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Hello all. I'm on a bit of a budget and I'm going to buy one of these two tablets. Right now I'm leaning towards the a500. Was hoping to get some input and opinions on what you think I should do. I realize posting this in this forum I might get slightly biased opinions, so be it.
The only thing that makes me hesitate on the Acer is it has a slightly slower processor out of the box, but we're only talking .2ghz. What has the Acer been OC'd to still running stable?
Also, I see the wifi card uses the 2.4ghz spectrum, I believe this should allow me to tether this to my evo 3d with no problems?
Lastly, if anyone has anything to add, or something else I should consider before purchasing, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
The touchpad doesn't run android and only has a port of cm7 which I think is still in beta/alpha. And they're extremely hard to get your hands on one for the price it has been lowered to. And the iconia can be had for $299 for the 16gb model on black friday
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk
I would prefer the Touchpad if I could choose again. This is a personal experience for me, and I didn't have a good one with this honeycomb tablet. It has quite a few bugs that a lot of android users are facing, but could be avoided if a custom rom that fixes the bugs is installed, which voids your warranty. Also, Most Honeycomb tablets have the so called "Portrait lag", which makes the tablet slightly choppy or jittery (depends on roms, how much choppy) when it's in a portrait mode. In landscape, it's perfectly smooth. And if you would like to use the tablet in both orientation, I would first wait if the ICS fixes all the issues including the portrait lag. This lag is present in EVERY SINGLE rom I've tried (can't be avoided). Some people are actually saying that ICS will most likely fix the bugs, but bring different bugs to the android tablets. We have to try the ICS on tablets to know for sure. Anyway this is only my opinion, and again, if I could choose, I wouldn't buy an android tablet. I am actually thinking of selling this and getting a Touchpad soon..
Again, this is just my opinion, so all android fans, don't bash on me.
sw6lee said:
I would prefer the Touchpad if I could choose again. This is a personal experience for me, and I didn't have a good one with this honeycomb tablet. It has quite a few bugs that a lot of android users are facing, but could be avoided if a custom rom that fixes the bugs is installed, which voids your warranty. Also, Most Honeycomb tablets have the so called "Portrait lag", which makes the tablet slightly choppy or jittery (depends on roms, how much choppy) when it's in a portrait mode. In landscape, it's perfectly smooth. And if you would like to use the tablet in both orientation, I would first wait if the ICS fixes all the issues including the portrait lag. This lag is present in EVERY SINGLE rom I've tried (can't be avoided). Some people are actually saying that ICS will most likely fix the bugs, but bring different bugs to the android tablets. We have to try the ICS on tablets to know for sure. Anyway this is only my opinion, and again, if I could choose, I wouldn't buy an android tablet. I am actually thinking of selling this and getting a Touchpad soon..
Again, this is just my opinion, so all android fans, don't bash on me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Although this is not the first time I've heard of what's been described as "portrait lag", I've never paid attention to it, as my tab stays locked in landscape (personally don't understand why people even use portrait mode, no offense intended).
So I just took it out of lock for the first time since June, when you had to run Gingerbreak locked in portrait mode IIRC.
I just ran through a dozen pages in browser, books, documents, ran through my apps, all my home screens, etc., and experienced nothing close to lag. Could someone maybe elaborate a bit more on the experience please?
tyia
The lag is terrible in 3.1 but it seems to have gone away in 3.2. I haven't used web OS since the 1st palm pre for sprint and although it looks very elegant there isn't enough devs for it and is possibly done with for good which means no future support. Now its been rumored the iconia will see an official release of ics so it will make this tab feel brand new again. The only reason I could see myself getting the touchpad would be to run cm7/9 on it but its a very nice looking piece of hardware. And I'm not an android fan boy. I do have the iconia tab and an evo3d but I also have a ipad and iPod touch so I'm kinda into everything.
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk
kjy2010 said:
Although this is not the first time I've heard of what's been described as "portrait lag", I've never paid attention to it, as my tab stays locked in landscape (personally don't understand why people even use portrait mode, no offense intended).
So I just took it out of lock for the first time since June, when you had to run Gingerbreak locked in portrait mode IIRC.
I just ran through a dozen pages in browser, books, documents, ran through my apps, all my home screens, etc., and experienced nothing close to lag. Could someone maybe elaborate a bit more on the experience please?
tyia
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use portrait mode, because Google is so stupid that they put the status bar on the bottom and made the already narrow 16:9 tablet even narrower and its very annoying to browse the wn where you can see only small amount of the website at a time. This is also why I prefer 4:3 Touchpad. If the status bar is on one side of the screen, say like archos 101 G8, then I personally think it will make viewing web more pleasant. Same goes to PDF, document reading. Portrait mode is much better for that IMO.
And you may have misunderstood what I said, so let me clarify. The bug is called portrait 'lag' but its not lag, but as I explained, its choppiness, and jitteriness (is this even a word..? Lol). It gives users not so good experience. At least to me.
Just wanted to clarify.
Thanks for the responses, gives me more to think about. I probably should wait for the next generation of tabs, but I don't feel like dropping $600+ on one.
Right now I'm probably 65/35 in favor of the a500.
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
For the record, my A500 can run stable at 1.6 GHz, though I keep it at 1.4 to be reasonable.... the Tegra 2 seems to overclock well.
Just want to chime in on OC..with Thor's v13 ROM, my a500 oc'ed to 1.5G stable day to day operation
Running 1.68ghtz. Thors 3.9R3 kernel.
But really, who would even try to compare a TP to an Iconia? Especially considering they are no longer in production (unless you buy a notebook pc, then they toss one in).
HP never was really known for support, but, if you wanna get a discontinued item, hey, you get what you pay for
And talk about backtracking;
1. Let's merge with Compaq (2 losers become 1 big loser)
2. Let's buyout Palm, and change the name to Pre, now lets kill the line
3. Let's put out a tab, but nobody wants it
4. Let's kill the tab line
5. Oh, let's also get out of the PC business as well
6. Wait, all the tabs sold at 99 bucks, let's make another 1/4 mil units
7. Wait, we were kidding, we're not getting outta the PC business
8. And those extra tabs??? well, gotta buy a notebook to get one
Is this a company you really want to do business with?
flonker said:
Thanks for the responses, gives me more to think about. I probably should wait for the next generation of tabs, but I don't feel like dropping $600+ on one.
Right now I'm probably 65/35 in favor of the a500.
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're going to get an A500 wait until Black Friday, it's only a week away
I have both & use both as intended (for entertainment, quick email, etc.). For better support, I would stick with the Acer unit, even though very good community support is provided for the HP unit, it still is considered a "dead" unit.
i say buy the touchpad. as of now, cm7 runs pretty damn well and webos is a true gem for when you just want to browse, play emulators, use social apps, or schedule your calendar.
Battery life is also phenomenal.
Thanks again for the responses... Can I hit thanks in the xda app somehow? Or, do I have to fire up my laptop?
I had the original Palm Pre and the only real problem I had with it was it's build quality, but I liked webos. Yes, it's a dead OS, but if I can dual boot into a stable version of android that is fine. The build quality on the HP touchpad seems to be excellent as well.
However, I see myself mainly running android, and would think a device where it is the native OS would probably be the best in terms of community/developer support. I've also never had a honeycomb device and it would fun to play around with until ICS.
That being said, I'm a bit worried of build quality with the Acer. I noticed a door covering the microSD slot, and it seemed kinda flimsy.
I figure I can get both for $300 new, but the touchpad would also come with some extras like the folio case and Bluetooth keyboard for that price.
I'm going to get the Acer. The feature that put it over the top? It's getting a port of GTA 3, it had better be a good port. lol.
If you actually took the time to read through this post, please resume living your life immediately.
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
The sd/sim port, indeed can seem a bit weak, but, once you know how to get it off correctly, it's ok. Took mine off numerous times and no issues. But it's been a month since i needed to remove it, so it doesn't happen every day. Just don't be the hulk, as really it's easy.
The android community is number one, bar none.
But really, for a few dollars more, you can get the 501 with 3g (just don't get it from at&t as it's sim locked.
I just love rubbing in my download speeds with my friend (iPad owner). He stopped playing games with me. Or when I flash a new rom in 5 minutes, with a completely different theme and look.
The best is when I whip out my 320gb ext HDD and play films.
---------- Post added at 10:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:46 PM ----------
kjy2010 said:
If you're going to get an A500 wait until Black Friday, it's only a week away
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the states that is...
They are like apples and oranges. Both are sweet, but oh, so different.
I bought the 16GB Touchpad from a local Walmart on the morning of the fire sale. I would not have done so otherwise. Do I regret the purchase? No. Do I use it often? No. I am much more interested in my Acer A500 or my little Galaxy Tab 7". They are versatile and FUN! I use whatever device is handy and is charged. That means I also use my 1st gen iPad as much as any other tablet. I just picked up a refurbished Acer W500, so that is my current plaything.
Follow your bliss or your wallet, whatever works, works.
Moscow Desire said:
Running 1.68ghtz. Thors 3.9R3 kernel.
But really, who would even try to compare a TP to an Iconia? Especially considering they are no longer in production (unless you buy a notebook pc, then they toss one in).
HP never was really known for support, but, if you wanna get a discontinued item, hey, you get what you pay for
And talk about backtracking;
1. Let's merge with Compaq (2 losers become 1 big loser)
2. Let's buyout Palm, and change the name to Pre, now lets kill the line
3. Let's put out a tab, but nobody wants it
4. Let's kill the tab line
5. Oh, let's also get out of the PC business as well
6. Wait, all the tabs sold at 99 bucks, let's make another 1/4 mil units
7. Wait, we were kidding, we're not getting outta the PC business
8. And those extra tabs??? well, gotta buy a notebook to get one
Is this a company you really want to do business with?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL. You hit the nail right on the head I'd love to get a TP if I can only find one for $100.It woul be a nice toy to play with for Android ports, but nothing serious. When I first heard of the firesale (literally a couple hours after HP announced it), I dropped into all nearby electronic stores and they were already sold out. I'm seeing all kinds on classifies sites like kijiji and craigslist but they're all $250-300 which is more than I'd like to pay.
So if you can get one for $100, go for it. Otherwise, I'd either recommend the A500 or wait 1-2 months for a newer Tegra 3 device.
Acer all the way.
As of now the Touchpad is dead with webOS and not stable enough with android yet. You really can't do much with it now besides browsing the web and email. I don't like honeycomb very much but at least the Iconia will get the ICS upgrade.
I have the A500 and I am very satisfied, to say the least!
I also bought today the BB Playbook for $199cdn (the deal wasn't to be missed). Very nice machin.
Will be on sale in the US on black friday at Staples
I'd rather get a tetra based tablet, the touchpad is nice but who knows how top end games will be supported on that device. I had a nook color Flanders even the smoothness that it got to only made me want a real tablet
Sent from my ICONIA
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.
Hey guys, I am considering whether or not buying a KF. Honestly, it will not be used as a reader or used with any of Amazon's services. Rather I am buying it to have a solid piece of hardware that runs the Android operating system and hoping to see Kindle specific roms in the future (CM7 gives me hope). This will be a toy to use for media and occasionally on the go. Is it worth buying in hopes of future developing and tinkering?
Anyone have any input?
Just got mine yesterday and I would say yes it is worth the price tag for what you want to do. I rooted mine and put cm7 on it within minutes of opening it and haven't looked back.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
What is the status of CM7 at this point? Is it fully functional?
I'd want to install CM7 and use SetCPU (if anyone has overclocked this thing yet).
I think the Kindle Fire is a great device for the cheap price.
I have my Kindle Fire for about 2 Weeks. At first i rooted the device and used Go Launcher Ex for a while, but I didn't like it. Then i decided to use CM7. It is very usable I think. There some problems with the MAC address and some forced closes sometimes.
Today i flashed the early Version of ICS from JackpotClavin. It is very smooth and with ICS the Kindle Fire feels like a Tablet. With CM7 the Kindle Fire feels like a big smartphone for me. ICS isn't finished yet and there are some problems with sdcard and forced closes.
If you can wait until the Custom Roms are more perfect I think the Kindle Fire is a good decision to buy.
I bought mine to use solely as a tablet. I installed cm7 as soon as it was avaliable and haven't looked back. i bought it without any intention if using any of amazon's services. it's a great tablet plus it fits in a pocket. dual core, so it can run 720p h264 very well. plus with the overclock it'll be even better. the only complaint i have is it doesn't have an sd card slot, so you only have like 8-10 gigs of space to put stuff on, but it's not a big problem for me. cm7 is very stable. I have no fc's that i can remember, video works, sound works, plus there's a cifs module compiled so you can even mount samba shares. definately worth it in my opinion.
Matt V said:
Hey guys, I am considering whether or not buying a KF. Honestly, it will not be used as a reader or used with any of Amazon's services. Rather I am buying it to have a solid piece of hardware that runs the Android operating system and hoping to see Kindle specific roms in the future (CM7 gives me hope). This will be a toy to use for media and occasionally on the go. Is it worth buying in hopes of future developing and tinkering?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have put four of these on my network at home everyone always waiting for workstation time. Now more than enough browsers for everyone. They have been rock solid so far. Running CM7 rom on all of them.
Yes, it's the best tablet you can buy for 200 dollars. An iPad is not 2.5 times better than it. I honestly think if you know your way around adb it is a magical device, with endless possibilities. Buy one, you won't regret it.
Using splashtop and orb to stream, I haven't put the thing down. I never need to leave the couch. Best thing I ever bought for light browsing, massive media, and email. I'm always around wifi so the 5.5 gig memory constraint is not a problem. ymmv with what you intend to do with it.
Edit: Orb has a beta apk on their website if you don't want to buy. It works great on the fire, worth the money if you decide to buy since no memory card.
Sent from my Epic (sleeper rom) using XDA App.
Buy it!
It's great value for money. I've put CM7 on mine and now it's a pretty nifty tablet. In any case, I couldn't use any of Amazon's services (apart from buying books) being outside the US.
I own a few other tablets and the only features I miss on the Fire are the lack of hardware volume controls and mic. Otherwise, the performance of the tab (with CM7) is great and the size is pretty convenient too. It definitely doesn't feel like a cheap tablet.
Thanks for the replies guys, I decided to pull the trigger on one and it will be here Friday.
CM7 appears to not have functioning sound so I'm just gonna root it for now and wait until a fully functional ROM is released, shouldn't be long. ICS looks promising as well.
Read the "Standing on the shoulders of giants" CM7 thread. Sound and hardware acceleration are working just fine.
Sent from my Gingervolt-ed VS910 4G using xda premium
Oh, I guess I watched an older video then that said it didn't work.
Love mine! Just got it for christmas. get it!
Sent from my Kindle Fire using xda premium
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4zm2NVGFaU
video link
You should give us a written review. Even just some main points. Your video looks very detailed. I'm in a place where I can't listen to audio right now
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk 2
What's the point in comparing hardware when the key problem with the Kindle fire is the **** content selection and locked in ecosystem.. Frankly only an idiot would buy one.
Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2
Yikes, a lil hostile eh?
Sent from my ikream bolt
CrazyPeter said:
What's the point in comparing hardware when the key problem with the Kindle fire is the **** content selection and locked in ecosystem.. Frankly only an idiot would buy one.
Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
Lol.. You just branded a few mil folks
Doesn't rooting solve the problem? Not sure, I don't have one, but I want to know for future reference..
asdfuogh said:
Doesn't rooting solve the problem? Not sure, I don't have one, but I want to know for future reference..
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You're correct that rooting it will get you a more or less ”generic” Android experience. But you'll still be left with a device that was designed with the closed Amazon ecosystem in mind, limited RAM, only 1 button (power), no expansion (microSD or SDHC), etc. Not a horrible choice if you're looking for Android cheap but there are a number of $250 ”real” Android devices available with GPS, vibration, full sensor array, some flavor of Android from the start instead of the Amazon overlay etc.
Sent from my PG41200 using Xparent Purple Tapatalk 2
CrazyPeter said:
What's the point in comparing hardware when the key problem with the Kindle fire is the **** content selection and locked in ecosystem.. Frankly only an idiot would buy one.
Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
ur see in the video kindle holds up with the ee pad with ics
fldude99 said:
Lol.. You just branded a few mil folks
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Click to collapse
Yep, too many people only buy what they know.. Kindle owners are, really no better than ipad owners in this respect.
What idiot would buy a new car that you could only gas up at a specific filling station? That no different to the ipad and kindle.
Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2
goodfellajay said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4zm2NVGFaU
video link
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Click to collapse
Sorry to say but this is pointless and strange. The Transformer is a real tablet and if you want that, there's no comparison. On the other hand if you want to read ebooks only and byuing from Amazon only, then you go the Kindle way.
I think some of you are missing the point of the video.
On both devices ICS was installed and the performance was compared doing the same tasks.
In most cases the kindle held up with the transformer and in some it was even faster! Not bad for a device half the price.
This video on the TF forum, what did you expect people to say? It would be a totally different story if posted on kindle fire forum. Pointless topic in my mind, just saying.
My eee pad was 250 at best buy on black Friday 2011. Who would ever buy a kindle lmao?!
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA
hardy81 said:
Sorry to say but this is pointless and strange. The Transformer is a real tablet and if you want that, there's no comparison. On the other hand if you want to read ebooks only and byuing from Amazon only, then you go the Kindle way.
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Again, there are a whole load of BETTER e-readers than the Kindle.
Just because that's the only brand you know, doesn't mean it's the best..
Sony do very nice e-readers, the Kobo are the same price as the kindles, and both support the superior EPUB format.
New Transformer user here. I had a Kindle Fire until recently (sold it on eBay) and tried a few ICS builds after rooting the tablet. Sure, ICS worked on it, but the video in the OP definitely doesn't tell the whole story. Stability certainly was a problem: I experienced many FCs and a lot of tablet-specific apps just wouldn't run properly on it.
Devs (as usual) are (still) doing great work to make the KF a nice entry-level tablet, and for the price, you won't find a better deal (especially if you are willing to buy a used or refurb model). The KF community at XDA is VERY responsive, which is a definite plus. However, I just didn't find it as fast as when I was using the stock ROM or alternate GB-based ROMs available for the KF (Hellfire's builds were really good). Without the availability of a 3.x kernel offering full HWA (I know devs are working on this), performance wasn't that great, especially after I loaded up the tablet with 60-70 apps I typically use on my phone.
I parted with the KF mainly because I found its screen size too small (I've developed a taste for reading magazines and the like). At the end of the day, I was willing to sacrifice portability for more screen estate, as well as better storage options and support for future Android updates. Time will tell if I made the right choice.
---------- Post added at 09:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:51 PM ----------
CrazyPeter said:
Sony do very nice e-readers, the Kobo are the same price as the kindles, and both support the superior EPUB format.
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Click to collapse
I've used all three, and frankly, the best e-reader I owned was (by far) the Kindle 3 keyboard. If you know what you are doing, you can convert books in the proper format (using something like Calibre) or use a third-party ROM to read .epub files on it natively, so file format wasn't an issue for me. Amazon's online selection is top notch, way better than anyone else out there including Barnes and Noble, Chapters, etc.
The Kobo Touch was a close second, but had a lot of firmware issues: the last version I used before giving mine away seemed to fix most of them (especially the highly annoying page turning bug that crept up at some point). The hardware is nice though, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend one.
The Sony e-reader was just garbage, I had to return it twice after both units died on me. I will never buy any other e-reader from the company.
it holds up well
hardy81 said:
Sorry to say but this is pointless and strange. The Transformer is a real tablet and if you want that, there's no comparison. On the other hand if you want to read ebooks only and byuing from Amazon only, then you go the Kindle way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To call it "pointless and strange" comes off pretty harsh, but I sort of agree a little. It is a bit of an apple to oranges comparison, I think, mainly because the screen resolutions aren't the same. The ASUS has to produce 1280x800 (1,024,000 square pixels) output all the time while the Kindle produces 1024x600 (614,400 square pixels). In their respective web browsers, for example, more of the page has to be rendered on the ASUS display than on the Kindle's. Yet, the pinch zoom is a bit stuttery on the Kindle, as the video mentioned. I wonder if it's because something on the Kindle's ICS is not optimized for the device.
For the best e-readers, I think they have to be the ones with the e-Ink displays. It's both because of the display and because of their extremely light weight. They are lacking multi-functionally, but they do their one thing (e-reading) extremely well.
My mom has a Kindle, I have a TF101 w/ dock. The differences between the two are almost night and day in some aspects.
I can do anything I want with my TF101. The dock helps with battery and some other things such as office suite on the go and gaming. Streaming movies through Netflix and watching Youtube. Hooking the tab to a TV with the HDMI support. It is the optimum tablet style for any uber geek and Android fan. There are still kernel issues due to being an outdated kernel without fixes from ASUS or a real update that helps to correct any of the core problems and even created more under 4.0.3. AOKP, CM9 and Megatron are sorting them out as well as Guevor and Testymeh kernels in development. Others are working as well, but not as quickly as the current scne is developing for the TF101. Great things are still to come.
The Kindle ICS is missing some driver support due to an outdated kernel and no ICS source available from Amazon. Hash and other developers are all working on getting HWA to work, which does cause quite a few issues all around in ICS since it uses a different process to manipulate hardware and software. They are modifying source from similar devices with matching hardware and going from there. The Kindle is just as well to play games or download movies and books. Now that HWA is getting out, Netflix and other things, even the web browser, should start working as intended. You're also running hardware with limited memory than to how it was designed. I think they had to engineer a driver that would allow hardware to run at it's full potential with smaller ram and swapability due to Kindle limitations. (I spend a lot of time with my mom's Kindle to make sure it runs at least similar to how I would run it.
Either offering is good depending on the person's wants and needs. I do admit, after seeing a Kindle in action, I am glad I have a much higher expectation of my electronics. No respect lost, but I'm not on the same spectrum.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda premium
goodfellajay said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4zm2NVGFaU
video link
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Click to collapse
on this link i show my wifes fire is not too bad with ics
Hi guys,
How are you finding your TF101, they've gone on discount recently and are falling in my budget, wanted your feedback..
what are the things you like and dislike? Does it lag? My measurement of lag is how quickly does the stock browser loads and how quickly you can enter app drawer? That should be absolutely instant imo..but that's just me..
I'm currently using Samsung GS1 user, so been playing around, hacking the phone for a good time and now its really showing its age, those little lags of 1-2 seconds here there just get on your nerves..
How active is custom development?
Anyway, thought I'll ask XDA community of there feedback as I value your opinion more than what the editorials write or what the sales rep says.
Thanks!
First off if your talking about age of your phone starting to get lag why would a tablet your going to buy be one that's already starting to age. I bought mine when it was one of the only tablets out and still use it and love it. If I was buying today however would of course get a newer faster model. As to custom development can't you just go open the development section and get an idea of what's going on. I have only personally used the Stock custom roms like Android revolution and are perfect for me. I don't like switching roms in fear of losing game saves lol. I have seen jellybean roms becoming stable though. I do experience little lags every now and then like you mention but i have had that happen on any kind of technology I own at some point. I mainly enjoy this tablet over others because of the keyboard and amazing battery life.
Sent from my LT28i using xda app-developers app
My TF101 (B60) is the only tablet i've ever bought (Only bought it because of the dock) and its still going strong, there is a very big difference between the stock and the custom roms/kernels that have been developed for it, in terms of performance the custom roms/kernels have made a mind blowingly huge performance increase(this isn't an overstatement) i'm on Team EOS 3 (Jelly Bean) with K.A.T kernel and id have no problems saying that this rom is around twice as smooth compared with stock. Many of us under this configuration have reached quadrant scores matching the TF300t (thats a quad core tegra 3 while the TF101 is only a dual core) also afaik there isn't a better device to install Ubuntu on. I can't see the point in upgrading to TF300t from a TF101, but if you own neither of these devices, personally i'd go for the TF300t as they are only a slight bit more money and they come with a warranty (The only deciding factor imo).
I honestly hardly get on this part of xda but you make me want to go away from stock lok
Sent from my LT28i using xda app-developers app
wolf0491 said:
I honestly hardly get on this part of xda but you make me want to go away from stock lok
Sent from my LT28i using xda app-developers app
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Give it a try just make sure you do a backup first, so if you go back all your game saves etc are saved, try team EOS jelly bean #74 with the K.A.T kernel. you'll find it hard to go back lol
JoinTheRealms said:
Give it a try just make sure you do a backup first, so if you go back all your game saves etc are saved, try team EOS jelly bean #74 with the K.A.T kernel. you'll find it hard to go back lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
++1 on the team EOS JB 4.1 roms i couldnt believe how much faster and smoother it was than ICS. even at stock 1Ghz clock speed it was better than ICS at 1.6Ghz. I would definitely recommend this tablet to anyone. and with the keyboard it even better. gives you another full sized sd port and two usb ports plus tons of extra power. with this you can really get experiment with a lot of different things easily.
I'll try to give them a go. I just don't wanna use something I'm going to have to install every week. I usually start doing that on my phones and gets out on hand
Sent from my LT28i using xda app-developers app
Jellybean breathes a whole new life into this tablet. It's well worth the update.
Sent from my Transformer using XDA Premium HD app
I've had my tablet since July of last year. As a tablet, it's awesome, and I do like the dock.. but I ended up not using the dock as much as I thought I would. Although, honestly, unless the price of the tablet+dock drops below $150, I feel like you're better off getting one of the newer tablets just because of hardware's sake. Otherwise, you aren't really getting your money's worth.
(I use my tablet for watching movies, redditing, I used to take notes with it but it's just easier to take physical notes now, and mostly reading PDFs.)
phrozenflame said:
Hi guys,
How are you finding your TF101, they've gone on discount recently and are falling in my budget, wanted your feedback..
what are the things you like and dislike? Does it lag? My measurement of lag is how quickly does the stock browser loads and how quickly you can enter app drawer? That should be absolutely instant imo..but that's just me..
I'm currently using Samsung GS1 user, so been playing around, hacking the phone for a good time and now its really showing its age, those little lags of 1-2 seconds here there just get on your nerves..
How active is custom development?
Anyway, thought I'll ask XDA community of there feedback as I value your opinion more than what the editorials write or what the sales rep says.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had my 101 for quite some time now, and had only recently decided to buy the Infinity. While my infinity is being fixed I switched back to my 101. It is on stock ICS, only thing not stock is that it is rooted. Other then that it is stock. Side by side I've found no difference in speed (or lag as you call it) between the 2.
As far as development, I would say that as of now it is slow, but that is waiting for a GOOD version of Jellybean to arrive, then of course I am sure the devs will kick in the gears and start pushing out some quality ROM's.
Honestly if you can get a TF101 on a good deal, then I would have to say take the deal. Of course the more internal memory is going to be better, because sadly unlike most Android phones, you can not move the apps to the external sd card. (at least not reliably in my eyes.)
I've found that my 101 with wifi & blue tooth left on constantly, even when not in use, I only have to charge up about every other day, but that is more of because I do use it quite extensively.
If you can get the keyboard dock, those are great, especially for long flights (more then a couple hours), as I tend to watch my stored movies and tv shows on it and the keyboard dock gives it that extra weight for sitting up, and the extra battery time. I've been seeing them on ebay lately NEW for around $70.00 + freight.
1 other thing you might want to keep in mind also is that MOST 12v adapters with USB charge points do NOT provide enough power to charge the tablet. I ended up buying a OEM car charger for mine. Couple that with a good car cradle, and your favorite GPS software, I use Waze. And you have a VERY LARGE turn by turn GPS screen. Just make sure to turn the GPS off when not using it, as I have found that it was the biggest killer of my battery.
All in all I love my TF101, and unfortunately due to an internal problem with my Infinity, I've lost a bit of love for the Infinity.
With cm10 installed the tf101 is very fast, fluid and without lags.
I recommend it if you find a low price.
The TF101 has two batteries as long as you buy the keyboard with the touchpad. Those two batteries provide up to 16 hours of use. The screen is high res and with the custom roms and so forth it should serve anyone well who isn't trying to do video editing and / or HD gaming on it.
As a unit for Skype, email, web browsing, kindle reader, angry bird (tho that game isn't entirely stable on mine), various board games, bible software, and more... it's great. I got mine for $225 w/ keyboard and that price made a big difference for a guy on a missionary budget.
Hope that helps.
Blessings.