
+ No Social hub (I always reoved this with Titanium because I don't use any of the Samsung hubs)
- The price was heavy (OK, I wanted to get it as one of the first and did not want to wait until I get 20% discount)
- Why not a higher resolution screen?
- The 64GB SD topic
I did not have too much time to test a lot or to install/play a lot of games (use it more for business). Run only Quadrant Pro once and the result was ~6150, about twice than on my 10.1.
Ok, I hope I helped some more with my additional view!
I would like to point a thing about the screen resolution. Exynos 4412 doesn't support Full HD. It supports max WXGA resolution.
Source: http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/minisite/Exynos/news_12.html
I guess we will have to wait for Exynos 5 series for FHD and WQXGA resolution.
fscherz said:
+ You can define the level of auto brightness now! (therefore it's not too dark, just pull the slider and the auto brignes will be affected as well to a higher level )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this. It was driving me crazy.
- The price was heavy (OK, I wanted to get it as one of the first and did not want to wait until I get 20% discount)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you get a 3G version? The 16GB Note was less than I paid for my 3G 32GB UK G-Tab 10.1. And at least I can use the Note as a phone for conference calls and spare the battery on my phone.
BarryH_GEG said:
Did you get a 3G version? The 16GB Note was less than I paid for my 3G 32GB UK G-Tab 10.1. And at least I can use the Note as a phone for conference calls and spare the battery on my phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I bought the 3G and I 4got to mention one other big +
+ !!!! You can use it as a phone, it comes with dialer and works as normal phone like the 7 Tab!!!! Of course, use the earphones if you don't want to use the standard speakerphone setup
+ Another +, it's data speed is much higher than any of my other tablets or my normal Galaxy Note N7000! I get full WIFI speed now (22MB, have DSL with 24MB max...) and 8MB+ on H+. Before I had with Tab 10.1 and Note only around 8MB on Wifi and 3-4MB on H+
Does the stock browser reflow text? Thanks!
I've had one since Friday. Purchased from Negri. It is awesome. The writing is SO fluid - NO lag.
I got my 64 GB card to work by formatting it in my 5" Note. It wouldn't recognize it before but after format in the small Note it recognizes it as 64 GB.
I cannot get BeyondPod to move it's directory to this external card. Does anyone know the path I need to tell BeyondPod to use?
Nakel said:
Does the stock browser reflow text? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No.
oh snap! microsoft is gonna sue! samsung's promo vid looks so dang much like courier.
/s
i gotta say their demo looks like everything i had hoped ms to come out with. i'm playing with the asus infinity right now but starting to come across the regular QC defects that asus works so hard to maintain.
it's a hard decision -
asus- decent hardware with great aftermarket support
samsung - great quality hardware with sub-par aftermarket support (just getting ics after the JB ships??? tablet support is on different than their phones).
my 1 yr old gt 10.1 has no light bleed, no clicks or creaks and works just as good as day one.
my tf infinity is 4 days old and the bleed has progressively gotten worse and the click on the right side is getting a bit louder. i like it, but i'd hate to have it fall apart on me.
I've had mine for about a week now, and I'm in love with this device. It's by far the best, most responsive Android tablet I've used - and I've used a lot. My GTab 7.7 feels like a juddery mess compared to this thing. I find it very nice to hold, very light, the speakers are fantastic - and FRONT facing (why is this so hard for manufacturers/designers to understand we want them on the front??), battery life is excellent, and the screen, OK it's not HD (and a bit jarring coming from an iPad 3) is still plenty nice, bright and clear.
It's my favourite tablet, possibly ever.
That being said - I've had a few software issues with it.
1) Most serious, but only happened once so far: I brought up the pop-up S Memo from the bottom taskbar, then clicked the fullscreen button to expand to the full S Note application. S Note completely froze, then crashed. Upon relaunch, half of my notes, along with half the demo/tutorial notes were completely missing from the app. NOT good. After messing around with ways to get it back, I discovered through the file browser that all the note files were actually still there. I went into the Application manager in android settings and did a "Clear Data" for S Note. This solved the problem. Upon relaunch, all the notes were back in S Note.
2) In S Planner, there is NO option to create a NEW note in S Note to attach to a task. There is only an option to link an existing note. The original GNote has the option to create a new note.
3) Also in S Planner, one time I selected the option to link a task to a note in S Note, and S Note opened but then completely froze. Force killing S Note did not help. I tried multiple times, and had to restart the whole tablet to be able to use S Note at all.
4) I've been using an Apple (no hissing, please) bluetooth keyboard with the Gnote 10.1. Works fantastic (see, Apple and Samsung really CAN get along ) but I turned the bluetooth off one time to save battery when not using the keyboard. A while later, I tried to turn bluetooth on again. Bluetooth would not turn on. I could not toggle it on or off. I restarted the tablet, and bluetooth came on automatically.
These issues are very annoying, but so far have all happened only once. Hopefully will not be recurring issues, as I plan to make extensive use of S Note and a bluetooth keyboard too.
Other than that, I just LOVE this tablet. Bye bye, iPad 3!
Sent from my GT-N8000 using xda premium
How's the battery life so far?
And does the screen resolution look clear enough compared to ipad 3?
fscherz said:
Yes, I bought the 3G and I 4got to mention one other big +
+ !!!! You can use it as a phone, it comes with dialer and works as normal phone like the 7 Tab!!!! Of course, use the earphones if you don't want to use the standard speakerphone setup
+ Another +, it's data speed is much higher than any of my other tablets or my normal Galaxy Note N7000! I get full WIFI speed now (22MB, have DSL with 24MB max...) and 8MB+ on H+. Before I had with Tab 10.1 and Note only around 8MB on Wifi and 3-4MB on H+
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The phone is cool. I would imagine you could easily do hands-free (haven't actually tried it), but the speakers are certainly loud enough for most situations.
BTW, i've never seen a phone this large. I imagine there have been a few, but perhaps not. Anyone?
macwilson said:
The phone is cool. I would imagine you could easily do hands-free (haven't actually tried it), but the speakers are certainly loud enough for most situations.
BTW, i've never seen a phone this large. I imagine there have been a few, but perhaps not. Anyone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Samsung also is releasing a bluetooth S-pen that you can use to talk on phone .......
see here http://uk.hardware.info/reviews/300...iew-high-end-tablet-but-lacking-in-resolution
"unless you get the special Bluetooth pen also announced on Monday which you can hold to your ear during a conversation."
BarryH_GEG said:
No.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Damn!