[Q] A500 Has Horrible PDF performance. Any solutions? - Acer Iconia A500

Viewing PDFs on the A500 would seem to be a proper use of the tablet and the Tegra2 processor should provide a lag-free experience but in my opinion, the ability of the A500 to display PDFs is severely lacking.
Reading just about any PDF other than those that are text only will start off good but, after reading 20 pages or so, the change to the next page will begin to lag and basically freeze or display the page in an unresolved state (blurry) until it finally pops in to focus. This can take 10-15 seconds or more sometimes.
The only solution is to reboot.
I've been reading several magazines and it happens on all of them from Maximum PC, Scientific American, etc. Note that all the magazines I read are my own personal subscriptions or are archives as provided by the vendor in PDF format so these are not warez copies.
I'm using Adobe Acrobat, Documents to Go, Quickoffice, and the LumiReader. All perform poorly so it's got to be the hardware. These PDFs display quickly on my main PC.
Does everyone see this crappy PDF performance or have a solution?

Can you upload a troublesome .PDF for others to test.

I currently use ezPDF reader (I think it was one of those 10-cent sale deals in the Market). It does great even on complicated PDFs. That being said, I've never had any problem with Docs2Go either.
One of the first things I do when I buy something that's semi-complicated/sophisticated is see if there's a manual for it in PDF format, and then I have it on my tablet for future reference. I used to do the same with my phone, and prior to that with my Palm PDA. It wasn't until this tablet that it was remotely reasonable to read some of those manuals, as they're pretty complicated with text, graphics, diagrams, screenshots, etc. One or two are almost 400 pages long each.
I'm willing to try any "problem" PDF on ezPDF reader. Just link to it somewhere and I'll let you know.

I too agree with the above poster: ezPDF is plenty fast and it works when nothing else does. Perhaps it's worth trying?

qhorque said:
Viewing PDFs on the A500 would seem to be a proper use of the tablet and the Tegra2 processor should provide a lag-free experience but in my opinion, the ability of the A500 to display PDFs is severely lacking.
Reading just about any PDF other than those that are text only will start off good but, after reading 20 pages or so, the change to the next page will begin to lag and basically freeze or display the page in an unresolved state (blurry) until it finally pops in to focus. This can take 10-15 seconds or more sometimes.
The only solution is to reboot.
I've been reading several magazines and it happens on all of them from Maximum PC, Scientific American, etc. Note that all the magazines I read are my own personal subscriptions or are archives as provided by the vendor in PDF format so these are not warez copies.
I'm using Adobe Acrobat, Documents to Go, Quickoffice, and the LumiReader. All perform poorly so it's got to be the hardware. These PDFs display quickly on my main PC.
Does everyone see this crappy PDF performance or have a solution?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use the A500 daily to show clients catalogs showing products from heavy graphics PDF files using EzPDF. Never a problemn nor any perception of lag.
I properly index and bookmark my files and after the customers do some viewing on their own the reaction is usually "cool, where do I get one of these"... Sure beats fumbling through paper.

I have a lot of schematics/service manuals in PDF form on my tablet and have never had a problem with viewing them with Docs2Go. I will admit that usually I just read the relevant pages I need and don't ever read more than 20 or so, that may be why I don't have any issues. I'll try to flip through some of my thicker manuals and see if it starts to hang with me.

Common problematic PDFs are, for example, CPU Magazine or Maximum PC here:
http://www.computerpoweruser.com/DigitalIssues/ComputerPowerUser/CP____1202__/ Unfortunately, you have to load this display page first then click the download arrow on the left side.
http://dl.maximumpc.com/Archives/MPC_2011_11-web.pdf This is a direct link to the PDF.
Feel free to browse to those pages manually if you don't want to simply click on a link in a posting!
Either of those will start off good but, by page 20 or so, they really start to lag and make reading the second half of the magazine a chore.
I'll take a look at ezPDF and see how it does. Thanks for the suggestion.

I've pretty slick performance with Adobe Reader. Is your PDF non-standard?

I downloaded the Maximum PC pdf from your link.....Tested in lumiread, Officesuite,
PDF to Go and QuickOffice Pro....
Not seeing the lag your getting ....Ive went page by page and worst case --only takes maybe 2-3 seconds to load a full page ad on any of the readers. Tried it in both landscape and portrait using full screen and zoom...
If you haven't tried it....reboot your machine and test it again.
Another thought is if you have them stored on a sd card or usb stick that is faulty may be causing a problem.
Also I found that if I up the CPU to 1400MHz from the stock 1000MHz it does seem to speed load time for each page.
I'm on a stock 3.2.1 rooted rom with a custom kernel for over-clocking when needed.

WereCatf said:
I too agree with the above poster: ezPDF is plenty fast and it works when nothing else does. Perhaps it's worth trying?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
++ ezPdf is both cheap and works exceptionally well.

For real use adobe reader.....
Sent from my INFUSE powered by ZEUS

qhorque said:
http://dl.maximumpc.com/Archives/MPC_2011_11-web.pdf This is a direct link to the PDF.
Feel free to browse to those pages manually if you don't want to simply click on a link in a posting!
Either of those will start off good but, by page 20 or so, they really start to lag and make reading the second half of the magazine a chore.
I'll take a look at ezPDF and see how it does. Thanks for the suggestion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using ezPDF I scrolled/paged all the way through page 60 of Maximum PC with no real significant lag. Going through the full page images in the NAS reviews was the slowest, but that only meant it would take a full second to load the page, which I wouldn't call that lag as it would've likely taken longer if viewing the same on a web page.
I would try ezPDF, and if you still get lag then there's something wrong with your tablet. I'm currently running a rooted but otherwise stock HC 3.2.1 ROM. I did remove some bloat apps myself, but I'm running the stock kernel so it's not overclocked.

qhorque said:
Viewing PDFs on the A500 would seem to be a proper use of the tablet and the Tegra2 processor should provide a lag-free experience but in my opinion, the ability of the A500 to display PDFs is severely lacking.
Reading just about any PDF other than those that are text only will start off good but, after reading 20 pages or so, the change to the next page will begin to lag and basically freeze or display the page in an unresolved state (blurry) until it finally pops in to focus. This can take 10-15 seconds or more sometimes.
The only solution is to reboot.
I've been reading several magazines and it happens on all of them from Maximum PC, Scientific American, etc. Note that all the magazines I read are my own personal subscriptions or are archives as provided by the vendor in PDF format so these are not warez copies.
I'm using Adobe Acrobat, Documents to Go, Quickoffice, and the LumiReader. All perform poorly so it's got to be the hardware. These PDFs display quickly on my main PC.
Does everyone see this crappy PDF performance or have a solution?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ive been pdf reading on the iconia a500 for some time now, using lumiread, adobe and ezpdf and even the document reader for ICS and no lag here.
I'm thinking there is a rogue process slowing ur sys over time. Factory reset ur sys, run all the official updates (if ur rooted, used the rooted official updates not the custom ones)
Then install just your pdf apps and try reading, see what happens, if it runs lag free, start reinstalling your apps, with the most essential ones first and keep and eye open for performance degradation.

I just downloaded your trouble PDF but I had no difficulty at all. It have to agree that it is most likely a software issue. Are you rooted? If so you may want to do a dirty flash (install your ROM again without wiping data or cache). It may be a ROM bug too, but then the devs would likely have a lot of people submitting the same issue. However, if its an app conflict a dirty flash probably won't fix it.

RepliGo Reader is also great for PDF. It even let you full screen your PDF.

I've had no trouble at all with adobe PDF reader. It loads up my textbooks which are usually over 500 pages without any sort of problem.
I can scroll through them or search to find whatever I need and its always smooth.
I'm using the stock ota 3.2.1 w/out root.
The A500 is perfect. In my opinion
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium

a_rocklobster said:
I've had no trouble at all with adobe PDF reader. It loads up my textbooks which are usually over 500 pages without any sort of problem.
I can scroll through them or search to find whatever I need and its always smooth.
I'm using the stock ota 3.2.1 w/out root.
The A500 is perfect. In my opinion
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just tested with Doc's to Go Paid. Playboy with Lutzy Lo-pans. Works fine, although wanted to bail out with the "viewing her pics". I think my tab has better standards. Da_n she's ugly.....
I think you need to re-do your tab. Or think about what other apps you might have running in processes. Seems like you may have some memory hogs.
Sent from my A501 using natural fingers

I think you guys dont have an ipad. I can tell you, its horrible compared with an ipad

sollie said:
I think you guys dont have an ipad. I can tell you, its horrible compared with an ipad
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I purchased an original iPad for my son and an iPad2 for my daughter. Getting those two iCraps to do even half of what my A500 can do has been a ridiculous chore, and I'm a career network engineer.
Is the iPad smoother in some circumstances? Sure. But it better be -- it's at least 2x the price and it's not like you can change anything (mod, ROM, tweak, etc.) if you don't like the performance.
No thanks! I'll happily keep my A500.

Related

[Q] Xoom usage inquiries to actual users/owners

Reposting from the tips and tricks thread.
Hi guys! just wanted to ask for some helpful information about the xoom, will be getting mine soon and I am still deciding on which to keep (ipad 2 or this)
Was an android user myself (cm6 on nexus1) so am quite familiar with the advantages and expandability of Android.
If I may ask the following:
1.) can i load a youtube video in the background and while waiting, multitask by browsing? (bandwidth in this part of the world is bad - we are waiting for youtube videos to load, even at a 360p resolution
2.) is the browser really as good as it gets? can it load forum pages with more than 20 pictures loading fine without crashing? background loading in tabs is a HUUUGE deal for me, is it really working "as advertised"?- close to (if not exactly like) a computer experience?
3.) how many tabs can i load? any real world input is appreciated. (in the ipad , i can load only a forum page with a lot of pictures)
4.) can i load videos in avi format?
5.) actual battery life? -(ipad is advertised as 10, and is really 10, any feedbacks on actual users?) - answered already in the other thread
6.) how is the 1gb ram for multitasking? is it always running out of ram? (nothing fancy, just loading youtube vids in the background, then browsing through 4-6 tabs, checking mail and chatting in Gtalk) the 1gb ram can easily handle these I presume?
Very optimistic about the potential of the tablet, I am hoping to get answers from actual users who have been already using the xoom, please enlighten us
4. I throw my avi movies on the xoom and watch them fine with rockplayer lite. Mkv. will need to get converted over to mp4 to work. I havent tried dl'ing them straight from the xoom though.
sherwink20 said:
Reposting from the tips and tricks thread.
Hi guys! just wanted to ask for some helpful information about the xoom, will be getting mine soon and I am still deciding on which to keep (ipad 2 or this)
Was an android user myself (cm6 on nexus1) so am quite familiar with the advantages and expandability of Android.
If I may ask the following:
1.) can i load a youtube video in the background and while waiting, multitask by browsing? (bandwidth in this part of the world is bad - we are waiting for youtube videos to load, even at a 360p resolution
2.) is the browser really as good as it gets? can it load forum pages with more than 20 pictures loading fine without crashing? background loading in tabs is a HUUUGE deal for me, is it really working "as advertised"?- close to (if not exactly like) a computer experience?
3.) how many tabs can i load? any real world input is appreciated. (in the ipad , i can load only a forum page with a lot of pictures)
4.) can i load videos in avi format?
5.) actual battery life? -(ipad is advertised as 10, and is really 10, any feedbacks on actual users?) - answered already in the other thread
6.) how is the 1gb ram for multitasking? is it always running out of ram? (nothing fancy, just loading youtube vids in the background, then browsing through 4-6 tabs, checking mail and chatting in Gtalk) the 1gb ram can easily handle these I presume?
Very optimistic about the potential of the tablet, I am hoping to get answers from actual users who have been already using the xoom, please enlighten us
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
#1. No. It seems like youtube is set to be in hibernation stage when you leave/tabbed to the browser.
#2. Yes. The browser is as good as it gets. Forum pages with images loads with no problem.
#3. 16 tabs.. That's just on the default browser (chrome) that came with android. Another 8 for the Dolphin browser that you can get from the market.
#4. Skipped, check the post above me.
#5. I'm on my 10th hour now with 67% left on moderate use (browsing and watching youtube videos playing games). About 3-4 hours total usage out of the 10. Note: I saw some reviewer claiming 8+ hours of playing movies, so I'd say it depends on what and how you use it.
#6. Not a single hiccup!! It's just too fast! And the 1GB RAM is way more than adequate.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA App
krat0s123 said:
#1. No. It seems like youtube is set to be in hibernation stage when you leave/tabbed to the browser.
#2. Yes. The browser is as good as it gets. Forum pages with images loads with no problem.
#3. 16 tabs.. That's just on the default browser (chrome) that came with android. Another 8 for the Dolphin browser that you can get from the market.
#4. Skipped, check the post above me.
#5. I'm on my 10th hour now with 67% left on moderate use (browsing and watching youtube videos playing games). About 3-4 hours total usage out of the 10. Note: I saw some reviewer claiming 8+ hours of playing movies, so I'd say it depends on what and how you use it.
#6. Not a single hiccup!! It's just too fast! And the 1GB RAM is way more than adequate.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome!! Thanks for this buddy! (and luckie19 too!)
Hopefully there will be a workaround for the youtube app soon Wonder how cyanogen could still be pimpin this awesome device..? hehe!
only things that sucks now is the non-black back of the wifi version, oh well, can't win them all
Thanks guys, appreciate the inputs!
krat0s123 said:
#1. No. It seems like youtube is set to be in hibernation stage when you leave/tabbed to the browser.
#2. Yes. The browser is as good as it gets. Forum pages with images loads with no problem.
#3. 16 tabs.. That's just on the default browser (chrome) that came with android. Another 8 for the Dolphin browser that you can get from the market.
#4. Skipped, check the post above me.
#5. I'm on my 10th hour now with 67% left on moderate use (browsing and watching youtube videos playing games). About 3-4 hours total usage out of the 10. Note: I saw some reviewer claiming 8+ hours of playing movies, so I'd say it depends on what and how you use it.
#6. Not a single hiccup!! It's just too fast! And the 1GB RAM is way more than adequate.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd agree with this. Battery is a nonfactor. It's as good as the Ipad with one exception. The Ipad has a 30day standby time. Nothing comes close to that. BUT, for runtime battery drain the Xoom is very good. You'll enjoy at least one day of battery with heavy use.
atoy74 said:
1.) can i load a youtube video in the background and while waiting, multitask by browsing? (bandwidth in this part of the world is bad - we are waiting for youtube videos to load, even at a 360p resolution
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You cannot. The app must be displayed for it to properly buffer. If you switch tasks and go back to youtube you have to rebuffer again.
2.) is the browser really as good as it gets? can it load forum pages with more than 20 pictures loading fine without crashing? background loading in tabs is a HUUUGE deal for me, is it really working "as advertised"?- close to (if not exactly like) a computer experience?[/quote]
browser is phenomenal, but its nowhere near 'bug-free.' Theres tons of force closes if you open multiple tabs. The browser will be refined as the months go by I bet. I use 'Dolphin HD' as an alternative browser and works flawlessly, if not better than the stock Browser. However, I would still prefer to use stock browser as it does look slicker than any other browser out there at the moment
atoy74 said:
3.) how many tabs can i load? any real world input is appreciated. (in the ipad , i can load only a forum page with a lot of pictures)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can load a lot of tabs, but if each tab is memory intensive, it could possibly crash. websites with heavy graphics load fast. you will be impressed.
atoy74 said:
5.) actual battery life? -(ipad is advertised as 10, and is really 10, any feedbacks on actual users?) - answered already in the other thread
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I get actual 'display time' usage of about 6 hours max. I was, however, expecting 9-10 hours of display time usage.
atoy74 said:
6.) how is the 1gb ram for multitasking? is it always running out of ram? (nothing fancy, just loading youtube vids in the background, then browsing through 4-6 tabs, checking mail and chatting in Gtalk) the 1gb ram can easily handle these I presume?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
theres still a lot of force closes that i feel a lot of xoom users aren't talking much about. this, however, will be resolved through time.
I had to stop reading after the YouTube comment. You want it to keep buffering while you're searching the web or doing something else? Youtubes play instantly on wifi and on 3g you don't expect it to load while you're browsing the web do you? I say keep the ipad 2
Sent from my Evo using Tapatalk
Anyone know if SlideIt or Swype is available for the Xoom yet? Believe it or not, that's the one thing holding me back from going out and buying one right this second. I know I'll be doing a lot of typing on it and like my inspire 4g, the keyboard is rather slow compared to a laptop, but with SlideIT, I can type ON MY PHONE damn near as fast as I can type on a dedicated hardware keyboard, which is baffling to me, to say the least.
SlideIt is on the Market. Never used it but it's there.
Swype beta still only works if you hack build.prop to report Froyo instead of Honeycomb (no tablet layout either).
SwiftKey is not on the Market, although I believe VIP testers will soon get a Honeycomb version.

Very annoyed at this point with the browsers on this device!

So obviously I go to XDA everyday to look up information and post things. Well this has been huge chore for me with this device.
First off I have found that the dolphin browser slightly edges out the android browser for being the fastest. Even the dolphin browser can't handle quick replies and posting from the XDA 2010 browser very well. When I switch to the classic theme I am able to get more done. If I try to blaze away in the the 2010 theme I will get double button pushes and a ton of mis spellings.
This brings me to my next gripe. Say I write a block of text in a quick reply window and there are mis spellings (which there will be with a software keyboard) trying to fix these mistakes makes me want to throw my tablet at the guy sitting behind me a work. The little green arrow never lines up with the cursor, and when I go to move the cursor it is just all over the place and 2 seconds behind my finger presses on the screen.
I would remedy all of this by using the XDA App but it crashes constantly.
Also trying to do things such as login to Facebook and browse around make the device want to roll over and die. JESUS MY CELL PHONE HANDLES FULL HTML WEBSITES. I can honestly say that if the text editing were better I could live with not being able to run the 2010 theme. But why the hell does Facebook chug so hard? And why cant this damn thing load the 2010 theme???? Its a text website with minimal pictures!!!
so LOL
In editing that last post I realized that even though the arrow doesn't line up with the cursor it still functions correctly, you just have to deal with its random behaviour I guess. Also if you zoom considerably it helps a lot with text editing. Who woulda thought?
This still doesn't explain the poor performance on a lot of websites.
seh6183 said:
So obviously I go to XDA everyday to look up information and post things. Well this has been huge chore for me with this device.
First off I have found that the dolphin browser slightly edges out the android browser for being the fastest. Even the dolphin browser can't handle quick replies and posting from the XDA 2010 browser very well. When I switch to the classic theme I am able to get more done. If I try to blaze away in the the 2010 theme I will get double button pushes and a ton of mis spellings.
This brings me to my next gripe. Say I write a block of text in a quick reply window and there are mis spellings (which there will be with a software keyboard) trying to fix these mistakes makes me want to throw my tablet at the guy sitting behind me a work. The little green arrow never lines up with the cursor, and when I go to move the cursor it is just all over the place and 2 seconds behind my finger presses on the screen.
I would remedy all of this by using the XDA App but it crashes constantly.
Also trying to do things such as login to Facebook and browse around make the device want to roll over and die. JESUS MY CELL PHONE HANDLES FULL HTML WEBSITES. I can honestly say that if the text editing were better I could live with not being able to run the 2010 theme. But why the hell does Facebook chug so hard? And why cant this damn thing load the 2010 theme???? Its a text website with minimal pictures!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The XDA app is working fine for me, and judging by other people's signatures, it's the same for them too.
On the other hand, the general browser stability is pretty poor over all. Dolphin and the stock browser will just quit on me without warning. I was loving Moreno browser on my phone (Droid X), but, while it renders perfectly well, it FCs too much.
Sent from my rooted ASUS Transformer running PRIME 1.4
I use opera, no real issues except with load time which feels slower.
As for keyboard I'm using the hacker's keyboard. I love it more than ASUS or default.
You can draw the green arrow around after it appears if you're having issues getting it to position correctly.
I had a problems with XDA where I could not navigate to the previous page.
Most site work fine but on XDA and Yahoo when I hit the back button, it only refresh the current page and stay there. This is both the default and Dolphin HD browser.
The only one that let me navigate to previous page is Opera, I use it when I don't need flash.
On a positive note I just update to Prime v1.4 ROM today and it seems to be much better. It's letting me navigate back.
baseballfanz said:
I had a problems with XDA where I could not navigate to the previous page.
Most site work fine but on XDA and Yahoo when I hit the back button, it only refresh the current page and stay there. This is both the default and Dolphin HD browser.
The only one that let me navigate to previous page is Opera, I use it when I don't need flash.
On a positive note I just update to Prime v1.4 ROM today and it seems to be much better. It's letting me navigate back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im using the prime rom as well and haven't experienced any force closes or problems navigating back. Only the editing problems and overall slowness.
It feels like I'm using Windows 98 with Internet Explorer 6.
That said, most problems can be solved by rebooting.
Its a shame this is such a miss, given it's the primary reason for the device to exist for many people.
I can say it got significantly better with the 3.1 update and a modded rom, but its still not where it should be.
So far what works best for me is opera mobile in desktop mode. See site below in how to set it up.
www.articlecms.in/3691-how-to-run-opera-mobile-in-full-desktop-mode.html
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
i played with a zoom just now in the local big box, it was smoother - which leads me to believe that this is an asus implementation issue...thoughts?
I own Xoom as well as Transformer. Stock browser lags like hell on some websites on both. Pretty sure its a Honeycomb thing.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
cerchiara said:
So far what works best for me is opera mobile in desktop mode. See site below in how to set it up.
www.articlecms.in/3691-how-to-run-opera-mobile-in-full-desktop-mode.html
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I was looking for this setting for quite a while! Now that I tried it I only found out that the dolphin browser is indeed still a little faster than opera. Thanks for the info though.
Would you say that they perform similarly performance wise?
h00ligan said:
i played with a zoom just now in the local big box, it was smoother - which leads me to believe that this is an asus implementation issue...thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did too, back when everyone was 3.0.1. The zoom and a500 played smooth in YouTube app while my TF struggled, although my video quality was much better.
I wondered if zoom and a500 had different HQ settings, wondered if all were actually using 720p, if HQ mode was really 720p for all the devices, or some were 480p scaled to 720p. That would explain to me any performance differences. With 3.1, this now called HD.
My YouTube app at 720p full screen on TF 3.1 is very good, no need to O/C to improve this app. Browser is another story, but I'm not convinced it uses H/W acceleration (yet).
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using XDA Premium App
seh6183 said:
Well I was looking for this setting for quite a while! Now that I tried it I only found out that the dolphin browser is indeed still a little faster than opera. Thanks for the info though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I find both dolphin and stock slower. Especially when scrolling. I only use dolphin when I need flash. Stock I removed.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
mike5065 said:
I did too, back when everyone was 3.0.1. The zoom and a500 played smooth in YouTube app while my TF struggled, although my video quality was much better.
I wondered if zoom and a500 had different HQ settings, wondered if all were actually using 720p, if HQ mode was really 720p for all the devices, or some were 480p scaled to 720p. That would explain to me any performance differences. With 3.1, this now called HD.
My YouTube app at 720p full screen on TF 3.1 is very good, no need to O/C to improve this app. Browser is another story, but I'm not convinced it uses H/W acceleration (yet).
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting thoughts. The responsiveness increase I noticed was in stock browser and home screen usage.
Just an update.
I am currently using Opera forced in desktop mode only. This is the fastest scolling and zooming browser there is. The only thing I hate is how opera functions when selecting text off of a page to copy. It is really cheap. I also like the fact that I can add any search engine to the browser. I couldnt stand how every time I did a Google search it would search through Google mobile, so I just added the main Google search and all was fixed.
Typing on forums has been a breeze for the most part with opera, now if I can just find a way to use the Native copy and paste on web pages it will be almost perfect. At least when editing text or web page URLs it uses the native highlight feature.
I gave up. I really hope by tf2 both device and os have ironed out kinks.

Will browsing ever be good enough?

I'm going to start by saying I absolutely love my transformer... and am definetly going to stay and hope the platform will grow. But I don't think anyone will argue that browsing on it is not the same as a computer or even netbook. My grandma has a 400 dollar netbook and Still it outperformed the transformer. Im running Prime 1.4, overclocked to 1.6 and still it is not enough. Sites don't load correctly, things don't click, and just other stuff just doesn't work as it does on a real PC.
So my question is Do you guys think well ever get a full fledged browsing experience? I no this isn't a computer but it should be able to browse like one I think. And do you guys think these issues are more honeycomb related then hardware?
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
Sometimes things don't click because a lot of websites aren't exactly optimized for touches. Same reason we have problems with things that require mouse-hover functions.
Currently it's "good enough" for me, personally.
I've got a question regarding browser performance. Using the stock browser, when I scroll down a web page, there is a very noticeable lag in the newly exposed section filling in. For example, when I scroll down an XDA forum, the bottom of my screen is a blank brown/tan for a moment before anything loads. I tested the same sites on my dual core phone and there were no delays or visible blank spots when scrolling -it looks continous and smooth whereas the Transformer appears to be slowly loading each new section. I'm on my second unit and don't recall it being nearly as bad on the first. My keyboard lag is also ridiculous.
Is this experience common or do I again have a defective Transformer
That's common, try switching to xda classic at the bottom if you can't tolerate it. There its the xda app too.
i thinks its eather asus custome UI, even though its pretty vanilla, its still laggier than stock. that and HC is a bit laggier than phone ver. of Android. Just gotta wait for updates i guess.
Did I hear that hardware accerlation in the browser could b in I've cream sandwich? That will help surely.
Have to say I agree. My partner is getting pissed off with it as we sold our netbook for Thursday tf.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using XDA Premium App
i feel you with the things dont click, this is a problem with touch screens across all devices, other wise for a tablet the browsing is great. you shouldnt expect it to be up to par with a full operating system such as windows....yet
try opera browser instead
Opera does not support flash, but Flash in general is bad on Honeycomb, so you could argue that no browsers support it...
Opera has stated that it is because of Google not releasing the sources to Honeycomb, but that should change with Icecream Sandwitch (unless Google changes its mind again). It will take a while, early next year at the soonest.
If you can live without flash, Opera is indeed the best browser of the bunch.
I bet any tablet has that screen draw issue in browsers, my iPad does the same thing but instead of blank it's a checkerboard pattern, never really bugged me too much. I'm like Dolphin HD so far, I did really like Opera but it has a problem that makes me not use it. I like to use the trackpad with 2 finger swipe to move the page around which works fine in other browsers, butin Opera it's like a gesture that does some wierd thing so I quit using it.
darkonex said:
I bet any tablet has that screen draw issue in browsers, my iPad does the same thing but instead of blank it's a checkerboard pattern, never really bugged me too much. I'm like Dolphin HD so far, I did really like Opera but it has a problem that makes me not use it. I like to use the trackpad with 2 finger swipe to move the page around which works fine in other browsers, butin Opera it's like a gesture that does some wierd thing so I quit using it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use opera mobile to open forums. smooth scrolling and no laggy page drawing. only use flash supported browser to stream videos.
i was annoyed by the slow browsing experience also using dolphin hd but i found that if you turn off JavaScript it significantly speeds up page loading.
Patience is a virtue...
Web browsing on android has came a very far way in just a few years. Microsoft had decades to optimize windows for browsing the web, android (especially honeycomb) just came into the game.
Web browsing works remarkably well when take into account that android (Once again, especially honeycomb) is still very much a premature OS still trying to iron out and optimize.
Don't get caught up in all the hype revolving around the hardware in android phones and benchmarks, etc. The hardware has never been the problem, once the software gets optimized and focused on web browsing will be just as good or even surpass OSx, ios and windows.
Links that don't react to clicking is probably not a touch screen problem but a bug in browser. In Dolphine when i use long tap and select "open in new window" it still doesn't open them many times. And new Dolphine proibably uses stack browser for viewing pages because it has the same problems as the stock browser.
Has anyone tried SkyFire? I t works quite well on my HD2 and has Flash support
You just have to try opera mobile! It is indeed the best brouwser for the transformer.
Yeah opera moblie seems to be the like the fastest browser among the stock and dolphina, but I don't heard alot of people complaining about the small font size. Am I crazy but the font is way to small on opera. So no one has issues with it? Increasing the font size from 9 to 12 does help but its not perfect.
Opera mobile not playing flash is a deal breaker. Fix it and most will move to opera.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using XDA Premium App
wouwout said:
Opera mobile not playing flash is a deal breaker. Fix it and most will move to opera.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does play flash. You have to enable desktop agent: http://articlecms.in/3691-how-to-run-opera-mobile-in-full-desktop-mode.html
"In the browser address bar type opera:config
Scroll down to User preferences and click on it
Scroll to custom user agent
Type this into the text box Opera/9.80 (Linux; en) Presto/2.7.81 Version/11.00
Click save
Restart the app"
I just find the browser to be slow. Sadly my notion ink adam broswer was much faster which was also running flash and was set fordesktop user agent

Any tricks to faster PDFs on the Nook?

Hello,
I absolutely love my rooted Nook and it's been great as my first "tablet". But one thing that is quite frustrating is reading PDFs. I have several PDF magazines ranging in size from 11MB to 80MB. Simply turning a page can last for upwards of 10 seconds. Considering the number of ads in these things, it could be a full minute just to get to a page with real content.
Is there anything I can do to improve the performance like tweak the Nook or even convert the files into something friendlier while keeping the layout? I've set my idle speed at 600MHz but it's not really noticeable.
Any help would be appreciated.
What software are you using? I just downloaded a 34MB Consumer Reports PDF and flipped through it with ezPDF Reader. It flips pages quickly and smoothly. Never more an a second or two.
Sent from my NookColor using Tapatalk
One more Thumb up for EZpdf.
Fast and nice pdf viewer.
Produced by NookColor at ICS AOKP 4.0.4
RASTAVIPER said:
One more Thumb up for EZpdf.
Fast and nice pdf viewer.
Produced by NookColor at ICS AOKP 4.0.4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One more for ezpdf.
Sent from my NookColor using xda app-developers app
Man oh man. Me thinks I'm going insane! I should have specified I was using ezPDF, (v1.4.2.1). I since tried using the actual Adobe Reader and it's just night and day. When you are all using ezPDF, are you "turning" the pages or is it set to scroll down?
DlickSeals said:
Man oh man. Me thinks I'm going insane! I should have specified I was using ezPDF, (v1.4.2.1). I since tried using the actual Adobe Reader and it's just night and day. When you are all using ezPDF, are you "turning" the pages or is it set to scroll down?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With me I am turning pages. If you aren't in a big hurry to flip thru a bunch of pages, it loads the next page while you are reading the page you are on. If you want to move through the document quickly, use the page icons on the bottom. Flipping too many pages at once slows it down.
And I am on ezPdf Pro version 1.6.0.0. 1.4.2.1 is pretty old. They said they improved performance with newer versions.
And night and day meaning which is better?
leapinlar said:
With me I am turning pages. If you aren't in a big hurry to flip thru a bunch of pages, it loads the next page while you are reading the page you are on. If you want to move through the document quickly, use the page icons on the bottom. Flipping too many pages at once slows it down.
And I am on ezPdf Pro version 1.6.0.0. 1.4.2.1 is pretty old. They said they improved performance with newer versions.
And night and day meaning which is better?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey All,
Sorry about that - meant night/day in the sense that Adobe is muuuuch faster. Even the option of using ezPDF's scroll icons takes forever to load. I realize that I'm referring more to "eMags" than PDF books, but the performance in this video is ideal and sort of sounds like it's what you are all experiencing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPNqa8cS0Sw
I want to use this so badly...
Mantano Reader > Adobe Reader > Ezpdf reader (Really not that good)
Gin1212 said:
Mantano Reader > Adobe Reader > Ezpdf reader (Really not that good)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
leapinlar said:
And I am on ezPdf Pro version 1.6.0.0. 1.4.2.1 is pretty old. They said they improved performance with newer versions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even 1.6.0.0 is old. I'm up to 1.9.4.0.
I think its faster if you turn off the page turn animation. I don't have a problem but mostly I'm looking at books, not magazines.
I could never get ezpdf to be even close to usable. I wanted the functions, but couldn't stand looking at that loading circle any longer.
If you want to try a somewhat out of the box suggestion, try Perfect Viewer with the pdf plug-in. It is primarily an image viewer, so if you want highlighting or whatever, it is not going to be for you.
But with the option to fit page to width in landscape, it is perfect for reading pdf books, I think. There are a bunch of different fit page options.
Full features are free, there is a donate version which is just for those who want to give.
DlickSeals said:
Hello,
I absolutely love my rooted Nook and it's been great as my first "tablet". But one thing that is quite frustrating is reading PDFs. I have several PDF magazines ranging in size from 11MB to 80MB. Simply turning a page can last for upwards of 10 seconds. Considering the number of ads in these things, it could be a full minute just to get to a page with real content.
Is there anything I can do to improve the performance like tweak the Nook or even convert the files into something friendlier while keeping the layout? I've set my idle speed at 600MHz but it's not really noticeable.
Any help would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually agree with you and I prefer using ezPDF. Everyone I've talked to so far says to get a better-performing SD card so I made a post about which SD card is the fastest here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=29158973
I'm the same as you--I have a lot of large .pdf files, but there's a bigger problem almost nobody has mentioned on any forum and it exists in every version of ezPDF I've tried so far, including 1.9.5.0 and the latest which I'm using now, 1.9.5.3. The problem is when searching for a book, you can't read the text--only a picture of the cover (if you have one) comes up. Here's a screenshot directly from my Nook Tablet:
http://home.comcast.net/~nirvgorilla/nook ezpdf.png
There is nothing you can do about speed except find the fastest SD card and the speed has nothing to do apparently with Class 4 or Class 10. I don't know the real answer so I'm not going to spread misinformation, but if you find the best information, be sure to let us know because I definitely want better-performing pdfs even if it is a 32GB card.
I tryed every pdf/epub reader that is on the market, and im surprised no one here suggest repligo. For PDF reading, be it scanned pdf or normal but heavier (30mb+) pdf, it's the fastest and the one with better and best looking text reflow. ezPDF it's a lot worse.
Let's just say that repligo is the only one that read everything i throw at it, and even on my old little lgp500 i can read bulky pdf. On the nook it's perfect. Give it a go!
Adobe Reader
I have the same issue with ez pdf - loading the next page takes forrreeeeevvvveerrr. i found that adobe reader loads the entire pdf at once and you can scroll with no lag.

[Q] Best Reasons to Nooter?

Hello Folks!
I just picked up a Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight. It's a sweet little device. But I'm addicted to rooting and loading custom ROMs on all of my tablets. So I'm tempted to do that to my Nook Simple Touch. However, doing that to an e-ink device is fundamentally different than on all of my other LCD-screen tablets because most apps/interfaces aren't geared toward an e-ink display.
So... I'd like to ask a couple questions:
What drove you to change your Nook Simple Touch from stock to custom ROM?
What functions do you love best about having it custom?
Do you miss anything about having it stock?
What do you like least about having it custom?
Thanks in advance for your input!
Tom2112 said:
[*]What drove you to change your Nook Simple Touch from stock to custom ROM?
[*]What functions do you love best about having it custom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Being able to checkout library books right on the NST - no more PC download, plug the NST into the PC and copy the book to the NST.
Tom2112 said:
[*]Do you miss anything about having it stock?
[*]What do you like least about having it custom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, nothing.
straygecko said:
Being able to checkout library books right on the NST - no more PC download, plug the NST into the PC and copy the book to the NST.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does your library supply DRM free ebooks, or have you found something that works with Adobe Digital Editions DRM?
---------- Post added at 04:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:01 PM ----------
Tom2112 said:
What drove you to change your Nook Simple Touch from stock to custom ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Other ebook ecosystems; Google Books, Kindle, Kobo.
[*]What functions do you love best about having it custom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aardict (complete offline Wikipedia)
[*]Do you miss anything about having it stock?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Foolproof official firmware updates. Having to remember to leave default home and library app unset unless I want to remap hardware buttons to start ReLaunch.
[*]What do you like least about having it custom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Less tidy than stock.
FYI, I used NookManager.
cowbutt said:
Does your library supply DRM free ebooks, or have you found something that works with Adobe Digital Editions DRM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They are DRM books. There are a couple of readers you can install that do ADE DRM. I used Aldiko for a while until someone pointed out a working version of Overdrive Media Console. See this thread. I believe Mantano also does ADE DRM. Search the forum for a working version.
straygecko said:
They are DRM books. There are a couple of readers you can install that do ADE DRM. I used Aldiko for a while until someone pointed out a working version of Overdrive Media Console. See this thread. I believe Mantano also does ADE DRM. Search the forum for a working version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, sorry, I didn't make myself clear; even the stock Nook reader does ADE DRM, once authorised by the Windows ADE application (Aldiko can authorise itself, if a valid Adobe ID is supplied to it and it has Internet connectivity). My library supplies .acsm files which contain a link to the actual epub, which then needs to be authorised by the Windows ADE application before it can be copied to the Nook and read. So without something on Android to parse .acsm files and authorise the epubs, I can't download directly on my Nook. If you've got a solution to that, I'd be very interested in hearing it!
cowbutt said:
Ah, sorry, I didn't make myself clear; even the stock Nook reader does ADE DRM, once authorised by the Windows ADE application (Aldiko can authorise itself, if a valid Adobe ID is supplied to it and it has Internet connectivity). My library supplies .acsm files which contain a link to the actual epub, which then needs to be authorised by the Windows ADE application before it can be copied to the Nook and read. So without something on Android to parse .acsm files and authorise the epubs, I can't download directly on my Nook. If you've got a solution to that, I'd be very interested in hearing it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, as I said no more PC download and copy to the NST. Both OMC & Aldiko launch the browser from within the app and allow you to browse the library, checkout books and download them directly on the NST. They take care of parsing the acsm file, getting authorization and downloading the actual epub file. It still baffles me why we have to root to get this feature as this has been available on Android phones for years. It makes no sense for dedicated reading devices not to have the feature. Its probably marketing morons at B&N that don't want you to have an easy way to read books for free so you'll buy from them.
straygecko said:
Yup, as I said no more PC download and copy to the NST. Both OMC & Aldiko launch the browser from within the app and allow you to browse the library, checkout books and download them directly on the NST. They take care of parsing the acsm file, getting authorization and downloading the actual epub file. It still baffles me why we have to root to get this feature as this has been available on Android phones for years. It makes no sense for dedicated reading devices not to have the feature. Its probably marketing morons at B&N that don't want you to have an easy way to read books for free so you'll buy from them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aha, yes, I see now I've tried it in Alidko! My library isn't on Overdrive, but adding it as a catalog to Aldiko works. The only snag appears to be that the browser doesn't handle deeply-nested web sites terribly well, and begins ignoring clicks on links after a few levels. But it'd do in a pinch. Thanks!
Will using a Custom ROM improve the terrible battery life?
I am being abit vague, I bought the Nook Simple Touch and on the box it said 'Battery lasts 2 months with wifi off and 30 minutes reading per day'. I hardly ever read and I only bought this for my holiday and also got it for £29. I charged the NST up and ive noticed over a week the battery has completely diminished.
Wifi is off and ive done no reading. All the decide seems to do is change pictures on the screen saver all the time.
dandwhelan said:
Will using a Custom ROM improve the terrible battery life?
I am being abit vague, I bought the Nook Simple Touch and on the box it said 'Battery lasts 2 months with wifi off and 30 minutes reading per day'. I hardly ever read and I only bought this for my holiday and also got it for £29. I charged the NST up and ive noticed over a week the battery has completely diminished.
Wifi is off and ive done no reading. All the decide seems to do is change pictures on the screen saver all the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Short answer: Yes.
Slightly longer answer: You can keep stock rom but rooting and tweaking makes a big difference. Changing the kernel and setting the cpu frequency using setcpu so improves battery life alot. Stop things syncing improves battery life alot.
If you don't want barnes and noble stuff (if your using say cool reader) then even more so.
Remember don't switch NST fully off it actually chews more battery than you think in that mode.
Also don't force nst to go asleep by pressing power button just let it timeout into screensaver.
I think remember someone said somewhere with everything tweaked the unit dropped 1 or 2 percent per day when not used.
That's odd that your battery experience has been so poor. I just got my NSTG on Monday and I've been reading on it a lot, plus I have backed it up, installed a new ROM, wiped it, restored it, probably five times now just messing around. I keep going back to stock ROM.
Anyway, I charged it Monday and I've got 84% battery left. I know I've spent several hours reading and at least a couple hours reading with the glowlight on. So for me, that's pretty darn good battery life to have only used 16% in five days of heavy use. Sure that won't last me the 2 months that they're quoting but, I'm not using it 30 minutes a day, I'm using it much more.
dandwhelan said:
Wifi is off and ive done no reading. All the decide seems to do is change pictures on the screen saver all the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have also just bought one so I can't claim any expertise, however, this sounds odd. I just let mine go to sleep and it always shows the same picture of trees. If yours is changing its picture then it must have something running to do so which will run the battery down.
Perhaps someone with more knowledge can say why yours is doing this?
cowbutt said:
Aha, yes, I see now I've tried it in Alidko! My library isn't on Overdrive, but adding it as a catalog to Aldiko works. The only snag appears to be that the browser doesn't handle deeply-nested web sites terribly well, and begins ignoring clicks on links after a few levels. But it'd do in a pinch. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, the stock browser sucks. Then again, pretty much every browser I've tried on the NST works poorly. I believe you can use another browser to download the ACSM file and then go into Aldiko and import it. Not as seamless but may make navigating your library site possible.
Well I've been on holiday this week and I can say the battery life is terrible. I must of used it 2 or 3hours per day reading only 400 pages and after 6 days the battery went flat. Luckily I don't read all the time, I kinda envy kindle owners for the battery life
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
dandwhelan said:
Well I've been on holiday this week and I can say the battery life is terrible. I must of used it 2 or 3hours per day reading only 400 pages and after 6 days the battery went flat. Luckily I don't read all the time, I kinda envy kindle owners for the battery life
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you leave wifi on? I get MUCH better life than that with wifi off.
Yup Wifi has definitely been off
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
I've never had a battery drain problem so I can't give you any solutions. I see a good 3 or 4 weeks or more with the kind of usage you describe. You might want to read through this thread on possible battery drain solutions. Also, do a search on battery in this forum for some other threads.
I use my rooted NTS with XCSoar when I fly on glider.
It's very useful because contrast on the sunlight is awesome.
I use all fiches from custom rom:
FastScreen
UsbHost
UsbSound
dandwhelan said:
Well I've been on holiday this week and I can say the battery life is terrible. I must of used it 2 or 3hours per day reading only 400 pages and after 6 days the battery went flat. Luckily I don't read all the time, I kinda envy kindle owners for the battery life
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Note that Barnes & Nobles' stated life of 2 months is only for half an hour of reading per day. So your 6 days is the equivalent of somewhere between 24 and 36 B&N days. More if you turn lots of pages.

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